Figure i 5. — Conjectural drawing of the free- 

 piston engine used in the Museum vehicle 

 prior to the present engine. (Drawing by 

 A. A. Balunek.) 



attempt to run the engine. Carrying it into a back 

 room, probably during July or August, 1892, they 

 blocked it up on horses. A carburetor had not yet 

 been constructed, so they attempted to start the 

 engine by spinning the flywheel by hand, at the 

 same time spraying gasoline through the intake 

 valve with a perfume atomizer previously purchased 

 at a drugstore in the Massasoit House. Repeated 

 efforts of the two men to start the engine resulted 

 in failure. 



In the belief that the defects, whatever they might 

 be, could be remedied after the engine was installed, 

 the Duryeas went ahead and mounted the engine in 

 the carriage. To do this they shortened the original 

 reach of the carriage, allowing the engine itself 

 to become the rear continuation of the reach. The 

 four ears on the front, or open end of the engine, 

 were bolted to the centrally located frame, with the 

 bearing blocks in between. This frame, the same one 

 now in the vehicle, was constructed of two pieces of 

 angle iron, riveted and brazed together. Greater 

 rigidity was obtained by a number of half-inch iron 

 rods running from the frame to both front and rear 

 axles. Because of the absence of any mounting 

 brackets on the engine casting itself, a wooden block 

 with a trough on top to receive the body of the engine 

 was fitted between the engine and the axle, while 

 two U-shaped rods secured it with clip bars and nuts 

 underneath. 



Beneath the flywheel was mounted the friction 

 transmission of Charles' design. This consisted of 

 a large drum, perhaps 12 inches in diameter, equal 

 in length to the diameter of the flywheel and keyed 

 to a shaft directly under the center of the crank- 

 shaft and parallel to the axles. (Diameter of drum 



estimated by examination of existing features.) 

 In view of the four projections of the frame extending 

 downward and just in front of the jackshaft position, 

 it is likely that these supported the four jackshaft 

 bearings. Being a bicycle manufacturer, Charles 

 saw the need for a differential or balance gear. 

 Accordingly, he purchased from the Pope Manufactur- 

 ing Company a very light unit of the type formerly 

 used on Columbia tricycles, and installed it some- 

 where on the jackshaft. A small sprocket on each end 

 of the shaft carried a chain from the larger sprockets 

 clamped to the spokes of each rear wheel. The lower 

 surface of the flywheel had been machined so as to 

 form a friction disc, with a one-quarter inch depression 

 3 inches in diameter turned in the center. The drum 

 was positioned so that its upper surface was one- 

 quarter inch below the face of the flywheel. Hanging 

 loosely around the drum was an endless belt, one and 

 one-half inches wide, first made of rather soft rubber 

 packing material. The belt lay on the drum surface 

 between the fingers of a shipper fork. While it lay 

 under the 3-inch depression in the center of the 

 flywheel, the belt and the drum were at rest, but 

 when it was moved away from that depression the 

 belt wedged itself tightly between the drum and 

 flywheel, the resulting friction causing the drum to 

 turn and setting the vehicle into motion. The farther 

 the belt was moved toward the outer edge of the 

 wheel, the faster the drum and the vehicle moved. 

 In September 1892, Charles, who had contracted 

 with a Peoria, Illinois, firm to have bicycle parts 

 manufactured, decided to move to that city. Depart- 

 ing on the 22d of September, he did not return to 

 Springfield for over two years, and thus was not able 

 to participate in the completion and testing of the 



12 



BULLETIN 240: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



