Improvements in Light Motor Road Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Light Motor Road Vehicles.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of Birkbeck Bank Chambers. Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the. County of London, Consulting Engineer and Chartered
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been
communicated to me from abroad by La Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablisse-
ments Panhard et Levassor, of 19. Avenue d'Ivry, Paris, France, Manufacturers,)
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved construction of light motor vehicles
driven by a gas or oil motor in which firstly the motor mechanism is arranged
entirely independently of the framework of the vehicle; secondly the motor
mechanism is suspended from the framing of the vehicle at three points only,
so as to prevent the mechanism from being affected by any deformation to which
the vehicle framing may be subjected while running: thirdly the vehicle framing
is carried by the axle of the rear road wheels at two points by spring supports
and is carried on the front axle at a single point connected with the swivel pin,
which is mounted on the front axle through the medium of a spring: fourthly
the speed is rendered vanable by means of three sets of toothed transmission
wheels which are always in gear, the one or the other set being clutched to the
diving shaft by actuating a hand lever: fifthly the power of the motor is regu-
lated by means of a centrifugal governor controlling an admission cock or valve
for the combustible fluid
For carrying out the above described improvements the following special con-
structions of the parts are employed The swivel pin extending up from the fiont
axle for carrying the front end of the vehicle body, 14 connected to the axle spring
by a bracket pivoted horizontally to the spring, and the swivel pin is slightly
inclined backward at its upper end so that a downward extension of its axial
line will pass at a slight angle in front of the wheel axle By this arrangement
when the front axle has been turned more or less out of its position parallel
with the rear axle for lateral steering or turning, and is then released, it will
automatically move back into the parallel position
-
The steering is effected by means of a lever arm projecting laterally from the
swivel pin to which arm is pivoted a 10d in connection with a hand wheel or lever.
On the driving shaft of the motor engine are mounted loose three toothed
pinions of different sizes which are each in gear with a separate toothed wheel
fixed on a second motion shaft which drives the real road wheels by ordinary
cham gear, so that according as the one or other of the pinions is clutched to
the motor shaft while the other two remain loose, the motor can drive the vehicle
with one or other of three different speeds For clutching the pinions on the
shaft, this is made tubular and within it is a sliding block carrying a pivoted
catch having a tooth projecting through a longitudinal slot in the shaft, so as
to engage with notches on the inner circumferences of the pinion bosses, the
block being moved to the one or other pinion by means of an external ring con-

page_text: nected to the block by a pin passing through the slot of the shaft and actuated
by suitable hand gear.
The motor engine is suspended at the rear from the body of the carriage by a
downward extending 1od fixed to a strap that embraces the motor cylinder while
in front the second motion shaft (the bearings of which as also those of the driv-
ing shaft are rigidly connected to the motor by a box frame enclosing these parts)
is connected by inclined suspension rods to the axle of the rear road wheels
The motor shaft is divided into two parts connected by a friction clutch so that
by disconnecting them the part of the shaft carrying the before described variable
speed gear can remain stationary while the motor continues in motion.
The vehicle is provided both with an ordinary brake gear acting upon the rims
of the real road wheels and with a second bake gear formed as a pair of clamp-
ing tongs that embraces and is made to grip the periphery of a disc fixed on the
second motion shaft which, as before described drives the rear road wheels.
The power of the motor engine is regulated by means of a centrifugal governor
driven at a reduced speed from the engine shaft and the moveable sleeve of which
is made to actuate the inlet valve for combustible fluid so as to reduce or increase
or decrease the supply to the motor cylinder.
The latter has its combustion chamber provided with projecting ribs for cool-
ing purposes, and the discharge valve casing is surrounded by a cold water jacket
for the same purpose. The discharge valve is actuated by a cam on the governor
spindle.
Dated this 9th day of February 1899.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Light Motor Road Vehicles.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of Bukbeck Chambers, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of London, Consulting Engineer and Chartered
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (as communicated
to me from abroad by La Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Panhard
et Levassor, of 19, Avenue d'Ivy, Paris, France, Manufacturers) 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 an improved construction of light motor 1oad vehicles
driven by a gas oi oil motor in which fistly the motor mechanism is arranged
entirely independently of the framework of the vehicle: secondly the motor
mechanism is suspended from the framing of the vehicle at thee points only,
so as to prevent the mechanism from being affected by any deformation to which
the vehicle framing may be subject while running. thirdly the vehicle framing
is carried by the axle of the rear road wheels at two points by spring supports
and is carried on the front axle at a single point connected with the swivel pin,
which is mounted on the front axle through the medium of a spring; fourthly
the speed is rendered variable by means of three sets of toothed transmission
wheels which are always in gear, the one or the other set being clutched to the
driving shaft by actuating a hand lever; fifthly the power of the motor is regu-
lated by means of a centrifugal governor controlling an admission cock or valve
for the combustible fluid.
We will describe the construction of the vehicle and parts connected therewith

page_text: with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shews a side
elevation of the vehicle shewing the mechanism and mode of suspension.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the motor mechanism and the actuating levels. Fig. 1s
an end view, Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the mechanism, Fig. 5 another
transverse section shewing the motor, and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of the
entire mechanism.
The framing of the vehicle consists of a rigid body A extended forward so as
to be supported by the front wheel axle, and resting upon the rear axle B by
means of an intermediate bai C and two springs
The front part is composed of an axle 1), a transverse spring E and a swivel
pin F mounted on the spring by means of a pivoted bracket G the axis of which
is at light angles to the spring. This arrangement allows the axle D to assume
any degree of inclination without subjecting the body to any torsional strain.
The downward prolongation of the axis of the swivel pin F, on account of its
inclination, passes in front of the axle of the road wheels and touches the ground
in front of the straight line which connects the pivots of contact of the front
wheels with the ground
This aangement insures that the two axles B and D are automatically main-
tained in their parallel position when nothing tends to move them out of that
position, or brings them back into that position after they have momentarily been
moved out of the same.
The bracket G of the swivel pin carries a lever arm H connected by a rod I to
the lever of the steering spindle K actuated by a hand wheel V.
The rigid frame L which carries the whole of the motor mechanism is sus-
pended from the body of the vehicle by two end bearings M of the shaft of the
chain wheels by means of the two suspension links M' pivoted at then other
ends to the brackets on the axle B and also by a third rod N having a collar N¹
which embraces the motor cylinder X.
The motor is fixed in the framing L so that its shaft 1 is parallel to the shaft
of the driving wheels T.
The motor shaft 1 is extended at each end into the beating boxes 2 fixed to
the side plates U of the rigid frame; on the left hand side it carries the control-
ling gear of the governor and the bevil pinions for starting the motor by hand:
on the right hand it is formed in two separate parts connected together by a coned
fiction coupling QQ
Thus the right hand part of the shaft can, by acting upon the disengaging
lever R be rendered independent of the motion of the motor engine
The second shaft 3 which carries the cham wheels and is provided with the
differential coupling 4, is situated parallel to the motor shaft and is carried by
the two end beatings M of the frame and by an intermediate bearing Scanned
by the motor casing Y. On the part of the driving shaft are situated three
toothed pinions 5, 5, 5, which are always in gear with three toothed wheels 6, 6, 6,
mounted on the second hollow shaft 3 The wheel 6 which corresponds to the
high speed is fixed on the shaft 3 while the other two are connected thereto by
a suitable arrangement of ratchet gear, which only comes into action when the
corresponding pinion after having been clutched to the driving shaft by a device
to be presently described, drives its coresponding toothed wheel forward while
allowing this to turn free on its shaft in the other direction. The three sets of
differently proportioned toothed gear thus arranged enable the vehicle to be
varied in a corresponding manner.
'
For effecting the clutching of one or other of the three pinions 5, 5.5, with
the driving shaft, the part 7 of this shaft is made hollow and contains a movable
block 8 that can be slid along within it by means of an external ring 9 con-
nected thereto by a pin The sliding piece carries a catch 10 the tooth of which
is engaged in a slot 11 of the shaft 7 and is made by a spring 12 to project
beyond the surface of the shaft. The three pinions 5, 5, 5, are mounted with in-
termediate rings U¹U upon the shaft so as to leave a space between each two;

page_text: these spaces correspond with the teeth of each pinion. The catch 10 having
been brought into such a position that its tooth faces one of these spaces, it will
be caused by its spring 12 to project between two teeth of the corresponding
pinion and will thus carry the latter round with the shaft.
The motion of the catch is effected by a forked lever 13 acting on the ring 9
connected to the piece S. The forked lever is actuated by the lever 14 and
rod 15 for changing the speed A notched quadrant frame with which the lever
is engaged by a catch determines its correct position for each speed. By bring-
ing the lever to a fourth notch the catch 10 is brought into such a position as
not to be engaged with any of the pinions, so that these are then all loose of
the driving shaft.
The four-stroke-cycle petroleum motor consists of a cylinder 16 with ribs for
facilitating cooling, a piston 30, a connecting 1od 31, pivoted to the crank pin 32
connected to two crank plates, a combustion chamber 17 carrying the admis-
sion valve 18 and discharge valve .19 and a water jacket 34 enclosing the cham-
ber and seat of the discharge valve, and ribs which assist in cooling the rest of
the cylinder
"
'
The centrifugal ball governor () is mounted on an auxiliary shaft 01 and
receives its motion by a train of wheels which reduce the speed from the motor
shaft by one half. A cam 20 fixed on the disc (2 of the governor actuates the
discharge valve by means of the lever 21 and rod 22.
The movable sleeve of the governor carries a cam 23 which raises the lever
arm 24 when the speed exceeds the normal and the arm 24 acts through suitable
connections upon the cock or valve 25, Fig. 7, which controls the admission of
combustible fluid.
The ignition of the cylinder charges is effected by an externally heated plati-
num tube.
The braking of the vehicle is effected by means of two brakes, of which
one, 26, acts directly on the ims of the wheels by means of brake blocks 35
operated by a hand lever 36, while the other actuated by a pedal 37 works a two
armed clamp 27 fixed to the fiame, which grips the periphery of a disc 28
mounted on the shaft 3 of the differential coupling 4.
Both brakes act both in the forward and in the backward direction
The whole of the motor mechanism is enclosed in a protecting casing Z fixed
to the framing L and having suitable doors for gaining access to the several
parts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is : —
1. The herein described improved construction of light motor vehicles where-
in the vehicle is composed on the one hand of the body combined with the front
steering wheels and rear driving wheels with brake apparatus and on the other
hand of the motor mechanism with variable speed gear and clutch mechanism,
differential coupling and auxiliary bake, all carried by a rigid framing that is
suspended from the body at three points.
2. In a motor vehicle such as is referred to in the First Claim, the swivel pin
connection of the body with the front axle constructed and arranged substan-
tially as and for the purposes described
3 In the swivel, pin connection of the body with the axle of the front wheels
referred to in the Second Claim, so ananging the swivel pin that the downward
extension of its axis passes a certain distance in front of the axle of the front
wheels, substantially as and for the purposes herein described with reference to
the drawings.
4. The combination with the driving shaft of the motor of variable speed
gear, wherein two or more toothed pinions mounted loose on a tubular part of
the shaft can be clutched thereto by means of a catch arranged to slide in the

page_text: shaft and to project through a slot therein so as to engage with notches in
the boss of one or other of the said pinions, substantially as described.
5. The use, in combination with the second motion shaft which drives the
rear road wheels, by means of chain gear of brake gear consisting of a disc on
the shaft the periphery of which is embraced by a tongs-like clamp that is made
to grip the said disc, substantially as described.
6. Effecting the opening of the discharge valve of the motor engine by means
of a cam on the governor spindle in combination with transmitting gear arranged
and operating as herein described with reference to the drawings
7 Controlling the supply valve or cock for the combustible fluid to the engine
cylinder by means of a cam on the governor sleeve and lever gear arranged and
operating as herein described with reference to the drawings.
9 Providing the discharge valve casing of the motor with a water jacket for
cooling the valve, in combination with cooling ribs on the casing as herein des-
cribed and shewn on the drawings.
9. The combination of parts constituting a light motor vehicle arranged and
operating substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 7th day of November 1899:
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.