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Intensive Production of CHASS I SLESS BUSES

29th October 1948
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Page 34, 29th October 1948 — Intensive Production of CHASS I SLESS BUSES
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BEFORE the war, the Societe des Usines Chausson made 80 per cent, of all radiators fitted to French motor vehicles, private and commercial. During recent years, however. the Chausson concern, now linked with Chenard et Waicker. one of the classic names in French automobile history, has turned its attention to the quantity procinction of a staeciard passenger vehicle, designed chiefly for

inter-urban services. .

Chausson employs 8,000 hands and claims that its production of. 12 to 14 complete buses per day, when working two shifts, or six to seven with one shift, is the largest in Europe

45 Sitting : 50 Standing

The Chausson vehicle is a 45-seater with standing space for 50 extra passengers, but so roomy is the interior that on a test run, 140 people were

recently carried in . one. Integral chassis and body construction is employed and the vehicle is powered by a Panhard 80 h.p. oil engine, or. to special order, by a Hotchkiss 90 h.p. petrol unit. The latter was designed originally for tight Tank work.

A five-speed gearbox is built up in unit formation with the engine, and transmission arrangements are on classic lines.. Weight distribution in relation to load carried has been carefully studied to get an equal load on front and rear axles, and to avoid the necessity of fitting twin rear tyres.

'[he compressed-air system looks after the Westinghouse braking, servo steering, door operation and tyre inflation, whilst Michelin indicators on the facia board allow a driver to check the pressure in the rear tyres at any

time.

The box-form tubular front axle is e-12

built up from steel plate, arc-welded. but steel castings are used for the rearaxle-casing assembly, including the torque tube. The last-mentioned is a particularly well-designed and light casting. This complete assembly, including wheels and tyres, weighs just over 18 cwt., and the weight of the complete vehicle, unladen, is about 6 tans 2 cwt.

At the invitation of the directors, I visited the Chausson factory at Gentlevilliers. near Paris. and saw the assembly line in full operation. The former Chenard et Walcker works there has been completely re-tooled for this special work, and some of the constructional methods employed by the Societe Chausson are distinctly interesting.

One may be accustomed to the sight of mass-produced private cats moving along an assembly line in various stages of completion, but this is something much more impressive, for 45-seater coaches, with integral chassis-body construction, travel along at almost the same speed.

Steel pressings arrive at Gennevilliers from the Chausson plant at Meudon, to the west of Paris, and construction of each chassis-body unit begins on a series of enormous jigs. Hand' controlled spot-welding by French Suaky electric-welding machines is employed throughout the process.

Floors and wheel-arches are erected first on a revolving jig and are passed on to a travelling jig, Op which sides and ends are built up. Meanwhile, on a parallel assembly line, complete roofs are built, also by electric spot-welding, and as each roof is finished, an electric crane lifts it, turns it over and places it on the partly constructed bus alongside.

Electric welders get busy, and the bus moves to a point at which front and rear-axle assemblies are installed. Here. the vehicle is lifted by twin hydraulic rams, and the axles are run beneath it on trolleys. the rear-axle assembly carrying with it transmission arrange

merits, ready to link up with the gearbox. Works wheels are fitted and the vehicle can now be pushed-to another assembly line, where external panelling., internal equipment, seating and so forth are installed.

A thick coating of sound-insulation material is applied to the irner panelling, followed by an anti-rust spray and painting, before the outer skinis fixed. impregnated water proof tape is used in fitting the outer panels, supplemented over the wheel-arch sections by thick felt strips. Meanwhile, seating and internal equipment are in process of installation, while the bus moves on to the paint section.

An interesting feature of this department is the use of special lighting and ventilation plant while paint is being sprayed on the interior panelling. The vehicle is run between two long panels which cover the still unglazed windows. In these panels, electric lamps are housed behind ground-glass discs, and above them there are aspirator slots. through which the paint fumes can be drawn off

Even Light for Painting .

The lighting scheme is designed to shut off all reflections from the exterior and provide an. even, diffused light inside the body, so that the paint-spray operator can see exactly what he i., doing.

Although Chausson vehicles are standard in design; there are three grades otinternal equipment and finish. One is used in town buses, for which the finish is plain, but good. Another grade is employed for vehicles intended for suburbaa or. relatiâ– ely short-range 'inter-urban work, and a third for coaches.

While_ watching the bodies in course

of construction, I noticed that, despite the rapid work, great attention was paid to those small details that mean so' much in promoting long life. All screws employed are of light alloy, brass or parkerized steel, and all points at which there is the slightest chance of moisture penetrating between outer and inner skins are plugged with waterproof plastic material.

Installing the engine is the last operation of all on the assembly line, and thereafter the vehicle goes out on road test. Next, it goes to a special plant for mechanical jobs and then to amither for paintwork and general finish

A particularly useful feature of the Chausson design is the rapidity with which the power group can be dis

mounted and reinstalled. It is claimed that in regular service, an engine can be taken out and replaced by a spare unit in well under two hours.

Although numbers of these vehicles are being exported, the home tharket in France absorbs a great many. One concern alone. the Std. Gaerale des Transports Dcpartmentaux, has between 300 and 400 already in service.

A feature of Chausson buses is the provision of an ample luggage grid on the roof. All who have travelled at any time on French country bus services will realize the need for this. Passengers carry an amazing assortment of objects with them—bicycles, crates of live chickens, sacks of vegetables and so forth.

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Locations: Paris

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