NOVEL CHASSIS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 237, 27 December 1927, Page 8

NOVEL CHASSIS

MOST UNUSUAL TYPE. .VfiNttfiSiNG ROAD SHOCK. tereat attaches to any attempt oat oa a new line. An example of ifesigners the problems of suspen--sion, incrsn.ng me reduction of shock* caused by inequalities and roughness of troubles, is offered by a novel chassis wriich wai to be presented to the pub:*c for me first time at the Pari* Salon, accommg to an ...mtratec description pebiished in the “Autocar.” Tne car iimply nr.*tles with novelvie*, ait not gn ;:t trams mitt ion is net pew, having been on the road for about five years, but is, nevertheless, of a laort uacsuaJ type. This car has a cast chassis, the frame consisting on a one-piece casting of an as .A. pax me tan ao comrprisicg the fioor boards, instrument hoard, tpa:e-wbeei and luggage carriers, and several other accessories in one piece. In fact, it is ttated tnat it . t on’y necessary to place a cushion on the chat*.:* to have a complete car, ano the body is mereiv a protection against the ' weather. The fra .me has a tunnel for the drive-shaft, four wells, in which the passengers’ * ee } repose, a platform across the full wootit on wrier: to place the seats, and the dash board- also of Aipax, bolted to it. The frame is. therefore, perfectly rigid, which feature is accentuated by the cast dash, which is bolted to it at the edges and at the head of the propeller shaft tunneL. This rigidity absolutely presents “weaving” action- and make* its possible to reduce the weight of the body, it is claimed, in fact, that the weight of the car, with four passengers of average size, an enclosed body, petrol, spares, etc, will be levs than a ton. The petrol tank and battery box are carries m a compartment at’ the rear the frame, closed by a hinged Aipax coor, which has the spare wheel support cast in it. On top of the compartment is the luggage carrier. the body being extended to the extreme rear of the chassis, and the rear portion forming a luggage compartment No form of suspension is visible, and laminated and coil springs are conspicuous by their absence. Mounted on the rear of the frame, just above the axle housing, are two vertical steel tubes, not risible from the outside, enclosed by the luggage compartment in -he body. Inside these tube* are rods, each vrith a bronze bushed spherical attachment to the outer extremity oi the axle bousing, and carrying a large number of superimposed rubber discs specially manufactured for the purpose to which they are put. The spherical attachment of these rods permits each specially manufactured for the purpose side to rise independently without anv l brTist on the wails of the cylinder. In addition, to avoid lateral movements of the axle in relation to the chassis, the ez tremity of the axle bousing is received in a guide under the frame. At the front, a pressed steel welded ban 30- type axle is used, in all essentials similar to the rear axle casing of a modem car. There is, however, a short, large diameter vertical tube welded to each end. Projecting about l our inches from the front of the frame 13 a cast steel tube having a diameter of about nine inches. This tube is cast in with the frame, and forma an integral part of it. The front axle is mounted on this with a special rubber bushing, and its thrust is taken by a couple of rings of ferodo, one being in front of the other, behind the axle casing. The electric generator driven off the nose of the crankshaft is housed inside the tube, the end of which is covered by aluminium plate. This construction gives an oscillating front axle, and points suspension for trie entire chassis, as it is obvious that e.ther wheel can rise a considerable distance over an obstacle without altering the level of the chasssis. There is, within the steering pivots, the same 1 .nri of rubber block suspension as at