IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLES WITAT WITT TRAVEL ON EITHER LAND OR WATER "
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Thellusson, of Ramsey, in the Isle of
Man, Gentleman, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLES
WITAT WITT
TRAVEL ON EITHER LAND OR WATER
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest Thellusson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th June 1875.
I, ERNEST THELLUSSON, of Ramsey, in the Isle of Man, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN VEHICLES WHICH WILL TRAVEL ON EITHER LAND OR WATER," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is a vehicle which will travel on either
land or water, and my Invention consists in so constructing the wheels
thereof that while supporting the carriage on land they form the means
of floatation when it is in the water. I construct these wheels by taking
ordinary wheels with a boss or nave of a greater width than usual,
and in stretching outside ribs from the tyre of the ordinary wheel to the

page_text: outside of the nave. I then cover the frame thus formed with painted
canvas or other waterproof material, and my wheel is complete.
One form of vehicle which I may use consists in mounting a platform
of say ten feet long upon two pairs of the wheels just described, the
naves of which are about one foot in width, while the wheels are six
feet in diameter. Upon this platform two seats are placed for persons
to set in, who propel the vehicle by means of treadles which revolve the
axles of the wheels by means of cranks in the ordinary manner. This
vehicle can be thus propelled equally well on either land or water
without any alteration or stoppage, the floating power of the wheels
being sufficient to keep the platform and its load well above the
water.
I may construct my wheels by at once taking a boss or nave and a
tyre, and in stretching ribs or spokes from tyre to tyre or from tyre to
nave, and in then covering the framing thus formed with waterproof
material without any inner wheel or framework.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Ernest Thellusson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ERNEST
THELLUSSON, of Ramsey, in the Isle of Man, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Ernest Thellusson, Her special licence
that I, the said Ernest Thellusson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Ernest Thellusson, my executors,
administrators, 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

page_text: 1
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VEHICLES WHICH WILL TRAVEL ON EITHER LAND OR WATER," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Ernest Thellusson, 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 Ernest Thellusson, 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 thereof, that is to say:—
The object of my Invention is a vehicle which will travel on either
land or water, and my Invention consists in so constructing the wheels
thereof that while supporting the carriage on land they form the means
of floatation when it is on the water. I construct these wheels by taking
an ordinary wheel with a boss or nave of a greater width than usual,
and in stretching ribs from the tyre of the ordinary wheel to the outside
of the nave. I then cover the frame thus formed with steel, copper, or
painted canvas, or other waterproof material, and my wheel is complete.
They can be made in several water-tight compartments.
One form of vehicle which I may use consists in making a platform of
say ten feet long, more or less, upon two pairs of the wheels just
described, the naves of which are about one foot in width, while the
wheels are six feet in diameter; the width and diameter may be altered.
Upon this platform two seats are placed for persons to sit on, who propel
the vehicle by means of treadles, which revolve the axles of the wheels
by means of cranks in the ordinary manner; on land either steam, horse,
or manual power can be applied; on water, steam, manual, or sail. This
vehicle can be thus propelled equally well on either land or water
without any alteration or stoppage, the floating power of the wheels
being sufficient to keep the platform and its load well above the
water.

page_text: nave, and in then covering the framing thus formed with steel, copper,
or waterproof material, without any inner wheel or framework.
These vehicles will be found to be particularly applicable for use as
pontoons.
My Invention will be clearly understood on reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents an edge view
partly in section of one of my floatative wheels constructed upon the
hollow principle. A is the nave connected to the tyre B by means of
the spokes C, the latter springing from the outer edge of the nave gives
to the framework of the wheel when complete a hollow centre, two or
more blades D (to act as propellers when the vehicle to which the wheels
are to be fitted is being propelled in the water) are attached to the
spokes as shown, and the whole is then covered with steel, copper, or
waterproof material E, such as india-rubber, painted canvas, or their
equivalents, the whole, when complete, forming an air and waterproof
wheel of great floatative power to take the water, at the same time
equally suitable to rùn on common roads.
Figure 2 shows one of my wheels on the solid principle, with the
spokes C fitted on the centre or nave. The buoyant power is obtained
by the sides of the wheel being built up of either cork or light wood F,
the outside being covered with a waterproof material, as in Figure 1,
though in the solid wheel it may be dispensed with.
In Figure 3 I have shown a vehicle fitted with two pairs of my
wheels as running along an ordinary road, the wheels being made to
revolve by the riders by means of cranks and treadles in the ordinary
way, and in Figure 4 the same vehicle is shown floating and being
propelled by the blades or fins D acting upon the water.
Figure 5 shows how my wheels can be readily used to form a pontoon,
say for the passage of troops across a stream or river, the wheels being
laid on their sides and made to carry bearers G on the tops of them,
which stretch across the water, and by placing on their upper surfaces
the cross timbers H, an excellent pontoon is readily constructed; but
for a light bridge the vehicles would simply have to be attached to each
other as an ordinary train.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,—
$

page_text: Firstly. The construction and arrangement of hollow bodied wheels,
with steel, copper, canvas, or other waterproof covering on both sides
thereof, on which are two or more floats, and the employment of such
wheels to vehicles capable of travelling on land or on water, as herein-
before described and as shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of solid body wheels
made of highly buoyant material, as and for the purposes set forth.
Thirdly. I claim the combination vehicle with wheels, and the
employment of such vehicle on land or water, as described and shown
with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the annexed Drawings.
Fourthly. I claim the employment of such wheels when detached
from the vehicle for crossing rivers, substantially as described and shown
at Figure 5 of the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernest Thellusson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of Dec., One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-five.