May The Best Design Prevail

摘要

Equipment manufacturers often cite differences in design philosophy to claim distinction (and usually superiority) for their products in the marketplace. In the early days of the articulated wheel loader, for instance, manufacturers debated whether placing the operator on the front frame or the rear frame was most advantageous, and both sides of the debate advanced cogent arguments for their design. Early in the last century, manufacturers of pull-graders were debating the best design for the machine's wheels. In 1885, J.D. Adams, a road inspector, was of the opinion that the pull-grader's rigid wheels tended to push the machine away from the load on the blade, making the grader inefficient and difficult to control. His solution, when he subsequently developed a pull-grader of his own manufacture, was to design the wheels to lean. Leaning wheels, combined with an angled blade, said Adams, increased the grader's ability to excavate and move material in a specific direction by forcing the machine's weight onto the blade, rather than the wheels, thus holding the blade against the load.