GB479814A - Improvements in or relating to wheeled vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

479,814. Motor vehicles ; endless track vehicles. ALVIS-STRAUSSLER, Ltd., and STRAUSSLER, N. April 16, 1937, No. 10927. [Classes 79 (i), 79 (ii), and 79 (iii)] [Also in Group XXXII] In an endless-track or wheeled vehicle each driving wheel 16 is carried on a bogie pivoted at 28 on a bracket 26, each bogie comprising a hollow arm 30, which contains the final drive gears and on which the wheel is mounted, and another arm 31 also pivoted at 28 which carries an idler wheel or ground roller 20 and is connected by spring or cushioning means 33 to the main arm 30, so that the two arms are deflected relatively to each other by downward pressure on the pivot. Endless tracks 14 may be passed over the driving and idler wheels as shown, adjustable rollers 60 being movable up and down by rack gear to tension the tracks. There may be driving wheels at front and rear as shown in Fig. 1, or at the front only as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In the latter construction the rear pairs of wheels 21, 24 are mounted on bogies or beams 44 pivoted at 45 on cranked arms 46 which are connected by torsion bars 47 to a differential gear 48 having a stationary central part. Thus, when the wheels at one side rise over an obstacle the torsion springs tend to press down the wheels at the opposite side, so that the vehicle body remains level. The pivots 28 of the driving wheel bogies are nearer the idler wheel centres than the driving wheel centres, so that the load is greater on the idler wheels than on the driving wheels, in order to facilitate steering. Stops 39, 40 limit the movement of the bogie arms 30. In order to impose extra load on the driving wheels when desired, the idler wheels 20 may be raised clear of the ground by means of eyebolts 41, Fig. 5, pivoted to the arms 31 and adjusted by nuts 43 engaging fixed brackets 42. Alternatively, an additional spring may be caused to act with adjustable pressure on each arm 30. The vehicle is driven by two engines 12, 13 each driving the wheels or tracks at one side of the vehicle through a clutch and gearbox, a transfer gear-box 35 which may include change speed, or reversing or differential gear, and universal joints 36. In cases of emergency either engine may be arranged to drive both sides of the vehicle. Steering is effected by varying the speeds of the two engines. Each driving wheel has two flanges 50, 51, secured together by bolts 56 and gripping a solid rubber tyre 52 between them. Pins 55 on the flanges engage the links of the endless track. When the tyre tread becomes worn shims 53, 54 between the flanges are removed, and the increased pressure of the flanges deforms the tyre and causes it to project beyond the flanges again.