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A LORRY THAT STRIDES.

29th April 1924, Page 14
29th April 1924
Page 14
Page 14, 29th April 1924 — A LORRY THAT STRIDES.
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A German Effort to Replace Wheels by Long Feet which will Bridge Streams and Gullies and be Suitable for Transporting Loads over Bad Land.

TlIE chain-trackmachine for bad ..L ground would not appear to have made very much progress in Germany. During the war, apart from poor imitations of our own Tanks, the.chain-track machine was not much in evidence on the German side. For battling their very heavy guns, tractors with immense driving wheels were employed, the size of the wheel being relied upon to give the same effect as a flexible track. The machine ilhistrated here .is not intended as a tractor, but as a species of wheelless terry for the-slow transport of very heavy objects over a bad surface. It has been described in these columns before, but it is, interesting at this juni-ture, when more attention is being nrid to the question of transport facilities over rough country, to look for a Moment into the design of the walking lorry. gale chassis is provided with foul-lone. runners, or feet, instead of wheels. These runners, which are nearly as long as the chassis itself, work in pairs. The out runners are connected up, and move together alternately with the, inner pair, which are also connected The machine progresses as follows. In the first mavement the outer pair of runners rise from the ground and move forward about 4 ft., therchassis mear. while remaining stationary and resting on the inner pair of runners, which are still on the ground. The outer runners having completed their forward movement come to earth again. The chassis new hauls itself -along on the inner pair of runners, which now remain motionless on ,the ground.

Raving rolled-along these runners for the prescribed distance of 4 ft., the chassis stops, and the. inner pair of runners rise and move forwards, the outer ones now remaining still and taking theft-eight of the chassis.

The'irunners. or feet, of the lorry are mounted on rollers, which travel in elliptical tracks in the chassis sideframes. An ingenious system of eccentric gearing gives a rapid movement to the rollers when travelling -along the straight portion of the tracks, and slows them down when turning the end of the ellipse. By this means the runners are placed gently on the ground.

In order to ensure that the runners shall remain horizontal throughout the wiloIe of their travel, steel forks are provided at each end of the elliptical tracks. These forks catch the roller axles and hold them during their transfer from the upper to the lower portion of the tracks, or vice versa, as the case may be. The forks work on bell-cranks, and are inter-connected so that one end of a pair of runners cannot rise or fall before the other. Steering is effected by the displacement of the outer pair of runners relatively to the inner pair. The outer pair pivot round in the air, . when they come to the ground again and take the weight of the lorry; the chassis then swivels iround on them, bearing with it the inner pair, which are not pivotal.

The whole movement of the lorry reminds one strongly of those unfortunate chimpanzees in the Zoological Gardens, which have become so lazy in captivity that their only form of locomotion is to use their arms as crutches. The motive power in the walking lorry is obtained from an ordinary heavyvehicle-type petrol motor placed under a bonnet in front in the ortheeloxā€˛manner. A speed of 44 miles an hour 3s said to be obtained with the lorry, either forwards or in reverse. This is comparatively slow but it will probably be increased. as the design is improved.

One advantage claimed for the machine is that over no matter what surface it may be travelling, no shocks of any kind can possibly he transmitted to the load, as the vehicle lays its own track and moves on itself, so to speak.

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