Improvements in Elevated Railways.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 9th Sept., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by GEORGE FULLER BROTT, 1705, Corcoran Street,
Inventor, EMILY FRANCES HORT, 610, H. Street, Capitalist, SUSANAH
AMES CRANDALL, 610, H. Street, Capitalist, AARON FERRY RANDALL,
2147, K. Street, Lawyer, and WILLIAM MORSE STOCKBRIDGE, 1342, R. Street,
Lawyer and Patent Solicitor, all of Washington, District of Columbia, United
States of America.]
Improvements in Elevated Railways.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The invention relates to improvements in elevated bicycle railroads.
The object of the invention is to make an elevated way for fore-and-aft two-wheel
carriages or bicycles, which shall be substantial and free from objections incident to
other roads of this class.
The invention consists in certain combinations hereinafter described and claimed.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement showing a car in position on the
track;
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same, showing one of the supporting and
driving wheels of the car in elevation ;
Figure 3 is a top or plan view of the track, showing a segment of a car in
position.
A is a pillar or post, by preference built up of two members bolted together,
as shown.
These members extend outward beyond the path of the car and upwardly to
about the middle of the car so as to have the guide rails as far from the main rail
as possible without having them or their supports interfere with or obstruct the
view from the windows. The posts are provided with outwardly and upwardly
extending branches a a which form a fork, as shown in Figure 2. B is a plate
girder or truss frame connected with and supported by the pillars. CC are rails
connected with and supported by the branches a a of the pillars, which serve as
guide rails to hold the bicycle car in an upright position when at rest and to prevent
said car from getting out of balance at any time. These rails should be made of
angle iron or of such shape as will give great lateral stiffness, and such rails may
also be strengthened and supported by brackets or arms DD connected with the
girder between the pillars. It should be understood that the rails CC may be in
the nature of girders or trusses and, through the members DD, operate to reinforce
the girder B and thereby assist in sustaining the cars as well as keep them balanced.
Mounted on the girder B are track rails 6 upon which the cars H may run.
There
is usually interposed between the track rail and the girder a strip of wood or other
Buitable insulating material to insulate the rail from the girder.
H is a car adapted for use in connection with the improved way. The car is
provided with two carrying wheels h h arranged fore-and-aft and along its sides
with guide rollers nn. In motion, the car will balance on the carrying wheels in
the manner of an ordinary bicycle or a hoop, and thereby eliminate friction and
resistance to very rapid movement. The ends of the car are preferably tapered or
sharpened to avoid, as far as practicable the resistance of the air.
The invention contemplates the use of electricity as the motive power for
propelling the cars, although any other power may be used, if desired. As
constructed and arranged, the rail b is intended as the electric conductor and one of

page_text: .
the supporting wheels serves as the collector and conductor to transmit the current
to and through a suitable motor as m preferably mounted on the axle of one of the
supporting wheels, as shown in Fig. 2, the current being taken off and grounded by
means of a brush or trolley in contact with some part of one of the side trusses. A
convenient way of accomplishing this is to have electrical connection with one of
the guide wheels at the side of the car and have it and the one on the opposite side
mounted in spring-operated bearings to provide for constant contact with the guide
rails CC. The rail being a massive conductor, ample power can be readily
transmitted by it with electricity of very low tension, making it entirely safe and
unobjectionable for use anywhere.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a bicycle railroad structure, the combination of a single main rail or track
and guide rails, the latter arranged outside the path of the vertical walls of a car
and above the plane of the floor about opposite the bottom of the windows of
said car.
2. In an elevated bicycle railroad structure, the combination of a series of posts
or pillars carrying branches extending outwardly beyond the path of the vertical
walls of a car and upwardly to about the lower edge of the windows of said car,
guide rails or girders mounted on said branches and a single main rail or track
supported by the posts and girders.
3. In an elevated bicycle railroad structure, the combination of a series of posts
or pillars having branches extending outwardly beyond the path of the car and
extending upwardly to the bottom of the windows of a car, a single main rail or
track and elevated guide rails mounted on the upper ends of the branches.
4. In an elevated bicycle railroad structure, the combination of a bicycle car or
vehicle, a single main track or rail, and guide rails arranged along opposite sides
of the car above the floor and below the windows of said car.
5. The combination of a post or pillar having branches extending outwardly and
upwardly, as described, main supporting girders or trusses mounted on the pillars,
a single main rail or track, guide rails or girders and bows for connecting the main
girders and guide rails together and for sustaining the main rail or track between
the posts, substantially as described.
Dated this 18th day of April 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.