US614907A - Vehicle-propeller - Google Patents

Description

No. 6l4,907. Patented Nov. 29, I898.

r. VENNEB. VEHICLE PROPELLER.

(Application mm Feb. 91, 189B.) (No Model.) 2 Shasta-Sheet I.

No. 6l4,907. Patented Nov. 29, uses.

J. r. VEN'NER. VEHIGLE PROPEL LER.

(Application filed Feb. 21, 189B.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

i V 3 a J 11111,,

I/IIIII/fll NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN F. VENNER, OF BROl/VNSVILLE, OREGON.

VEHlCLE-PROPELLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,907, dated N ovember' 29, 1898.

Application filed February 21, 1898. Serial No. 671,183. (No model.)

To all whom, it ntcty concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN F. VENNER, a citi zen of the United States, residing at Brownsville, in the county of Linn and State of Oregon, have invented a new'and useful Vehicle- Propeller, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a vehicle-propeller adapted for use in connection with roadwagons, sleds, and similar vehicles, and has for its object to provide a propeller which may be efficient in soft soils, particularly in traversing grades and for use in snow and on ice, the propeller consisting of a rimless wheel adapted to be driven by suitable motive power and capable of sinking into snow orother soft surfaces in order to attain an efiicient hold, and also capable of engaging hard slippery surfaces, such as ice, to secure the maximum efficiency of the motor.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a vehicle havinga propeller constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view, partlyin section, of the same. Fig. 3 is a view of a sled-vehicle to which the propeller embodying my invention is applied. Fig. 4t is a partial plan view of the same, showing the arrangement of parts when the propeller-wheels are arranged foremost. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the wheel-spokes.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw ings.

1 designates a vehicle-body, which obviously may be of any suitable form and capacity, and mounted in suitable bearings thereon is a driving-shaft 2, carrying propeller-wheels, which may be either fast or loose thereon. In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the propeller-wheels are fast on the shaft, and each consists of a hub 3, having spaced parallel flanges 4 either integral with or firmly attached to the hub, and a plurality of longitudinally-flattened spokes 5, alternately attached .at their inner ends to the outer and inner flanges at and converging body portions of the spokes facilitate the cutting thereof through a soft surface, such as snow, while the transverselyflattened or blade portions are adapted to sink to a sufficient depth to engage a firm or compact stratum. Any desired number of spokes may be employed, depending upon the diameter of the wheel and the purpose for which it is to be used; but in the construction illustrated the body portions of the spokes have inward ly-converging side edges and are arranged close together,whereby the terminals or blades thereof are arranged at sufficiently short intervals to insure the contact of a plurality thereof at all times with the surface traversed. Obviously this prevents an annoying jarring of the vehicle when traversing a hard surface. The extremities of the blades may have chisel edges to facilitate the engagement thereof with ice-surfaces.

As above indicated, any suitable construction of vehicle-body may be employed, and in the same way any preferred means may be employed for imparting rotary motion to the propeller-wheels.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 2 the motor, which is indicated in diagram at S, communicates motion through a gear 9 to a pinion 10 on the shaft. Also in this form of the apparatus the support for the opposite or front end of the vehicle-body consists of steering-wheels 11, of which the pivotal axle 12 is connected, by chains 13 or otherwise, with asteering-shaft 14. On the other hand, in the construction illustrated in Figs. 3 and l the propeller-wheel shaft, which is mounted above the plane of the sled top or body 1 carries propeller-wheels which are loosely mounted thereon, connection between the shaft and the wheels being secured by means of clutches 15, having operating levers or handles 16, whereby the operator is enabled to disconnect either propeller-Wheel from the shaft, and thus allow the same to turn idly, while motion is communicated to the vehicle by the other wheel, and thus causes it to describe a curved path, as in turning, the. In this construction the propeller-wheels are preferably arranged at the front of the vehicle, and the other end thereof is supported by means of sled-runners 17. Any suitable mechanism may be employed for communieating motion to the propellershaft, and therefore it has been deemed unnecessary to illustrate such mechanism in the form of the apparatus shown in Figs. 3 and at.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim isl. A rotary vehicle-propeller consisting of a rimless wheel having spokes arranged at their inner ends upon parallel spaced lines, converging outwardly to intersect in a common longitudinal plane, and extended beyond said point of intersection to form transverselyflattencd blades, substantially as specified.

2. A rotary vehicle-propeller consisting of a riinless Wheel having longitudinally-flattened spokes arranged at their inner ends upon parallel spaced lines, converging outwardly to intersect in a common longitudinal plane, and extended and twisted axially beyond said point of intersection to form transverselyflattened blades, substantially as specified.

3. A rotary Vehicle-propeller, having a flanged hub, outwardly-convergent longitudinally-flattened spokes secured at their inner ends alternately to the inner and outer flanges of the hub, and intersecting in a common longitudinal plane, and a spacing-brace connecting the spokes at their points of intersection,said spokes being extended beyond the spacing-brace and turned or twisted axially to form transversely-flattened blades, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN F. VENNER. lVitnesses:

J. M. SHULSE, DAVID J. DEARMOND.

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