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Wind Powered Vehicle:

Chassis


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A 60t Gear meshes with a 95t Gear; the plastic ones were chosen for the slightly wider face making it easier to line them up. The vertical shaft in the 60t Gear sits in the centre hole of the yellow 1.5"x2.5" Flanged Plate; a non-Meccano nylon washer interfaces between the Gear and the Flanged Plate. The 95t Gear is mounted one hole from the centre of the 4.5" DAS, and therefore also one hole to the right of the boss of the 60t Gear.
The rear axle assembly showing the final gear stage. Here a 12t 3flat Pinion #26b-3p was chosen because it requires a tiny bit less horizontal clearance that a #26n, but still it was not quite possible to centre the rear wheel. The framework consists of 1x0.5"" DAS's #48e bolted to the chassis; on the outer lugs, 1.5" Strips are bolted vertically, to which the lugs of the upper 4.5x0.5" DAS are bolted. It can be clearly seen in this photo how the entire vehicle leans to one side. This is because at the front it is resting on one wheel and the guide pin, which normally is suspended in the groove of the track.
The combination 3flat Axle Rod with a clutch #144c to fix the wheel #187c on the rod had too much play and caused the vehicle to move jerkily. This was remedied by friction-fitting a plastic 57t Gear #27a into the inner teeth of the #187c and conventionally fixing the boss of the #27a on a normal round Axle Rod. (As an aside, the first time I held a #187c in my hands I didn't know about part #144c, but noticed that the inner teeth complement those on a #27a and thought that this was the intended way of fixing these wheels on a rod. Here I was able to use this method to good advantage!)
The steering mechanism could hardly be simpler, but after experimenting with several variations of Ackermann steering, this one proved to be the most effective in guiding the vehicle along the groove of the track. The guide pin at the front is a 2" Axle Rod held onto the 2" Strip by two Collars. The front wheel assemble attaches to the chassis by simply slipping the Threaded Pin #115 into the boss of the Bush Wheel (which was chosen simply because I haven't got any Double Arm Cranks).


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Last updated: 06 June 2003


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