Patent GB-189912552-A (GB)
Title: Motor Road Vehicle.
Inventor: MUNSON JOHN HENRY
Filed: 1899-06-16
Granted: 1899-09-23
Abstract: 12,552. Munson, J. H. June 16. Motor road vehicles. - Consists generally of a motor vehicle comprising a wheeled carriage wbereon a prime mover, preferably in the form of an explosion engine, is combined with a motor dynamo and a storage battery. The engine is sufficiently powerful to drive the vehicle on ordinary roads, and at the same time to operate the motor dynamo so as to charge the batteries. The motor dynamo is, however, so combined with the engine that, when rough or muddy roads or hills are met with and the speed of the engine falls, the motor dynamo draws current from the batteries and, acting as a motor, assists the engine in maintaining the speed of the vehicle. (1) The vehicle is shown in plan in Fig. 1 with the carriage body removed, and in part vertical section in Fig. 2. The frame is composed of longitudinal angle or channel bars 4, 5, connected by transverse bars, on which the motor cylinders and the casings 34, 25, 57, respectively enclosing the engine, the electromotor, and the gearing, are mounted immediately, and jointly form a rigid support for the various bearings. The frame members 4 are attached at the front end to the fixed axle 2, and at the rear end to the bearing 8 on the rear axle 3, and the carriage body is separately supported by springs, as shown. Steering is effected by swivelling axles adjusted by a bar 12 and a shaft 16 which passes through the steering-pillar 13 to worm gear and a handwheel 21 at the top. Surrounding the shaft 16 in the steering- pillar is a tubular shaft 15 worked by worm gear and a hand-wheel 22, the purpose of which is to enable the variable-speed toothed gear to be adjusted. (2) The engine may be of any desired type, but is preferably worked by gasoline vapour and has either two or four cylinders. In the form shown in Fig. 1, there are two cylinders 24 driving on a crank shaft 23 situated transversely to the vehicle. The cylinders have terminal exhaust outlets as well as exhaust valves, and the exhaust pipes, which are accordingly disposed as shown at 26, 26, connect with mufflers 27 of any desired kind. The igniters 31 are operated by electricity supplied from the field-magnet circuits of the electromotor, which are never interrupted. The cylinders are cooled by water circulated through a flat tank, either open or with a perforated top. When a four-cylinder motor is employed, the shaft is disposed longitudinally to the vehicle. (3) The motor dynamo is shown in section in Fig. 4. The armature is of the Gramme ring type, and is carried by a spider 38 so as to run outside the field magnets. The field poles are composed of rings 48, 49 carrying alternating pole-pieces 50, and each wound with the field coils 53 before being placed together. (4) Changing the speed of the vehicle is provided for by an electric controller, by which the motor armature may be connected with the batteries either in parallel or in series. Further speed changes and reversal are provided for by toothed and clutch gearing. In this gear, shown in Fig. 4, either the pinion 81 or 68 may be made fast to the engine shaft 23, the wheel 68 being integral with the pinion 65 by which the balance gear on the vehicle driving-axles is driven, and the pinion 81 gearing with the wheel 68 through reducing-gear carriel on a parallel countershaft. The clutches for making fast the pinions 81 or 68 are of the friction type, in which divided rings 80 can be expanded so as to grip the drums in which they are placed by means of wedges 83. The divided gripping-rings are kept in place by distance-pieces on which slides the disc carrying the wedges, the disc being adjusted by a lever operated by the tubular shaft 15 named above. Reversal is effected by grooved friction-wheels 88, 89, Fig. 8, one on the engine shaft and the other on the countershaft 85, between which can be forced an idle wheel 90 by means of the cam 93. A modified form of gearing, giving similar speed changes but adapted to the case in which a four-cylinder engine with a longitudinally-disposed shaft is employed, is also described. (5) The construction of the controller preferred is shown in Fig. 10. It is composed of a stationary plate 113 supported in a frame on which is capable of sliding another plate 114. The stationary plate carries two rows of clip contacts, and the movable plate two corresponding rows of bridge contacts. (6) The lubrication of the engine crank shaft at the motor dynamo end is effected by an oiling-ring, and at the main bearings by caps 63 into which oil is carried from the crank chamber by the motion of the cranks. Tne toothed change gearing is lubricated by oil forced into suitable ducts 100 bored in the crank shaft 23 and forming a reservoir not requiring to be frequently filled.