Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/355

AUTOMOBILE. as steam roacl-roUcrs nr tiu.'tiun-enp;ines dc- signetl for hauling loaded trucks or vans in train, nor such vehicles as refjuire tracks for their operation. The modern automobile is a develop- ment of comparatively recent date, but its incep- tion dates back to the early days of the steam- engine. In 1080 Sir Isaac iNewton proposed a steam-carriage to be projielled by the reactive eli'ect of a jet of steam issuing from a nozzle at the rear of the vehicle. In 17'JO Nathan Read patented and ctmstructed a model steam-carriage in which two steam-cylinders operated racks running in pinions on the driving-shaft. In 17l>!1-70, Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, a Frenchman, built two steam-carriages. Tlie larger of these is still preserved in Paris, and was designed for the transportation of artillery. The engine of this vehicle consisted of two 13-inch single-acting cylinders, connected by means of pawls to the single front wheel of the wagon. In front of this wheel was suspended a tank-like boiler. In 1784, Jlurdoek, an assistant of James Watt, constructed a model carriage, operated by a 'grasshopper' engine, and in 1780 Oliver Evans, of the United States, suggested the use of steam road wagons to the Lancaster Turnpike Com- pany of JIaryland. In 1802 Richard Trevithick built a steam carriage, which was exhibited in London, having driven itself !10 miles from Cam- borne, where it was built, to Londcm. This car- riage brings us to the notable period of steam- coach construction in England, which lasted until about 1830.

First Pebiod of Development. The most im- portant of these early labors on the motor vehicle were undoubtedly those of Walter Han- cock, an Englishman, and they were carried out during the period between 1824 and 1830. Han- cock's first work «as the invention of a rather remarkable design of boiler, which reached its final improved form and was patented in 1827. This boiler was first applied to an experimental vehicle, which had three wheels, the single wheel in front being the driver and being driven by a ])air of direct-acting, oscillating steam-eylinders. The frame which carried the steam-cylinders and the front wheel was joiqted to the main frame of the vehicle so as to permit steering. Many hundred miles were run with this vehicle, which was succeeded by an imi)roved model. This sec- ond Hancock steam-w'agon was named 'The Infant.' In it the two rear wheels were made the driving-wheels. The oscillating cylinders operated directly a counter-shaft carrying a chain-wheel and located just back of the rear wheels. From the chain-wheel on the counter- shaft a chain-drive was carried to a similar wheel on the rear axle. The boiler and other mechanism for motive purposes was carried sub- stantially over the driving-wheels. The front wheel was used for steering by being journeyed to a swivcling-frame. The chief objection" to this second vehicle was the trouble experienced from dust and dirt getting into the driving mechanism. The second 'Infant" was then built, in which a vertical engine replaced the oscillat- ing steam-cylinders of the previous vehicles, and was placed near the middle of the vehicle, be- tween the front and rear wheels. This engine drove a chain-wheel with a chain drive extending back to the rear axle. The remaining parts of the vehicle were similar to the corresponding parts in the first 'Infant.' Hancock next built 'The Era' ou much the same designs as the sec- ond 'Infant,' and later 'The Enterprise,' both of which were designed for public trallic as steam- coaches. 'The Autopsy,' a second 'Era,' and 'The Automaton' followed in rapid succession, and 'The Automaton' ran as a coach on regular sei"vice between Stratford, Paddington, and Islington for "20 weeks, covering 42(10 miles, and carrying 12,701 passengers during this period. Hancock's final motor vehicle was for his personal use. Contemporary with Hancock, two fellow- countrymen, Ouldeworthy Gurney and Sir Charles Dance, conducted extensive experiments with a number of vehicles invented and improved by (Jurncy. F'or his vehicles Gurney u.sed water- tube boilers and horizontal engines. The engine was placed underneath the body of the vehicle and drove the rear wheels by means of a connect- ing rod and axle crank, resembling nnieh the driving-gear of a modern locomotive. Gurney's water-tube boiler consisted of two cylindrical drums, placed one above the other and running transversely across the vehicle. The tubes con- necting these drums were bent into the form of a letter LT, pl.aced horizontally, one free end of the U entering the lower drum and the other free end entering the upper drum, the furnace grate being formed by the lower tubes. This boiler was usually worked at pressures of from 70 pounds to 120 pounds. In passing from the boiler to the engine-cylinders the steam-pipe passed through the furnace casing, thus drying, if not somewhat suiwrheating, the steam. The fire was provided with forced draft by a fan operated by a small engine, and the exhaust of the main engine was employed to heat the feed- water. Some idea of the size of Gurney's vehicles of the coach type is conveyed by the fact that their weight was nearly eight tons, that the engine had 9 X 18-ineh cylinders, and that the driving-wheels were 5 feet in diameter, (iur- ney built a number of vehicles smaller than coaches, in some of which he substituted the engine-exhaust for the original fan for producing draft. For one of Gurney's coaclies. Sir Charles Dance devised an improved form of boiler. While the work of Hancock an<l (Jurncy per- haps takes precedence in these early experiments with the steam road vehicle, there were several other inventors who were active. In 1831 two steam-carriages were built by William A. Sum- mers and Nathaniel Ogle, capable of carrying from 10 to 18 passengers each. The boiler used in these vehicles was a vertical water-tube boiler with internal smoke-tubes. The engines were coupled direct to the driving-axle and had 8V2 X 18-ineh cylinders. In 1834-3.5 .Macerone and Squire ran a steam-coaeh having a cai)acity for eight passengers, besides the driver and stoker, and weighing 314 tons. The boiler was a vertical vater-tube boiler and the engines had 7V2 Xl.5%- inch cylinders. Among others of this same period who developed inventions relating to steam vehicles were Henry .lames. Dr. Church, Rob- ert Griffith, and Serttt Russell. One after another of these vehicles was abandoned, until in 1830 only those of Hancock were (m the road; and soon after, these also disappeared from service.

SrcoND Period of Devei.opsient. With the disappearance of Hancock's steam vehicles about 1H3, all practical, continued effort in the development of the motor vehicle ceased until about