Patent GB-379443-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus suitable for training men to drive motor vehicles
IPC: G09B9/02
Filed: 1931-06-24
Abstract: 379,443. Apparatus for training drivers. GOODWIN, A., 56, Sumner Street, Southwark, London. June 24, 1931, No. 18264. [Class 79 (iii).] Apparatus for training men to drive armoured and other motor vehicles comprises a chassis frame 1 mounted on a support 6 so as to be movable about central vertical and horizontal axes, and equipped with an engine &c. so that a learner on the fore part of the frame is enabled to effect usual driving and steering operations whilst an instructor at the rear controls the inclination of the frame to simulate motions of ascending and descending hills &c., the engine being subject to retarding effects produced by brakes one of which is operated automatically according to the tilt of the frame and another of which is subject to the control of the instructor whilst a third, corresponding to the ordinary vehicle brake, is under the control of the learner. Moving pictures &c. may be arranged in front of the apparatus to add realism. The frame is carried by a central transverse shaft 2 journalled in brackets 3 attached to te flanged upper end 4a of a cylindrical casing 4 rotatable, preferably on ball bearings 5 on the top of a hollow cylinder 6 fixed by hookbolts 7 to a concrete bed 8. An internal-combustion engine 9 with throttle control 9d, 9b, is mounted at the front end of the frame 1 and is associated with the usual flywheel 10, clutch 11 controlled by a foot lever 14, gear box 13 with control lever 15 acting through selector rods 15a, and transmission shaft 17. The shaft 17 drives the shaft 2 through worm gearing 18, 19. Bevel gears 20, 20a loose on the shaft 2 and in mesh with a fixed wheel 21 on the stationary support 6, are adapted to be clutched to the shaft by the operation of control levers 29, 29a to effect rotation of the frame in one direction or the other about the vertical axis, thus enabling steering control to be simulated under the directions of the instructor. Tilting of the frame 1 is effected by admitting compressed air to one side or the other of a piston 31 in a cylinder 30, the piston rod being pivoted to the frame 1 and the cylinder to the rotary casing 4. The compressed air is supplied to the ends of the cylinder through pipes 36, 37 leading form a control valve 38 which is connected by a pipe 39 to a reservoir 40 maintained under pressure by a connection 40a to an air compressor 42 driven by chain gearing 43, 44 from the engine crank shaft. A drum 46 on the transmission shaft 17 is subject to the action of three brake straps 47, 48, 49. The brake strap 47 is connected by an angle-lever 51 and linkage 51a to a pedal 51b under the control of the learner. The brake strap 49, which is automatically applied when the front end of the frame 1 rises, is actuated by a compressed air cylinder 54a the conduits 55, 55a to which are controlled by a plug cock. 56a, the central part of which is retained from rotation by a link connection 58 to the flange 4a of the rotary casing whilst the other component of the valve moves with the frame 1. The third strap 48 is applied by a compressed air cylinder 54 with valve regulating means (not shown) under the control of the instructor. The frame carries a fuel tank 9a and also a. pivoted strut 34 normally held up out of action but adapted to be released at its lower end to engage the ground to support the chassis frame when the apparatus is not in use.