Improvements in and relating to Self-propelling Road Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 21st May, 1897-Accepted, 3rd July, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Self-propelling Road Vehicles.
I, FRANCIS WILLIAM GREENGRASS, of Church Street, Epsom, Hot Water Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of the present invention is to produce a motor car or self-propelling
vehicle which will be reliable in action, comparatively free from vibration (entirely so
when at rest), and capable of generating electrical energy either when running or
when stationary. A motor car constructed in accordance with my invention is also
automatically checked or braked directly it exceeds a certain pre-determined speed
limit.
Hitherto motor cars have usually been propelled by some one power; if this power
be electricity the advantages of silence, non-vibration and large range of speed
variation are gained, but great weight, has to be carried for a sustained supply of the
stored energy and the supply should it run out can only be replenished at certain
places. Again if an explosion engine be employed as the propelling power, although
the same is cheap and powerful in proportion to its weight, and supplies can be
readily replenished yet it is difficult to start, especially on gradients, runs continually
during stoppages causing excessive vibration, and does not readily permit of such a
range of speed variation as the electrical motor.
Now according to my invention in lieu of placing dependence upon one power for
the propulsion of the vehicle, I employ a double system of propulsion, and a motor
car constructed in accordance with my invention is driven both by a shunt or
compound wound electric motor or motors, which when the pre-determined speed limit
is exceeded acts as a dynamo for charging the storage battery, and also by an
explosion engine, the electric motor and the explosion engine being arranged so as to
work either in combination or separately. The starting of the vehicle and its
propulsion under ordinary conditions is effected by the electric motor, but the
apparatus is so constructed and arranged that directly there is a demand for increased
energy, as when ascending hills or on bad roads, the explosion engine is automatically
brought into operation as hereinafter described, and acting as an auxiliary to the
electric motor supplies the additional power needed being automatically thrown out
of action again when the demand ceases. The electric motor and storage battery are
so proportioned that when the vehicle attains a certain pre-determined speed
(preferably 12 miles an hour as a convenient maximum) the speed at which the motor
revolves will generate a back EMF equal to or balancing that of the storage battery.
It is obvious that no electrical energy will then be consumed, and should this pre-
determined speed be exceeded (as in descending hills for example) the shunt or
compound wound motor is driven in lieu of driving and acts as a dynamo to charge
the storage battery the work done in charging the battery braking the vehicle. The
energy usually wasted by brakes is thus stored as electrical energy.
The electric motor and storage battery need only be of just sufficient size and
capacity to propel the vehicle for a moderate distauce upon fairly level and good

page_text: roads, since, as above mentioned, directly there is a demand for extra power the
explosion engine is automatically caused to act as an auxiliary to the electric motor
and electrical energy is also being stored from time to time as hereinafter set forth.
I will now describe a motor car constructed in accordance with my invention though
it is to be understood that constructional details may be varied without in any way
departing froin the spirit of my invention.
Disposed side by side centrally within a well beneath the driver's sent at the front
of the vehicle are the cylinders of the explosion engine (preferably an oil engine and
hereinafter referred to as such). The open or piston ends of these cylinders face the
rear of the vehicle, and placed upon a bridge over the well are a pair of shunt or
compound wound electric motors connected up in series and in circuit with a storage
battery in some convenient part of the vehicle. I also provide a two way switch by
which the said motors can be placed in parallel or cut out if desired. I prefer that
the rear wheels of the vehicle shall be the driving wheels and the axle of the rear
wheels is driven from the electric motor and from the oil engine in such manner
that either the electric motor or the oil engine or both may be thrown into or
out of gear as desired.
The electric motor may drive the rear axle by an endless belt and pulleys and
inay be thrown into or out of action by slackening or tightening this belt.
Á convenient method of slackening and tightening the belt consists in providing
a counter shaft mounted in bushes or bearings provided in the ends of links the
other ends of which pivot upon the ends of the shaft of the electric motor. The belt
passes over a pulley on this counter shaft and is tightened or loosened by the raising
or lowering of the links effected from a regulating or starting lever as hereinafter
described. The countershaft may be driven from the motor shaft by belts, chains or
gearing, the same being unaffected by the raising or lowering of the countershaft
which moves through an are concentric with the motor shaft.
The connections between the oil engine and the driving axle of the vehicle, so as
to permit of the former being thrown in or out of gear as desired, may be effected by
causing the connecting rods of the pistons to drive a countershaft carrying a pair of
spur wheels which meah with a pair of spur wheels on the driving shaft, the
countershaft bearings being arranged to slide in inclined slots so that the
countershaft may be moved away from the driving shaft sufficiently to throw
it out of gear, this movement of the countershaft being preferably effected
by an arrangement of toggle jointed levers operated through suitable connections
by a pedal worked by the driver's feet, said pedal being retained in its
depressed position by a suitable catch or trip clip. The said toggle jointed levers
also operate a light rod connected with the exhaust valve of the engine cylinders so
as to keep these valves open and prevent explosions when the engine is out of gear,
said rod being arranged so as to have no action on the exhaust valves when the
engine is in gear. In lieu of ordinary cranks on the countershaft I prefer that the
spur wheels thereon should themselves constitute the crank webs said spur wheels
being connected together by a crank pin.
The oil engine may be of any suitable construction and works upon the "Otto"
cycle, I prefer however to operate the valves by the arrangement hereinafter set forth,
and I will now describe the method by which the oil engine is automatically started
by electricity so as to act as an auxiliary to the electrio motor directly there is a call
for increased energy.
Placed in some convenient part of the circuit connecting the electric motor and
the storage battery is a resistance of less sectional area than any other part of the
circuit said resistance being arranged to pass down the interior of an open mouthed
tube by which the charge is conveyed to the cylinders of the oil engine. One end
of this resistance is rigidly fixed and its other end is connected with the short arm of
a lever which works a needle valve controlling the passage of hydrocarbon through a
small tube leading from the oil reservoir to the mouth of the open ended tube before
mentioned. Directly there is a demand for more electrical energy the increase of
current through the circuit heats this resistance causing it to expand and thus to

page_text: operate the lever working the needle valve so as to open the latter whereby the
hydrocarbon is permitted to drip from the end of the tube controlled by the needle
valve into the open ended tube down which the resistance passes, the beated resistance
then assists in the rapid vaporisation of the hydrocarbon which becomes mixed
with air and is drawn into the cylinders of the oil engine as the charge, compression
then taking place in the usual inanner and the charge being fired electrically as
hereinafter set forth.
In order to provide for the slip of the outside wheel when turning corners I inake
the rear or driving axle in two portions, one portion fitting and revolving freely
within the other. Of the pair of spur wheels before mentioned by which this axle is
driven, one spur wheel is koyed fast on one portion of the axle and the other rotates
the other portion of the axle through the medium of a ratchet and pawl, the necessary
extra speed of the outside wheel when turning corners is thus permitted.
I will now describe the means I prefer to employ for operating the valves of the
engine cylinders and firing the charge.
In gear with one of the spur wheels on the countershaft driven by the oil engine
is a light spur wheel having such a number of teeth that it revolves once for every
four revolutions of the countershaft. A crank pin projects from one of the spokes of
this wheel and through a connecting rod .and suitable levors oporates a rock shaft
disposed behind the cylinders said shaft having secured thereto at various angles
quadrants provided witli rounded lugs or cams which in turn lift the valves for
charging and emptying the cylinders, each of the said lugs operating its valve by a
forward movement on one cycle and by a backward movement on the next cycle.
The said rocking shaft also carries a quadrant of insulating material provided with
electrical contacts connected with electrodes within the cylinders for firing the
charge, contact being made by suitable brushes to which the current is carried by
flexible conductors.
The starting and regulating lever for the electrical part of the apparatus is secured
to a rock shaft extending across the body of the vehicle said rock shaft being
connected by suitable levers and links with the before described links which carry the
countershaft driven by the electric motor, so as to move this countershaft up or
down and thus lighten or slacken the driving belts leading therefrom to the driving
axle. The various switches for cutting in the battery cells, and the cominutator are
carried by a quadrant secured to the starting lever rock shaft and make contact with
suitable brushes or connectious in the usual manner. I prefer to armnge the starting
and regulating apparatus so that when the lever is in an upright position the driving
belts will be slackened and the circuit also broken, whilst a forward movement of the
levor will tighten the driving belts and regulate the supply of electricity for the
forward movement of the vehicle, and a backward movement of the lever will also
tighten the driving belts and by a commutator reverse the direction of the current
through the armatures and back the vehicle.
I will not describe the arrangement by which the storage batteries may be
recharged by the explosion engine when the vehicle is stationary.
To the frame of the vehicle are pivotally connected four legs, one at each corner;
normally these legs, which are somewhat longer than is necessary to touch the ground,
would be folded up beneath the vehicle, should occasion demand however they can
be lowered until their ends touch the ground, the legs being then slightly inclined
from the vertical. By then pushing the vehicle in the direction to bring the legs to
the vertical it will be levered from the ground by the rear legs, the front legs merely
serving as struts, the driving wheels then become fly wheels for steadying the
impulses of the oil engine which when put in gear and started drives the electric
motor as a dynamo for charging the storage battery.

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Self-propelling Road Vehicles.
I, FRANCIS WILLIAM GREENGRASS, of Church Street, Epsom, Hot Wator Engineer,
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:-
The object of the present invention is to produce a motor car or self-propelling
vehicle which will be reliable in action, comparatively free from vibration (entirely
so when at rest), and capable of generating electrical energy either when running or
when stationary. A motor car constructed in accordance with my invention is also
automatically checked or braked directly it exceeds a certain speed which may be
pre-determined.
Hitherto, motor cars have usually been propelled by some one power; if this power
be electricity the advantages of silence, non-vibration and large range of speed
variation are gained, but great weight has to be carried for a sustained supply of the
stored energy, and the supply, should it run out, can only be replenished at certain
places. Again if an explosion engine be employed as the propelling power, although
the same is cheap and powerful in proportion to its weight and supplies can be
readily replenished, yet it is difficult to start, especially on gradients, runs
continually during stoppages causing excessive vibration, and does not readily permit
of such a range of speed variation as the electrical motor.
Now according to my invention in lieu of placing dependence upon one power for
the propulsion of the vehicle I employ a duplex system of propulsion, and a motor
vehicle constructed in accordance with my invention is adapted to be driven by a
shunt or compound wound electric motor or motors and an explosion engine
conjointly, or by either of them, the electric motor and the explosion engine being
arrangerl so as to work either in combination or separately.
When the electric motor attains a certain rate of revolution, it will, being shunt
or compound wound as above set forth, cease to do work in propelling the vehicle,
its E.M.F. at this period just balancing that of the storage battery, and should
its rate of revolution be further increased, as by the momentum of the vehicle
in descending an incline, for example, the motor will be driven as a dynamo from
the vehicle and caused to send current into the battery. Now if the electric
motor and its battery be so proportioned that the E.M.F. of the one will just
balance that of the other when the vehicle attains a certain predetermined speed
(preferably about twelve miles an hour as a convenient maximum) it is obvious
that directly this speed is exceeded the vehicle will be automatically braked or
checked by reason of the power it expends in driving the motor as a dynamno aud
thereby recharging the battery. Energy usually wasted by brakes is thus stored as
electric energy.
The starting of the vehicle and its propulsion under ordinary conditions is effected
by the electric motor, but the apparatus is so constructed and arranged that directly
there is a demand for increased energy as when ascending hills or on bad roads,
the explosion engine may be brought into operation and caused to act as an
auxiliary to the electric motor and to supply the additional power needed, being
thrown out of action again when the demand ceases.
The electric motor and storage battery need only be of just sufficient size and
capacity to propel the vehicle for a moderate distance upon fairly level and good
roads, since, as above mentioned, when thero is a demand for extra power the
explosion engine is brought into action as an auxiliary to the electric motor and
electrical energy is also being stored from time to time as before explained.

page_text: The electric motor and explosion engine are further so arranged that the latter
may also be utilized for driving the former as a dynamo for recharging the
battery when the vehicle is stationary as will be hereinafter described.
I will now describe by way of example and with reference to the annexed drawings
a motor car constructed in accordance with my invention, though it is to be
understood that constructional details may be varied without in any way departing
from the spirit of my invention,
Fig. 1 is a sido elovation shewing the general arrangement of a motor vehicle
embodying my invention.
Fig. 2 is a plau.
Fig. 3 is an elevation shewing the arrangement of the electrical motor and
explosion engine.
Figs. 4 and 5 are details.
A is the storage battery which supplies the electric motor B, the latter being
shunt or compound wound. C iudicates any suitable explosion or oil engine. I will
now describe the general arrangement of the electric motor and oil engine whereby
I am euabled to propel the vehicle by the two motors conjointly or by either
independently of the other, and also to drive the electric motor as a dynamo from the
oil engine, when the vehicle is stationary, for recharging purposes.
On one end of the armature shaft a is a friction wheel b adapted as hereinafter
described to be put into and out of gear with a friction wheel c on one end of a
counter shaft d revolving in suitable hearings beneath the oil engine C and carrying
at its other extremity a pulley e which by means of the driving belt el drives
the pulley on the rear axle of the vehicle, said rear or driving axle being fitted
with balance gear or equivalent devices so as to permit the wheels thereof to
revolve at differential speed when turning corners. The pulley is rotated from
the countershaft d by a clutch for equivalent device so that it may be thrown
out of gear with said countershaft if desired for the purpose hereinafter explained.
The armature shaft a may conveniently be put into and out of gear with the
countershaft d as follows:-
The electric motor B3 is suitably hinged at g to the side of the well D in which it
is contained. By moving back the lever A (which performs other functions hereinafter
described) the entire motor is tilted up on these hinges by the rod which
engages the base of the motor thus lifting the friction wheel b clear of c. Or in lieu.
of the arrangement just described the arinature shaft might be connected with the
countershaft by a friction clutch or equivalent devico.
The crank shaft i of the oil engine is connected with the countershaft & by means
of a spur wheel on the former which gears with another spur wheel mounted
loosely on the latter and revolved therefrom by a clutch thrown into and out of
action by convenient connections from a lever within reach of the driver.
From the foregoing it is clear that when the friction wheels baud are in
gear and the clutch is out of action the electric motor B will propel the
vehicle independently of the oil engine C; when the said friction wheels are out of
gear and the clutch is in action the oil engine will propel the vehicle independently
of the electric motor; and when both the friction wheels b and c and the
clutch is are in gear both motors will propel the vehicle conjointly. Further in the
last mentioned case if the clutch ƒ be shifted so as to throw the pulley e out of gear
with the countershaft d the oil engine C may be caused to drive the electric
motor B as a dynamo for recharging the storage battery A when the vehicle is
stationary.
On the rock shaft h of the regulating lever before referred to is preferably
mounted a quadrant carrying the contacts by which the circuits are completed and
broken and the several groups of battery cells cut in and out in the usual manner, as
will be readily understood by any electrician without further description. The
contact making devices should be arranged so that movement of the lever h in the
direction to lower the electrio motor upon its hinges g and place it in gear with
the countershaft d will cause the circuit to be completed just a moment before

page_text: the armature shaft a gears with said countershaft. Advantago is thus taken of the
momentum of the revolving armature when starting the vehicle.
When the vehicle attains a speed at which the rate of revolution of the armature
is such that it generates a back K.M.F. just balancing the E.M.F. of the storage
hattery, the electric motor does no work in propelling the vehicle and a further
increase in the speed of the latter will as before stated cause the said motor to be
driven from the vehicle as a dynamo thus reversing the current and recharging the
storage battery. Upon the speed of the vehicle decreasing nutil the rate of revolution
of the arinature is such that its E.M.F. falls below that of the storage battery the
current will be again reversed and the motor will again take enrrent, from the battery
the moment the halaneing point is passod. In order to permit of the instant reversal
of the aurront directly the balancing point is passed I cause the armature cirouit to
be broken immediately the said balancing point is renched and will now describe a
convenient method for so doing.
Close to the armature circuit I place a solenoid k arranged to break such circuit
when excited as will be readily understood. In the solenoid circuit is a break
or gap the ends of the wire on each side of such break or gap being fitted
with very thin and flexible brushes disposed on either side of the armature
shaft a. Mounted on the latter so as to be free to slide longitudinally thereof
is a contact making disc mi adapted to contact with the brushes & and thereby complete
the solenoid circuit when moved along the armature shaft. Normally the diac m
is out of contact with the brushes 1, as shewn, but as the rate of revolution of the
armature increnacs it is gradually moved along the shaft a towards the brushes by
suitable connections from any convenient forin of centrifugal governor E (Fig. 5)
rotated from the armature shaft, the governor being so arranged and geared as to
bring the disc m into contact the brushes at the moment the balancing point is
reached i.e. directly the E.M.F. of the motor and that of the battery balance one
another. The solenoid circuit is then completed and the excited solenoid at once
breaks the armature circuit. The brushes being very thin and flexible offer no
resistance to the passage of the disc m between them in either direction, so that
immediately the E.M.F. of the motor and that of the battery cease to balance
one another the disc m is either moved past or withdrawn from the brushes
thereby breaking the solenoid circuit and thus establishing the armature eirenit
again.
Fig. 4 illustrates a convenient form of electrical vaporizer or heater for uso in
conjunction with the oil engines of motor vehicles, to which however I lay no claim as
forming part of the present invention.
1 is a vertical tube having a cover o of insulating material through which passen
the oil inlet tube p and an electrical resistance q the latter being of less sectional
area than the circuit in which it is placed so that on the passage of current it is raised
to an extremely high temperature. The oil as it drops from the tube p is quickly
vaporized by the heated resistanco g and together with air supplied by the air pipe
is dmwn into the combustion chamber of the engine through the pipe a the air being
partially heated and mixed with the oil vapour during its passage through the
vaporizer. is a disc over the mouth of the air tube for collecting any oil that
may have escaped vaporization. u is an overflow tube for waste oil. The cock for
controlling the flow of hydrocarbon from the tank would be placed within easy reach
of the driver.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The herein described method of propelling a motor vehicle consisting in the
employment for this purpose of a shunt or compound wound motor and stomge
battery arranged as described whereby when the vehicle attains a speed at which the
back E.M.F, of the motor'exceeds the E.M.F, of the storage battery the current will

page_text: be reversed and the motor driven as a dynamo by the momentum of the vehicle and
caused to recharge the battery, the work done in recharging serving also to
brake the vehicle.
2. The herein described method of propelling a motor vehicle by means of a shunt
or compound. wound motor and storage battery as claimed, combined with an
explosion engine arranged to act either in conjunction with said shunt or compound
wound motor, as an auxiliary power thereto, or independently thereof, said explosion
engine being also adapted and arranged to drive the electric motor as a dynamo for
charging purposes when the vehicle is stationary, substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of May 1997
E. P. ALEXANDER & SON,
Chartered Patent Agents,
19, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.