Year: 1885

page_text: I, LOYAL CLARK TABER, of the Village of Danforth, County of Onondaga and
State of New York, one of the United States of America, Engine-builder, 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:
This invention consists in an improved construction of a traction engine which
has the propelling power transmitted to the forward wheels as well as the hind
wheels, all as hereinafter fully described and set forth in the claims.
In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation of improved traction engine
taken at the side which carries the train of gears by which power is transmitted to
the four carrying-wheels, the engine proper and its connection with the driving
shaft being omitted, as such are immaterial to the illustration and description of
the invention, Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposite side of that part of the
traction engine to which the improvements are applied, said Figure being partly a
sectional view taken on line xx in Fig. 3; and Fig. 3 is a front end view.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A represents the boiler which is formed at its rear end with the downwardly
extended water-jacketed fire-box A¹. Said boiler is supported on the axles a a! at
opposite ends and nearly the entire weight of the boiler, engine, and of the greater
portion of the gears falls on to the central portion of the boiler, the rigidity of
which has heretofore been depended upon for resisting the weight and transmitting
it to the axles.
Experience has proven that the aforesaid weight produces such a strain on the
seams of the boiler, especially at the junction of the forward portion of the fire box
with the boiler, as to weaken or open the seam thereat. To obviate this defect
I extend from the bottom of the fire-box A' to the upper part of the post K by
which the forward end of the boiler is supported on the axle, a brace B which is
secured at its rear end to a knee fembracing the bottom corner of the forward
portion of the fire-box, and firmly bolted thereon, said knee being provided with
forward projecting ears n n and n¹ between two of which the end of the brace
enters, and is secured thereto by a bolt o passing through said ears and end of the
brace.
The forward end of the brace is inserted between lugs or ears p formed on the
rear of the bearing post K to which lugs or ears the brace is connected by a bolt o¹
passing through said parts.
The bolts o o¹ can be withdrawn and the brace removed when required for
repairs or renewal.
The traction wheels W W receive propelling power from the driving shaft C by
ם'
tel

page_text: which are secured to the sides of the boiler as represented in Fig. 1 of the drawing.
Said spur-wheel E meshes in a pinion D¹ fastened on the driving-shaft and engages
also a gear wheel O, which in conjunction with other gears hereinafter described,
transmits motion to the forward axle a. On this axle I fit loosely a sleeve 8 which
is provided on top with a socket or concave step 6 of the form of a section of
a sphere and in this socket is seated the bearing-post K which is firmly bolted to
the underside of the boiler and has its lower end of a semi-spherical shape corre-
sponding to the socket 6 in which it is stepped.
The boiler is thus mounted on the forward axle by a ball and socket joint which
allows the said axle to oscillate in all directions. In order to confine the bearing-
post K in the socket 6 without interfering with the aforesaid universal movement
of the axle, I provide the underside of the axle with a downward projecting stud-
pin u to which I connect the forward end of the reach r which extends across the
under side of the sleeve, and has an eye for the reception of said stud-pin. Said
end of the reach projects forward from the sleeves and is provided with another
eye for the reception of the lower end of a coupling bolt or link d which has its
upper end pivoted on the front of the post K at a point in a line extending hori-
zontally through the centre of the sphere formed on said post; the lower end of the
link d passes through the end of the reach and is provided on the under side
thereof with nuts which hold the reach up against the sleeve.s and complete the
coupling of the ball and socket joint between the boiler and axle.
The pivotal connection of the link on the post K allows the axle to freely
oscillate in a vertical plane as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawing.
The rear end of the reach is inserted between the two ears n n of the knee f and
is connected therewith by the bolt o passing through it, said knee consisting of a
single plain casting which has a firm bearing on the shell of the water-jacket
surrounding the fire-box, and serves as a convenient and secure fastening for the
brace B and reach r. Said brace and reach thus have in common one attachment
at their rear ends, and this is a very important feature of the invention, inasmuch
as the reach has to resist the tendency of the forward axle being crowded rearward
by the encounter of its traction wheels with obstructions on the road, and also the
tendency of the axle being crowded forward by the strain transmitted to the axle
by the engagement of the pinion P with the gear R, and these strains are trans-
mitted by the reach to the knee f where they are resisted by the brace B which
latter transmits the strain to the rigid post K on the forward end of the boiler,
and thus completely relieves the rear portion of the boiler of said strain.
The post K is hollow, and has on one side an opening c and on the opposite side
a rigid horizontal sleeve h projecting therefrom.
Diametrically through the semi-spherical portion of the post K is extended a
counter-shaft L, one end of which is journaled in the sleeve h and the opposite end
projects through the opening c and is journaled in a box e attached to a vertical
rib rising from the sleeve 8.
This counter-shaft is provided with a universal joint M in the centre of the
semi-spherical part of the post K, which joint allows one end of the counter-shaft
to follow the axle a in its oscillatory movements while the opposite end of said
shaft is maintained parallel with the driving-shaft C by means of the sleeve h.
This lineally confined end of the counter-shaft has attached to it a pinion N
which meshes in a pinion N¹ mounted on a gudgeon rigidly attached to the boiler,
and on the side of the pinion N¹ is the gear-wheel O which receives motion from
the driving-shaft C as hereinbefore described.
On the vibratory end of the counter-shaft L is a pinion P which meshes in a
compensating gear mounted on the axle a, said compensating gear being adapted
to transmit motion to the axle at varying speed when turning the axle to guide
the engine around curves of the road.
The engine is guided by means of the usual steering chains h¹ h¹ which are
connected to the ends of the sleeve 8, and are wound in opposite directions on a
shaft t which is under the control of the operator by a hand-wheel on the end of

page_text: a shaft carrying a worm which engages a worm gear on the end of the shaft t in
the usual and well known manner not necessary to be herein illustrated.
In the operation of this engine it has been found that it is necessary to limit the
turning of the axle a so as to guard against cramping of the gears PR and the
binding of the flexible part of the counter-shaft L against the sides of the opening c
in the bearing post K, and to obviate such injurious effects I employ check-chains
which are at one end hung loosely on the shaft t so as to prevent their being
wound on the shaft and thus have their rear attachment stationary and independent
of the steering chains.
The opposite ends of the check-chains are securely coupled to the steering-
chains at any suitable point between the shaft t and the axle sleeve 8.
Said
check-chains are of such length that in the operation of turning the axle laterally,
the check-chain which is coupled to the unwinding or paying out steering chain,
is drawn taut and caused to arrest the movement of the said steering chain.
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 combination with the boiler A and forward axle a, the reach r extending
from the axle to the rear portion of the boiler, and the brace B extending from the
forward portion of the boiler to the rear portion of the same, and having its
attachment at the rear end in common with that of the reach substantially as set
forth.
2. In combination with the boiler A, semi-spherical bearing-post K, and forward
axle a, the sleeves provided on top with the socket b, and on the bottom with the
stud-pin u, the reach r extending across the under side of the sleeve and provided
with an eye for the reception of the stud-pin, and the coupling link d pivoted on
the post K and connected with the forward end of the reach, whereby said post is
retained in the socket without interfering with the oscillations of the axle, substan-
tially as set forth and shown.
3. In combination with the boiler A having the downwardly extended fire-
box A¹ and reach rand brace B, the knee fembracing the bottom corner of the
forward portion of the fire-box, and having forward projecting ears n n n¹ and
bolt o for the attachment of the reach and brace, substantially as described and
shown.
4. In combination with the boiler A, axle a, sleeve 8 provided with the socket b,
hollow semi spherical bearing-post K provided with the side opening c, com-
pensating gear R on the axle, and the counter-shaft supported on the sleeve and
having a universal joint in the hollow post K, and provided with the pinion P
meshing in the gear R, and the steering chains h¹ wound in opposite directions on
the shaft t and connected to the ends of the sleeve a as described, the check-
chains having their rear ends attached stationary and independent of the steering
chains, and their forward end securely coupled to the steering chains, and each
check-chain of a length to be drawn taut by the unwinding of the steering chain
to which it is connected whereby the action of the steering chains is limited to
prevent the binding of the counter-shaft in the side opening of the bearing post
and injury to the same, and to the gears P R substantially as set forth.