Steering the Axles of Semi-trailers
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'ATENT No. 893,404 refers to semitrailers having two axles at the rear and deals with a method of steering the leading one. The scheme is particularly applicable to trailers having automatic
fifth-wheel coupling devices. FeIburn, 4160 West Broad Street, Columbus. Ohio. U.S.A.)
The drawing shows a plain view of such a trailer, the rearmost axle being omitted, however. The leading. axle shown is centrally pivoted to permit swivelling and is connected by a pair of steering rods (I) to a plate (2). This plate is coupled to the fifth-wheel disc (3) of the tractor.
When the tractor corners, the relative rotation moves the rods and swings the axle to a suitable angle, the ratio being
controlled by the difference in 'centredistance of the front and rear pivots.
The pivot of the trailer axle is preferably located slightly ahead of the axle to create a castor. action. The patent contains 15 drawings illustrating various forms of the scheme.
Rear Loading Scheme
pATENT No. 893,596 refers to heavy machinery transporters and other vehicles which load at the rear from ground level. The subject of the patent is a Means of swinging the rear wheels clear of the platform without manhandling. (H. Langendorf, Hochstrasse 29, Waltrop in Westfalia, Germany.)
The plan view in the drawing shows the two pairs of rear wheels (I) in the intermediate position. The wheels are mounted on girders attached to ball-bearing turntables (2). The two turntables are geared together by teeth (3) so that they swing symmetrically. The wheels are also pivoted at the points (4).
The arms can be swung outwardly by' backing the vehicle and conversely, forward movement returns them to the running position. Locking devices are provided for both positions. The wheel sets may be made detachable in the conventional manner if this is considered desirable in dealing with particularly heavy loads.
The turntable pivots arc preferably inclined at a small angle to the vertical so that the back of the vehicle is lowered to the ground as the arms swing outwards.
Low-friction Piston
AL1GHT-ALLOY piston having low frictional properties is shown in patent No. 893,659. The novel feature is the provision of bands of bearing metal of the lead-tin type. These are located at the points where the heaviest contact is made on the cylinder wall. The patentee is A. Banquerel and others, 13 Calle de. Ia Cuesta, Barcelona, Spain.