IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLES FOR SELF-PROPULSION
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest de Pass, of Fleet Chambers, 68, Fleet Street, in
the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VEHICLES FOR SELF-PROPULSION." A communication from abroad by George
W. Bishop, of the City of Brooklyn, State of New York, in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 20th August 1878, and dated the 23rd February 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest de Pass at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd February 1878.
ERNEST DE PASS, of Fleet Chambers, 68, Fleet Street, in the City of London,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLES FOR SELF-PROPULSION." A commu-
nication from abroad by George W. Bishop, of the City of Brooklyn, State of New
York, in the United States of America.
The vehicle consists of a horse-shaped body with saddle-like seat, the hind feet of
which are secured to, or over, the rear shaft of a wheel or pair of wheels, and the
forward feet of which are secured to the outer ends of crank arms attached to the
fixed axle of the forward wheel or wheels.
The body of the horse is divided into two parts by a vertical and transverse joint,
fissure, or cut just under the forward edge of the saddle, and the two parts are held
together by a hinge or hinges located centrally with their leaves or wings, extending
fore and aft in the horse body.
The fore legs are moveable at the shoulder or knees, or are possibly made stiff at
these joints, and provided with pieces of metal attached to the feet with longitudinal
slots therein, in which the crank pin or pins of the forward wheel or wheels slide
as the crank turns and the horse rises and falls.
A bar extends crosswise for the convenience of the neck of the horse, where it
joins the shoulder at top, which bar is held by the rider sitting in the saddle for the
double purpose of assisting to lift, and in order to control and steer the vehicle.
A frame rises from the shaft of the forward wheel or wheels, allowing the shaft
to turn therein, and in case of a single forward wheel this frame is forked and

page_text: straddles the wheel. This frame is curved on, or nearly on, a line struck from the
rear wheel shaft as a centre, and has a corresponding frame extending from the
lower breast of the horse body between the fore legs.
That frame or part which has bearings on the driving wheel shaft has attached
thereto and projecting laterally so as to come within easy reach of the feet of a
person occupying the saddle seat, foot rests which receive the pressure of the feet
of the rider for purposes of propulsion, and to aid in steering and otherwise con-
trolling the vehicle.
The vehicle is propelled by the rider, who rises and falls or straightens his limbs,
lifting the horse body by the guide arms, and then relaxes his muscles and allows
his weight to rest upon the saddle.
The horse body is a lever connected to the forward cranks by links, resembling,
for the purpose of simulating a horse, or other animal, in form and action, the fore
legs, say of a horse. The vehicle may, however, be propelled by keeping the seat
on the horse, and simply pushing on the foot rests with the feet, the result of
which, owing to the fact that the crank arm has an axle or centre of motion at each
end, is that the driving wheel is thereby revolved, and the vehicle is consequently
moved along.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Ernest de Pass in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd August
1878.
ERNEST DE PASS, of Fleet Chambers, 68, Fleet Street, in the City of London,
A commu-
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLES FOR SELF-PROPULSION."
nication from abroad by George W. Bishop, of the City of Brooklyn, State of New
York, in the United States of America.
The Invention relates broadly to a vehicle which carries its own propelling power
in the person of the rider, and more narrowly to that species which are propelled
by the weight and muscular strength of the rider in combination, and acting either
at will or simultaneously or alternately for that purpose.
The practical object of this Invention is the production of a vehicle to be operated
by the rider through the action of his legs, arms, and chest, and also by his weight
all so used as to imitate the motions of a running or cantering horse and rider,
and so as to employ the same in the most natural, easy, and effective manner.
I now proceed, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, to describe an
auto-propelling vehicle constructed according to the Invention.
B is the horse body, which is supported on or over the shaft of the hind wheel or
wheels W, as shewn in Figure 1, or in any convenient manner; it is hinged forward
of the seat or saddle S, as shewn at H, Figures 1 and 4, and is provided with the
guide bar or handle G located at the base and upper side of the neck of the horse,
preferably where the hands of the rider would naturally reach the reins when
riding the living horse. These handles should be secured to the horse body or neck

page_text: in any convenient manner, but so firmly as to enable the rider to exert all his
strength in lifting the horse and in steering.
I prefer to attach the horse body to the hind axle by those parts which represent
the feet or hoofs, and as low down as possible in order to give the rider a better
control than he would have if the point of attachment was high up and approached
a horizontal line.
The horse body and legs may be so shaped and disposed, if desired, as to bring
this pivoted point under, or nearly under, the seat; and in case of the employment
of high hind wheels the axle may be bent down between the wheels, or on each
side of the single hind wheel, the use of which I contemplate in place of the two
wheels shown whenever desired. The single hind wheel may be placed between
the legs of the horse or in any equivalent relation to the lever used.
The fore legs of the horse F are pivoted to the body of the horse in the natural
position by means of the screw pins P, P, or in any suitable manner; and at the
part representing the feet connecting plates P1, P₁, or other suitable devices connect
the legs with the arms A, A, by means of pins or secondary axles A³, A³, the other
ends of which arms are secured to an axle A¹ located in the centre of the driving
wheel W'.
The pivoted fore leg may, however, be dispensed with, and a rigid leg substi-
tuted therefor with a joint at the knee, as shown in Figure 9, or with longitudinally
slotted plates attached to each foot so as to receive and operate the crank pin in
the manner usual in other kinds of mechanism, as shown in Figure 8.
The hinge at H may consist of one or more ordinary hinges provided with two
leaves, and these leaves may be inserted and secured in slots fore and aft in the
body of the horse, or in any other way which may suggest itself to the ordinary
mechanic familiar with the hanging of doors upon hinges, but care should be taken
to make the hinge attachment strong enough to bear the strain brought thereon,
according to the weight of the rider, and also to leave sufficient space between the
adjoining parts to permit the necessary variation in the direction of movement of
the wheel W¹ for steering purposes.
The leaves may best be made to project on each side, straight or radially, from the
eyes, in order to give equally free motion to both sides in turning.
The two arms A, A, project from the axle A¹ on opposite sides of the driving
wheel W', and the second axles A2, A2, connect it with the plates P1, P¹, at the fore
feet of the horse.
R and R, Figures 2, 3, and 7, are interior and exterior slides or slide rodo
respectively. They are both forked, and straddle the driving wheel, the former
being provided at the lower end with bearings, which grasp and hold the axle A'
so that it may easily turn therein, and at the upper end with laterally projecting
foot rests 0, 0.
The exterior slides R¹, R¹, are firmly secured to that part of the body which repre-
sents the lower brenst of the horse between the two fore legs.
As the horse body rises and falls between the two positions represented in
Figures 2 and 3, and in Figure 1, in full and in dotted lines, the slides R', R', slide
on the slide rods R, R, which they grasp firmly and so steady the body as to prevent
lateral swaying, and give control at all times over the wheel W₁ for the purposes of
steering the vehicle. By employing this device I am able to discard the supple-
mentary "reach" and platform previously required to support the foot rests for the
feet of the rider, and to connect the fore and hind wheels in this kind of vehicles; by
so discarding this reach I gain the control of the fore driving wheel for steering
purposes, and also independent foot rests.
Figure 6 shows an arrangement for adjusting the foot rests or stirrups. The foot
rests O, O, are provided with stems, which may be made to screw up and down in
the cross head C, or they may be perforated and pinned at any desired point or
points.
Various other methods of adjusting these rests will occur to the mechanic, and
the shape and location of the cross head C may be so varied as to allow the feet of

page_text: the rider to come as near the ground as convenient, and various lengths of lower
limbs may require.
U is a rubber spring represented as attached to a projection from the cross head
C at one end and to the horse body at the other. Its object is to assist the rider
in operating the vehicle in a manner to be described herein-after.
I contemplate the use in some instances of an equivalent method, which consists
in securing a band or other spring, preferably of steel, on one end of the under side
of the horse body, and on the other to the cross head, so arranged as to have a down-
ward action upon the horse body. This action may be reversed, but since the
downward movement is given mainly if not quite entirely by the weight of the
rider, which cannot be materially increased or aided at will, while the upward
action is less limited and more subject to control and increase I prefer the arrange-
ment suggested.
Figure 5 shows a side and an edge view of one kind of slides which may be sub-
stituted for those shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 7. The slides R, R¹, shown in that
Figure consist of curved plates substantially alike, each provided at one end with
two flanged rollers R2, R2, secured by arbor pins in projections from both edges of
the slides. These rollers are intended to have a tread wide enough to bear on and
across the edge of the opposite slide, front and rear, and the flanges F¹ are intended
to hold the two slides together after the free end of each has been passed between
the two opposite flanges of each set of rollers and the body of the slide opposite
them. It is evident that these rollers may be increased in number to any necessary
extent, and also that they being oiled when necessary and bearing chiefly on the
edges of the slides adjacent, will diminish friction without diminishing the control
necessary to enable the rider to operate, and especially to steer the vehicle.
The slides R, R¹, Figure 5, show only the operative slide part of the frame, of
which they form a part and by which they are sustained. In effect this frame is
to the slides a rib extending centrally along each with a cross head connection at
top in each corresponding to C and C₁, Figures 2 and 3.
The body of the horse being arranged so as to move on the rear wheel shaft or
axle as a centre, the slides R, R', are curved accordingly. And as this centre is
varied in its location and distance from the centre of the driving wheel the sweep
of their curves must be also varied.
Figure 4 is a section cut on line x, x, Figure 3, and Figure 7 the same, cut on line
y, y, Figure 2.
The operation of the vehicle is simple, and as follows:-Supposing the rider to
take his seat on the saddle S, place his feet on the foot rests O, O, and his hands on
the guide bar G, when the parts are in the positions shown in Figures 1 and 3, his
knees being sufficiently bent by merely rising, as I may say, in his stirrups, and
lifting on the guide bar G much as he would do if mounted on a living horse; at
starting, the legs F, F, according as the arms A, A may be in the rear or forward
of a "dead centre," will cause the driving wheel to revolve forward or backward,
and having reached the upward limit of motion provided for, as shown in Figure 2,
and the muscles of the legs and arms, as employed in lifting, being relaxed so as to
cause the weight of the body to come upon the saddle seat; this weight, aided by
the spring U, will act through the legs F, F, upon the arms A, A, to complete the
revolution of the wheel W1, when the operation described may be repeated at will
with more or less rapidity, resulting in more or less speedy travelling over the
surface of the ground or floor. Meantime the two hands of the rider upon the
guide bar G, at opposite sides of the neck of the horse, will enable him to turn in
any direction at will, or to keep moving in a straight line. With the hands of the
rider holding the bar G firmly, and his feet resting upon the foot rests O, O, he has
absolute control at all times over the wheel W₁, either to give motion to the vehicle
to stop it or to turn or travel backwards. When the knees are in a bent position,
with the crank not at the "dead centre," a sudden impulse of the feet will cause the
driving wheel to revolve without other aid of the hand, the force expended being
exerted through the axle of the driving wheel and that end of the crank lever A

page_text: which is attached thereto. The vehicle may also be propelled and likewise steered
without using the guide bar G in lifting or turning through the same instru-
mentalities.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same may be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First. In an auto-propelling vehicle, a seat supporting rocking lever connecting
the front and rear axles as a sole "reach" provided with swinging links connecting
the forward end of the rocking lever to the crank arms of the driving wheel, as
described.
Second. In an auto-propelling vehicle an imitation horse body used as a rocking
lever, a seat support, and the "reach," between the front and rear axles, and provided
with pivoted fore legs connecting the rocking lever and propelling crank arms for
the purpose of giving motion to the vehicle, as shown and described.
Third. In an auto-propelling vehicle a jointed or hinged and rocking lever seat
support, with the joint or hinge located so that the rider sitting in the seat can
turn the front end of the rocking lever to right or left for the purpose of
steering.
Fourth. In an auto-propelling vehicle a jointed or hinged and rocking lever seat
support, a forward propulsion wheel with fixed axle provided with crank arms pro-
jecting radially in one direction from the axle on each side of the wheels, and links
or legs connecting these cranks with one member of the rocking lever seat support,
substantially as described.
Fifth. The slides R. and R¹ connecting a rocking lever seat and a driving wheel,
as shown and described.
Sixth. A horse body rocking lever in an auto-propelling vehicle, connected and
guided in its movements with and in relation to the driving wheel by slides R, R¹,
or their equivalents.
Seventh. The slides R, R', one attached to the rocking lever seat support, and
the other to the axle of the driving wheel, the two slides connecting together a
seat support and the driving wheel, and controlling their united movements, as
described.
Eighth. The horse body rocking lever in an auto-propelling vehicle divided into
two parts, hinged together, and the driving wheel provided with cranks for turning
the same, connected and guided in their relative and united movements by slides
R, R', or their equivalents, as described.
Ninth. The horse body or its equivalent made in two parts, hinged together, and
provided with pivoted fore legs, each secured to the most forward of the two parts
and to the crank pins of the driving wheel crank.
Tenth. In a vehicle arranged for propulsion by a passenger a seat support con-
necting front and rear wheels made in form of a horse, composed of two parts hinged
together, the hind quarters and part of the body secured to or over the hind wheel
or wheels, and the fore quarters and body provided with a guide bar secured to a
front steering and driving wheel so as to be turned therewith, substantially as
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernest de Pass, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
ERNEST DE PASS. (L.S.)