FIGHTING AGAINST JOLT AND JAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2320, 18 August 1898, Page 49

FIGHTIN G AGAINST JOLT AND JAR.

OARSNG FLIGHTS OF SOME SMART INVENTORS.

The great majority of notions hit upon for reducing vibration have to do with wheels. Hundreds of patents are granted every year for them ; and old contrivances, long since forgotten, are continually being re-invenled. In nearly every case the inventor calls to his aid one of four methods of deadening a shock - — springs, indiarubber in the block, or indiarubber or other elastic material filled with either air or water.

Long before indiarubber tyres were thought of tho spring wheel was tried. As will be seen, it tad an inner rim, and this and the

fsTloe proper were connected by a number of small spiral springs. Not a few light traps were thus fitted out, and the idea was also utilised in cycle construction. Other wheels lit 1 spokes which were springy bows of cane, that gave to the inequalities of the road and relieved the vehicle of severe jolts. Wheels such as the spring one illustrated are, of course, suspension wheels. The weight does not rest on the springs, but hangs from them just as in a bicycle the hub hangs from the topmost spokes. In a cart wheel, of course, the very reverse is the case-.

In the days of the old high bicycle many were thp, patents taken out for vibration-ab-

soifrng inventions. Most of the jar and shake came from the rear wheel ; and m tins diagram will be seen one notion for coping witti it. The backbone and back forks were ■jointed at A , and a strong spring, b, fastened to the backbone and pressing against the prelection c, allowed the trailing wneel to bump up and down without communicating the movement to the backbone of the machine and thence to the spinal column of the rider. Fearful and wonderful contrivances of all sorts, having the same end in view, weie at that time always being put upon the market: but most of them were seen nowhere but at the evele shows. Railway trains have afforded material for m v c h thought to anti - vibration enthusiasts. Railroad beds on springs have often been designed. Here is an illustration of one recently patented. The smaller cut is the rail a in its ordinary chair S, which is fastened to the upper part of the

"sleepers" c. The under-surface of the latter is provided with two posts or projections D d, and round these are coiled strong springs which even when the weight of a train is wpon them keep the upper sleeper off the lower one c by bearing on the surface of the latter. In the opinion of some railway experts, however, all improvements in the vibration direction as regards their rolling stock must be made in the train themselves. Notwithstanding this, another genius has striven to dj with rubber what his rival does with springs. In this case the rail a has flexible cross-pieces b b, and a lower projection c attached to it. This forms the lid of the cupli'vc body of the contrivance, which is fastened to the sleeper. The interior of the cup is packed with indiarubber dd. When % weight comes upon the rail, the flexible cross-pieces b b bend, allowing the rubber to take up the vibration. The projection c is provided in order to gain steadiness of the rail ; and. so that the rubber may give adequately, it does not quite fill the box, there being little vacant spaces in the angles at B B. Taking the advice of the railway authorities above referred to, another individual prolific of brain some years ago brought out a "fciaveller's friend." This consists of a seat stuffed with springs, from which hung, by two steel supports, an equally easy foot stool. The seat was placed on the seat of the carriage, and the stool then hung just clear of

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the floor. The front of the stool was provided with a rubber block, which touched the grr und directly the person seated made an effort to rise. You could have the "friend" either wi&U springs or pneumatic — which

was in those days called "air cushioned" — and it was "all made to shut up." Anti-vibration foot-gear is always on the market. Many athletes and cyclists at the present time use so-called pneumatic shoes, having air chambers in the soles. A thin flat steel spring inserted in the "waist" of the sole is another method sometimes adopted.

An inventor who desired to not only enrich himself but also to benefit the guardians of his native land, brought out a vibrationdefeating marching boot, which he endeavoured to induce his Government to take up. Tin's article of foot-gear had a layer of indiarubber inserted in the sole, and a substantial block of the same in the heel to take up the jar consequent on that part of the foot striking the ground. An experiment with this boot was, we beJieve, made in a continental army ; but it was not taken up, as the trials revealed that it possessed insufficient advantages over the ordinary type to warrant a change being made. Though not exactly an anti-vibration contrivance, allusion may be made to an invention of a gentleman whose one hobby was biggame shooting. Elephants were his favourite quarry ; and in such sport he would use a gun currying bullets that wont but three or four to the pound. As may be j»w>,girpd the rocoll

from the explosion of such a weapon is tremendous, and unless the butt of the gun is bedded well in the hollow of the shoulder the latter may easily be dislocated. Many a sptrtman has been knocked off his feet by such a "kick. 1

To ease a shoulder that had in this way suffered considerably, the gentleman in question invented the pad depicted. Made of indiarubber and filled with water it could easily be taken on and off,and it very materially minimised the effects of the recoil. "You can also drink the water when necessary," said the inventor, in further proof of the value of the pad. His friends, however, held that the contrivance destroyed* the accuracy of his aim.

In large hospitals are to be seen many ingenious inventions for preserving the patients from jolts and shakes, the most common being invalid chairs that run very smoothly, and have all sorts of complicated arrangements for completely lowering the patient from a sitting to a lying-down position. Pneumatic and water beds are, of course,

intended more to give ease than to resist vibration. And amongst other things pneumatic that can now be had are horse-collars, culling pins, boxing gloves, stair treads, cartseats, perambulator tyres, saddles, and macintosh cape edging Kept awake by the throbbing of the engines of an ocean steamer a distracted traveller turned his sleeplessness to good account by thinking out the details of a patent vibra-tion-defying cabin bedstead This when completed consisted of a neat collapsible frame of stcil tubing, well stayed, and standing upon four fet made of balls of indiarubber. The netting which was to support the bedclothes w.i& hung, hammock fashion, from the upper corners of the frame-work by four strong spiral springs covered over with canvas. In a rich man's yacht the seats in the smoking cabin were slung from the ceiling, swing fashion, by lines that ended in easy spiral springs. Some delicate instruments are affected by seismic disturbances hundreds of miles away,

Others, equally easily acted upon, record influences not less minute. Some of these will only give accurate readings when entirely free from the slightest vibration. As stands for them, then, all manner of ingenious apparatus :is employed. A section of one variety of such table is here shown. The table top has two short legs. To these are attached coil springs, the other ends of which are connected with two more uprights. These terminate in thick indiarubber balls, yjl&w?x

fH accurately into two heavy iron holders. The four legs of the lable are in no way connected one with another, so that if a movement is communicated Lo one, the others do not aid in setting up a tipping motion. The greatest and most suce*sful foe the vibration nuisance ever had is the pneumatic tyre — tho invention, strange to say, of a man not himself a cyclist. Inventors all over the world are now seeking to solve by the same simple principle many problems in j airing an:l shaking.