Improvements in Combined Driving and Steering Axles for Motor Road Vehicles,
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 9.h Aug., 1899-Accepted, 28th Oct., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Combined Driving and Steering Axles for Motor
Road Vehicles,
I, JAMES HERBERT BULLARD, of No. 777, State Street, in the City of Spring-
field, County of Hampden, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:―
This invention relates to automobile vehicles and particularly to truck-wagons
adapted to carry heavy loads, and has for its object the construction of a vehicle
of this kind in which the motive force shall be applied directly to the front axle
of the vehicle, and which axle shall also constitute the steering-axle, whereby
the driver may more conveniently handle the vehicle in crowded thoroughfares
and in the restricted spaces into which such a vehicle must frequently be taken;
another and important object of the invention consists in the construction of
the said front-axle of the vehicle whereby the extremities thereof may have
oscillatory movements in a vertical plane at whatever angle the axle may be
located relative to a longitudinal center-line drawn through the wagon, and in
the construction and arrangement of the driving means whereby rotary move-
ments will, whatever may be the position of the axle, be imparted to said axle
for moving the wagon.
The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the devices
as fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings accompanying this specification,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a truck embodying this invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the forward portion of a truck.
Figure 4 is a section at right-angles to that of Figure 3, taken lengthwise
through the front-axle.
Figure 5 is a plan view of the casing enclosing and supporting the front-axle
and a part of the driving mechanism.
Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 show a motor of the type commonly
employed when air, steam, or other vapor is used as a motive force, but this
forms no part of the invention as any type of motor may be employed to give the
proper movement to the driving axle of the vehicle.
Whatever the type of motor may be, suitable provision may be made for
supplying thereto the necessary motive force.
The body 2 of the truck may be made in any required shape and of any suit-
able material, and is provided on one end thereof with an axle and wheels 3, of
the ordinary construction. The opposite end of the truck is supplied with a
driving-axle whose construction is shown in detail in Figure 4, and which com-
prises a casing 4 of metal, preferably malleable iron, and consists of two tubular
arms 5, in which the axle 6, made in two parts, is suitably supported where it
[Price 8d.]

page_text: enters and emerges from said arms. The latter are made integral, preferably,
with a hollow cup-shaped center-portion 7 which incloses the driving-connection
between the axle 6 and the motor.
Wheels 8 are fixed to the outer ends of the axle 6, by being keyed thereon, or
in any other suitable way, whereby they will be made to rotate with said axle.
The inner ends of the axle are located end-to-end in the center of a disk 9, bored
out to receive them, and to the periphery of said disk is secured, in any con-
venient manner, the worm-gear 10.
Differential gear-connections for the two portions of the axle G are provided
and consist of bevel-gears 12 and 13, secured, respectively, to the two parts of
the axle close to the disk 9, and intermediate gears 14 located in slots in the
disk 9, on pins 15 passing transversely through said slots and radial to said disk.
These differential gears are such as are commonly applied in constructions
similar to this for the well known purpose of allowing one wheel on an axle to
move at a rate of speed different to the other.
In the upper edge of said cup-shaped portion 7 of the casing are two oppositely
located bearings 16, the center line of which is at right-angles to the axle 6, and
central relative to the ends of said axle. And in these bearings is a shaft 17
on which is a worm 18 which is in mesh with the worm-gear 10; and on the
shaft 17 is secured a bevel-gear 19.
The ends of the bearings 16 are turned down, as shown in Figure 3, and enter
suitable bearings 20 depending from a ring 21, which is adapted to rotate freely
in a horizontal plane in a suitable casing 22, bolted to the lower edge of an
annular support 23, which, in turn, is bolted to the under side of the body of the
wagon. Said ring 21 is, in effect, a turn-table on which the driving-axle is
pivotally supported and adapted to swing in a horizontal plane with the ring or
turn-table, and to have an oscillatory movement in a vertical plane, indepen-
dently of said ring.
The said ring 21 is made with a horizontally extending edge which enters a
circular groove in the casing 22, and the outer edge of the said ring lying in the
said casing 22, is provided with gear-teeth 24.
At any convenient point on the circumference of this casing an opening there-
through is made whereby a suitably supported pinion 25 may engage with said
teeth 24 for the purpose of rotating the ring 21, as may be desired, by the manipu-
lation of a suitably supported shaft 20, to which said pinion 25 is secured.
The said annular support 23 is provided with an inwardly projecting flange 27
which extends over the ring 21 and forms the top of the groove in which said
ring rotates; and between said ring and said flange 27 a series of hard steel
balls 28 are located in suitable concentric grooves on which balls the weight
of one end of the truck rests, together with whatever load may be on that part
thereof.
Some means of this description are desirable to permit the easy turning of the
ring 21 when the truck is heavily loaded, and if desired other means than said
balls may be used, such as rolls, for instance.
The bolts which secure the support 23 to the truck-body may serve to secure
a plate 29 to the surface thereof, which plate serves as a base to which the parts
of the construction lying on that part of the truck may be secured, whereby
different parts of the whole structure may be maintained in their proper relations.
A shaft 30, located at right-angles to the worm-shaft 17, is supported in
bearings in two arms 31, 32, cast integral with the support 23, and located trans-
versely of said support approximately in the plane of the top and bottom edges
thereof. These arms show only in section in Figure 3, and the lower one only
in Figure 4. On the lower and upper extremities of this shaft 30 are fixed two
bevel-gears, 33 and 34, the one (33) in mesh with the gear 19 on the shaft 17, and
the other in mesh with a bevel-gear 35, on the crank-shaft 36 of a motor 37.
Thus the movements of the crank-shaft 36 of said motor will, through the
bevel-gears 34 and 33, and 19, impart rotary movements to the worm-shaft 17,

page_text: and the latter to the worm-gear 10, which, through the differential gear-connections
with the axle, drive the latter.
It will be observed that the axle which is supported in its casing 4, may, with
the latter, oscillate in a vertical plane on the shaft 17, which supports said casing,
and that said shaft 17 is hung in bearings on a ring 21, which may be rotated
freely in a horizontal plane; and that the movements of the said ring 21 are about
the axis of the shaft 30, as a center, and therefore the driving connection between
the said shaft, and the shaft 17, must always remain in the same relation what-
ever may be the position of the axle 6, and its casing, relative to either a vertical
or a horizontal plane.
The shaft 17 may be made of such length and diameter as will adapt it to with-
stand the shock of any inequality of the road which the driving-wheels may
encounter, for it is this shaft which first receives such a shock, for instance, as
would result from the wheel running into a hole in the pavement, which shock
will then be transmitted to the ring 21, and to the supports therefor.
No distinction has been made herein between the front and rear ends of the
truck, for either end thereof may be the front or rear, as the vehicle can be
operated with equal facility in either direction, though, generally speaking, that
end thereof having the motor thereon would, for obvious reasons, in handling
the vehicle, be the front end thereof.
A great advantage residing in this invention consists in the connection
between the motor and the axle through the worm and gear, whereby the rota-
tion of the axle is absolutely controlled when the vehicle is descending a grade,
it being manifestly impossible for the vehicle to move faster than the rotation
of the wheels will permit, and that may be controlled by the revolutions of the
motor. Thus, it is seen that no brake is needed on the vehicle and that it is
always under control either in descending a grade, or, if it is stopped for any
reason, when ascending a grade.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a self-propelled vehicle, a motor, a driving and steering axle whose ends
are adapted to oscillate in a vertical plane, an axle-driving member located on
the axis of oscillation of said axle, engaging the latter and connected with said
motor, whereby rotary movements may be imparted to said axle during the
oscillations thereof, substantially as described.
2. In a self-propelled vehicle, a motor, a driving and steering axle whose ends
are adapted to oscillate in a vertical plane, a driving member located on the axis
of oscillation of said axle, engaging the latter and connected with said motor,
whereby rotary movements may be imparted to said axle during the oscillations
thereof, an annular member adapted to rotate in a fixed horizontal plane on
which said driving member is supported, and means for rotating said annular
member, substantially as described.
3. In a self-propelled vehicle, a member supported thereon for rotary move-
ments about a fixed point, and means for rotating said member, a driving and
steering axle supported on said member, a motor, a rotatable driving connection
for said axle supported on said annular member transversely thereof and rota-
table in a horizontal plane therewith, and means located on the axis of rotation
of said annular member for imparting rotary movements to said driving con-
nection, substantially as described.
4. In a self-propelled vehicle, a member supported thereon for rotation about
a fixed center, a driving and steering axle, hung on said member, whose extremi-
ties are adapted to move independently thereof in vertical planes, and to move
therewith in a horizontal plane, a motor, and suitable connections between said
motor and axle for rotating the latter, substantially as described.
5. In a self-propelled vehicle, a member supported thereon for rotation about

page_text: a fixed center, a driving and steering axle hung on said member, said axle con-
sisting of two parts united, by differential gear-connections, to rotate as one
piece and adapted to move independently of said member in vertical planes, and
with said member in a horizontal plane; a motor, and suitable connections
between said motor and the driving member of said differential gears, whereby
said axle may be rotated, substantially as described.
6. In a self-propelled vehicle, a rotatable member supported thereon for rota-
tion about a fixed point, a driving-shaft supported on said member and located
normally on the longitudinally central line of the vehicle, a driving and steering-
axle supported in a casing, bearings in said casing for said driving-shaft, whereby
said axle is supported on said rotatable member; a worm on said driving-shaft,
a worm-gear on said axle engaging therewith, and a shaft located centrally of
said rotatable member and at right-angles to said driving-shaft, and connected
with the latter by bevel-gears, for rotating said axle, substantially as described.
7. A turn-table mounted on a vehicle-body for rotation in a horizontal plane,
a pivotally supported axle on said turn-table, adapted to swing thereon in a
vertical plane, a gear on said axle, a shaft located on the axis of vertical oscilla-
tion of said axle, a worm on said shaft engaging said gear, and means for rotating
said shaft, substantially as described.
8. In a self-propelled vehicle, a horizontally rotatable turn-table, an axle
pivotally supported on said turn-table and adapted to swing in a vertical plane,
a gear on said axle, a driving-shaft concentric with the pivotal supports of said
axle, a driving connection between said shaft and said gear, and means for rota-
ting said shaft, substantially as described.
9. In combination with a suitable motor, a driving and steering axle for a
self-propelling vehicle, comprising a rotatable member supported on the vehicle,
an axle pivotally supported on said member, a shaft constituting said pivotal
support for said axle, and also constituting the driving member therefor, and
suitable connections between the axle and said driving-shaft, and the latter and
said motor, substantially as described.
Dated this Twenty-Sixth day of Tuna 1900
JAMES HERBERT BULLARD.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.