A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine . A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE), whereas the gasoline and diesel engines that eventually became standard are internal combustion engines (ICE). ECEs have a lower thermal efficiency, but carbon monoxide production is more readily regulated.
123-402: The Doble steam car was an American steam car maker from 1909 to 1931. Its latter models of steam car, with fast-firing boiler and electric start, were considered the pinnacle of steam car development. The term "Doble steam car" comprises any of several makes of steam-powered automobile in the early 20th century, including Doble Detroit, Doble Steam Car, and Doble Automobile, severally called
246-748: A Flemish Jesuit in China. The vehicle was a toy for the Chinese Emperor. While not intended to carry passengers and therefore not exactly a car but a carriage, Verbiest's device is likely to be the first ever engine powered vehicle. Also it seems that the Belgian vehicle served as an inspiration for the Italian Grimaldi (early 1700) and the French Nolet (1748) steam carriage successor. A French inventor , Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot , built
369-628: A Ford Model T of the period took 40 seconds to reach its top speed of 38 mph (61 km/h). In 1915, Abner drove a Model B from Massachusetts to Detroit to seek investment. He managed to acquire the sum of $ 200,000, which he used to set up the General Engineering Company in Detroit. The Doble brothers at once began work on their Model C (also known as the Doble Detroit ), which was planned to extend and expand upon
492-477: A Plymouth Coupe , used a Stanley engine. In 1948 and 1949, Keen employed Abner Doble to create a more powerful steam engine, a V4 . He used this in La Dawri Victress S4 bodied sports car. Both these cars are still in existence. Keen died in 1969 before completing a further car. His papers and patterns were destroyed at that time. In the 1950s, the only manufacturer to investigate steam cars
615-460: A "Doble" because of their founding by Abner Doble . There were four Doble brothers: Abner, William, John, and Warren. Their father became wealthy, patenting the Doble Pelton wheel . All were at one time associated with the automobile company, with Abner, John, and Warren as the leading lights. Abner Doble built his first steam car between 1906 and 1909 while still in high school, with
738-510: A 142 in (3,600 mm) wheelbase. Twenty-four E's were made between 1922 and 1925 with a variety of body types from roadsters to limousines. Owners included Howard Hughes and the Maharajah of Bharatpur . One of the Hughes cars, a roadster engine number 20, is currently owned by Jay Leno . Abner Doble owned the last one—number 24, which McCulloch later acquired in the course of developing
861-579: A Doble Model G engine, and the Detroit Motorbus Co, in a double-decker, with a Doble Model H engine. A second Detroit bus had a Doble steam engine added in 1927, and at least one of them covered some 32,000 miles. In 1929 a Doble Model H was installed in a Yellow Coach for General Motors. This was followed by another Model F in a Fageol bus. The company eventually went out of business in April 1931. The total number of cars built up to that date
984-469: A clutch or transmission, and due to the engine being integrated directly into the rear axle, it did not need a drive shaft either. Like all steam vehicles it could burn a variety of liquid fuels with a minimum of modification and was a noticeably clean-running vehicle, its fuel being burned at high temperatures and low pressures, which produced very low pollution. Price ranged from $ 8,800 ($ 134,000 in 2020) to $ 11,200 ($ 170,000 in 2020) in 1923. The Model E ran on
1107-532: A cold start. Their third prototype, EZEE03, was a three cylinder unit meant to fit in a Škoda Fabia automobile. The EZEE03 was described as having a "two-stroke" (i.e. single-acting) engine of 1,000 cc (61 cu in ) displacement, producing up to 220 hp (164 kW) (500 N⋅m or 369 ft⋅lbf ). Exhaust emissions were said to be far below the SULEV standard. It had an oilless engine with ceramic cylinder linings using steam instead of oil as
1230-486: A common material being an organic compound resin with a copper wire facing or a ceramic material. In an automatic transmission , the role of the clutch is performed by a torque converter . However, the transmission itself often includes internal clutches, such as a lock-up clutch to prevent slippage of the torque converter, in order to reduce the energy loss through the transmission and therefore improve fuel economy. Older belt-driven engine cooling fans often use
1353-466: A company named Ranotor, with his son Peter Platell to continue its development. Ranotor is developing a steam hybrid that uses the exhaust heat from an ordinary petrol engine to power a small steam engine, with the aim of reducing fuel consumption by 20%. In 2008, truck manufacturers Scania and Volvo were said to be interested in the project. In 1974, the British designer Peter Pellandine produced
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#17327835568591476-413: A fixed fraction of a revolution per operation. Fast action friction clutches replaced dog clutches in some applications, eliminating the problem of impact loading on the dogs every time the clutch engaged. In addition to their use in heavy manufacturing equipment, single-revolution clutches were applied to numerous small machines. In tabulating machines , for example, pressing the operate key would trip
1599-408: A friction clutch (where the clutch is partially engaged but the shafts are rotating at different speeds) is sometimes required, such as when a motor vehicle accelerates from a standstill; however the slippage should be minimised to avoid increased wear rates. In a pull-type clutch, pressing the pedal pulls the release bearing to disengage the clutch. In a push-type clutch, pressing the pedal pushes
1722-447: A heat-activated clutch, in the form of a bimetallic strip . When the temperature is low, the spring winds and closes the valve, which lets the fan spin at about 20% to 30% of the crankshaft speed. As the temperature of the spring rises, it unwinds and opens the valve, allowing fluid past the valve, making the fan spin at about 60% to 90% of crankshaft speed. A vehicle's air-conditioning compressor often uses magnetic clutches to engage
1845-416: A lower efficiency due to some energy being transferred to the oil. Since the surfaces of a wet clutch can be slippery (as with a motorcycle clutch bathed in engine oil), stacking multiple clutch discs can compensate for the lower coefficient of friction and so eliminate slippage under power when fully engaged. Wet clutches often use a composite paper material. A centrifugal clutch automatically engages as
1968-575: A lubricant. However, Enginion found that the market was not ready for steam cars, so they opted instead to develop the Steamcell power generator/heating system based on similar technology. In 1892, painter Jöns Cederholm and his brother, André, a blacksmith, designed their first steam car, a two seater, introducing a condenser in 1894. They planned to use it for transportation between their home in Ystad and their summer house outside town. Unfortunately
2091-582: A major mechanical service was necessary The Doble Detroit caused a sensation at the 1917 New York Motor Show and over 5,000 deposits were received for the car, with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 1918. However, the Doble brothers had not entirely worked out various design and manufacturing issues, and although the car received good notices and several thousand advance orders were placed, very few were actually built, estimates ranging from 11 to as many as 80. Abner Doble blamed his company's production failure on
2214-417: A rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor , while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does the work . In a motor vehicle , the clutch acts as a mechanical linkage between the engine and transmission . By disengaging the clutch, the engine speed (RPM) is no longer determined by the speed of the driven wheels. Another example of clutch usage
2337-425: A selected vendor $ 20,000 ($ 182,754 in 2023 dollars ) toward the cost of developing a Rankine cycle engine, and up to $ 100,000 ($ 913,772 in 2023 dollars ) for outfitting six Oldsmobile Delmont 88s as operational patrol vehicles. This deal fell through because the engine manufacturers rejected GM's offer. The plan was revised and two 1969 Dodge Polaras were to be retrofitted with steam engines for testing. One car
2460-429: A significant issue for California in the mid-1960s the state encouraged investigation into the use of steam-powered cars. The fuel crises of the early 1970s prompted further work. None of this resulted in renewed steam car manufacturing. Steam cars remain the domain of enthusiasts, occasional experimentation by manufacturers, and those wishing to establish steam-powered land speed records. In 1967, California established
2583-424: A single revolution clutch to process the most recently entered number. In typesetting machines , pressing any key selected a particular character and also engaged a single rotation clutch to cycle the mechanism to typeset that character. Similarly, in teleprinters , the receipt of each character tripped a single-revolution clutch to operate one cycle of the print mechanism. In 1928, Frederick G. Creed developed
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#17327835568592706-421: A single-turn wrap spring clutch that was particularly well suited to the repetitive start-stop action required in teleprinters . In 1942, two employees of Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company developed an improved single turn spring clutch. In these clutches, a coil spring is wrapped around the driven shaft and held in an expanded configuration by the trip lever. When tripped, the spring rapidly contracts around
2829-618: A standard V8 and gave about half the power. In October 1969, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology put out a challenge for a race August 1970 from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Pasadena, California for any college that wanted to participate in. The race was open for electric, steam, turbine power, and internal combustion engines: liquid-fueled, gaseous-fueled engines, and hybrids. Two steam-powered cars entered
2952-505: A steam car running in 1788, after being granted a British patent No.1674 of December 1788. An illustration of it even appeared in Hergé 's book Tintin raconte l'histoire de l'automobile (Casterman, 1953). The London Steam Carriage was built by Richard Trevithick in 1803 and ran successfully in London, but the venture failed to attract interest and soon folded up. An amphibious steam car
3075-550: A steam car, Donald Healey decided to make a basic steam car technology more in line with Stanley or Doble and aimed at enthusiasts. He planned to have the car in production by 1971. Edward Pritchard created a steam-powered 1963 model Ford Falcon in 1972. It was evaluated by the Australian Federal Government and was also taken to the United States for promotional purposes. As a result of
3198-665: A steam turbine into a Chevrolet Vega , while Steam Power Systems built the Dutcher, a car named after the company's founder, Cornelius Dutcher. Both cars were tested by 1974 but neither car went into production. The Dutcher is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Both Johnson and Lear had contemplated constructing steam-powered cars for the Indianapolis 500 , Johnson first in
3321-504: A throttle control rod that passed down the middle of the steering column can be observed in D2 which still exists (in the UK) at the present time. Photographic evidence shows that D1 retained the foot throttle pedal, so when the wheel throttle control was first applied is not clear. The latter probably gave more precise adjustment. No more than five of the D model appear to have been built, if that. It
3444-450: A way as to avoid direct contact with the monotube while inducing a swirl motion to the gases. It was thus a counterflow design with water entering the lower end of the coiled monotube and progressing upward toward the burner, which meant that the hottest gases gave superheat to the steam at the top of the coil whilst the cooler gases preheated oncoming the feedwater at the bottom. The distinctive hand-operated "miniature steering wheel" rotating
3567-412: Is difficult to determine; but as the numbers were consecutive, whatever the model, even with the solitary known Simplex, it seems unlikely that more than 32 were built from 1922. George and William Besler of Davenport, Iowa , the sons of William George Besler , acquired much of Doble Steam Motors plant and patents. William also acquired a Doble E series Phaeton, engine number 14, from a Dr Mudd. This car
3690-444: Is in electric drills . The clutch's input shaft is driven by a motor and the output shaft is connected to the drill bit (via several intermediate components). The clutch allows the drill bit to either spin at the same speed as the motor (clutch engaged), spin at a lower speed than the motor (clutch slipping) or remain stationary while the motor is spinning (clutch disengaged). A dry clutch uses dry friction to transfer power from
3813-453: Is known to have been constructed, but the car never approached production stage. The other problem was Abner Doble himself, who was said to be such a perfectionist that he was seldom willing to stop tinkering and actually release an automobile for sale. Doble made two further steam engines, designated models G and H. These were larger units and used experimentally in several buses. The first were tested in 1926 by International Harvester , using
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3936-417: Is said that the two-cylinder compound engine sometimes gave difficulty in starting. The model E had been developed by 1922; this could be said to be the "classic" Doble, of which the most examples have survived. The initial monotube boiler design was perfected into the "American" type. This produced steam at a pressure of 750 psi (52 bar ) and a temperature of 750 °F (400 °C). The tubing
4059-411: Is the synchronizer ring in a manual transmission. A dog clutch is a non-slip design of clutch which is used in non-synchronous transmissions . The single-revolution clutch was developed in the 19th century to power machinery such as shears or presses where a single pull of the operating lever or (later) press of a button would trip the mechanism, engaging the clutch between the power source and
4182-411: Is usually mounted directly to the face of the engine's flywheel , as this already provides a convenient large-diameter steel disk that can act as one driving plate of the clutch. Some racing clutches use small multi-plate disk packs that are not part of the flywheel. Both clutch and flywheel are enclosed in a conical bellhousing for the gearbox. The friction material used for the clutch disk varies, with
4305-466: The 1973 oil crisis , SAAB started a project in 1974 codenamed ULF (short for utan luftföroreningar, Swedish for Without Air Pollution)) headed by Dr. Ove Platell which made a prototype steam-powered car. The engine used an electronically controlled 28-pound multi-parallel-circuit steam generator with 1-millimeter-bore tubing and 16 gallons per hour (61 L/h) firing rate which was intended to produce 160 hp (119 kW) of continuous power, and
4428-616: The American Bicycle Co. of Toledo, Ohio , created a 6.25 hp Toledo steam carriage (a description from the Horseless age , December 1900). The American Bicycle Co was one of the enterprises within Col. Albert Pope's large conglomerate of bicycle and motor vehicles manufacturers. The Toledo Steam carriage was a very well-made, high-quality machine where every component, bar the tires, bell, instruments and lights were made within
4551-663: The California Air Resources Board and began to implement legislation to dramatically reduce exhaust emissions. This prompted renewed interest in alternative fuels for motor vehicles and a resurgence of interest in steam-powered cars in the state. The idea for having patrol cars fitted with steam engines stemmed from an informal meeting in March 1968 of members of the California Assembly Transportation Committee. In
4674-597: The Daytona 500 stock car race This record was not exceeded by any car until 1910. Attempts were made to bring more advanced steam cars on the market, the most remarkable being the Doble Steam Car which shortened start-up time very noticeably by incorporating a highly efficient monotube steam generator to heat a much smaller quantity of water along with effective automation of burner and water feed control. By 1923, Doble's steam cars could be started from cold with
4797-551: The San Francisco Bay Area that year. Instead of a Polara, Thermodynamic Systems (later called General Steam Corp), was given a late-model Oldsmobile Delmont 88. Lear was given a Polara but it does not appear to have been built. Both firms were given 6 months to complete their projects with Lear's being due for completion on August 1, 1969. Neither car had been completed by the due date and in November 1969, Lear
4920-501: The Teletype Model 28 and its successors, using the same design principles. IBM Selectric typewriters also used them. These are typically disc-shaped assemblies mounted on the driven shaft. Inside the hollow disc-shaped drive drum are two or three freely floating pawls arranged so that when the clutch is tripped, the pawls spring outward much like the shoes in a drum brake . When engaged, the load torque on each pawl transfers to
5043-495: The 18th and 19th centuries, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick had developed the use of high-pressure steam around 1800 that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. By the 1850s there was a flurry of new steam car manufacturers. Development was hampered by adverse legislation (the UK Locomotive Acts from the 1860s as well as the rapid development of internal combustion engine technology in
Doble steam car - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-601: The 1900s) leading to the commercial demise of steam-powered vehicles. Relatively few remained in use after the Second World War . Many of these vehicles were acquired by enthusiasts for preservation. The search for renewable energy sources has led to an occasional resurgence of interest in using steam technology to power road vehicles. While gasoline-powered ICE cars have an operational thermal efficiency of 15% to 30%, early automotive steam units were capable of only about half this efficiency. A significant benefit of
5289-539: The Besler streamliner, a two-car steam railcar. In the mid-1950s Henry J. Kaiser asked William Besler to convert his 1953 Kaiser Manhattan to steam. Besler completed this in either 1957 or 1958. The engine was described as a V4 single acting uniflow with trunk pistons. It was a cross compound with piston valves across the high-pressure heads. Kaiser apparently did not take the car back and left it with Besler. In 1969, GM introduced two experimental steam-powered cars. One
5412-533: The Doble company folded. Various other refinements were applied to individual cars such as a steam-driven water feed pump. Seven model Fs were made, one of which was owned by Abner Doble's wife. They were car numbers 30 to 35, and 39. One of these, number 35, was a chassis only and sold to Oscar Henschel in Germany. Henschel's car was used by Hermann Göring and believed destroyed during the war. The car bodies were otherwise sedans or phaetons . The last F car number 39
5535-476: The ECE is that the fuel burner can be configured for very low emissions of carbon monoxide , nitrogen oxides and unburned carbon in the exhaust, thus avoiding pollution. The greatest technical challenges to the steam car have focused on its boiler . This represents much of the total mass of the vehicle, making the car heavy (an internal combustion-engined car requires no boiler), and requires careful attention from
5658-712: The Los Angeles Herald two weeks later. In December 1901, the company changed from the American Bicycle Company to the newly formed International Motor Car Company to concentrate on steam- and gasoline-driven models, with electric vehicles being made by the separate Waverly Electric Co. Both steam and gasoline models were manufactured, but, as the public favored the gasoline models and steam carriage sales were slow, steam carriage production ceased in July 1902 and gasoline-driven models were then made under
5781-586: The Model B did not possess the convenience of an internal combustion engined vehicle, it attracted the attention of contemporary automobile trade magazines with the improvements it displayed over previous steam cars. The Model B was virtually silent compared to contemporary gasoline engines. It also possessed no clutch or transmission , which were superfluous due to the substantial torque produced by steam engines from 0 rpm. The Model B could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in just 15 seconds, whereas
5904-423: The Model B, led Abner to file patents for the innovations incorporated in it which included a steam condenser which enabled the water supply to last for as much as 1,500 miles (2,400 km), instead of the typical steam car's 20–50 miles (30–80 km). The Model B also protected the interior of the boiler from the common steam vehicle nuisances of corrosion and scale by mixing engine oil with feedwater. While
6027-472: The Model D of 1922. The uniflow engine, perceived as the root of the troubles with the Doble Detroit, gave place to a two-cylinder compound type, still with Joy's valve gear, but with piston valves. Another crucial development was a coiled monotube once-through vertically mounted cylindrical boiler following the thinking behind the later version of the Detroit boiler, the most distinctive feature of which
6150-711: The Paxton steam car. The E cars known still to exist are 9 (at the Ford museum), 10 (in the UK), 11 (in Australia), 13 (in New Zealand), 14, 17, 18 (Jay Leno's Garage), 19, 20 (Jay Leno's Garage), 22 (in the UK), 23, and 24 (in New Zealand during a visit 1931). Those known to have been scrapped are 4, 5, 7, 15, and 16. The main new feature was the boiler which formed the basis of later developments from 1930 onwards after
6273-565: The South Rim of The Grand Canyon, a distance of 67 miles. As a publicity exercise the trip was to assess the potential of starting a steam bus service but the anticipated afternoon journey took three days due to problems with supplies of the wrong fuel. Though the Toledo towed a trailer filled with additional fuel and water supplies, the four participants omitted to take any food, one, the journalist Winfield Hoggaboon, wrote up an amusing article in
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#17327835568596396-408: The U.S. The center of U.S. steamer production was New England , where 38 of the 84 manufacturers were located. Examples include White ( Cleveland ), Eclipse ( Easton, Massachusetts ), Cotta ( Lanark, Illinois ), Crouch ( New Brighton, Pennsylvania ), Hood ( Danvers, Massachusetts , lasted just one month), Kidder ( New Haven, Connecticut ), Century ( Syracuse, New York ) and Skene ( Lewiston, Maine ,
6519-556: The UK. It had a three cylinder double-acting engine in a 'broad-arrow' configuration, mounted in a tubular steel chassis with a Kevlar body, giving a gross weight of just 1,050 lb (476 kg). Uncomplicated and robust, the steam engine was claimed to give trouble-free, efficient performance. It had huge torque (1,100 ft⋅lbf or 1,500 N⋅m) at zero engine revs, and could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in under 8 seconds . Pellandine made several attempts to break
6642-633: The United States in Auburn, Indiana . Johnson was also noted as working on a steam-powered helicopter. William D Thompson, 69-year-old retired San Diego automotive engineer, also announced he planned to enter a steam-powered race car. Thompson was working on a $ 35,000 ($ 290,799 in 2023 dollars ) steam-powered luxury car and he intended to use the car's engine in the race car. He had claimed that he had almost 250 orders for his cars. By comparison, Rolls-Royces cost about $ 17,000 ($ 141,245 in 2023 dollars ) at that time. With Lear pulling out of attempting to make
6765-539: The United States. Endurance (1924-1925) was the last steam car manufacturer to commence operations. American/Derr continued retrofitting production cars of various makes with steam engines, and Doble was the last steam car manufacturer. It ceased business in 1930. From the 1940s onward, various steam cars were constructed, usually by enthusiasts. Among those mentioned were Charles Keen, Cal Williams' 1950 Ford Conversion, Forrest R Detrick's 1957 Detrick S-101 prototype, and Harry Peterson's Stanley powered Peterson. The Detrick
6888-711: The age of 28 in 1921, and the surviving brothers reunited in Emeryville, California , setting up under the name of Doble Steam Motors. They managed to solve most of the remaining engineering problems and added even more innovations which increased the cars' acceleration and reliability. During WW1 Doble's Detroit steam motors were used in two prototype tanks. One was the Holt Manufacturing Company steam-powered tank . This tank underwent trials in February 1918, but no further models were made. The other
7011-451: The assistance of his brothers. It was based on components salvaged from a wrecked White Motor Company steamer, driving a new engine of the Doble brothers' own design. It did not run particularly well, but it inspired the brothers to build two more prototypes in the following years. Abner moved to Massachusetts in 1910 to attend MIT , but dropped out after just one semester to work with his brothers on their steam cars. Their third prototype,
7134-472: The atmosphere, necessitating frequent refilling of the water tank; after 1914, all Stanleys were fitted with a condenser , which considerably reduced their water consumption. In 1906, the Land Speed Record was broken by a Stanley steam car, piloted by Fred Marriott , which achieved 127 mph (204 km/h) at Ormond Beach, Florida . This annual week-long "Speed Week" is still run, headed by
7257-867: The automobile was destroyed in Sweden's first automobile accident but the Cederholm brothers soon built a second, improved version of their steam car reusing many parts from the first one. The car is preserved in a museum in Skurup . What is considered by many to be the first marketable popular steam car appeared in 1899 from the Locomobile Company of America , located in Watertown, Massachusetts , and from 1900 in Bridgeport, Connecticut . Locomobile manufactured several thousand of its Runabout model in
7380-463: The benefits of streamlining, and a stripped-down version of the Series E accelerated from 0–75 mph (121 km/h) in 10 seconds. Its fuel consumption, burning a variety of fuels (often kerosene), was competitive with automobiles of the day, and its ability to run in eerie silence apart from wind noise gave it a distinct edge. At 70 mph (110 km/h), there was little noticeable vibration, with
7503-422: The boiler at the front end of the car under the hood, the engine and the rear axle forming an integrated unit. The even weight distribution and low center of gravity contributed much to the ride and handling of all Doble cars. These improvements promised a steam car that would at last provide virtually all of the convenience associated with a conventional automobile, but with higher speed, simpler controls, and what
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#17327835568597626-404: The bottom, the other with them at the top of the casing; this led to the subsequent counterflow monotube boiler arrangement. Boiler operation was fully electro-mechanically automated: the bottom of the boiler housed a metal tray with a row of quartz rods. As heat increased, the tray expanded, pushing the rods forward and shutting off the burner. As the system cooled, the quartz rods receded, engaging
7749-401: The burner. The Detroit could start from cold in as little as 90 seconds. A two-cylinder double-acting uniflow engine was mounted under the floor driving the back axle; double slide valves were driven by a Joy valve gear . The car had only four controls: a steering wheel, a brake pedal, a trip pedal for variable cut-off and reversing, and a foot-operated throttle. The layout of the chassis put
7872-412: The clutch disc, in order to reduce NVH within the vehicle. Also, some clutches for manual transmission cars use a clutch delay valve to avoid abrupt engagements of the clutch. In a wet clutch , the friction material sits in an oil bath (or has flow-through oil) which cools and lubricates the clutch. This can provide smoother engagement and a longer lifespan of the clutch, however wet clutches can have
7995-418: The company built everything but the tires). By 1903, 43 of them were gone and by the end of 1910 of those companies that were started in the decade those left were White which lasted to 1911, Conrad which lasted to 1924, Turner-Miesse of England which lasted to 1913, Morriss to 1912, Doble to 1930, Rutherford to 1912, and Pearson-Cox to 1916. Assembly line mass production by Henry Ford dramatically reduced
8118-414: The compressor as required. Motorcycles typically employ a wet clutch with the clutch riding in the same oil as the transmission. These clutches are usually made up of a stack of alternating friction plates and steel plates. The friction plates have lugs on their outer diameters that lock them into a basket that is turned by the crankshaft. The steel plates have lugs on their inner diameters that lock them to
8241-466: The consortium of Planning Research Corporation and STP Corporation, Battelle Memorial Institute , Columbus, Ohio, Continental Motors Corporation , Detroit, Vought Aeronautical Division of Ling-Temco-Vought , Dallas and Thermo Electron Corporation, Waltham, Massachusetts . General Motors introduced two experimental steam-powered cars in 1969. One was the SE 124 based on a converted Chevrolet Chevelle and
8364-464: The cost of owning a conventional automobile, was also a strong factor in the steam car's demise as the Model T was both cheap and reliable. Additionally, during the 'heyday' of steam cars, the internal combustion engine made steady gains in efficiency, matching and then surpassing the efficiency of a steam engine when the weight of a boiler is factored in. With the introduction of the electric starter ,
8487-547: The day. He still considered it just possible with good management and a lot of money. Abner Doble's last consultancy was in the development of the Paxton Phoenix car, for the Paxton Engineering Division of McCulloch Motors Corporation , Los Angeles. The project was for a low-weight car built around a unique "torque box" chassis based on an aeronautical wing section. The Doble Ultimax steam unit
8610-445: The dedicated 245,000 sq ft factory in Toledo, Ohio. The Toledo is considered to be one of the best steam cars produced at the time. The engine was particularly robust and the 2, 3" diameter x 4" stroke pistons employed piston style valves instead of 'D' valves thus insuring better balance and reduced leakage of steam. In September 1901 two Toledo steamers, one model B (a model A machine 1,000 to 2,000 pounds or 454 to 907 kilograms but with
8733-475: The default state is for the transmission to be connected to the engine. A "neutral" gear position is provided, so that the clutch pedal can be released with the vehicle remaining stationary. The clutch is required for standing starts and in vehicles whose transmissions lack synchronising means, is used to assist in matching the speeds of the engine and transmission during gear changes to avoid gear “crashing,” which can cause serious damage to gear teeth. The clutch
8856-412: The development of steam buses , while from 1932 to 1933 Warren was in Germany managing a contract for Henschel & Son of Kassel , who went on to build a variety of steam applications including a speedboat, cars, railcars, buses, and trucks. The exact numbers of vehicles built are difficult to determine. Henschel did build 10 articulated steam trucks for Deutsche Bahn railways as delivery trucks. Abner
8979-563: The discussion, Karsten Vieg, a lawyer attached to the Committee, suggested that six cars be fitted with steam engines for testing by California District Police Chiefs. A bill was passed by the legislature to fund the trial. In 1969, the California Highway Patrol initiated the project under Inspector David S. Luethje to investigate the feasibility of using steam engined cars. Initially General Motors had agreed to pay
9102-403: The driver, although even the cars of 1900 had considerable automation to manage this. The single largest restriction is the need to supply feedwater to the boiler. This must either be carried and frequently replenished, or the car must also be fitted with a condenser , a further weight and inconvenience. Steam-powered and electric cars outsold gasoline-powered cars in the United States prior to
9225-495: The early 1960s when with Controlled Steam Dynamics and in 1968 with Thermodynamic Systems and Lear in 1969. A third steam racing car was contemplated by a consortium of Planning Research Corporation and Andy Granatelli of STP Corporation . Lear proceeded with the idea and constructed a car, but ran out of funds while trying to develop the engine. The car is thought to be at the National Automobile and Truck Museum of
9348-446: The early 20th century. The engine (excluding the boiler) is smaller and lighter than an internal combustion engine. It is also better-suited to the speed and torque characteristics of the axle, thus avoiding the need for the heavy and complex transmission required for an internal combustion engine. The steam car is also quieter, even without a silencer . The first steam-powered vehicle was supposedly built in 1679 by Ferdinand Verbiest ,
9471-428: The engine turning at around 900 rpm. Contemporary Doble advertisements mentioned the lightness of the engine, which would lead customers to compare it favorably with heavier gasoline engines, but "engine" in a steam car usually refers solely to the expander unit, and does not take into account the complete power plant including boiler and ancillary equipment; on the other hand, clutch and gearbox were not needed. Even so,
9594-522: The ensuing legal struggle. For all their innovations, Doble cars were hindered by two significant problems. The first was the price: the chassis alone sold for $ 9,500, and adding a body virtually doubled that figure, making the car a luxury item in the 1920s. In 1922 the brothers had begun work on a lower-cost model, projected to sell for less than $ 2,000. This was named the Simplex , and was to be powered by four uniflow single-acting cylinders. One prototype
9717-407: The feedwater contained in vertical grids of tubes welded to horizontal headers. The steam-raising part of the boiler was partitioned off by a wall of heat-resisting material jacketed with planished steel from a smaller compartment in which were similar grids of tubes for feedwater heating. There seem to have been at least two versions of this boiler, the first with the burner and combustion chamber at
9840-631: The first Pelland Steamer for a contract with the South Australian Government. It had a fiberglass monocoque chassis (based on the internal combustion-engined Pelland Sports) and used a twin cylinder double acting compound engine. It has been preserved at the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, South Australia. In 1977, the Pelland Mk II Steam Car was built, this time by Pelland Engineering in
9963-457: The first repossession of an automobile in 1867 and the first getaway car the same year, both by Francis Curtis of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The 1880s saw the rise of the first larger scale manufacturers, particularly in France, the first being Bollée (1878) followed by De Dion-Bouton (1883), Whitney (1885), Olds (1886), Serpollet (1887) and Peugeot (1889). The 1890s were dominated by
10086-545: The first working self-propelled land based mechanical vehicle in two versions, one in 1769 and one in 1771 for use by the French Army. William Murdoch built and operated a steam carriage in model form in 1784. In 1791 he built a larger steam carriage which he had to abandon to do other work. Also William Symington built a steam carriage in 1786. There is an unsubstantiated story that a pair of Yorkshiremen, engineer Robert Fourness and his cousin, physician James Ashworth had
10209-745: The formation of numerous car manufacturing companies. The internal combustion engine was in its infancy, whereas steam power was well established. Electric powered cars were becoming available but suffered from their inability to travel longer distances. The majority of steam-powered car manufacturers from this period were from the United States. The more notable of these were Clark from 1895 to 1909, Locomobile from 1899 to 1903 when it switched to gasoline engines, and Stanley from 1897 to 1924. As well as England and France, other countries also made attempts to manufacture steam cars: Cederholm of Sweden (1892), Malevez of Belgium (1898-1905), Schöche of Germany (1895), and Herbert Thomson of Australia (1896-1901) Of all
10332-619: The foul-weather gear designating it as a model B) and one class E (public delivery vehicle), were entered by the American Bicycle Co. into the New York to Buffalo Endurance Contest of mid-September 1901. There were 36 cars in class B and three in class E, the class B Toledo won the Grosse Point race. On 4 January 1902, a specially built Toledo steam carriage was the first automobile to forge a trail from Flagstaff, Arizona to
10455-402: The innovations pioneered in the Model B. The Doble Detroit incorporated key ignition, doing away with the need for manual ignition of the boiler system. John Doble also constructed a flash boiler with rectangular casing in which atomized kerosene fuel was ignited with a spark plug , in a carburetor-type venturi and used forced draft provided by an electrically driven fan. This rapidly heated
10578-430: The input shaft to the output shaft, for example a friction disk presses against a car engine's flywheel by a spring mechanism. The wheels of the vehicle only rotate when the flywheel is in contact with the friction disk. To stop the transfer of power, the friction disk is moved away from the flywheel by means of a lever mechanism. The majority of automotive clutches on manual transmissions are dry clutches. Slippage of
10701-399: The internal combustion engine became more popular than steam, but the internal combustion engine was not necessarily superior in performance, range, fuel economy and emissions. Some steam enthusiasts feel steam has not received its share of attention in the field of automobile efficiency. Apart from Brooks of Canada, all the steam car manufacturers that commenced between 1916 and 1926 were in
10824-414: The invention of the electric starter , since internal combustion cars relied on a hand crank to start the engine, which was difficult and occasionally dangerous to use, as improper cranking could cause a backfire capable of breaking the arm of the operator. Electric cars were popular to some extent, but had a short range, and could not be charged on the road if the batteries ran low. Once working pressure
10947-616: The land speed record for steam power, but was thwarted by technical issues. Pellandine moved back to Australia in the 1990s where he continued to develop the Steamer. The latest version is the Mark IV. From 1996, a R&D subsidiary of the Volkswagen group called Enginion AG was developing a system called ZEE (Zero Emissions Engine). It produced steam almost instantly without an open flame, and took 30 seconds to reach maximum power from
11070-442: The machine's crankshaft for exactly one revolution before disengaging the clutch. When the clutch is disengaged, the driven member is stationary. Early designs were typically dog clutches with a cam on the driven member used to disengage the dogs at the appropriate point. Greatly simplified single-revolution clutches were developed in the 20th century, requiring much smaller operating forces and in some variations, allowing for
11193-719: The name Pope-Toledo. Total production of the steamers was between 285 and 325 units, as confirmed by a letter from the International Motor Car Co bookkeeper to the firms' accountant in June 1902. The White Steamer was manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio , from 1900 until 1910 by the White Motor Company . Clutch This is an accepted version of this page A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from
11316-508: The new manufacturers from the 1890s, only four continued to make steam cars after 1910. They were Stanley (to 1924) and Waverley (to 1916) of the United States, Buard of France (to 1914), and Miesse of Belgium (to 1926). There were a large number of new companies formed in the period from 1898 to 1905. Steam cars outnumbered other forms of propulsion among very early cars. In the U.S. in 1902, 485 of 909 new car registrations were steamers. From 1899, Mobile had ten branches and 58 dealers across
11439-491: The other was designated SE 101 based on the Pontiac Grand Prix . The SE 124 had its standard gasoline engine replaced with a 50 hp Besler steam engine V4, using the 1920 Doble patents, the SE 101 was fitted with a 160 hp steam engine developed by GM Engineering. Power was transferred via a Toric automatic gearbox. The results was disappointing. The steam engine was heavy and weighted 300 kg more than
11562-407: The others to keep them engaged. These clutches do not slip once locked up, and they engage very quickly, on the order of milliseconds. A trip projection extends out from the assembly. If the trip lever engaged this projection, the clutch was disengaged. When the trip lever releases this projection, internal springs and friction engage the clutch. The clutch then rotates one or more turns, stopping when
11685-402: The outside. A piston valve incorporating transfer ports was fitted between each high-pressure and low-pressure cylinder in an arrangement similar to Vauclain's balanced compound system used on a number of railway locomotives around 1900. Stephenson's valve gear replaced the previous Joy motion. This engine was used on all vehicles developed thereafter. Again, the car neither possessed nor needed
11808-470: The overall weight of a Series E was in excess of 5,000 pounds. The first model E was sold in 1924, and Doble Steam Motors continued to manufacture steam-powered cars for the next seven years. In 1924 the State of California learned that Abner had helped to sell stock illegally in a desperate bid to raise money for the company, and though Abner was eventually acquitted on a technicality, the company folded during
11931-650: The period 1899–1903, designed around a motor design leased from the Stanley Steamer Company . The company ceased producing steam cars in 1903 and changed to limited-production, internal combustion powered luxury automobiles. In 1922, it was acquired by Durant Motors and discontinued with the failure of the parent company in 1929. Perhaps the best selling and best known steam car was the Stanley Steamer, produced from 1896 to 1924. Between 1899 and 1905, Stanley outsold all gasoline-powered cars and
12054-568: The power shaft engaging the clutch. At the end of one revolution, if the trip lever has been reset, it catches the end of the spring (or a pawl attached to it), and the angular momentum of the driven member releases the tension on the spring. These clutches have long operating lives—many have performed tens and perhaps hundreds of millions of cycles without the need of maintenance other than occasional lubrication. Cascaded-pawl single-revolution clutches superseded wrap-spring single-revolution clutches in page printers, such as teleprinters , including
12177-445: The race. University of California, San Diego 's modified AMC Javelin and Worcester Polytechnic Institute's converted 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle called the tea kettle . Both dropped out on the second day of the race. The California Assembly passed legislation in 1972 to contract two companies to develop steam-powered cars. They were Aerojet Liquid Rocket Company of Sacramento and Steam Power Systems of San Diego. Aerojet installed
12300-419: The release bearing to disengage the clutch. A multi-plate clutch consists of several friction plates arranged concentrically. In some cases, it is used instead of a larger diameter clutch. Drag racing cars use multi-plate clutches to control the rate of power transfer to the wheels as the vehicle accelerates from a standing start. Some clutch disks include springs designed to change the natural frequency of
12423-440: The speed of the input shaft increases and disengages as the input shaft speed decreases. Applications include small motorcycles , motor scooters , chainsaws , and some older automobiles . A cone clutch is similar to dry friction plate clutch, except the friction material is applied to the outside of a conical shaped object. This conical shape allows wedging action to occur during engagement. A common application for cone clutches
12546-534: The steel shortages caused by World War I , but the Doble Detroit was mechanically unsatisfactory. Those few customers who had received completed cars complained that they were sluggish and unpredictable, some even reversing when they should have gone forward. In addition, the Doble brothers were divided by Abner's insistence on taking credit for the company's technical achievements, and John Doble ended up suing Abner for patent infringement, whereupon Abner left Detroit for California. John Doble died of lymphatic cancer at
12669-414: The transmission input shaft. A set of coil springs or a diaphragm spring plate force the plates together when the clutch is engaged. On motorcycles the clutch is operated by a hand lever on the left handlebar. No pressure on the lever means that the clutch plates are engaged (driving), while pulling the lever back towards the rider disengages the clutch plates through cable or hydraulic actuation, allowing
12792-407: The trip lever again engages the trip projection. Most cars and trucks with a manual transmission use a dry clutch, which is operated by the driver using the left-most pedal. The motion of the pedal is transferred to the clutch using mechanical linkage, hydraulics (master and slave cylinders) or a cable. The clutch is only disengaged at times when the driver is pressing on the clutch pedal, therefore
12915-521: The turn of a key and driven off in 40 seconds or less. When the boiler had achieved maximum working pressure, the burner would cut out until pressure had fallen to a minimum level, whereupon it would reignite; by this means the car could achieve around 15 miles per gallon (18.8 liters/100 km) of kerosene despite its weight in excess of 5,000 lb (2,268 kg). Ultimately, despite their undoubted qualities, Doble cars failed due to poor company organization and high initial cost. In 1900,
13038-567: Was Paxton. Abner Doble developed the Doble Ultimax engine for the Paxton Phoenix steam car, built by the Paxton Engineering Division of McCulloch Motors Corporation , Los Angeles. The engine's sustained maximum power was 120 bhp (89 kW). A Ford Coupe was used as a test-bed for the engine. The project was eventually dropped in 1954. In 1957, Williams Engine Company Incorporated of Ambler began offering steam engine conversions for existing production cars. When air pollution became
13161-508: Was a Steam Tank project by the Corps of Engineers. The Corps had created a successful flame-thrower in November 1917 and decided to mount it on a tank. Funding for the project was made by the Endicott and Johnson Shoe Company. The tank was similar in design to British heavy tanks of the period. It weighed 50-tons and was powered by two Doble steam engines. The outcome was a complete redesign,
13284-622: Was a virtually noiseless power plant. The only defect sometimes noted throughout the Doble car era was less than perfect braking, which was common in automobiles of all types before 1930. Typically, a car of 1920s only had two rear-mounted mechanical drum brakes, although those fitted to Dobles were of larger than usual proportions. Dobles achieved reliability by eliminating most of the mechanical items that tended to malfunction in conventional automobiles: they had no clutch , no transmission , no distributor , and no points . Later Doble steam cars often achieved several hundred thousand miles of use before
13407-431: Was about the same size as a standard car battery. Lengthy start-up times were avoided by using air compressed and stored when the car was running to power the car upon starting until adequate steam pressure was built up. The engine used a conical rotary valve made from pure boron nitride . To conserve water, a hermetically sealed water system was used. The project was cancelled and the project engineer, Ove Platell, started
13530-505: Was an ingenious three-crank tandem (or steeple) compound engine with three pairs of vertical single-acting cylinders arranged in such a way as to give a double-acting effect. Its sustained maximum power was 120 bhp (89 kW); peak power was 155 bhp (116 kW) but could not be held due to insufficient steam flow. The expected average water rate was 9 lb/hp/hr. The project was eventually dropped in 1954. Steam car The first experimental steam-powered cars were built in
13653-542: Was attained, early steam cars could be instantly driven off with high acceleration, but they typically take several minutes to start from cold, plus time to get the burner to operating temperature . To overcome this, development has been directed toward flash boilers , which heat a much smaller quantity of water to get the vehicle started, and in the case of Doble cars, spark ignition kerosene burners. The steam car does have advantages over internal combustion-powered cars, although most of these are now less important than in
13776-640: Was built by Oliver Evans in 1805. The first substantiated steam car for personal use was that of Josef Božek in 1815. He was followed by Julius Griffith in 1821, Timothy Burstall and John Hill in 1824 and Thomas Blanchard in 1825. Over thirty years passed before there was a flurry of steam cars from 1850s onwards with Dudgeon , Roper and Spencer from the United States, Leonard and Taylor from Canada, Rickett , Austin, Catley and Ayres from England, Bordino and Manzetti from Italy, others followed with Bollée and Lejeune from France, Thury from Switzerland and Kemna from Germany. This early period also saw
13899-402: Was constructed by Detrick, William H Mehrling, and Lee Gaeke who designed the engine based on a Stanley. Charles Keen began constructing a steam car in 1940 with the intention of restarting steam car manufacturing. Keen's family had a long history of involvement with steam propulsion going back to his great-great-grandfather in the 1830s, who helped build early steam locomotives. His first car,
14022-424: Was developed as one of two possible power plants, the other being an original design of two-stroke internal combustion engine. The Ultimax was designed to operate at a pressure of 2,000 psi (137.9 bar) and 1,200 °F (649 °C) and actually ran at about 1,560 psi (107.6 bar) and 900 °F (482 °C) with a nominal boiler pressure of 2,000 psi and flow rate of 900 lb/hr. The engine
14145-452: Was formed from seamless cold-drawn steel 575 ft 9 in (175 m) in total length, measuring 22 in (560 mm) in diameter by 33 in (840 mm) in height when coiled and assembled. The boiler was cold water tested to a pressure of 7,000 psi (480 bar). Two 2-cylinder compound cylinder blocks were in effect placed back to back as the basis for a 4-cylinder Woolf compound unit with high-pressure cylinders placed on
14268-709: Was involved in the development of a steam bus for the Auckland Transport Board while in New Zealand. From 1931 to 1935, Abner worked with Sentinel Waggon Works of Shrewsbury , England. Several shunting locomotives (switchers) and an undetermined number of railcars were fitted with Doble/Sentinel machinery for sale to customers in Britain, France, Peru, and Paraguay. In 1937, Abner, writing in Autocar, stated that any new steam cars would have to be superlatively good to compete with gasoline-powered cars of
14391-699: Was owned by Warren Doble. Engine number 32 was fitted into a Buick. F30 and F34 still exist. The F30 is thought to be an E model engine and chassis. F34 in existence is said to be based on a Buick Series 60 . Doble numbered all his engines sequentially: The 1924 model Doble Series E steam car could run for 1,500 miles (2,400 km) before its 24-gallon water tank needed to be refilled; even in freezing weather, it could be started from cold and move off within 30 seconds, and once fully warmed could be relied upon to reach speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour (140 km/h). In recent years Doble cars have been run at speeds approaching 120 mph (190 km/h), this without
14514-525: Was reported as saying the car would be ready in 3 months. Lear's only known retrofit was a Chevrolet Monte Carlo unrelated to the project. As for the project, it seems to have never been completed, with Lear pulling out by December. In 1969, the National Air Pollution Control Administration announced a competition for a contract to design a practical passenger-car steam engine. Five firms entered. They were
14637-522: Was second only to the electric cars of the Columbia Automobile Company in the U.S. It used a compact fire-tube boiler to power a simple double acting two cylinder engine. Because of the phenomenal torque available at all engine speeds, the steam car's engine was typically geared directly to the rear axle, with no clutch or variable speed transmission required. Until 1914, Stanley steam cars vented their exhaust steam directly to
14760-469: Was still in existence in 2010. They undertook further development work with Abner Doble and created an interurban car, a railcar , and a steam aircraft . The brothers modified a Travel Air 2000 bi-plane by replacing its petrol engine with a steam engine. The plane was successfully test flown on 12 April 1933 at Oakland Municipal Airport, California. In 1936, the New Haven Railroad tested
14883-555: Was the SE 124 based on a converted Chevrolet Chevelle , and the other was designated SE 101 based on the Pontiac Grand Prix . The SE 124 had its standard gasoline engine replaced with a 50 hp power Besler steam engine, using the 1920 Doble patents. The SE 101 had a GM-designed steam engine that had been developed in consultation with Besler. Following the collapse of their company, Abner & Warren Doble traveled as steam power consultants. Abner first went to New Zealand in March 1930, where he worked for A & G Price Limited on
15006-439: Was the placing of the burner at the top of the boiler. This plus a copious amount of insulation was meant to cause the hot gases to reside within the boiler casing for an optimum length of time giving up the maximum amount of heat to the feedwater. There was a forced-draft burner at the top of the boiler and an exhaust flue at the bottom. The venturi was placed horizontally at the top of the vertical boiler barrel and oriented in such
15129-653: Was to be modified by Don Johnson of Thermodynamic Systems Inc. and the other by industrialist William P. Lear 's Lear Motors Incorporated. At the time, the California State Legislature was introducing strict pollution control regulations for automobiles and the Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, John Francis Foran, was supportive of the idea. The Committee also was proposing to test four steam-powered buses in
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