Improvements in Motor Road Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 2nd June, 1893
Improvements in Motor Road Vehicles.
A communication from abroad by the POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY (Incor-
porated), of Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America.
I, PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, 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:-.
This invention relates to the propulsion of light motor vehicles which are
dependent in parts upon the strength of the driver or operator and in part upon
some other propulsive force, or, in other words, of vehicles in which the operation
of the motor is to some extent effected or assisted or supplemented by the driver.
Vehicles of this description are used for such purposes and under such conditions
that their mechanism should be simple and light and should answer promptly
and proportionately to the governing or controlling action of the driver or operator,
and such action should be intuitive and natural. The object of this invention is
to provide a motor vehicle in which the energy of the driver or operator in work-
ing a pump or other apparatus to supply varying quantities of explosive mixture
to an explosion engine or motor shall be proportionately multiplied through the
action of such motor to effect the propulsion of the vehicle, whereby the move-
ment of the vehicle shall respond promptly to the will of the driver or operator.
In the accompanying drawings, in which the invention is illustrated-
Figure 1 is a partial view, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal
vertical section, of a vehicle to which the invention is applied.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the same, with the body of the vehicle removed.
In the drawings are represented a portion of the body a, the rear wheels b, and
the rear axle c. Mounted in the frame of the vehicle, parallel with the axle c
is a shaft d, the said axle and shaft being respectively provided with pulleys e and f,
the pulleyse being operatively connected with the axle c through a suitable clutch
which permits the pulley to rotate independently of the axle in one direction, but
compels it to drive the axle and consequently to move the vehicle forward, when
rotated in the opposite direction. A spring h which is secured at one end to the
frame of the vehicle, has connected to its other end a rope or band which is
passed around and connected to a pulley k on the shaft d, the tendency of the
spring when it returns to normal condition after distension being to rotate the
shaft in a forward direction. Ropes or bands passed around the pulleys f and
connected to the periphery thereof are connected at their other ends to a cross
head m. Ropes or bands n are also connected to said cross head m and to the
peripheries of the pulleys e above mentioned. Ropes or bands o have their opposite
ends connected respectively to the pulleys e and f, so that as the cross head moves
toward the pulleyse the springs h are distended while the pulleys e rotate loosely
on the axle c, and as the cross head moves in the opposite direction, under the
influence of the springs h, the pulleys e are rotated in a forward direction and com-

page_text: pel the rotation of the axle with them. The cross head m is connected directly
with the piston p of an explosion engine which is mounted on the vehicle frame,
the action of said explosion engine or motor being directly controlled and governed
by the driver or operator in the manner hereinafter described.
The explosion engine or motor is provided with suitable inlet and outlet valves
and clectrical igniter not necessary to be described herein, and the explosive
mixture of air and gas or vapor is delivered to and compressed within the working
cylinder of the motor by a suitable pump r. The piston of the latter is operatively
connected with a pedal or foot lever s which is supported upon the frame of the
vehicle in a convenient position for operation by the driver or actuator as he sits
upon the seat or saddle indicated at t. A spring u may be connected to the pedal
or foot lever to return it to position after operation by the driver. The primary
circuit of the electrical igniter is represented as being open at and is adapted
to be closed at that point by a plug or bridge piece w carried by the pedal or foot
lever.
In the operation of the mechanism above described the driver, seated upon the
saddle, places his foot upon the pedal s and compresses the explosive mixture and
forces it into the working cylinder of the motor, behind the piston, where it is
exploded by the electric spark which is formed as soon as the plug w touches the
contacts & in the movement of the pedal or foot lever. The explosion of the charge
drives the piston p forward against the resistance of the spring h, turning the
pulleys and f in the backward direction. As soon as the exhaust valve of the
motor cylinder opens, the spring h, acting through the described connections, draws
the cross head m in the opposite direction, turning the pulleys e, and with them the
axle, in the forward direction, thus propelling the vehicle. At the end of its
return stroke the motor piston comes to rest and remains stationary until the
driver forces a fresh charge of explosive mixture into the motor cylinder and
explodes the same by means of the electrical igniter already described or by any
other suitable igniter, similarly operated, which will act after the compressed
explosive charge has been forced into the motor cylinder or, it might be, into an
explosion chamber connected therewith. The compression stroke of the pump
will of course be made after the piston p of the motor has completed its return
stroke and with a little practice and good judgment the driver will intuitively or
naturally operate the pump so that the compression strokes will be made at such
time and in such manner that he can accurately and perfectly control all the move-
ments of the vehicle. It will also be observed that the motor piston makes a stroke
as often as the driver operates the compressing pump, and that when the driver
stops the motor also stops. So also if the driver makes a long stroke with the
pedal or foot lever he forces a large quantity of explosive mixture into the motor
cylinder and the motor makes a proportionately long stroke, distending the spring /
in the same proportion, while if the driver makes a shorter stroke he forces a
smaller quantity of explosive mixture into the motor cylinder and the motor takes
a proportionately shorter stroke, so that the operation of the motor is always in pro-
portion to the energy exerted by the driver. Under ordinary circumstances the
work done by the motor is a determined multiple of the work done or energy exerted
by the driver, being approximately six to eight times as large with an initial pres-
sure on the explosive mixture of about forty pounds, so that the driver can
determine beforehand the effect of any action on his part.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is;—
1. The combination with a wheeled vehicle, of a motor having a piston and an
explosion chamber, a controllable pump mechanism worked by the exertions of
a driver for introducing varying quantities of explosive mixture into the explosion
chamber at will and compressing the mixture therein, mechanism operatively con-
necting the engine piston with a wheel of the vehicle for rotating said wheel and

page_text: moving the vehicle forward, and means actuated by a part of the pump mechanism
for exploding the charge, whereby at the will of the driver, the quantity of the
charge and the time of explosion can be controlled, substantially as described.
2. The combination with a wheeled vehicle, of a motor operatively connected
with a wheel of the vehicle, a controllable apparatus worked by the exertions of
a driver for introducing varying quantities of explosive mixture into the motor
at will and compressing the mixture therein, and means actuated by a part of said
controllable apparatus for exploding the charge, whereby at the will of the driver
the quantity of the charge and the time of explosion can be controlled, substantially
as described.
3. The combination with a wheeled vehicle, of a gas-motor having a piston in
operative connection with a wheel of the vehicle, a pump operated independently
of the motor and vehicle, means substantially as described for causing the pump
to effect the working of the motor piston, a power-spring mechanism connecting
the motor-piston with the body of the vehicle, and means actuated by a part of
the pump for exploding the charge, whereby at the will of the driver the quantity
of the charge and the time of explosion can be controlled, substantially as described.
4. The combination with a wheeled vehicle, of a motor operatively connected
with a wheel of the vehicle, a controllable apparatus worked by the exertions of
a driver for introducing at will varying quantities of explosive mixture into the
engine and compressing the mixture therein, a power-spring mechanism connect-
ing a working part of the motor with the body of the vehicle, and means actuated
by a part of said controllable apparatus for exploding the charge, whereby at the
will of the driver the quantity of the charge and time of explosion can be controlled,
substantially as described.
5. The combination with a wheeled vehicle, of an explosion motor mounted
thereon, and operatively connected with a wheel of the vehicle, an apparatus
independent of the explosion motor, arranged to be worked by the exertions of
the driver, for forcing the explosive mixture at will into the explosion chamber,
and means actuated by a part of such forcing apparatus for exploding the charge,
whereby at the will of the driver the intervals between the explosions of the charge
can be controlled, substantially as described.
6. The combination with a wheeled vehicle, of a motor having an explosion
chamber and a piston, a clutch mechanism connecting the piston with a wheel of
the vehicle, a pump independent of the motor and vehicle and worked by the
exertions of a driver for introducing at will varying quantities of explosive mixture
into the said explosion chamber and compressing the same therein, means actuated
by a part of said pump for exploding the charge, whereby at the will of the driver
the quantity of the charge and the time of explosion can be controlled, and means
for utilizing the developed energy to move the wheeled vehicle forward, substan-
tially as described.
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