A NEW AND USEFUL FOUR-WHEELED STEAM CARRIAGE
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Touaillon, of Paris, France, for the
tr
Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL FOUR-WHEELED STEAM CARRIAGE."—A
communication from Amédée Ernest Bollée, residing at Paris,
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Touaillon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 11th October 1875, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
TOUAILLON, of Paris, France, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A NEW AND
USEFUL FOUR-WHEELED STEAM CARRIAGE," (communicated to me by Amédée
Ernest Bollée, a person resident at Paris, aforesaid, 72, Boulevard
Sébastopol,) and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and made solemn Declaration that it is a communication.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Touaillon, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :—
The Invention relates to a new and useful four-wheeled steam
carriage, the main part of which is a two-pin fore part. This carriage is
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, of which Fig. 1 is a plan
view showing the whole arrangement and the connections, the directing
wheels being obliquely set in order to cause the carriage to turn round
a point O; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal elevation showing one of the fore
part pins and the arrangement of the engines; and Fig. 3 is a sectional
transverse elevation through the fore part pins. In these Figures the
same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A, sole bars; B, driving wheels; C, directing wheels; D, boiler; E,
partitioned water reservoir; F, steam cylinders; G, expansion apparatus
and starting lever communicating underneath the directing apparatus
as well as the steam cocks pump; H, balanced cranks; I, connecting
chains; J, chain pinions on the driving shafts; K, chain wheels
mounted to the driving wheels; L, safety valves and boiler mouths; M,
springs; N, chain stretching apparatus binding the springs; P, brake;
Q, fore part wheel pins and connection gears; R, connecting elliptic
wheels; S, wheel; T, pinion; U, directing apparatus; V, chains or
straps; X, directing wheels' frame carrying the springs; Y, forks
preventing the overturning of the wheels; Z, benches and engineer's
seat.
After having briefly described the main parts of the said carriage I
will now proceed to describe the particulars of the same and prove the
advantages it presents over the steam carriages or others, the fore parts
of which have always been made with two wheels mounted on an axle
with a central pin called the pole bolt, or with a single wheel.
It is acknowledged that a three-wheeled carriage is easy enough to
direct, but that it is not sufficiently steady, it can be overturned by the
effect of the centrifugal force in the curves of short radius when the
carriage is going fast, the same effect may be produced if an obstacle is
encountered under one of the hind wheels. A single directing wheel

page_text: having to support a certain weight it is necessary to give it a width
in proportion, it becomes then more difficult to be turned on a pivot.
In uneven and rutty roads three different easy crossings can hardly be
found.
The ordinary two-wheeled fore part on an axle gives more steadiness
to the carriage for straight roads, but in the short radius curves the
axle coming near the line of the carriage axle, the steadiness is no
longer preserved. To impart the motion to this fore part several
connections must be established, so that the engineer may be able to
resist the tendency of the wheels to advance or recede one more than
the other, according as they run on a more or less level road. Thus,
when the carriage goes at full speed the obstacles met with on the road
are difficult to avoid if the directing wheels have only to deviate
slightly, the connections between the directing apparatus and the point
where its action ought to be felt being numerous.
The new and useful carriage avoids all the above-mentioned dis-
advantages. It is of perfect steadiness; the four points resting on the
road being never modified the carriage can be turned on the spot
without slackening the rate of speed. The load on the front being
divided on two wheels the latter are not so wide and easier to be turned
aside.
The unevenness of the road has no effect whatever on the directing
apparatus, each wheel being placed directly below its own pin. This
arrangement allows the distance of the connection to be reduced to the
lowest limit between the directing apparatus and the wheels in order to
give to the latter the required obliquity. One turn of the fly directing
apparatus is sufficient to cause a travelling carriage with twenty places
to pivot on one of its hind wheels.
The two wheels of the improved carriage can only remain parallel for
straight line directions, for all other cases the plane of each wheel must
be perpendicular with the radiuses of the different curves described by
it. If it were otherwise there would be a crosswise slipping over the
ground, and consequently a deterioration and useless expenditure of
motive power.
To obtain the different obliquities of the wheels each pin is connected
by means of chains or even by racks, wheels, straps. or connecting rods.

page_text: with elliptic wheels or cams, which in turning increase the rotatory
speed of one pin while they decrease that of the other. The whole is
connected with the directing apparatus which may be constructed of
any suitable shape. This arrangement or construction allows of placing
under the same carriage a greater number of bearing wheels, which
when mounted on pins would act obliquely by the directing apparatus
according to the curves to be run on, and if a great motive power were
necessary these wheels could very easily work by means of the engine,
and thus fulfil the same purpose as the goods locomotives. The two
directing wheels only can also be worked by the engine without making
the directing apparatus more difficult to move.
The principle on which is based the application of the two-pin fore
part to the steam and other carriages may not be modified by means of
connecting one wheel with the other to make them become perpendicular
to the different radiuses of the curves run on. All rights on this subject
are claimed.
The four-wheeled carriage shown in the Drawings is a travelling
carriage of which two independent driving hind wheels are acted on by
two engines, each provided with two cylinders and placed in the body of
the carriage. This carriage can be arranged in the form of an omnibus
for travellers, as also it can be loaded with goods. The form is of no
importance for the use of the two-pin fore part.
The positions of the stoker and engineer are optional, according to the
requirements of their service, and the intention of the carriage. The
wheels are made of steel or iron. The felloes consist of a circle of wood
inserted between two circles of metal, the object of which is to avoid the
noise and the communication of the vibrations which tend to destroy
the different parts of the machine in general. The driving wheels being
able to work independently the carriage can easily perform its proper
evolutions. All the connecting devices working on the cock, or on the
reverting lever, or the brake, are made to meet under the engineer's
hand.
One or several devices may be applied to the carriages of greater
importance or intended to ascend very steep inclines, in order to increase
the motive power. These devices work if required by means of simple
levers placed within reach of the engineer, or of the stoker by making

page_text: the gearing or couplings slide on the shaft, but to obtain the working
without difficulties, cylinders mounted on the shaft of the gear may by
preference be used, in which pistons move, or the pistons of which are
immoveable and the cylinders moveable. By introducing the water or
the steam under the pressure of the boiler upon one of the faces of the
pistons the moveable part is displaced and the coupling takes place
either by the simple friction of the two parts in contact, or by toothed
couplings. The coupling for another speed is obtained by making the
pressure act upon the other face of the piston. The volume of water or
steam expended is very inconsiderable.
To regulate the tension of the chains transmitting the motion to the
driving wheels there is at the back of each wheel a screw stretching
apparatus causing the axle to advance or recede.
In order to avoid useless friction and give great elasticity to the
carriage the axles are very small, and to give them the suitable strength
springs are placed each side of the wheels.
The tank is fed through flexible pipes by means of a pump worked by
an uncoupling engine. Lastly, a ring is fastened behind to drag other
carriages if required.
The two-pin fore part is also applicable to all carriages drawn by
horses, or to carriages on rails intended to run on short radius curves,
as tramways for instance. This application would greatly facilitate
the running of the carriages off their line, and putting them in coach
houses.
The shapes of the fore part wheels can be modified according to the
intention of the carriages and the load to be borne, thus the inside
of the wheels can be cut off to allow of extending underneath the naves
the pivots in line with their axles, and connecting one with the other by
a cross bar.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and the
manner of carrying it into effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details above enumerated, as these
may obviously be modified without departing from the principle of the
Invention according to the special construction and intended application
of the carriage, but what I claim is in constructing steam carriages,
a two-pin fore part and other devices constructed substantially as above
桑

page_text: described and represented in the different Figures of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Touaillon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
CH. TOUAILLON. (L.S.)