IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING OR DRIVING MACHINERY, AND FOR CONCENTRATING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Warwick Peirce at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th March 1877.
JAMES WARWICK PEIRCE, of St. John's Wood, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING OR DRIVING MACHINERY, AND FOR CONCENTRATING
MOTIVE POWER."
The object of this Invention is the introduction of improvements in the methods
hitherto in use for setting in motion and stopping moving bodies, and is more
especially applicable to wheeled vehicles.
The Invention consists in the construction of mechanism by which the power
used in stopping vehicles or other bodies is stored up and concentrated, and either
gradually or suddenly used in setting such bodies in motion.
For the purpose of facilitating the stopping and starting of wheeled vehicles, are
attached to the under part of the body of the vehicle a spring or series of springs,
which by means of a chain or other suitable connection I connect to two loose
grooved wheels or pullies on one or more of the axles of the vehicle, each of the
two ends of the connection being attached and made fast to one of the two loose
pullies. I make the loose pullies with ratchet teeth on one of their sides, in which,
by means of a suitable lever, a fixed paul or stop is caused to work, and so hold the
loose pullies in a given position on the axle of the vehicle, or by throwing the stops
out of gear allow the pullies to turn loosely on the axle.
When it is desired to stop the vehicle the lever operated by the foot of the driver
or otherwise causes one of the pullies to become fixed to the axle, the chain or
other suitable connection is drawn round or partly round it, thus bringing the spring
to a high state of tension, and preventing the further progress of the vehicle by
locking the wheels. The state of tension into which the spring is brought
represents so much stored up power, and when it is desired to start again, the stop
working in the ratchet teeth is thrown out of gear in the pulley by allowing the
lever to regain its normal position, and thrown into gear in the case of the other
pulley when the spring actuating the connecting chain draws round the fixed pulley
and with it the axle and wheel in propelling a forward direction.
The above remarks apply to vehicles where the axles revolve with the wheels ;
when the axles are fixed the mechanism may be worked by means of toothed wheels
or other contrivance connecting the wheels therewith.
The pulley for stopping the vehicle I make preferably, but not necessarily, larger
han the starting pulley, and one or both may be concentric or excentric with
Price 2.11

page_text: the axle. When the starting pulley is larger in diameter than the stopping pulley,
the starting force is applied at a greater leverage, being in the ratio of the circum-
ference of the pullies.
This Invention may also be employed for propelling or driving vehicles without
extraneous assistance, or with less assistance than is at present necessary. For this
purpose I attach a spring or series of springs to the vehicle, which I connect by any
suitable means to the wheels of the same.
By the application of any suitable power I bring the spring or series of springs
to a state of tension, thus concentrating great force, which I transmit by means of
toothed wheels or otherwise to the wheels, or to the axles upon which the wheels
are fixed.
When a series or set of springs is employed the power may be given out of all
the series acting together, or each separate one by itself, in the former case obtaining
great force for a comparatively short time, and in the latter case the propelling
force lasting much longer, according to the number and force of the springs.
This Invention is also applicable for the transmission of power for every purpose.