Patent GB-507899-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to automobiles
IPC: B60R5/00
Filed: 1937-10-18
Abstract: 507,899. Vehicle bodies, spring suspensions, andluggage-holders. HAMBLIN, L. F. Oct. 18, 1937, No. 28261. [Classes 103 (ii), 108 (i), and 108 (ii)] [Also in Groups XXXI and XI] In a rear-engined motor vehicle in which the body comprises a rigid structure built up from sheet metal pressings, eliminating the usual chassis frame, the front wheels are wholly enclosed within the body structure under wheel arches arranged wholly or partially below the front seat or seats and removable with the seats to give access to the wheels. The rear part of the structure is supported on a detachable driving unit comprising engine, transmission and rear wheels. The front wheels and steering gear may also comprise a detachable unit. The body is formed by welding together at their edges front and rear sheet metal pressings 10, 11, a domed roof pressing 12, and side pressings 13 in one or more pieces with flanges 15 around the openings whereby the welding of body panels thereto provides a stiff box-section. The floor comprises a corrugated pressing 14 carried up at the front end of the body and bent upwardly and rearwardly behind the rear seat, meeting the rear pressing and forming a fireproof bulkhead between the engine and body. The floor is strengthened by stiffening members 101, 102 underneath and, on top, a transverse box-section pressing 19 in front of which is a central well 21 for a spare wheel with hollow box pressings 20 on each side thereof which may be used as tool boxes, these parts being located below the front seat. On each side of the pressings 20, openings are provided for the front wheels, covered by hinged or detachable wheel arches which may be attached to the seats. The doors are hinged to vertical pillars 52 the assemblage being bowed outwards so that an impact on the front of the body, will tend to bulge out the sides and release the door locks, reducing risk of passengers being trapped. The side lamps may be mounted in the curved front parts of the doors, indicating the full width of the vehicle when the doors are open. The front wheel and steering-assembly is carried by a transverse tube 23 detachably bolted at its ends to brackets 24 on the body pressings. At each end of the tube, brackets 25 provide bearings for a short parallel tube 26 carrying a rearwardly extending curved arm 27 which carries the stub axle 28. The arm may be sprung by a leaf spring 30 or by one or more torsion bars or tubes housed in the tube 26. To reduce rolling, the independently sprung arms 27 may be connected by a torsion bar 33. Steering links 39, 43 connected to bell-cranks 38, 42 pivoted on the tube 23 and coupled by a track rod 41, are operated by means of a drag link 37 from an arm 36 on the steering head 35 carried by a bracket on the tube 23. The steering column may be supported near its upper end by a clip 45 connected to brackets 46 supporting the instrument board 47. The connection may include a shear-pin which will break to allow the steering wheel and column to yield if the driver is thrown forwards. The brackets 46 are carried by a tube 49 supported by arms extending upwardly from the tube 23, readily removable bolts connecting the ends of the tube 49 to the body. By this means, the front wheel and steering assemblage, including the instrument board, may be removed as a unit, with pedals and other controls also mounted on the tube 23 or on parts carried thereby. The power assembly, arranged below the rear part of the body structure, comprises an engine 57, preferably with horizontally opposed cylinders, clutch 58 and gearbox and differential 59 rockable as a unit about an axis passing through its centre of gravity on trunnions carried by front and rear cross tubes 56 which are connected by side plates 55 to form a subframe. The rear road wheels 60 are suspended from the sub-frame by leaf springs 68 and are driven through jointed' axle-shafts 61 . A silencer 63 is arranged on each side of the clutch housing and two batteries 64 are provided, one at each end of the front frame tube 56. The carburetters 65 and distributer or distributers 66 are arranged at the side or rear so as not to add to the height of the engine. A radiator-71 for each block of cylinders is mounted on the sub-frame, air being supplied thereto through a louvred opening in the front of a detachable fairing 72 over the wheel, the cross-sectional area of the duct increasing progressively from the opening to the radiator. Lugs 75, Fig. 7, plugged into the ends of the cross tubes 56, provide the means for detachably securing the sub-frame to the body. Each lug terminates in a cone 76 with a part spherical base rim 77 adapted to engage a coned sleeve 78, which, together with an oppositely coned disc 79, is clamped within a rubber sleeve 80 held within a split housing 81 attached to the body structure. The connection is effected by a bolt 83 with a concave washer 86 passing loosely through an opening in the coned disc 79 and screwed into the coned end of the lug 75, the connection being locked by a hinged plate 84 dropped over the head of the bolt 83 and secured by a split pin 85. The parts of the body pressing to which the housings 81 are attached may be reinforced by welding thereto a number of superposed plates of decreasing size and increasing gauge. A board 90 arranged over the power unit forms the floor of the luggage compartment 91 which may be provided with a door or lid 18 formed of two sections hinged together, the upper section being hinged to the top of the opening whilst the lower section is slidable guided at the edges of its free end in grooves or runners. The fuel tank may be mounted below the rear part 93 of the floor pressing 14 and may comprise a shallow tank 92 with an extension or well carried down at each side and connected to the carburetters. The engine &c. controls are actuated from the front of the vehicle through mechanical, hydraulic or electrical means each of which includes a readily disengageable coupling or the like, the couplings &c. being grouped in a housing &c., so as to be automatically disengaged or re-engaged if the power unit &c. is changed.