Improvements in Motor Road Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 29th Oct., 1898
ated from abroad bY CLINTON
Chicago, in the County of Cook and State of Illinois, United States of America,
Electrical Engineer.]
Improvements in Motor Road Vehicles.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
My invention relates to motor-propelled vehicles, and particularly to that class
of vehicles known as moto-cycles, adapted for travel upon trackless roads, and
has for its object the provision of an improved and simple construction for
overcoming certain defects in vehicles of this class.
Heretofore railway motor-driven vehicles have been provided with one spring
mounting for the vehicle body and a second spring mounting for the motor, this
construction being peculiarly adapted for low hung vehicle bodies not subject
to great saltatory and rolling motion. My invention herein consists in a moto-
cycle having a spring support or supports adapted to subserve the double purpose
of flexibly supporting the vehicle body and motor, the motor being preferably
provided, as in prior constructions, with a pivoted mounting at one end, co-axial
with the gear wheel directly engaging the driving wheel of the motor, the other
end of the motor being united with the common flexible support.
In practising my invention, I preferably employ two motors for each vehicle,
each rear wheel being geared to a motor, independently of the other, whereby
differential gearing is dispensed with. I employ elliptic springs in my preferred
construction, one spring being associated with each motor and adapted to perform
the double function of flexibly supporting the motor at one end, and yieldingly
supporting the carriage body upon the running gear.
In one embodiment of the invention, I employ two full elliptic springs, to one
end of each of which an end of a motor is linked, the other end of said motor
being rotatably mounted upon the rear or driving shaft of the vehicle. The linked
ends of the motors and the corresponding ends of the elliptical springs are
united by brace rods properly to preserve the relative disposition of the parts.
A second embodiment of my invention will be described hereinafter.
I will explain my invention more particularly by reference to the accompanying
drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the rear portion of a moto-cycle, in the form of a
light vehicle, as a carriage, constructed in accordance with my invention, parts
being broken away to show more clearly the construction;
Fig. 2 is a rear view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a moto-vehicle or truck, constructed in accordance
with my invention, adapted to carry heavy loads;

page_text: Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively rear and side elevations of the apparatus shown
in Fig. 3.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the different views.
I preferably employ two suitable motors a a, those illustrated being electric
motors enclosed within protecting cases. The motors have extensions bb by which
the motors are rotatably suspended upon the rear shaft. Each motor carries a
spur driving pinion e, engaging a corresponding driving gear, in this instance
mounted directly upon the shaft or adjacent rear wheel. A brace rod d is inter-
posed between the motors, that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 being secured to the outer
ends of the motors, while in the remaining construction, it is secured to the
tops of the motors near the outer ends
In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, two full elliptic springs are
interposed between the vehicle body and the running gear, the motors being
united with the contiguous ends of the elliptic springs by links ee, a rod et
uniting the springs and serving as a means of attachment for said links. By this
construction of light vehicles, I am enabled to employ a single elliptic spring in
connection with each motor, which is adapted to permit the requisite wide range
of motion of the vehicle body upon its spring support, the motor, while relying for
its support upon the same spring that supports the vehicle body, having a much
smaller range of movement.
It is important to give the motor a spring mounting to prevent sudden impact
or violent engagement between the cogs of the gearing, as when the vehicle is
suddenly started ahead, stopped or reversed, or when the vehicle wheel strike ruts.
Such a wide range of motion permitted to bodies of light vehicles would be
objectionable if possessed by the motor. By attaching the motors to the ends of
the elliptic springs, as shown, the vehicle body and motors may have the ranges of
movement to which they are peculiarly suited.
With vehicles of heavy construction, the range of motion of the vehicle body is
decreased and approaches more nearly the desired range of motion of the motor.
In adapting my invention to heavy vehicles, I preferably employ the construction
shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The rear portion of the vehicle is supported upon
three semi-elliptic springs fff'. The forward ends of the semi-elliptic springs ff
are attached to the wagon body at få f2. The free ends of the motors are also
attached to the wagon body at ff by adjustable straps f³, composed preferably of
leather. Supplementary semi-elliptic springs ff are anchored to the wagon body
at their ends, and at their intermediate portions to the motors. By this construc-
tion a direct downward pull is exerted by the motors upon the wagon body through
the medium of the straps f³ when the motor is started to back the vehicle, this
downward movement being resisted by the elliptic springs ff. When the motor
is started to move the vehicle forward, the springs f yieldingly limit the tendency
of the motor to move upwardly. When the vehicle is suddenly stopped or when
it strikes a rut, the elliptic springs will give, to ease the motor. The motors are
preferably firmly braced together, as illustrated, to maintain the motors in align-
ment. In each case it will be observed that the motors are attached to the
movable portions of those elliptic springs which are disposed between the vehicle
body and the driving wheels of the vehicle, which wheels, in the present instances,
are the rear wheels.
In the claims I speak of the free ends of the motors as being attached to the
elliptic springs by a practically rigid link or connection, meaning that the portions
that unite and are interposed between the motors and springs are sufficiently rigid
in themselves to limit the upward movement of the motors.
In the claims, I use the term "elliptic spring" when unaccompanied by a
qualifying word, in the sense of a full elliptic or semi-elliptic spring.
While I have shown and particularly described two embodiments of my invention,
I do not wish to be limited to the precise construction shown.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:
:-
1. In a moto-cycle or vehicle, the combination with a vehicle body, of a flexible
support therefor composed in part of an elliptic spring interposed between the
vehicle body and the driving wheels, and a motor in engagement with the running
gear of the vehicle and flexibly supported by a movable part of said elliptic spring,
substantially as described.
to rotate
2. In a moto-cycle or vehicle, the combination with a vehicle body, of a flexible
support therefor composed in part of an elliptic spring interposed between the
vehicle body and the driving wheels, a motor, a gear wheel engaging and adapted
wheel shaft of the vehicle, a second gear wheel upon
the motor, the motor with its gear wheel being mounted bodily
to rotate about the axis of the second gear wheel, said motor being attached by a
practically rigid link or connection to a movable part of said elliptic spring,
substantially as described.
3. In a moto-cycle or vehicle, the combination with a vehicle body, of a flexible
support therefor composed in part of two elliptic springs interposed between said
body and a pair of driving wheels, and two motors, each in engagement with a
driving wheel independently of the other and flexibly supported by a movable part
of an elliptic spring, substantially as described.
4. In a moto-cycle or vehicle, the combination with a vehicle body, of a flexible
support therefor composed in part of a full elliptic spring interposed between the
vehicle body and the driving wheels, and a motor in engagement with the running
gear of the vehicle and secured at or near the end of said elliptic spring, by a
practically rigid link or connection, substantially as described.
5. In a moto-cycle or vehicle, the combination with a vehicle body, of a flexible
support therefor composed in part of two full elliptic springs interposed between
the vehicle body and the driving wheels, two motors, each having a gear wheel, and
two additional gear wheels, one in engagement with each driving wheel and one
of the aforesaid gear wheels, said motors being bodily mounted to rotate upon axes
coincident with the axes of the second aforesaid gear wheels, and each attached
at or near one end of each of said elliptic springs by a practically rigid link or
connection, substantially as described.
Dated this 6th day of September 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
.45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.