IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE POWER APPARATUS ACTUATED BY HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edmund Edwards at the Office of tho
Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd September 1881. A communication
from abroad by Oscar Leinbrock, of Gottlenba, near Drosden, in the Empire of
Germany.
EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 40, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTIVE POWER APPARATUS ACTUATED BY
HORSES OR OTHER ANIMALS." [A communication from abroad by Oscar Leinbrock,
of Gottlenba, near Dresden, in the Empire of Germany.]
This Invention relates to apparatus for obtaining motive power by means of
horses or other animals, and it has for its objects, first, new or improved methods of
constructing and arranging the apparatus by which the power of the horse or other
animal treading upon the moveable floor on which it operates is transmitted to
machinery of any kind; and, second, of methods of rendering the endless band or
floor comparatively noiseless when in motion.
In order to put the Invention in operation I make a framework, in which is
arranged in a position horizontal, or nearly so, a moveable floor, consisting of
endless
transverse strips or planks of wood or other suitable material, supported upon
chains, which pass round wheels arranged upon transverse axles in bearings at the
ends of the apparatus. At one end of the frame is fixed firmly a strong post, to
which the horse or other animal is attached by any convenient form of harness,
and side fences or guards are also preferably provided to keep the horse in its
proper path.
The transverse strips or laths form a travelling platform and are attached to the
endless chains by means of screws, the lower ends of which after passing down
through the ends of the transverse strips, are screwed into the links of which the
endless chains are composed, as hereinafter described.
The eyes of the horse or other animal are covered by blinkers, and when urged
forward he supposes himself to be hauling or drawing in the usual manner, and by
so doing his hoofs cause a continuous reverse movement of the endless band of
transverse strips or laths, which movement is transmitted to the shafts round which
the endless chains pass, and thence to any kind of machinery.

page_text: A brake of any ordinary kind is provided upon one of the shafts, and when it is
desired to stop the apparatus the horse is stopped and the brake is simultaneously
applied so as to stop the revolution of the shafts and the movement of the endless
chains.
A crossbar is arranged transversely behind the horse across the fences or guards
already described so as to prevent the animal from being drawn back by the
endless band. The surface of the transverse laths or strips is grooved with angular
grooves in the direction of their length to afford better hold for the hoofs of the
horse or other animal.
The endless chains and wheels are constructed and attached to the transverse
strips or laths in the following manner :-The wheels are formed with deep grooves
round their circumference, forming flanges between which the links of the
chains fit.
These links are jointed together by transverse joint pins of sufficient length to
reach across the flanges of the wheels, in which flanges notches are made at equal
distances apart to receive the ends of the pins, which in this way transmit the
motion of the chains to the wheels. The links are formed of sufficient thickness
(in plan) at the centres of their length to receive holes into which the lower ends of
the screws which bold the transverse strips or laths are screwed. Across each end of
cach such strip or lath a small vertical ledge is preferably arranged, having a recess
above into which the head of the screw fits, the screw then passing through the
ledge and the transverse lath into the link, and attaching them all firmly
together.
The transverse ledges form guards at the edge of the travelling platform and
serve to prevent the horse or other animal from slipping off laterally.
A sufficient number of friction rollers are carried in guides upon the frame of
the apparatus and support the endless platform as it travels. In order to lessen the
noise caused by the working of the apparatus small pieces of leather, felt, or other
suitable soft material, are attached to the sides of the ledges above described, so
that they are situated between the said ledges and between the ends of the
transverse laths which form the horizontal platform.