Improvements in Steering Locomotive Carriages.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 21st May, 1896-Accepted, 20th Aug., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steering Locomotive Carriages.
We, ERNEST JOHN CLUBBE and ALFRED WILLIAM SOUTHEY, both of 16, Elm
Street, Gray's Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex, Electrical Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to the steering of carriages propelled by mechanical power,
and it has for its object to provide steering arrangement which will enable the
carriage on emergency to be rapidly guided, or be turned within, say, about its own
length, without affecting its steering capacity under ordinary circumstances.
The invention consists essentially in the combination, with the swivelling motion
of the fore carriage of an ordinary draught vehicle about a central king-bolt and
turning plate, of a supplementary swivelling motion of the two wheels about a
vertical axis immediately above or adjacent to the wheel, the axles upon which the
two wheels turn being coupled together so that they swivel together in unison,
suitable gear being provided whereby for emergency the guiding of the vehicle
may be performed by the swivelling of the fore-carriage about the king-bolt in the
ordinary way, whilst for ordinary running, steering can be performed by the swivelling
of the wheels upon their own axes as distinguished from the swivelling of the fore-
carriage as a whole upon the king-bolt and turning plate the one action being
substituted for, or supplemented by, the other as occasion may require.
Dated this 20th day of August 1895.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
We, ERNEST JOHN CLUBBE and ALFRED WILLIAM SOUTHEY both of 16, Elm
Street, Gray's Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex Electrical Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and is what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to the steering of carriages propelled by mechanical power
and it has for its object to provide a steering arrangement which will enable the
carriage to be more easily guided and on emergency to be turned within, say, about
its own length without affecting its steering capacity under ordinary circumstances.
The invention consists essentially in the combination, with the swivelling motion
of the fore-carriage about a central king-bolt and turning plate, of a swivelling
motion of the two wheels of the fore-carriage about independent vertical axes the
axles upon which the two wheels turn being so coupled that they swivel together
in unison, suitable gear being provided whereby for ordinary running steering can
be performed by the swivelling of the wheels upon their own axes whilst in case of
emergency the fore carriage may be made to swivel about the king-bolt and turning
plate such action being, should occasion require it, supplemented by the swivelling
of the wheels about their own axes.

page_text: Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of the swivelling under-carriage of an
auto-motive vehicle illustrating the swivelling of the wheels about independent
axes and Figure 2 illustrates the swivelling of the same under-carriage about the
king-bolt.
The axles A on which the wheels turn are formed by the short arms of elbow
levers pivoted upon vertical axes 6 in strong forked ends of a fixed axle tree B
upon which the springs C are fixed in the usual way. The axles A. are in one with
the longer arms A' of the elbow levers whose ends d are coupled by links D to a
radial arın E working about an axis e concentric with the swivelling axis or king-
bolt of the under-carriage, this radial arm E being jointed to allow of the relative
vertical movement of the parts consequent on the play of the springs. It is fixed
to a vertical shaft passing up through the swivelling centre of the under carriage
and through the superstructure or driver's platform of the vehicle and provided
with a steering handle bar F whereby the two wheels may be swivelled in unison
as indicated in full lines, as compared with the normal position shewn in dotted
lines.
It will be observed that the effective angle which the arm A' makes with the
axle A is greater than 90 degrees the result of which is that although the wheels
swivel in unison they are moved through angles, ẞ' and slightly different extent
in order that they may always stand as nearly as possible in planes tangential to
arcs described from the common centre of curvature of the path in which the
carriage is travelling, a further effect of the mode of coupling being that the wheels
always tend to return to the normal straight forward position.
The bed G of the fore-carriage is supported upon the springs C and carries a
toothed segment H forming the lower turning plate. With this segment gears
a worm I on a shaft geared by bevel pinions with a vertical shaft J provided with a
hand wheel whereby the turning of the under-carriage as a whole about the king-
bolt may be effected as shewn in Figure 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
In a locomotive carriage the combination, with the swivelling motion of the
steering wheels about independent vertical axes in or adjacent to the planes of the
wheels, of a swivelling motion about a common centre or king-bolt the wheel axles
being coupled and operated substantially as specified.
Dated this 21st day of ML1000
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.