TRACKS AND WHEELS.
Page 30
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Resume of Recently Published Patents.
The most interesting invention this week describes a novel form of endless track for tractors or other vehicles. It has been patented by John Fowler and Co. (Leeds), Ltd., and is described in specification No. 168,770. It is not a, chain, in the ordinary sense of the word, being actually a rope to which the shoes of the track are secured.
There is a continuous rope upon which are a numbee of shoes, stamped out of sheet metal, and lined with wood.. Those faces of the shoes which come in contact with the ground may have projections formed on them so as to improve
their adhesive properties. The v,-obd merely serves to stiffen the shoe. At regular intervals along the rope there are clips secured to it by bolts; these clips haN'e circular flanges formed on them, and each flange fits, comparatively easily, into a groove formed on the back of the shoe and on a cap which bolts to the shoe. This clip and its cellar thus serve to locate each shoe on the rope, while, at. the same time, it allows the shoe freedom of movement, round the rope as a centre, so that it can readily accommodate itself to any inequalities in the surface of the ground. On the backs of those same portions of the shoe which enfold the clip on the rope are projec thins whiSi-engage the teeth on the driving sprocket of the track.
The advantages claimed for this construction are that it permits the shoes to move transversely about the axis of the rope, thus enabling them to adjust. themselves to the inequalities of the ground surface without placing any torsional stress on the rope or the remainder of the track, means being provided for limiting this turning movement of the shoes ; whilst at the same time it is possible to remove and replace any shoe without disturbing the remainder. Another invention, No. 168,735, by the same inventor, relates to the construction of wheels for traction, engines., It describes a wheel which comprises an ordinary wheel with a metal tyre and a supplementary rim which may be either integral with or attached to the said wheel, and carrying sectional tyres of rubber of such a size that ita overall diameter is slightly greater than that of the main wheels. .Provision is made, by the insertion of packing pieces; for maintaining the diametm of this rubber-tyred rim at approximately the same dimensions throughout the life of the rubber. The principal object of the invention is to give increased adhesion to the traction engine wheels, and, in particolar, to ensure the full width of the. wheel and rim coming into contact with cambered road A3.1
sitriaces. The constrUctio-ri Of this—wheel and rim is comparatively simple. As shown in the drawing which accompanies the specification, the rim is merely bolted to the side of the main wheel and a solid rubber tyre in sections secured to it. When the tyre becomes worn, sections of metal are slipped underneath the rubber and a...e also secured by bolts. In order to ensure that there is no gap between sections, special bolts are used with heads sufficiently large to bridge any opening which might he farmed. .
The design of traction engine wheel which is described in the course of Patent Specification No. 160,144 is better shown by the accompanying illustration than it would he by any verbal reference. There is no rim to the wheel, which has merely spokes, formed of laminated springs. At the end of these spokes are feet which are designed in conjunction with the springs and hub of the wheel, to move in contact with the
• ground in the same way as a human foot. The patentee is F. Hayn. Yet another traction wheel is the subject of No. 159,140 by Soc. Anon. Cingoli Brevetti Gue,rrini. • It is an arrangement of swivelling feet or pedals fitted to a wheel 1st such a way that when the vehicle to which the wheel is attached is travelling, one pedal does not commence to leave the ground until the next one is fully in contact with it. The shoes are attached to the wheel by pins, which pass through the wheel and take bearing in comparatively large triangular-shaped holes in lugs formed on the feet and embracing the rim of the wheel. The ar. rangement and disposition of the hales is such that considerable freedom of move
ment, bah radial aneaircuniferential, is allowed to each feet, and, as a matter of fact, the wheel actually rolls upon the upper surfaces of the pedals as they lie
upon the ground. The effect is very sinlilar.tcnthat of a track-laying machine running along 'the inside a the track shoes..
Other Patents of Interest.
In the aluminium piston which is describc,d. in No. 157,290 by 111; D. Sorel, the aluminium is cast on to cast-iron piston rings which, in the finished article, are turned to the same size as would be an ordinary cast-iron piston.
P. A. G. Bell describes in 168,608 a carburetter of the type in which the main air intake and mixing chamber are in the form of a venturi or choke tube, and the fuel nozzle or jet is arranged in a chamber located outside of and by the side of the venturi. This jet is provided with an air inlet, and opens into a passage which communicates with the:throat of the venturi, and there is also a. bypass leading from the jet to the throttle valve, having it& outlet controlled by the throttle.
No. 143,213, by G. Hamilton-Grapes, is a vaporizer for paraffin fuel. It embodies an exhaust heated jacket for a portion of the induction pipe, the entrance to this jacket for the exhaust gas being controlled by a thermostatically ,operated flap valve_
Mr. Sturmey describes in No. 168,703 a disc wheel built up of ply-wood after the manner of an aeroplane propeller. One of the objects of the invention is to
iii
crease the lateral stability of wheels of this type, and this is effected by pre. 'riding the wheel, at one or both sides, with additional layers of wood, which are subsequently turned from hub to rim, tapering in thickness.