IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM CARRIAGES AND IN BOILERS AND ELASTIC WHEELS FOR THE SAME, AND APPLICABLE OTHERWISE.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Leonard Jennett Todd, of Leith, in the County
of Mid Lothian, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STEAM CARRIAGES AND IN BOILERS AND ELASTIC WHEELS FOR THE SAME,
AND APPLICABLE OTHERWISE.
"
Sealed the 24th October 1871, and dated the 27th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Leonard Jennett Todd
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th April 1871.
I, LEONARD JENNETT TODD, of Leith, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM CARRIAGES AND IN BOILERS AND ELASTIC WHEELS
FOR THE SAME, AND APPLICABLE OTHERWISE," to be as follows, that is to
say :-
This Invention has principally for its object the constructing of steam
carriages suitable for common roads or tramways in an improved and
superior manner, and it comprises improvements in the general arrange-
ment or combination of the parts constituting the steam carriage, and

page_text: improvements in and connected with steam boilers, and elastic wheels
for the same, and which are also applicable to boilers and to wheels to
be used otherwise.
In carrying out the first part of the Invention, and when designing
the steam carriage for passenger traffic, I form the body of the carriage
in the usual manner and with the ordinary space partitioned off at the
front end in which the boiler is placed. The rear axle is straight, and
may have either inside or outside bearings; on the two extremities
outside coupling cranks are fixed, or pins are put into the friction
brake wheel to answer the same purpose. Immediately in front of the
boiler I place a cross countershaft which also carries coupling cranks
corresponding to the rear axle. Coupling rods connect these two shafts,
metal discs being fixed to the crank pins in order to shield them.
On one side of the boiler, by preference, or immediately in front, I
place a small pair of engines, there being a pinion on the crank shaft
gearing into a wheel on the countershaft. In front of the boiler and at
a convenient-width apart I place two leading wheels, each carried in a
separate fork and bracket. These forks are connected together by a rod
and governed by the usual steering apparatus. By this arrangement
the carriage is steered as casily and quickly as if the machine ran on
three wheels only, while it yet possesses all the security of a four-
wheeled engine. In some cases the boiler may be placed in front
and the counter shaft and engines behind it, the other arrangements
remaining as before. This arrangement of steam carriage is also
applicable to tramways.
The second part of this Invention relates to an improved means of
forcing the fire in steam carriages without contracting the engine
exhaust pipe, which makes an objectionable noise and causes cinders
to be thrown from the funnel head. I take an ordinary blowing fan
which has an arrangement of turbine wheel so as to be driven by the
direct impulse of a jet of steam and place it in direct communication
with a closed ash pan fitted with the usual door; I then take the
exhaust pipe of the engine and lead it to the turbine wheel, generally
causing it to act through an adjustable nozzle, so that the speed of the
fan can be varied by the fireman as may be required. The exhaust
after passing through the turbine is conducted through a large pipe
into the funnel, the extremity of which has a bell mouth, so that it

page_text: issues almost without noise. By this means the intensity of the fire
is as perfectly regulated to the requirements of the engine as if the
blast were discharged into the funnel in the usual manner, and the two
great advantages are obtained, first, that the noise of the exhaust steam
is almost avoided, and, secondly, that cinders are not discharged from
the funnel head. This improvement is also applicable to all classes
of road or tramway locomotives.
The third part of this Invention relates to an improved boiler for steam
carriages, and has reference to that class of boilers which have hanging
tubes containing water with an internal circulating pipe. In one form
of this improvement I take the circulating pipe, and after it emerges
from the hanging tube I carry it horizontally a short distance above the
tube plate, and then again turn it upwards, so that it may be out of
the line of the ascending current from the hanging tube. This form is
principally applicable to tubes which are pitched a considerable distance
between the centres, in which case I prefer to carry the inner tube
such a distance horizontally as to equal one half the pitch. My second
improvement consists in allowing the hanging tube to stand such a
distance above the tube plate as to allow the internal pipe to be carried
at right angles through that part of the outer tube which projects, by
which means the ascending and descending currents are kept much
more distinctly separate than has hitherto been the case, and the great
desideratum is attained that the descending current is taken from below,
and the ascending one escapes above. By means of this improvement
the hanging tubes can be placed much closer together than has hitherto
been possible, as the water currents cannot become confused however
intense the heat of the furnace, and thus a very powerful boiler can be
put into small bulk. My third improvement consists in allowing the
hanging tube to stand a considerable distance above the tube plate, as
before, and then doubling the circulating pipe over the side of it in one
or more legs, so that the currents are kept as distinctly separate as
before. The distance that the hanging tube stands above the plate is
made such that the arrangement becomes practically safe and effective.
These improved circulating pipes are also applicable to all other cases
in which hanging water tubes are used.
The fourth part of this Invention relates to an improved elastic driving

page_text: wheels which has spring spokes. Onc form of my improved wheel is
constructed in the following manner :--There is a centre of cast stecl
the full width of the wheel, with a flange on either end, to which are
fixed two light side plates, the outer one being made portable; an outer
tread plate is then secured by angle irons to these side plates. Any
number of spokes may be used in the wheel, but for certain reasons I
prefer twenty-four. Two rows of spokes are used in the breadth of each
wheel. In the tread plate I secure light bushes for the spindles to
slide through, and on the wheel centre two rings are formed opposite
each row of spokes; these rings are formed with a series of holes
into which the inner ends of the spindles work. The spindles are
formed with an eye at the outer end, and inside of the tread plate
bushes they are screwed to carry two nuts each, one to keep the
spindle from coming out, and the other to regulate the tension of the
springs. The springs that I prefer are helical springs with packed wool
cores, although others, such as volutes, spirals, or rubber washers may
also be used. I use two of the springs to each spindle arranged on
opposite sides in a plane passing through the main axle; they are carried
in small double saucers through which the spindles slide. Between the
inner saucers and the rings round the centres I place tubes to receive
the thrust, and so the weight comes directly upon the axle, and does not
pass through the tread plate. The eye at the outer end of the spoke fits
into a channel iron which connects the two spokes together, forming
a joint which allows the wheel to be perfectly flexible transversely.
Outside of these channel irons I use shoes which are turned over at each
end into the channel wedges, being afterwards placed under the ends, so
that the shoes can be held in position without making holes through
them. The cross section of the metal used for these shoes is thicker in
the centre than the edges, or they are in a cross section curved to a less
radius than that of the wheel. Shoes of these improved sections are also
applicable to all classes of elastic driving wheels which use bars of metal
across the face, these bars having hitherto been made rectangular in
section or flat on the face, thus giving an imperfect hold on causeway,
'wet clay, and the like. Into each of the turned-up ends of the shoes I
place small rods running circumferentially from one shoc to another;
intermediate shoes are also placed between the main ones, the ends of
which are turned over the rods referred to. In some cases wood is used
between the main shoes and the joints to deaden vibration, and also

page_text: inside the intermediate shoes to strengthen them, or light angle irons are
used for this latter purpose. Between the channel irons and the shoes
thin picces of leather or rubber are placed to ensure a good bearing,
without which steel shoes are very liable to break. In the channel iron
at either side of the spokes divisions are placed, and to each of these
one end of a flexible envelope is secured formed of leather, rubber,
canvas, or cloth, the other end being secured to the bushes in the tread
plate, which project for this purpose, so that the sliding spindles and also
the transverse joints are kept perfectly free from dirt and dust, and being
case hardened will thus run a great length of time. The oil from the
spindles also keeps the leathers at all times perfectly soft and pliable.
This Invention of the flexible envelopes is also applicable to all elastic
wheels having cither sliding spokes or segments, as without this pro-
tection all such wheels are very rapidly destroyed by dirt. In some
cases instead of forming the body of the wheel of plate iron as described,
a complete casting is formed, having on it all the necessary parts to
receive the sliding spindles, the sides of this casting being covered by
light sheet iron to protect the springs. When a wheel is thus formed I
use screwed bushes for regulating the tension of the springs, they being
screwed through an inner circle of metal formed for that purpose. In
some cases I use a forked joint on the outer end of the spindles, and into
these I fit joints having an arched recess, in which small plates are carried
which run circumferentially from one spindle to another to carry the
intermediate shoes. The shoes are also in some cases fixed with counter-
sunk rivets instead of in the manner described. The sliding spindles
may be made either round or of other section, or of a special rectangular
shape with the small side looking end on to the engine, so that they may
possess strength for driving and also be flexible transversely, which gives
great smoothness of motion for high-speed carriages. Flexible wheels
thus made are also applicable to all classes of ordinary carriages, road
and tramway locomotives, and also rail engines. In this latter case,
however, I only use one row of spokes, on the outer extremity of which
blocks of metal made with a cross section as before mentioned are cither
formed or secured with a flange on one side to keep the wheel on the
rail in the usual manner. With these wheels the bite on the rails is so
vastly increased that gearing may advantageously be used, and also the
construction of the engine is simplified, as the ordinary springs and axle
boxes are not required. On steep inclines I use separate rails of the

page_text: ordinary width for the engine to run on, and make them corrugated on
the face, so that the bite may be increased to any extent, and this
without causing shocks to the engine, owing to the springs in the wheels.
In this case the increased bite is greatly owing to the round section of
the shoes taking hold of the corrugations of the rails, the flat shoes at 5
present in use not doing this.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Leonard Jennett Todd in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 26th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEONARD
JENNETT TODD, of Leith, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Leonard Jennett Todd, Her special licence
that I, the said Leonard Jennett Todd, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Leonard Jennett Todd, 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, usc, exercisc,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM CARRIAGES AND IN BOILERS AND ELASTIC WHEELS FOR THE SAME, AND 1
APPLICABLE OTHERWISE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Leonard Jennett Todd, 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
şix calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Leonard Jennett Todd, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has principally for its object the constructing of
steam carriages suitable for common roads or tramways in an improved
and superior manner, and it comprises improvements in the general
arrangement or combination of the parts constituting the steam
carriage, and improvements in and connected with steam boilers and
elastic wheels for the same, and which are also applicable to boilers and
to wheels to be used otherwise.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append two Sheets of
explanatory Drawings, to be heroin-after referred to, and representing
certain conveniently applicable modifications of my improved arrange-
ments. In theso Drawings the same reference numerals are used to
mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, is a longitudinal vertical
section, Figure 2 is a side elevation, and Figure 3 is a horizontal section
of my improved steam carriage for passenger traffic.
I form the body of the carriage in an ordinary manner with a
spaco 1, 1, partitioned off at the front end for the boiler 2, engines 3,
and steering and other details. The rear axle 4 is straight with either
inside or outside bearings, and the two extremities have outside coupling
cranks 5 fixed on them. Immediately in front of the boiler 2 I place a
cross countershaft 6, which also carries coupling cranks 7, corresponding
to the rear axle, and coupling rods 8 (indicated by dotted lines) connect
these two shafts, whilst light external shields 9 are applied to cover the
parts. The countershaft 6 is driven by pinion and spur gearing from
the crank shaft 10 of the engines 3. In front of the boiler 2 and at a
convenient width apart I place two leading wheels 11, each carried in
a separate fork and bracket. These forks are connected together by a
rod 12 (indicated in Figure 3 by a dotted line) and governed by the
usual steering apparatus. By this arrangement the carriage is steered
as easily and quickly as if running on three wheels only, whilst it
possesses all the steadiness of a four-wheeled engine. In some cases the

page_text: boiler 2 may have the engines 3, 10, and countershaft placed behind
it, the other arrangements remaining as before. This arrangement of
steam carriage is also applicable for tramways.
The second part of my said Invention comprises an improved means of
forcing the fire in steam carriages for common roads or tramways
without contracting the engine exhaust pipe or making an objectionable
noise. I take an ordinary blowing fan 13, which has an arrangement of
turbine 14, shown in section and enlarged in Figure 4, so as to be driven
by the direct impulse of a jet of steam, and place it in direct com-
munication with a closed ash pan 15, fitted with the usual door. I lead
the exhaust pipo 16 of the engine to the turbine 14 through a nozzle 17,
and the exhaust after passing through the turbine case is conducted
through a large pipe 18 to the bottom 19 of the funnel, which is bell-
shaped, so that the exhaust produces almost no noise. An inner nozzle 20
is provided for leading steam by a pipe 21 directly from the boiler to the
turbine for urging the fire when the engines are not working, or if
necessary to assist the action of the exhaust steam, and this inner
nozzle 20 is adjustable in or out through a stuffing box by a lever 22
for the purpose of by it regulating the action of the jet in the turbine.
This improvement is also applicable to all classes of road or tramway
locomotives.
The third part of my said Invention relates to boilers suitable for
steam carriages, and of the class having hanging tubes containing water
with internal circulating pipes. In one form of this improvement
shown in section in Figure 5 on Sheet 2 of the Drawings the circulating
pipe 23 is deviated horizontally or in an inclined direction on emerging
from the hanging tube 24, and is then again turned upwards, so that its
upper end is out of the line of the ascending current from the hanging
tube. This form is suitable for tubes sct with comparatively wide
intervals. In another form, shown with slight variations in Figures 6
and 7, the hanging tube 24 is made to project sufficiently above the
tube plate 25 to allow the inner circulating pipe 23. to be carried out
through the side of the projecting part, by which means the ascending
currents are kept mụch more distinct than in existing arrangements, and
the great advantage is attained that the descending current starts from
a level below that at which the ascending current emerges. Instead of
the circulating pipe 23 passing through the sido it may be bent down

page_text: from over the top of the outer tube 24, as shown in Figure 8. With
these improvements the tubes can be placed closer together without the
water currents interfering with each other however intense the fire may
be, so that a very powerful boiler can be put into small bulk. These
improved circulating pipes are applicable in all cases wherein hanging
water tubes arc used.
The fourth part of my said Invention relates to elastic driving wheels
for steam carriages, and more particularly to wheels with spring spokes.
One modification of my improved wheel is shown in Figures 9 and 10,
on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, these Figures being sectional diagrams as at
right angles to cach other. There is a centre or frame 26 formed with a
middle disc 27, and with a cylindrical outer rim or tread plate 28.
When it is wished to make the wheel as light as possible the con-
struction shown in Figures 11 and 12 is adopted, in which a steel
boss 26 is connected to a wrought-iron tread plate 28 by wrought-iron
discs 37 and diagonal stays. Any convenient number of spokes 29 may
be used, but I prefer to have twenty-four arranged in two rows, one on
cach side of the middle disc 27. The spokes or spindles 29 are fitted to
work through lightly bushed apertures in the tread plate 28, whilst their
inner ends work in sockets in the centre or boss 26. The spindles 29
are formed cach with an eye at the outer ond, and inside of the trend
plate they are provided with keys to limit their outward movement.
I prefer to use helical springs 30 (indicated by outline only) with packed
wool cores, although others, such as volutes, spirals, or rubber washers,
may also be used. A pair of the springs is applied to each spindle,
being held in a duplex saucer piece 31 fixed on the spindle against a
shoulder, as shown, or in any other convenient way. The springs 30
may be made adjustable if desired by screwing the spindles 29 and
applying nuts 32 thereon, as shown in Figures 11 and 12. The outer
ends of each pair of spokes or spindles 29 fit into a channel iron 33
(shown partly broken away in Figure 9) secured to them by joint pins
through the eyes, and which is in consequence capable of being slightly
inclined transversely, so as to assume a uniform bearing on uneven
ground. To the outsides of the channel irons 33 shoes 34 are fixed, and
these are, by preference, of the section shown in Figure 10, that is to
say, with their outer surfaces curved to a less radius than that of the
wheel. Shoes of this improved section are advantageously applicable to

page_text: most classes of clastic driving wheels using bars across the face; their
application with a rubber tire is shown in the sectional Diagram,
Figure 13.
In my Provisional Specification of my said Invention I referred to
intermediate shoes which I contemplated applying as indicated at 35, in
Figure 12, but practical trials have satisfied me that such intermediate
shoes and the relative details are not only unnecessary but even incon-
venient, and I do not therefore now claim their use as part of the
'Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
. Patent.
In some cases I may use wood, rubber, or leather between the shoes
34 and the channel irons 33, to deaden vibration or to ensure a good
bearing or contact, which is important to secure when the shoes are of
steel. Flexible envelopes 36 of leather, rubber, canvas, or cloth, are
applied round the parts of the spindles 29, projecting from the tread
plate 28, each having its outer end secured to the spindle and its inner
end to the tread plate. Dust is thus prevented from getting to the
parts of the spindles working through the tread plates, and for a
similar purpose light disc plates 37 are fixed on each face of the wheel to
cnclose the parts between the boss and the tread plate. This adaptation
of flexible envelopes is also applicable to various kinds of elastic wheels
having either sliding spokes or segments, and without this protection
'such wheels are liable to be very rapidly destroyed by dirt. The
spindles or spokes 29 may be made either round or of any other
suitable section, or of a special rectangular form with the flat side at
right angles to the axle; so as the better to sustain the driving strain.
Elastic or flexible wheels made as herein described are applicable to
.ordinary carriages, road and tramway locomotives, and also to railway
engines; in this last case, however, I use only one row of spokes, cach
spoke having formed or fixed on it a block of metal of the section at
right angles to the axle herein-before described, and with a flange at
one side to keep the wheel on the rail in the usual manner. With these
wheels the bite on the rails will be so greatly increased that gearing
may be advantageously used, whilst the general construction of the
engine may be simplified, as the ordinary springs and axle boxes will
not be required. On steep inclines I use separate rails for the engine
to run on with my improyed wheels, such rails being corrugated to

page_text: increase the bite, and without causing shocks to the engine, which are
prevented by the elasticity of the wheels.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do
not restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delincated,
but that what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,
1. The arranging or combining together of the parts of steam carriages
for common roads or tramways in the improved manner substantially as
herein-before described.
2. The actuating of after driving wheels by coupling rods from a
shaft placed with the engines at the fore part as herein-before described.
3. The fitting of a steam carriago with two separate steering wheels
at the sides, but connected so as to be moved simultaneously as hercin-
before described.
4. The applying of the exhaust steam to drive a fan for urging the
fire as herein-before described. .
5. The preventing of the interference of the ascending and descending
currents in hanging tubes of boilers by bending the top of the circu-
lating or inner pipes, so as to receive the descending currents from the
sides only, and not from the spaces directly over the hanging tubes, as
herein-before described.
6. The arranging of hanging tubes of boilers so as to project above
the tube plate, combined with the disposing of the inner or circulating
pipes, so as to receive the descending currents at the sides, at a level
just below that of the top of the hanging tube as herein-before described.
7. The arranging or combining together of the parts of elastic
wheels in the improved manner substantially as herein described and
delineated.
8. In elastic wheels, the combining of two rows of spokes with
transverse shoes jointed to each pair of spokes, so as to be capable of
transverse inclination as herein-before described.
9. In elastic wheels, the applying of springs to the spokes in the
improved manner and in pairs as herein-before described.

page_text: 10. The applying of flexible envelopes to protect from dirt the movable
parts of wheels with spring spokes or radially sliding parts as herein-
before described.
11. The making of the transverse shoe bars of elastic wheels of the
improved form or section herein described and delineated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Leonard Jennett Todd, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one