IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Dewsnup, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Stay and Corset Manufacturer, for the
DAH "
Sealed the 1st February 1854, and dated the 11th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Dewsnup
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th August 1853.
Sp
I, THOMAS. DEWSNUP, do hereby declare the nature of the said Pr
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER" to be as
follows:-
I propose to obtain power either for locomotive or stationary purposes
by means of india-rubber or similar elastic substances, winding the
same, either in cords, straps, or bands, on separate rollers or cylinders;
and in the process of winding it on these cylinders I stretch the
material or substance used so as to ensure a certain degree. of tension,
so that in unwinding it or releiving it from the said rollers or cylinders
the yeilding properties of the material or substance will give the power
required; and by so arranging the said rollers or cylinders as to wind

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Dewsnup in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 10th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS DEWSNUI, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Stay and
Corset Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Dewsnyp, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas Dewsnup, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Dewsnup,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Dewsnup, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Dewsnup, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists of substituting caoutchouc, commonly called
india-rubber,. or any composition of the same, as a means of obtaining

page_text: power, instead of springs of any description now used for such a
purpose; for example, in all kinds of time pieces where springs are
used to give and maintain the moving power I propose to use the
said caoutchouc or india-rubber, or any composition or mixture of the
same with other substances of a similar clastic nature, and also for
children's toys where springs are used to give them a self-acting motion.
My Invention is also applicable to giving motion to or assisting the
power required to turn mangles, coffee mills, or any similar apparatus
where power is required, and may be used in various ways for applying
or detaching the break blocks to railway carriages. It can also be
used as a means of obtaining propelling power for vehicles of different
descriptions, which is the subject I have selected for illustration in
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which the same letters of
reference are used to represent similar parts where different views or
diagrains are shewn. Fig. 1, is a side elevation of a carriage or vehicle
without the outer parts or casing, shewing my method of giving it
motion by means of caoutchouc aforesaid; and Fig. 2, is a plan of the
same. a, is the longitudinal frame or body upon which the trans-
verse frames b, c, are placed to form seats or other requirements of a
carriage; to the frame a, are fixed two strong hooks d, to each of which
is attached a number of strands of vulcanized india-rubber or other
similar elastic material, the opposite ends of which are united to ropes
or connections which pass round the guide pullies g.. and are then
attached to and wound on the two separate drums h, which encircle the
shaft or axle i, upon which the driving pully k, is fixed. The motive
power is obtained by the contractile force of the before-mentioned
elastic material after it has been drawn out or lengthened by wind-
ing the ropes or connections on the drums, which can be done
separately, and their effect afterwards combined by means of the ratchet
wheels, and the catches m.. The elastic material is lengthened, and
the cords wound on the drums, by means of the bevil wheel n, the
pinion o, the other bevil wheels p, and the handle q. When the
necessary length of rope is wound on the drums, as before stated, thus
obtaining the required force of the elastic material, and the check is
taken off, the shaft i, drums and pully k, turn, which pully by means

page_text: of the chain acts upon a smaller pully r, keyed upon the shaft s, which
again turns the larger pully t, which turns the small pully u, keyed in
the shaft v, to which the driving wheels iv, are connected. The driving
wheels are furnished with ratchets and wheels to allow the wheel
which is situated in the longer radius to turn quicker than the other
when the carriage is making curvilinear progress. ȧ, represents the
guiding wheel, which can be moved to any required position by the
handle y.
Having thus fully explained the nature. and particulars of my said
Invention, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact details herein described, as such may be varied or
modified: without departing from the principle thereof. But I claim us
of my Invention, and which, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
has not been hitherto used within this realm, the use and application
of caoutchouc, or any composition thereof, with other clastic material,
for the purpose of obtaining and applying power, as herein described
and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Dewsnup, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the within-named Thomas
Dewsnup in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
THOMAS DEWSNUP. (L.S.)
Patent Agent,
Manchester.