File:1896-05-13 A.C.KREBS=Brevet FR256344-'voiture-automobile'.pdf

The 1896 Krebs system car introduced in the car design (FR256344, GB189619774A):

• The three point suspension system generalized (engine and chassis:

"Since we know that 3 points suffice to determine a plane."

• The electromagnetic constant mesh gear box:

"I had imagined this arrangement to avoid the brutal shocks that the gears undergo when changing gear, a solution that seemed barbaric to me."

• The speed shifting at the steering device:

"For the purpose of operating the electro-magnetic clutch, I employ a commutator arranged preferably under the handle bar and adapted to be operated in such a manner as to establish, according to five different positions, the electrical connections that correspond respectively to: rest ; forward movement at low speed ; forward movement at medium speed ; forward movement at high speed ; and movement in the rearward direction."

• The damped steering and the rack and pinion steering gear.
• The forward (positive) caster angle on the steering axis:

"To ensure the stability of direction by the means of a special arrangement of the fore-carriage, that is to say, to re-establish automatically the parallélism of the two axles of the vehicle when there is no tendancy to keep them in any other direction, or after a temporary effort has caused them to diverge from said parallélism ; [...] The axle of the fore-carriage is situated behind the projection of the axis of the pivot pin in order to ensure the stability of direction above referred to [of a quantity which can vary from 1/7 to 1/8 of the distance which separates the points of contact of the two front wheels with the ground"

• The metallic wheel hub system: