Improvements relating to Horseless Carriages.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 24th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 30th May, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Horseless Carriages.
I JAMES BRABY of Maybanks, Rudgwick, in the County of Sussex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
-
This invention relates partly to improvements on the three-wheeled vehicle for
which I obtained Letters Patent No. 1009, dated 9th March 1881, and partly to
an improved form of wheel for such vehicles.
The class of vehicle particularly referred to in the said Patent is a traction
engine, but the invention was equally applicable to lighter road vehicles.
In that Patent, the front wheel, which served the double purpose of steering and
driving wheel, ran loose on the axle, one end of which was formed with an eye for
the reception of a vertical shaft, which was driven, while the other end was
connected to a toothed sector sliding in fixed guides, and operated by hand gear
through a worm wheel.
The vertical abaft had two mitre wheels, one gearing with a toothed ring on
the driving wheel, and the other with a bevel wheel, which was driven in any
convenient manner.
It has been found that the strain has been somewhat great on the axle and the
driving wheel, and I now propose to divide the vertical axle into two parts, one
working within the other. I place a mitre wheel on the outer end of each shaft,
which wheels gear with the toothed ring on the wheel, and each shaft is separately
driven by mitre wheels.
In this way I drive the wheel at two places, and I equalize the strain.
The driving wheel consists of a hub, from which extend straight spokes carrying
a channelled iron ring of comparatively small diameter, on the outside of which are
the teeth.
Outside this ring, I place a second channelled iron ring, of, say, twice the
diameter, which serves as the rim or tyre, and between these two rings I insert a
series of small rings of spring steel, which 1 secure in the channels by bolts, or in
any other convenient manner.
"
When used for ordinary wheels, it will be unnecessary to provide the toothed,
ring, but otherwise the wheels will be constructed in the same manner.
The steering of the vohicle will be effected in the manner described in my former
Patent, or in any other convenient manner.
Dated this 19th day of October 1805
:
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Horseless Carriages.
I, JAMES BRABY of Maybanks, Rudgwick in the County of Sussex, Gentleman,
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 partly to improvements on the three-wheeled vehicle for
'

page_text: which I obtained Letters Patent No. 1009, dated 9th March 1881, and partly to
an improved form of wheel for such and other vehicles.
The class of vehicle particularly 'referred to in the said Patent is a traction
engine, but the invention was equally applicable to lighter road vehicles.
In that Patent, the front wheel, which served the double purpose of steering and
driving wheel, ran loose on the axle, one end of which was formed with an eye for
the reception of a vertical shaft, which was driven, while the other end was
connected to a toothed sector sliding in fixed guides, and operated by hand gear
through a worm wheel.
The vertical shaft had two mitre wheels, one gearing with a toothed ring on
the driving wheel, and the other with a bevil wheel, which was driven in any
convenient manner.
It has been found that the strain has been somewhat great on the axle and the
driving wheel, and I now propose to divide the vertical axle into two parts, one
working within the other. I place a mitre wheel on the other end of each shaft,
which wheels gear with the toothed-ring on the wheel, and each shaft is separately
driven by mitre wheels.
In this way, I drive the wheel at two places, and I equalize the strain.
The driving wheel consists of a hub, from which extend straight spokes carrying
a channelled iron ring of comparatively small diameter, on the outside of which are
the teeth.
Outside this ring, I place a second channelled iron ring of, say, twice the
diameter, which serves as the rim or tyre, and between these two rings I insert a
series of small rings of spring steel, which 1 secure in the channels by bolts, or in
any other convenient manner.
When used for ordinary wheels it will be unnecessary to provide the toothed ring,
but otherwise the wheels will be constructed in the same manner.
The steering of the vehicle will be effected in the manner described in my former
Patent, or in any other convenient manner.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1, Sheet I, is a plan view of the driving and steering mechanism.
Fig. 2. is a side view; and
Fig. 3 is a front view, shewing part of the frame of the vehicle in section.
As in my former Patent, the steering and driving wheel A is mounted on an
axle B, which is provided at one end with a sleeve or socket B', which rocks on the
vertical shaft C. This shaft C is carried in bearings in a bracket D forming part
of the main frame E of the vehicle. The frame E may be of any suitable
construction, and, as it forms no essential part of the present invention, I will not
further describe it.
The vertical shaft may be formed in two parts, namely, a solid or main portion, C,
and a sleeve or hollow portion, C; or, I.may use a single shaft and two sleeves.
On the outer end of the main shaft C, or its equivalent, and of the sleeve C', is
mounted a mitre wheel F, the object of which will be presently explained.
At the inner end of the sleeve C' is mounted, above the socket B¹, a mitre
wheel H, and on the shaft C, and below the socket B', is mounted another mitre
wheel H³, and between these two mitre wheels H H is a third wheel H³, which is
mounted on a horizontal axle J, carried in bearings in the frame E, and having
keyed thereon a gear or chain wheel K. This wheel is driven by chain or gearing
from a suitable motor carried by the vehicle.
The outer end of the shaft B is provided with a sector L, which is operated by
a worm M, as described in my former Patent, for steering purposes, or any other
arrangement of steering mechanism may be adopted.
The wheels F gear with the driving and steering wheel A, the construction of
which will now be described, reference being had to Sheet II of the drawings, in
which
Fig. 4 is a side elevation ;-

page_text: Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a plan view of the tyre and a cross section, shewing
on an enlarged scale the manner of securing the elastic spokes.
a is the hub or boss; 6 are spokes of any convenient form, which are rivetted or
otherwise permanently secured to a channel iron ring c, having the mouth outwards.
d is a second channel iron ring of considerably larger diameter, with the mouth
inwards, and which serves as the rim or felloe.
Between these two rings c and d are secured in any convenient manner rings of
spring steel, which may be said to be elastic spokes.
These elastic spokes may consist of two rings of slightly different diameters,
between which, at the points where the rings are secured to the channel rings ad,
blocks or plates of wood, metal, india rubber, or other material, are inserted, and
these elastic spokes are secured to the rings ed by bolts passing through all the
parts, and nuts, or by cramps, or in any other convenient manner.
Or, the elastic spokes may be single rings of spring steel, or, it may be, a ribbon
or band of spring steel wound 2, 3, or more times round a suitable mandrel, and
then insorted between the channel rings c, d, being secured thereto by bolts as
before mentioned.
g is a tyre, which will be shrunk on the felloe in the usual way. This tyre may
be of any suitable form which will serve to give a good grip on the road, for
instance, with oval or other shaped recesses, as indicated in Fig. 6.
To secure the elastic spokes to the rings c and d, I prefer to proceed as follows:-
I fill the channels with wood h, having previously removed from the ring of
wood h, segments ³, corresponding to the part of the elastic spoke to be secured
thoreto.
I next place the spokes f. in position, and replace the segments A, which were
removed, and pass a bolt or bolts through the felloe d, the wood h, the spokes, the
Fegment, and secure it or them by the nut or nuts i¹.
The spoke will be attached to the ring c in the same way, or in any other
convenient or suitable mannor, as before indicated.
To the side of the ring e, when the wheel is used as a driving wheel, is bolted or
otherwise secured a mitre toothed ring &, with which the mitre wheels F gear, and
motion is thus communicated to the wheel A through the gearing before described,
from the prime mover.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The arrangement of driving gear for the driving and steering wheel of a
horseless road vehicle herein shewn and described.
2. In driving gear for operating the driving and steering wheel of a horseless
road vehicle, the employment of a divided vertical shaft, or the equivalent, to carry
mitre wheels, which are suitably driven, and gear with the driving wheel at two
opposite points, as and for the purpose set forth.
3. The construction of wheel for horseless and other vehicles, as herein shewn
and described.
Dated this 24th day of April 1896.