Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 19th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 25th Feb., 1897
We, ERNEST JOHN CLUBBE and ALFRED WILLIAM SOUTHEY both of 16,
Elm Street, Gray's Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex, Electrical Engineers,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to the propulsion of vehicles and it has for its objects to
provide improved means whereby the power developed by a reciprocating or
rotary motor of any kind running at a constant speed may be transmitted to
independent driving wheels with variable effect and in either direction so as to
enable any required variation of speed of either or both of the driving wheels and
any change in their direction of motion to be obtained as circumstances may
necessitate.
According to the invention the motor is applied to work a hydraulic pump or set
of pumps through the medium of any mechanical contrivance (such for example
as a crank of variable throw or a lever with shifting fulcrum) as will admit of the
stroke of the pump being varied at will, from zero to the maximum, whilst the
motor is running the pump or pumps supplying the fluid to a pair of hydraulic
engines working the driving wheel axle through balance gear or to two independent
pairs of hydraulic engines each complete in itself and each working a crank axle
to which the driving wheel of the vehicle is attached or from which it is driven so
that the two wheels their axles and engines are quite independent and may when
required run at different speeds and if necessary in different directions by means of
reversing gear or by hydraulic supply being under the control of reversing valves.
The pumps draw from a tank which receives the fluid exhausted from the hydraulic
engines and which is provided with an air pressure reservoir for cushioning the
fluid in motion and avoiding shocks, the fluid travelling in a circuit from the tank
through the pump and preferably through another air pressure reservoir to the
engines and back again to the supply tank.
Dated this 25th day of Fahre 1906
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
Improvements in the Propulsion of Vehicles.
We, ERNEST JOHN CLUBBE and ALFRED WILLIAM SOUTHEY both of 16,
Elm Street, Gray's Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex, Electrical Engineers,
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 :-
Our invention relates to the propulsion of vehicles and it has for its objects to

page_text: provide improved means whereby the power developed by a reciprocating or rotary
motor of any kind may be constant and be utilized to the best advantage irrespective
of variations of speed of the vehicle consequent on the variable state of the road,
the gradient, and the load carried.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification wherein
Figure 1 represents a plan view of the mechanism for carrying the invention
into effect and Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 Figure 1.
Power is transmitted from a motor running at constant speed through the medium
of a liquid moving in a cycle and supplied by means of a pump making a constant
number of strokes per unit of time but having a variable stroke, the liquid being
supplied to a pair of hydraulic engines making fewer strokes and actuating
independent driving wheel axles, the arrangement being such that the quantity of
water delivered by the pump may be maintained inversely as the pressure required
for driving the vehicle and thus the speed of the vehicle may be varied (as the road
will permit) in order to utilize the full power of the motor.
The motor (which may be an electric, oil, gas, or steam engine) is applied to
work a double acting hydraulic pump A through the medium of the following
mechanical contrivance whereby the stroke of the pump may, whilst at work, be
varied (at the will of the driver under whose control it is placed) from zero to the
maximum stroke which the pump is adapted to make. This contrivance is a curved
lever B whose effective arms are of variable ratio, the lever being fulcrumed at b
and coupled by a link C to a crank on the motor shaft c so as to receive recipro-
cating motion therefrom, said lever being also coupled by a link D with the pump
ram, the point of connection of the liuk D with the lever being adjustable at any
required radius from zero. For this purpose the link D is pivoted to a die block d
fitted to slide on the lever B the position of said die block being regulated by a
handing lever E working over a notched quadrant e and secured at any position to
which it may be set by a latch bolt engaging with the notches of the quadrant in
the usual way, the lever being pivoted at e and connected by a link with the
link D so that the position of the die block is dependent on that of the lever. In
order to admit of the die block d assuming a position which is axially coincident
with the fulcrum b, the lever B is made T-shaped, the journals on which it is pivoted
being carried by the return ends B' of the T-head, as shewn more particularly in
Figure 2.
The pump A draws the liquid from a chamber F and delivers to another
chamber F provided with an air pressure reservoir whence the fluid passes by
pipes G and G' to the distribution valve chests of two independent pairs H H H H
of reciprocating engines operated by hydraulic pressure and the exhausts from which
are connected by pipes I I' with the chamber F above referred to the liquid thus
working in a cycle. The two pairs of reciprocating hydraulic engines are of the
double acting oscillating inclined cylinder type so that the pistons of the two
cylinders coupled to the same crank will have no common dead point. The two
pairs of engines are respectively applied. to work the corresponding axles K Kof
the driving wheels L L the driving wheels L L, their axles K K¹, and the pairs
of engines H H', which drive them being quite independent the one set of the
other so that they may run at different speeds (as when an ordinary road vehicle is
turning a corner) the liquid supplied by the pumps being automatically divided
between the two pairs of engines in proportion to the speeds of the respective
driving wheels whereby the functions of a balance gear are fulfilled.
The air pressure in the chamber F¹ serves to cushion the liquid in motion to
compensate for and equalize any temporary differences between the delivery of the
pump and the admission to the engines and avoid shocks of the liquid column.
The chamber F has also an air chamber provided with an air inlet valve M to
ensure the pressure never falling below that of the atmosphere.
It is to be observed that in the example illustrated the aggregate capacity of the
cylinders of the hydraulic engines relatively to that of the pump is such that the

page_text: gearing down between the motor and the driving wheel axles will be as four to one
but this relative capacity may be varied in any required ratio.
In order to enable the direction of running of the vehicle to be reversed a
reversing valve (which may be a four-way cock or a D-slide valve) would be
provided to which the flow and return pipes would be connected in such way that
the functions of the pipes between the valve and engines may be interchanged as
will be readily understood.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a power driven road vehicle wherein a motor adapted to run at a constant
speed actuates a hydraulic pump or pumps, the herein described combination of
parts consisting of a curved lever having an anchor-shaped pivoted end oscillated
from the motor shaft and coupled by a sliding die block and link to the pump ram,
the position of the die block on the lever being variable so as to vary the stroke
of the pump from zero to full stroke through the medium of a handing lever con-
nected to the link of the shifting die block substantially as and for the purposes
specified.
2. In a road vehicle the combination, with a motor adapted to run at a constant
speed, of a hydraulic pump or set of pumps actuated from the motor through a
device whereby the stroke of the pump ram may be varied (whilst the motor is
running) from full stroke to zero, and of two independent pairs of reciprocating
hydraulic engines respectively coupled with cranks on the independent shafts of
the driving wheels, the two pairs of engines being connected in common with the
pump, their admission with the delivery and their exhaust with the suction through
pipe connections and air chambers in such manner that the power transmitted by
the liquid column is automatically divided between the two independent driving
wheel axles in required proportions as specified.
3. In a road vehicle the combination of two independent sets of hydraulic
engines respectively connected with cranks on independent driving wheel shafts,
with admission and exhaust pipes common to the two sets of engines for the purpose
of producing differential action on the independent driving wheels as and for the
purposes specified.
Dated this 19th day of December 1896.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.