IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND WHEEL CARRIAGES
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Taylor at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th February 1860.
I, JAMES TAYLOR, of Birkenhead, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature.
of the said Invention. for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND WHEEL
CARRIAGES," to be as follows:--
This Invention relates to certain improvements in those descriptions of loco-
motive engines, now generally denominated "traction engines," or engines
intended for working upon paved or other roads, or for hauling implements for
agricultural purposes, and also to the carriages or waggons. intended to be em-
ployed therewith or to be hauled thereby, so as to enable such locomotive
engines and carriages to work either on ordinary roads, or unprepared ground,
or upon edge rails, trams, or railway bars, whenever such engines or carriages
may have to pass along a railway or tramway; and also to enable traction or
locomotive engines the better to ascend and descend steep inclines or gradients.
The first part of this Invention relates to improvements in the wheels of the
engines and carriages.
The second part of this Invention relates to means of varying the power and
speed of locomotive or "traction engines."
The third part of this Invention relates to certain additions to the driving
wheels of "traction engines" for common roads, by which the power of the
engine can be applied directly for the purpose of raising the engine out of a

page_text: hollow or soft ground should it become embedded therein, and also to assist in
propelling the engine and its load up hill.
The fourth part of this Invention relates to the disposition of the gearing
and the enclosing the working parts of portable locomotive or "traetion
engines," of the kind or description patented by me on the 13th day of
November 1858, No. 2548.
The fifth part of this Invention relates to certain economic means connected
with the generation and using of the steam in "traction engines."
My improvements in the wheels of engines and carriages aforesaid relate,
first, to a novel arrangement adapted to engines and carriages already built or
constructed; and, second, to a novel arrangement and combination and mode
of working wheels and axles, for the purposes herein-before mentioned. The
first consists in fitting by the side of the ordinary broad tyred wheels a hinged
bar, bellied or curved, downwards, so as to form a projecting flange at the
bottom part of the wheel, when the bar is depressed or lowered into the tran
groove or by the side of an edge rail or railway bar. A guard or fixed block
is so fitted to the frame of the engine as to keep the hinged bar or plough piece
in its place transversely between it and the inner edge of the wheel.
The second consists in fitting upon each end of the axles a double excentric
bush or ferrule, which being mounted concentrically on the axle, has its cx-
terior excentric surfaces at any convenient angle in relation to each other; 1
mount upon one of the excentric portions of each bush or ferrule a plain broad
tyred wheel, whilst on the other I mount a flanged wheel, suitable for running
upon trams or rails. The angles at which the two excentric portions of the
bush or ferrule are one to the other will determine the extent to which the one
is raised out of use, whilst the other is supporting the superimposed weight.
For the purpose of varying the power and speed of locomotive or "traction
engines" without having to stop the engine and throw clutches out and in gear,
1 adopt either of the following arrangements, according to the attendant cir-
cumstances of each application:-Where two or more speeds are obtainable
through the intervention of wheel gearing fitted upon two parallel shafts (the
one having the driving gear and the other the driven gear thereon), I intro-
duce instead of the ordinary tooth or box clutch, double friction cones, the
levers for operating which are connected together by a right and left hand
screw or screws, or their mechanical equivalents, for communicating motion
simultaneously for the transference of power from one train or set of speed
wheels to another and differently speeded train or set of wheels.
When motion is communicated from the engine to the driving wheels through

page_text: overhanging half cranks or stud discs and connecting rods, I fit upon the end.
of each driving and each driven shaft a disc, having a slot therein across its
diameter, and each projecting stud or pin is caused to travel along the slot by.
means of a screw, which is acted upon or caused to rotate whilst the engine is,
in motion, by a tripping piece or a curved rack being projected forward, so
that the pinion or star wheel upon the screw end is acted upon thereby, and
the projecting stud pins are caused to move along the face of the disc.
Where chains are used for transmitting motion intermediately in "traction
engines" constructed according to my Invention, I apply the double cones
patented by Mr. Comb, of Belfast, on the 11th June 1856, No. 1387, for the
purpose of varying the proportions of power and speed without necessitating a
stoppage of the engine for that purpose.
To enable an engine to apply its power directly for the purpose of raising
itself bodily when in a hollow and moving thereout of, as also to aid its pro-
pulsion up speed gradients, I apply struts or legs, which are at one end
attached to and work upon stud pins projecting from the boss of each driving
wheel, or by having their ends formed as excentric straps, are fitted to and
caused to work upon excentric rings fitted upon the boss of each driving wheel,
whilst the outer ends of the struts or legs are projected against the ground,
such struts or legs may be supported by stirrups, or otherwise be held free to
work back and forth, but are so arranged as to be capable of being turned over,
or reversed, or put out of action when not required.
Instead of leaving the machinery and gearing exposed, as shewn in the
Drawings of the engines constructed according to my Invention accompanying
the Specification of the Patent granted to me the 13th day of November 1858,
No. 2548, I enclose the entire arrangement with boxing or casings provided
with suitable hand holes and doors, to give access to the working parts, and I
prefer to continue the boiler casing toward the back of the engine, so as to
leave the line of casing unbroken, and continue the enclosure above and around
the wheel guards.
For the purpose of heating the feed water before it is pumped or injected
into the boiler of "traction engines" and also for the purpose of reducing the
noise produced by the blast, I insert in the exhaust pipe a metal box or closed
vessel (either single or cased) having a series of small pipes arranged therein
at right angles to the passage of the exhaust, and through the interior of these
pipes the feed water is caused to circulate before entering the boiler, whilst the
exterior surfaces of the metal tubes or pipes having the exhausted steam pro-
jected against them on its way to the nozzle of the blast pipe, abstract a portion

page_text: of the heat therefrom and transmit it to the feed water contained within them,
whilst the condensation produced thereby leaves a portion of water thus con-
densed to be collected, and by means of a tube or pipe is led back to the
tank.