Salt and other Materials on to Tramway and other Rails.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Jan., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 11th Feb., 1887
Salt and other Materials on to Tramway and other Rails.
We, ISAAC FITCHEW CUTTLER, of the Locomotive Tramway Depôt, Darwen, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, and RICHARD BURY Junr. of 75 Hindle Street,
Darwen, aforesaid, Engineer, 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:
This invention has for its object the construction of simple and effective apparatus
for the automatic and economic distribution of salt, sand, or other granular sub-
stances on to tramway or other rails as the vehicle is travelling along the same; and
consists in attaching to the tramway or other engine or car a hopper shaped vessel
having the interior so arranged that the granular substance placed therein is deflected
to each end of the hopper, at the bottom of which, at each end, is a rotating distributor
which measures and empties the granular substance into a conductor, to be conveyed
on to the respective rails.
In describing our invention more in detail, we make reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a side view, for a portion, of an engine with
our apparatus attached thereto, Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, Fig. 3 a front view
in section, and Fig. 4 an enlarged section through the casing of a distributor.
The hopper A of our apparatus for distributing salt and other granular substances
may be attached to the engine or car in any convenient manner, in the drawings it
is represented as attached to the engine. The interior of the hopper A into which the
substance to be distributed is placed, is made to incline from the centre B towards
each end, where our automatic distributing apparatus are fixed at some distance above
the rails.
Each distributor is formed by a hollow casing Chaving an opening at the top and
bottom, and fitted with a disc D to which are attached a number of projecting
blades E of such diameter and width so as to fill the interior of the said casing.
Each disc D is secured on the shaft F which may be rotated by gearing with one
of the wheel axles, or by a chain or belt with the said axle and the pulley G which

page_text: is loose on the shaft F, but when the disc, distributors are required to rotate the
pulley is bolted or otherwise secured to the coupling flange G keyed on to the said
shaft, thereby operating the discs in the casing at each end of the hopper.
It will be easily perceived that by the blades E being of the same width and the
outer edge of the diameter as the interior of the respective casings, the salt or other
granular substance cannot escape only when the discs rotate, and then the escape is
regulated by the capacity of the spaces H. between the blades E, and the speed at
which the distributing discs D rotate, the salt or other substance as it is measured by
the cavities or spaces between the blades E, is emptied into the respective pipes J
which convey it on to the rails R thus distributing it in an automatic and economical
manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:
The combination and arrangement of the hopper A. with the rotating distributing
dises D and pipes J substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.
The discs combined with the blades E and shaft F substantially in the manner
and for the purpose set forth.
JOHN WAUGH,
Agent.