US280361A

US280361A - dickson

Info

Publication number: US280361A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-07-03
Anticipated expiration: 1900-07-03

Description

Al! d 2 Sheets--Sheel 1.

VEHICLE.

Patented July 3, 1883.

Inventor N. Pneus. mwmmmgmpm. wnsmgmn, ac.

(No Model.)

G. J. DICKSON.

m n ss' es;

(No Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. J. DICKSON.

VEHIGLE.

No.\280,36l,.

MES

Wtnesses.- Inventor:

UNITED STATESA "PATENT GEETCE.

GILBERT J. DIoKsoN, on ALBANY, NEw YORK.

v E H C l. E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. `280,361, dated July 3, 1883.

y l Application filed August 30, |882. (No model.)

Z'o @ZZ whom ibm/ay concern: f

Beit known that I, GILBERT J. DIoKsoN, of the city and county of Albany, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in .vehicles or carriages which have their bodies or platforms hung on springs, and which are 1o constructed for the purpose of carrying passengers or freight. v

Among the principal defects found in this class of vehicles as heretofore constructed may be enumerated the following: iirst, the loca- I 5 tion of the axle-trees, or, as frequently constructed, the axle-trees and springs beneath the body or platform of the vehicle, whereby the said body or platform is necessarily raised to such a height as to render the entrance and 2o exit of passengers and the loading and unloading of freight a matter of great difficulty; second, pivoting the forward axle-tree by its middle and swinging it by means of a tongue fixed thereto, so as to cause the vehicle to turn off its direct course, which construction necessitates the use of veryl small forward wheels, so as to permit them to turn underneath the body or platform, or, where large forward wheels are used, requiring an elevated extension of the forward part of the body or platform to enable the forward. wheels to pass underneath it, thereby `rendering all that part of l the body or platform useless, and throwing the Ventire weight of the load upon the hind axletree; and, third, the insufficiency of bracing l or support for the inner ends of the spokes when the wheels are made of ample size to se- 'cure an easy and smooth running of the vehicle.

i The object of my invention is to remedy the 4o .above-named defects; and to this end my in vention consists in hanging the body or plat-V form of the vehicle to the runningLgear by A 5 means of bearers or carriers, which pass underneath the said body or platform and extend upward at each side of the same. The said 4upward extensions serve as guides for the sliding heads that are placed 'at each side of' the vehicle, and each of said sliding heads is provided withan axle for receiving one wheel in such manner that a simultaneous moveof the runninglgear, and is connected to its carrier or carriers `by means of springs, as

hereinafter described; and the whole is so arranged that the body or platform of the vehicle will be carried so closely to the surface of the road that, while it will pass freely over any irregularities of the road, it will be most convenient for the ingress and egress of Ipassengers, and the loading and unloading of freight. Provision is made for fturning the vehicle from a' direct course by employing 6o under its forward end a carrier held in a iixed transverse position, to which the sliding heads for the axles of the forward wheels are pivotally attached, so as to move in a hori- Zotal plane. A tongue pivoted to' swing inde-` 65 pendently of the fixed carrier, but having its pivotal center at or near the middle of the said fixed carrier, is'connected by means of a bar or bars (pivotally connected to said tongue) to the mechanism for carrying the forward wheels ment of the said wheels will be effected, and the wheels turned at an abrupt angle to the center line of the vehicle without striking the r body or platform of said vehicle.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and to which reference is made herein, Figure 1 is an inverted plan View of a passenger-vehicle containing my improvements as adapted to use with elliptic springs; Fig. 2, a transverse section at theline y y on Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a side elevation ofthe same; Fig. 4, a transverse section at the line on Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a plan, view of the forward part of the vehicle shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section at the line .ez on Fig. 2, showing the inner side of one of the hind wheels, and the guides, sliding heads, and spring for same; Fig. 7, an enlarged vertical section of a carrier, sliding head, and spring, and the central portion of a wheel; Fig. 8, an

enlarged and detached detail of a carrier, slid- IOO at the line z z' on Fig. 14; Figs. 16, 17, and 18,

enlarged and detached details of construction of the wheel shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 19, an inverted plan view of a vehicle containing my improvements, showing an adaptation for turning the two forward wheels at different angles.

As illustrated in the drawings, A designates the body of the vehicle, which may be constructed, as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, for carrying passengers, or, as shown in Figs. 9 to 11, for the transportation of freight, or in any other suitable and required form; D, the carriers forthe hind wheels. The said car 1iers may be made of separate short sections, as shown in Fig. Y1, or of sufficient length to run from side to side across the under side of the vehicle, as shown in,Figs. 9 and 19. Thesaid carriers are rigidly secured to the bottom of the vehicle, and are formed with extensions D', which stand erect at each side of the vehicle, but clear from the body of it, and the said extensions serve as guides for the sliding heads that carry the axles for the wheels. The sliding head B is fitted to slide up and down on the guides D', and is provided on its outer face with an axle, B', on which one of the wheels of the vehicle is fitted to rotate. Said sliding head is provided with friction-rollers e, that are arranged, as shown in Fig. 7, to bear against the guides D', so as to lessen the friction between the two parts. The springs C, shown in the first eight figures of the drawings, are of an elliptic form, and have their lower part secured to the bottom flange of the sliding head B by means of the bolts f, and their upper part secured by bolts f to a bearing-plate, G, which engages under the collars 7 (formed on the guides D') in such manner that the weight ofthe vehicle will be borne on said springs, but, as shown in the remaining figures of the drawings, the springs C may be made in aspiral form to slide over the guides D', and are contained in sleeves B2 of the sliding head. The said spiral springs engage under the collars r in the manner and for the purpose above described in respect to the bearing-plate attached to the elliptic spring.

The carrier DL for the forward wheels is attached to the bottom of the vehicle by means of a center-bolt, d, in such manner as to permit any slight swaying motion of the vehicle; but any fore-and-aft oscillation of said carrier is prevented by clips d', which are secured to the bottom of the vehicle, so as to bear against the front and rear sides of the carrier, but leave it free to rock in a vertical direction.

The tongue H has its pivotal center on the center-bolt, d, but is independent of the carrier D?. As shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 5, the tongue H is 'connected to the forward end of the front' springs C by means of rods h, which are pivoted at h' to the said tongue, and the parts are so arranged that when the tongue H is turned sidewise in either direction the sliding heads B will swing on the guides D' of the carrier D2, and cause the forward wheels to turn at the same angle and at the saine instant. As shown in Figs. 9, 11, and 12, the carrier D2 is attached to thebottoin of the vehicle in the manner above described; but the forward wheels are attached to sliding heads B, that contain spiral springs. A carrier, D3, pivoted to the tongue H and adapted to move endwisc, is provided with guides D', like those on the carriers D. The guides on the carrier D3 engage in the forward ends of the sliding heads B and cause the latter to move in unison with every lateral movement of the tongue H.

In Fig. 19, I show a modification of the mechanism for turning the forward wheels so as to adapt the angular position of' said wheels to the different curves through which they are required to pass in turning from a direct course. The angles of the forward wheels shown in said figure are those in which said wheels `are requiredy to assume to turn the vehicle abruptly, and the curves traveled by all of the wheels are separately indicated by dotted lines, whos@ curves'are generated from a common center marked p.`\ The different angular positions of the forward vwheels are produced by this modified mechanism by separating the carrier Di into two parts, the said parts (of the carrier) being 4adapted to slide in a sleeve, I, (pivoted to the tongue H,) by means of acain, J, which is fixed to the tongue H. The said cani is provided with slotted openings j, that are adapted to engage with studs d2, fixed in the inner ends of the two parts of the carrier D, Fig.l 19, in such manner that when the tongue H is deflected laterally in either direction from its central line the two parts of the carrier D:s will be extended from the ends ofthe sleeve I, so as to increase the distance between the two guides D', to which thesaid parts of the earrier are connected. The effect of this elongation is to increase the angularity of the position of the wheel toward which the tongue is deiiected, and to the same degree decrease the angularity of the wheel at the opposite side, thereby forcing the wheels into the different angular positions shown in Fig. 19, to effect the purpose described. In either arrangement of the mechanism above described for operating the forward wheels the shock commonly produced whenever either of said wheels strikes against any obstruction or inequality in the road is simply transmitted to .the ,gui des D of the carrier D2, but such shocks cannot produce any lateral movement of the tongue I-I, and consequently the animals that are drawing the vehicle will be secure from any danger of injury that can be produced from such a cause.

It will readily be seen that my improvements enable me touse wheels of unusual diameter for both the forward and hind parts of the running-geai' without producing any interference with any other part of the structure, and for that reason I am enabled to produce a much easier running vehicle than can be ob- IOO IIO

290,361- l v :n

`tained when small Wheels are used; and in order to obtain in said wheels the greatest strength with the least weight, I preferably construct their central parts in the manner shown in Fig. 7, the metallic parts o f which are shown in detailV in Figs. 16,17, and 18. As shown therein, E is the nave of the wheel; and F the spokes, which are inserted in said nave in the usual mannen Each of said spokes is provided near its middle with atapered portion, m, for the purpose of receiving a metallic yoke-piece, n, andthe latter is provided at two opposite points on its diameter with eyes in which screw-threads are tapped. Circular bands or hoops q are fixed on the opposite ends of the nave E, and each of said bands is provided with a series of holes that equal the number of spokes contained in the wheel. The holes in said bands are tapped with screw-threads whose angles are placed in a reversed direction to those cut in the eyes of the yoke-pieces n-that is to say, if the eyes of the latter are tapped with a right-hand thread, then the holes in the bands qwill be tapped with a left-hand thread, and vice versa. The brace-rods b are provided at one end with a right-hand thread and at the opposite endl e'nd screws into its appropriate hole in the band q. By turning said'brace-rods iu the proper direction,l each yoke-piece` n will be drawn toward the nave E, and thereby the inner ends of the spokes F will be forced into the nave, and when all of said braces are brought to their proper places, the outer ends of each-pair will incline toward each other, and the whole will form a perfect system of counter-bracing that will impart great strength to the spokes of the wheel, and consequently to the wheel itself.

Itwill also be seen that a vehicle, when constructed as hereinabove described, 4 can have the bottom of its body or platform arranged quite close to the surface of a road, and thereby the entrance and exit of passengers and the loading and unloading of freight are rendered'matters of easy convenience.

Where the use of smallwheels is preferred,`

or the body of the vehicle is vrequired to'be placed on a higher plane, -the carriers may be constructed with their guides D extending downward instead of upward, as hereinbefore described, and showniin the drawings, and the same dependent-construction of said guides may be `used whenever it is necessary to place the carriers uponthe top of .the vehicle instead of underneath it, as hereinabove described; but while thescope of 'my invention includes these modifications, I prefer the con- Y struction 'shown in the drawings.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-` l. A vehicle having each ofv its wheels ar 65 ranged on a separate and independent axle, formed on or xed to a sliding head, which is adapted to reciprocate vertically on 4guides formed on carriers, which extend under the body of the vehicle, as herein described, the. said carriers and guides being so constructed and arranged in relation to the ybody of the vehicle that they and their attached parts will remain clear from contact with the sides of said body, as herein specified. ,7 5

2. .The combination, with a carrier or carrif ers, D, extending under the body of the vehicle, and provided with vertical guides D, which extend upwardat the sides of the vehiclebody without forming a contact therewith, of 8o a sliding head, B, provided with an axle, B', and the spring or springs C, all constructed and arrangedto operate as herein specified.

3. The combination, with the carrier D?, having guides D, and the sliding heads B, provided with axles B/, and pivotally. connected to said guides, as lherein set;forth,of the tongue H, adapted to move independently of the carrier D2, and connected either directly or mediately to the sliding heads B, as herein described, for the purpose of effectinga simultaneous change in the angularity of the. wheels attached to said sliding heads, as herein specified.

4. A vehicle having two or more of y its wheels arranged to rotate upon independent axles, that are fixed on sliding heads pivotally connectedtoa stationary carrier orcarriers, as herein set forth, and mechanism, substantially as described, whereby the angular position of said wheels in respect to the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle may be changed, in the manner and for the purpose herein speci-` fied.

5. The combination, with the ytongue H, provided with a cam, J, substantiallyas set forth, of the mechanism described for connect ing said cam withthe slidingheads B for the forward wheels, the whole being so constructed and arranged to operate thateach of the said forward wheels will be therebyadj usted to the different angles required to suit .the different curvatures traveled by said wheels in turning from a direct course, as herein specified. m

6. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination, with the nave E, provided with bands q, constructed as herein described, of the spokes F,provided with tapered portions m, the yoke-pieces n, and the brace-rods b, having a right-hand screw at one end and a left-hand screw at the opposite end, as herein set forth, the bracerods b being adapted to screw into the yokepieces n andbands q, in the manner and for the purposesherein specied.

4 GILBERT J. DIOKSON.

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Vfitnessesz- WILLIAM H. Low, T. W. LnRwoon.