Improvements in Travelling Wheels for Traction and Portable Engines and Machinery.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Feb., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 28th Oct., 1891-Accepted, 28th Nov., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Travelling Wheels for Traction and Portable
Engines and Machinery.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to me
from abroad by Rescue. B. Page of Oakland, California,) to be as follows
This invention relates to an improved construction of travelling wheel, suitable
for portable and traction engines and other machinery travelling on roads and soft
ground; and the invention consists of a wheel constructed of a peripheral series of
flat shoes or treads connected to the boss by pairs of crossed links jointed to said
shoes or treads and to ears fixed to the boss, so that, as the wheel revolves, the
treads or shoes are applied upon the ground and bear the weight of the load in
succession, the construction and arrangement being such that as each tread is lifted
from the ground, its forward end is first raised, springs being connected to the hub
and links which are distended and brought into play by the motion of the treads
and links about their centres, for the purpose of assisting in lifting the rearward
end of the tread from the ground on the ascending side and checking the falling
over motion of the tread after passing over the top of the wheel to the forward or
descending side.
The ears to which the links are jointed are in pairs and consecutive pairs are
alternately in different planes so that the two links which are jointed to consecutive
pairs of ears and to pairs of lugs at the opposite ends of a tread or shoe may cross
and work past each other, the one link being jointed to the rear end of the tread or
shoe and to the leading pair of ears and the other link to the forward endsof the
tread or shoe and to the following pair of ears, the pairs of ears on the two ends of
the tread or shoe being also in different longitudinal planes.
The front and rear ends of the treads or shoes are recessed at opposite sides s0
that when two consecutive treads are on the ground together, their ends will overlap
or be "halved" together and the treads will be in line with each other.
Dated this 11th day of February 1891.
A. MELVILLE CLARK.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Travelling Wheels for Traction and Portable
Engines and Machinery.
I, ALEXANDER Melville Clark, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a conmunication to
me by Rescue. B. Page, of Oakland, California) and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to an improvement in wheels for traction-engines and like
vehicles, and has for its object to so construct the wheel that the shoes used in

page_text: until a second shoe is brought in contact therewith and further to provide a means
whereby the shoe to be lifted will be elevated first at that end facing the line of
travel of the wheel, thus removing any suction, that might exist, calculated to
disturb the progress of the wheel.
The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several
parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wheel.
Figure 2 is a central vertical section through the same.
Figure 3 is a plan view.
Figure 4 is a central vertical section through the wheel, taken at a right angles
to the section illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the shoes detached from its hub.
Figure 6 is a plan view of the frames of two shoes, the position of said shoes
being the same as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; and
Figure 7 is a plan view of spring-controlled lifting rods detached from the
device.
Similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the
views.
The hub A, as shewn, consists of four plates 10, 11, 12, and 13, united by castings
or forgings 14 and 15, the said plates, and likewise the castings or forgings, being
provided with a central bore to receive a drive-shaft 16 to which the hub is
preferably rigidly secured. The said drive shaft, in the present instance, is intended
to represent one axle of a traction engine or vehicle. The hub is provided with a
series of ears a and a' arranged in pairs, each alternate pair, a for instance, being
out of circumferential alignment with the contiguous pair a'. In the drawings, the
ears are shewn as integral with the plate-sections of the hub, but the body of the
hub may consist of one casting or forging and the ears made integral therewith or
may be attached thereto.
In connection with the hub, a series of shoes B are employed, and as each shoe
is similarly constructed and attached to the hub, and in operation each two adjoining
shoes co-act, the description will be confined to one pair only. The shoes consist
of a skeleton frame 18 of peculiar contour, to the bottoms of which a sole 19 of like
shape is attached in any approved manner. The body b of the frame is a parallelo-
gram the sides of which, as shewn, are laterally inclined. At the side of one end a
true rectangular section 6 is formed preferably of about one-half the width of the
body section and a similar section 6 is formed at the opposite end and side of the
body-section, as shewn in Figure 6. Lugs 20 are produced at the sides of
the frame, by means of which lugs the sole 19, which may be of wood or other
approved material, is secured and upon the upper side face of each end section b¹
and 6', near the outer ends, vertical ears 21 are produced. In connection with each
shoe, two rods 22 are employed, which rods consist of a central body section d and
end-sections d' and d² which latter sections are attached or formed at a right angle
to the body and extend beyond the sides thereof, the section d being ordinarily
shorter than the opposed section d. The shorter sections d¹ of the rods are
respectively pivoted to the ears of each of the end sections b¹ and 6 of the frame,
as is best illustrated in Figure 5. The rods extend longitudinally across the shoe
in opposite directions and the end section d³ of one rod is pivoted between one set
of hub-ears a and the similar section of the other rod is pivoted between the next
set of hub ears a', as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
In connection with the rods 22 of the wheel, a spring-lifting device E is employed,
one form of which is illustrated in Figure 7 and the application of which is illustrated

page_text: in Figures 1, 2, and 5, consisting of two rods 27 and 28 capable of sliding one upon
the other, the rod 27 being double and the other single and both are provided with
a head 29 and encircled by a spring 30 located between, and having a bearing
against, the heads.
A lifting device is attached at one end to each rod 22 and at
its other end to the hub at one side of the cushion thereon and the attachment is so
effected that when the rods 22 come in contact with their cushions, either when the
wheel is moving backward or forward, the springs of the attached device E will
tighten. This movement prevents the rods from dropping down suddenly upon the
cushions or the ground and the device also serves to assist the feet when upon the
ground to leave the same.
One of the shoes is at all times in a horizontal position upon the ground and as
the wheel moves either backward or forward the shoe contacting with the ground does
not move from its position until the shoe in front or at the rear of it, according to
the direction in which the wheel is travelling, also firmly contacts with the ground
throughout its length, the connecting rods being of just sufficient length to admit
of this action. At the moment that the pair of shoes are in the above described
position, if the wheel is travelling forward, as shewn by the arrows in Figures 1
and 2, a further movement, no matter how slight, will cause the rod connected with
the forward end of the rear shoe to lift said end, the opposite end remaining upon
the ground, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, thus destroying any suction which
might exist and would be calculated to retard the wheel in its progress, and as the
wheel moves farther forward, the connecting rod above referred to contacts with a
cushion 23 upon the hub, whereby the shoe is carried vertically upward, then
horizontally over the wheel, and is permitted to drop again downward upon the
other side, for another contact with the ground.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
1. In a wheel of the character described, the combination, with a hub provided
with a series of ears arranged in pairs, the adjacent pairs being out of circumferential
alignment, of a shoe, a rod connecting one end of the shoe with one pair of adjoining
ears, and a second rod connecting the opposite end of the shoe with the other pair
of ears, the said rods extending over the shoe in opposite directions, substantially
as shewn and described.
2. In a wheel of the character described, the combination, with a hub and a
series of ears formed upon the periphery of the hub and arranged in pairs, the
adjoining pairs being out of circumferential alignment, of a shoe consisting of a
main body and end sections attached at opposite sides, the said end sections being
of less width than the body section, a rod pivotally connecting one end of the shoe
with one pair of ears of a set, and a second rod connecting the opposite end of the
shoe in like manner with the other pair of ears of the set, the said rods extending
over the shoe in opposite directions, substantially as shewn and described and for
the purpose specified.
3. In a wheel of the character described, the combination, with the hub, the
shoes, and the connecting rods, of springs connected to the hub and rods, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
4. In a wheel of the character described, the combination, with a hub, a series of
ears formed upon said hub and arranged in pairs, the adjoining pairs of ears
being out of circumferential alignment, of a shoe consisting of a body portion
having parallel laterally-inclined sides, and end sections of less width than the body
section, and connecting-rods each comprising a body parallel with the longitudinal
axis of the shoe and having right-angular end sections, one of said rods being
pivotally attached at each end of the shoe and extending across the same in
opposite directions, the said rods being also respectively pivotally attached to one
pair of ears of a set, substantially as shewn and described, whereby, when two shoes

page_text: are in contact with the ground, the end of the shoe to be lifted, facing the line of
travel of the wheel, will be elevated first, as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 27th day of October 1891.
A. MELVILLE CLARK.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
A. MELVILLE CLARK.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.