Improvements in or relating to Motor Driven Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Motor Driven Vehicles.
I, EDWARD JOEL PENNINGTON, of Bramlea, Hersham Road, Walton-on-
Thaines, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to motor driven vehicles, commonly known as autocars,
and although it may be applied to vehicles of various descriptions and capacities,
I will now describe it as applied to a vehicle adapted to carry four persons and an
attendant. The general design of the vehicle in plan is that of a square or
elongated rectangular figure with a seat in front for two persons and one behind
also for two persons; behind the second seat the frame is extended to accomodate
the engine and driving parts of the mechanism, while at the very back is the seat
for the attendant. The latter part of the framework may be narrower than the
front so that the engines will be contained well within the breadth of the widest
portion of the carriage.
I prefer to steer by the two leading road wheels, each of which may be carried
in a separate fork like a bicycle fork while the driving is effected by one or two,
but preferably one, wheel at the back behind or underneath the back seat. The
engines are connected with the driving wheel by any suitable gearing or connecting
device, preferably allowing of changes in the ratio so as to gear up or down.
The steering may be carried out in the following manner :-
In front of the back seat, and conveniently placed so as to be operated by a
person sitting thereon, I have a steering centre which may be a vertical, or
approximately vertical, shaft extending from a suitable height to beneath the floor
of the vehicle where it carries a chain wheel. There is a corresponding chain
wheel upon each of the steering forks and a pitch chain is carried around all three
wheels, the two ends of the chain being preferably connected up by a screw or
other device whereby the length of the chain may be adjusted so as to take up
wear. Instead of a complete chain I may use portions of chain, for each of the
corners of the triangle thus formed so as to provide the necessary flexibility at
those turning points, the intermediate portions being made of rods or other
equivalent. Or again, instead of employing chain wheels at the turning points
I may connect the chain to drums, or I may employ bell crank or other levers
or arms.
The steering shaft may be provided with a hand wheel, handle bar or other
convenient device by which the steering may be effected, and as the chain does not
all lie in the same vertical plane I may employ pulleys or other means of
deflecting it.
As it may be desirable for the steering as well as the driving to be operated or
controlled by the attendant at the back as well as or instead of the person sitting
in the carriage, I may connect the steering shaft before described with another
steering shaft suitably placed for the attendant at the back, and connect the two
by chain or other gearing and provide a hand wheel or equivalent for the
attendant. Or one interchangeable steering handle may serve for both steerings.
Any or all of these parts may be boxed in so as to conceal and protect the
steering mechanism.
Where it is desired to steer by electrical power, this may conveniently be done

page_text: by providing upon one or both of the steering shafts a worm wheel with which
engages a worm which may be driven by an electric motor the power being
furnished by the battery carried upon the vehicle for igniting purposes in the
engine or the engine may drive a small dynamo for providing the necessary current
for steering, sparking and illuminating, braking or other purposes.
The main portion of the frame may conveniently be made from a single tube
extending from the steering head of one wheel along one side of the vehicle to the
back so as to provide the framework by which the engine will be carried, and
forward along the other side to the second steering head, this framework being
curved in any required manner according to the construction of the vehicle. The
vehicle may be boarded and upholstered where required, and the working parts
boxed in where needed.
Improvements in or relating to Motor Driven venicies.
I, EDWARD JOEL PENNINGTON of Bramlea, Hersham Road, Walton-on-
Thames, in the County of Surrey, 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 :-
This invention relates to motor-driven vehicles commonly known as autocars, and
although it may be applied to vehicles of various descriptions and capacities, I will
now describe it as applied to a vehicle adapted to carry four persons and an
attendant. The general design of the vehicle in plan is that of a square or
elongated rectangular figure with a seat in front for two persons and one behind
also for two persons; behind the second seat the frame is extended to accomodate
the engine and driving parts of the mechanism, while at the very back is the seat
for the attendant. The latter part of the framework may be narrower than the
front so that the engines will be contained well within the breadth of the widest
portion of the carriage.
. The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle constructed according to this invention,
Figure 2 being a plan of the same.
Like letters indicate like parts in both the figures.
A is a tubular framework, the front portions of which when viewed from above
are parallel, the back portions being brought nearer together and terminating at
the axle which carries the driving road-wheel B of the vehicle. The tubular
framework A may be continuous at the front end, or each tube may terminate at or
about the tank C for containing fuel or water or both. I prefer to make the tube
perforated as at C₁ Fig. 1 so that water can pass through it to the cylinder jackets.
If desired the tank C may form as in Fig. 1 the connection between the tubes A.
There is a supplementary tubular framing D of smaller tube which is carried
round continuously at the back end B, the two forward portions D¹ towards the
middle of the vehicle approaching each other, and meeting at or about the point
where the steering shaft passes; from here the tubes D spread out again and
terminate at the steering heads D' in which the forks E' of the steering wheels E
At the back a pillar or tubular column D3 supports a seat D* for the person

page_text: who has charge of the car. The seat F is intended to carry two passengers facing
forwards, and the seat F¹ to carry two passengers facing backwards, so that the
vehicle carries five persons, four passengers and one driver.
The driving road-wheel B may be driven by any convenient mechanism say for
example by chains G¹ which connect it with the crank shaft G operated by the
engines H of any suitable description, but preferably the well-known Pennington
oil engines. Gare oil-tubes for the crank-pins.
The steering arrangement is as follows:-Upon each steering fork E', and
preferably at or about the crown is a chain wheel E2 around which passes a chain I
which is carried to the chain wheel J' upon the vertical steering shaft J, pulleys I'
being employed where necessary to carry the chain round the requisite bends as
will be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawings.
The ends of the chain wheel may be connected by a tightening device preferably
of the screw or spring description; a spring 12 being shown in Figure 2 of the
drawings. I prefer to employ a single chain around the whole length of the
triangle which it forms, although parts of this could be made of rods or cords.
The shaft J is carried in any suitable bearings of the framework, and carries at
its upper part a second chain wheel J2 by which it is connected through a chain K'
and chain wheel K¹ with the steering shaft K which is operated by the driver.
This steering shaft may have a steering wheel K³, a handle-bar or other convenient
means of operating it. The steering shaft J may also be provided with a hand
steering device J if it be intended that a person using the seat F should be able
to steer usually however, this is not necessary, so the steering device J³ may be
made detachable, a socket connection J permitting of this.
D is a foot-board for the use of the driver.
L is a chamber underneath the foot-board upon which the passengers place their
feet which may be divided into various compartments by partitions L'.
This chamber will serve as a quieting chamber for the exhaust from the engines
which will be led into it by any suitable pipe not shown in the drawings, and will
also serve to warm the feet of the passengers. The partitions L' may extend not
quite across the chamber, one being connected at the one side, and the next at the
other side, so as to form a zigzag passage through which the exhaust may pass ; or
the partitions may be perforated. The exhaust may leave the chamber at any
desired part, preferably from the centre of the compartment furthest from the
engines, by way of a pipe such as L. The first compartment L³ into which the
exhaust is carried should have a capacity greater than the capacity of the cylinders
of the engines. The compartments preferably increase in size as they recede from
the engines so as to accommodate the expansion of the gas.
When it is desired that the steering should be effected by electrical means I
provide a worm quadrant M fixed upon the shaft J with which engages a worm M¹
carried upon the shaft of an electric motor N to support which a suitable extension
of the framework is provided. The necessary current may be provided by suitable
batteries upon the engine, or from the engine itself, and the steering would be
effected by suitable electric devices such as are well understood, operated by the
person steering. Or a steam steering apparatus, such as is applied to ships, but on
a smaller scale, could be applied to the vehicle if steam were the motive power
employed.
The fuel and water tanks and batteries for providing the current for ignition of
the explosive mixture to the engine may be provided in any convenient position
which would vary according to the details of construction of the vehicle.
The crank shaft O is placed conveniently for the driver sitting upon the seat D
and is connected by the chain O' with a chain wheel G³ upon the engine shaft G, a
clutch being provided so that when the engine over-runs the shaft O, no
inconvenience will result. The object of the shaft O is to enable the driver
conveniently to start the engines.
I have described the vehicle as having three wheels, two steering wheels in front
and one driving wheel behind and I find that to be a very satisfactory arrangement;

page_text: nevertheless I may have two driving wheels behind if preferred. in which case
I prefer to place the cylinders between the driving wheels instead of outside
of them.
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. The complete self-propelled vehicle substantially as described or illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
2. In a self-propelled vehicle the arrangement of the steering gear substantially
as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In a self-propelled vehicle the introduction of power other than manual
power for the purpose of operating the steering gear, whereby the chief effort of
steering is removed from the driver.
Dated this 19th dow of March 1897
EDWARD JOEL PENNINGTON.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.
EDWARD JOEL PENNINGTON.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.