Dynosphere AUTO Runs on One Wheel (Jun, 1932)

Dynosphere AUTO Runs on One Wheel

THE wheel is one of the oldest inventions of man and has been used for ages on all sorts of vehicles, but it has remained for an English inventor to build a complete vehicle out of one wheel.

As shown in the photo above, the “dynos-phere,” as its inventor calls it, consists of a wide-rimmed latticed wheel with a power plant inside its circumference, where the driver sits. There is also room for a companion in the seat alongside him.

Inside the wheel, on either side, tracks run completely around. The motor is geared to the track so that, when the engine is started, the motor pulls the track toward it and so starts the wheel in motion. Center of gravity is low to prevent the wheel from tipping over.

The weight of the motor and driver is sufficient to keep them always parallel with the ground—if the driving apparatus were sufficiently light, the motor might conceiv-
ably climb up the geared track instead of pulling it and the attached wheel around.

Dr. Purves is the inventor of the dyno-sphere, which has been tested on the beach at Weston Super Ware, England. Speeds of thirty miles an hour, with two occupying the seat, have been comfortably attained. The lattice-work in front of the driver’s eyes disappears when the wheel is in motion, flashing past so rapidly that he has a good view of the road he is traveling.