IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES, VEHICLES, AND VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by André Etienne at the Office of
the Commissioners of Pátents, with his Petition, on the 8th October
1869.
I, ANDRÉ ETIENNE, of Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES, VEHICLES, AND VELOCIPEDES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
carriages and vehicles of various descriptions for travelling on common
roads, and also of velocipedes operated according to any of the systems
of propulsion hitherto used.
The Invention is based chiefly upon a former Patent obtained by me,
dated 28 May 1864, No. 1328, wherein I described a form of wheel the
circumference of which was not a true circle, but which consisted of a.
circle in one or more portions of which a depressed curvature was made,
so that the periphery of the wheel (according to the true circumference)
when coming in contact with the roadway at the point of depression or
curvature presented a depressed or irregular periphery, and thereby
caused the wheel or wheels to rotate with a sudden impulse or descent.

page_text: from the centre, and consequently caused a corresponding impetus to
the vehicle. The situations or positions of these diminished peripheries
of the true circle will depend on the vehicle to which the wheels may be
applied, but for velocipedes I propose to apply the decreased curvature
at two opposite points of the periphery in such manner in regard to the
operation of the crank that at each impulse given to the true diameter
the decreased curvature shall immediately present itself to the surface of
the road, thereby causing an increased tendency of motion in the wheel
or wheels. With regard to the compound crossed springs used in
carriages and other vehicles I propose to fasten all the layers of steel in
their varying lengths by means of two bolts at their thickest part so as
to clamp the shortest length to the longest, and thereby form as it were
a solid spring although composed of various pieces, thus preventing the
sliding action of the layers of metal between the two points of their
fastenings, and only permitting of their elongation beyond those points,
by which means I am enabled to produce a stronger spring. By this con-
struction the ends of the springs beyond the bolts are isolated, the top and
bottom layer supporting the weight and bearing on the intermediate layers
in two distinct ways, one being as against layers or sheets of steel of
different lengths capable of sliding on each other. In three-wheeled
carriages I propose to concentrate all the weight on the two main wheels
so as to keep the front and rear of the carriage constantly in a state of
equilibrium. I propose as an addition to carriages of this construction
to substitute for the work with two branches on each side (in conjunction
.with the pole bolt intended to keep the front wheel in position) a fork
with a single branch on each side; and I also propose to improve the
doors of vehicles by forming supplementary doors opening from the
outside in conjunction with the ordinary doors so as to afford facility of
ingress and egress.
In velocipedes constructed with my improved differential wheels a series
of teeth around which an endless chain is made to gear, deriving motion
from a drum or crank wheel, so that manual power being applied to the
crank motion is communicated to the driving wheels. In order to
release the carriage in the event of the horse or horses falling or running
away I apply a horizontal rod or bar fixed on a fulcrum on the splinter
bar; one extremity of the bar is attached to the screw ring and the other
is provided with a pedal within reach of the driver's foot; pressure being
made on the bar the screw ring becomes raised to the opposite end of
the bar, and the horses are thereby released from the carriage. In

page_text: wheels of differential radii I propose to apply a ring of vulcanized
india-rubber about three inches wide and half an inch thick placed on
the inside edge of the felloes, or fixed there by means of a thin iron ring
placed on the inner edge of the india-rubber ring, and secured thereto
and to the felloes by means of screws placed near each other, and
traversing the iron ring and the india-rubber in order to cause the latter
to sink solidly into the felloes of the wheels, the india-rubber being
intended to give the appearance of true rotundity to the wheel.