IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACTION ENGINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustin Morel, of Roubaix, in the Department of
the Nord, in the Empire of France, Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACTION ENGINES."
Sealed the 12th December 1863, and dated the 19th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustin Morel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
June 1863.
I, AUGUSTIN MOREL, of Roubaix, in the Department of the Nord, in the
Empire of France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACTION ENGINES," to be as follows:-
1 propose supporting the entire mechanical arrangement on four wheels,
which are to be rendered fast or loose all together or separately as may be
required, and thus permit the traction engine to execute movements in every
direction, such as would be obtained if a horse were employed, and that with
no more difficulty to the driver than if it were a horse. The driver will direct
the engine, (which I propose to term an "automaton horse ") by means of a
guide, from which will result all the movements, and which he need not let
go to put on the break, the breaking being consequently all the more promptly
effected. -
The fore part of my improved engine will be made so that it may turn on
itself while still acting as motor, and during such movement the wheels of the
hind part will remain motionless or roll forwards or backwards at will. I
propose to obtain these manoeuvres by the aid of a double cylinder steam

page_text: engine turning always in one direction, and which by means of bands and
pullies mounted on the axles will transmit motion to the wheels of the trac-
tion engine. The steam engine may continue to work while the driver
directs or manoeuvres in any sense, because he will throw the bands on or
off the pullies at will by means of other tangental pullies which will stretch
or loosen the bands according to requirement by a slight up or down
movement; inverse or contrary movements will thus be obtained at plea-
sure and without effort, as the tangental pullies will be counterbalanced.
When the bands are not working they will rest on supports in order to avoid
their adhering to one or other of the pullies. The driver will be placed on a
seat in front of the engine so that nothing may impede his view, and will
always hold the guide in hand, as if it escape him the machine would imme-
diately stop because the steam distributing cock would shut, and the band
which is come into play for the back motion would be stretched, and act at
the same moment as a break; in the same way, should the driver attempt to
back his machine with unreasonable rapidity the guide drawn with too much
force towards him would shut the steam cock. It will result from this method
of transmitting motion by bands that the driving gear itself will oppose any too
abrupt impetus given to the machinery, the bands will slide, and cause the
machine to move easily and without shock, and the same effect will be pro-
duced when it is desired to stop suddenly, but any other means of transmission
may be employed. I propose mounting my improved traction engine on springs
so that the shocks occasioned by the inequalities of the soil may be little felt
by the machinery or in the generator, which I propose placing upright so that
the water therein contained may have little motion, and I also propose to pass
lengthwise through the interior of the generator several tubes so arranged
that they may be heated by lamps buring petroleum, each tube- filling as it
were the office of a lamp glass. These lamps will be placed low and beneath
the generator and be fed by a reservoir of oil placed in any part of the
imachine. Not only petroleum but any other liquid combustible may be
used for heating, but heating with liquids will be found preferable to any
other method when the machine is intended to draw light carriages or loads.
As my improved traction engine is intended to run on unpaved ways as
well as ordinary roads, and also to be used in agriculture, I propose to mount
it on wheels of large size, and to place the machinery as well as the generator
as low as possible, taking care that they are sufficiently raised to clear the
ground; the machine will thus be little liable to upset and will more easily.
overcome the inequalities of soil which it will meet with.
My improved traction engine will not only as might be supposed be a

page_text: carriage or vehicle running by steam, but a machine intended to do the duty
of a horse, that is to say, to be harnessed to any sort of equipage even to a
plough instead of and in the place of the horse.
It will be understood that my improved machine is to be provided with all
the accessories necessary to its working, such as water tanks, reservoirs for oil
or other fuel, feed pump, and other adjuncts. I propose to make the tyres
of the wheels with or without inequalities or roughing according to the nature
of the soil over which the machine is to travel. The simplicity of the steam
engine and the manner in which the movements are to be transmitted will
render the use of my improved traction engine very easy and more practical.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Augustin Morel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTIN
MOREL, of Roubaix, in the Department of the Nord, in the Empire of France,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, 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 Augustin Morel, Her special licence that I, the said Augustin Morel,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Augustin Morel, 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 vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TRACTION ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said
Augustin Morel, 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 Augustin Morel, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention; and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed; to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawing hereunto annexed,
and forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters
of reference marked thereon; similar letters of reference being placed upon
and denoting similar parts where such parts appear or may be seen at each of
the Figures respectively.
Figure 1, representing a side elevation of my improved traction engine;
Figure 2, plan view of same; Figures 3 and 4, two faces of the generator in
sectional elevation; and Figure 5, plan view of generator; e, upper part of gene-
rator; E, chimney within this latter; c, tubular fire-place in the lower part of
the generator; F, hollow blades or burners acting as wick holders and spreaders,
or distributers of combustible liquid. A, compartment or space in fire-place in
which the gases are generated; B, B, transverse tubes of the fire-place and dis-
tributers of air for inflammation of the gases; d, d', wheels of the hind part of
the machine (see Figures 1 and 2); K, K", (same Figures) wheels of the
fore part. (The tyres of the wheels are with or without roughing according
to the nature of the soil over which the machine is to travel.) a, a', (same
Figures) steam cylinders; C", (same Figures) rim pulley, mounted on the axle
of the hind part, on which pulley acis a metal brake V, VI, flat iron rod connect-
ing the axle of the hind part with the driving shaft of the steam engine, adhering
neither to the one or the other; r¹, main cock, between the generator and the
steam cylinders; r, key of this cock; r", distributing cock for the working of
the steam machinery. The letter 7 indicates the springs bearing on the axles,
and carrying the entire arrangement of the machine (see Figures 1 and 2);
al, metal bar enveloping the pulley C", on which it acts as a brake, and fixed
by one end to the flat iron rod V', and by the other end to the lever e¹; g',
connecting rod of the steam engine (see Figures 1 and 2); b, b, (same
Figures) cranks at each extremity of the driving shaft; b, conical toothed
gearing, serving to communicate motion to the vertical shaft; U', U', vertical
shaft, carrying at its lower part toothed gearing, and a friction roller working
with the piece V to give the direction to the fore part of the machine. On
this latter act two similar friction rollers turning in a contrary direction by
means of the two cogs gearing into each other; u, vertical shaft, serving
as support to the shaft U', as also to the toothed gearing and friction rollers
shewn at its base; m, rods, serving to give a right or left motion to cause one
or other of the two friction rollers to work with the piece V, which directs the
fore part or carriage according to the movements transmitted to it by one or
other of the friction rollers (see Figures 1 and 2); W, pulley, bearing on the
piece Y by means of a spring placed in a barrel W"; the purpose of this

page_text: pulley is to re-establish the parallel between the fore part and the hind part,
and at the same time to retrieve the deviations from the proper direction
resulting from the roughness of the ground, acting at one time on the right;
and at others on the left wheel of the fore part; in one word this pulley fulfils
the office of helm on the fore part. h, pulley (mounted on the axle of the fore
part), on which is fixed a rotula enveloped by the pulley h, so that the axle
may execute its movements in every direction without interfering with the
position of the pulley . This latter is guided by two rods s, united to each
other by means of the pieces carrying at their summit the pullies h¹ and h",
both mounted on the same axle, which is guided by the rods K, bearing by
one end on the driving shaft: s. piece acting when required as a brake on the
two wheels of the hind part by means of the compressed air which acts on the
piston lodged in the piston box s"; P, seat of the conductor or driver; n, his
principal guide, from which result all the movements of the machine; a', rod
governing the distributing cock, fixed to the rod n by means of a loose ring-
on the lever n; n", cross piece of the lever which the driver holds with both
hands, so as to exercise twisting motions right or left according to the direc
tion in which he desires to guide the machine, and independently of this twist-
ing motion he makes a movement forward or backward according to the speed
he wishes to give; 1, spring, which tends to bring this lever constantly
towards the driver, and place the machine near the stopping point. The
bands serving to transmit motion from the driving shaft to the wheels are
indicated in blue at Figures 1 and 2. The wheels of the fore part although
motors, may turn independently of each other; when the machine describes a
circle in its progress, the speed acquired by one of the two wheels is given to
it by the friction rollers already described set at the bottom of the shaft U',
acting on the piece V, and that by means of the clutch-freeing arrangement
indicated by b¹, Figure 2. The pulley C (Figure 2), mounted on the driving
shaft is rendered fast only when required by means of the conical clutch m
placed at its side, and which acts only in second place, that is to say, that the
wheels of the fore part are always motors or driving wheels, that when the
machine is travelling these only work: the hind part is entirely independent,
and travels simply by the traction of the fore part until the driver has suffi-
ciently pushed his guide towards the front of the machine, at this moment the
conical clutch m' acts, and the four wheels become motors. A greater speed
is always given to the fore than to the hind part of the machine, so that the
hind part may always be brought up by traction.
In order that my Invention may be thoroughly understood, I give the fol-
lowing details.. I suppose my machine to be a blind horse to which the driver

page_text: must pay more attention than to another, and consequently I have adapted an
arrangement of parts which permits the execution of movements in every direc
tion, placing the driver on the fore part of the machine, and putting into his
hands and beneath his feet the objects required for its management, and which
he has but to set at work. Being placed on the seat, and above the way and
the obstacles which he must pass, it is easy for him not to permit any of them
to escape his sight, and drive accordingly. At the top of the guide which he
holds in his hands is a whistle, of which he has but to set the valves at work
with his thumbs to give due notice to any person or animal obstructing his
progress, and that without allowing the guides to escape from his hands.
There is nothing to prevent this machine being driven quite as well as the
horse itself; the head of the man guiding being in the same place and position
as that of the horse, and my improved traction engine is not only a carriage
or vehicle running by steam but a machine intended to do the duty of a horse,
that is to say, to be harnessed to any sort of equipage, even to a plough,
instead of and in the place of the horse. Deeming solid combustible objec-
tionable, as being likely to drop fire upon the road or way under the jolting of
the machine in its progress, and to permit sparks to spurt out from the chimney
to the danger of setting fire to something, I have invented an arrangement of
fire-place which will permit the burning of petroleum or other combustible
liquid. This fire-place is composed of hollow metal blades or burners placed
the one against the other, and into which is introduced the combustible liquid
by means of a tube communicating with each of them, which tube is furnished
with a feeding float so as to avoid overflow of liquid from the fire-place. As may
be seen at F (Figure 3) these hollow blades or burners not only permit the
introduction of combustible liquid but also of the wicks, which occupy their
entire length. These wicks are of asbestos, and the space A (Figure 4) of the
fire-place is fed with air only as much as required for the formation of the
gases. At B are metal tubes pierced in their entire length with a sufficient
number of holes to permit the inflammation of the gases, and in the tubular
part C (Figure 4) the combustion of the gases takes place. By this arrangement
of fire-place the caloric from the combustible is completely turned to account,
and all danger of setting fire to anything avoided. To feed the boiler the fore
part of the machine carries a water tank closed hermetically, and in which air
is compressed by means of pumps so as to force water into the boiler itself as
required; the compressed air is also used to work the brakes placed in front
of the wheels of the hind part as well as in reversing the steam of the machine
when it is desired to back it: The driver works the cock distributing the
compressed air with his guide and his feet; this is optional, as he works the

page_text: lever of the checking brake c¹ (Figure 1). The reservoir of combustible
liquid is also on the fore part of the machine and as near as possible to the
driver, so that he may not be in contact with the heat of the fire-place, with
which he communicates by means of a tube. The main cock is near the tank,
but the throttle valve of the combustible is also governed by the driver's
guide, that is to say, that when the machine is working fast the throttle valve
is more open than when it works slowly. The objects herein-before described
and not shewn on the Diagrams are considered as sufficiently comprehensible
from the description in order not to make the Drawings too complicated and
confusing. The Drawings of the machine essentially represent but the
movements, always with the object of avoiding encumberment and con-
fusion.
Having now described. the nature of my said Invention, and the means by:
which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein set forth and illustrated on the Sheet
of Drawing hereunto annexed, as such may be varied or modified without
departure from my Invention, which I declare to be the general combination
above described, that is to say, a steam engine taken as a whole, in which, by.
a new arrangement, liquid is used for fuel and compressed air for transmission
of motion, as well as the transmission of movement by bands and pullies joined.
to my arrangement of machinery or any means of traction similar to bands; in
one word all the combinations of parts which compose the traction engine
which I term an "automaton horse;" and I claim the system upon which my
improved traction engine is based, as also the mechanical combinations by
which I carry my Invention into effect, the whole substantially as herein set
forth and illustrated in the Drawing annexed.
In witness whereof, J, the said Augustin Morel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
A. MOREL. (L.S.)