IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND TRANSPORTING LOADS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bryan Johnson, Edward Bayzand Ellington, and
John Henry Harrison, all of the City of Chester, Engineers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND TRANSPORTING
LOADS."
Sealed the 24th January 1873, and dated the 4th December 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bryan Johnson, Edward
Bayzand Ellington, and John Henry Harrison at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 4th December
1872.
We, BRYAN JOHNSON, EDWARD BAYZAND ELLINGTON, and JOHN
HENRY HARRISON, all of the City of Chester, Engineers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APParatus
FOR RAISING AND TRANSPORTING LOADS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of
apparatus, whereby loads of goods can be raised and transported from
any points in a warehouse or other establishment to other points where

page_text: they can be lowered, the power for raising, lowering, and transporting
being transmitted through a continuously travelling rope. For this
purpose we erect overhead in the warehouse or other establishment a
tramway, the rails of which are suspended from the roof or supported on
a framing, so that there is throughout the length of the tramway a
clear opening for the passage of cords, chains, or tackle between the
rails. This tramway is made to form a continuous circuit, passing
round curves where necessary, and returning into itself, and, by making
it of narrow gauge, it may be turned round very sharp curves. Along
and above this tramway we carry a rope which is driven continuously
in one direction, preferably at a high speed, by a pulley worked by
steam or other suitable power. Along the straight parts of the tramway
this rope is supported at intervals on guide pullies, or on slippers
mounted on levers, which can be swayed to one side when a moving
object has to pass them, and which are provided with springs or weights
which cause them to return to their proper position to support the rope
when the moving object has passed clear of them. At the curves of the
tramway the rope is guided by pullies mounted at the inside curve, that
is, the shorter of the two curved rails, and where the rope is led out of
the line of the tramway to the pulley which gives it motion it is led
round suitable guide pullies mounted at the side of the tramway. next
the driving, pulley.
On the tramway we place a number of trucks, each of which carries
a crab with suitable chain, cord, or tackle for lifting the loads. On the
upper side of the crab is mounted a horizontal driving pulley with two
presser guide pullies, so arranged with respect to the driving pulley that
the travelling rope is carried round part of its periphery and made to
bite or hold thereon with sufficient frictional pressure to cause it to
rotate. The shaft of the driving pulley of the truck is connected by
suitable gearing to the crab and also to the wheels of the truck, and
theso connections are provided with clutches, so that the rotation of the
driving pulley can be made to impart movement to the crab or to the
wheels of the truck, or to both, or neither of them.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The travelling rope being
put in motion any one of the trucks can have one of its clutches moved
so as to bring its crab into action, and thereby a load of goods can be
raised to such height as may be desired. The other clutch can be moved
so as to put the truck wheels in motion, whereupon the truck will move

page_text: along the tramway, carrying with it the load, until it reaches any
desired point. Here the wheel clutch being disengaged the truck will
remain at rest, and the crab can then be worked in the reverse direction,
so as to lower the load. By this means goods can be raised from any
part of the establishment within range of the tramway, and moved
along and lowered at any other part; and, if the tramway be erected
in an upper floor goods on the lower floors can be raised through trap
doors and moved along and lowered through trap doors to any of the
floors.
The truck in moving along the straight parts of the tramway lifts the
rope off its supports, and where necessary pushes aside these supports
which return to their proper places when the truck has passed. At the
curves of the tramway the driving and pressing pullies of the truck
keep the rope clear of some of the guide pullies mounted at the inside
rail, and the rope returns to these guide pullies when the truck has
passed them. At the place where the rope is diverted from the line of
tramway to the pulley which drives it there is fixed a guide which moves
the presser pullies so as to disengage the rope, and which causes them to
engage it again when the truck has passed.
We sometimes find it convenient to arrange in connection with the
clutch which engages the truck wheels a buffer, lever, or slide, so that
when this buffer meets an obstacle the driving clutch is disengaged and
the truck is stopped. When this arrangement is adopted trucks can be
stopped at any desired point by fixing on the tramway a stop or obstacle
such as will meet the buffer.