A FORD ROAD SWEEPER.
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A Résumé of Recently Published Patents.
An adapter by which any motor vehicle which is fitted with the usual. longi. tudinal cattiest shaft may be converted into a motor road-sweeper is described by M. Minnard, in specification No.
767,488. Ile specifically refers to the Ford chassis as being a suitable medium for conversion, and the drawings by Which the specification is illustrated are obviously of a Ford car. The meehan• Urn. is simple, and in its simplicity lies its ingenuity,• The drive for the brush, and the means whereby the gear ratio of the transmis_ shin is altered so as to reduce the speed of the car to something compatible. with the operation of road-sweeping, are attained by the same device. The main driving bevel -pinion on the end of the cardari shaft is removed, and its place taken by a small spur pinion. The bevel pinion is mounted on the end of a short shaft, which also carries a largo spur wheel. The propeller or cardan shaft is displaced in a vertical direction to an extent sufficient to permit of the spur pinion being engaged with the spur wheel. This, it will be understood, effects the necessary alteration in gear ratio as between the engine and rear axle. The inner end of the short bevel pinion shaft is formed as one half of a dog or claw clutch; it is also bored and bushed to serve as a spigot bearing for
the end of a secondary short shaft, at i is outer end of which is a universal
j Ant, whence, by means of a long shaft and another universal joint, the drive is t -ansmitted to the brush. This seconda iy shaft is splined, and carries, on the splincd portion, the other and slideable portion of the dog clutch. By the manipulation of the latter, which is effected hy.the usual means, a hand lever and connections-, the brush may be connected to, or disconnected from, its driving mechanism.
The brush itself is of the ordinary cylindrical type, and is suspended from a hinge-pin on the chassis in such a manner that it lies diagonally across the latter at an angle of 55 degrees with the direction of travel, which arrangement, according to the patentee, has been shown to be the most efficient for a sweeper. . It. is supported by a link and lever, and the latter is in connection with a hand lever working over a ratchet quadrant. The hand lever may be moved to lift or lower the brush out of or into C48 contact with the road surface, and the freedom of movement in the quadrant is sufficient to allow for taking up any wear to which the brush will naturally be subject.
An American Transmission Gear.
Another patent of interest this week emanates from the White Motor Co, of America, although it is registered in the Patent Office under the name of
F. H. Rogers. It is numbe,red 181,165, and is conc.erned with a final transmission gear for a .commercial motor, and describes a gear of the type in which internal gears in the rear road wheels are used.
The axle is built up in the same way as the ordinary sin gle reduction axle, in that it is designed to be disposed in line with the axis of the rear wheels. The drive from the pinions on the ends of the live axle shafts to the internal gear is effected via an idle wheel carried an arms which project from the side of an inner axle tube. The value of this design of axe lies rather in the various details of construction by which the i accessibilityof the axle s improved, rather than in any specific feature of the
arrangetrient of the parts. Indeed, in the preamble to the patent, no fewer than eight objects are named : the consir-action of theaxle, of the gear cage, of the' wheels, the means for supporting the gears inside the wheel, the brakeoperating gear, the means for facilitating-assembly and disassembly, means for preventing escape of lubricant from that part of the wheel which contains the final drive gear, and, finally, the combination of -these parts into a practical and operative whole.
Other Patents of Interest.
No. 159,165, by R. Bosch Aktien. gesellsehaft, refers to the favourable effect which a spark gap in the h.t. ignition circuit has on the efficiency of the spiking plug It is also remarked, however, that the existence of a spark gap is not desirable when the engine is
being started. The specification deals with different forms of magneto in which provision is made for the spark gap to occur within the generator itself, and in which the extent of the gap is variable from practically nothing, which is its extent when the ignition is fully retarded, as for starting, to the maximum desirable, which occurs when the ignition is fully advanced, and when, in ordinary circumstances, the engine will be revolving quickly. In one construction the rotating distributor piece is provided with a pointed electrode, whilst the stationary distributor contains four electrodes in the form of knife-edged plates lying in the plane in which the pointed electrode rotates. The plates are cut, along their sharp edges, to such a shape that, when the ignition is fully retarded, the pointed electrode, at the moment of interruption of the current, is almost touching the plate, while when the ignition is advanced, it is some distance away from the plate.
An interesting, simple, and cheap form of jack, designed to be more or less per. manently attached to the axle of a car or lorry, is described in No, 181,242, by A. Merchant.
The tipping gear which is patented by F. Krupp, Aktiengesellschaft, is for unloading the wagon to either side. It is a combination of parallel links and levers, the operation of which it is impossible to explain in few words.
The object of the invention which is described in No. 181,074, by the Standard Motor Co., Ltd., is that of reducing the amount of skilled labour, necessary in connection with the manufacture of bodies for motor vehicles. It relates chiefly to the jointing of the various principal members of the body, which is effected by the aid of metal lugs.
What may be described, by analogy, as the adaptation of the flexible-disc universal joint to serve as a spring shackle, is the feature of No. 181,144, by the Beloyt Corporation. Strips of flexible canvas and rubber, combined, in one form or other with springs, take the place of ordinary shackles and pins. Their advantage is that they do not need to be lubricated.