Selden Road Engine

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Baldwin Selden
Selden Road engine replica (3) .jpg

George B. Selden in the replica of the Road Engine . Photo from 1906 on the occasion of the taking of evidence in the Selden trial. This is the replica of the vehicle built by EVC.

Road engine
Presentation year: 1877-1879; 1902, 1905
Vehicle fair: no. Evidence in the Selden patent dispute
Class :
Body shape : Duc
Engine: Brayton- Selden internal combustion engine
Length: 2083 mm
Width: 1473 mm
Height: 1651 mm
Wheelbase: 1220 mm
Empty weight: 320-430 kg
Production model: without

The Selden Road engine , sometimes Selden Road wagon and Selden Road locomotive called, is a American automobile - a prototype of the patent attorney and inventor George B. Selden (1846-1922) of Rochester (New York) and his assistant William Gomm . Although the vehicle was initially only manufactured in parts, it served as the basis of the Selden patent filed in 1879 and granted in 1895 (US Pat. No. 549,160). It was not until 1902 and 1907 that two vehicles were built based on these patent drawings. Both helped enforce patent claims in the proceedings against Henry Ford . One of the vehicles was built by Selden and his sons using original components, the other by engineers from the Electric Vehicle Company (EVC). The latter had acquired the patent from Selden at the end of 1899. Both vehicles still exist.

George B. Selden

George Baldwin Selden around 1871.

George Baldwin Selden (1846–1922) was a patent attorney, inventor, and later motor vehicle manufacturer from Rochester, New York . He had a great technical talent and took two years of technical courses at the Sheffield Scientific School , an institute affiliated with Yale University , while studying law . Before building the Road Engine , he had designed a typewriter and a machine for making barrel hoops . He demonstrated these machines at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia . He came with the also shown there gas engine of George Brayton in contact. His patent from 1895 on automobiles with internal combustion engines was the starting point of a long historical legal dispute with lasting consequences for the US automotive industry. He sold it in 1896 to monopolists who had organized themselves into the Electric Vehicle Company (EVC). Selden served her and also the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM) as legal and technical advisor.

Selden began his own automobile production in the Selden Motor Vehicle Company , which he founded, and later organized the Selden Truck Sales Corporation for the manufacture of commercial vehicles . His company produced until 1930 and became part of the Bethlehem Motor Truck Company .

Throughout his life he remained convinced that he was the real "inventor" of the automobile. The record of the life's work of this lawyer and inventor, who was at the same time a visionary and speculator, is mixed. Critics accuse him of not having taken action himself after his invention and instead using legal tricks to delay the entry into force of his patent until it had the greatest effect. He sold the patent and when others wanted to market their inventions from 1900 onwards, the patent owners prevented free development to the detriment of industry.

State of the art around 1870

Engines

Étienne Lenoir (1822-1900).
George B. Brayton (1830-1892).

Internal combustion engines were relatively new and not very common at the time. In addition to the atmospheric explosion engine by Isaac de Rivaz and the Stirling engine introduced in 1804, gas engines in particular were known , but due to their dependence on the gas supply network, they were only suitable for stationary applications . These include the flying piston engine by Nikolaus Otto and Eugen Langen , which was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867 , or the somewhat older Lenoir engine . This motor used by the inventor Étienne Lenoir (1822–1900) as a source of power for smaller workshops was patented in early 1860 and further developed by him for mobile applications until 1963. At that time, gas could not be transported in pressure vessels, so Lenoir had to redesign the engine for a petroleum or turpentine- based fuel . To do this, he invented a precursor to the carburetor and an ignition device. With such a drive motor boats and at least two motor vehicles were propelled. In 1863 Lenoir covered a distance of 18 km with one, a three-wheeled road vehicle called the “ Hippomobile ”.

In Lenoir's engine, the drive acts directly on the crankshaft . It works as a two-stroke without compression; a brochure from the Musée des Arts et Métiers describes it as a "one-stroke cycle with two half-cycles", with the inlet and combustion forming the first half-cycle and the exhaust forming the second half-cycle. The gasoline engine , which was only introduced in 1876, was inspired by the Lenoir engine.

George Brayton , whose Brayton Ready engine had been patented in 1872 and, in an improved form, in 1874, took a different approach . This two-stroke engine is an atmospheric combustion engine influenced by the steam engine. It works with liquid hydrocarbons and is considered to be a forerunner of the diesel engine . The supply of permanently pressurized air creates a mixture in the combustion chamber, which is constantly burned instead of exploding. A spark plug is not required. Brayton engines have a compression cylinder for each working cylinder. The Brayton engine in its patented form achieved a power to weight ratio of 800 lbs (362.9 kg) per horsepower at best .

Chassis and drive

La Mancelle steam car by Amédée Bollée (1878)

The most progressive solutions for chassis technology came from France, where Amédée Bollée (1844–1917) already featured in his first steam bus , the L'Obéissante ( French for “the obedient” or “the obedient”), an oscillating axle with parallel suspension and Front independent suspension and double spring packages used. Each of the two rear wheels was driven by a separate steam engine. His La Mancelle (French for "those from Le Mans") was an open six-seater with a bonnet and, arranged lengthways one behind the other, engine, power transmission, differential and axle drive. Unaware of the earlier and forgotten invention, Bollée patented the stub axle steering again in 1876 . There is also a German imperial patent from Carl Benz from 1891.

George Brayton constructed 1878/1879 a test vehicle, the rear-wheel drive by means of drive chains and countershaft was significantly advanced, a gearbox with helical gearing and a friction clutch as Selden design. Brayton failed, however, because he had chosen a vehicle that was much too heavy with his omnibus . The engine worked but was too weak to move the vehicle.

Road Engine technology

The Selden Road Engine had some remarkably modern attributes. There was not only a steering wheel and a two-speed gearbox, but also a clutch , foot brake, exhaust and front-wheel drive .

The Brayton-Selden engine

Brayton engine.
The Selden improved Brayton engine of the Selden Road Engine .

Selden's work to improve the Brayton Ready was an important contribution to the development of an internal combustion engine suitable for everyday use and undoubtedly contained construction elements worthy of patent protection. He managed to make his hydrocarbon gas engine significantly lighter and simpler than the Brayton Ready . His design was a three cylinder with an air pump at each end of each cylinder; the system is sometimes referred to as a six-cylinder with three working cylinders and three compression cylinders. The latter contain the compressed air pumps. Selden chose a closed construction for the crankshaft, smaller pistons and a short stroke for his version .

In December 1877, he brought his construction plans to Frank Clement's mechanical workshop in Rochester. An engine block was cast according to this information. Selden laid out his experimental engine in such a way that it could initially be operated with only one cylinder; only this one was drilled out and made functional. In May 1878 the engine ran for the first time, but not satisfactorily. With a weight of 380 lbs (172.4 kg) it developed 2 bhp (1.4 kW) and thus achieved a significantly better power-to-weight ratio of less than 200 lbs (90.7 kg) per horsepower. In addition, the engine turned at 500 revolutions per minute, twice as fast as any other internal combustion engine known at the time. It appears that the engine was prone to overheating; the problem was apparently not solved satisfactorily in Selden's replica either. Now, however, Selden had a drive that was, in principle, light enough to be used in a road vehicle.

Power transmission

The Selden Road engine has a very simply constructed front-wheel drive . The motor sits on the front axle, which is designed as a turntable, and takes part in its rotation. A chain to the drive shaft is therefore sufficient to transmit power. In addition to the usual coupling between the engine and the gearbox, another one between each front wheel and its drive shaft is provided. This allows each wheel to turn independently of the other; in addition, it can be manually decoupled from the power flow. Reverse gear is also available. Instead of a gearshift lever, there are several handwheels that are attached to a column above the engine directly in front of the driver.

landing gear

A drag in front of a carriage wheel

For his road engine , Selden used a carriage , possibly a Duc , as the basis. Its front axle, including turntable steering and king pin , was exchanged for its own design. It is also designed as a turntable and carries the entire motor, which is therefore rotated with the bolster when steering. Instead of the kingpin that is common in carts, a vertically installed shaft is used that is firmly connected to a large gear wheel . A steering wheel , the column of which is mounted almost vertically above and in front of the stool, acts on the kingpin via the gear and thus turns the stool and motor, is very unusual and does not make sense in this application . This design means that the vehicle can only be steered with great effort. It is not suitable for higher speeds.

The vehicle has two leaf spring packages per axle , each consisting of two semi-elliptical springs placed against each other. The wooden spoke wheels are 32 inches in diameter at the front and 38 inches at the rear. Braking is carried out with one block each, which acts on a rear wheel at a brake shoe . The device is operated by a lever, a ratchet and one chain per wheel.

The Selden patent

Patent drawing of the Selden Road Engine in patent 549,160.

The design was applied for a patent on May 8, 1879. At that time, no vehicle was completed. Selden only submitted a three-page technical description of the Selden Road engine , construction plans and photos of a specially made model. The motion and plans had been signed by Selden and two witnesses, WM Rebasz, Jr. (the plan maker on behalf of Selden) and George Eastman , an office neighbor. The model with the dimensions 19.05 × 16.51 × 27.94 cm has been preserved, but was long thought to be lost.

Selden repeatedly delayed granting the patent by making subsequent changes in order to place its duration in a period in which such vehicles were marketed and their manufacturers were subject to a license. It was finally submitted under pressure from the US Patent Office in 1895 and issued on November 5, 1895 with the number 549.160. This so-called Selden patent was used by Selden and, after the sale of the patent to the Electric Vehicle Company (EVC) in 1899, by speculators and parts of the automotive industry as a universal patent on automobiles with internal combustion engines. In a legal proceeding against Henry Ford in 1909 it was fully protected in the first instance, but in the appeal proceedings in 1911 the applicability to vehicles with Brayton engines was reduced. That made it economically uninteresting a year before its regular expiry.

The replicas

Replica of the Selden Road Engine (1877–1878 or 1905).

Whether the EVC had doubts about the Selden patent, whether an attempt was made to get an overview of the actual driving characteristics and thus the value of the patent, or whether mere caution was the reason that the EVC was a replica of the Selden Road engine made is not clear. In the course of the above-mentioned legal dispute, the representatives of the Selden patent considered it advisable at a very early stage to produce one in order to use it as evidence of the roadworthiness of the construction in court. However, there are very different depictions of the dating of this replica, which may be based on contemporary reporting. According to the information provided by the current owner, the Connecticut State Library in Hartford, it was built between 1902 and 1906. EVC President George H. Day did not commission it until 1905, according to another source. What is certain is that it was created in secret in the EVC workshops in Hartford, probably without the participation of the Selden and under the supervision of chief engineer Hiram Percy Maxim . Maxim had known the design since he had examined it before buying the patent and had already come to a damning judgment about the functionality of the road engine . It is not without irony that the actual execution was entrusted to a team led by Herman F. Cuntz . Cuntz was the engineer who first noticed the Selden patent when he found it while doing a methodological study for setting up an automobile production facility at Pope. He was also part of the EVC consultancy team as an expert .

Henry R. Selden at the handlebars of the road engine on the occasion of a demonstration drive as part of the taking of evidence in the trial against Henry Ford (May 1906)

In a report of the demonstration of a road engine during the taking of evidence in the Henry Ford trial in May 1906, Automobile Magazine described the vehicle as follows:

The body and wheels are reattached, but the engine was made in 1877 ... The Selden automobile weighs 700 lb. 320 kg], has 4 feet [122 cm] between the wheels, the 32 resp. 38 inches in front resp. behind are [diameter 813 resp. 965 mm]. ... Ignition with electric sparks is currently appropriate.

As part of the above evidence, which took place in and in front of the Decauville Automobile Company at the intersection of Broadway and 56th Street , a photo series of the Road engine was created . All the images used in this article that show the vehicle in traffic come from this. In the patent dispute against Henry Ford it was listed as “Exhibit # 157”.

In 1907 Selden built such a vehicle with his sons. Because he used the original engine from 1877 for this, one can speak of a "completion" of the vehicle, which he had described 30 years earlier. The current owner, the Henry Ford Museum , names 1907 as the year of construction. There is a length of 1473 mm with a width of 1473 mm and a height of 1651 mm. The weight should be 320 to 430 kg.

Driving tests

One of the highlights of the trial against Ford was a public test of the two replicas, which came about under pressure from Henry Ford's defense lawyers. They wanted to prove that Selden’s invention was not practical and that the patent was therefore not tenable, and they demanded a demonstration drive on public streets in New York. Initially, the ALAM agreed, but later pointed out that such a trip was not permitted. Therefore, they turned to a racecourse in nearby Guttenberg (New Jersey) .

Although based on the same plans and referred to by Selden as "China copies" - at that time an expression for a particularly exact replica - the implementation of the vehicles was quite different. The Seldens had stuck to the construction plans as closely as possible. As mentioned, the original engine was still there and was used. It was designed as a three-cylinder, but for cost reasons Selden had only drilled out one cylinder at the time. Now the other two have also been made functional.

The designers from Hartford had of necessity dealt more freely with the template, which they could not get to work after the patent drawings. They had installed water cooling and a two-speed gearbox, provided an electric ignition, used pneumatic tires and required an air compressor as an external starting aid. No wonder that the lawyer for the French manufacturer Panhard & Levassor , the defendant , Frederic R. Coudert, attested this heavy vehicle “a lot of Hartford and little Selden”.

The tests lasted two frustrating days with vehicle breakdowns. The “Hartford” road wagon did a little better thanks to its technical “subtleties”. At least he managed to cover 2¼ miles in 15 minutes.

Whereabouts

Both replicas of the Selden Road Engine have been preserved. After the trial, that of the EVC was in New Jersey and on Long Island , where it was temporarily exhibited. It didn't come back to Connecticut until 1968, where it was restored. It currently stands in the Office of Policy and Management building at 450 Capitol Avenue at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford, near where it was built over 110 years ago.

Selden's own replica now belongs to the Henry Ford Museum , where it is not currently on display. According to the museum, the object was a gift from the Stevens Institute of Technology . For a long time it was exhibited - quite demonstratively - next to Henry Ford's Quadricycle from 1896.

The iron model, of which photos were taken and Selden's patent application attached, has also been preserved. The 19.05 x 16.51 x 27.94 cm model is kept in the Smithsonian . It was considered lost at times.

Aftermath

Advertising media and US folklore

Advertisement from Selden Truck Corp. from August 1920 with the Road engine .

George Selden himself repeatedly used the road engine for advertising in his Selden Motor Vehicle Company . A slogan used for years was The Father of them All .

The road engine has long been part of American folklore . More or less accurate images of the road engine can still be found decades after the end of the Selden patent dispute on plates, jugs, ashtrays, collector's pictures, etc., often in a series with other early motor vehicles or important inventions.

Appreciation and criticism

George B. Selden at the wheel of the replica. This recording was also made during the screening in New York in May 1906.

Although the vehicle was barely serviceable , the US Patent Office issued Patent No. 549,160 on November 5, 1895. The historical significance of the vehicle is multiple:

  • Although there are considerable doubts that the Selden road engine worked properly and could cover greater distances without overheating, it represented a constructive advancement on the way to the automobile with internal combustion engine. Selden improved the Brayton gas engine and introduced quite innovative solutions.
  • The vehicle was the basis of US Patent No. 549,160, which was challenged several times. The Selden patent dispute was bitterly fought for years. He himself wrote automotive history. In the most important of the trials, which was brought against Henry Ford in 1902 , it was fully protected by the competent court in 1907. In the second instance, the appeals court reduced its applicability to vehicles with Brayton engines. As a result, it lost its economic benefit - half a year before the patent period expired. However, the historical significance was retained: eight years before Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, Selden applied for a patent for a vehicle with a combustion engine. The legitimacy of this patent has never been fully contested and has never been completely revoked.
  • The so-called Selden patent based on the road engine was used by Selden and later by speculators and parts of the automotive industry as a universal patent for automobiles with internal combustion engines, with far-reaching consequences for the automotive industry at the time. Without the patent, the Selden trials would not have taken place and without the two demonstration vehicles the ALAM would hardly have been successful.

Remarks

  1. ^ Frankenberg / Matteucci call the engine a three-stroke (intake - combustion - exhaust); there is no compression cycle (p. 15).
  2. ↑ What is probably meant is the wheelbase
  3. ↑ As described, it was actually a three-cylinder engine with three working and three compression cylinders. There was no electrical ignition on the original engine from 1878/1879.

literature

Web links

Commons : Selden  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b W. Greenleaf: Monopoly on Wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent (1955/2011); P. 6.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , 1996, pp. 1337-1338 (Selden).
  3. ↑ a b c kcstudio.com: The Selden Motor Wagon.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Postscripts, September 27, 2010: I Invented the Automobile: The Bitter War over the Selden Patent.
  5. ^ Bonsall: More Than They Promised: The Studebaker Story. 2000, p. 79.
  6. ↑ Musée des Arts et Métiers: Carnet Lenoir.
  7. ↑ a b c d Byers: The Selden Case.
  8. ^ Bird, Montagu of Beaulieu: Steam Cars, 1770-1970 (1971), p. 52.
  9. ↑ Olaf von Fersen (ed.): A century of automobile technology - passenger cars. VDI Verlag, 1986, ISBN 3-18-400620-4 , p. 368.
  10. ^ A b W. Greenleaf: Monopoly on Wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent (1955/2011); P. 140.
  11. ↑ kcstudio.com: Various representations: collective picture, Virginia cigarettes.
  12. ^ W. Greenleaf: Monopoly on Wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent (1955/2011); Pp. 5-6.
  13. ^ BPM Legal: Patent No. 549160 to George Selden dated November 5, 1895
  14. ^ A b c d Early American Automobiles: History of Early American Automobile Industry 1891–1929; Chapter 11.
  15. ^ A b Smithsonian institute, American History: Object NMAH_1305689; Selden Automobile Patent Model, 1879.
  16. ↑ Flink: America Adopts the Automobile (1970), pp. 318-319
  17. ↑ a b c d e f g h Museum of Connecticut History: One of the more unusual objects in our collection the Selden.
  18. ^ A b W. Greenleaf: Monopoly on Wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent (1955/2011); P. 151.
  19. ↑ a b c The Henry Ford Museum: Object THF88311; 1907 Selden Motor Buggy ; Replica by George B. Selden.
  20. ^ W. Greenleaf: Monopoly on Wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent (1955/2011); P. 150.
  21. ↑ kcstudio.com: Various representations: Selden model, supplement to the patent application .
  22. ↑ kcstudio.com: Various representations of the Selden Road Engine.