412 



Popular Science Monthly 



Operating an Automobile Steering 

 Wheel with Oil Pressure 



THE tendency of the conventional 

 automobile steering wheel to jump out 

 of the hands of the driver when negotiating 

 uneven streets or roads full of ruts is 

 corrected by the novel device shown here- 



5TEERIN0 POST 



-BRACKET 



PISTON ROD 

 OPERATED BY 

 STEERING WHEEL 



*IP£ LEADING 

 TO END OF 

 STEERING CYUNDER 



Above: Details of 

 the device for pre- 

 venting the steering 

 wheel from jumping 

 out of the hands of 

 the driver over vm- 

 even rough roads 



At right: A cut- 

 , away illustration of 

 the device in opera- 

 tion showing how 

 the wheel is con- 

 nected with the 

 cylinder piston rod 



first cylinder, compressing the oil ahead of 

 it and forcing it into one end of the second 

 cylinder. This causes a movement of the 

 second piston and with it a movement of 

 the steering arm and the wheels attached 

 to it. A reverse turning of the steering 

 wheel turns the vehicle wheels in the op- 

 posite direction. 



Any shocks communicated to the vehicle 

 wheels will be transferred to the piston in 

 the thread engage- 

 ment with its cylin- 

 der. Part of the 

 shocks will be taken 

 up in the oil itself. 

 Due to the larger 

 volume of the first 

 cylinder, a small 

 movement of its pis- 

 ton will cause a re- 

 latively greater move- 

 ment of that in the 

 smaller or second 

 cylinder. 



By this arrangement 

 the automobile can be 

 made to negotiate the 

 roughest roads and 

 the deepest ruts with- 

 out causing the driver 

 to lose control of the 

 steering wheel. The 

 amount of jolting and 

 the consequent wear 

 and tear on the mech- 

 anism are also greatly 

 reduced. 



with. It accomplishes its purpose through 

 the flow of oil between two inter-connected 

 cylinders and pistons. 



The lower end of the steering wheel 

 column is attached to the end of the piston 

 rod of the first cylinder, mounted on the 

 forward side of the dash, under the hood, as 

 shown. The interior of this cylinder is 

 screw-threaded, as is also the piston which 

 works in it. A filling tap is provided at the 

 top of this cylinder near each end for the 

 admission of oil or other suitable fluid. 

 Similarly placed outlets are provided at the 

 bottom, with pipes leading to the second 

 cylinder which is supported from the 

 vehicle frame near the front wheels so that 

 the forward end of its piston rod may 

 be connected to the usual steering arm in a 

 suitable manner. 



In operation, the turning of the steering- 

 wheel moves the threaded piston in the 



In What Position Does a Rifle 

 Bullet Return to Earth? 



IN order to solve the problem, a special 

 stand was erected in Germany recently, 

 and experiments were carried on along 

 the shores of a lake, the surface of which 

 was frozen. The ice was covered with 

 strong planks. It was shown that an in- 

 fantry rifle bullet shot upward in a vertical 

 direction passes downward in the same posi- 

 tion in which it passed upward — in other 

 words, it came back again to earth with its 

 bottom first. 



Why was it not upset at its culmination 

 point? The answer is that the propelling 

 force ceases to act at the culmination point. 

 But the twist has as yet not stopped, and 

 therefore it starts its fall with a twist. Even 

 on impact the twist has not stopped, as 

 was indicated by the warping of the wood 

 fibers in the planking on the ice. 



