IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACTION STEAM ENGINES AND MACHINERY FOR MOVING AGRI- CULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Peacock Savage at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
May 1859.
I, WILLIAM PEACOCK SAVAGE, of Roxham, Downham Market, in the
County of Norfolk, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACTION STEAM ENGINES AND MACHINERY FOR MOVING AGRI-
CULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in traction steam engines
and machinery for moving agricultural implements and machines." For these
purposes the steam engines and boilers are mounted on four wheels, (two fore
wheels, which have a locking motion, and two hinder wheels, which receive
motion from the main shaft or axis driven by the engines ;) and the combined
machinery is such that at one time the engines may be used for propelling the
carriage, at another time for giving motion to agricultural implements, and at
other times for giving motion to fixed or stationary machines. The boiler is
mounted in such manner on the fore and hind wheels that the boiler may be
kept horizontal, whether the road or surface is horizontal or not, and to
accomplish this object it is preferred that the hinder part of the boiler should
be capable of moving on an axis, and that the fore part of the boiler should be
raised and lowered by means of two uprights with male screws formed at the
upper end of each, on which two screw nuts are moved by screw wheels
actuated by a screw shaft and worms or screws, the screw shaft receiving
motion by two bevil toothed wheels, one of which is on an axis passing from the

page_text: back to the front of the machine, and to which motion is communicated by
hand by a crank handle, the screw nuts giving motion to a beam or cross head
which upholds the fore part of the boiler. It is preferred to use two steam
engines to each traction carriage, and by them to give motion to a cranked
main axis or shaft, and it is from this main shaft that the other motions are
derived; on this shaft is a fly wheel and a pulley or pulleys, from which, by a
suitable band, motion is communicated to any fixed or stationary machine
when the carriage is stationary. There are also pinions on the main shaft
which may either be made to slide or shift thereon, or be capable of being
held by clutch boxes; these pinions take into and drive a cog wheel on each
of the hinder wheels of the carriage. When these pinions are in gear and the
engines are at work, the carriage will be propelled and will draw after it any
other carriages which may be attached thereto.
In order that the carriage may be capable of moving agricultural imple-
ments by the power of the engines when the carriage itself is stationary, the
following combination of apparatus is applied to the main shaft in such
manner as to receive motion the same pinions as give motion to the hinder
wheels or others, which take into cog wheels on a suitable shaft or axis on
which there is a pulley or drum; this shaft or axis by means of another wheel
or drum and an endless chain or band, gives motion to a wheel or drum on a
second axis, which has thereon a pulley which is driven at the same surface
speed as the other drum or pulley, and this combined apparatus gives motion
to a wire rope for the purposes of moving ploughs or other agricultural
implements in the following manner:-One part of the rope is conducted
under a guide pulley, then over and around the drum or pulley on the shaft
or axis first mentioned, then under a guide pulley, then partly around the
pulley, secondly mentioned, and then to the implement or implements.
vision is made for causing this rope to be moved first in one direction and then
in the other by reversing the motion of the pulleys. The steering of the
carriage when in motion is accomplished in the following manner :-To the
carriage of the fore wheels a semicircular toothed rack is applied, which
receives motion from a pinion on an upright axis which receives motion by
bevil toothed wheels on a shaft or axis in front, which shaft by a screw wheel
thereon, receives motion from a screw on a shaft, the back end of which is
provided with a crank bandle, in order that the guiding of the carriage may
be by hand applied to the crank handle at the back part of the carriage, and
there are also lever handles for starting and stopping the engines at the hinder
part of the carriage, so that the engine man, when at the hinder part of the
carriage, may be able readily to vary the position of the boiler when the road
Pro-

page_text: or ground inclines; also to stop and start the engines, also to guide the
carriage, and also to put the proper parts into and out of gear.
In order to economise power the hinder wheels of traction engines or
carriages are each provided with a series of shoes or surfaces, which are wider
than the wheels, and of such length as may be desired; these shoes or surfaces
are by arms attached to springs fixed around and projecting from a disc in
such manner that as a shoe or surface comes to the ground and the wheels
runs thereon, the spring to which such shoe or surface is attached will be
bent out from the natural or quiescent position, and then as the wheel moves
off the shoe or surface which for the time is on the ground, the spring in con-
nection therewith will in regaining its ordinary position aid in propelling the
wheel round.