Dutchman (vehicle)
A Dutchman is a muscle-powered vehicle for children. It is a movement toy for boys and girls from around 4 years of age and trains movement coordination .
history
The Dutch were widespread until the 1950s, when they were almost displaced by pedal cars and similar vehicles and are now experiencing a modest resurrection.
In 1982 there was a plastic toy with the name "The Flying Dutchman" in surprise eggs for children , which shows how the Dutchman works.
construction
The Dutchman can be built as a three- or four-wheeled vehicle. A chassis made of metal or wood is used as the basis for the toy vehicle . Some vehicles also have a drag brake , a backrest and pneumatic tires . There are also versions as a tandem Dutch, for two children with two drawbars.
steering
The vehicle is steered with the feet on the front axle. If there is only a single front wheel on a three-wheel variant, then the axle of this wheel is extended and serves as a footrest, similar to the axle extensions (so-called pegs) on BMX bikes.
drive
The rear wheel drive takes place via a kind of drawbar that is moved back and forth with the arms, which acts on the rear wheel via a linkage or a chain.
Crank arm
If the drive is designed with a crank arm , the drawbar must be moved continuously. This type of drive allows driving forwards and backwards. The disadvantage here is the dead center of this mechanism, which means that the vehicle cannot be moved in this position and you have to push it briefly to get over the dead center. At high speeds (e.g. downhill driving), this type of linkage was sometimes uncontrollable due to the constant movement of the tiller, which also led to an increased risk of injury.
A special design of the Dutchman from the 1950s is the "Cyclo Skiff" from the Nyon VD company in Switzerland, with which speeds of over 20 km / h were achieved. With this driving device, two handles had to be moved at the same time.
In 2012, a diploma thesis was submitted to the Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany , which presented a three-wheeled Dutchman with a crank arm, which has a clutch and freewheel, which eliminates the main disadvantage of this design.
Chain transmission
The chain drive with freewheel offers another option . This type of drive was introduced in a similar form by the Steiff company with the rowing machine and further developed in the Holländer. The drawbar is pulled towards the body for the forward movement, similar to a rowing ergometer . The bicycle chain is connected to the drawbar at one end and runs over the chain wheel on the rear axle. The other end of the chain is connected to a tension spring so that the chain is pulled back when the drawbar moves forward. This type of drive has no dead center of the mechanics and is particularly suitable for longer journeys, as you can let the vehicle roll without having to move the drawbar. With this type of drive, reversing is only possible by manually pushing the vehicle.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eierwiki.de The Flying Dutchman , accessed on June 10, 2014
- ↑ Winther company from Denmark: Product catalog 2012/13 page 21, RowKart, also called VIKING Holländer
- ↑ Lebens- und Arbeitsgemeinschaft Lautenbach eV , workshop for handicapped people and a manufacturer of Dutch wood
- ↑ pedalo.de Dutch with pneumatic tires
- ↑ Seebach local history collection, Dutch tricycle
- ↑ Photos and brochures from the Cyclo Skiff
- ^ Johan Sträter: Submission to the Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany 2012 ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
