[NHCOLL-L:627] Compactors

[Ross MacCulloch]

       Here at the ROM we have several compacted collections and are in the process of installing compactors in other collections.  All but two of our existing systems are of the hand-cranked variety, and all of the new ones will be manual too.  The chain-drive components of the mechanism are covered with a shield which is primarily to protect operators from oily chain lubricant and from getting fingers or anything else caught in the mechanism, but it also offers some protection for the mechanism.  The shield is not completely dustproof, however.
       One point of interest is the recent improvement in the design of the rails that the storage units move on.  In our older systems, the rails are several inches high, requiring that the floor be built up, usually with lumber, to the height of the top of the rails, to allow wheeled carts to cross the rails and move down the aisles.  This height was necessary to maintain the rails' rigidity.  The new rails, however, are much lower.  Rather than building up the floor, only low ramps are needed to allow carts to cross the new lower rails.  I'm told by the manufacturer that these "low profile" rails are really only suitable in buildings with concrete slab floors, which do not sag.  Older buildings with uneven floors require the higher rails.
       An important benefit of these lower rails, and the resulting absence of a raised floor, is that it becomes much easier to clean underneath the storage units.  Our collection building is far from dust-free, and we're all looking forward to being able to move the storage units easily and clean the floor below.



Ross D. MacCulloch
Assistant Curator, Herpetology
Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 2C6