MENTS IN THE MODE OF OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING CARRIAGES OR LOADS OVER ROADS OR LAND
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edgar Newman at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 28th April 1877.
EDGAR NEWMAN, of Burnham, in the County of Essex, Gentleman. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING CARRIAGES OR LOADS
OVER ROADS OR LAND."
The principal object of this Invention is to dispense with the use of wheels and
horse power for transporting loads over ordinary roads or loose and unstable soil,
such as ploughed land, or boggy and marshy places. To this end the body of the
carriage which is to receive the load is attached to two pairs of double side frames,
one on each side of the carriage; the frames of each pair are connected together by
cranks, and are provided with elongated feet or plates, which, when brought into
contact with the ground, support the whole structure. The lowermost cranks are
mounted on the ends of cross shafts which pass under and support the body of the
carriage.
The uppermost crank is connected to the pin of a crank plate, on which are
mounted two levers carrying weights at their outward ends, and geared together at
their inner ends by means of two toothed wheels, so that they are made to act with
and therefore counterbalance each other.
The crank plate carries another toothed wheel which is mounted loosely on one
end of a cross shaft which extends across the body and is provided with an exactly
similar arrangement of gearing for the side frame on the other side of the carriage.
Into this toothed wheel gears another toothed wheel keyed on a shaft which is
mounted in bearings at the upper end of side frames fixed to the carriage body.
This shaft is the main driving shaft, and power is applied thereto either by means
of hand levers or by means of suitable gearing, which may be actuated by the
hand of the attendant, who may be stationed either in the body of the carriage or
at either end, or it may be driven by steam or other motive power. The toothed
wheels on the ends of this driving shaft are of peculiar character, inasmuch as a
portion only of their periphery is toothed. Two parts of the circumference are
made plain and are cut away, and therefore these parts pass over the teeth of the
wheel of the crank plate without acting thereon. At the side of the toothed wheels
on the driving shaft, and at those parts which are plain and free from teeth,

page_text: toothed sectors are fixed and are so arranged as to take or gear into the small
toothed wheels or pinions on the inner ends of the weighted levers.
As the main driving shaft with its toothed wheels and sectors rotate, the sectors
on coming into contact with the pinions on the axles of the weighted levers, cause
the pinions to rotate in opposite directions and carry round the weighted levers,
which at a certain part of their motion act in unison to counterbalance the weight
of the carriage and load as it is lifted; and at another part of their motion they
part and move in opposite directions, and thereby counterbalance each other. In
order that the carriage may be steered, the inner frame of each pair of side frames
is secured to a horizontal wheel or circular plate which is mounted by its centre
on another horizontal wheel or circular plate which rests on the ground.
The top wheel to which the side frames are attached is provided with several
antifriction rollers which run on the face or top side of the under wheel or circular
plate. It will now be understood that the whole structure is capable of being
moved round horizontally on the central pin or pivot of the under wheel or circular
plate, so that the direction in which the carriage is moved forward may be changed
as desired. This change of direction may be effected by means of any suitable
steering gear under the direction of the driver or other attendant.