Patent GB-603805-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to motor traction-units and vehicles therefor
IPC: B62D49/00
Filed: 1945-10-30
Abstract: 603,805. Motor forecarriages; steering. MUDDLE, A. A. Oct. 30, 1945, No. 28761. [Classes 79 (iii) and 79 (v)] [Also in Group XXXII] A traction unit for a vehicle of the type which is detachable from the trailer portion of the vehicle and which comprises a power unit mounted on a turntable which is rotated for steering, has a platform on which is mounted a turntable having a single centrally disposed driving wheel and additional supports carried by the platform whereby the traction unit may travel independently when detached. The supporting wheels may be castor wheels and may be steerable, the steering connection thereto being automatically disconnected when the traction unit is coupled to the trailer unit. The turntable is arranged for rotation through 180 degrees for steering the composite vehicle. As shown, the traction unit comprises a platform 15 provided with a cab 14 and mounted on a turntable 16 by rollers 60. The turntable is attached to a bogie unit comprising a frame 30, 31, 32 to which is attached a driving wheel 35 through an axle casing 34 and road springs 33. A driving motor 42, which may be internal-combustion engine or electric is mounted on the bogie and drives the wheel through a shaft 41. The unit is additionally supported by a pair of castor wheels 40 which are telescopically mounted in casings 37 containing compression springs. The driving wheel which is not reversible is steered by a tiller 51 whose steering column is geared to the bogie unit by a sprocket 22, chain 23 and sprocket 18. The castor wheels 40 are steerable through the steering wheel 59 which castor wheels are connected through a dog clutch to steering arms 53 connected by a track rod 54, the steering column being connected to a further steering arm 55 by a rod 56. Steering of all three wheels is only possible when the traction unit is disconnected from the towed vehicle. The pedal driving controls 74, 78 mounted in the cab operate rock shafts 73, 77 which in turn operate levers 72, 76 which transmit vertical motion to a pair of concentric sleeves which are connected to the carburetter and brakes. A gear lever 70 passes through these sleeves. In a modification, the steering is directly coupled to the bogie the chain and sprockets 23, 22, 18 being dispensed with, the steering column being mounted centrally in the cab. The trailer portion of the vehicle comprises a frame 11 with a body 13 and rear wheels 12. The forward end of the frame is provided with a pair of rollers 80 which run into guides 81 in the platform and are held therein by hooks 85, 86 engaging projections 83, 84 on the frame member 11. When so connected a stop 87 on the traction unit engages a rod 83 on the vehicle and so displaces a slipper 89 against a spring 91 which serves to retract a pair of jockey wheels 26 and release the brakes of the wheels 12 prior to towing. Also a lever 180 on the traction unit is displaced, thereby disengaging dog clutches 183 at the top of the vertical spindles of the castor wheels 40 so disconnecting the steering wheel 59 from the wheels 40. Alternatively, the rollers 80 may be mounted on the traction unit and the corresponding runways provided on the trailer portion.