Au Italian "Front Driver. I I
Page 22
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A Sell-contained Fore-carriage which may be Adapted to any Horse-drawn Vehicle.
The useful list of patents compiled by Mr. J. S. Critchiey,
as his contribution to ale papers on the subject ci" Front Driving," read recently beforethe Incorporated InsLitution of Mechanical Engineers, shows that a great amount cl thought and ingenuity has been brought to bear on this question of transmitting electrical or mechanical power to the front wheels of a motor vehicle. Many new schemes have recently been presented to the Patent Office authorities both in this country and abroad., and one
these, the " constructed by the Societa Anoriima Ligure Romana, of Genoa, has taken practical shape, and two fore-carriages, built to this company's designs, are now in London for demonstration purposes. The name " E.R.A.M." is derived from the words Fad ricazione Rotabili Avantreoi Motori.
Mr. G. Froissard, of 152, Fleet Street, E.C., who is temporarily looking after the interests of this Italian company, gave a representative cf " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR " an opportunity of trying one of these fore-carriages attached to an ordinary horsedrawn victoria, in order that he might judge of the behaviour of the power unit in busy London traffic, After travelling through many of the busy City streets, at the busiest hour of the day, our representative was convinced of the smoothness of its running, and a later examination of the mechanical details showed the practicability of the design.
The first of our accompanying illustrations shows the fore-carriage detached from its trailing vehicle, and it is tilted in order to show the disposition of the motors, the controller, and the casings which enclose the spur-gear drive to the front wheels. The battery is contained within the box-shaped bonnet which surmounts the frame of this fore-carriage, and the series
parallel controller (A) is situated horizontally below the battery, and is
operated from the driver's seat bv. means of the lever (B). The two motors are spring mounted, and, on theend of the armature shafts, spur pinions are keyed, and these mesh with large spur rings on the front road wheels. The inner surfaces of the spur rings serve as brake drums for expand-. ing, brake blocks of large diameter. These brakes are balanced, and are operated by means of the pedal (C.). The steering gear of this fore-carriage is shown in our small illustration, and consists of a bevel wheel (D), which is keyed to the lower end of the steering spindle, and this bevel wheel meshes with the smaller bevel that is fixed on one end of a worm shaft. The worm meshes with a worm quadrant (E), and this causes the whole of the forecarriage to turn about a central pivot ; the positions of the steering column, brake pedals, and controller lever, relative to the position of the body, always remaining the same. .11_rather interesting feature about the steering of this fore-carriage is its inter-cennec_ tion with the controller in such a way that, when turning round a corner, the inside wheel is driven by its motor at a reduced speed.
This system of driving by means .of. an independent, self-contained forecarriage has been somewhat extensively employed, with satisfactory results, by this company, and the illustration at the foot of this page shows such a unit fitted to a three-ton goods wagon, which has been in the service of the Italian army.