AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AND FACILI TATING LOCOMOTION WHETHER ON LAND OR ON WATER
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to John Ambrose Coffey, of 4, Providence Row,
Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AND FACILI
TATING LOCOMOTION WHETHER ON LAND OR ON WATER."
Sealed the 21st August 1863, and dated the 27th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Ambrose Coffey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on'
the 27th February 1863.
I, JOHN AMBROSE COFFEY, of 4, Providence Row, Finsbury, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AND
FACILITATING LOCOMOTION WHETHER ON LAND OR ON WATER," to be as follows:-
The purpose of my Invention consists in obtaining reservoirs or accumu-
lators of power so that any excess of power obtained by the progression of
a carriage, vehicle, or vessel, for instance whilst a carriage or vehicle is
descending hills or inclines, or acquired in a vessel under other circumstances,
or unexpended at the time of stopping, shall be collected ready to be given
out or usefully expended when it is desired to get again in motion, or when
it is desired to ascend another hill or incline. This I now propose to effect
in the following manner :-
I connect in carriages or vehicles the naves or other part of travelling wheels.

page_text: with toothed wheels, which are in gear (when necessary) with a spindle
having similar toothed wheels, or friction clutches, or other arrangements at
each end, capable of working with or being entirely freed from either of the
said travelling wheels, this spindle receiving in its turn the power gained
by momentum from descending declivities, or otherwise communicated from
the reservoir, which may consist of a power spring, or of a piston rod,
or motion arrangement, or of a pneumatic or air compressing apparatus,
or of a weight and screw arrangement, or the equivalents for these arrange-
ments, whereby these arrangements become in effect reservoirs of power.
A, A, ordinary travelling wheels; B, B, toothed wheels attached to
naves of A, A; B, a toothed wheel for reserving motive power; C, C,
toothed wheels capable of being placed in or out of gear or working either
of B or B by the lever or handle H, moving right or left, and shifting
shaft I, I, I, thereby; E, spring; F, chain for winding spring on to screw
shaft D; G, clutch for holding wound spring when moved by the lever H
out of gear or not required. The stopping, retarding, and starting may be
effected by acting on mechanism aforesaid by means of a handle or lever
acting on the spindle aforesaid, which commands the toothed wheels or friction
clutch, so that it can be thrown into each or either side, and will communi-
cate the power to the spring or reservoir aforesaid.
The arrangements adopted in vessels would be similar to the foregoing
as far as the difference of the character of vessels from carriages will permit,
and the same may be acted upon by floats, paddles, or screws worked by the
current, whether the vessels be in motion or at rest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Ambrose Coffey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th August 1863..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
AMBROSE COFFEY, of 4, Providence Row, Finsbury, in the County of Middle-
sex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Ambrose Coffey, Her special licence that I, the said
John Ambrose Coffey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Ambrose Coffey, my executors, administrators,

page_text: and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF A MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING AND
FACILITATING LOCOMOTION WHETHER ON LAND OR WATER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Ambrose Coffey, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 John Ambrose Coffey, 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:-
My Invention consists in obtaining and adapting reservoirs or accumu-
lators of power so that any excess of power obtained by the progression of a
carriage or other vehicle, or of a vessel, as for instance while a carriage or
vehicle is descending hills, or acquired in a vessel under other circumstances, or
unexpended at the time of stopping, shall be collected ready to be given out
or usefully expended when it is desired to get again into motion, or when it
is desired to ascend another hill or incline, all which I purpose to effect in the
manner set forth in the following description.
In carriages or vehicles I connect the naves or other revolving parts
of travelling wheels with toothed wheels, which are put in gear (when
necessary) with a spindle baving similar toothed wheels or friction clutches or
other arrangements at each end capable of working with or being entirely
freed from either of the said travelling wheels, this spindle receiving in its
turn the power gained by momentum from descending declivities, or by being
otherwise communicated from the reservoir of power, which reservoir may
consist of a power spring, or of a piston rod, or other motive power arrange-
ment, or of a pneumatic or other compressing apparatus, or of a weight or
screw arrangement, whereby such arrangements become in effect reservoirs of
power.
The controlling locomotion by stopping, retarding, or starting may be
effected by acting on the mechanism aforesaid by means of a handle or
lever acting on the spindle aforesaid, and commanding the toothed wheel,
or friction clutch, or other gear, so that it can be thrown into gear on cach

page_text: shewn in the Drawing; O is a catch wheel fixed on the spindle G, and into
this the forked end of the handle P takes when the mechanism is to be thrown
into and out of gear. The toothed wheels L, when in gear, to be one into the
toothed wheel Q on the nave of one travelling wheel A, and the other into the
toothed wheel R, which communicates its motion to the toothed wheel S on
the nave of the other travelling wheel A; the axle of these two wheels is
represented as cranked, this from being adopted for the more convenient
arrangement of the mechanism. T denotes pendant bearings for the spindle
G, the spindle of the wheel R, and the axle of the wheels A, A; U denotes
pendant bearings secured to the bottom of the carriage, as shewn, for travelling
or leading wheels A, A.
Fig. 3 and 4 denote a plan and side view, partly in section, respectively
of another arrangement, where the spring box is adopted and used, but in
place of the fuzee there is an endless chain, which is not attached to the
spring box, but passes over it and over a catch pulley fixed on a moveable
spindle a, belonging to a pinion 6, fixed therein, this taking either into
a toothed wheel C on the nave of the travelling wheel, or into another
toothed wheel C* attached to its own spindle, secured to the bottom of
the carriage, reversing
the spindle a, as it will be seen, tapered
at its end so as to fit into a socket on the end of a crank bar d, attached
to the axle of the travelling wheel; e denotes the handle. It is deemed
necessary to again refer to the other parts, which are the same as in Fig. 1
and 2. The operation of these arrangements is this:-A carriage or other
vehicle when descending an incline requires as much back force (less the
friction) to retard it as it would to draw it up an incline (always supposing
that the ascending and descending inclines are equal); the power which
is therefore lost is communicated to a spring, weight, or pneumatic arrange-
ment, which can be husbanded till it is thought necessary to be given out for
advancing, retiring, or turning. The same is applicable to the momentum
that is lost on stopping, the power lost being exactly that which would meet
it again in motion (always allowing for friction).
In vessels the arrangements shewn and described could be adopted, but
instead of being applied to travelling wheels they would be applied to the
paddle wheel or propeller shaft, and in a similar manner, and the force of the
current might, when the vessel was at rest, be used to wind up the spring and
accumulate power ready for use in case of need. And I may here remark the
same may be worked by floats or other similar contrivances to work dredging
machines or for other purposes.
I have also to observe that the arrangements aforesaid are intended as

page_text: auxiliary to the animal or other motive power used for propelling or impelling
carriages or vehicles or vessels.
Having now particularly described the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I claim
the exclusive use of the method of or mechanism for controlling and facilitating
locomotion whether on land or water, consisting in the obtaining and adapting
accumulators or reservoirs of power, so as to apply the power accumulated
from time to time as occasion may require, and thus aid and economize
the ordinary animal or other power employed for such purposes, it being under-
stood that I do not restrict myself to the precise arrangements shewn by the
Drawings, and herein described with reference thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ambrose Coffey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN AMBROSE COFFEY. (L.S.)