US1189219A - Safety mechanism for vehicles. - Google Patents

Description

F. U. MORTON.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION man MAYH. 1915.

1,189,219. Patented June 27,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET lo u /4-- o 0 O o 52 25 27 E6 0 O o I In H; H /7 o I Q0 d o o I I H 1, r 9 /8 @As 9 o o o,

a a o Q q 6 I Q v o q o' wrmzss: o lo H mvsu'ron. a I 4mm ATTORNEY THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (30., WASHINGTON, D. C.

F. U. MORTON. SA E v MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES. CATIOH FILED MAYH. 1915. 1,189,219.

F. U. MORTON. SAFETY MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAYH. 191s.

1 1 89,2 1 9. Patented June 27, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

z I INVEN-TO/R.

WITNESS:

THE COLUMBIA PMNMRAPN co, WASHINGTON. o. c l

FRANK U. I'IIORTON, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1916.

Application filed May 11, 1915. Serial No. 27,308.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK U. MORTON, a citizen of the United States, and residing in the city of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements in Safety Mechanism for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in a new and improved antiskid device for power-driven and other vehicles.

The object in view is the prevention of skidding or lateral slipping on a slippery roadway or in taking curves or corners. This end is obtained by the provision of sharpened spikes or pins, normally retracted within the perimetral line of the vehicle wheel but extendible, when required, to engage the roadway. Means are provided whereby the chauffeur may extend or retract said pins at will. Means are also provided whereby said pins are automatically extended to engage the roadway when the front and rear wheels of the vehicle lose their alinement, as when a corner is turned or the vehicle skids, the pins being automatically retracted when the vehicle straightens out again. Means are also provided for throwing said automatic control means out of and into operation, as may be desired.

Other novel features of structure and arrangement of parts will appear from the fol lowing description.

In the accompanying drawings, which are however merely intended to illustrate a practical embodiment of my invention and not to limit the scope of the same to the construction shown, Figure l is a plan view showing my invention applied to the chassis of an automobile, the pins being extended; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the inner face of one of the driving wheels, the face plate being removed to show the parts and the pins being retracted; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the lowermost pins extended; Fig. 4 is a section along the line IVIV in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of one of the pins and its mounting; Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the operative parts shown in Fig. 1 as they are when the pins are retracted; Fig. 7 is a section along the line VIIVII in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the T- shape locking plate and lift rod; Fig. 9 is a front elevation of the rock shaft showing its connection with the steering rod, and Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail of the worm drum.

The following is a detailed description of the drawings:

A is the front axle, B the front wheels, C the rear axle, D the rear or driving wheels, and F the driving shaft of a power-vehicle.

E is the differential, the motor and speed gears being omitted for the sake of clearness.

The frame of the vehicle is indicated by the side bars 1 and the cross bars 2 and 3.

The wheels are shown fitted with pneumatic tires 4 mounted on a conventional form of rim 5, but it will be understood that my invention may be equally well applied to a vehicle with solid tires.

G is an annular casing secured, as by lugs 6 to the inner face of the rim 5 of the driving wheels D, the outer perimeter of said casing being of somewhat less diameter than the tread of the tire 4: when the latter is infiated. The perimeter of said casing G is preferably provided with a solid rubber tread or tire 7 so that when the pneumatic tire 4 is deflated or punctured, the tire 7 will contact with the roadway and the veliiole may proceed on its travel and carry the oac The perimeter of the casing G is provided with a plurality of spaced apart radial holes or sockets 8 in which pins 9 are slidingly mounted, the outer ends of said pins being sharpened or pointed, as shown. The inner ends of said pins are bifurcated and pivoted to the slotted ends of levers 10 whose other ends are pivoted between twin lugs 11 mounted on the casing G, The levers 10 are provided withtwin lugs 12 near their connections with the pins 9, between which lugs are journaled the antifriction rollers 13. It is evident that a downward pressure on the roller 13 will cause its pin 9 to be extended through the perimeter of easing G beyond the perimeter of the tire 4; to engage the road surface.

14 is a spring member interposed between the lever 10 and the perimeter of the casing G to normally retain the pin 9 in its retracted position and to retract the same when the pressure, to be described, -is relieved from the roller 13.

H is a bracket which is rigidly clamped to the axle G adjacent to each driving wheel D. Thus said bracket is stationary and does not revolve with the adjacent wheel. 15 and 16 are a pair of toothed intermeshing sectors journaled on spur shafts on said bracket H.

17 is a radial arm rigidly attached to the sector 15 to whose outer end is pivoted one end of a cam member I whose other end is pivoted to a rigid arm 18 of the bracket II.

It is evident that when the sector 15 is rotated into the position shown in Fig. 2, the cam member I is raised and the pins 9 are retracted, but when the sector 15 is rotated into the position shown in Fig. 3, said cam member is depressed, pressing down on the rollers 13 of the lowermost pins, extending the latter into engagement with the road surface. As the wheel turns, the pins 9, as they assume the lowermost position, move under and are depressed by the cam member I, retracting again as they are carried up on the other side. Thus by depressing cam member I into the position shown in Fig. 3 the pins as they descend will engage and dig into the road surface, while the elevation of said cam member, as shown in Fig. 2, will permit all of the pins to remain retracted.

19 is a radial lever rigidly secured to the sector 16.

21 is an annular closure or plate which may be removably attached to the inner face of the casing G, as by set screws 22.

The levers 19 of each power wheel are at their outer ends twisted at right angles and provided with longitudinally slotted holes 23 through which loosely pass the rearwardly extending arms 2% of a substantially U-shape rod 25. The ends of said arms 2% are threaded to receive nuts 26 and 27 are springs coiled about said arms 24: between the levers 19 and said nuts. By adjusting the position of the nuts 26 the tension or strength of said springs may be adjusted or regulated, as required.

28 is a connecting rod leading from the rod 25 to the brake treadle 29, and 30 is a similar rod connecting the rod 25 to a second treadle 31, so that when the chauffeur applies the foot brake he may also throw the antiskid pins into their extended position, or by using the treadle 31 he may extend the pins without applying the foot brake. It is evident that the drawing forward of the rod 25 by use of one of the treadles will rotate the sectors 15 and 16 from their position. shown in Fig. 2 into the position shown in Fig. 3, thus throwing the pins into their ex tended or operative position. As soon as pressure is relieved from the treadle, the

springs l twill retract the pins into their inoperative position. Other means for automatically restoring the pins to their re tracted position will be described later. By tightening the nuts 26, and thus stiffening the springs 27, the force exerted in depressing the cam member I may be increased to suit the character of the vehicle and its burden. 'When one or more of the extended pins impinges upon a stone or a surface which it cannot enter, its upward pressure against the cam member I will elevate the latter temporarily, compressing the spring 27, thus permitting the pinv to retract and preventing bouncing.

While I have shown the cams I operatively connected with the foot brake treadle, I prefer to provide a separate treadle 31 for the antiskid device so that the chauffeur may operate the antiskid device without applying the brakes and vice versa.

I will now proceed to describe the means provided for the automatic operation of the antiskid mechanism whenever the steering and driving wheels lose their alinement, as in the case of skidding, or turning curves or corners.

32 is a connecting rod having its rear end pivotally attached to the U-shape rod 25 and which extends forwardly through the slot 33 in the cross bar 2. The forward end of rod 32 is bent at right angles to form a finger 34 which is adapted to engage a worm thread 35 of a drum J rigidly mounted upon and rotating with the main shaft F. When the finger 34; engages the thread 35 the rotation of the drum. J will draw the rod forwardly and with it the rod 25. thus depressing the cam members I and extending the pins 9. The finger 341 will travel forwardly until it passes out of the front end of the thread 35 and will be prevented from retreat by the end of the drum, a spring shutter 35 being provided to prevent the reentrance of the finger into the thread. Thus the antiskid mechanism is held in its opera tive position.

36 is a spring having one end attached to the rod 32 and coiled about said rod, the other end of said spring bearing against the rear face of the cross bar 2, thus tending to throw and hold the cams I normally in their raised or inoperative position. A second but weaker spring, 37, is secured to and coiled about the rod 32 on the other side of the bar 2 and bears against said bar, thus cushioning the action of the stronger spring and preventing too abrupt action or hammering.

38 is a cross head fixed on the cross bar 3 and 39 is a collar loosely mounted on the rod 40 is coiled spring interposed between said cross head and said collar and normally holding the finger 34 out of contact with the drum J.

41 i the connecting or reach rod of the steering apparatus connecting the knuckles of the wheels 13.

42 is a shaft rotatably journaled loosely in a bracket 43 mounted on a portion of the vehicle frame, not shown. The forward end of shaft 42 is provided with a. rigid depending arm 44 provided with a longitudinal slot at its outer end by means of which it is pivotally connected to an upwardly extending lug 45 on the steering rod 41. It is evident that as the rod 41 moves longitudinally, as the steering wheels are turned in either direction in relation to the power wheels, the shaft 42 will be rocked or rotated accordingly.

46 is a double cam of arc shape rigidly mounted on shaft 42 to turn therewith adj acent to the rod 32, and when said shaft 42 is rocked in either direction by the steering rod 41, the cam 46 will turn therewith and by engagement with the rod 32 throws the finger 34 intoengagement with the worm thread 35 of the drum J, thus causing the antiskid pins to be automatically set by the cam members I, as described. It is thus evident that any substantial variation of the steering wheels from alinement with the driving wheels will cause the antiskid mechanism to be thrown into and held in operation.

The rear end of the shaft 42 is loosely journaled in a bracket 47 which is slidingly mounted on the cross bar 3. 48 is a strong coiled spring interposed between said bracket and the cross head 38, forcing the shaft 42 toward the rod 32 so that the cam 46 will contact with the rod 32.

As it is not desirable to at all times automatically operate the antiskid mechanism when the steering and driving wheels lose their alinement, I provide the following mechanism to throw said automatic mechanism out of operation when desired: 49 is a bell-crank-lever, having its angle pivoted to a part of the vehicle body, as at 50, and its lower end slotted to permit the extension therethrough of the rock shaft 42. The upper arm of lever 49 is pivotally connected to the lower end of a pull rod 51 which extends up through a T-shape slot 52 in the vehicle body. The rod 51 is provided with a cross pin 53 which will pass up through the head of the T-slot but not through the stem thereof. Thus by raising the rod 51 so that the pin 53 rises above the head of the slot and then moving said rod into the shank of said slot, the pin 53 will lock said pull rod in its raised position. The raising of the pull rod 51 turns the bell crank lever 49 and draws the rear end of the rock shaft 42 away from the rod 32 so that the cam 46 will not contact with the latter. Thus the rotation of the shaft 42 by. the steering apparatus will not tend to force the finger 34 into contact with the worm thread 35 of the drum J. When the pull rod 51 is unlocked from the slot 52, the spring 48 will at once throw the shaft 42 into its original or normal position with the cam 46 in contact with the rod 32. It is thus evident that the automatic control of the antiskid mechanism may be thrown into or out of operation at the will of the chauffeur.v It is thus evident that my antiskid mechanism may be operated automatically by the movement of the car as any lateral skidding or movement of either the front or rear wheels will cause the shaft 42 to rock and thus force the finger 34 into engagement with the drum J. This automatic control may be thrown into or out of commission, as may be desirable or necessary, or the antiskid mechanism may be operated by the chaufieur as desired.

What I desire to claim is .1. A nonskid device for power-driven vehicles comprising means carried by the vehicle adapted to be extended to engage the road surface, mechanism operated by the power of said vehicle adapted to extend said first mentioned means, and means whereby when the front and rear wheels of the vehicle lose their alinement said mechanism is brought into operative engagement with said first mentioned means.

2. A nonskid device for power-driven vehicles comprising means carried by the vehicle adapted to be extended to engage the road surface, a member operated by the power mechanism of the vehicle adapted to throw said means into their extended position, means whereby when the front and rear wheels of the vehicle lose their alinement said member is operatively connected with said first mentioned means, and means whereby when said wheels regain their alinement said first mentioned means are automatically retracted.

3. In combination with a vehicle wheel and its axle, a nonskid device for said wheel comprising radially mounted pins carried by said wheel resiliently retained in retracted position but adapted to be extended to engage the road surface, a cam member having its forward end pivotally supported at a fixed point from and in advance of said axle, a lever having its inner end pivotally supported from said axle and having its outer end pivotally connected to the rear end of said cam member, and means for depressing the outer end of said lever, whereby said cam member may be depressed to engage and force the lowermost of said pins into their extended position.

4. In combination with a vehicle Wheel and its axle, a nonskid device for said Wheel comprising radially mounted pins carried by said Wheel resiliently retained in retracted position but adapted to be extended to en gage the road surface, a cam member having its forward end pivotally supported at a fixed point from the a-Xle, a toothed sector journaled from said axle, a second toothed sector journaled from said axle and meshing with said first sector, pivotal connection between the other end of said cam member and said second sector, and operative means for rotating said first sector, for the purposes described.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Penna, this 3rd day of May, 1915.

FRANK U. MORTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C."

Images