From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Description of an invention related to steering gear for tanks and endless-track vehicles.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 147\4\ scan0191 | |
| Date | 15th May 1941 guessed | |
| This invention relates to steering gear for tanks and like endless-track vehicles and is concerned with gears of the general types known as controlled-differential or controlled-epicyclic gears in which the tracks are 5 driven in the same direction by a main drive and steering is effected by driving the tracks in opposite directions by means of a reversible supplementary drive, the resultant effect of the two drives being to drive one track faster than the other. In the controlled-differential 10 gear, the main drive applies driving torques to both tracks in the same direction through a differential gear, while the supplementary drive applies driving torques to the two tracks in opposite directions through a second differential gear and is reversible to reverse the direc- 15 tion of the torques it applies to the tracks. In the controlled epicyclic gear, the main drive drives each track in the same direction through a separate epicyclic gear and the supplementary drive drives corresponding members of the epicyclic gears in opposite directions 20 which can be reversed by reversing the supplementary drive. In known gears of these types, the supplementary drive embodies two controllable slipping clutches, one for each direction of steering, and the radius of a turn is varied by varying the amount of slip in the engaged 25 clutch, the amount of slip being larger for a more gradual turn. On many occasions, as when making or correcting a gradual turn, one or other of these clutches must slip to a considerable extent for prolonged periods and will absorb substantial power which must be dissipated as heat. 30 In consequence, the problem of dissipation of heat from these clutches may become serious. 2. | ||