IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACTOMOTIVES, OR ENGINES FOR RUNNING UPON EARTH OR ON COMMON ROADS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Franklin Stevens, of Trafalgar Square,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACTOMOTIVES, OR
ENGINES FOR RUNNING UPON EARTH OR ON COMMON ROADS."A com-
munication from abroad by Mr. Simon Stevens, of the City and County
of Lancaster. Pensylvania. U.S.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Benjamin Franklin Stevens
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 18th May 1861, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN STEVENS, of Trafalgar Square, Gentleman, send greeting:
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TRACTOMOTIVES, OR ENGINES FOR RUNNING UPON EARTH OR ON COMMON ROADS,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, adminiş-
trators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad by
Mr. Simon Stevens, of the City and County of Lancaster, Pensylvania, U.S.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Franklin Stevens, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seál
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement and
accompanying Sheet of Drawings:-
This Invention relates to that class of steam engines intended to move
along the common road or unprepared ground, and without the interposition

page_text: of tracks, tramplates, tramways, or rails, and to be employed as a self-moving
machine, capable of travelling alone, or as a tractive power, for the purpose of
bauling, drawing, or setting in motion wheel or other carriages attached
thereto; or for giving motion to agricultural implements, machines, or
apparatus, whether for the purpose of tilling or otherwise cultivating or
preparing or treating the soil; or for removing the produce from or cutting
and collecting the crops thereoff. And it consists in a novel arrangement of
the parts of such engines or apparatus, and in the mode or method of com-
municating and transmitting the power for giving motion, as well as in the
disposition and distribution of the weights or masses of material of which
such tractomotives or engines are composed.
The
Now, I am aware that the use or employment of cylindrical or drum-shaped
bearing and driving wheels has long since been proposed, and the same have
been put in practice; also that such drums or cylinders have been variously
employed in relation to the body or frame of the engine; but by the present
Invention the various defects and objections inherent in such arrangements
are avoided, and a more direct and useful economical effect is obtained.
placing or disposal of the drum or cylinder at one end of the engine in the
manner herein-after described, and the placing within such drum or cylinder
of the weight due to the quantity of water carried, and of the vessel in which
it is contained, together with the mode of connecting such weight, and the
.contents of the within contained tank or vessel, as also the surfacial arrange-
ment for receiving the power and transmitting the motion offer facilities for
the advantageous working of such engines or machines not hitherto obtained
in any of the kinds or descriptions of traction engines heretofore in use.
Having thus described the nature and peculiarities of the present Invention,
.I will now proceed to describe the mode or method in which 1 prefer to put
the same in practice, and which I have illustrated in the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1, is a vertical sectional view of the
drum or cylinder forming the leading and forward-bearing wheel, or the means
of propelling the tractomotive machine; and Fig. 2 is a side view or elevation
of an engine constructed according to the present Invention.
In each of the views, Figs. 1 & 2, like parts are referred to by corre-
sponding letters; and for the purpose of briefing the extent of this Specification,
I have combined a description of the arrangement of parts with the details of
their respective actions. D, D, D, is a frame similar to that of a railway
locomotive; F, F, the steam engines for actuating through the connecting
rods I and cranks H, H, the driving axle M, and driving or first motion

page_text: wheels B, B, which driving or first motion wheels are supported by and run
upon the circular tracks or internal flanges or rails 0, 0, 0, 0, secured in
each end of the traction drum A, A, while the other end of the frame is
supported upon the axle of the guiding wheels J by means of springs, as
shewn; C, C, are small supporting and guiding rollers mounted upon the
frame at a height equal, or nearly equal, to that of the centre of the traction
drum A, A, and serve to hold the drum in proper position while running;
K is the boiler secured to the frame D, D, D, and J the guiding wheels
supporting the end of the frame. The engines are shewn with the link-
motion applied, for the purpose of so working the slide valves that a ready
and exact controul of the admission of the steam to each cylinder may thereby
be secured.
I construct the traction drum A, A, of a length nearly equal to the inside
width of the frames, or their distance apart, to secure the broadest tread
possible within a given width, and by preference, make the drum slightly
barrel-shaped, or of greater diameter at its middle length than at its ends, so
that it may turn easily. I secure the circular tracks O, O, O, O, in the ends
of the drum, and make their faces for the support of the driving wheels B, B,
angled or inclined each way as shewn, and the treads of the driving wheels B, B,
between their flanges of a similar or corresponding form so as to fit, that the
adhesion between the wheels and the tracks may be greater than if the treads
were plain flat surfaces; the degree of inclination being proportioned to or
in accordance with the weight carried, and the tractive force to be excrted.
It is so obvious as not to require especial illustration, that the adhesion may
be greatly increased by dividing the treads and tracks into two or more series
of more acute angled treads, somewhat similar to the " tongue and groove
friction gearing."
Within the drum A, A, the water tank E is introduced with two pipes P
as shown, running across it to accommodate the shafts of the small supporting
and guiding rollers C, C, and a recess Q to accommodate the driving axle M,
the tank being supported upon the frame D, D, D, by the brackets R, R,
and the pipe S, leading from the tank E to the pump L, thus economizing space
upon the frame.
I am aware that engines for running upon earth and on common roads,
have been constructed with two driving or traction drums or broad wheels, the
engines being connected by means of cog wheel gearing, and placed between the
wheels. I therefore do not claim such arrangement as my Invention, or as
forming any part thereof, neither do I claim the placing of the whole of the
steam engine, boiler, and the frame upon which it rests, within a large drum

page_text: t
or cylinder, to which motion is communicated by means of toothed gearing, or
otherwise, as I am aware that has also been done heretofore; moreover, I do
not claim the use or employment of druins or cylinders as bearing wheels for
supporting traction engines, except as placed and mounted, or supported in
position, and rotated or driven in manner described; although I do not confine
myself to the exact form or proportions of the several parts, nor the mode of
connecting or using them, as I may substitute mechanically equivalent parts
therefor without departing from the substantial and well-defined features of
the Invention; and I reserve to myself the right of constructing the said
tractomotives or engines, that they may be used or employed to move either
drum-end-first, or -guiding wheels first, as may be preferred; and that such
engines so constructed may be steered and governed from either end, although
in the accompanying Drawing I have only shown the steering handle or wheel
applied at one end of the engine. And, instead of securing the two circular
tracks, or internal flanges or rails, firmly and unalterably to the ends of the
traction drum or barrel, I may so fit and apply them as to permit of their
being readily disengaged therefrom; or instead thereof, for some purposes,
I may inake the traction drum in two parts (in its length), and so attach them
together as when it is necessary to turn or give motion to one half only they
may be separated or disengaged for the purpose of facilitating the turning of
the engine within a very small radius, and then be again readily re-connected;
but what I claim, is,―
First, the combination of the traction drum, driving and guiding wheels,
substantially as described.
Second, the disposition of and mode of supporting the water tank, substan-
tially as described.
Third, the construction and mode of working tractomotives or engines for
moving or running upon earth, or on common roads, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Franklin Stevens, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JAMES STEVENSON,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN STEVENS. (L.B.)
19, Salisbury Street, Adelphi.