GB811146A - Improvements in or relating to tractor-trailer combinations - Google Patents

Abstract

811,146. Driving trailer wheels. BROWN TRACTORS (ENGINEERING) Ltd., D. Aug. 3, 1956 [Aug. 18, 1955, Aug. 31, 1955], Nos. 23785/55 and 24946/55. Class 79(2) A trailer vehicle has some or all of its wheels a driven from a tractor p.t.o. through respective free - wheel mechanisms k each associated with an individual wheel a, at a speed giving somewhat slower traction than the tractor driving wheels. The drive is transmitted to wheels a by a cardan shaft (not shown), propeller shaft d, spur gears f, bevel gears g, driving axle and free-wheel mechanisms k, the drive ratio of the spur gears f being arranged such that when wheel spin occurs on the tractor the p.t.o. catches up with the over-running free-wheel mechanisms to drive the trailer wheels, the spur gears f being interchangeable to alter the drive ratio when oversize tractor tyres are used. In tractors in which the p.t.o. speed is directly proportional to engine speed the ratio of gears f may be such that the freewheel -mechanism k transmit drive only when the engine speed is high relative to that of the tractor driving wheels. In a modification, Fig. 2 not shown, the free-wheel mechanisms are mounted inboard on half-shafts; the free-wheel mechanisms may be of a suitable form, an example is given in Fig. 3, not shown. In the second Provisional Specification a single freewheel mechanism is interposed between the cardan shaft from the tractor p.t.o and the differential mechanism through which drive is transmitted to the trailer wheels.