US796893A

US796893A - Means for imparting stability to unstable bodies.

Info

Publication number: US796893A
Application number: US23540904A
Authority: US
Inventors: Louis Brennan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1904-12-03
Filing date: 1904-12-03
Publication date: 1905-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 1922-08-08

Description

' N No. 796,893. PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

L, BRENNAN. v MEANS FOR IMPARTING STABILITY TO UNSTABLE BODIES.

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No. 796,893. PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905. L. BRENNAN. MEANS FOR IMPARTING STABILITY TO UNSTABLE BODIES.

APPLIUATION FILED DEC. 3, 1904.

No. 796,893. PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

L. BRENNAN. MEANS FOR IMPARTING STABILITY T0 UNSTABLE BODIES.

APPLICATION IILE D DEC. 3, 1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ANDREW a. bmmn c0. rmmumuclumns, msmns'mu. B1 c.

No. 796,893. I PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

Y L. BRENNAN.

MEANS FOR IMPARTING STABILITY TD UNSTABLE BODIES.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. s, 1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

No. 796,896. PA'TENTEYD AUG. a, 1905.

- .L. BRENNAN. MEANS FOR IMPARTING STABILITY T0 UNSTABLE BODIES.

APPLICATION FILED D30. 8, 1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

a I 57 59 a 55 I 56 the vehicle moving on a curved path.

LOUIS BRENNAN, OF GILLINGHAM, ENGLAND.

MEANS FOR IIVIPARTING STABILITY TO UNSTABLE BODIES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

A li ti fil d December 3, 1904:. Serial No. 235,409.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS BRENNAN, O. 13., a subject of the King of Great Britain and he land, residing at l/Voodlands, Gillingham, in the county of Kent, England, have invented certain new and useful improvements in and Relating to the Imparting of Stability to Otherwise Unstable Bodies, Structures, or Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to methods of and devices for imparting stability to structures or vehicles which are naturally unstable.

My invention may be applied in its simplest form to a two-wheeled vehicle, such as a bicycle, and, indeed, renders possible the construction of motor-cars supported on one or two wheels only. It is further applicable to unstable ships and also to unstable vessels whollyimmersed in one medium only-such, for example, as submarine and aerial vessels.

4 My invention consists in the application of one or more gyrostats in a structure, vehicle, or vessel otherwise unstable, whereby stability is imparted and maintenance of the stability effected by control of the precession of the gyrostat or gyrostats either by hand or automatic devices.

My invention further consists in the application of two gyrostats rotating in opposite directions and supported in frames pivoted on preferably parallel axes, the frames being connected in such a way as to insure correspondence of the opposite precessions. This connection is specially advantageous in enabling a vehicle or vessel to movein a curved path either forward or backward withoutdifficulty.

A further part of my invention consists in employing a mass or weight suitably disposed and connected to the gyrostat frame or frames, so as when acted on by centrifugal force to control the precession, and. thus to compensate for the effects of centrifugal force in tilting This centrifugal-controlling device is specially applicable in conjunction with gravity devices for automatic control of precession.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention diagrammatically, Figure 1 is an elevation of a simple form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation,

and Fig. 3 an end elevation, of a modification in which the gyrostats are automatically controlled. Fig. 4 is an end elevation, and Fig.

5 a part side elevation, of another modification in which the gyrostats are automatically controlled, Fig. 6 being a plan of the same, while Fig. 7 is a detail view of the guides for the spindle of the gyrostat. Fig. 8 is a side elevation, and Fig. 9 a part end elevation, of another modification.

In the modification shown in Fig. 1 my invention is applied to a two-wheeled vehicle, such as a bicycle or motor-car, traveling on two road-wheels arranged one in front of the other. I mount on the vehicle structure a a heavy-rimmed wheel, preferably a disk 6, which is caused to rotate in any suitable manner by muscular power or by means of a motor, preferably electric, at a high speed. This heavy-rimmed wheel is mounted in a frame or carrier 0, pivoted on a vertical axis (Z c at right angles to that of the disk I), so that the frame 0 is capable of swinging on an axis at right angles to the line connecting the points where the road-wheelsfg of the vehicle touch the ground. A hand controlling-lever h is providedby which the frame or carrier 0 can be turned about its axis (Z 6. The operation of the arrangement is as follows: Then the equilibrium of the vehicle is disturbedfor example, by an outside disturbingforce then precession of the gyrostatoccurs, and if now the controlling-lever be moved in the direction to accelerate the precession then the vehicle at once rises into the vertical position again. A vehicle as above described would work perfectly, for example, on a single straight track. Difliculties, however, arise in the use of a single gyrostat whenever a vehicle has to travel in a curved path and be reversed. 1 therefore in the case of a vehicle intended for ordinary purposes employ two similar gyrostats rotating in opposite directions. The carriers of the two gyrostats are pivoted on parallel axes, and I connect the carriers by means of gearing, so that the rotation of the one carrier in one direction insures a corresponding rotation of the other carrier in the opposite direction. I then control the movements of the carriers as before by means of a suitable lever.

In the modification of my invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3 I employ two similar gyrostats rotating in opposite directions and mounted in a single framework Z, pivoted about a horizontal axis in the line of motion of the vehicle. Ode of the g rostats, which I have called the actuating-g rostat, is l erating the precession when the equilibrium is disturbed, this gyrostat being geared to the other, so that equal movements of precession occur in opposite directions when the actuating-gyrostat is operated. The spinning parts of the gyrostats consist of pairs of disks m a, respectively, mounted on horizontal spindles q r, carrying the armaturesi: zfof electromotors by which the disks are driven and whose field-magnets a are pivoted in the framework Z, so that they can rotate about vertical axes 1 2 and 3 4. respectively. These fieldmagnets 4) form the carriers of the gyrostats. Gear-wheels 5 6 are provided on the fieldmagnet o, engaging with intermediate gearwheels 7 8, and thus insuring that the fieldmagnets turn through equal angles in opposite directions about their vertical axes. The spindle 'r is extended beyond the field-mag nets 4; and disk at and has loosely mounted on it a roller 9, which in its normal position when the vehicle is upright, lies between the adjacent edges of the narrow part of the cutaway segmental guide 11. The field-magnet or carrier 4; is provided with a projecting sleeve surrounding the extension of the spindle r and having loosely mounted on it'a roller 12, which when the vehicle is upright lies between the adjacent edges of the wider part of the guide 11.

side of the roller 12 will be capable of coming in contact with one or other of the faces 13 '16 of the guide 11, while when the extension of the spindle and the projecting sleeve of the field-magnet move in the opposite direc tion the lower side of the roller 9 and upper side of the roller 12 will be capableof coming in contact with one or other of the faces 14 15 of the guide 11. The distance between the

faces

13 and 16 and between the faces 14 and 15 of the guide are such that the spindle can havea slight movement perpendicular to these faces when the rollers lie between them respectively. The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Suppose the armatures and disks are revolving rapidly in the direction of the arrow Y, Fig. 2, and suppose that the equilibrium of the vehicle is disturbed, say, by falling over to the right in the direction of the arrow Z, Fig 3, the face 13 of the guide 11 will press on the roller 9 and the pressure downward will cause a precession, the roller 9 with the other parts moving up from the plane of the paper about the axis 1 2; but there is friction between the face 13 of the guide and the rapidly-revolving roller 9, and this will accelerate the precession, the result of which is to cause the end of the spindle oand the roller 9 to press the carriage back beyond the vertical position. As soon as the carriage passes the vertical position its weight tends to pull it farther over on the opposite side from the first displacement, and the face 16 of the guide 11 then bears against the under side of the roller 12, thus causing a precession in the opposite direction. This precession is sufficient to bring the roller 9 back-to its normal middle position in the guide, and it will. be seen that there is no acceleration of precession to bring the vehicle back after its swing over past the vertical until the roller 9 gets back to its midposition in the guides. The action accordingly does not tend to persist and produce oscillations increasing in amplitude.

In the above-described arrangement I may provide a hand-wheel 17, pivoted in the structure of the vehicle and actuating a link 18, attached to a lever 19, whereby the precession may be controlled, if desired. I may thus on approaching a curve on the track of the vehicle by controlling the precession anticipate the disturbance produced by the curve and obtain an increased restoring power.

In the modification of my invention shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 I employ at one or both ends of or at any convenient position in the vehicle two similar gyrostats rotating in opposite directions, only one pair being shown in the drawings. The road-wheels of the vehicle are situated in the vertical plane through the line X X in the plan. One of each pair of gyrostats, which I have called the actuatinggyrostat, is provided with means for automatically accelerating the precession when the equilibrium is disturbed, this gyrostat being geared to the other of the same' pair, so that equal movement of precession occurs in opposite directions in the pair when one of them is operated. Each pair of gyrostats is mounted in a framework 37, fixed to the vehicle and preferably inclosed air-tight, the air being exhausted from the framework. The disk aof the actuating-gyrostat is mounted on a spindle a, carrying the armature of an electromotor, the field-magnets o of which are pivoted at 38 39 in a line parallel with the line joining the points of contact of the wheels of the vehicle with the ground, the pivots 38 39 being carried -by a ring 40, which is carried by a vertical axle 41, rotatable in bearings 42 43 in the fixed framework 37. The

axles

26 and 41 are branched at points near the top of the casing, and arms 47 48 are provided in the field-magnets v 28. These arms are connected by a link 49 and ball-socket joints, the joints being situated in the vertical axes about which the field-magnets turn. It will be seen that by this connection a movement of the magnet 28 about the axis 45 will cause a corresponding movement of the magnet 7; about the axis 38. A toothed sector 21 is keyed to the lower end of the axle 41 and meshes with a quad rant 22, carried by a horizontal transverse shaft 23, whose other end carries a quadrant 24, meshing with a toothed sector on the vertical axle 26 of the second gyrostat corresponding With the axle 41 of the actuating-gyrostat. The axle 26 carries a ring 27 in which is pivoted the electromagnet 28 of the second electromotor, whose armature-spindle carries the heavy disk 29. The spindle r is extended beyond the field-magnet 'v and has loosely mounted on it a roller 30, which in its normal position when the vehicle is upright lies between the adjacent edges of the narrow part of acut-away segmental guide 31. The magneto is provided with a projecting sleeve surrounding the extension of the spindle r and having loosely mounted on it a roller 32, which when the vehicle is upright lies between the adjacent edges of the wider part of the guide 31. The guide 31 is fixed to the frame of the vehicle by a bracket 51, and it will be seen that when the extension of the spindle r and the projecting sleeve of the field-magnet '0 move up from the plane of the paper, Fig. 4, the upper side of the roller and lower side of the roller 32 will be capable of coming in contact with the guide 31, while when the extension of the spindle r and the projecting sleeve of the field-magnet move in the opposite direction the lower side of the roller 30 and upper side of the roller 32 will be capable of coming in contact with the guide 31. The distance between the faces 33 and 36 and between the

faces

34 and 35 of the guide are such that the spindle can have a slight movement perpendicular to these faces when the rollers lie between them, respectively. The operation of the apparatus is similar to that of the modification described above with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. Suppose the armatures and disks are revolving in the direction of the arrow :0, and suppose that the equilibriu m of the vehicle is disturbed, say, by falling over to the right in the direction of the arrow y, Fig. 4. The face 33 of the guide 31 will press on the roller 30, and the pressure downward will cause a precession, the roller 30, with the other parts, moving in the direction of the arrow .2, Fig. 6, about the axes 42 43. The friction between the face 33 of the guide and the rapidly-revolving roller 30 accelerates the precession, and the end of the spindle 0* and the roller 30 press the carriage back beyond the vertical position. As soon as the carriage passes the vertical position its weight tends to pull it farther over on the op posite side from the first displacement and the under side of the roller 32, thus causing a precession in the opposite direction. This precession is suflicient to bring the roller 30 back to its normal middle position in the guide,

' and it will be seen that there is no acceleration of precession to bring the vehicle back guides.

roller 30 gets back to its mid-position in the It will be seen that as the movements of precession of the second gyrostat of the pair are equal and opposite to those of the actuating-gyrostat equal movements of both the gyrostats about their horizontal axes will take place, and the second gyrostat assists in controlling the balance of the car through the link 49. spindle 7', and guide 31. In the above-described arrangement I may provide a hand-lever at the end of the axle 41. By this lever I may control the precession as in the previous modification. I may, if desired, also provide the second gyrostat of the pair with means for accelerating the precession; but I prefer in any case to gear the pair of gyrostats together and so insure synchronous movements of precession in opposite directions. The arrangements for automatic control above described are those which I prefer in most cases to use; but according to another modification I may provide an inverted pendulum whose motion is communicated by means of gearing to the carriers, so that when the pendulum, owing to the disturbance of the equilibrium of the vehicle, tends to fall over in one direction at an increasing rate it produces an acceleration of the precession of the gyrostats, and thus restores the baance of the vehicle. The inverted pendulum may itself be controlled by hand, if desired. In passing round a curve with the vehicle the inclining effects required to compensate for centrifugal force are obtained by the action of the centrifugal force on the inverted pendulum. This modification is shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The gyrostats 51 52 are mounted in frames 53 54 in a manner similar to that described above with reference to Figs. 2 and 3, thenected to a contact on the frame of thevehicle adapted to make contact with one or other of two contacts carried by the frame 6 when the vehicle leans over in one direction or the other, those electromagnets being energized which tend to increase the acceleration of precession given by the inverted pendulum. The electromagnets thus form an additional device for controlling the inverted pendulum and prevent any periodic motions being set up which would tend to increase. periodic motions still occur, they may easily be stopped by controlling the precession by hand, and it may also be desirable to control by hand the efiect of centrifugal force on the If such Wheel.

inverted pendulum in passing round a curve.- Again, it will be seen that any other mechanical or electromagnetic device may be employed which is brought into operation by the disturbance of the equilibrium of the vehicle and which operates to restore that equilibrium by accelerating the precession of the gyrostats. Such stability-imparting devices are of special value in mono-rail transport schemes, as they enable a vehicle to be run on a single rail without requiring suspension from a point above its center of gravity. Thus a specially-elevated rail is not required. In carrying my invention into effect as applied in a ship, or, for example, in a couch or cabin to be employed on shipboard, the same principles are observed, and a couch or cabin may be maintained practically in a level position independent of the motion of the vessel, either fore or aft, or broadside; but the vesel or couch or cabin must be naturally unstable.

In this case, however, one set of gyrostats 'i'nust be employed for maintaining the level in a fore-and-aft direction and another set for maintaining the level in the thwartship direction. In this case also two controllingpend ulums are employed, one adapted to accelerate the precession of the one set of gyrostats and the other to accelerate the precession of the other set. In some cases an additional device may be employed to control the inverted pendulums and to prevent any periodic motions being-set up which would tend to increase. This might take the form of a pair of contacts, bringing into operation alternately electromagnets adapted to produce additional acceleration of the precession of the gyrostats. Two sets of gyrostats may also be employed to enable amotor-vehicle to be constructed requiring only a single road- In this case the second set of gyrostats are employed to maintain the stability of the vehicle in a fore-and-aft direction, a third set of gyrostats being employed for steering purposes. In the ease of vessels immersed in a single fluid medium, such as submarine and aerial vessels, two sets of gyrostats are necessary, as before, and a third set may be employed for steering purposes; but, as before, the vessel must be naturally unstable.

In all cases I prefer to provide the gyrostats with ball-bearings and also to provide frictionless packing where the spindles pass through the outer casing, it being desirable to reduce friction as much as possible. It is also of extreme importance in all cases that the gyrostat-frames should be balanced.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Means for imparting stability to bodies naturally unstable; comprising agyrostat ineluding a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots on said body; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostat.

2. Means for imparting stability to bodies naturally unstable; comprising one or more gyrostats rotating in err/01 40.

3. Means for imparting stability to bodies naturally unstable; comprising a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in an axis fixed relatively to said body, said wheels rotating in opposite directions and said axes being parallel; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats.

4. Means for imparting stability to a body in unstable equilibrium; comprising a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots, said wheels rotating in opposite directions; means constraining the axes of said frames in parallel positions; supports for said pivots said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said frames and said wheels; means for communicating movements of said gyrostats about said perpendicular axes to said body; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats.

5. Means for imparting stability to a body in unstable equilibrium; comprising a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots, said Wheels rotating in opposite directions; means constraining the axes of said frames in parallel positions; supports for said pivots, said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said frames and said wheels; means for communicating movements of said gyrostats about said perpendicular axes to said body; means for acceleratingthe precession of said gyrostats, and gearing insuring equal and synchronous precessional motion of said gyrostats.

6. Means for imparting stability to a body in unstable equilibrium; comprising a gyrostat, including a heavy Wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots on said body; an electromotor adapted to drive said wheels, including an armature on the axle of said wheel and field-magnets carried by said frame; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostat.

7. Means for imparting stability to a body in unstable equilibrium; comprising a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in an axis fixed relatively to said body; electromotors adapted to drive said wheels, including armatures on the axles of said wheels and field-magnets carried by said frames; said wheels rotating in opposite directions, and said axes being parallel; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats.

8. Means for imparting stability to a body in unstable equilibrium; comprising a pair of' gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots, said wheels rotating in opposite directions; electromotors adapted to drive said wheels, including armatures on the axles of said wheels and field-magnets carried by said frames; means constraining the axes of said frames in parallel positions; supports for said pivots, said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said frames and said wheels; means for communicating movements of said gyrostats about said perpendicular axes to said body: and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats.

9. Means for imparting stability to a body in unstable equilibrium; comprising a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots, said wheels rotating in opposite directions; electromotors adapted to drive said wheels, including armatures on the axles of said wheels and field magnets carried by said frames; means constraining the axes of said frames in parallel positions; supports for said pivots, said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said frames and said wheels; means for communicating movements of said gyrostats about said perpendicular axes to said body; means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats and gearing insuring equal and synchronous precessional motion of said gyrostats.

10. Avehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a gyrostat, including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots on said structure; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostat. as and for the purposes described.

11. A vehicle; comprisingincombination,

structure; the points of contact of said wheels With the ground all being in one straight line; a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in a vertical axis on said body, said heavy Wheels rotating in opposite directions; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats, as and for the purpose described.

12. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straightline; a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in an axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; supports for said pivots; said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels and said frames; means for communicating movements of said gyrostats about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axis of said heavy wheels to the vehicle; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats, as and for the purpose described.

13. A vehicle; comprisingin combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a pair of gyrostats each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in an axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; supports for said pivots; said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said heavy Wheels and said frames; means for communicating movements of said gyrostats about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels to the vehicle; and means-for accelerating the precession of one or both of said gyrostats and gearing insuring equal and synchronous precessional motion of said gyrostats; as and for the purpose described.

14. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said Wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a gyrostat, including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots on said structure; an electrornotor adapted to drive said heavy wheel, including an armature on the axle of said wheel and field-magnets carried by said frame; and means for acceleratingthe precession of said gyrostat, as and for the purposes described.

15. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all beingin one straight line; a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in a vertical axis on said body, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; electromotors adapted to drive said heavy wheels, including armatures on the axles of said heavy wheels and fieldmagnets carried by said frame; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats, as and for the purpose described.

16. Avehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in an axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; electromotors adapted to drive said heavy wheels, including armatures on' the axles of said heavy wheels and fieldmagnets carried by said frames; supports for said pivots; said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels and said frames; means for communicating movements of said gyrostats about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels to the vehicle; and means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats, as and for the purpose described.

.17. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a pair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in a vertical axis, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; a framework carrying said pivots, said framework being pivoted on said structure about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels; means for accelerating the precession of said gyrostats, and means for communicating the motion of said framework about said horizontal axis to the vehicle, as and for the purpose described.

18. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structures; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a gyrostat including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots on said structure; and means for automatically accelerating the precession of said gyrostat, as and for the purposes described.

19. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; apair of gyrostats, each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots in 'a vertical axis on said body, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; and means for automatically accelerating the precession of said gyrostats, as and for the pur pose described.

20. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structures; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a gyrostat, including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots; supports for said pivots; said supports being rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheel and said frame; guides carried by the vehicle structure and adapted to come in contact with the rotating axle of said heavy wheel and accelerate the precession when the equilibrium of the vehicle is disturbed, and adapted to be turned with the vehicle about a horizontal axis by pressure between them and a non-rotating part of the gyrostat when precession is accelerated; as and for the purpose described.

21. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said wheels with the ground all being in one straight line; a pair of gyrostats each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite direc tions; supports for said pivots; said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to' the axes of said heavy wheels and same frames; guides carried by the vehicle structure and adapted to come in contact with the rotating axles of one of said heavy wheels and accelerate the precession when the equilibrium of the vehicle is disturbed, and adapted to be turned with the vehicle about a horizontal axis by pressure between them and a non-rotating part of the gyrostat when precession is accelerated; means for communicating the precessional movements of one gyrostat "to the other; and means for communicating the motion of the actuated gyrostat about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels to the vehicle; as and for the purpose described.

22. Means for imparting stability to unstable bodies; comprising in combination, a pair of gyrostats each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on pivots, said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; supports for said pivots; said supports being rotatable about axes perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels and said frames; guides carried by the vehicle structure and adapted to come in contact with the rotating axles of one of said heavy wheels and accelerate the precession when the equilibrium of the vehicle is disturbed, and adapted to be turned with the vehicle about a horizontal axis by pressure between them and a non-rotating part of the gyrostat when precession is accelerated; means for communicating the precessional movements of one gyrostat to the other; and means for communicating the motion of the actuated gyrostat about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy Wheels to the vehicle; as and for the purpose described.

23. A vehicle; comprising in combination, a vehicle structure; wheels supporting said structure; the points of contact of said Wheels with the ground being all in one straight line; a pair of gyrostats; each including a heavy wheel rotating in a frame mounted on'pivots in a vertical axis said heavy wheels rotating in opposite directions; aframework carrying said pivots; said framework being pivoted on said structure about ahorizontal axis perpendicular to the axes of said heavy wheels; guides carried by the vehicle-structure and adapted'to come in contact with the rotating axle of the heavy wheel of one of said gyrostats and accelerate the precession when the equilibrium of the vehicle is disturbed, and adapted to be turned with the vehicle about a horizontal axis by pressure between them and a non-rotating part of one of said gyrostats when precession is accelerated; as and for the purpose described.

24. In vehicles to which stability is imparted by accelerating the precession of gyrostats; means for automatically accelerating the precession, comprising guides carried by the vehicle and adapted to come in contact with the axles of the heavy Wheels of said gyrostats when the equilibrium of the vehicle is disturbed; as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS BRENNAN Witnesses:

ALBERT 'E. PARKER, FRANCIS J. BIGNELL.