US1375761A - Speedometer for automobiles - Google Patents

Description

F. H. RITTENOUR.

SPEEDOMETER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. 1918. 1,375,761 Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

wuawtoz F. H. RITTENOUR. I

SPEEDOMETER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6,1918. 1,375,761

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WIND 557' amen/6oz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-FREDERICK H. RITTENOUR, 0F ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND.

SPEEDOMETER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed June 6, 1918. Serial No. 238,504.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. RIT- TENOUR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Annapolis, in the county of Anne Arundel and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Speedometers for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is in the nature of a recording speedometer for automobiles and the objects of the invention are to generally improve'such instruments whereby the operator will have a record of the number of miles run each day, the speed at whichthe machine was run, the day of the month, and the time of day.

- With these objects in view the invention consists in the improved construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward particularly claimed.

In order that the construction and opera tion thereof may be readily comprehended, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings an approved embodiment of my invention and will now proceed to fully describe the same in connection with said drawings in which Figure 1 represents a front elevation of the invention constructed to be driven by mechanical means, with parts in section and parts in dotted lines;

Fig. 1 a side view of the pencil linkage and connections;

Fig. 2, a partial plan view of the construction shown. in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3, a side elevation partly in section,

Fig. 3 a detail view of parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3,

' Fig. 4, a partialview, in elevation of the dash board of an automobile equipped with my speedometer, showing the face of the instrument as exposed to the driver,

Fig. 5, a face View of a dial which I may use to take the place of the hands of a clock,'and on which a record is to be made by the speedometer,

Fig. 6 including Figs. 6 6 and 6, mechanism whereby the pencil may be moved by magnetic induction instead of the mechanical means shown in the other figures, and

Fig. 7 a solenoid for moving the pencil in a modified arrangement.

Like reference characters mark the same parts Wherever they appear in a plurality of the figures of the drawings.

' said tape.

The tape is seated in a grooved guide 6 and a spring 7 is so placed as to bear against the tape on spool 4 and retard its passage therefrom.

In Fig 1,- 8 indicates a small centrifugal pump, the impeller 9 of which when driven by gearing and shaft connected to a moving axle or other part of the automobile, in the direction indicated by the arrow, will draw a liquid (preferably oil) from a well or tank 10 and deliver it into a flattened curved tube 11 causing a static pressure therein proportional to the speed of revolution of the impeller.

Movably attached to the end of. the tube 11 through which slot passes a screw 11 on which the lever is pivoted, the outer end of the lever being pivotally attached at 12 to a cam 12 pivoted at 12.

At 14 is a bar which is pivoted at one end, at 14, under which bar the cam 12 bears, the opposite end of the bar being pivotally attached, at 14 to a link 14,

' which, at its. opposite end, is pivotally atwill cause the pencil to move over a straight line ab on the ta e 6.

The bar 14 is he (1 down against the cam by a spring 14 and the movement of the pencil on the line a,b will vary with the '11 is a lever 11" longitudinally slotted at speed of the automobile, while the tape is tions will raise it 4; feet, 2000 revolutions will raise it 16 feet, and so on. It is therefore-necessary to so design the cam in proportion to this resulting hea'd.

The well or tank 10 is made deep'to 1nsure the pump having a suction head and preferably, inside this well or tank are located gears for driving the impeller 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the gear 16 being loose on the shaft of the impeller, the gear 17 on a stub shaft 17 and meshing with gears 16 and 18 and the latter with a gear 18 on a shaft 18 coupled to aflexible shaft 20 which is connected to a wheel or. revolv ing axle of the automobile by worm gearin 19.

he gear 16 is loose onthe impeller shaft 21 and drives that shaft through a ratchet wheel 22 secured thereon, a pawl 23 pivoted on gear 16 engaging the'teeth of the ratchet wheel and held yieldingly in contact there with by a spring 24, as shown in Fig. 3, whereby, the impeller "will be driven in a forward direction only,'as indicated by the arrow 9 in Fig. 1, which prevents the pump running backward when the automobile is backing. Geared to the shaft 18 by suitable gearing such as bevel gears d and '6, vertical shaft 7, and bevel gearing g, is an ordinary revolution counter'25, (the interior mechanism of which is not shown), the indicators of which are shown in Fig. 4, which is a partial view of the inner face of the dashboard. The type of instrument thus described is intended to record a weeks or a months or more running. If the instrument is so designed that a record for only one day is desired, a more preferable arrangement is shown in Fig. 5 which is a paper dial, on which are printed radial lines representing time, and circles representing speed. This dial can be made to take the place of the hands of a clock and be revolved, the pencil tracing on it a record as before.

Figs. 6 6 and 6 show a method of moving the pencil v13 by 'means of magnetic induction. Fig. 6 shows the arrangement of the permanent magnets 26. These magnets are fastened to the gear wheel 27 (F i 6") and are revolved by the flexible shaf 20 as before. They revolve within a metal cup 28 which is pivoted in the bearings.

When the magnets are revolved, the lines of force tend to drag this cup after them@ Fastened to the cup is a spring 30, Fig. 6, the other end of which is fastened to the hearing or frame 29. The action of this spring is to retard the cup from following the magnets. The amount of this retardation will vary directly as the number of revolutions of the magnets. F astened also to the cup is the linkage 14 of Fig. 1,

which in turn will move the pencil 13 in the guide 15, as the cup is twisted about its centers.

'Fig. 7 represents a solenoid consisting of a coil of wire 31, in which is suspended aniron core 32 fastened to the pencil rod- 13,

' which can be made to move the pencil, provided the solenoid is receiving a current of electricity from a small generatorg' subs t-ituted for either of the drivingmechanisms shown before.

The whole instrument will be incased in av box. placed preferably behind the dash board of the automobile and accessible only through lock and key. v a

The instrument described is a recording speedometer for an automobile and the benefits to be derived from its use are many,

among which the following are mentioned.

1. Theowner will have a record of the number of miles he ran each day, the speed at which he ran, the day of the month and the time. I

. 2. This information will be extremely useful to automobile owners, and especially to it will keep-an accurate tally on the chaufgarage and taxicab companies, inasmuch as a feurs recordof the time and speed at whicli- Other means for driving this speedometer may be usedand chan es and variations in the constructionv of t e parts illustrated, may be made,- within the scope of the ap-' pended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is;

y speedometer for automobiles comprising a moving tape, a pencil and means for moving the pencil over the tape, in a direction transverse to the movement of the tape, said means comprising a curved fiat- .tened flexible tube and a pump for forcing a liquid into said tube.

2. A speedometer for automobiles comprising a moving tape, a pencil and means direction transverse to the movement of the tape, said means comprising a curved flattened flexible tube, a pump for forcing a liquid into said tube and connections from the tube to the pencil.

3. A speedometer for automobiles comprising a moving tape, a pencil and means for movlng the pencil over the tape, in a direction transverse to the movement of the tape, said means comprising a curved flat-- tened flexible tube, a pump for forcing a liquid into said tube and connections'from the tube to the pencil, comprising a cam operated by the change of form of the tube caused by the pressure of liquid therein.

4. A speedometer for automobiles comprising a moving tape, a pencil and means for moving the pencil over the tape, in a direction transverse to the movement of the tape, ,said'means comprising a curved flattened flexible tube, a pump for forcing a liquid into said tube and connections from the tube to the pencil, comprising a cam operated by the change of form of the tube caused by the pressure of liquid therein, links connected with the pencil, a pivoted lever connected with the links and a spring holding the cam in contact with said pivoted lever.

,5. A speedometer for automobiles comprising a moving tape, a pencil and means for moving the pencil over the tape, in a direction transverse to the movement of the tape, said means comprising a curved flattened flexible tube, a pump for forcing a liquid into said tube and connections from the tube to the pencil, comprising a cam operated by the change of form of the tube caused by the pressure of liquid therein, a

FREDERICK H. RITTENOUR.

40 guide for the pencil located transversely

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