Chapter 995 The First Generation of Tractors
The first generation of tractors was simple and crude. There was no steering wheel, no gearbox, and no gear shifting. However, there was a clutch device, which was mainly used to control the switching between the piston pumps and the steam engine.
The operation of such a vehicle was like a tank during World War II, and it was all controlled by a row of joysticks in front of the driver's seat.
Well, to be precise, these joysticks were used to control the hydraulic piston pumps.
The vehicle body adopted an independent suspension system composed of springs and hydraulic rods, and the beam was also designed with joint flexibility. The advantage of this design was that it gave this tractor the ability to pass through mountains and obstacles as if it were on flat ground.
In other words, the four wheels and the frame of this tractor were flexibly connected. No matter which wheel was lifted alone, the vehicle could maintain a certain degree of stability, and the four wheels could touch the ground at the same time.
If it was a hard connection solution, then when one wheel ran over a stone or other obstacle, the remaining wheels would be lifted together, causing the vehicle body to tilt.
The beam of the torsion joint can ensure that when the front two wheels, that is, the front of the car tilts to one side, the rear of the car twists in the opposite direction, and the body of the car will not be damaged.
In other words, the four wheels are independent, and the front and rear of the car are also independent. If there is a problem with one unit, it will not affect other parts.
After lunch at noon, Lin Fei took Luo Chong to observe the test drive of the whole vehicle. The group came to the factory workshop under the jurisdiction of the institute and saw the huge tractor with wheels installed at a glance.
This tractor is very large, with a front wheel diameter of up to 1.6 meters and a rear wheel diameter of 2 meters. It is taller than ordinary people, and you have to climb up the ladder to enter the cab.
In theory, there is no need to manufacture such a large tractor at the beginning. Not only is the cost high, but it is also not conducive to future popularization. If farmers want to buy it, the small hand tractor is more popular. Such a big guy, even in modern times, costs more than one million, which is not affordable for ordinary people.
However, the current technology of the Han tribe limits its size, because the car is equipped with a steam engine.
The Han tribe currently has no fuel available. If there is an internal combustion engine that burns oil, even a single-cylinder diesel engine that burns diesel, Luo Chong can make it more compact, but there is no such thing. If a steam engine is used, plus various devices, this limits the size of the vehicle body. A too small vehicle body has no place to install so many things, especially the boiler of the steam engine.
Now this test vehicle still looks very simple, the mechanical parts of the front of the car are completely exposed, and there is not even a hood on the outside. The complex and precise parts show a retro steampunk beauty.
The driving seat is also very simple, without even a roof, let alone a windshield. The various parts of the body are not painted. It is just a rough test vehicle. After all, it has not been finalized yet.
Luo Chong circled the tractor twice under the gaze of a group of workers and researchers, looking here and touching there, nodding from time to time, and then gave instructions to Lin Fei.
"Let's start the test run. How long will it take to start this thing?"
"Reporting to the leader, it may take half an hour to start the cold engine, otherwise the steam pressure will not be reached." Lin Fei immediately replied.
"Then why are you still standing there? Light up the furnace quickly. Report to me the status of each part first." Luo Chong immediately arranged.
Lin Fei nodded and waved his hand. Immediately, a worker came forward to light the furnace.
Steam engine cars are troublesome. It takes more than an hour to start them.
Luo Chong sighed in his heart and stood aside to watch. Lin Fei also recruited a group of researchers to introduce the current situation of this car to Luo Chong. They were all responsible for the tractor development project.
"To the leader, according to your instructions, we have currently reserved eight connection schemes on the rear traction system. Three of them are movable hooks, which are no different from the hooks on the train and can be used to tow unpowered carriages or buckets. They are a central hook and two five-point hooks.
"There is also a power transmission shaft. If a bucket with a belt drive is attached, this shaft can be connected to the back, turning the entire vehicle body into a six-wheel drive mode, that is, the rear trailer body also has power output capabilities.
"In addition, two hydraulic pipeline interfaces and two hydraulic rods are reserved at the rear of the vehicle, which can be connected to the agricultural machinery equipment mentioned by the leader."
The researcher held the notebook in one hand and kept pointing to the various components of the parking space with the other hand to introduce them to Luo Chong, and Luo Chong nodded from time to time, looking very satisfied.
What he introduced was what Luo Chong wanted to know most.
Tractor Tractor, as the name shows, its most important thing is the two words of towing and pulling. Without this most important function, it is just a simple vehicle.
And what a tractor can tow and pull depends on how the various connection devices at its rear are designed.
The tractor in front of us has eight coupling joints, which is enough to show its strong ability.
The middle tow hook can be mounted with a non-powered bucket with a central connecting rod. This mounting scheme can form a toggle-type non-powered connection between the tractor and the trailer, which means that when the tractor turns, the bucket will not turn synchronously, just like the front of a semi-trailer pulling a container.
Such a flexible connection may not seem to be a big deal at ordinary times, but it can reduce the turning radius when the mounted body is too long.
In addition, there are two identical hooks at one-fifth of each end of the rear of the vehicle. According to the mathematical theory that two points determine a straight line, when the rear coupling part is hooked with these two hooks at the same time, its horizontal body will form a rigid connection with the tractor. When the tractor turns, this thing will inevitably turn synchronously.
This mounting scheme is used to mount seeding machinery. Such machinery is usually not very long and needs to be kept consistent with the horizontal coordinate of the tractor for easy operation.
If you want to mount a seed drill, first hang up the two five-point hooks, and then hang up the two reserved hydraulic rods, so that the driver can control the hydraulic rods to lift and lower the seed drill at the back.
The two reserved hydraulic rods are used for this purpose.
At the same time, if the rear hanging parts also need to achieve power output, two five-point hooks are also needed to keep the front and rear longitudinal directions consistent, and then the reserved transmission shaft can be connected.
Finally, there are two reserved hydraulic pipe joints, which are used to mount some vehicles that need hydraulic output in the rear half.
For example, a dump truck has a hydraulic rod underneath for raising the bucket, but it does not have its own power system. In this case, the hydraulic rod of the bucket can be connected to the reserved joint of the tractor, and the tractor driver can control the raising or lowering of the bucket at the rear through the joystick in the cab.
With the function of the tipping bucket, it is very convenient for loading and unloading goods. For example, for ore, sand, earthwork, and even grain, which are not afraid of falling or being crushed, the driver can directly tilt the goods in the bucket by pulling the joystick, eliminating the heavy operation of manually unloading with a shovel.
Of course, if you plan to attach a tipping bucket, it is enough to leave only one hydraulic joint. With two joints, there are more attachment options, and some agricultural machinery with more complex structures can also be used at the same time.
For example, agricultural machinery such as rotary tillers and ridgers.
The core technology of the tractor is also here.
Luo Chong listened to the introduction while looking around. After they finished the introduction, he climbed up to the driver's seat and sat in the driver's seat.
The cab of this tractor has two seats in parallel, the left is the driver's seat, and the right is the stoker's seat. This is the disadvantage of steam engine vehicles. One person must be specially assigned to control the power system, and the other person is responsible for the control and driving of the entire vehicle.
The tractor adopts a traditional layout, with the power system in the front, that is, the steam engine and boiler, the driving position in the middle, and various couplings in the back.
Luo Chong sat in the driving position, looking at the row of joysticks in front of him and the clutch pedal under his feet. He couldn't help shaking his head. He felt a little uncomfortable. After all, he was used to driving a car with a steering wheel in his previous life. Now he got a car with a pull rod. It is inevitable that he will not be used to it, but he is not unable to drive.
According to Luo Chong's design, the tops of the row of joysticks in front of him are covered with handles made of wood. The handles are painted in different colors to display different functions.
Two groups of black handles connected in parallel are used to control the power output of the four wheels. The reason why there are four handles connected in parallel is very simple. As mentioned before, each wheel is independent, so naturally there is a handle for each wheel.
However, it is not necessary to operate separately at ordinary times, so it is divided into two groups, one group controls the front wheel and the other group controls the rear wheel.
When the handle is in the middle, the vehicle will not move. Pushing forward means moving forward, and pulling backward means reversing. It is simple, convenient and easy to use.
The left and right turns are controlled by a red handle between the driver's legs. Turning left means turning left, and turning right means turning right. This is to control the two hydraulic rods on the inside of the front wheels. The front wheels change direction by retracting the hydraulic rods.
If the steering rod fails, there is another backup plan to allow the vehicle to turn, which is to open the parallel limit of the four wheels, and then control the speed and rotation direction of the four wheels separately to control the turn.
For example, the two wheels on the left are reversed, and the two wheels on the right are forward, so that the car can turn left on the spot, and the turning radius is smaller.
However, such operation is more troublesome to control. Generally, it is not recommended to use this extreme method to turn when the hydraulic steering system is normal.
Finally, there are two separate yellow handles, which are the joysticks of the two hydraulic joints reserved at the rear of the vehicle. If there is no vehicle with a hydraulic device behind, these two yellow joysticks are not needed.
Seven joysticks can fully control this first-generation tractor. Although it is not as simple to operate as a steering wheel, it is not difficult to drive after getting familiar with it.
Finally, there is a clutch pedal under the foot. Under normal circumstances, this pedal is not needed. When driving normally, the hydraulic drive devices of the four wheels and the hydraulic steering device are connected to the main power gear of the steam engine through gears. Whether it is normal walking or turning left or right, there is no need to step on the clutch.
There are only two situations where the clutch is needed.
First, when you need to reverse, you need to adjust the direction of the oil output of the plunger pumps of the four wheels. You need to use the clutch to disengage the gear from the steam main engine, and then connect the gear in the opposite direction to the main engine.
Second, when you need to operate the tail hydraulic device alone.
For example, when there is a dump bucket hanging behind the tractor, and then you need to use the dump bucket to unload the goods at this time, the car cannot move, the steam engine cannot stop, and you need to supply power to a hydraulic pump at the back alone.
At this time, step on the clutch to disconnect the four wheels from the engine, and let the engine supply power to the hydraulic pump that controls the dump bucket alone.
In fact, in actual operation, this tractor is easier to drive than a modern manual transmission car. Although there are many joysticks, it is much simpler than a manual transmission to shift gears back and forth.
The last thing left is the brake. The brake of this tractor uses a steam brake, which uses a steam piston to control the friction between the brake pad and the wheel hub, so as to slow down. However, tractors usually do not run fast, so brakes are basically not used.
The handbrake uses a hydraulic handbrake, which is actually a hydraulic valve. As long as the valve is closed and the oil flow of the four plunger pumps of the wheel is controlled, the movement of the wheel can be restricted.
The above mentioned are still the most basic hardware measures, such as vehicle lighting and rearview mirrors, which have not been installed yet.
After all, even if this thing is installed, it must be installed on the frame of the cab. At present, this test vehicle does not even have a cab. It is just an open tractor. There is no place to place those auxiliary things.
Luo Chong sat in the driver's seat, watching a group of researchers around him busy up and down, some checking the hydraulic pipelines, some checking the hydraulic cylinders, and some checking the steam engine. When they reported to Luo Chong one by one that each part was in good condition, the whistle of the steam engine in front began to whine.
"Chief, the water is boiling, and the air pressure in the drum has reached the working level." The boilerman in charge of the steam engine next to him immediately reported.
"Then start the steam engine and let's go out for a walk." Luo Chong raised a smile at the corner of his mouth, and he seemed very interested in this test run.
The people watching around him were also very excited, ready to witness this moment that will be remembered in history.
The boilerman nodded, and then moved the pipeline gate. The superheated steam in the drum quickly poured into the cylinder, pushing the piston to start reciprocating motion. The piston pushed the connecting rod, driving the flywheel to rotate, and the main power shaft connected to the flywheel also began to rotate rapidly. The whole steam engine immediately ran frantically.
Luo Chong saw that the time was ripe, felt the regular trembling from the seat, stepped on the clutch back and forth, and after confirming that the clutch system was fine, he pushed the joysticks of the two sets of wheels. The steam engine drove the hydraulic pump to rotate, and the liquid oil with strong pressure poured into the plunger pump of the wheel. The whole tractor suddenly seemed to be resurrected and arched forward.
"Get out of the way! I'm going to drive out of the factory!" Luo Chong immediately shouted while holding the joystick.
(End of this chapter)
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