Chapter 3

In August 1893, possibly as a result of indoor experiments, Frank discovered that the chains running from the small 5-tooth[22] jackshaft sprockets to the large, bronze, wheel sprockets were tight at some times and loose at others. This caused considerable unnecessary noise. The difficulty apparently was the result of the sprockets being cast and not machined. The patternmaker had said he believed he could make the pattern accurately enough so that no machining of the castings would be necessary. Nice castings were produced, but "these sprockets were the reason why an unusual construction was put on the crankshaft [meaning jackshaft]," explained Frank Duryea during an interview at the National Museum on November 9, 1956. Elaborating further, in reply to the queries of E. A. Battison, of the Museum's division of engineering, Duryea told of the problem and the solution when he explained that the sprockets had places where the shrinkage was not even. The hot metal, contracting as it cooled, did not seem to contract uniformly, creating slightly unequal distances between teeth. This resulted in the chain hanging quite loose in some places and in others the tightness prevented adjustment. He contacted Will Russell, foreman of the Russell shop, where the automobile was made, and Russell showed him a device, built by George Warwick, who had made the Warwick bicycle. It was an internal-cut gear, according to Duryea's description, with sprocket teeth on its periphery. With sprockets outside and normal teeth inside, the wheels were about 6 inches in diameter, externally.

These little internal-gear sprockets were hung on double-shrouded pinions secured to each end of the jackshaft. A solid disc or housing fitted against both ends of the pinion to prevent the internal gear from working off sideways. Duryea explained the function of these unique little parts: "as soon as tension came on that ring gear that we talked about, it not only tightened the chain hanging on this sprocket on the upper side, but it tightened it on both sides. [The sprocket] rocks right out: both sides of the chain are tight."

This feature is one rarely encountered elsewhere, and Duryea, later in the interview said, "To tell you the truth, I think I was just a little bit ashamed about the thing, because I had to pull it off. I didn't like the looks of it after I got it on."

Two small tanks, each with a capacity of approximately two gallons, were mounted over the engine in the positions they still occupy, the one on the left for gasoline,[23] the other for water. The small fitting under the gasoline tank has a thumbscrew shutoff and a glass-sight feed tube, leading to the carburetor. The water tank, an inch longer than the gasoline tank, communicates with the water jacket of the engine through two pieces of half-inch pipe, entering the jacket from above and below. The overflow tank, holding just over a gallon, is suspended between the rear axle and the flywheel.

A number of mufflers were constructed for the engine.[24] The first experimental one was built of wood, being a box 6 × 6 × 15 inches with a hole for the exhaust pipe in one end and a series of small holes in the opposite end. Inside, Frank arranged metal plates which were somewhat shorter than the depth of the box. Every other one was attached to the bottom of the box; the intermediate plates were fastened to the top. This contrivance muffled the sound considerably, but, as might be expected, soon began to smoke. There can be little doubt that it was replaced before any of the outdoor trials began. Another type consisted of a cylindrical metal shell, perhaps six inches in diameter and ten or twelve inches long. Here a series of perforated baffle plates were inserted, with alternating solid plates having parts of their external edges cut away. Two bolts running the length of the muffler held on the cast-iron heads in a manner quite similar to the Model-T Ford mufflers of later years. Though partially satisfactory, Frank, in a November 6, 1957, interview, complained that it made a metallic sound. Perhaps this was the muffler he used from September to November 1893.

On August 28 Frank wrote to Charles saying the carriage was almost ready for the road and that he hoped to take it out for a test on the coming Saturday, "off somewhere so no one will see us...."[25] There is no evidence showing whether the amount of remaining work permitted the proposed trial on September 2. The body was finally replaced on the running gear, at which time it was found necessary to raise the seat cushion several inches by the insertion of a framework made of old crating boards. This allowed sufficient room between the seat and the frame to suspend the batteries and coil. Six no. 2 Samson batteries were contained in this space, three on each side, in rows parallel to the side of the vehicle. The Samson battery consisted of a glass jar containing a solution of ammonia salts and water, with a carbon rod in the center, housing a zinc rod. It is difficult to understand why they used Samson batteries rather than dry cells; perhaps they were concerned with the mounting cost of the machine and were making use of parts already on hand.[26] A coil, possibly from an old gaslight igniter system, accompanied the Samson batteries under the seat. This original coil is now missing.

The iron dash frame, previously recovered and provided with a rain apron to be pulled up over the knees in the event a heavy rain blew in under the carriage top, was bolted back in place. Frank and Mr. Markham gave the carriage a quick painting; later Frank admitted, "the machine never had a good job of painting."[27] Before the motor wagon actually got onto the road, a reporter on the _Springfield Evening Union_ got some statistics on it and an item appeared on September 16, giving the first public notice of the machine.

=NO USE FOR HORSES.

Springfield Mechanics Devise a New Mode of Travel.

Ingenious Wagon Now Being Made in This City for Which the Makers Claim Great Things.

A new motor carriage, which, if the preliminary tests prove successful as is expected, will revolutionize the mode of travel on highways, and do away with the horse as a means of transportation, is being made in this city. It is quite probable that within a short time one may be able to see an ordinary carriage in almost every respect, running along the streets or climbing country hills without visible means of propulsion. The carriage is being built by J. F. Duryea, the designer and B. F. Markham, who have been at work on it for over a year. The vehicle was designed by C. E. Duryea, a bicycle manufacturer of Peoria, Ill., and he communicated his scheme to his brother, who is a practical machanic in this city.

The propelling power is furnished by a two-horse power gasoline motor situated near the rear axle and which, when started, runs continuously to the end of the trip, notwithstanding the number of times the carriage may be stopped. The speed of the motor is uniform, being about 500 revolutions a minute, and is so arranged that it gives a multiplied power for climbing hills and the lower the rate of speed the greater power is furnished by the motor. The slowest that the carriage can be driven is three miles an hour and the speed can be increased to fourteen or fifteen miles an hour. The power is transferred from the driving wheel of the motor, which runs horizontally with the main shaft by an endless friction belt running on a drum wheel. The belt is controlled by a lever within easy reach of the driver and is shifted along the drum wheel to increase or decrease the speed. The driving wheel is about twenty inches in diameter, having in its center a depression to which the belt is shifted to stop the carriage.

The carriage can be reversed by shifting the belt from the end of the drum, which gives the forward motion to the opposite side beyond the depression in the driving wheel. The power which has been transferred to the driving shaft from the motor is in turn transferred to the two rear wheels of the carriage by a combination gear and sprockets. An endless chain connects the sprockets on the carriage wheels to the sprocket wheels on the driving shaft. All of the motive power is located under the body of an ordinary phaeton, the hight of which is not increased by the machinery. The motor is started by a crank which is easily applied to a shaft in the rear of the carriage and the gasoline is ignited in the cylinder by electricity. An automatic device stops the flow of gasoline into the cylinder when the motor ceases running. The gasoline is carried in tanks, which hold about two gallons, and which will run the carriage for about eight hours. The wagon is guided by a bicycle bar, and the speed is also controlled by this bar.

The method employed in this is as follows: To start the carriage press the lever down; to reverse it throw the lever up and to guide the wagon turn the lever either to the right or left. The front axle instead of turning horizontally plays up and down, in order that the machinery may be on a level with the rear wheels, while the front wheels are set on the axle by a pivotal joint and are connected with the guiding lever by bars with ball bearings. The carriage complete weighs about 220 pounds, and the essential features are already covered by patents while others are pending.

It is estimated that the carriages can be sold for about $400, and a stock company will probably be formed to manufacture them.=

Toward the latter part of the following week, Frank was ready to give the product of his labors its first road trial. On September 21 the completed carriage was rolled onto the elevator at Russell's shop. Seeing that the running gear was too long for the elevator, they raised the front of the machine, resting the entire weight of 750 pounds on the rear wheels. Once outside the building, they pushed it into an area between the Russell and Stacy buildings. After dark, "so no one will see," Will Bemis, Mr. Markham's son-in-law, brought a horse and they pulled the phaeton out to his barn on Spruce Street.[28] There, on Spruce and Florence Streets the first tests were made. The next day Frank wrote his brother saying, "Have tried it (the carriage) finally and thoroughly and quit trying until some changes are made. Belt transmission very bad.[29] Engine all right." He did admit the engine seemed to be well loaded most of the time. He also had an idea in mind to replace the poor transmission, explaining the plan to Charles: "The three gears[30] on secondary shaft have friction clutches, the two bevel gears on same shaft are controlled by a clutch which frees one and clutches the other at will. This provides a reverse."

=PRIMARY SPARK COILS.

FOR ELECTRIC GAS LIGHTING.

Cat. No. 48304. 8 inch Price, each, $3 20 " 50304. 10 " " 3 70 " 52304. 12 " " 4 30 " 54304. Detached Gas Lighting Relays " 2 75

For Spark Coils with Relay Attachment, add $2.50 to price for Spark Coil.=

The _Springfield Evening Union_ of September 22 carried a notice of the trial. This report, too, commented on the faulty transmission and the plan already in Frank's mind for the new transmission.

... The friction belt allowed of the speed being steadily increased or diminished at the will of the driver and caused no sudden forward motion of the carriage, but while this arrangement has many advantages it uses up the power so that the two-horse power furnished by the motor [somewhat less than the rating Frank gave the engine] was reduced to less than three-fourths horse power on reaching the main shaft. This would not be sufficient to propel the carriage up steep grades but would be sufficient to run the carriage on level road.

The inventors will do away with this belt in favor of a clamp gear and will make the drum wheel smaller. By this means there will be very little power lost in transmission to the shaft and by a patented arrangement the carriage may be started gradually but the speed must be increased by shifting the clamp gear to a succession of gears on the driving wheel of the motor. The speed of the carriage will be fixed permanently according to the size of the gear that the smaller one is shifted to. The test of the machine with the gear arrangement will be made soon.

In October Frank decided on another vacation and went to Chicago to see the Columbian Exposition. Charles had come up from Peoria to see the fair and the two talked over the progress on their motor wagon, and discussed the transmission problem. They gave particular attention to everything relating to engines and motor carriages, and Frank recalls seeing a Daimler quadricycle that impressed him with its performance.[31] Just what decisions the two might have made there are unknown, yet it is likely that they agreed to give the old transmission one more chance to prove itself.

Returning to Springfield, probably in the first week of November, Frank gave the friction drive its final test, this time substituting a leather belt for the rubber one first used.[32] Mr. Markham, though intensely interested in the experiments, apparently was dubious concerning the safety of the carriage. It had no brakes, and fearing failure of the transmission on a downgrade, he was reluctant to ride in the machine. On November 9 he asked Will Bemis to try it for him. The following day the _Springfield Morning Union_ gave a description of the run:

Residents in the vicinity of Florence street flocked to the windows yesterday afternoon astonished to see gliding by in the roadway a common top carriage with no shafts and no horse attached. The vehicle is operated by gasoline and is the invention of Erwin Markham and J. F. Duryea. It has been previously described in The Union and the trial yesterday was simply to ascertain the practical value of a leather friction surface which has been substituted for the rubber one previously used. The vehicle, which was operated by Mr. Bemis, started from the corner of Hancock avenue and Spruce street and went up the avenue, up Hancock street and started down Florence street, working finely, but when about half-way down the latter street it stopped short, refusing to move. Investigation showed that the bearing had been worn smooth by the friction and a little water sprinkled upon it put it in running condition again. The rest of the trip was made down Florence and down Spruce street, to the residence of the inventors. They hope to have the vehicle in good working condition soon.

The same evening, the late edition ran a brief paragraph stating that "the test was made to determine the value of a leather friction surface for propelling the wagon, that had been substituted in place of the rubber surface, used in the former test." Bemis, according to Frank Duryea's recollection, was not impressed with the performance of the machine, saying "the thing is absolutely useless," and for a time it appeared that further support from Markham would not be forthcoming. Frank, believing eventual success to be near, drew up plans showing his geared transmission, and with these managed to gain Markham's partial support. Money for material and use of the shop was to continue, but Frank was to complete the work on his own time.

Now receiving no salary, Frank worked hurriedly on the transmission throughout late November, December, and the first two weeks of January. First discarding the old friction drum and shaft, and the shipper-fork carriage, he bolted a rawhide bevel gear to the lower surface of the flywheel. This turns two bevel gears, in opposite directions, on a countershaft directly underneath, approximately in the position of the old jackshaft. The right bevel gear is secured to the main countershaft on which two clutches are mounted, one on each side of the crankshaft. On a sleeve turning freely around the countershaft is mounted the reverse bevel gear and clutch. Three free-running clutch drums, the right one carrying the high-speed gear, the two on the left carrying the combination low speed and reverse gear between them, complete the countershaft assembly. The clutch assemblies are of Frank Duryea's design, having internal arms, expanding outward to press leather-faced shoes against the inner surface of the drum, thus securing the drum and its gear to the shaft. Behind this machinery is the jackshaft with its small differential on the right, two laminated rawhide gears[33] meshing with the iron gears of the countershaft, and the internal-gear sprockets hanging on the small pinions at either end. A sliding cam bar, mounted nearly in the position of the former shipper-fork carriage, is operated by the vertical movement of the tiller handle to engage any one of the three clutches. With the tiller depressed, the vehicle is in reverse. Elevating it slightly puts it into low gear, and raising it still higher runs the machine at its highest speed.

= UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. DURYEA, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

ROAD-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 540,648, dated June 11, 1895.

Application filed April 30, 1894. Serial No. 509,466. (No model.)

_To all whom it may concern_:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. DURYEA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements 5 in Road-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a road vehicle which shall be self-propelled, not unduly heavy, simple and easy of control and 10 comparatively inexpensive, together with such minor objects as will become hereinafter apparent.

The invention more particularly relates to the construction and arrangement of parts for 15 constituting the driving gearing and to the means for controlling the action thereof; to an improved manner of mounting the front, or steering, wheels upon the front axle, and of mounting the said axle relative to the running 20 gear frame, and to the means for effecting the steering; to the appliances for the support of the motor and driving mechanism in an advantageous and efficient manner, and, generally, to improved and simplified details 25 of construction throughout the vehicle, all as will hereinafter be rendered more apparent, and the invention consists in constructions and combinations of parts, all substantially as will hereinafter fully appear and be set 30 forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which--

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation from front to rear of the improved road-vehicle. Fig. 2 is 35 a plan view of the running and driving gear, the vehicle-body being understood as removed. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the vehicle. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the support and suspension devices for the driving mechanism. 40 Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view, longitudinally, through the shiftable driving-gear, the controlling devices employed in conjunction with this mechanism being seen in side elevation. Figs. 6 and 7 show the above-mentioned 45 controlling devices as in operative relations differing the one from the other and also from that of Fig. 5.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the views. 50

The parts will now be described in detail with reference to said drawings, and A represents the body which is spring supported on the frame, B, of the running gear. This frame, as shown, is rectangular, and has the 55 body-supporting springs, B{2}, similar to those found in common carriages. This frame has, affixed thereto, at its rear ends, sleeves, _a_, _a_, which loosely embrace the rear wheel axle, D, which is the driven axle of the vehicle. The 60 axle, E, for the front wheels is centrally secured to the running gear frame, B, by the horizontal king-bolt, _b_, whereby such axle may have a swinging movement relative to the frame in a vertical plane, but it has no 65 swinging movement horizontally, the wheels being swivel-mounted on the ends of this axle peculiarly, as will shortly hereinafter be set forth.

The body, as shown, is in the form of an 70 inverted box, the motor, H, and driving gear being accommodated within the downwardly opening inclosure constituted thereby, and the body also has the upwardly open box-like forward extension, or pit, A{2}, for the accommodation 75 of the feet of the rider, the rider's seat being constituted by the top forward portion of the box body. Some other suitable design of body may, of course, be used in lieu of this one shown. 80

The front wheels, _d_, _d_, are hung to the front axle, E, so that the center of each wheel base is in a line coincident with the axis of the pivotal connection which is provided between the journals for the wheels and the axle, which 85 arrangement practically destroys any tendency to deflection from the course that might otherwise arise from striking an obstacle, and so renders the steering easier. In order to effect this the axle is formed with yoked 90 ends, the yoke members, _f_, _f_, being above and below the longitudinal line of the axle. The short journal, _g_, shown for each wheel, has at its inner end an upwardly and downwardly extended arm, _h_, which is return-bent to be 95 loosely embraced by the axle yoke, _f_, _f_. The cone pointed screws, _c_, passed through the yoke members, _f_, and into sockets therefor in the arms, _h_, of the journals, _g_, constitute the means for the swivel connection between said 100 parts. The lock-nuts, _c_{2}, manifestly, are employed with utility in this connection.

It will be perceived that inasmuch as in the arrangement shown, the pivotal connections=

= (No Model.) 4 Sheets--Sheet 2.

C. E. DURYEA. ROAD VEHICLE.

No. 540,648. Patented June 11, 1895.

_Fig. 2._

_Witnesses_: J. D. Garfield K. I. Clemons

_Inventor_, Chas. E. Duryea by Chaprictlo Attys.=