Year: 1897

page_text: I, CHARLES GOUCHON, of 8 Avenue de la Republique, l'aris, in the Republic of
France, 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:-
In mechanically propelled vehicles constructed hitherto, the front wheels have
been used only for steering, either the axle being moved or the wheels being
inclined in vertical planes oblique nelatively to the longitudinal axis of the
vehicle.
The arrangements constructed with that end in view work satisfactorily where
the amount of deflection in turning is small, but they are faulty when it is
desired to turn the vehicle through a right angle or in a direction forming nearly
such an angle, for in this case the driving back-wheels tend to cause the front
wheels to slide on the ground in a direction normal to that of their path of
rotation, the front wheels become an obstacle to the movement of the vehicle and
are liable to cause accidents which are the more serious the greater the speed of
the vehicle.
I have endeavoured to remedy these drawbacks and, for this purpose I only had
to examine what takes place in vehicles with animal traction, which are free
from such drawbacks; I have come to the conclusion that all known systems
of mechanical traction are defective and that in order to avoid the accidents I
have mentioned above, it is absolutely necessary to produce the same effect as
when a horse is the motive power, that is to say, to employ front traction, and
not propulsion from the back wheels, in other words, that it is necessary that the
front-wheels shall be the driving ones in turning and that the back-wheels shall
simply follow the direction of the former.
The object of the present invention is the provision of driving front-wheels
operating the disengaging of the back-wheels to enable the vehicle to turn without
danger through any angle.
In the accompanying drawings in which like letters of reference indicate like
parts:-
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a vehicle provided with driving front-wheels
according to my invention.

page_text: Fig 2 is a plan corresponding to Fig. 1, the body of the vehicle being
removed.
Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively a partial plan view and a cross-section of a com-
pound ratchet cam devised to dispense with differential mechanism.
The body a of the vehicle may be any desired and that which I have shown
in the drawing is only given by way of example and in order to enable the whole
of my arrangements to be better understood. This body carries towards the front
a cylindrical socket which I call fixed working sleeve; through it passes a
movable working pin b1, the fixed sleeve resting against the shoulder 62 of the
latter.
Under the body a is arranged a shaft e parallel to the axles c and d of the
front-wheels el c¹ and back-wheels d¹ d, to which shaft a rotary motion may be
communicated by a motor, which may be of any suitable description, and forms
no part of my invention, said movement being transmitted from the shaft e to
the movable pin 61 by means of any suitable gearing. The gear shown in the
drawing is constituted by a pair of bevel-pinions el e² one of which el is keyed
on the shaft e and the other e² is secured to a toothed pinion e which can, by
means of a chain e transmit the rotary movement to a similar pinion e; the
latter is keyed on an auxiliary longitudinal shaft e which carries on its front end
a bevel pinion e engaging with a similar pinion 63 keyed on to the upper part
of the pin 6¹.
At its lower end this pin b¹ carries a bevel-pinion 64 engaging with a similar
pinion 65 keyed on the same shaft f as the bevel-pinion f', which, through
another bevel-pinion f2, can transmit the motion to an intermediate transverse
shaft fo.
On the shaft f3 are two clutches f* f* capable of sliding on it in a longitudinal
direction and of being engaged with or disengaged from other similar
clutches f f mounted loosely on the shaft f³. The sleeves of the clutches f³ fa
are secured to toothed wheels f f which can by means of Galle's chain, transmit
the motion of rotation in either direction to other similar wheels f f fixed on the
hubs of the front-wheels c¹ e¹ loose on the axle c.
Under the body a and concentrically with the sleeve b is fixed a ratchet cam
device which I will describe with reference to Figs. 3 and 4. It consists of a
crown in the interior of which are arranged blades h¹ inclined and placed
at equal distances apart and mounted on pins 2 which can freely turn in bosses
of the crown h. The blades h¹¹ are divided into two series inclined in opposite
directions, one series filling the right and the other the left-hand half of the
crown; the pins 2 are constantly under the action of spiral springs h³ which tend
to bring the vertical edges of the blades in contact with the corresponding walls
of the crown h.
Two levers i articulated on the fore-carriage are provided at one end with
rollers ¹¹(Figs. 3 & 4) respectively engaging between the blades h¹ of one of
the two series of blades h¹ of the rachet cam device 9. At their rear end each of
the levers i terminates in a fork, the branches of which are provided with small
pins 3 engaging with a circular groove of the corresponding clutch f*.
The crown of the ratchet cam device g is cast with a circular bearing sur-
face h resting by means of balls h on a part k provided with a similar bearing
surface and secured by bolts to a ring of angle-iron ¹ secured to the cross bar k²
of the fore-carriage.
The circular part k is formed with inner teeth 3 for about half of its circum-
ference, with which engages a toothed pinion m, the spindle m¹ of which carries
at its upper end a hand-wheel m² within reach of the driver. The part kis
moreover provided with arms and with a hub capable of turning with the
whole fore-carriage about the fixed sleeve b and resting, like the latter, on the
shoulder 62 of the movable pin b¹. One of the arms is formed in one with a
socket supporting the shaft f and to the other arms are secured, those of the
bracket 66 supporting the pin 6¹.

page_text: The shaft e is provided towards its ends with clutch-couplings, the loose
clutches of which are secured to toothed wheels n¹ n' which, by means of
Galle's chains, transmit rotary movenient to other toothed wheels ³ ³ mounted
on the hubs of the back-wheels d¹¹ loose on the axle d.
The movable clutches n n are always under the influence of springs n në
tending to hold them engaged with the loose sleeves n n. Each of them is pro-
vided with a circular groove, with which engages the ends of a latch o guided
in supports o¹ o fixed under the body a and attached to the end of one of the
cords pp. These cords pass round guide-pulleys and are attached at
the other end to the ends of a transverse barr mounted at the end of a longitudinal
rod capable of sliding in supports r² fixed under the body a and jointed to a
levers, the lower end of which is provided with a rollers which can be moved
by the angle-iron of the fore-carriage, formed in the shape of a cam, for the
purpose of causing the levers to oscillate. This cam has two symmetrical pro-
jecting portions, each occupying about one quarter of the circumference and
separated from each other by a short recess y.
WORKING.
In order to make the description of the manner or working clear, I will divide
it into three parts:-
1. Travelling in a straight line.
2. Travelling on a curve or turning.
3. Travelling backwards.
Travelling in a Straight Line. In case the vehicle has to travel in a straight
line, all the parts are in the position shown in the drawing.
The motor drives the shaft e which transmits its rotary movement, on one hand,
to the front wheels ce¹ through the movable working pin 61 and the gear which I
have described, the clutches f and f5 being coupled for travelling in a straight
line, and, on the other hand, to the back-wheels through the wheels n' and
and chains n³, the clutches n* and n also remaining coupled, as the preceding
ones.
In short, for travelling in a straight line, the four wheels c c and d are
all driving wheels, but I must point out that the axles c and d, in no case, turn
with them.
Travelling on a curve or turning-In order to turn in one or in the other
direction, the driver turns the hand-wheel m² in a suitable direction and con-
sequently the pinion m and the part k, the toothed portion of which engages
with it. All the fore-carriage turns with the part k and one of the projections
or surfaces pushes the rollers and moves the levers which pushes back the
rod, whereupon a pull will be exerted on the cords p p and transmitted to the
two latches oo and through the latter, to the movable sleeves n n which are
pulled back and compress the springs and release the loose sleeves n n. The
latter then do not transmit any movement to the wheels and, and conse-
quently, the back-wheels d¹ become free.
In the meantime the levers i i move with the fore-carriage, and the roller i
of the lever situated towards the centre of the curve to be described, rises on
one of the blades h¹ of the ratchet cam device g, follows its inclination, oscillates
towards the centre of the crown h and moves away the corresponding clutch fi
of the clutch f in such manner that the front-wheel-the inner one relatively
to the curve is no longer driven from the motor and can even rotate in the
direction opposite to that of the outer wheel and come to lie easily and without
effort under the body of the vehicle, as happens in vehicles propelled by animals.
If the roller moves through a greater distance than that comprised between
two consecutive blades it leaves the first one which turns about its pin h³,
passes on to a second, then on to a third, etc. and each of them strikes against
the pin of the following one, which limits its movement, so that during the
whole time that the vehicle describes a curve, the lever i remains in the position

page_text: corresponding to the uncoupled position of the inner sleeve f*. I must point out
that each blade h' released by the roller is immediately brought back into its
normal position by the action of its spring h³.
_
The roller of the other lever the external one relatively to the curve
described moves on the inner wall of the crown h and only causes the blades h¹¹
to oscillate one after the other, without being caused by them to alter its position.
The clutch f on this side remains therefore in engagement.
As soon as the handle m² is turned in the opposite direction, the reverse
phenomena take place, the wheel c¹ which was free, is again driven by the motor
and the wheel which had been driven by the motor becomes free, and thus it
on till the fore-carriage has returned into its normal position for travelling in a
straight line, where all the clutches f and f are in engagement.
goes
When, therefore, in describing a curve or in turning only one wheel effects the
propulsion of the vehicle, it is the front-one on the outside of the curve described
or in other words, the one opposite the centre of the curve.
Travelling backwards.-During travelling backwards whether in a straight line
or on a curve, all the phenomena which we have described for forward travelling
are repeated; excepting, however, what has been said of the hind-carriage, for
the claws of the sleeve n' are cut so as to engage with those of the sleeve / only
during the forward travel; for travelling backward, the fore-carriage alone acts
and the sets of teeth of said sleeves can run over each other, which cannot happen
in the front clutch-couplings, the teeth of which are rectangular as shown clearly
in Fig. 2.
This arrangement has another advantage: If owing to wear, the back-wheels
had to make a slightly greater number of revolutions, than that transmitted to
them from the motor, they would not have the tendency to cause the motor to
participate in their movement; from time to time the sleeve n would jump over
one tooth of the sleeve to make up for the retardation.
I have not mentioned the mode of suspension or attachment of the parts which
may be similar to that of ordinary carriages.
I would remark finally that the transmission gear which I have described is
only an example of those that can be used. I may replace the chain transmission
gear by toothed wheels and vice-versa. I may also transmit the movement of
the shaft e to e6 by any other suitable means. In choosing the mode of trans-
mission the kind of carriage-body used and also the effort to be transmitted
would have to be considered. I reserve to myself also the right to replace the
ratchet cam device g by a differential mechanism keyed either on the intermediate
shaft for on the front-axle c.
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 mechanically propelled vehicle driving mechanism on the fore carriage,
capable of turning about a fixed sleeve through which passes a movable working
pin, which receives motion from the motor and transmits it to the front-wheels:
said fore-carriage being combined with a compound ratchet cam device provided
with blades, which, upon the fore-carriage turning, operates to release that front-
wheel which is towards the centre of the curve described; a cam of the fore-
carriage acting at the same time as the ratchet cam device, to produce the complete
disengagement of the back-wheels during turning, so that when the carriage
travels in a straight line, all four wheels are driving and when it describes a curve,
only one wheel of the driving fore-carriage propels the carriage, substantially as
described.
2. In a mechanically propelled carriage, the arrangement of a fixed sleeve, on
which the fore-carriage can turn and which affords a passage to a concentric
movable pin receiving its motion from the motor and transmitting it to one or to
both wheels of the fore-carriage, substantially as described.

page_text: 3. In a mechanically propelled vehicle a ratchet cam device on the fore-carriage,
provided with pivotted blades, divided into two series inclined in opposite direc-
tions in combination with mechanism whereby one of the wheels of the said
fore-carriage is disengaged as soon as the latter turns, substantially as described.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete driving
mechanism for vehicles substantially as described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
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