Improvements in the Method of Driving or Transmitting Power on Motor Cars and other Vehicles Driven by Mechanical Means.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in the Method of Driving or Transmitting Power on
Motor Cars and other Vehicles Driven by Mechanical Means.
I, ALFRED JOHN THOMPSON, of 9, Rose Lane, Norwich, Cycle Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to motor cars motor cycles and other vehicles driven by
steam oil gas electricity or other mechanical means and is the application of a method
of transmitting driving power.
In carrying out my said invention I employ two or more different sized cones
placed on the driving shaft (which can be either the motor shaft direct or a
counter-shaft) in such a way that they will slide on a key or feather seated
in the shaft and running through the cones and so that by levers or other suitable
means each cone can be brought into contact with a larger cone or pulley wheel
(hereinafter referred to as a pulley wheel) fixed on to the revolving axle of the vehicle
or on to the wheel of the vehicle itself and having outer or inner driving faces
tapered to correspond with the faces of the cones. When the notor is in motion
and either of the cones is brought into contact with the pulley wheel such cone
communicates motion to the latter and the vehicle travels at a rate proportionate
to the size of the cone in contact for the time being.
The cones and pulley wheel will have their face surfaces prepared in such a
nanner or covered with such suitable material as to give greater driving power and
to prevent slipping.
For the purpose of imparting either a forward or a reverse motion to the vehicle
as may be desired I have some cones which engage on the outer driving faces of a
pulley wheel on one side of the vehicle and other cones which engage on the inner
driving faces of another pulley wheel on the other side of the vehicle: or if desired
the same effect can be produced with one pulley wheel having outer and inner
driving faces with which different cones engage; in this case however it is necessary
to have both a driving shaft and a counter-shaft.
If desired there may be only one cone on the driving shaft but the object of
having two or more cones of different sizes is to allow of an alteration in the speed
as may be desired. For the reverse motion of the vehicle one cone only will usually
be required.
Dated this 26th day of February 1897

page_text: Improvements in the Method of Driving or Transmitting Power on
Motor Cars and other Vehicles Driven by Mechanical Means.
I, ALFRED JOHN THOMPSON, of Number 46, (late No. 9) Rose Lane, Norwich,
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 principle of my invention is the application of the friction generated by a
cone or small conically shaped pulley wheel revolving at a high velocity and
impinging or a larger pulley wheel with a driving surface bevelled at the same angle
as that of the smaller wheel and moving on an axis parallel to that of the smaller
The larger circumference of the one wheel necessarily faces the same way as
the smaller one of the other.
oue.
The invention is applicable to motor cars motor cycles and other motor vehicles
driven by steam, oil, gas, electricity or other mechanical means where the velocity of
the driving shaft is very great in proportion to the power to be overcome.
In carrying out my said invention I construct a pulley wheel of iron or other
suitable substance either on the inside of one of the wheels of the vehicle or on the
axle of the vehicle (which in the latter case must be a revolving axle) and in either
case the axis of the pulley wheel corresponds with the axis of the vehicle wheel.
This pulley wheel I make with the driving surface bevelled at a suitable angle, the
bevel being cut from the outside inwards so that the larger circumference of the
wheel is outside. The bevel must not be too great but only sufficient to allow of
the clearness of the cone hereafter mentioned, when the same is not working on the
wheel. I have found that an angle approximately ten degrees from the horizontal
will be sufficient.
I now construct the cone, or rather a small conically shaped pulley wheel of iron
or other suitable substance (which I hereafter refer to as a cone) bevelled at the same
angle as the pulley wheel above described. I place this on the driving shaft of the
motor (which can either be the motor shaft direct or a counter-shaft) with its larger
circumference inside or directly reverse to the pulley wheel and so that it will slide on a
key or feather seated in the shaft and running through the cone and will revolve with
the shaft and I place the shaft in such a position that when the cone is moved along
the key sufficiently far towards the pulley wheel, the driving surface of the cone
will impinge on the driving surface of the pulley wheel. In other words I so place
the driving shaft that the mean distance from its centre to the driving surface of
the pulley wheel is slightly less than the mean radius of the cone.
As the cone rapidly revolves with the driving shaft it imparts by the friction it
sets up, motion to the pulley wheel and hence to the vehicle. When the cone is
moved along the shaft in an opposite direction it ceases to impinge on the pulley
wheel and the vehicle is stopped.
The cone is brought into position for driving or released from such position by a
lever or other suitable means. I have found the most suitable way of doing this is
to cut a groove round the cone in the driving surface and to construct a lever with
forked ends which fit into opposite sides of the groove so that the cone revolves
between the forks, there being sufficient play to allow of the cone being moved the
requisite distance along the shaft to be brought into or out of contact with the
pulley wheel. I pivot the lever near its centre to a suitable part of the frame work
of the vehicle above the cone and I construct it so that it terminates in a handle
fitted with an ordinary small rachet handle, so constructed as to keep the lever in
any desired position in the plane in which it moves.

page_text: when the lever 18 moved by the driver of the vehicle in one direction it causes
the cone to come in contact with the pulley wheel and when moved in the other
direction it releases the cone from contact. In order to reduce friction, I preferably
make the forked ends terminate in ball bearings.
In order to get good results it is desirable to cover the pulley wheel with a
suitable material to cause a greater friction and hence greater driving power. I have
found that leather is the most suitable substance. For the same end, the surface of
the cone may be prepared in any manner or covered with any material. This cover
may, if desired, be of rubber.
It will be seen that if I place my pulley wheel on the wheel of the vehicle, I
drive from the end or near the end of the shaft. If I place my pulley wheel on a
revolving axle, then if the differential gear is at the centre of the axle, I must drive
from near the centre of the shaft.
I have now described the simplest form of application of my invention, but in
order to allow of the vehicle being easily driven at different speeds and to allow
of a reverse motion being imparted to it, without reversing the engine or motor it is
necessary that there should be some additions or modifications. If I wish to have
two speeds at which I can travel, I place two cones on the shaft instead of one, the
inner one being larger than the outer, and each moving along the shaft independently
of the other and each being moved by a separate lever or by a separate fork on the
same lever.
I construct my pulley wheel of double thickness and with two driving
surfaces at the same angle or bevel, but one (the inner one) with a less
diameter than the other, the difference in the mean diameters being equal to the
difference between the mean diameters of the two cones. It will be seen that the
smaller or outer cone may be brought into contact with the larger half of the pulley
wheel or the larger cone may be brought into contact with the smaller half of the
pulley wheel, the speed of the vehicle necessarily being proportionate to the relative
size of the cone which is in contact for the time being and the part of the pulley
wheel on which it drives.
To get three or more speeds, it is of course necessary to have three or more cones
of varying sizes the largest being on the inside and the smallest on the outside with
three or more corresponding driving surfaces on the pulley wheel.
In order to reduce the aggregate width of the cones upon the shaft, I make the
second and subsequent cone of recessed pattern, so as to allow one cone to slide into
the next larger one sufficiently far to allow of its being brought into or out of position
with the pulley wheel.
For the purpose of imparting reverse motion to the vehicle, I construct a second
pulley wheel on the other side of the vehicle, but in this case I hollow it out on the
inside and make an inner bevelled driving surface instead of an outer one. I construct
my cone in the same manner as before described for the forward motion, but it is
inade to work on this inner driving surface instead of on an outer one.
I may, if I like, produce the same result with only one pulley wheel having both
an inner and outer bevelled driving surface with my cone for imparting the reverse
motion driven on a second shaft below the shaft on which is the cone for imparting
the forward motion but when the machine is supplied with two or more cones for
imparting a forward motion the cone and pulley for imparting the reverse motion
can better be arranged on the opposite side of the vehicle. The cone for imparting
the reversed motion is placed into and out of position by a forked lever or other
means in the same way as the cones for imparting the direct motion.
For the purpose of better explaining my invention I refer to the accompanying
drawing shewing the material parts of my invention in outline in its simplest
form.
Fig. I is a plan. Fig. II is a section viewed from the front of the carriage and
Fig. III is a side elevation. A and A¹ are pulley wheels of different sizes fixed to
the wheel E of the vehicle and having their outer surfaces bevelled as described
above. E (in Figures I and II) is a pulley wheel with inner bevelled surface. Band
Bare moveable cones sliding on crank shaft and engaging when in position with

page_text: the outer surface of pulley wheels A and A¹.
B¹ and A¹ are shewn fully engaged.
B and A are shewn disengaged. F (in Figs. I and II) is a similar cone but engaging
with inner driving surface of pulley wheel D. C, C and H are levers moving the
cones into and out of gear. D (in Fig. III) is the rachet to hold the lever in
position.
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 application of the principle of imparting motion from one bevelled wheel
to another by the friction set up in the contact to the driving of the vehicles in the
manner before described.
2. The combination of the bevelled wheels without cogs with any description of
motor for the purpose of imparting motive power as before described.
3. The improved method of constructing the driving gear of motor vehicles with
single or two or more speed gear and reversing gear as before described.
Dated this Twenty-fifth day of November 1897.
ALFRED J. THOMPSON.