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.
FIGURE 23.--TYPE OF SPARK COIL the Duryeas are believed to have used in
their electrical circuit, as shown in a catalog illustration.
(Smithsonian photo 46858-A.)]
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.
[Illustration: FIGURE 24.--RUNNING GEAR OF DURYEA VEHICLE, showing the
second engine and other parts as used in January 1894.]
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.
[Illustration: FIGURE 25.--HALF OF JACKSHAFT, showing rawhide gears,
double shrouded pinion and half of the Columbia differential.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 26.--HALF OF JACKSHAFT showing double-shrouded
pinion and half of the Columbia differential.
[Illustration: FIGURE 27.--CAM BAR IN FOREGROUND, operated by tiller,
actuates the various clutches of the transmission. The overflow gasoline
tank with the hand pump can be seen in the rear.]
[Illustration: UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.