A Six-Wheel Automobile 



Centrally 

 Located 

 Horizontal »■ 

 Wrist Plnte 



AMICHIGAN inventor has worked 

 out a steering mechanism for four 

 wheels of a six-wheel \'ehicle. His 

 in\'ention is unicjuc in that it embodies 

 no radical changes from existing methods 

 now in use, but rather distributes the 

 applicable use of those 

 methods. He has found 

 that there are special 

 advantages in driving 

 all four wheels where 

 soft tires are used, as 

 be\ond a certain limit 

 the tracti\'e strain on 

 such tires, especially 

 pneumatic tires, is so 

 destructive that it is 

 impracticable to drive 

 with two wheels for a 

 load of more than four 

 or five persons. 



Furthermore, he 

 claims that another ad- 

 vantage in a "double" 

 or four-wheel drive 

 where all four wheels 

 are steered, is that the 

 rear wheels always fol- 

 low the track of the 

 front wheels. In mov- 

 ing forward or back- 

 ward, turning either to 

 right or left, it is 

 impossible for the rear 

 wheels to get out of the 

 track of those in front. 

 If the front wheels 

 clear an obstruction 

 the driver knows that 

 the rear wheels will clear also and need 

 gi\'e them no concern. 



In the accompanying drawing is shown 

 a vehicle frame ha\'ing six wheels. The 

 front and rear wheels are steering wheels, 

 which are deflected by ihe steering-le\'er. 

 The centrally located ji.iir of wheels are 

 not steering wlx'cls and always remain 

 in the sanu' jjlanes relalixi'K' to llie body. 

 When the steering wheels are dellected 

 to steer the vehicle to the right lhe>- will 

 f(jllow one another in circles, while the 

 central wheels will turn as on pivots in 

 circles a few inches within the steering 

 wheel circles. 



Steering Wheel 

 Hub 



Steering Wheel 

 Hub 



How the Four Wheels of a Six- 

 Wheel Automobile Are Steered 



The interesting features of the mech- 

 anism are the hubs of the four steering 

 wheels, the centrally located horizontai 

 wrist-plate with which the steering rods 

 are connected, and the T-joints on the 

 central axle. The hub of each steering 

 wheel consists of a 

 tubular body with 

 which the driving axle 

 is attached b\- a uni- 

 \ersal joint arranged in 

 the central plane of 

 revolution of the wheel, 

 and permitting • the 

 wheel while receiving 

 the rotating power of the 

 driving a.xle to oscillate 

 freely in e\ery direc- 

 tion. The inner end of 

 the tubular bod\- of the 

 hub engages with a 

 swa\-block ha\ing a 

 horizontal slot sliding 

 on the axle. This holds 

 the wheel rigidly up- 

 right, while allowing it 

 to oscillate to conform 

 to the direction of 

 motion of the \-ehicle. 

 The centrall\- loca- 

 ted horizontal wrist- 

 plate which is attached 

 to the steering rods is 

 composed of a cam- 

 plate, a double cam- 

 plate ha\ing a ball and 

 socket bearing and 

 numerous other acces- 

 sories too intricate to 

 describe here, all of which give to the 

 four-wheeleil steering mechanism the ad- 

 vantages of a .sensitive and automatically 

 locked movement in all maneuvering 

 required in steering on ordinary' straight 

 roads, and accelerattxl as it approaches 

 extreme swing right or left. 



To proxide for unevenness in the road 

 it is necessar\- to i)i\'ot the frame at the 

 central axle. To this end the reaches 

 are separatelv- journaled with T-joints 

 on the central axle, which permits 

 any indi\idual axle to move vertically 

 and \et maintains the axle rigidly 

 against latenil moxi-ment. 



430 



