Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-08-04
SlMPL|F|ED LESSONS IN
CARE OF AUTOMOBILE
Expert Guerrlich Makes Plain Work
ing Of Important, but Little
Understood Unit.
PURPOSE OF UNIVERSAL JOINT
Action and Design OF Dcvicc-Mnny
= Automobile Owners Have Their
Problems Solved by Brief, In
formative Answers to Queries.
AUTO LESSON no. 30.

AUTO LESSON NO. 10.
'CopyrlEht. 1918. br Fred. G. Gucrri,ch
= There is one unit of the automobile
which Is little understood which is
subject to great strain and which.
because many drivers do not even
know OF its existence. is very muck
neglected refer to the universal
joint.
What is the purpose OF the univers' u
joint. OF it is so often called, for
short, the unirersal-'
The engine is nonyiclding bolted TO
the frame OF the car. while the rear
wheels. or rather. the rear aNie. is con-
nected TO the frame by means of yield
ing springs. Thus tho position OF these
two units. with respect TO ono another.
will constantly hc changing. and the
angle OF The propeller shaft. by which
they arc connected Cthe clutch ard
transmission coming between, how
everl will constantly change.
This means that the propeller shaft
must We coupled or Joined to ;hc sha e
ct the power plant by some device
for permitting the irive Of the ore
hr the other 70 Re through an angle.
SO we have the universal joint, which
might be defined as 4 device for COUP
ling two shafts. SO that the on. Sha t
angle 10 IT,
ACTION AND DESIGN
OF UNIVERSAL. JOINT
Let US Sc. how the universal! jCirr
is designed. Let y Fig ! &c one SHAFT
and r the other 1T An angl" thereto
lie: ~ next ftStcn TO y FORK. like
arm = an1 "a, T. another. rs u Ii
aNe could nov couple these Two forks
together. ir some way % that IT,"
shaft r. could NOV" up End down, with
the fcsk, D as = PIVOT. and y sid wa"g
N'ith The FORK e ::s "a pivot. our prch-
lem would be solved. This can b.
done by coupling them with spider.
as shown In F!E. 4. In FIGS. and ..
the coupled universal joint is shown
T;y Observing Fig. .. you will motto"
that the spider / is IN 4 horizontal
position. and that the fork and shaft
B have swiveied on It's pins. As tho
shafts make quarter of a revolution
tho universal will take the position
shown in Fig 3 Here YOU will notice
that the spider has swivclcd OF the
fork Z and is now at an angle TO tho
horizontal. When the shafts have
made an eighth If revolution the
propeller shat. WILL have partly swiv-
elcd on the spider. and the spidc,
Of IN" driving shaft Thus yon Sc ,
that ~ means OF this double swivc.
the shaft viii tc driven even whcr Al
an angle.
Were he propeller SHAFT positively
connected tn The universal Joint, thea
the rear axle. AS 1T moves UP and down
with respect TO the frame. would hav.
TO move through an arc OF circle
IN" center OF which IS the fro,; uni
versal. In many cars. tae springs.
torQuc arm or radius rods are 80 dc
signed that they will not perm, this.
The propeller shaft is therefore Gov
nected to CT ;he univcrsa,s il
such MANNER to be able 80 sli :.
back and forth in il. which is usually
done by having its end square, AMI Get
ling /, into square hcie IN on o.
tire universals. This is shown IN Zig. :.
On the Ford car. the radius rods are
SO designed that. though the end Of the
propeller shaft is square. it does not
slide back and forth and the pin pass
ing through the hub OF he universal
and the shaft must not ce lat out.
as 1t often is.
In order 10 take care OF the lubrica
ton. the universal is usually Enclosed
in metal cover or housing. one end
of which is ball shaped. and again
which shutter, equipped with a pack
ing which VIII prevent grease work
ing out, presses. This is shown in
Fig. 5 l. being the houseini. NJ the
shutter. and P the packing. The shut
ter is held pressed against the n"usin.
by the nut r..
About once in every 5000 miles the
plug should be unscrewcd AMI The
housing filled with grease. ~ means
Of grease squirt-sun.
In time. the packing + VIII wear
Therefore. each time the housing is
ii!led with grease, or when seras. is
found spatte-ed about near IN. uni
versal. the nut r should ~ screwed
up so as TO take up this Wear II thi.
is not done tho grease viii work out. re.
sulting in the bushinss T and their pins
wearing. The wear viii! cause :. baa
knock and eventually the crushing al
the bushing. and possibly also othc:
bad. breaks. Keeping the universal
joints packed with grease is extreme
~ important. as the strain on them
is very great. They perform diNlcult
task.
AS the engine is placed in the for
ward part Of the car. while the wheel:
which are to be driven by the engine
are placed some feet in the rear q
the engine, the TWO must be CONNECTED
by shaft The shaft is called TN,
PROPELLER SHAFT. Sometimes i, j:
called the driving shaft, but this name
is generally given to the driving shaft!
on the rear axle.
The propeller shaft is usually moth
ing more than a piece Of solid round
steel. 1t itself requires no attentio:
and practically never gives trouble.