The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 45

The rickshaws in the design will be mostly made of wood, and wide enough to seat up to two people. They will also be painted and fitted with shock absorption systems.

The technical challenge lies in the shock absorption system; theoretically, using springs for natural shock absorption would be more effective.

However, given the current nascent level of metal smelting and processing, it's impossible to produce usable springs in the short term, making independent suspension out of the question. The only option left is to use leaf springs, specifically wooden leaf springs.

Even if leaf springs are chosen, there are many ways to implement them, and the costs and difficulties vary.

Therefore, we still need to conduct experiments to determine which method is more suitable for the current situation. Since it will only seat two people at most, the load will not be too heavy, so the leaf springs can be made slightly softer.

In addition to the shock absorption system, Xu Tian also wants to develop rollers so that they can be used on rickshaws to reduce the friction between the wheels and the axles.

Furthermore, rollers have a wide range of uses and will be useful in the future, so it's necessary to develop them first and see if the current level of metal casting can successfully realize this.

He has already drawn a rough design of the roller. He does not plan to use balls for the rolling element in the middle, as pure spheres are too difficult to manufacture and the technology is not available at present. He plans to use cylinders, which, although they have a larger bearing surface, are relatively more robust.

Theoretically, he felt that the quality of iron products in this era should be fine, since they were intended to be used on rickshaws first, and the requirements for the rollers would not be too high.

If rollers cannot achieve this, the only option is to use a large ring inside a small ring to conduct a hard friction experiment, at most adding some lubricating oil in the middle.

In addition to that, the braking system also needs to be considered, which is unavoidable. Fortunately, the technical difficulty shouldn't be too high, and he is confident of success.

Old Yu said he would ask his old friend if he was willing to come, but Xu Tian waited for several days and no one came. He was a little uneasy. If no one came, was it hopeless?

In that case, things will get complicated. Will I really have to take matters into my own hands?

It was a rest day at the factory, and all the workers were on holiday.

Unlike the shop's rules, where employees take turns on vacation, the factory basically gives everyone a day off. Only Zhao Zhong was there to oversee the factory, and Xu Tian stayed in the shop instead.

Around noon, he heard that Zheng Zhuangyuan, Zheng Xie, had come again. He remembered that he had only met him once at the beginning of the month, and had been busy with factory matters since then. It had been a while since he had met and chatted with him, so he decided to go and see him.

Upon entering the private room, they found Zheng Xie sitting at the table, chopsticks in one hand, gazing out the window with a furrowed brow, seemingly deep in thought. The food on the table appeared to be untouched, which was unlike him.

"Brother Zheng, it's been a while since we last met. How have you been?"

Seeing that it was Xu Tian who came in, Zheng Xie smiled and said, "Xu Tian, ​​sit down. I was just looking for you to have a chat. You weren't here last time I came. I know you were busy with the iron furnace. It's good to see you today."

"Brother Zheng, you don't seem very happy today. Did something unpleasant happen?" Xu Tian asked directly.

"There have always been unpleasant things, just to varying degrees. Has the iron furnace been built yet?"

"Fortunately, it was completed smoothly a few days ago. I must thank you, Brother Zheng, for this." Xu Tian cupped his hands in thanks.

"First of all, I must thank Li Jiedu. My abilities are limited, and I only hope that you can achieve something."