Improvements in and relating to Motor-driven Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Motor-driven Vehicles.
I, JOHN BRADLEY CARSE, of 64 & 66 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Illinois,"
United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:--
This invention relates to tramcars and other vehicles driven by mechanical
means and comprises the various improvements hereinafter set forth.
One part of my invention relates to the construction of the engine cylinders two-
of which I make out of one piece of cylindrical tubing by splitting said tubing
longitudinally for a suitable distance at the centre and then opening out the split
part until it is more or less flat. I cut an opening in the flattened part of the
tubing and I construct in it a suitable bearing to receive the crank shaft. The
two ends of the tubing which remain intact form the cylinders proper which are
rigidly connected by the flattened part of the tubing which flattened part may also
serve conveniently for attaching the cylinders to the vehicle frame. The two
connecting rods of these cylinders work on the same crank pin.
As applied to a tramcar or similar vehicle for example I provide four cylinders
formed in two pairs in the manner above described and I attach them to the under-
frame of the vehicle between the axles and couple them to the same crank shaft
which is arranged centrally between the cylinders. From this shaft I drive to
either or both of the axles of the vehicle by chain gearing for example. I provide
suitable clutches for connecting and disconnecting the engine from the axles of the
vehicle so that it is not necessary to stop the engine in order to stop the vehicle.
1 also preferably provide two speed gears one for high speeds and one for slow
speeds. One of these may be conveniently connected to the front axle and the
other to the rear axle of the vehicle, but this arrangement is not essential.
Another improvement relates to the connecting rods arranged to drive on to the
same crank pin. I provide the outer end of one of the said rods with a long bush
that projects laterally for a sufficient distance to receive and form a bearing for
the outer end of the other connecting rod. In this way the wear on the crank pin
is evenly distributed.

page_text: I, JOHN BRADLEY CARSE, of 64 & 66 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Illinois,
United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to motor driven tramcars and other road vehicles and
comprises the improvements hereinafter set forth.
One improvement relates to the construction of the engine cylinders two of
which I make out of one piece of cylindrical tubing by splitting said tubing
longitudinally for a suitable distance at the centre and then opening out the split
part until it is more or less flat. I cut an opening in the flattened part of the
tubing and attach to said part a suitable bearing to support the crank shaft. The
two ends of the tubing which remain intact form the cylinders proper, and
the flattened part of the tubing may serve conveniently for attaching the cylinders
to the vehicle frame.
Another improvement relates to the connecting rods which are arranged to drive
on to the same crank pin. According to this improvement I provide one of the
said rods with a tubular extension that projects laterally for, a sufficient distance
to receive and form a bearing for the other connecting rod, by which means the
wear on the crank pin is evenly distributed.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown how my invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure is a plan partly in section of an engine having four cylinders
constructed according to my invention.
Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of the engine.
Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in both figures.
A, A, B, B are the cylinders; C is the crank shaft; D, D the cranks,
and D', D' the crank pins.
The cylinders A, A¹ are made from one tube, and the cylinders B, B¹ from
another tube as follows, that is to say, the tubes are split longitudinally at the
centre and the wings of the split portions are turned back to form the flattened
parts E; portions of the wings are removed and the inner ends of the unsplit
parts are finished off as indicated in Figure 1. The flat parts E are perforated
to receive the crank shaft, and to said parts the crank bearings F, Fare firmly
secured by bolting or otherwise. The cylinders proper are formed by the ends of
the tubes, which ends remain intact.
As applied to a tramcar or similar vehicle for example I provide four cylinders
formed in two pairs in the manner above described and I attach them to the under-
trame of the vehicle between the axles, the crank shaft being arranged centrally
between the cylinders as shown. From this shaft I drive to either or both of the
axles of the vehicle by chain or other suitable gearing. I provide suitable clutches
for connecting and disconnecting the engine to and from the axles of the vehicle so
that it is not necessary to stop the engine in order to stop the vehicle. I also
preferably provide two speed gears one for high speeds and one for slow speeds.
One of these may be conveniently connected to the front axle and the other to the
rear axle of the vehicle, but this arrangement is not essential.
The connecting rods a, a' of the cylinders A, A' work on a common crank pin,
and similarly the connecting rods b, 6' of the cylinders B, B' work on the other
crank pin. To avoid uneven wear on the crank pins the crank pin ends of the
connecting rods a, b are constructed with lateral tubular extensions indicated by a²

page_text: in Figure 1 which extensions form bearings for the ends of the other connecting
rods a', 6' respectively.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In an engine a pair of cylinders formed from one tube by splitting the tube
and expanding the central portion thereof, substantially as described.
2. The construction of the end of the connecting rod, substantially as, and for
the purpose, specified.
3. An engine constructed substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawings, for the purposes specified.
Dated this 1st day of February 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.