Improvements in or relating to Self-propelled Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Feb., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 6th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 6th Feb., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Self-propelled Vehicles.
I, CHARLES THOMAS CROWDEN, Engineer, of Vernon Lodge, Eastnor Grove,
Leamington Spa, in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to self-propelled vehicles and has special reference to
the diving mechanism
In carrying out the invention I employ a pulley-shaft with means for carrying
it and adjusting its position. Upon this shaft is a chain wheel driven by a
chain from the engine and preferably upon a sleeve which canies both is
another chain wheel by which the motion is unparted to a chain wheel forming
part of or connected with a belt pulley which runs free upon the main axle
which canes the road wheels of the vehicle, the chain wheels being fixed
together but running loose upon the pulley-shaft. The pulley shaft has fixed
upon it a second cone belt pulley corresponding to the first one, but reversed
and upon
the outer end of the pulley shaft is a small chain wheel
around which is a cham passing to another chain wheel upon the hub
of the road wheel of the vehicle Similar chain gearing dives the road wheel
upon the other side of the vehicle. By this arrangement the engine drives the
chain wheels loose upon the pulley shaft and the second of these by its chain
drives the No. 1 cone pulley which is loose upon the axle of the road wheels
This pulley by its belts drives the second cone pulley and so the pulley shaft
and by the side chains the road wheels of the vehicle, the different speeding
being obtained by the, cone pulleys. In the above description chains may be used
where belts are mentioned, and belts where chains are mentioned though the
arrangement above described is the one I prefer
The loose cone pulley is enlarged at its central portion so as to form a
chamber for lubricant its two ends being of appropriate size to iun upon the
vehicle road wheel axle. To prevent the lubiicant from escaping a suitable
stuffing box or equivalent may be employed, the form I prefer comprising a
leather washer adapted to fit snugly upon the shaft at a diameter smaller than
that of the actual bearing so that the leather or equivalent washer amply covers
the open end of the bearing: the leather washer is maintained in position and
pressed up against the cone pulley and the shoulder of the shaft by a metal
washer or ring and bolts and nuts-the metal washer may be in two parts half-
checked into each other where it is impossible or inconvenient to slide it on
to the shaft, and the leather washer may similarly be divided though one
division would probably be sufficient for the leather
I prefer to form annular grooves in both the washer and pulley and if
desired in the shoulder of the shaft as well to assist in making a tight joint;
the lubricant would preferably be either thick oil or grease
At the other end of the pulley a similar arrangement for making a tight
joint is employed, and the pulley has formed upon it a chain wheel or it may
be the centre of the chain wheel upon which the actual chain ring will be
fitted

page_text: The belts are tightened by means of a jockey pulley carried upon an arm
which may be spring-controlled or in itself springy or may be rigid though I
prefer a certam amount of sping; the arm may be fixed to a shaft which
Travels but preferably: a square or equivalent hole is provided in the arm so
that it may slide upon the shaft which in that case would not travel but merely
turn. The belts are all sufficiently loose not to drive excepting when the jockey
pulley is pressed against any particular one. The shaft is iotated as far as
necessary by any convenient mechanism operated by the driver who preferably
operates a pivoted lever retained in any desired position by rack and pawl
mechanism but I prefer to reverse the usual arrangement of this placing the
toothed quadrant or rack near the lower end of the level while the pawl detent
is operated by a sping-controlled arm at the handle-end of the lever.
The jockey pulley arm is caused to slide upon this shaft by means of a
pivotted aim or lever a pin or projection upon which passes through or embraces
the jockey pulley arm, the pivoted aim is operated by a suitable handle within
convenient reach of the duvei.
The road wheels are as explamed carried loose upon their axle which also
serves as the countershaft to carry the loose cone pulley; this axle is carried
upon springs secured to the frame so that it can freely use and fall without
interfering with the chain and belt adjustments as iadius rods, curved horn
plates or the like are employed so that the movement of the axle and 10ad
wheels is in a circular path with the pulley shaft as its centre. Adjustment
of the chain from the engine shaft to the pulley shaft, and also
from the pulley shaft to the road wheel axle is obtained by moving
the pulley Shaft which as before explained is adjustable and has a screwed rod
o nuts and equivalent means for adjusting it. Should both adjustments be
required and these not of the same amount the second adjustment may be obtained
by moving the road wheel axle either upon its springs but preferably
by moving the springs upon the frame which may be effected by suitable
mechanism preferably such as that described in my previous Specification
No 2925, dated 31d February 1897
'
In a Specification of even date with this numbered 2692 I have described
fully the construction of the engine which I prefer to employ upon this vehicle
though I may use other engines if necessary Whatever engine I use however
I can arrange them so that while one cylinder is working the other cylinder
is pumping air for the purpose of cooling itself and I arrange the cylinders so
that they can be operated by the diver from his seat so as to bring any one
or more of them into or out of operation at any moment. I may employ any
desired number of cylinders and I can use say two cylinders to start with, then
if those have got over-heated 1 can employ two more while the first two are
cooling themselves and whenever needed I can employ all four together Should
only two cylinders be employed they may be used alternately for running on
the level or other easy going, the one out of operation cooling itself by pumping
air and both together for heavy work
141 (41 LWk 1900
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Self-propelled Vehicles.
I, CHARLES THOMAS CROWDEN, Engineer, of Vernon Lodge, Eastnor Grove, 5
Leamington Spa, in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of

page_text: this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to self-propelled vehicles and has special reference to
the driving mechanism
In carrying out the invention I employ a pulley-shaft with means for canying
it and adjusting its position. Upon this shaft is a chain wheel duiven by a
chain from the engine and preferably upon a sleeve which carries both is
another chain wheel by which the motion is imparted to a chain wheel forming
part of or connected with a belt pulley which runs free upon the main axle
which carries the road wheels of the vehicle, the chain wheels being fixed
together but running loose upon the pulley-shaft The pulley shaft has fixed
upon it a second cone belt pulley corresponding to the first one, but reversed
and upon the outer end of the pulley shaft is a small chain wheel
around which is a chain passing to another chain wheel upon the hub
of the road wheel of the vehicle Similar chain gearing drives the road wheel
upon the other side of the vehicle. By this arrangement the engine diives the
cham wheels loose upon the pulley shaft and the second of these by its chain
drives the No 1 cone pulley which is loose upon the axle of the road wheels.
This pulley by its belts dives the second cone pulley and so the pulley shaft
and by the side chains the road wheels of the vehicle, the different speeding
being obtained by the cone pulleys. In the above description chains may be used
where belts are mentioned, and belts where chains are mentioned though the
arrangement above described is the one I prefer
The loost cone pulley is enlarged at its central portion so as to form a
chamber for lubricant its two ends being of appropriate size to run upon the
vehicle road wheel axle. To prevent the lubricant from escaping a suitable
stuffing box or equivalent may be employed, the form I prefer comprising a
leather washer adapted to fit snugly upon the shaft at a diameter smaller than
that of the actual bearing so that the leather or equivalent washer amply covers
the open end of the bearing; the leather washer is maintained in position and
pressed up against the cone pulley and the shoulder of the shaft by a metal
washer or ring and bolts and nuts-the metal washer may be in two parts half-
checked into each other where it is impossible or inconvenient to slide it on
to the shaft, and the leather washer may similarly be divided though one
division would probably be sufficient for the leather
I prefer to form annular grooves in both the washer and pulley and if
desired in the shoulder of the shaft as well to assist in making a tight joint;
the lubricant would preferably be either thick oil or grease.
At the other end of the pulley a similar arrangement for making a tight
joint is employed, and the pulley has formed upon it a chain wheel or it may
be the centre of the chain wheel upon which the actual chain ring will be
fitted.
The belts are tightened by means of a jockey pulley carried upon an arm
which may be spring-controlled or in itself springy or may be rigid though I
prefer a certain amount of spring; the arm may be fixed to a shaft which
tiavels but preferably a square or equivalent hole is provided in the arm so
that it may slide upon the shaft which in that case would not travel but merely
turn, or instead of the jockey pulley being carried on the travelling arm, a
separate jockey pulley supported independently of the arm may be provided
for each belt; the arm travelling on the shaft so as to be brought into operative
connection with the jockey pulley of any desired belt. The belts are all suffi-
ciently loose not to drive excepting when a jockey pulley is pressed against
any particular one. The shaft is 1otated as far as necessary by any convenient
mechanism operated by the driver, who preferably operates a pivotted level
retained in any desired position by rack and pawl mechanism, but I prefer to
reverse the usual arrangement of this, placing the toothed quadrant or rack

page_text: near the lower end of the lever, while the pawl detent is operated by a spring-
controlled aim at the handle-end of the lever.
The jockey pulley arm is caused to slide upon this shaft by means of a
pivotted arm or levei a pin or projection upon which passes though or embraces
The jockey pulley arm; or when more than one jockey pulley is employed the
aim on the shaft is brought into operative connection with the desired pulley.
A suitable handle within convenient reach of the diver is provided to operate
the arm.
The road wheels are as explained carried loose upon their axle which also
serves as the countershaft to carry the loose cone pulley: this axle is carried
upon spings secured to the frame so that it can freely rise and fall without
interfering with the chain and belt adjustments as radius rods curved horn
plates or the like are employed so that the movement of the axle and road
wheels is in a circular path with the pulley shaft as its centre. Adjustment
of the cham from the engine shaft to the pulley shaft, and also
from the pulley shaft to the road wheel axle
obtained by moving
the pulley shaft which as before explained is adjustable and has a sciewed rod
or nuts and equivalent means for adjusting it. Should both adjustments be
1equired and these not of the same amount the second adjustment may be obtained
by moving the road wheel axle either upon
its springs but preferably
IS
by moving the springs upon the frame which may be effected by suitable
mechanism preferably such as that described in my previous Specification
No. 2925, dated 3.2.97.
In the accompanying drawings;-
Figure 1 is a plan of the framework of a self-propelled motor vehicle provided
with the improvements.
Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are detail views of the jockey pulleys and their supports.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
A is the frame of the vehicle, preferably formed of flat metal plates, and
provided with cross stays A1 A2 A3 both for strengthening purposes and to afford
supports for various parts of the apparatus B is the crank shaft of the motor.
Cthe axle of the rear or driving wheels carried on springs F
Carried in bearing D2 on a frame is a shaft D, hereinafter called the
pulley shaft. The frame D¹ preferably of metal is oblong in shape extending
the whole width of the vehicle frame and is hinged to or pivotally connected
with the frame A and its cross stay A³ at A4. A bearing D³ is placed on each
end of the frame and a convenient number, say two. on cross pieces between
the ends
Pivotted on to the bottom of the frame D₁ are two or more stay rods D
preferably four, one for each bearing as shown in Figure 1. These stay-rods
extend upwards and forwards, their free ends, which are furnished with long
screw threads, pass through holes in lugs D* fixed on the cross stay A2, and are
provided with nuts so as to be capable of adjusting the position of the frame 11
Between the pulley shaft D and the fixed axle C are provided two or more
stays E, the ends of which are rotatably secured on the said shaft and axle
respectively; the stays are provided with means for altering their length, such
as a long nut or sleeve E' provided with right and left hand threads engaging
similar threads on the stays, which are for this purpose formed in two parts
These stays fulfil two purposes; they act as adjustable back stays for the pulley
shaft as the rods D³ form adjustable front stays, and they also ensure that any
movement of the axle on its springs shall be in an are of a circle of which the
pulley shaft is the centre.
Adapted to revolve on the pulley shaft D is a sleeve D³ fixed on to or formied
integral with which are two chain wheels 10° 17 The wheel D is driven by
a chain and wheel 131 on the engine shaft, and the motion thus given to the
wheel D is imparted to a chain wheel C¹ forming part of or rigidly connected

page_text: with a coned belt pulley C2, preferably provided with three steps and running
free on the axle C.
Fixed on to the pulley shaft D is a second cone pulley D8 similar to C² but
so positioned that the smallest step of one pulley is in line with the biggest
step of the other.
On each end of the pulley shaft is fixed a small chain wheel D9 geared by
means of a chain with a wheel C3 on the hub of the respective road wheel C
of the vehicle.
The hub of the loose cone pulley C is enlarged internally at C5 to form a
chamber for lubricant, its ends only taking a bearing on the axle C. To prevent
the escape of the lubricant a leather or like washer C is provided at each end,
and held in position by a metal washer or ring C7 secured by bolts and nuts.
The portions C8 of the axle on which the ends of the hub take a bearing are
preferably larger in diameter than the main portion of the axle and as the
leather washers are made to fit snugly on the shaft, they cover the open ends
of the bearing.
The belts connecting the pulleys D8 and C are normally sufficiently loose
not to drive and a jockey pulley F is provided for each belt. Each pulley is
carried in a forked arm F¹, pivotted at F2 in a box or frame F. These boxes
are carried so as to be capable of up and down movement in a frame G by
means of rods F5 F7; the rods F³ are preferably square and fit snugly in square
holes in the top of the frame G to prevent any tendency to rotation: the
rods F extend through the bottom of the frame and are surrounded by springs G2
which normally hold the boxes in a raised position against the top of the
frame G.
The frame G is fixed to the frame of the vehicle in any convenient manner.
The pulley arm F¹ extends beyond its frame 14 and rests on a stop F³, which
may be a bar common to all the pulley arms. The pulley arm is held in contact
with the stop by means of a spring 16.
Carried on a rocking shaft II is an arm H extending over the rods F5 of the
jockey pulley frames. The arm H is secured on the shaft H' so as to be capable
of movement along the shaft in order to be placed at will over any desired
one of the arms F, but incapable of rotation on the shaft. A convenient form
of construction for effecting this is to make the portion of the shaft on which
the arm travels rectangular in. form as shown at H³ Figure 3. The movement
of the arm along the rocking shaft is controlled from the drivers seat by
suitable mechanism. A convenient form is shown in the drawings and con-
sists of a vertical connecting rod with a short arm J2 pivotted at J3 to a
lever J pivotted centrally at J³ This lever is connected by a link J6 with a
second lever J7 pivotted at JB and having one end pivotally connected with the
socket of the arm H. The connecting rod J¹ is operated by a handle J movable
over a quadrant J provided with three grooves, indicating the position to be
given to the handle to bring the arm H over each of the rods F5 of the pulley
frame The handle is provided with a spring detent to engage in the grooves
and hold it in position. As shown in Figure 1 the handle is over the central
groove placing the arm H¹ over the rod of the frame of the central one of the
three pullers
.
If now the shaft II' is tocked the arm H will be depressed, pushing down
the central frame F which carries with it the respective jockey pulley,
tightening the muddle belt and causing it to drive.
A suitable mechanism for rocking the shaft is shown in the figures, com-
prising a lever K, placed so as to be operated from the driver's seat.
The lower
end of the lever is connected by a rod K¹ with an arm K2 on a short shaft K³
A similar arm K on the
rotably carried in bearings on the vehicle frame.
other end of the shaft is connected by a rod K with an arm K6 fixed on one end
of the rocking shaft H¹ The lever K is provided with a pawl detent, operated
by a spring controlled arm K, to engage a toothed quadrant Ks to maintain
the lever in any desired position.

page_text: Conveniently plates G³ may be provided, suspended from the frame G to form
rests for the belts when these are not held taut by the jockey pulleys.
In a Specification of even date with this, No. 2692 of 1899, I have described
fully the construction of the engine which I prefer to employ upon this vehicle
though I may use other engines if necessary Whatever engine I use however
I can arrange them so that while one cylinder is working the other cylinder
1s pumping air for the purpose of cooling itself and I arrange the cylinders so
that they can be operated by the driver from his seat so as to bring any one
or more of them into or out of operation at any moment. I may employ any
desired number of cylinders and I can use say two cylinders to start with, then
if those have got over-heated I can employ two more while the first two are
cooling themselves and whenever needed I can employ all four together Should
only two cylinders be employed they may be used alternately for running on
the level or other easy going, the one out of operation cooling itself by pumping
air and both together for heavy work.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is -
1. Adjusting the belts or other like driving gear of a self-propelled vehicle
by the adjustment of a hanging frame such as D¹ which carries a rotatable
shaft substantially as described.
2. In driving gear for self-propelled vehicles the combination with a hanging
frame such as D₁ and a compensating shaft carried thereon of front and back
stays adjustable as to length, the front stays such as D. being connected to
the hanging frame and the vehicle frame and the back stays such as E being
connected to the shaft and the back axle of the vehicle substantially as
described.
-1
3. In variable speed driving gear for self-propelled vehicles an adjustable
shaft such as D from which the road wheels are driven, a stepped pulley such
as Ds fixed on said shaft and geared by belting or the like with a loose stepped
pulley such as C on the axle C, a chain wheel such as C₁ forming part of or
rigidly secured on the pulley C2 and geared to a second chain wheel such as Di
running idle on the shaft D and a third chain wheel such as De likewise running
idle on the shaft D driven by a chain from the engine and in operative con-
nection with the second chain wheel all arranged and operating substantially
as described.
4. In a bearing for a loose pulley a pulley hub having bearing surfaces at
each end and a central lubricating chamber such as C5 a shaft having corre-
sponding bearing surfaces such as C8 of larger diameter than the body of the
shaft and washers such as C C7 covering the open ends of the bearing substan-
tially as described.
5 In variable speed driving gear for self-propelled vehicles the combination
substantially as described of two or more driving belts, a jockey pulley for each
belt, each pulley carried on a forked arm such as F pivotted in a frame F having
end rods such as F3 F, a stop such as F3 and spring such as F6, a fixed frame
such as G in which the rods are adapted to reciprocate, a spring such
as G to hold each frame normally in a raised position, an arm such as Ha
rock shaft such as H¹ and means under the control of the vehicle driver to bring
the arm over- any desired rod F5 and to rock the shaft
G The complete variable speed driving gear for a self-propelled vehicle sub-
stantially as described or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this fith day of December 1899
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.