Patent GB-190317705-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Cableways for Transferring Goods and the like from One Place to Another
Inventor: MILLER THOMAS SPENCER
Filed: 1903-08-15
Granted: 1904-08-15
Abstract: 17,705. Miller, T. S. Aug. 15. Rope railways.- Relates to cableways for transferring goods from one place to another, or from one vessel to another, or between a support on land and a vessel, and comprises arrangements having main and traction ropes, and in some cases also separate fall ropes, supporting a travelling load carriage, the ropes being connected together so that the strain is distributed over them all, thus enabling ropes of about the same size to be used for all purposes. Fig. 1 shows one arrangement in which the main rope 9 passes from a winding-drum 8 over pulleys 10, 11 and is connected to a pulley 12 in a loop of the traction rope 13, 13<a>, which has its ends connected to the travelling load carriage 3 and passes over guide-pulleys 14, 15 and around the winding-drum 7. The load carriage 3 has pulleys which rest both upon the main rope 9 and the traction rope 13. The conveying is accomplished by the movement of the traction rope, and the lifting and lowering by the deflection of the ropes, as shown. Fig. 16 shows a rope-drum engine for controlling the main rope 9 when the supports 2 possess a relatively to and fro movement. The drum 8 is mounted loosely on the shaft a and it is rotated through friction plates c, c<1> carried by the disc d and gear wheel e and acting against end flanges b. A spring h is fitted to act on the disc d and thus enable a constant strain to be maintained on the rope carried by the drum 8. When the supports are stationary, the rope-drum engine is constructed as shown in Fig. 17. A loose drum 7 for the traction rope is mounted on a shaft 30 so that it can be pressed by a cam 31 against a friction disc 32 having a projecting V-shaped ring. A shaft 34 driven by spur gear 35, 36 carries a loose drum 8 for the main rope and also for the fall rope, which can be pressed against a friction disc 38 by means of a screw 37, a longitudinally-sliding pin, and a cross key. Brakes 33, 39 are fitted to the drums. The drum 8 may be driven in the same direction as the drum 7, and the two parts of the drum for the main rope and fall rope, respectively, may be of different diameter. Fig. 6 shows an arrangement having a main rope 9, a traction rope 13, and a fall rope 17 passing from the part 8<a> of the drum over the pulley 16 to the fall block 5 and thence to the pulley frame 12. The drum 8 for controlling the main rope 9 may be replaced by, or used in conjunction with, a suspended weight or pulley tackle ; or when the cableways are used between vessels, the drum is replaced by an anchor, the cableway being kept taut by a forward movement of the vessel. The main rope may be coupled to the loop of the traction rope in various ways. The pulley 12 of the traction rope may be carried in a frame running by means of a pulley 12<b> on the main rope 9 and having an extra pulley 12<a> around which the main rope is passed and then fixed to the support 2. The main rope may be made double, or it may have an extension running over pulleys. The end of the fall or hoisting rope may be secured to the support, or the rope may be reeved through guide-pulleys and the load carried from the end, as shown in Fig. 15.