US942219A - Vehicle. - Google Patents

Description

A. P. Rod-KWELL.

VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED nu 11, 1905.

Patented Dec. 7, 1909.

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A. F. ROGKWELL.

VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11. 1905.

Patented Dec. 7, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT F. ROCKWELL, 0F BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW DEPARTURE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 0F BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- NECTICUT.

VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May l1, 1995.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT F. RooKwnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bristol, Hartford county, Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in vehicles, and more particularly to the support for the vehicle body.

One object of the invention is to provide a convenient and eiiicient structure for permitting vertical play of the vehicle body and providing a cushion intermediate said body and the wheels of the vehicle.

A further object is to provide suoli connection between the vehicle body and its support that, although vertical play between said body and support is permitted, uneven movement between said body and support is prevented, whereby depression, for example, of one corner of the body will cause corresponding movement of the whole body, and also the tendency of one wheel to drop into a rut or hollow is removed or reduced.

To these ends, and also to improve generally upon structures of the character indicated, the invention consists in the various matters hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view; Fig. 2 is an end elevation, certain of the parts being broken away; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, certain of the parts being broken away; Fig. l is a transverse sectional view through the cushion cylinder on about the line mof Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is an elevation, chiefly in section, showing one end of said cylinder.

Referring now more particularly to said drawings, 2 indicates the journals of any convenient running gear of a vehicle, said journals receiving the shafts 3 in a manner which will be well understood. Suitably supported upon the ruiming gear, as by means of the upwardly extending journal posts 310 (which are shown as rising from the journals 2), are longitudinally extending rock shafts 5, such shafts being here shown as located upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the vehicle and within but near the vertical planes of the sides of the hereinafter mentioned body. Transverse rock shafts 17 are also provided, said latter mentioned shafts being here shown as journaled in boxes 18, such boxes being provided with sleeves 19 through which the longitudinal rock shafts 5 pass and being held against longitudinal displacement by means of set collars 20 and 21. Suitably secured to the rock shafts 5 to rock therewith, as by means of set screws 11, are arms 8, while corresponding arms 13 are secured to the rock shafts 17, said arms 8 extending at.substantially right angles to the arms 13. The vehicle body 1 is supported by these said arms 8 and 13 in such manner that rocking of said arms and their shafts is permitted, this connection being here shown as effected through hanger arms 6 and 12 and links 7 and 14, the hanger arms 6 being at the sides of the vehicle body and the hanger arms 12 at the ends thereof and the links 7 being pivoted respectively to the hanger arms 6 and the rock arms 8 at 9 and 10 while the links 14: are pivoted respectively to the hanger arms 12 and the rock arms 13 at 15 and 16.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the vehicle body is afforded vertical play with respect to the running gear or supporting base of the vehicle, and, as will be fully hereinafter described, a cushion can be provided for relieving the shock or jar due to movement between the vehicle body and its supporting base. However, uneven movement between the vehicle body and its said supporting base is prevented. For example, should the lower right hand corner of the vehicle body as shown in Fig. 1 be depressed, the rock arms 8 and 13 adjacent said corner will be rocked downwardly, thus rocking the right hand shaft 5 and the forward transverse rock shaft 17; but this rocking of said shafts will also rock the arm 8 at the rear of thevehicle upon the said longitudinal shaft 5 and the arm 13 at the left of the vehicle upon the said forward transverse shaft 17, whereby the upper right hand corner and the lower left hand corner of the vehicle body must also move downwardly; such movement necessarily, through the rock arms 8 and 13 respectively adjacent said lower left hand corner and said upper right hand corner, rocks the left hand rock shaft 5 and the rear transverse rock shaft 17 (not shown), and

the rocking of these two shafts results in the depression of the upper left hand corner of the vehicle body, all as will be readily understood. Therefore, any vertical movement given to one portion of the vehicle body is transmitted to every other portion of said body, so that said body moves as a whole and sagging of any particular portion thereof is prevented. rThe rock shafts 5 and 1T are preferably made quite stiff. Furthermore, as the'wheel axles 3 are, through the journals 2 and the posts 310, connected to the said shafts 5, which are in turn connected to the said shafts 17, the tendency of a wheel at one corner to drop into a rut or hollow is avoided or reduced, for should some one wheel come over a rut or hollow while the other wheels are supported upon the ground, the relatively stiff shaft framing connecting all the wheels tends to hold the unsupported wheel elevated and to cause the same to merely float over the hollow or depression. lt will also be noted that the connection between the side arms 8 y and the vehicle body tends to prevent longitudinal thrust of said body, while the connect-ion between the end arms 13 and said body tends to prevent lateral thrust of the same.

Manifestly many types of cushions can be provided between the vehicle body and its supporting base, but l prefer to employ a pneumatic cushion as hereinafter described. In the illustrated embodiment of my invention a cushion cylinder 26 extending transverse the vehicle is supported in substantially the center of the same and upon the running gear or supporting base, said cylinder being here shown as hung from the before mentioned longitudinal rock shafts 5 by means of a frame 22 having forked ends 23 in which the said shafts 5 are journaled and also being provided with clamping arms 24 which engage the said cylinder and form what are substantially split collars, coperating arms being held together by means of the draw bolts 25. Said cylinder 26 is adapted to receive air or other suitable fluid under proper pressure, 'and within the cylinder are pistons 30 between which the air is received. These pistons are connected to the rock shafts, this connection being here shown as effected through piston rods 29 pivoted to the pistons at 31 and also pivoted at 32 to rock arms 33 secured to the rock shafts 5 to rock therewith. Preferably the said rock arms to which the pistons are in more direct connection are also connected to the vehicle body, this connection being here shown as effected through rock arms 34 formed intel grally with said rock arms 33 and connected to hanger arms 35 upon the vehicle body in the same manner in which the rock arms 8 are connected to the hanger arms 6. Preferably the piston-rod openings through the cylinder heads 27 are protected by some suitable packing 2S in order to exclude dust from the cylinder 26.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that, the cylinder having a proper charge of air or other cushioning iiuid, depression of the vehicle body serves to move the pistons 30 toward each other, thus compressing the air in the cylinder and relieving the shock or jar which might result from the movement of said body, while the following expansion of the air serves to return the vehicle body to its normal position, the movement of said body being thus cushioned in a manner which will be readily apparent.

It is, of course, desirable to prevent movement of both pistons in the same direction, z'. c., to prevent one piston from moving toward one end of the cylinder and the other piston from following the first mentioned piston toward the same end of said cylinder, and such undesirable movement is rendered impossible by reason of the before described connections between the pistons and the rock shafts and between said rock shafts and the wagon body; for, as will be apparent from the foregoing explanation, tilting of the vehicle body with relation to its supporting base is impossible. Manifestly the cushion cylinder 2G can be located in other positions than that illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and two on more cylinders can be employed in lieu of the single cylinder shown, although the use of the single cylinder is preferable from the standpoint of simplicity. rl`he cylinder can, of course, be charged in any suitable or convenient manner, a satisfactory construction being one including a reservoir tank 3G suitably supported upon the vehicle and connected to the inlet port 38 of the cushion cylinder by any suitable piping 37. The cushion cylinder 26 is also preferably provided with a discharge or exhaust port 4G.

Preferably the pressure in the cushion cylinder is automatically proportioned to the load upon the vehicle body. A simple means of doing this is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. rlhe inlet port 38 is controlled by an oscillatory valve 39,

while the discharge port 46 is controlled by another such valve 45, each of these valves being provided with an operating arm, 40 and 49 respectively, while connection is made between the vehicle body and said arms, said connection being shown as effected through rods 42 and 47 respectively, each of these rods preferably having ball and socket connection with the vehicle body, as at 43 and 43, and having loose connection with its arm 40 or 49, as by a slot, 44 and 50 respectively, receiving a pin upon the valve operating arm. This loose connection permits limited play between the vehicle body and its supporting base without aecting the said valves, but should the vehicle body be unduly depressed, as by reason of an increased load, the rod 42 rocks the valve 39 and admitsadditional fluid into the cylinder 26, while if the pressure in the cylinder becomes too great for the load, as by reason of lightening the load, the upward movement of the vehicle body due to the outward movement of the pistons causes the rod 47 to rock the valve 45 and open the exhaust port 46, the exhausting of the cylinder continuing until the pressure in the cylinder has become properly proportioned to the load and the vehicle body has thus settled to its normal position. 'Normally both valves are closed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In a vehicle, a supporting base, a body having movement with relation thereto, means for maintaining parallelism between said base and said body, said means including rockable elements connected to said base and said body, rock arms upon said rockable elements, a cylinder adapted to receive a fluid cushion, and pistons in said cylinder and connected to said respective rock arms; substantially as described.

2. In combination, a vehicle body, its trucks or axles, the longitudinally extending rock shafts, the transverse shafts pivotally supported thereon, jointed connections between the rock shafts and the transverse shafts and the vehicle body, and a fluid pressure device controlling the rock shafts; substantially as described.

3. In combination, a vehicle body, its trucks or axles, the longitudinally extending rock shafts, jointed connections between the sides of the body and said rock shafts at a plurality of points along said shafts, the transverse shafts supported upon said rock shafts, and a plurality of jointed ,connections between the ends of the body and said transverse shafts; substantially as described.

4. In a vehicle, a supporting base, a body having movement with relation thereto, means for maintaining parallelism between said base and said body irrespective of the position of the load on the vehicle body, said means including transverse and longitudinal rock shafts, a cylinder adapted to receive a Huid cushion, movable fluid actuated means in said cylinder and connections between said movable means and the rock shafts.

5. In a vehicle, a supporting base, a body having movement with relation thereto, means for maintaining parallelism between said base and said body, said means including longitudinal and transverse rock shafts, a variable elastic pressure device for maintaining the body and base a predetermined distance apart irrespective of the applied load, and means for operatively connecting said elastic pressure device to the rock shafts.

6. In a vehicle, a body, its trucks or axles, means for maintaining parallelism between said vehicle body and its trucks or axles, said means comprising a single transversely arranged fluid vpressure support for the body, and rock shafts having connection with said fluid pressure support operated by an up and down movement of the body to automatically regulate the fluid pressure in said support to compensate for variations in load.

7 In a vehicle, the combination with its trucks or axles, and a' body above the same, of rock shafts for maintaining parallelism of the body with respect to the trucks or axles, and a cushioning device cooperating with the body, said cushioning device being carried by the said rock shafts.

8. In a vehicle, the combination with a base, of longitudinal and transverse rockshafts, rock arms carried by said rock-shafts, a body-frame connected to said rock arms whereby any movement imparted to one of said rock arms will be communicated to all of said rock arms, and a single cushioning device connected to sets of rock arms through the rock-shafts.

9. In a vehicle, a supporting base, a body having movement toward and away from said base, cushioning mechanism for such movement of said body, said mechanism including movable elements having a spring element common to and cooperating with both said movable elements, and means for preventing one of said movable elements of the cushioning mechanism from following the other thereof.

10. In a vehicle, the combination with a body, of a supporting base therefor, a longitudinal rock-shaft, a transverse rock-shaft, one of said rock-shafts being pivotally supported upon the other thereof, connections between each of said rock-shafts and said body, and a spring mechanism controlling said rock-shafts.

11. In a vehicle, a body, a supporting base therefor, a longitudinal rock-shaft, a transverse rock-shaft, one of said rock-shafts being supported upon the other thereof, and a plurality of jointed connections between each of said rock-shafts and said body.

12. An equalizing and cushioning mechanism for vehicles, comprising rock-shafts, and a cushioning means including oppositely movable co-acting members connected to said rock-shafts.

13. In a vehicle, the combination with a body, of a supporting base therefor, longitudinal rock-shafts, transverse rock-shafts, one set of rock-shafts being pivotally supported upon the other thereof, connections between said rock-shafts and said body, and a cushioning means connected to one set of rock shafts, said cushioning means including positively movable co-acting members.

14. In a vehicle, the combination with a base and a body having movement with respect thereto, of rock-shafts carried by the base, rock-arms connected to said rock-shafts and connected to the body, depending arms connected to the rock-shafts, a piston mechanism connected to said depending arms for exerting a spring pressure against said body to maintain the body above the base, and means supported byv said rock-shafts and connected to the body and coperating with the rock-shafts for maintaining parallelism between the base and the body.

15. In a vehicle, the combination with a base and a body having movement with respect thereto, of a rock-shaft carried by the base, means for connecting said rock-shaft to said body, a rock-shaft transversely of the rst-na1ned rock-shaft and supported thereby, means for connecting said transverse rock-shaft to the vehicle` body, and a cushioning device coperating with said rockshafts for cushioning the body.

16. In a vehicle, a supporting base, a body movable toward and away from the same, a longitudinal rock shaft along each side of said base, a transverse rock shaft along each end of said base, a plurality of rock arms upon each said rock shaft and connected to said body, whereby each side and end of said body is connected to a rock shaft at a plurality of points, additional rock-arms upon a pair of said rock shafts which are placed opposite each other, and a spring device having its spring element between said last mentioned rock-arms, substantially as described.

17. 4In a vehicle, a supporting base, a body movable toward and away from the same, a longitudinal rock shaft along cach side of said base, a transverse rock shaft along each end of said base, a plurality of rock-arms upon each said rock shaft and connected to said body, whereby each side and end of said body is connected to a rock shaft at a plurality of points, additional rock-arms upon a pair of said rock shafts which are placed opposite each other, a spring cylinder, and pistons in said cylinder connected to said last mentioned rock-arms, the spring element being interposed between said pistons; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT F. ROCKVELL.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM E. W'IGHTMAN, GALES P. MOORE.

It is hereby eertied that in Letters Patent No. 942,219, granted December 7,

1909, upon the application of Albert F. Rockwell, of Bristol, Connecticut, for an improvement in Vehicles, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction, as follows: Page 2, line 96, the Word on should read 07",' and that the said Letters Patent should be read With this correction therein, that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 28th-day of December, A. D., 1909.

E. B. MOORE,

Commissioner of Patents.

[SEAL

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