Improvements in Tricycles and in Apparatus for Propelling the same.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Aug., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 27th May, 1890-Accepted, 26th Aug., 1890
TRUVINIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Tricycles and in Apparatus for Propelling
the same.
1, HENRY MIDDLETON of 3 Wellesley Villas, Wellington Street Slough in the
County of Buckingham, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
According to this invention I employ one or more motors to furnish a sufficient
mass of heated gas to produce the power required.
Different sorts of motors are however employed by me. One kind is constructed
on the principle of utilizing the products of combustion of a composition, chemical
compound, or mixture, which produces on burning a large volume of highly heated
gas, & I use these gaseous products of combustion either directly, or after they have
been purified (of solid & liquid matters) by a mechanical or chemical process, to work
the engine attached to the tricycle. Another sort of motor consists of a boiler with
some combustible liquid, or liquefied gas as "the working substance;" the exhaust
from the engine being burnt for the purpose of heating the aforesaid "working
substance & getting rid of the danger of ejecting into the atmosphere a combustible,
or otherwise deleterious mass of vapour. Or thirdly I use a motor consisting of
a boiler" with water as the "working substance," but more or less condense the
exhaust steam from one of the engines by employing it to heat the contents of another
boiler wherein is a quantity of some liquefied gas, or easily vaporizable liquid, whose
expansion works a second engine attached (usually) to the third wheel of the
tricycle.
Several varieties of "engines are used with these motors or generators of gaseous
substances. One variety of the engines I have invented is very similar in external
features to the type of steam engine styled "oscillating." However, my oscillating
engines differ in several particulars from those commonly in use: inasmuch as in my
engines of the oscillating type the "steam chests" are not movable, but stationary ;
the valve gear induction & eduction "ports," piping &c. &c. being constructed to suit
the new arrangements: while the piston heads and piston rods are hollow, & the
piston heads have in them valves for permitting that part of the exhaust to escape
which in consequence of the defects of the common slide valve-is usually shut in
the cylinder in too great a quantity long before the piston has completed its stroke:
& this "throttling of the exhaust" produces much "back pressure" & deducts con-
siderably from the actual energy & efficiency of the engine. The second variety of
engines I use consists of an improved form of Ramsbottom's "Intermedial " engine.
Ramsbottom's engine is compact & ingenious; but it wastes a great deal of the
energy of the steam used in it, in consequence of the extreme shortness of the
connecting rod" or what virtually corresponds to the "connecting rod" of
the same.
This defect I do away with, by adding to Ramsbottom's engine a
connecting rod which can be made of any desirable length, inasmuch as I furnish one
of the piston heads with a hollow pyramidal projection or case within which the
aforesaid connecting rod can work. Of course the end, or head, of the cylinder is
likewise furnished with a corresponding projection or case, into which the projection
on the piston head nearly fits when the crank is at the corresponding "dead point."
Moreover, I by no means limit myself to a pyramidal shape for the before mentioned
case, or projection; inasmuch as I intend to use those of cylindrical, conoidal or
parallelopiped form provided eventually they appear to possess more advantages than
the pyramidal shape first mentioned. Further, the piston heads, & cylinder heads
may be made in the shape of portions of a spherical surface the concavity of which is
turned inwards, & the "crank" bent correspondingly in a wide curve. Instead of
Ramsbottom's valve I sometimes employ a slide valve & steam chest ; but as there is

page_text: no room for an ordinary eccentric with a long connecting rod to join the same to the
valve spindle, I usually prolong the valve spindle, working it through guides and
putting at its end a rectangular frame to embrace the eccentric. Because in this
arrangement it is difficult to change the "lead" of the valve, or to give it "lead" in
opposite directions (without stopping the engine) by the application of well known
engineering devices; I have invented a method wherein the eccentric is mounted on
al "sleeve" or short hollow tube which has a screw thread of convenient "pitch"
projecting into a corresponding thread in the eccentric: & by giving the aforesaid
'sleeve a back & forth motion, the eccentric disc may be fixed in any convenient
position on the shaft of the engine. Of course the sleeve is supposed to turn with
the engine shaft being held at a given angle (relative to its radius) by a thin block
or "feather" along which it can slide parallel to the axis of the shaft, & being moved
in this axial direction by a lever, attached to a collar, which gives it (the sleeve), the
desired motion of translation without interfering with its motion of rotation. The
engine or engines if twin cylinders are used as is indeed generally the most con-
venient form thus fitted up is extremely compact, light, & simple; as the convex
surfaces of the cylinders can be used to act as or perform the functions of, the
framing of ordinary engines. Hence the weight and height of this engine is
considerably less than that of an ordinary inverted twin cylinder engine of the same
power. Lastly this engine may be compounded for the purpose of expanding the
steam if desired. In the third type of engines which I employ on account of their
lightness & simplicity what is chiefly noticeable is the almost entire absence of all
framing; & the use of hollow piston heads; & hollow piston rods, (to let off portion
of the exhaust steam), with corresponding suitable valve system. Tubes (usually of
a rectangular cross section) are also used at one end of the cylinders to serve as
piston-rod guides & further act as part of the framing to permit of the use of a crank
in combination with the slotted end gear of the piston rod or an arrangement
similar to Mackenzie's improved slotted and piston rod, & continuous crank shaft.
Again in this engine two cylinders are used but they are stationary & not.
"oscillating" and further, the piston heads & cylinder ends are usually made in the
shape of portions of a spherical surface, whereby great lightness strength & rigidity
are attained.
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The feed pumps that some of these types of engine require, according to the kind
of motor used to drive them, are again different from the common form. The pump
plunger has gearing which outwardly resembles Stevenson's Link Motion for
reversing the direction in which the shaft of an engine is turning. But instead of
the second eccentric disc which Stevenson employed, a concentric disc, or disc con-
centric with the axle of the engine is used, or virtually used, for the purpose of
allowing the engine shaft to turn without pumping & enabling the gearing to be so
adjusted by sliding or slipping the link in its bearings that any desired amount of
throw" is given to the plunger of the pump. In actual construction there is usually
no concentric disc as the shaft of the engine is itself used instead, but more exact
description is apparently not necessary in a provisional specification: as it is believed
the main features of the invention are completely set forth.
Dated this 26th day of August 1880
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Tricycles and in Apparatus for Propelling
the same.
1. HESKY MIDDLETON, of Wellesley Villas, Wellington Street Slough, in the
County of Buckingham Engineer 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 :-—
According to this invention I employ different sorts of generators to produce the
requisite amount of heated gas required to properly propel my tricycle.

page_text: One kind of generator is constructed with an inner vessel into which is put from
time to time suitable quantities of some slow burning gun-powder, or rocket com-
position the more or less gaseous products resulting from the combustion of which
are passed through water or other suitable chemical compound & then through a
sifting box of brass or other convenient metal which encloses some asbestos whereby
the smoke, & solid residue, is sufficiently separated therefrom to permit the remaining
products of combustion to be used in the cylinder turning the driving wheels of the
tricycle. Further the combustion chamber is surrounded by water contained in an
outer vessel; this water being used chiefly for the purpose of reducing the temperature
of the combustion chamber & preventing its interior surface being too rapidly
destroyed by the heated gas it contains." The steam from the water of the outer
vessel is used in conjunction with the gas from the combustion chamber to work the
engine, a proper valve system being of course employed to suitably govern the dis-
charge of the steam & regulate its pressure. This kind of motor, or rather generator,
may be varied somewhat in construction when charcoal or other form of carbon is
used, instead of the slow burning rocket powder composition spoken of, because of
the necessity of injecting air into the combustion chamber. This is easily done by
means of a forcing pump worked by the foot power-or leg power-of the rider of
the tricycle; & then the products of combustion are used as before in the cylinder
propelling the machine: of course though a "hopper" arrangement is made use of to
enable the carbon to be introduced into the closed combustion chamber at suitable
intervals & requisite quantities.
A second kind of generator used, consists of a very light tubular "boiler," with a
thin casing of mica, or metal. This boiler may have water as "the working substance;"
& it may be heated with one of the mineral oils, or methylated spirits," methyl-
chloride or other easily vaporisable substance which possesses a combustible vapour may
be used as "the working substance," & the exhaust vapour, or
"steam so to call it,
may be led by a pipe from the exhaust pipes-or vessel connected thereto-to the
heater to be burnt & used to vaporize at the fluid spoken of in the boiler.
Different kinds of "engines" are used with these generators.
22
One variety is very similar in external features to the so-called oscillating type of
engine. However my oscillating engines differ in several particulars from those com-
monly in use inasmuch as the steam chests are not movable, but stationary; the
valve gear, induction & eduction ports, piping &c. &c. being constructed to suit
the arrangement spoken of: while the piston heads and piston rods are hollow: & the
piston heads have valves in them for permitting that part of the exhaust to escape
which is usually shut in the cylinder long before the piston has completed its stroke
(in consequence of the imperfections of the common slide valve) & this throttling of
the exhaust & cushioning produces an amount of hack pressure which is very
deleterious in slow running engines & takes away considerably from their power.
The second variety of engines I use consists of a modification of Ramsbottom's
"Intermedial engine." Instead of the slot arrangement of Ramsbottom's engine, I
employ an actual connecting rod whose length can be made of any desired magnitude.
To enable me to employ this connecting rod, I furnish one of the piston heads in the
cylinder with a hollow pyramidal projection or case within which the aforesaid con-
necting rod can oscillate. Of course the cylinder head, or end, is likewise furnished
with a corresponding projection, or case, into which the case on the piston fits pretty
closely when the crank is at the corresponding "dead point." However, I by no
menus limit myself to a pyramidal shape for the beforementioned case; as it may be
cylindrical, conical, or like a parallelopiped, according as one or other shape appears
to present most advantages. Further the piston heads & cylinder heads may be made
in the shape of portions of spherical surfaces the concavity of which is turned out-
wards and the crank bent correspondingly into a wide curve. A slide valve with
eccentric (Figs. 13 & 14) e or cam, may be used with this type of engine the valve
spindle carrying a rectangular frame which embraces the eccentric; & to change
the lead of the valve, or to give it "lead" in the opposite direction, so as to
reverse the engine, I mount the eccentric on a "sleeve" or short tube which
"
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page_text: has a screw thread 4 of considerable pitch projecting into a corresponding thread in
the eccentric thus by giving to the sleeve a back & forth motion, & the eccentric
being kept from sliding on the shaft by a feather (or a pin working through a slot);
it happens that the eccentric is caused to rotate more or less completely as the sleeve
is moved as described. Of course the sleeve slides along but cannot rotate separately
from the shaft, a feather tor pin & slot, permitting the first motion while a
collar c grove cut in the sleeve allows of a lever to be so attached to it, that the
sleeve can rotate with the shaft & be "set" in any position.
In the feed pumps I employ, the chief novelty consists. in a link motion similar to'
that described in my Specification No. 13945 of 1888 with minor modifications to
adapt it to tricycles.
The framing of the tricycle carrying or supporting the rider's seat consists of two
hollow arched ribs (Figs. 5, 11 & 12) ss with appropriate struts & ties arranged
so as to give rigidity with lightness. The two ribs spoken of are united near the
small front wheel but spread out as they proceed backwards and the ends projecting
behind the rear axle support the steam or vapour generator with its accompanying
" engine" &c. &c.
A band lever (Figs. 5 & 12) q is employed to throw the engine into, or out of
gearing with the driving-wheel-axle, & a like method is adopted to connect or discon-
nect this axle with, or from the foot gearing.
A shield (Figs. 5 & 12) n may be used partly to form a support to the engine &
partly to keep the rider from being inconvenienced by the heat & smoke of the
boiler.
In order that my said invention may be most fully understood, & readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figs. 1 & 2 aro side and front views of my oscillating engine. c, &c, are the
cylinders turning on the trunions b&b set on the frame u. d, is the steam chest,
s the steam pipe, &e & e¹ the exhaust pipes. t & are some of the screws which
connect the steam chest to rings which press the two cylinders against the faces of the
steam chest. his the feed pump.
Fig. 3. is a view of the face of the cylinder which presses against the steam chest:
y being the pivot on which it turns && ¹ the upper & under steam ports.
Fig. 4 shows a section of the hollow piston head with its valve system & hollow
piston rod
in the upper & lower ends of which holes are made to let the steam in &
out while the valves are shut & opened by being struck against the cylinder ends.
Fig. 5 shows the way the boiler is attached to the tricycle, & also the position of
the engine m & shield n & gearing lever q.
Fig. 6 shows the interior of my divided-piston engine; the section being parallel to
the crank shaft of the two cylinders. p is the piston; & e, & e¹, the exhaust pipes.
Fig. 7, shows the interior of one of the cylinders of my divided-piston engine the
section being at right angles to the crank shaft. r, is a ridge in the interior of the
casing, attached to the cylinder head, for the purpose of fitting into a corresponding
groove in the casing on the piston head, & causing the piston to move parallel to the
axis of the cylinder.
Fig. 8 is a view of the exterior of one of the cylinders; s, being the steam, & e the
exhaust pipes.
Fig. 9, is a sectional view of the 1st kind of generator I employ. In it a is the
cartridge chamber, or inner vessel in which the rocket composition or other suitable
mixture is placed. is the combustion chamber whence the hot gases are conveyed
by a pipe to the washing water w, & after bubbling through this they pass through
the fine holes in the bottom of the box d to its interior where the asbestus is. Another
set of holes or grating in the top of d allow the gases to escape from d into e from
which they may be drawn off to work the engine. A sliding shutter or door is used
to close the cartridge chamber; this shutter being drawn back into the rectangular

page_text: ::
"
box by a rody (working through a stuffing box) when it is necessary to open the
cartridge chamber: & of course sheet asbestos may be used to pack the sliding
parts of the door or shutter & keep the joints gas tight.
may be
Fig. 10, is a sectional view of the variation made in the 1st kind of generator in
order to use it for burning carbon, in some of its forms, instead of the rocket com-
position spoken of. is the combustion chamber with pipe p & valve & leading from it,
the grate, & the hopper with sliding door or shutter the upper door
made of an elliptical plate with fittings like those used for the "man holes" of boilers.
w is a quantity of water the steam from which may either be discharged into the air
through a safety valve or it may be led through a pipe fitted with a valve o to be
used to work the engine in conjunction with or instead of the hot gases of the com-
bustion chamber. is a pipe which conveys the air compressed by the foot pumps
through the chamber y & pipes to the fuel on the grate g. Of course when a
liquid is used instead of a solid, the "hopper arrangement" is discarded, & a pump to
inject the liquid substituted.
Fig. 11, shows the general arrangement of a tricycle to which is attached a
generator within whose combustion chamber, alcohol, oil or other convenient liquid is
burnt by means of the air forced in by the foot pump p. From the air compressing
pump worked by foot power the air enters the receiver r, whence it passes by the
pipe to the generator, a tapt controlling the rapidity of the flow into the combustion
chamber, which latter it reaches after having gone through the small pipes & around
which the combustible liquid lies; the liquid being either burnt directly--as in some
kind of methylated spirit lamps or through the method of the ordinary lamp-wick
arrangement. This generator has a water casing the steam from which may—by a
proper system of valves-be used in conjunction with the hot gases of the combustion
chamber to work the engine of the tricycle. Also, a box or other containing vessel is
used to hold the combustible liquid before it is drawn off by the injecting pump, to be
thrust into the generator.
Fig. 12. is a view of the tricycle with the engine, saddle, (part of) shield &c. &c.
removed in order that the arrangement of the framing may be more clearly seen, &
also the gearing which may be used to connect the driving axle of the machine with
either engine, or foot power, at will. s, s¹ are two arched ribs of hollow steel or other
convenient material, is the generator, & 7 the engaging or disengaging gear lever
which has an ordinary catch arrangement to lock it in suitable positions on the
are .
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, & in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. Motors for tricycles consisting of an interior chamber in which is burnt a
convenient chemical compound or mixture-as rocket powder for example-& wherein
the solid or liquid residue is removed from the gaseous portion by being absorbed by
chemical, or filtered by mechanical means: the combustion chamber being surrounded
by water & the steam therefrom mixed with the aforesaid products of combustion,
substantially as described, & shown, Fig. 9.
2nd. Motors for tricycles consisting of an interior chamber in which is burnt
substances which require to be mixed with air-or oxygen-to burn. As carbon,
alcohol, &c. &c. and in which the products of combustion are nearly or quite gaseous;
but which substances require air or oxygen to be forced into the combustion chamber
by power either of a man or motor; the combustion chamber being surrounded by
water and its vapour, or steam used substantially as described & shown Figs. 10 & LÌ.
Bed. Motors for tricycles consisting of a boiler whose "working substanes
combustible. (when mixed with air) and can be used to heat the liquid contained in
the boiler after such working substan or vapour has passed through the engine.
4th. The foot power air-pump with fraining gearing air reservoir, liquid reservoir
and general arrangement of parts shield & frame substantially as described & shown
in Fig. 11 of the drawings.
"
Is

page_text: 5th. The oscillating engine with fixed steam chest, hollow piston head, hollow
piston rods, with the different valves in such connection, feed pump & connected
apparatus substantially as described and shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 & 4 of the drawings.
6th. The engine with divided-piston head, link & projecting cases on piston head &
cylinder, reversing gear & connected apparatus, substantially as described, and shown
in the drawings, Figs. 6, 7 8, 13 & 14.
HENRY MIDDLETON.