Brake Device to Assist "Get-away 55 W HEN starting a heavy
Page 62
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vehicle uphill, it is necessary for the driver to take his foot from the brake pedal to work the accelerator. This means that he must first apply the handbrake, and then gradually release it as the clutch ;s engaged. To simplify this sequence af operations by providing an additional hand-lever connected to the footbrake,
is the aim of a scheme shown in patent No. 688,682 (Scammell Lorries, Ltd., Tolpits Lane, Watford West).
The drawing shows a brake layout in which a valve (1) controls the servo power, be it air, suction or hydraulic. The valve is linked to a shaft (2) on which the pedal (3) is freely journalled. The pedal carries a hook (4) which, in use, presses on a pin projecting from a lever (5) in the linkage system.
This lever can also be worked by a hand-lever (6) on the steering column via the medium of a swinging arm (7). A lost-motion link (8) enables the pedal to be moved without working the handlever.
In use, the brakes would initially be applied by the pedal, and could then be held on by the hand control. No ratchet or other retaining device is used, the lever always returning to the off position when released HEATER FOR PASSENGER VEHICLES
PATENT No. 687,973 deals with an air-heating device for warming the interior, of buses and coaches; the patentees are A. May and Thomas Ash tand Co. Ltd., Rea Street South, Birmingham. Aimed at providing quick warmth on a cold morning, the scheme incorporates a re-heating device go that the air can traverse the heater twice for a period, and then be switched over to single heating for normal running.
a.36 The unit consists of a casing fitted with an air inlet (1) leading to a chamber containing a radiator (2). The air is heated by passing through this, the movement being imparted by a centrifugal blower (3) powered by an electric motor (4). The blower has two tangential outlets (5 and 6) both of which lead to the interior of the vehicle.
The lower one, however, is connected by a duct (7) back to the inlet, and the warm air can be diverted through this duct to ("i' be re-heated. A control damper (not shown) can be set to control the flow one way or the other, or to an intermediate position in which only part of the air is heated twice. The radiator is supplied with hot water from the vehicle radiator.
SUPERCHARGER-CONTROL FOR
PART-LOAD CONDITIONS THE supercharger of an engine must
be capable of supplying, under fullload, .conditions, the amount of air required for maximum fuel consumption. At low loads however, the charging pressure remains needlessly high, and patent No. 688,899 shows a scheme for automatically releasing some of the air in these circumstances. The patentees arc S. Markland, A. Mueller and Leyland Motors, Ltd., Suffolk House, Laurence Pountney Hill, London, E.C.4.
From the output pipe (I) of the blower there branches a pipe (2) leading back to the intake side. Included in this by-pass is a spring-loaded valve (3) which tends to keep the pipe closed. Attached to the valve stem is a flexible diaphragm (4) which is piped to the intake venturi (5). The venturi is provided with a throttle which controls the degree of suction and operates the injection pump controls via a second pipe (6).
In action, at full load the throttle is wide open and the intake suction is insufficient to cause the diaphragm to over come the valve-spring. But at low loads it can do so, and by opening the valve, partially short-circuits the blower. In this condition, although the full air supply is being pumped, the lowered pressure needs much less power to drive the blower. The device should show a marked saving in fuel, particularly in cases where a vehicle so equipped runs for long periods under part-load conditions.
RADIATORS IN ALUMINIUM
DATENT No. 689,776, comes from
S.A. des Usines Chausson, Asnieres, France, and shows a radiator made entirely in aluminium. No drawn tubes are used, the elements being pressed from sheet and cold-welded.
BUS-TICKET MACHINE
.1-1 A TICKET printing and issuing machine for use by conductors, is disclosed in patent No 690,040. It is claimed to give a very complete statistical record and saves much time in checking the record with the cash
taken. The patentee is T.I.M. Ltd., Ashcroft Road, Cirencester.
A SIX-SPEED GEARBOX BY VAUXHALL
A SIX-SPEED 'gearbox forms the 1-1 subject of patent No. 688,841, which comes from Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., Luton, Beds. The gearbox may be provided with additional output shafts for front-wheel drive and a power take-off.
Three parallel shafts are used; the top one being the input member. This has a coupling at each end, one for the engine and one for the power take-off. Fixed to this shaft are three gears (1) plus a fourth (2) which gives a reverse.
The three gears can each provide a ratio in conjunction with a mating gear on the intermediate shaft (3). The selected gear on this shaft is engaged by a synchromesh clutch, one of which is shown at 4. The shaft passes on the drive to the final shaft (5) via two pairs of gears (6 and 7), also clutched by synchromesh mechanism. These being in series with the first set, have the effect of multiplying the three primary ratios by two.