IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Aveling, of Rochester, in the County of
Kent, Agricultural Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES."
Sealed the 4th October 1860, and dated the 9th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Aveling at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
April 1860.
I, THOMAS AVELING, of Rochester, in the County of Kent, Agricultural
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar arrangement of steering apparatus for
locomotive or traction engines, and consists simply of a single steering and
supporting wheel carried at the lower end of a vertical rod, which is supported
in a cross bar fitted to the front end of the ordinary shafts when applied to
engines of this class. The rim of the steering wheel is so made as to bite into
or take a firm hold of the ground, and it is guided by means of a long lever
handle fitted to the upper end of the vertical rod, and extending back to the
front of the engine, at which end it is provided with a long crosshead and
three or more handles, so that the attendant may have great command over
the steering wheel. The support which carries the steering wheel may be
easily removed from the shafts when it is required to use a horse, and replaced
again at pleasure.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Aveling in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
AVELING, of Rochester, in the County, of Kent, Agricultural Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Aveling. Her special license that I, the said Thomas Aveling, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Aveling, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others from time to time, and all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Aveling,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Aveling, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar arrangement of steering apparatus
for locomotive or traction engines, and consists simply of one or more steering
and supporting wheels carried at the lower end of a vertical rod, which is
supported in a cross bar fitted to the front end of the ordinary horse shafts
when applied to engines of this class. The steering wheel or wheels are
guided by means of a long lever handle fitted to the upper end of the vertical
rod, and extending back to the front of the engine, at which end it is provided
with a long crosshead and three or more handles, so that the attendant may
have greater command over the steering wheel or wheels. The support which

page_text: carries the steering wheel may be easily removed from the shafts when it is
required to use horses, and replaced again at pleasure.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I
shall refer to the Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout both
the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a side elevation of a locomotive
traction engine provided with my improved steering apparatus, and Figure 2
is a plan of the shafts of the engine detached, with the steering apparatus fitted
thereto.
A represents a pair of horse shafts of the ordinary construction, which are
to be attached to the front of the engine, and used in the ordinary manner
when the engine is required to be hauled by horse-power, but when the engine
is rendered locomotive, as shewn in my Drawing, I propose to secure a cross
bar B of angle iron, or of wood, if preferred, to the front ends of the shafts by
staples or otherwise. To the centre of this cross bar is secured horizontally a
plummer block or other suitable bearing C for the reception of the vertical
steering shaft D, upon which a journal is turned to fit the brasses of the
plummer block. The lower end of this steering or guiding shaft is forked,
and carries one or more steering or guiding wheels E, which is made with a
knife-edged periphery, as shewn in my Drawings, so as to bite into or take a
firm hold of the ground in steering. This wheel may, if preferred, be made
with a flat periphery, but I have found that by constructing it in the form
illustrated by my Drawings that a superior and more certain steering or
guiding action is obtained by reason of the increased hold it takes of the
ground. The steering or guiding shaft is supported in a vertical position by
the stays F, F; these stays unite at one end in a collar at G, through which
is passed the upper part of the shaft, the opposite ends of the stays being
bolted to the ends of the angle iron cross bar H secured to the shafts A. By
the aid of these stays and the bearing in the plummer block C, the vertical
steering shaft is firmly maintained in a vertical position. To the top of the
steering shaft is fitted a long steering lever I extending back towards the
front of the engine, at which end it is fitted with a cross segment bar K. and
handles L, L, for the purpose of enabling the steersman who is seated in front
of the engine to actuate the steering wheel. By fitting a cross segment bar K
to the free end of the steering lever, and having a number of handles fitted at
intervals thereon, as shewn in the Drawings, it is obvious that the steersman

page_text: will have a greater range of action, as by seizing each handle L in succession
he can draw the lever a greater distance on either side than he could con-
veniently do were an ordinary one-handled lever employed.
Although I have described my steering apparatus as being connected to
an ordinary pair of hauling shafts, it is obvious that it may be otherwise
connected to the engine, as, for example, a special frame may be fitted to
the front of the engine for carrying the vertical shaft and steering wheel,
and any convenient mechanical device employed for actuating or turning
the steering shaft.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
berein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1st, the general construction and arrangement of steering apparatus, and its
application to locomotive or traction engines, as herein-before described and
illustrated by my Drawings.
2nd, the steering of locomotive or traction engines by means of one or
more swivel guide wheels, having either a knife-edged periphery placed in
front of the engine or carried by an ordinary pair of hauling shafts, as
herein-before described.
3rd, the application and use to and in the steering levers of locomotive
traction engines of a segment cross bar provided with a series of handles, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Aveling, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
THO. AVELING. (L.S.)