US1191293A

US1191293A - Automobile fire apparatus.

Info

Publication number: US1191293A
Application number: US72168212A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herman G Farr
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1912-09-21
Filing date: 1912-09-21
Publication date: 1916-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 1933-07-18

Description

H. G. FARR.

AUTOMOBILE FIRE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION HLEDSEPT- 21. 1912.

1,191,293. Patented July is, 1916.

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Ins NORRIS I'L'TERS no" mmmumc. muuuvcmm n cy H. G. FARR.

AUTOMOBILE FIRE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2|, I912- Patented July 18, 1916.

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HERMAN e. FARR, or srmncrrnrn, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMOBILE FIRE APPARATUS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 21, 1912. Serial No. 721,682.

To all whom it may concern: a j

-Be it known that I, HERMAN G. FARR, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automobile Fire Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to self-propelled fire apparatus of an improved nature.

At the present time the fire departments of large cities are generaly concerned in a thorough renewing of their equipment, whereby to do away with the horse-drawn vehicles and adapt the motor-driven vehicles to their use. In this change from the old type to the new type of apparatus, great improvements have been made but, in taking advantage of these improvements, serious disadvantages have arisen, which were not present in the old type of apparatus. Chief among these disadvantages has been the difficulty of guiding the faster moving vehicles through congested traffic, where short quick turns must be made to avoid accidents while maintaining the desired speed. Heretofore,

automobile fire engines, due to the arrange: ment of the necessary equipment thereon, have required a much longer wheel-base than the old horse-drawn engine. The longer wheel-base apparatus driven at great speed has presented acute problems of manipulation.

Applicant has devised a motor-driven fire engine to overcome the difficulties referred to. This fire engine embodies an entire and radical rearrangement of elements, which are combined and assembled to form a vehicle of greatly shortened wheel-base and detailed improvements, whereby an apparatus is provided havingall the desired advantages and efficiency.

The object of theinvention is to provide an apparatus of the class referred to having an exceedingly short wheel-base with an arrangement of the necessary elements in the apparatus to, give improved efficiency.

With these objects in view, the invention consists in mounting the engine on the chassis; driving from the engine, through a suitable transmission; and, through driving connections from the transmission, to the rear wheels, said driving connections being arranged with respect to the Wheel-base length in overlapping relation to the driving connections from the engine and tIMlSIIllS- The overlapping relation of the driving-connections mentioned allows the full efficiency for the driving connections between the engine andtherear wheels,while,

at thesame time allowing a very material reduction of the wheel-base length.

Other detail objects of theinvention will- Patented July 18, 1916. 7

appear in the following detail description and annexed claims.

The apparatus shown in the drawings and specifically described herein is illustrative only of one and the preferred method of using applicants invention.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the assembled apparatus embodying applicants invention showing the specific arrangement of parts whereby the desiredresults are obtained. Fig. 2 is a detail view partly in section showing the clutch arrangement, whereby the operator is enabled to connect the main driving shaft with the pump shaft when the apparatus is ready to pump water. Fig.,3.is a detail view, on one side of the chassis of the method of mounting various parts in adjustable relation to the chassis. Fig. l is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, the motor of the apparatus is inclosed within the hood m and mounted substantially above the, rear axle a of the machine. An exceedingly efficient traction is thus given to the driving wheels. The crank shaft of the engine has driving connections with the transmission l arranged in a direction along the wheelbase length of the apparatus. These driving connections are indicated in Fig. 2. A suitable disk clutch g is arranged to throw these driving connections into and out of commission. The clutch g" is operated by the foot lever f mounted as shown. When the foot lever f is depressed, the clutch is thrown out of commission in a well known manner and at the same time the brake disk It is thrown into commission tostop the spinning of the driving shaft,i n a known manner. The shaft 0 (Fig. 1) is adapted to be driven by the transmission mechanism. On

frame 8. This frame 8 is best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and it is to be understood that the frame as shown in these figures is identical with a like frame on the other side of the chassis structure. The frame 8 is adjustably mounted in the manner indicated on the side supporting members of the chassis structure. On these frame pieces 8 is mounted the rear driving axle a together with the usual springs. Between the shafts a and Z) on each side of the machine, is mounted a floating strut rod u,-being connected to the supporting bearings of the shafts a. and I) by ball and socket joint and a universal joint as is usual in such strut rods. These rods, by means of the turn buckle arrangement shown, are used to distance the shafts a and Z) and, where the driving connections between these shafts consist in driving chains, this distancing feature of the strut rod is exceedingly important.

When it is desired to drive the vehicle, the clutch g is thrown into commission and the engine drives the transmission gearing. The operator sets the gears therein in the usual manner by lever z and the rear driving axle is driven by connections from the shaft 0 as follows: The sprockets on the shaft 0 are connected by suitable driving chains to corresponding sprockets on the shaft b as indicated in Figs. 3 and l. The shaft (3-, one on each side of the machine has a second sprocket wheel which is connected bya suitable driving chain to corresponding sprocket wheels on the rear axle a, so that as the shaft 0 is rotated the driving shaft a will be turned by the driving connections described, one set being on each side of the vehicle. In this arrangement, as

is clear from Fig. 1, the driving'connections from the engine extend along the wheel-base length to the transmission, while the driving connections, from the transmission gearing to the rear axle, also extend along the wheel-base length, but in the opposite direction to the driving connections first mentioned. Thus, considering the driving connections from the source of power to the rear axle, it will be seen that the connections extend along the wheel-base length in one direction to the transmission and along the wheel-base length in the opposite direction to the rear axle. Because of this overlapping arrangement, less distance along the wheel-base length is required than is usually the case, where the driving connections do not overlap but drive directly from the en.- gine arranged at the forward part of the machine and drive directly back to the rear axle through the transmission mechanism. It is in the overlapping arrangement of the driving connections that one obtains the desired short wheel-base, the importance of" which has been hereinbefore mentionedin connection with this class of apparatus.

Where the driving connections consist to a great part in chain drives, it is important to provide means for properly distancing the shafts between which the chain drives occur. Provision for this distancing of the several shafts will now be described in connection 'with the mechanism on one side of the chassis frame, it being understood that the mechanism on the other side, not shown, is the exact equivalent of that described. The shaft 0 is mounted fixedly with relation to the chassis structure.

WVhen it is desired to take up the chains or loosen the same, the turn-buckle arrangement of the strut-rod. u is operated to distance the shaft a and I), as desired. The casting 29, however, is first loosened with respect to the frame 5 to enable it to move with relation thereto. The casting p is then tightened and the adjusting device t, at the end of the chassis frame (Fig. l), is operated to move the whole frame 8 in the desired direction, which will carry the two shafts a and I) with the frame 8 as a unit and move the shafts a and b with relation to the shaft 0, thus distancing the shafts c and Z) as desired. By these operations, it will be seen that the chains can be properly adjusted to their work.

When the vehicle has been driven to a fire and it is desired to connect the engine with the pump, which is located at y (Fig. 1) the following operations take place: The gears are set to their neutral position by the lever e, the clutch g is then put out of commission and a brake device it stops the spinning' of the main driving shaft. The lever 6 is then operated to throw the clutch 7:: into commission, so that the sprocket wheel 7' will be connected to the driving shaft 2'. When this has been done, clutch g is again thrown into commission and the engine drives the pump shaft n through the clutch is and the sprocket wheel j, by means of a driving chain connection between the sprocket wheel j and the pump shaft n. The fire hose is connected to the pump at the point 10 and the hydrant is connected thereto at a point not shown. There is nothing left to do after these operations have been completed except to keep the motor operating to its full efficiency.

VVith the mechanism described in operation, it is seen that the desired results before mentioned are obtained, that is the apparatus, while embodying the advantages of any efficient fire engine apparatus, has an additional advantage of being motor-driven and having an exceedingly short wheel-base, as compared to the ordinary motor-driven fire apparatus of this nature. This is true of the vehicle whether it embodies a pumping or other apparatus. The vehicle as actually manufactured has a wheel-base four inches greater than the wheel-base length of the ordinary horse drawn engine, while the length occupied by the horses drawing the engine is entirely eliminated. The apparatus can, therefore, be driven at a high rate of speed through congested traffic and the operator can make sure quick turns which are absolutely necessary in operating this class of apparatus, if the desired speed is to be maintained.

While applicant has illustrated his invention with reference to the specific form shown in the drawings as embodying the preferred form of apparatus, the invention itself can be arranged in many specific forms without departing from the essential features as claimed.

\Vhat I claim, is:-

1. A motor-driven apparatus embodying in combination, a chassis structure, adapted to support an engine on the rear end thereof, a transmission mechanism in front of the engine and adapted to be driven therefrom by suitable driving connections including a clutch, a pump on the structure, means to drive the pump from said driving connection, a clutch to put said means into and out of operation, a rear axle mounted on the structure, driving connections from the transmission mechanism to the rear axle adapted to be operated from said transmission and arranged in overlapping relation to the driving connections first mentioned, and means to adjust the distance between said transmission and said rear axle whereby the tension of said last named driving connections may be regulated.

2. A motor-driven apparatus embodying in combination a chassis structure adapted to support an engine on the rear end thereof, a transmission mechanism mounted in front of the engine adapted to be driven therefrom by driving connections between the engine and said mechanism, an adjustable frame mounted on the chassis structure, a rear driving axle fixed to the adjustable frame, chain driving connections between the transmission mechanism and the rear axle, said chain driving connections adapted to be operated from said transmission, all constructed and arranged so that the driving connections from the engine to the rear axle allow a short wheel-base and the Copies of this patent may be obtained for'five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

adjustable frame can be moved to regulate the tension of the chain driving connection.

3. A motor-driven apparatus embodying in combination a chassis structure adapted to support an engine on the rear end thereof, a transmission mechanism in front of the engine adapted to be driven therefrom, a frame adjustably mounted on the chassis structure carrying the rear axle with suitable springs and sprocket wheels, a bracket adjustably mounted on the frame having a shaft with two sprocket wheels thereon, means for properly distancing the shaft and rear axle, a sprocket wheel fixed to the frame and adapted to be driven from the transmission mechanism, a chain connecting the last mentioned sprocket wheel with one of those on the bracket, a second chain connecting the second sprocket wheel .on the bracket with one on the rear axle, all constructed and arranged so that the bracket can move relatively to the frame by the distancing means and the frame can be moved as awhole after the sprockets carried thereby are distanced to properly distance them with respect to the sprocket wheel fixed to the frame, all for the ,purpose described.

4. A motor-driven apparatus embodying in combination, a chassis structure adapted to support an engine on the rear end thereof, a transmission mechanism in front of the engine adapted to be driven therefrom, driving connections between the two including a clutch, a pump on the structure, means to drive the pump from said driving connection, a clutch to put said means into and out of operation, a rear axle mounted on the structure, driving connections from the transmission mechanism to the rear axle adapted to be operated from said transmission and arranged in overlapping relation to driving connections first mentioned, all constructed and arranged so that the apparatus may have a short wheel-base length and embody the necessary elements for the purpose described.

HERMAN G. FARR.

Witnesses:

FRANKLIN G. NEAL, HARRY-VV. BOWEN.

Washington, .D. 0.