IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF PORTABLE RAILS OR WAYS TO VEHICLES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
APPLICATION OF PORTABLE RAILS OR WAYS TO VEHICLES."-A communication
from Adolphe Joseph Florin, of Orleans.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st August 1857.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF PORTABLE RAILS OR WAYS TO VEHICLES," to be as
follows:-
The portable rails are applied to vehicles according to this Invention in
three different ways. In either case an endless chain of six, eight, or other
number of bars or rails jointed together surrounds each wheel of the vehicle,
in one arrangement of which the chain of rails closely encircles the wheel, which
is laid down and lifted by the rolling motion of the wheel thereupon.
In another arrangement the chain of rails or plates forming the ways is of
considerably greater extent than merely to encircle the wheel, and are furnished
on their interior surface with rack teeth throughout their length, in addition to
which they have a smooth bearing surface for the wheel to run upon. At the

page_text: upper part the chain of rails is supported upon a spur wheel, the teeth of
which gear in the rack teeth before mentioned. This spur wheel is driven by
an endless band or chain from a rigger on the nave of the running wheel,
thus working the chain of rails, and always keeping it laid in advance of the
running wheel.
Another modification consists in the use of two similar spur wheels, suitably
disposed to lay down and lift the portable rails or ways, & driven as before
described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the i
27th February 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said s
William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-3
MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF PORTABLE RAILS OR WAYS TO VEHICLES," a com-
munication from Adolphe Joseph Florin, of Orleans, upon the .condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a jointed and portable railway, which can be
adapted to the wheels of all kinds of vehicles, in order to diminish the tractive
force required to propel them.
For this purpose I surround the wheels with a system of rails or plates
connected end to end. These rails are developed one after another under the
wheel, which travels on them. Motion is imparted to the system of "endless
rails," either by the wheel itself or by any other mechanical means; for
example, by means of a pressing cylinder or roller fitted behind the carriage,
which presses on the upper part of the rails, and thereby causes them to
move as rapidly as the wheels. In order to prevent the rails dragging
behind by reason of the shocks received, I so arrange the jointed system of
rails that the upper part which is in contact with the wheel is smaller than
the lower part on which the wheel rolls. The wheel is thus furnished with
more rails than are required. In order to make up for the inequality in
the thickness of the rails I use a spring, which gives the pressure to the
regulating roller. Lastly, each rail as it is unrolled passes a scraper, which
removes the mud or soil from its surface.
Instead of the rails being jointed, they may be continuous, and by means of
a mechanical contrivance form a second or moveable felloe round the felloe of
the wheel, on which second and moveable felloe the first felloe will roll. The
economy of tractive force is very great; with this system a man can draw
two thousand pounds weight in a carriage..
The Invention is represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which
Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of one arrangement; Fig. 2, front elevation of
another arrangement; Fig. 3, side view of the second arrangement, Fig. 2;
Figs. 4 and 5, transverse sections of the portable rails; Fig. 6, front view
of a third arrangement; Fig. 7, side view of a fourth arrangement; Fig. 8,
front view of the fourth arrangement; while Figs. 9 and 10 show a fifth
arrangement.
In all these Figures similar letters of reference indicate like parts where
they recur.
a, a, are the rails, jointed end to end, so as to form a kind of endless chain.
These rails are connected together by any known means; it may be by hinges,
pins, or otherwise. They are of different sections, flat, convex, or concave;
they may encase the felloe of the wheel entirely, as in Fig. 4. toothing of
any kind, formed on or joined to the interior of the rails.
In Figs. 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, the rail encasing the felloe has not any

page_text: toothing. c, elliptical gearing wheel, pivotted on an axis fixed to the vehicle,
gearing with the teeth of the rails, and causing them to move round; d, pulley
giving motion to gearing wheel c; e, pulley mounted on the nave of the wheel
or on the axle of the vehicle; f, strap, connecting the two pullies d and e, and
communicating motion from one to the other; g, wheel, properly so called; its
felloe is furnished with flanges; h, axle of the vehicle.
In Fig. 1, the parts transmitting the motion are in duplicate, as seen, that
is to say, arranged one on either side of the axle; i, guide rollers, on which
the chain presses; j, (Fig. 8), cylinder or roller, fixed to the sides of the
carriage for conducting the jointed rails.
jointed rails. In order to make up for the
inequality in thickness it is mounted on springs k.
Supposing all the parts arranged as indicated in the Drawings, it will be
understood that by turning the wheel the pullies d and e (or roller j) will be
put in motion and will gear with the rails, thus developing them in front
of wheel g, which will bear and roll on them. In the third arrangement
represented at Fig. 6, the rails being hollow and encasing the felloe, no
auxiliaries to the motion of the rails are required; they develope themselves
under the wheels.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that I claim as the Invention to be protected by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent,-
First, portable rails, either jointed or continuous, adapted and applied to
the wheels of all vehicles, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the means, herein-before indicated and described, of coupling the
wheels and jointed rails, and of imparting motion to them.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
WILLIAM CLARK. (L.S.)