IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING CARRIAGES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Dalton, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer,
and William Edward Kenworthy, also of Leeds aforesaid, Oil Merchant and
Extractor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING CARRIAGES,
AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 28th November 1879, and dated the 28th August 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Dalton and William
Edward Kenworthy at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th
August 1879.
15
GEORGE DALTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, and WILLIAM
EDWARD KENWORTHY, also of Leeds aforesaid, Oil Merchant and Extractor. IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING CARRIAGES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN.
"
This Invention relates to the mode of propelling tram cars and other vehicles,
and consists in the construction of apparatus for the purpose of supplying inflammable
gas or vapour to a gas engine upon the same framing which carries the engine, so
that the gas or vapour is manufactured and fed to the engine during the working
or progress of the engine. In carrying out our Invention as applied to an engine
for driving the ordinary tram carriages we place a reservoir of any highly
inflammable hydrocarbon in such a position upon the framing on which the engine
to be used for driving or propelling the carriages or the trams is placed and cause
atmospheric air to pass through or to come in contact with such hydrocarbon or
hydrocarbons in any convenient manner. The air becoming thus charged with the
hydrocarbon and being thereby converted into an inflammable gas or vapour is then
conducted to and caused to work the engine, which engine may be constructed
according to any of the well known forms of gas engines, worked or operated by
the combustion or explosion of inflammable gas, the object of this Invention being
the obtainment of power during the progress of the engine, by which all necessity
for the carriage of any large reservoir of gas for the purposes of the engine is
obviated, the gas or vapour, being in fact manufactured as required. Although this
Invention is particularly applicable for the purposes of tramways it is also applicable
for other locomotive purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Dalton and William Edward Kenworthy in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th February 1880.
GEORGE DALTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, and WILLIAM
EDWARD KENWORTHY, also of Leeds aforesaid, Oil Merchant and Extractor.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING CARRIAGES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN."
Our said Invention relates to the propulsion of tram cars, tramway and other
locomotive engines, and other wheeled vehicles, canal boats, and similar carriages;
and consists in the use for that purpose of the force of gas explosion, and also in the
provision of means for making the said gas on the carriages whilst they travel.
In carrying out our said Invention we fix a gas engine of any of the well known
types upon the car or other wheeled vehicle, boat, or similar carriage, and we pass
into a chamber of the gas engine a vapour of hydrocarbon gas, or such gas mixed
with atmospheric air, which is exploded by a light so arranged as to communicate
with the said gas.
We make the hydrocarbon gas on the carriages whilst they travel by causing air
to pass by means of a bellows or blowing apparatus driven from the engine through
hydrocarbon liquid contained in a suitable tank or holder, and we thence conduct
the air which has thus become charged or impregnated with the hydrocarbon into
the chamber of the gas engine there to be exploded.
In lieu of passing hydrocarbon vapour into the chamber of the gas engine hydro-
carbon oil may be conducted into such chamber, there to become vaporized by the
heat of the chamber, the vapor thus formed then taking up the atmospheric air
which is admitted into the said chamber, becomes explosive, and is ignited by a
light, as herein before described.
In order that our said Invention may be perfectly understood we shall now proceed
to describe it in its application to a tramway locomotive engine, and for that
purpose shall refer to, the several Figures on the accompanying Sheets of Drawings,
the same letters on which indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures. From
this example of the application of our said Invention competent persons will be
readily enabled to adapt the Invention to any other of the various descriptions of
carriages to which it is applicable.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) of the accompanying Drawings represents a sectional elevation
of a tramway locomotive engine constructed according to our said Invention; Figure 2
is a transverse vertical section of the same; Figure 3 is a detail plan and side
elevation of the gas generator; Figure 4 is a detail sectional elevation illustrating
an arrangement of clutch hereinafter described; Figure 5 (Sheet 2) is a sectional
elevation of a portion of a tramway locomotive engine illustrating a modification
in the method of transmitting motion to the driving axles, and Figure 6 is a
corresponding transverse vertical section of the same." In these two Figures the
principal parts of the gas engine, the gas generator, and other details are omitted.
Referring to Sheet 1 of the Drawings we mount upon the framing A of the
carriage a gas engine B of any of the well known types, B¹ represents the cylinder
of such an engine and C the crank shaft to which rotary motion is imparted by the
reciprocating to-and-fro motion of the piston in the cylinder B' in the usual manner,
the crank shaft being supported in suitable bearings C¹ in the frame of the engine B
and provided with a fly wheel C. The gas is admitted. to the cylinder B¹ by a
pipe a leading from a gas generator and holder D hereinafter described, and air to
inix with the gas is simultaneously drawn in through a pipe b having an open
expanded mouth c, the supply of such mixture or gas and air to the cylinder B'
being regulated by means of a suitable valve, and the ignition being effected by the
flame of a burner d. The waste gases resulting from the explosion are either

page_text: allowed to escape direct into the atmosphere or (as we prefer) are conducted by a
pipe into a box or chamber D open to the atmosphere, the said box or chamber
having the effect of deadening the sound of the escaping gases.
The cylinder B is maintained in a sufficiently cool condition by means of a water
jacket surrounding the cylinder and to which water is supplied from a tank E at
the end of the carriage by a pipe e leading from the bottom of the said tank and
debouching into the under side of the jacket, whilst to the upper side of the jacket
is connected one extremity of another pipe e¹ the opposite extremity of which
terminates at e² near the top of the tank E, so that a constant circulation of water
is insured.
The gas required for use in the engine is made on the carriage during the transit
in the following manner, reference being had to the general views, Figures 1 and 2,
and the details, Figure 3. The gas generator or holder D consists of a flat close
vessel containing divisions f extending alternately from opposite sides of the vessel
and terminating at a short distance from the other side, so as to form a narrow
continuous but zig zag or circuitous passage commencing at one end of the vessel.
and terminating at the other end. This vessel is filled with hydro-carbon oil, and
into the vessel thus filled air is forced through a pipe g by means of a fan or blowing
apparatus F driven by belts and pulleys from the crank C, the air is thus caused
to pass along the zig zag or circuitous passage formed by the divisions of through
the body of oil and become impregnated with the hydrocarbon and leaves the
vessel D in the condition of gas or vapour by the pipe a leading to the cylinder B¹.
A branch pipe a¹ is also provided to conduct gas from the pipe a for the supply of
the burner d.
In order to maintain the hydrocarbon oil at a suitable temperature the water
pipe e¹ from the upper side of the cylinder jacket is carried in a coiled or serpentine
form beneath the vessel D. Two or more vessels similar to D may be employed in
conjunction, say, for example, one above the other and either in intercommunication
or otherwise.
The motion of the crank shaft may be transmitted to the running wheels of the
engine in various ways, as, for example, by means of toothed gearing or friction
gearing. We have shown in our Drawings two modifications of apparatus for this
purpose, Figures 1, 2, and 4 (Sheet 1) illustrating the application of toothed gearing,
and Figures 5 and 6 (Sheet 2) representing the application of friction gearing.
Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 4 (Sheet 1), on the axle F of one pair of running
wheels G is secured a spur wheel H with which engages a spur wheel H¹ fast on a
shaft I which is supported in bearings at i, i, on the framing of the carriage. On
the shaft I is mounted a combined spur wheel K, L, consisting of two spur wheels
K, L, of different diameters cast in one. This combined spur wheel is loose upon
the shaft but connected thereto by a system of different gearing k, l, 2, and 3, one
of such wheels (videlicet, k) being fast on the shaft, another (1) loose upon the shaft,
and the others, ³, loose upon pins carried within and by the combined wheel
K, L. The two spur wheels of the combined wheel are provided to enable the
carriage to be driven at different speeds. As, therefore, the only connection between
the shaft I and the combined wheel K, L, is by means of the system of differential
gearing in changing from one speed to the other and in reversing (as hereinafter
explained) the variation is transmitted gradually in lieu of by a sudden shock, as
would be the case if the wheels K, L, were separately secured to the shaft without
the intervention of the differential gearing. With the two spur wheels K, L,
respectively engage two sets of spur pinions M, M', and N, N¹, the former of which,
videlicet, the pinions M, M³, are mounted loose on the crank shaft C, whilst the
pinions N, N¹, are mounted loose on another shaft O at the side of the crank
shaft. On the shaft O is secured a spur wheel P with which engages another spur
wheel P fast on the crank shaft C, so that the shaft O as well as the crank shaft C
are maintained in motion so long as the engine is at work. By connecting,
therefore, a suitable pinion of the pinions M, M, N, N', with its respective shaft >
the carriage is driven at the requisite speed and in the desired direction: --For

page_text: example, when either of the pinions M, M', is in action the carriage is driven in one
direction in the case of the pinion M at a speed of, say, about four miles per hour,
and in the case of the pinion M¹ (as in the example illustrated) at a speed of, say,
about ten miles per hour. When either of the pinions, N, N¹, is in action the
carriage is driven in the reverse direction in the case of the pinion N at a speed of,
say, about four miles per hour, and in the case of the pinion N¹ at a speed of, say,
about ten miles per hour. The required pinion is brought into action for the
desired speed and direction of motion by means of conical friction.clutches Q, Q¹
operated by a lever R and toggle links or lazy tongs and connections m, so arranged
that by moving the lever from one end of its stroke to the other, one clutch is
brought into gear and the other is thrown out of gear, whilst, when the lever is
placed in an intermediate position, both the clutches are thrown out of gear. It
will be understood that each of the shafts C, O, is provided with a separate set of
clutches, lever, and connections similar to those represented in Figures 2 and 4, as
applied to the shaft C.
Figures 5 and 6 (Sheet 2) illustrate the application of friction gearing for trans-
mitting motion from the crank shaft to the driving axle.
'
On a shaft R¹ (which is connected by chains and chain wheels R³ with the
axles F of the running wheels G) are mounted four friction discs, which are
arranged in pairs S, S', and T, T', the discs S, T, being loose and the discs S¹, T¹,
being fast on the shaft. The discs are formed with two annular friction surfaces
marked respectively n, o, to which are adapted corresponding friction pinions
capable of being brought into gear so as to cause the discs to be driven at different
speeds, say, for example, at about four miles or at about ten miles per hour, according
to which of the pinions is in action. The pinions corresponding respectively to
the two surfaces n, o, of the discs S, S¹, are marked U, V, and the pinions corre-
sponding to the similar surfaces of the discs T, T¹, are marked W, X, the one set of
pinions and discs being intended for driving the carriage in one direction, and the
other set of pinions and discs for driving it in the opposite direction.
The pinions U, V, are fast on a vertical shaft Y supported in bearings in a suitable
framing p, u, so as to be capable of sliding as well as of rotating therein. This
shaft receives its rotary motion by means of a worm wheel q and worm ? from the
crank shaft C; and is adjusted vertically so as to bring one or other of the
pinions U, V, into action, or to throw both out of action by means of the hand
wheels and toggle links or lazy tongs t, the shaft sliding through the wheel which
is suitably adapted to the former for that purpose, whilst at the same time the
worm wheel imparts rotary motion to the shaft. The other pinions (W, X,) are
fast on a vertical shaft Z, supported in bearings in the framing ; this shaft, which is
¨¯¯driven by spur wheels v, v¹, from the shaft Y, is also like the last mentioned shaft
capable of sliding through its bearings as well as of rotating therein, and the spur
wheels v, v, are secured to their respective shafts in such a manner that the wheels
are caused to turn with the shafts, whilst at the same time the shafts are free to
slide through the wheels which have no longitudinal motion. The shaft Z is
adjusted vertically so as to bring one or other of the pinions W, X, into action, or
to throw both out of action by means of a hand wheel w and toggle links or lazy
tongs, the pinion W being represented in action in the example illustrated, and
the pinion X, as also the pinions U, V, of the other pair of discs being assumed to
be out of action.
We have not illustrated in our Drawings the application to the carriage of
apparatus for steering or guiding it in the required course, as any of the well
known appliances for this purpose. may be employed.
By the use of our said Invention a means of propulsion is obtained, which is
economical and readily available, whilst at the same time it is applied in such a
manner that facility is afforded for varying the speed and reversing the motion of
the carriage with the necessary rapidity and without the liability of shock or
concussion.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said Inven.

page_text: tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, we
would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the hereinbefore in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First. The application and use to and for the propulsion of carriages of the force
of gas explosion, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings.
Second. In the propulsion of carriages by the force of gas explosion, the produc-
tion of gas for that purpose upon the carriages whilst they travel, substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Dalton and William Edward
Kenworthy, have to this our Specification set our hands and seals, this
Twenty seventh day of February, One thousand eight hundred and eighty.