El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-28
SPRINGS FORM
HARD PROBLEM
Protection of Passengers
From Road Bumps Re
quires Fine Figuring.

The protection of the mechanism anu
passengers of a motor car from rOdg 5
shocks is one of the most dlIIlcu l-.. anu
complicated problems that an auloAio
bile engineer has been called upon ~
solve. ,
Interposed between the road inequaI-
tiles and the passenger are a series Oh
cushions made up of the tire, the car
springs, the shock absOrbers, the con
troll the rebound of the springs anu
tires. and the springs in the seat cush-
'eThere are so many different types
of car springs and shock absorDers that
it will be well. before considering
these, to give some idea of the various
functions they are required TO per
form" says o. H. Baum, local CnalIhefs
agent. xoa
ct must be constantly remembered
that road Inequalities seldom occur
equally on both sides of a car one
wheel may fall into hole at the lame
time that another wheel mounts an Cd
s+ruction. The four points of contact
of a car with the road are seldom IN
the same plane and the resulting
weaving of the car must be so taken
care of by the springs that the frame
of the car will remain as closely anu
constantly in horizontal plane as pos
Light Springs Faults.
eff the springs be too light, when a
wheel drops into a hole. the corner OF
the car frame supported by that wneel
will follow. If the spring be suIIlGl-
emily stiff, it will act quickly, and DS
corner of the frame at a constant level
If. on the other hand, the spring De
too strong when the wheel mounts
sudden obstruction it will not compress
RAPIDLY enough under the shock to pre-
vent the frame corner from rising with
the wheel
so far as the direct action OF the
springs is considered. it will be seen
that if all road shocks were of equal
intensity, it would be comparatively an
easy matter to absorb all such SHOCKS
so efficiently that the parallel level OF
the frame in relation to the average
plane in which lie the four points OF
contact with the ground could be readl-
" maintained. Road shocks. however,
are of very varying degrees of lnten-
sity and each action of spring has us
equal and counter balancing reaction
3The pneumatic tire serves to entire
" absorb numerous very small shocks
As the shocks become greater, the
springs come into action. As ROAD
shocks vary in intensity so must the
springs action vary in intensity, and
the springs must be designed to oper-
ate in a progressive manner.
1T is for this reason that larger
number Of leaves are used IN a car
spring. The long and comparatively
flat leaves absorb the lighter shocks,
and as these shocks increase in in
tensity, one after another, the shorter
and sitter leaves come into play.
Weight Plays Part.
while the relative and progressive
stiffness of springs governs their abil-
.ity to absorb sudden shock, the relative
weights and corresponding inertias OF
the portions of the car above and be-
low the springs play most important
part in the manner in which these ab-
sorbed shocks are given up.
Most car users recognize that their
cars ride easier when fully loaded than
when empty, but not many of them re-
alize why this is the case
The explanation is very simple.
after a car spring has been com
pressed in receiving and absorbing a
road shock it has an immediate tend
ency TO return to its original form. In
doing so. 1t gives Ep the energy stored
up in absorbing the shock. If, in the
case of a rear spring, the axle and
wheel be very heavy and the body very
light the spring, in reacting, will throw
off the body more rapidly than it will
the axle and wheel. The heavier the
body and its load in relation to the
axle or the lighter the axle in relation
to the body and its load. the less will
be the effect from the spring reaction
noticeable to the passengers in the
car"