Improvements in Motor Engines and Gear for Autocars.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Jan., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 14th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 15th Jan.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in Motor Engines and Gear for Autocars.
I, HENRI PORON, of Troyes, Aube, France, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an improved construction of gas or oil motor engine for
auto-cars and in gear for controlling and regulating their action.
I construct the motor engine as follows. A framework is constructed of longitudinal
metal bearers suitably tied together and carried by the axles of the front and rear
road wheels, the middle bearers being connected to the front axle through the medium
of springs. At the rear end of this frame is fixed the motor engine, the cylinders of
which are arranged with their axes in the transverse direction.
There may be either two or four cylinders and pistons, arranged in pairs, each pair
being arranged end to end so as to practically constitute a single long cylinder,
containing two pistons travelling in opposite directions and having a small charging
space between them at the end of the in-stroke, which space communicates by side
openings in the cylinder with a lateral chamber constituting the explosion chamber
for the gaseous charge which, in acting simultaneously on the pistons propels these
in opposite directions.
The piston rods are each connected to one of two crank shafts carried by the engine
frame at opposite ends of the engine cylinders, the pistons being made to rotate both
the shafts in the same direction.
These shafts are coupled together by a coupling rod connected to cranks at the end
of the shafts, which coupling rod is of triangular form and is also connected at its
middle to a crank on a central longitudinal driving shaft which carries at its inner
end a friction disc in contact with which is a second friction disc on a transverse shaft
which imparts motion to the two rear road wheels by means of toothed gearing. The
said driving shaft also carries a worm in gear with a worm wheel on a transverse
shaft, which consequently also receives rotary motion from the engine shaft.
The admission and discharge valves of the engine cylinders are controlled by cams
on the said transverse shaft, one end of which carries a friction roller situated between
two friction discs fixed on a screw spindle that can be moved longitudinally in either
direction so as to bring the one or other of the friction discs in contact with the
friction pulley and thus impart rotary motion in the one direction or the other to
the screw spindle. The latter carries a threaded sleeve which is connected by a
pivoted rod to a collar on the boss of the before mentioned friction disc on the
transverse shaft that imparts motion to the rear road wheels, so that as the sleeve is
moved longitudinally in one direction or the other upon the screw spindle owing to
this being rotated in one direction or the other, it shifts the said frictional disc to the
one or the other side of the centre of the friction disc on the driving shaft, and thus
causes the latter to rotate the wheels in one direction or the other for forward or
backward motion; also, by shifting the first named disc nearer to or farther from
the centre of the driving shaft disc, it will be rotated correspondingly slower
or faster, and will consequently vary the speed of the road wheels in a corresponding
manner.

page_text: The transverse shaft carrying the shiftable friction disc is carried at its middle part
in bearings mounted on levers which are acted upon by springs that tend to move the
bearings and consequently the shaft so as to keep the friction disc in close contact
with the friction disc of the driving shaft, but the said levers can also be actuated by
hand gear so as to move the first named friction disc out of contact with the driving
shaft disc, in which case the carriage will be brought to a stand-still although the
motor engine may continue to work.
The before described screw. spindle and the levers carrying the bearings of the
friction disc shaft are actuated from, a transverse shaft at about the middle of the
carriage, which shaft carries firstly a lever arm that actuates the screw spindle and
secondly two elbow levers, one arm of each of which is connected by a chain to the
levers carrying the bearings of the friction disc shaft, while the other arm is acted
upon by a treadle whereby the said transverse shaft is partially rotated so as to
actuate the said parts in the before described manner. The said elbow levers also
carry rotatable sockets into which can be fitted vertical steering bars the lower ends
of which sockets carry crank arms that are connected by rods to crank levers on the
hinge-jointed axles of the front road wheels, so that by turning the steering bars the
front road wheels are brought into any angular position for steering.
The said steering bars can also be utilised by moving them slightly forward or
backward for turning the elbow levers which carry them and thus actuating the
driving gear independently of the pedals.
As the transverse shaft carrying the friction disc requires to have its middle part
moveable to a slight extent to and from the driving shaft disc, while the ends thereof
require their toothed pinions to be kept in gear with the toothed rings of the road
wheels, the shaft is formed in three separate parts connected by universal joints, the
two end parts being carried in swivelling bearings situated close behind the toothed
pinions, which bearings thus allow of the said shifting motion of the middle part of
the shaft without appreciably altering the position of the pinions.
Dated this 19th day of January 1897
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant,
I, HENRI PORON, of Troyes, Aube, France, 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 :-
My Invention relates to an improved construction of gas or oil motor engine for
auto-cars and to gear for controlling and regulating their action.
I construct the motor engine as I shall describe referring to the accompanying
drawings.
Figure 1 is a side view of an autocar according to my invention.
Figure 2 is a plan, the body being removed..
Figures 3 and 4 are end views in front and rear respectively.
Figures 5 and 6 are longitudinal sections on planes at right angles to each other
of the double cylinder. The other Figures shew details hereinafter referred to.
. In all the Figures like, reference letters denote like parts.
.
A framework is constructed of longitudinal metal bearers AA and BB suitably tied
together and connecting the axle C of the front or steering wheels D and the axle E
of the rear road wheels F the bearers B B being connected to the front axle C through
the medium of spring G. A spindle H capable of partly turning in bearing a forms

page_text: another transverse connection of the bearers. On the rear end of this frame is
fixed the motor engine I, the cylinders of which are arranged with their axes in the
transverse direction.
There may be either two or four cylinders and pistons, arranged in pairs b b¹ each
pair being arranged end to end so as to practically constitute a single long cylinder,
containing two pistons travelling in opposite directions and having a small charging
space between them at the end of their in-stroke, which space communicates by side
openings in the cylinder with a lateral chamber constituting the explosion chamber
for the gaseous charge which in acting simultaneously on the pistons propels
these in opposite directions.
The pistons are connected as shewn to two crank shafts c c¹ at opposite ends of the
engine cylinders, the pistons being made to rotate both the shafts in the same
direction.
These shafts have on them cranks dd' coupled together by a coupling rod e of
triangular form connected at its middle to a crank d² on a central longitudinal
driving shaft V which carries at its inner end a friction disc J in contact with which
is a second friction disc K on a transverse shaft which imparts motion to the two
rear road wheels F by means of toothed gearing. The shaft V carries a worm in gear
with a worm wheel on a transverse shaft e².
The admission and discharge valves of the engine cylinders are controlled by cams
on the shaft e2, one end of which carries a friction roller situated between two friction
discs. fixed on a screw spindle h which has a bearing x, and can be moved
longitudinally in either direction so as to bring the one or other of the discs g in
contact with the roller f and thus impart rotary motion in the one direction or the
other to the screw spindle thus moving a nut i which is connected by a pivoted
rod to a collar; on the boss of the friction disc K, so that as the sleeve is moved
longitudinally in the one direction or the other the screw spindle being thus rotated
in the one direction or the other, it shifts the frictional disc K to the one or, the
other side of the centre of the friction disc J, and thus causes the latter to rotate
the wheels F in the one direction or the other for forward or backward motion;
also, by shifting the disc K nearer to or farther from the centre of the disc J, it is
rotated slower or faster, varying the speed of the road wheels in a corresponding
manner.
The transverse shaft m carrying the disk K is carried at its middle part in
eccentric bearings (Figures 7, 8 and 9) attached to levers the short arms n of which
are acted upon by springs o that tend to turn the bearings in their holders r and
move the shaft so as to keep the friction disc K in close contact with the friction
disc J. The long arms p of the levers can also be actuated by hand gear so as to
move the friction disc K out of contact with the disc J, in which case the carriage will
be brought to a stand-still although the motor engine may continue to work.
The screw spindle hand the levers n, p are actuated from a transverse shaft Hat
about the middle of the carriage, which shaft carries (Figures 1 and 2) a lever arm v
that actuates the screw spindle h and two elbow levers & one arm of each of which is
connected by a chain q to the lever arm p while another_arm t is acted upon by a
treadle u whereby the shaft H is partially rotated so as to actuate the said parts in
the before described manner. The elbow levers & also carry rotatable sockets y
enclosing vertical steering bars the lower ends of which carry crank arms z that are
connected by rods to a rod e¹. One of the cranks z is connected by a rod h¹ with a
two armed lever f1f2 pivoted at f³ and having its arm f² connected by rod g² to arm g¹
on the hinge-jointed axles of the front road wheels, so that by turning the steering
bars of the sockets y the front road wheels are brought into any angular position for
steering.
The said steering bars can also be utilised by moving them slightly forward or
backward for turning the elbow levers which carry them and thus actuating the
driving gear independently of the pedals.
As the transverse shaft m carrying the friction disc K requires to have its middle
part moveable to a slight extent to and from the disc J, while the ends of m require

page_text: their toothed pinions to be kept in gear with the toothed rings p₁ of the road wheels F,
the shaft m is formed in three separate parts m, m³, m² connected by universal
joints n the two end parts being carried in swivelling bearings o' situated close
behind the toothed pinions, which bearings thus allow of the said shifting motion of
the middle part of the shaft without appreciably altering the position of the pinions.
The driving and guiding of the vehicle can also be controlled as follows:-An arm s¹
pivoted at 82 is connected by levers ¹ and ¹ with z and rods 2 with the lever arms s
and therefore with the shaft H. The sockets y can be noved by a vertical rod L
provided with handle M within easy reach of the driver. When these arins are pulled
or pushed in the direction of the length of the vehicle, the shaft H is partly turned
moving the spindle h and so shifting the friction disc K, so as to increase or diminish
the speed, or to stop. The vertical rod L can also be partly turned so as to steer the
vehicle.
I have shewn the one road wheel F driven by internal, the other by external
gearing from the shaft m; it is to be understood however that this is merely to
illustrate the one or the other arrangement not to shew that both are employed on
the same vehicle. In order to allow for difference of speed of the wheels F when the
vehicle runs in a curve, the shaft m is provided with differential gear x¹.
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. A motor car having its engine gearing and control arranged substantially as
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2. In combination with the disc K and its sleeve, the screwed spindle h its friction
discs and the roller f substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In combination with the friction discs J and K the shaft m made in parts con-
nected by universal joints and carried in eccentric and pivoted bearing, substantially
as described.
4. The apparatus for starting, stopping, and steering the vehicle and varying its
speed, substantially as described.
Dated this 14th day of October 1897.