WARANGAL: Most of us are not aware that the current four-wheeler steering mechanism causes skidding of tyres leading to excessive wear and tear leading to reduced life span of tyres. In order to find a solution to the problem, a retired professor of Mechanical Engineering department of National Institute of Technology(NIT) Warangal, R Venkatachalam along with a research scholar of the department A Padma Rao have developed a unique four- wheeler steering system which not only make the drive safe and smooth, but also reduces the wear and tear of tyres while taking a turn. The professor has received a patent for his design recently.
Explaining about his new design, Prof. Venkatachalam said that with the current steering system while taking a turn the tyres skid, as both the front wheels do not follow a common concentric circular paths. “If the vehicle is insisted to follow the circular paths defined by left side wheels then the right side wheels have to undergo skidding. In general, all the four wheels undergo rolling associated with skidding. Hence, the vehicle will not be making a smooth turn”, he said.
According to him, he had developed two mechanism, which are much simpler than the conventional steering and ensures perfect steering always. Explaining about his technique, the professor said that the mechanism mainly involves transmission of rotary motion of one stub axle to another through surface-to-surface contact. However, he states that though this mechanism gives perfect steering always, it has a drawback that the two surfaces should be in contact always. “Due to roughness of the road, the wheels may turn and the surfaces may get separated. In order to overcome this, I had developed another mechanism in which the surfaces are replaced with gear teeth. Prof. Venkatachalam applied for patent in 2012 and after six long years the competent authority Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM), accorded him patent.