A NEW GEARBOX.
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Résumé of Recently Published Patents.
In the gearbox which. is described in patent specification No. 140,164, by J. C. Moore, the gears are not constantly in mesh, neither do the different .gears -engage by sliding into engagement One with another, as is the most usual practice. They move into gear radially. The two shafts, main and tail, are arranged in the usual manner as may be seen on reference to the drawing. The tail shaftis epigottsd, at its front end, in therther. The Main shaft carries a pinion ati'its rear end; and a similar pinion,' of the same size, is fixed to the adjacent end of the tail shaft. The rest of the box is very similarin arrangement to the ordinary gearbox, with one outstanding exception, the gears on the main and countershafts are not in engagement, but are spaced apart a considerable distance. Pivoted on the layshaft are a number of arms, which carry idle -wheels. By swinging the arms, which swinging is effected through the medium of thesueual chaneeespeed lever acting on sets-of cams, the idle wheels, each of which is emmeshed with one of the wheels on the layshaft, are brought. into engagement with the wheels on the main or tail shaft, thus causing the transmission to operate in the usual way, but through the idle wheels 'instead of freM main shaft to layehaft-and leyshaft to tall shaft by direct • engagement-of the gears on thuse.shafts. Top gear, is achieved By bringing into engagement a. wide-, idle wheel which. couples together the twoadjecent pinions on the ends of the main and tail shafts. The reverse is simply accomplished': by having a pair of idle wheels on one of the swinging arms which reverses the motion of the last wheel in the set then engaged.
Disposition of Batteries.'
Effective disposal of the battery on an electric vehicle so that it shall be out of the way, and.yet be available for inspectiori from time to time without much difficulty., has 'always been a trouble to the designers of that type of motor vehicle. As a rule; it has been placed beneath the °hassle, Me has been divided, part going beneath the frame and part under what would have been, in the case of a petrol chassis, the bonnet, In he former eases it. is not se accessible as itmight he, and dit he latter, although the disposition has advantages in another direction, it appears to add to the inaccessibility of the one the inconvenience of having a divided battery. K. H. 0. Lubeck claims to 'have devised a method of storing it which overcomes both the , defects of the two methods queted above; besides having several advantages of its own. . He describes the arrangement in specification No. 123,767.
. The frame of the chassis is given an upward turn towards the front end, starting from a point immediately behind the driver's seat, or thereabouts, according to the size and shapelof the battery which
is to be accommodated. 'Within the frame, and supported by it, is a 'light rectangular structure Which carries the battery. It is obvious, of course thatsthe batteries, so s arranged will 'have to be much deeper than is customary, otherwise it would Rot be po.ssible tei,carry sufficient licuaiel to cover the electrodes. Alternatively, they could be serried within the framework, but arranged -vertically and step by step. within it. Access.. is easy, through trap doors under the driver's feet, and also by lifting the cover which takes, the place of a bonnet in the ordinary car The specification also describes a convenient arrangement of motor•and driving gear to conform with -this design of
chassis, and battery. •
Detail Improvements.
The carburetter, which is the subject of spbeifieation No. 140,198 has at least the merit of being Simple. The jet' enters at the side of the choke tube, and also communicates by a narrow passage to the pilot. jet which is placed on the englue side of the throttle valve. When the throttle is closed this passage serves to convey Air to the pilot jet. . The patentee is G. H. Jones.
In No. 140,131 a method of attaching a gudgeon pin to the connecting rod is described. The piston bosses are cut away above the pin; andthe connecting rod boss similarly shortened above the pill, so drat each opposes the greater surface where the load is greater. 'Elie boss of the connecting rod. is split, and the actual fastening 'of the pin to the rod is by means of a. bolt which tightens the split base on the pin and at the seine time fits a prepared groove in the latter and prevents it from turning. The patentee is M. J. B. Barbarou.
An ingenious construction of starting handle is described in specificatien No. 140,296 by H. Bevir, The lever of the handle is in twoparts' one of which slides upon the other. The inner part is .splined ; the outer is grooved to fit those splines. A spring catch holds the two parts in proper 'relation one to the other when the handleis in use. The object is that of preventing unauthorized
use of thesar. .
No. 140,150 concerns non-skid chains, ,There are two chains, which run Joned. the sides of the tyre, and these are _coupled togetherby a. number of short S.ross.chainS which are seconstructed as easily to be retrieved or assembled in place.' The patEntee is A.A. 'Thornton. A safety starting handle is patented by E. Boa and another in No. 128,923. The starting lever is coupled to a lease plate, which is freely mounted on the .shaft of the starting handle. A yawl holds' this plate in proper relation to the handle, and the positive force -for starting istransmitted by a roller, mounted on' the lever of the.handle, and engaging with one or other of several . _ notches in a plate which is keyed to the shafts proper.
The petrol feeding device which is described in No. 140,300 is useful in connection with' apparatusfor supplyingfuel to a petrol and air gas plant. A spoon, on a swinging lever, is reciprocated, by a ratchet gear driven from some regularly moving part of the plant. It dips inte the petrol and supplies a predetermined
quantity of liquid on each stroke.