IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ROLLERS, ALSO PARTLY APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Moreland, the younger, and David
Thomson, both of No. 3, Old Street, Saint Luke's, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ROLLERS,
ALSO PARTLY APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Moreland
and David Thomson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 23rd June 1869.
We, RICHARD MORELAND, the younger, and DAVID THOMSON, both
of No. 3, Old Street, Saint Luke's, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM ROLLERS, ALSO PARTLY APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES," to be as
follows:-
Our improvements have for their object principally to simplify and
cheapen the construction of steam rollers, and consist, firstly, in con-

page_text: structing the steering wheel or roller to fit with a ball-and-socket joint
on its shaft, whereby the steering roller or wheel is capable of assuming
an angular position upon its shaft, which runs in fixed bearings in the
framing of the engine, and thus the mounting of the guide roller and
its shaft upon a turntable mechanism as at present is dispensed with.
The angular motion of the guide roller may be effected by actuating a
forked frame connected to its central socket either by a worm or pinion
in gear with a curved rack on the frame, or by connecting to the frame
a chain worked by any convenient mechanism; or the motion may
be communicated in any other convenient manner. This arrangement
of guide wheel or roller is applicable not only to all descriptions of
steam rollers but also to traction engines.
Another improvement consists in arranging steam rollers with two
rollers on separate shafts, the one in advance of the other, but instead
of being in a line with each other they are arranged the one towards
the one side and the other towards the other side of a framing of about
double width, so that the path of the one roller overlaps more or less
the path of the other roller. The one roller constitutes the guide roller,
and may be constructed and actuated as before described. The framing
being subject to lateral strains is made stiff, and by preference we form
the central portion thereof as a box framing, constituting a tank for
containing water or ballast.
Another improvement consists in mounting the driving gear upon
frames or brackets capable of turning upon the shaft of the driving
roller or rollers, so that the driving gear may be shifted into any
position relative to the driving rollers that may be most convenient for
the description of engine employed, the object being to enable the roller
to be worked by any engine that may be conveniently at hand. The
before-described gearing to the roller includes an arrangement con-
sisting either of fast and loose pulleys with two belts, or of three bevil
wheels with a reversing clutch, or other known reversing apparatus
may be employed, by means of which the motion of the rollers can be
reversed in case the engine used has no reversing gear. In case a
special engine is made for the roller the above-described arrangements
will enable such engine to be removed or replaced as may be convenient,
so that it may be employed on other work when not required for the
roller. Rollers constructed on this plan may also be used without

page_text: carrying a special engine, and be dragged along either by a traction
engine or by horses, in which case the driving gear may be disconnected
from the roller or entirely removed.
Another of our improvements consists in making steam rollers with
a single roller in one piece (or in two or more pieces bolted together
so as to act as one), which roller is steered or guided by a steering wheel
or roller near one end of the machine; and this form of roller can be
made either with the kind of framing described in Thomson's Patent,
No. 1500, 1807, or it can be made with framing composed of a simple
girder on each side of the machine, stiffened with cross bracing, and
carrying the boiler and engine on one side of the roller, and the water
tank and steering wheel on the other side. In this latter arrangement
the first and third before-described improvements may be conveniently
annlied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Moreland and David Thomson in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
MORELAND, the younger, and DAVID THOMSON, of No. 3, Old Street,
Saint Luke's, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Richard Moreland and David Thomson, Her
special licence that wc, the said Richard Moreland and David Thomson,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Richard Moreland and David Thomson, our 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ROLLERS,
ALSO PARTLY APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that we, the said Richard Moreland and David
Thomson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal
of one of us or them, 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 six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Thomson, on behalf
of myself and the said Richard Moreland, the younger, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say :-
Our improvements have for their object principally to simplify and
cheapen the construction of steam rollers, and consist, firstly, in con-
structing the steering wheel or roller to fit with a ball-and-socket joint
on its shaft, whereby the steering roller or wheel is capable of assuming
an angular position upon its shaft, which runs in fixed bearings in the
framing of the engine, and thus the mounting of the guide roller and
its shaft upon a turntable mechanism as at present is dispensed with.
The angular motion of the guide roller may be effected by actuating a
forked frame connected to its central socket either by a worm or pinion
in gear with a curved rack on the frame, or by connecting to the frame
a chain worked by any convenient mechanism; or the motion may be
communicated in any other convenient manner. This arrangement of
guide wheel or roller is applicable not only to all descriptions of steam
rollers but also to traction engines.
Another improvement consists in arranging steam rollers with two
rollers on separate shafts, the one in advance of the other, but instead of
being in a line with cach other they are arranged the one towards the
one side and the other towards the other side of a framing of about
double width, so that the path of the one roller overlaps more or less
the path of the other roller. The one roller constitutes the guide roller,
and may be constructed and actuated as before described. The framing
being subject to lateral strains is made stiff, and by preference we form

page_text: the central portion thereof as a box framing, constituting a tank for
containing water or ballast.
Another improvement consists in mounting the driving gear upon
frames or brackets capable of turning upon the shaft of the driving roller
or rollers, so that the driving gear may be shifted into any position
relative to the driving rollers that may be most convenient for the
description of engine employed, the object being to enable the roller to
be worked by any engine that may be conveniently at hand. The
before-described gearing to the roller includes an arrangement consisting
either of fast and loose pulleys with two belts, or of three bevil wheels
with a reversing clutch, or other known reversing apparatus may be
employed, by means of which the motion of the rollers can be reversed
in case the engine used has no reversing gear. In case a special engine
is made for the roller the above-described arrangements will enable such
engine to be removed or replaced as may be convenient, so that it may
be employed on other work when not required for the roller. Rollers
constructed on this plan may also be used without carrying a special
engine, and be dragged along either by a traction engine or by horses,
in which case the driving gear may be disconnected from the roller or
entirely removed.
Another of our improvements consists in making steam rollers with a
single roller in one piece (or in two or more pieces bolted together so as
to act as oue), which roller is steered or guided by a steering wheel or
roller near one end of the machine; and this form of roller can be
made either with the kind of framing described in Thomson's Patent,
No. 1500 of 1867, or it can be made with a framing composed of a simple.
girder on cach side of the machine, stiffened with cross bracing, and.
carrying the boiler and engine on one side of the roller, and the water
tank and steering wheel on the other side. In this latter arrangement.
the first and third before-described improvements may be conveniently.
applied.
Having thus set forth the nature of our Invention we will now proceed
more particularly to describe the manner of performing the same, for
which purpose we shall refer to the accompanying Drawings.
Figures 1 and 2 on Sheet I. of the Drawings show respectively a side
elevation and plan, partly in section, of a steam roller with some of

page_text: our before-described improvements applied thereto. Similar letters of
reference indicate similar parts in each of the Figures.
A, B, are two rollers so arranged, the one towards the one side and
the other fowards the other side of the framing C, that the path of
the one roller overlaps that of the other, as indicated by the dotted
These rollers support
line carried from the face of A towards B.
the framing C by means of shafts D, E, of which the shaft E of the
steering roller B3 has a spherical enlargement E' formed upon it. The
steering roller B fits upon the spherical boss of the shaft by means of a
spherical socket F, formed in two halves bolted together, and to the
spokes 13 of the roller B, as shewn. The steering roller is thus free to
be turned within certain limits to any required angle upon its shaft,
which is carried in fixed bearings by the framing C, the shaft being
either fixed or (by preference) free to revolve in such bearings. For
imparting this angular motion to the steering roller the socket 1 has
necks formed on its ends, over which fit loosely rings G, held on the
necks by other rings H, and provided with arms G' by which they are
fixed to the forked frame I, provided with a curved rack 1', in gear with
which is a worm J on a shaft J', capable of being turned in one direction
or the other by the capstan wheels K, K, on the shaft K', geared with
the shaft J' by means of the endless chain I. Thus the frame I, in being
moved by the worm to the right or to the left turning on the boss E
as a centre, carries with it the socket F, and thereby also turns the
steering roller to the right or left. The two rollers are here shown of
equal width, but if desired the roller A may be made of a greater
width, and the steering roller B of a less width, the paths of the
two being however still made to overlap or meet each other. The
roller A is driven by the engine M, M, through the shaft N, with
fly wheel N actuating the reversing gear O on the countershaft O',
carrying two pinions of different diameters P, P, capable of sliding
upon the shaft, so that if a quick speed be required the pinion P is put
in gear with the spur wheel Q on the countershaft T of the roller, while
if a slow speed be required the pinion P¹ is slid in gear with the second
spur wheel Q on the shaft T. A pinion U on this shaft is in gear with
the spur wheel V on the shaft D of the roller A, to which motion is thus
imparted. As before stated the engine M, M, is by preference not fixed
permanently upon the roller, which may be worked by any engine con-
venient at hand; and in order to render the driving gear adjustable to

page_text: any position most convenient for the engine employed such gear is
mounted upon two brackets R, R, connected by a transverse piece R',
and carried by the shaft D, so that they can turn upon the same, such
brackets being supported by two standards S, secured in an adjustable
manner to the framing C, so that by raising or lowering such standards
the gearing may be adjusted to the height required. Although reversing
gear is shewn on the Drawing, in order to reverse the motion of the
roller when a non-reversing engino is employed, yet it is preferred to
provide the roller with a reversing engine, in which case the reversing
clutch O can be dispensed with. If instead of driving the roller by an
engine fixed upon the same, it is to be hauled along by a traction engine
the pinions P, P', are slid so as to be out of gear with both Q and Q',
and the roller A is thus disconnected from the driving gear. The
framing C of the roller is constructed of two strong side cheeks con-
nected by two transverse bearers, the space C¹ between which is enclosed
so as to form a tank or receptacle for water or ballast; and in order to
prevent the whole body of water contained therein from passing suddenly
to the side of the tank when the ground over which the roller is passing
is more or less inclined it is preferred to place in the tank one or more
divisions, which without being water-tight will more or less prevent the
above action of the water. As before stated, the above-described im-
proved construction of steering roller, with ball-and-socket connection
to its shaft in place of the ordinary turntable, may also be employed for
the steering wheels of traction engines.
Figures 3 and 4 on Sheet II. of the Drawings shew respectively a side
clevation and a plan, partly in section, of a steam roller, the framing of
which is similar in construction to that described in the Specification to
Thomson's Patent, No. 1500 of 1867, but having only one steering
wheel B. The roller A is driven by a pitch chain passing over the
pitch wheel C fixed to the roller, and the pitch wheel D on the crank
shaft E, driven by the engine F, as described in the before-mentioned
Specification. The steering wheel B is carried in the fork G¹ of the
vertical shaft G, the upper end of which is actuated by any suitable
arrangement of steering gear for turning the wheel B to the one side or
the other. H is the water tank, and I is the steam boiler.
Figure 5 shew's a side clevation of another arrangement of steam roller.
with one single roller A and steering wheel B. In this arrangement

page_text: the framing is composed of two side girders J, connected together trans-
versely, and carrying on one side of the roller A. the boiler and engine K,
and on the other side the water or ballast tank L and steering wheel B,
together of such a weight as to balance the boiler and engine. The
steering wheel may be fitted upon its shaft with a ball-and-socket joint,
and be actuated in the same manner as described with reference to
Figures 1 and 2. M, M, is suitable speed-reducing gearing for imparting
the motion of the engine to the roller, which gearing may also be
arranged on adjustable brackets in a similar manner to the first-described
arrangement.
Having thus set forth the nature of our Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we in no way limit ourselves to the combinations of our improvements
as shewn on the accompanying Drawings, as several of these may, as
before stated, be employed independently of each other, but what we
claim is,―
First. So connecting the steering wheel or roller of steam rollers and
traction engines to its shaft by means of a ball-and-socket joint that it
can while revolving be made to assume an angular or oblique position
thereon, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Second. Constructing steam rollers with two rollers one in advance of
the other, the one roller being situated towards the one side and the
other towards the other side of a wide framing, but so that their paths
meet or overlap each other, substantially as described.
Third. Mounting the driving gear of steam rollers upon brackets
turning upon the shaft of the driving roller or rollers, and capable of
being adjusted to any convenient position for the engine employed to
drive the same, in order that the roller may be worked by any engine
conveniently at hand, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. Constructing steam rollers with one single roller and a single
steering wheel combined and arranged, substantially as described with
reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the Drawings.
Fifth. Constructing steam rollers with a single roller, on one side of
which is situated the engine and boiler, while on the other side is placed
the water or ballast tank and steering wheel, substantially as described
with reference to Figure 5 of the Drawings.

page_text: Sixth. We claim, in combination, the general arrangement of steam
rollers herein-before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Thomson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
DAVID THOMSON. (L.S.)