Combined beach-wagon and surf-boat.

(Application filed Oct. 30, 1899.}

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHQTO-L1THO.. WASHINGTON. J>. C.

No. 652,184.

Patented June 19, 1900. J. A. HOWELL.

COMBINED BEACH WAGON AND SURF BOAT (Application filed Oct. 30, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets—Sheet 2.

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO, PHOTO-LITHO, WASHINGTON. 0. C.

No. 652,184.

Patented June 19, 1900.

J. A. HOWELL.

(No Model.)

COMBINED BEACH WAGON AND SURF BOAT.

(Application filed Oct. 30, 1899.)

Sheets—Sheet 3.

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-l.IT.HO.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

No. 652,184. Patented June 19, 1900.

J. A. HOWELL.

COMBINED BEACH WAGON AND SURF BOAT. (Application filed Oct. 30, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets—Sheet 4.

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-LlTHO.. WASHINGTON. 0. C.

United States Patent Office.

JOHN A. HOWELL, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

COMBINED BEACH-WAGON AND SURF-BOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming· part of Letters Patent No. 652,184, dated June 19, 1900.

Application filed October 30,1899. Serial No. 735,296, (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John A. Howell, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have in5 vented a certain new and useful Improvement in a Combined Beach-Wagon and Surf-Boat; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the i o art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a combined beachwagon and surf-boat or a vehicle suitable for coasting along beaches and taking to the wa15 ter whenever desired. The ocean-beaches between high and low water marks ordinarily present favorable conditions to a proper vehicle—they are level, smooth, and sufficiently hard--while inshore of the beach, above high20 water mark, the sand forms irregular shifting heaps, which are practically impassable to any vehicle. Again, the ordinary beach often presents obstructions, either natural or artificial, such as piers, inlets, mud banks, 25 rocks, &amp;e.

The object of my invention is to provide a combined beach-wagon and surf-boat which is capable of locomotion along the smooth part of the beach and which may be put to 30 sea and navigated past obstructions.

My invention consists,primarily,in the corm bination of a wagon-body which also serves as a boat when afloat, wheels propelling this wagon-body on land or water, and a trail 35 adapted for use either for a steering device on land or in the water and also capable of being used'as a drag, or as a steadying-arm when the wagon is afloat.

My invention will be understood by refer40 enee to the accompanying drawings, in which the same parts are indicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved wagon-body and float, a part only of the trail 45 being shown. Fig. 2 represents a central vertical section through the wagon-body or float, the trail being wholly omitted. Fig. 3 represents a transverse section along the line 3 3 of Fig. Hooking forward, the wheel and hogstays 50 being omitted. Fig. 4 represents a sectional elevation of the trailer and its connection to the rear of the wagon-body or float, and Fig. 5 represents a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation along the line 6 6 of Fig. 4 and looking in the di- 55 rection of the arrows, in which figure the trail has been moved from the position shown in Fig. 4 to its upper position, where it is clear of the water. Fig. 7 represents a section of one of the trail-wheels along the line 7 7 of 60 Figs. 4, 5, and 6.

A represents the wagon-body,which is preferably in the form of a boat, and this boat should preferably be constructed like an ordinary life-boat,with double bottoms andsides; 65 but as the boat proper does not form a part of my invention I have illustrated it diagrammatically in the drawings. The entire body is stiffened by means of the hogstays A³ and stanchions A³, which hogstays maybe secured 70 to the boat by flanges a³ or any other convenient way. These hogstays support the two ends of the boat when it is on land, at which time the weight of the boat is mainly taken up near its center on the main shaft C and wheels 75 B. The construction of these hogstays may be varied at will. The land-wheels B have their hubs R' loosely mounted on the main shaft C, to which they may be rigidly attached, however, when desired, by means of suitable 80 clutch-couplings E, as shown in Fig. 3. Instead of two clutch-couplings a single clutchcoiipling may be used for both wheels, if desired. The paddle-wheels D have their hubs D' keyed fast to the main shaft C and always 85 turn therewith. The buckets d on these paddle-wheels D are preferably made adjustable radially, so that the diameter of the wheel may be increased or diminished as desired, and thus these paddle-wheels maybe adjusted to 90 dip deep or lightly in the water, as may be desired, and, moreover, the distance of the outer edge of each bucket from the periphery of the land-wheel may be varied to suit the conditions that normally prevail on any par- 95 ticular beach.

The main shaft Cis driven by any suitable engine, preferably a gasolene or naphtha engine, such as F, with suitable gearing, such as G, by means of which the Speed of the 100 shaft is reduced the necessary amount under that of the engine^

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II represents any suitable reversing-gear. The engine is not a part of my present invention and any suitable engine may be applied.

A long trail K, preferably made of resilient sheet metal, is swung over the stern of the boat, as from the spindle.n, mounted in the bearing a' in the stern-post A' of the boat. This spindle n may be supported against backro ward strains by means of the brace N, secured to the bolt a³ in the stern-post A'. The trail is stayed at the right angle with a horizontal plane by means of the braces PP', connected together by the turnbuckle Q, and by screw15 ing up or down on this turnbuckle the inclination of the trail maybe adjusted as desired. At the outer end of the trail I provide two trail-wheels W, mounted on the shaft w, which is journaled on the frame W', having over20 hanging dips w', engaging beneath the shoulder on the sides of the trail K. Near the upper and lower ends of the trail K, I provide pulleys k, over which passes the rope or chain V, secured at each end of the frame W' and 25 to the shaft. To the upper one of these pulleys I attach a hand-crank k', by means of which the carriage W' and trail-wheels W may be drawn up or pulled down on the trailer. Thus where the water is smooth it 30 would be preferable to haul the trail-wheels up out of the water and allow the trail itself to drag therein, while in a seaway it would be desirable to have the trail-wheels down in the lowest position or even to immerse the 35 same, having them as a drag beneath the water, which may be done by running the trailwheels down to the lowest point and then screwing up on the turnbuckle Q. In order that these trail-wheels may serve as a drag to 40 steady and balance the boat when in the water, I preferably divide each trail-wheel up into a plurality of chambers, as by means of the partitions w·⁸. (Indicated in Fig. 7.) In this figure four of these chambers are shown, 45 two of which W° are allowed to remain filled with air, while the other two W⁸ have openings w³ in the periphery thereof to allow the influx of water when the boat is launched, and this water will add to the weight of the 50 trail-wheels, causing them to act more effi\ ciently as a drag and to steady the boat.

\When the vehicle is once more on the land, Nie water will run out of these chambers. If tiie beach is smooth enough, when the vehicle 55 is on land the trail-wheels may be run up, and the shoe k° at the end of the trail will then slip along the sand.

The boat is steered by means of the yoke R, fast to the trail K, the yoke-ropes S pass60 ing over the pulleys t on the counter of the boat and the fair-leaders 1' to the wheel U. The trail K thus serves as an elongated rudder to steer the boat either in the water or on the land. By swinging the trail K athwart65 ships, which may be done by turning the wheel U far enough, when the boat is in the water the trail, and especially the trail-wheels, will serve as a float at the end of an outrigger to steady the boat. Moreover, by uncoupling the turnbuckle Q and swinging the trailer 7c vertically upward about its pivot from the body of the boat it may be used as a ridgepole for an awning or tent. Thus it will be seen that I provide a vehicle which is suitable for traveling along the beach and yet 75 which may be run out into deep water and navigated there when desired.

By having the land-wheels B hooded bj’ the shoulders a of the float A they will offer little resistance in the water when the boat is afloat. 80 Both land and water wheels may be covered over with paddle-boxes, if desired.

It will be seen that by having an adjustable float aud weight mounted on a resilient or approximately-rigid arm projecting from 85 the boat the moment of inertia of the combination is material!}⁷ altered, and its motion in a seaway is thereby largely controlled, and the farther off this float is placed the more effective it will be, since the moment of inertia 90 varies as the square of the distance from the axis of rotation. In this way a small float may be used having little resistance to longitudinal motion through the water, but which will greatly affect and reduce the pitching or 95 rolling of the boat.

It will be obvious that various modifications might be made in the herein-described device which could be used without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not in- 100 tend to limit myself to specific details; but