THE CHARABUS.
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A Résumé of Recently Published Patents.
THE DODSON Charabus was exhibited at the last Commercial Vehicle Show, and was fairly fully described by us on that occasion. It is, however, sufficiently interesting to justify a further Deference in connection 'with the patent specification which has Just made its appearance. It is, we may remind our readers, a form of motor coach body which may readily be eonNrerted from an open touring body into a fully and properly enclosed single-deck bus body, and, as the specification states, "when used as one type of vehicle, the retained features peculiar to the other. type are not unduly prominent."
Arranged as an open motor coach, this Charabus may be distinguished by its possession of a permanent covered shelter for the driver and the conductor. The
former sits behind a windscreen and under •a canopy, which ie open behind, so that, in the absence of any provision to the contrary, the driver sits to a certain extent amongst the passengers. The conductor is housed in the rear Portion, which has a. permanent roof, is closed at the back and sides, but Open towards the front and in direct communication with the mainportion of the vehicle. The seats are arranged, as .shown` in one of the accompanying -illustrations, crosswise, a central gangway being left. This gangway may, if desired, lee progressively closed by gangway seats in the wellknown manser. The only doorways are -provided in the permanent front and rear structures.
The roof of the front canopy and of the rear portion are connected by a permanent beam, the cross-section of which is an inverted T. In the transverse beams which form the edges of the front and rear structures T-shaped slots are cut to accommedate the heads of bolts which support displaceable cant rails, which, when the vehicle is being used as
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an open coach, lie snugly on each side of the central beam, which hides them. When it is desired to cover the coach, these cant rails are slid down to their normal position, spreading, as they .do so, a waterproof cover over the whole roof of the vehicle. The cant rails are supported by pillars, which, when not in use, are turned down and housed in a groove in the upper surface of each waist rail. These pillars, when erected, serve also as window frames, and help to support windows which are drawn up from suitable recesses, in which they lie hid when not required. With the cant rails and waterproof covers down, and the windows up, the coach is totally enclosed, and becomes neither more nor less than an ordinary single-deck bus.
Further particulars of construction:1 details of this interesting example of motor coach bodywork are given in the specification, No, 185,915, by C, Dodson, to which readers are referred.
Other Patents of Interest.
A. J. E. Joubert describes, in No. 185,975, a novel method of suspension. On each axle two stiff horizontal bars are fixed, one near each wheel. To the underside of the liar three tension springs are hooked, and each of therm is attached at the lower end to a projecting bracket in the frame, which is, therefore, suspended from the two axles by 12 of these e Suitable coupling rods are pro. 'sided to take care of the torque and thrust.
The Wolseley invention which is the subject of specification No. 185,959 has as its object the provision of means for the regulation of the flow of oil from the engine oil pump, so that the supply may readily be adjusted in accordance with requirements. The oil is first fed to one of the bearings, either of the crankshaft or camshaft, and there enters a duct which is, to all intents and purposes, a groove in the outer surface of the bearing bush, This groove is of varying depth, its wall being, as a matter of fact, eccentric to the main surface of the bush. Thus the effective erosssectional area of the passage, at the point where the oil enters or leaves, may be set within limits as desired when the bearing is erected. If the oil supply be found to be too meagre or too plentiful, the bearing may be turned round one way or the ether until. the correct setting be found.
An improved, design of pressed-steel axle is described in No. 185,997, by the Societe ' Anon. Forges de Belleoourt. The whole of the axle casing is formed homogeneously and exclusively of pressed steel parts of varying thickness, as few as possible in number, which are as. sembled by autogenous. welding. The variation in the thickness of the steel allows of the machining of those parts -that need to he machined, and provides increased strength in these parts that . have to resist, greater stresses. nach half shell of the axle is pressed integrally with two half-end plates, which . form the brake supports.; The central .part, of.the casing is reinforced by :a pressed-steel lining, which is welded to .the said central -portion, and .prolonged at right-angles to the casing to form a torque member.
M. E. Magrath .fite a union into the inside of the contact breaker cover, that, when the magneto is so located that a direct view .of the contact breaker is difficult, or impossible, its working and condition may be inspected by looking at its reflection in the mirror. His invention IS described in specification No. 185,928.
One solution of the difficulty of finding space in a city for standing ears is afforded by L. L. Moe, in an invention which is described in No. 185,941, in which reference is made to a garage constructed so that it offers a maximum number of floors in a given height, access to all floors being by a circular ramp.
A. T. Hughes in No. 185,911 claims' to .facilitate the enkagement of spur gears, when slid endways into mesh, by formin,g one of them with a halfwhich is free to revolve slightly in regard to the other half, with which it is connected by springs. Upon engagement the ." semifree" half of the wheel accommodates itself to the engaging wheel, and, being brought into line with the other half be the action of the springs, guides the sliding wheel into proper and full engagement.
T. L. Courtney, in No. 186,961, describes a flexible wheel in which the connection between hub and felloe is by cables and pulleys.