IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES FOR Tramways, RaILWAYS, AND COMMON ROADS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Richardson Wigham, of Capel Street, in the City
and County of Dublin, Ireland, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES FOR Tramways, RaILWAYS, AND COMMON ROADS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Richardson Wigham at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th June 1881.
JOHN RICHARDSON WIGHAM, of Capel Street, in the City and County of Dublin,
Ireland. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES FOR TRAMWAYS, RAILWAYS,
AND COMMON ROADS."
My Invention relates to locomotive engines, more particularly for running on
tramways, but also applicable to railways and common roads, wherein the motive
power is obtained by a motor engine that may either be worked by the combustion
of a mixture of combustible gas or vapour and air inside the working cylinder,
commonly known as gas motor engines" or by steam, compressed air, or other
motive force, or dynamo electric engines may be employed.
"
According to one part of my present Invention I impart the motion from the
driving shaft of such engines to the driving wheels of the locomotive engine by
means of an arrangement of variable speed pullies, for which Letters Patent,
No. 2441, of 1879, were granted to B. and A. B. Blackburn, or pullies of similar
construction. For this purpose, according to one arrangement, a broad pulley on
the engine shaft has an open strap and a crossed strap by which it can drive a
counter-shaft alternately in contrary directions by means of two loose and one fast
pulley in a well known manner. This countershaft carries one of Blackburn's
variable speed pullies before referred to, and a second such pulley is mounted on
a second countershaft having a pinion gearing with a spur wheel on the axle of
the road wheels, so that by rotating the first countershaft in one direction or the
other the road wheels are made to travel in one direction or the other, while by ·
varying the distanco apart of the conical discs of one of the "Blackburn" speed
pullies, the speed imparted to the road wheels by the second countershaft may be
varied, or the motion entirely stopped or started. For varying the distance of the
101...מ

page_text: said conical discs according to the speed required I employ by preference the
following mechanism :-The first countershaft has a right and left screw thread
cut on part of its length, on each of which threads is a nut carrying a bevil wheel
which wheels are both in gear with a planet bevil wheel situated between them
on an axis carried by a boss that revolves with the countershaft, but can slide
longitudinally thereon. Each nut also carries a friction ring having a break strap
so arranged in combination with a sliding break spindle that by applying the one
or other of the straps the one or other of the nuts can be prevented from revolving,
while at the same time it causes by means of the planet wheel the other nut to
revolve at double the speed of the countershaft in the same direction therewith;
thus according as the one or the other break strap is tightened, the two nuts
together with the parts connected therewith will be made to travel longitudinally
upon the countershaft, and the one conical disc of the "Blackburn " pulley being
connected to the said mechanism it will be moved to or from the other disc, and
thus vary the speed imparted to the second countershaft or stop or start the
motion thereof.
The said break straps may be actuated either by hand or by foot, or they may
be connected with a governor of any known suitable construction, whereby the
speed of the locomotive is automatically controlled. The lever actuating the said
break straps may also be connected to the breaks of the road wheels, so that when
the apparatus is moved so as to moderate or stop the motion the break blocks
will be applied with more or less force to the road wheels. According to another
modification the one "
Blackburn "speed pulley, together with the before described
controlling mechanism, are mounted directly on the engine shaft, and the reversal
of the motion for running forwards or backwards is obtained by the following
arrangement:-On the first countershaft carrying the second "Blackburn " pulley
are two pinions on a sleeve revolving with but capable of sliding upon it; on a
second countershaft is, firstly, an ordinary spur wheel, and, secondly, at some
distance therefrom a disc with an internal spur ring. By sliding the one pinion
in gear with the spur wheel the second countershaft will be rotated in one direction,
imparting such motion to the axle of the road wheels by spur gearing, while on
sliding the second pinion in gear with the internal spur ring, the other pinion
being slid out of gear, the countershaft and consequently the road wheels will be
rotated in the contrary direction.
Whether using one or other of the above mentioned arrangements in order to
facilitate the moving of the locomotive round curves, I may use the well known
mechanical appliance termed "jack in the box," one bevil wheel of which is attached
to one of the driving wheels which is loose on the axle, and the other to the axle
itself. The planet bevil wheels are fixed between the arms of the spur wheel on
the said axle that is driven by the beforementioned countershaft. In this arrange-
ment by putting the breaks on one wheel only the locomotive can be given a
strong impulse to one side or the other, which may be useful in case the locomotive
gets off the rail, or for steering purposes when used on common roads.
According to another arrangement I impart the motion from the engine to the
driving wheels in the following manner:-I fix on the crankshaft of the engine or
on a countershaft driven direct from the engine shaft by belt, chain, or other
gearing a large spur wheel and a pinion spur wheel, both running loose on the
shaft but capable of being made fast by means of friction clutches. I prefer to
use for this purpose a friction plate fixed to the shaft, and one fixed to the wheel,
the wheel plate being pressed against the other by means of the contrivance
described for moving "Blackburn" pullics; in this manner either or both wheels
can be attached to the axle by simply putting a friction on the discs of the nuts
as described, and all end pressure is thus avoided. A countershaft carries a spur
wheel of the same diameter as and in gear with the beforementioned large spur
wheel, and it also carries another spur wheel in gear with the beforementioned
pinion, and having double the diameter thereof; the sleeve of this pinion carries a
loose chain wheel capable of being fixed theroto by a clutch, and there is a second

page_text: chain wheel loose on the countershaft also capable of being fixed by a clutch.
These chain wheels are geared by an endless pitch chain with a third chain wheel
on the axle of the locomotive, or arranged in connection with the axle by means
of the "jack in the box "hereinbefore described. By these means according as
the one or the other of the first mentioned chain wheels are geared with their
clutch the car can be driven forwards or backwards either at full speed or at half
speed, or the proportion of the speed may be varied by varying the proportion of
the beforedescribed spur wheel to its pinion.
According to another arrangement the crank shaft of the engine or a countershaft
directly geared therewith, as previously described, carries two chain wheels, one
being of larger diameter than the other according to the different speeds the
locomotive may be desired to run with. These chain wheels are loose on the shaft,
but either one can be geared therewith by means of a friction clutch constructed
and actuated as before described. The axle of the road wheels carries two larger
chain wheels also loose upon it but capable of being geared therewith either by a
friction clutch, such as before described, or by an ordinary ratchet clutch actuated
by a spring, so that if the speed of the engine is decreased before the speed of the
car can be reduced the clutch will slip and no jerk will be felt. Round the above
mentioned chain wheels an endless chain is passed in the following manner:-First
from one chain wheel on the engine shaft round one on the road axle, then over a
guide pulley at right angles to the axle wheels then round the second axle wheel,
from which it passes over one or more other guide pullies to the chain wheel on the
engine shaft.
According to another arrangement the engine shaft or a countershaft geared
thereto carries a crank plate having a slot in which is a sliding block carrying a
crank pin, the block being adjustable by means of screw gearing so arranged in
any well known manner as to allow of the crank pin being shifted while the
engine is running. On the road axle or on a countershaft geared therewith is
fixed a large ratchet wheel of any known construction having a ratchet lever
on each side, the pawls of which are so arranged that by the raising of the ono
lever or the depressing the other lever both turn the ratchet wheel and its axle
in the same direction, while by reversing the pawls the axle is turned in the
contrary direction. The ends of the ratchet levers are connected by rods to the
beforeinentioned crank pin, the rotation of which consequently imparts to and
fro motion to the lovers, which in their turn rotate the road axle by means of its
ratchet wheel, the speed of rotation depending upon the position to which the
crank pin has been adjusted, while the direction of motion depends upon the
position of the pawls. Instead of the above mentioned adjustable crank pin an
ordinary crank may be used, actunting a rocking ratchet lever having a slot in
which the end of the connecting rod from the crank can be moved up and down
by screw or rack gear so as to vary the extent of motion of the lever. In place of
ordinary ratchet wheels friction ratchet boxes, such as were described in the
Specification to Abel's (Otto & Langens) Patent, No. 434, of 1866, may be
employed, these being connected either by connecting rods or by racks and spur
wheels with the above mentioned crank plate or with a rocking shaft.
According to another arrangement the gas motor engine is caused to work
hydraulic pumps that force water either into an ordinary accumulator or an air
vessel acting as such; the water pressure thus obtained is made to act in a
rotative hydraulic engine of any known construction, or in a turbine, the shaft of
which imparts rotary motion by cranks or other gearing to the road axle or to a
countershaft geared therewith. By this arrangement, as the gas motor engine can
be made to work the pumps and thus accumulate pressure while the locomotive is
standing still a greatly increased power can be obtained for starting, the application
of such power being controlled by means of valves in the pipes leading from the
accumulator to the hydraulic engine.
The water discharged from the hydraulic motor is run into a receiver, from
which it is pumped back into the accumulator; it may also serve for cooling the

page_text: gas motor engine by being made to circulate through the jacket thereof, thus
dispensing with an additional water supply for this purpose.
When using gas motor engines for driving the locomotive these may be worked
either by ordinary coal gas, in which case a reservoir containing a store of such gas
either at atmospheric or greater pressure may be carried by the vehicle, or I work
them by means of atmospheric air charged with hydrocarbon vapour, as described
in the Specification to my Patent, No. 382, of 1878. In this case I provide on the
platform carrying the engine, firstly, a reservoir containing air pumped into it at
any desired pressure; secondly, a carburetting apparatus of known construction,
into which the air from the reservoir passes so as to become carburetted, and
whence it passes into a gas holder, from which it is supplied to the engine; and,
lastly, I provido apparatus of known construction for generating hydrogen gas,
which is also supplied to the engine for the purpose described in my before-
mentioned Specification.
The locomotive engines above described may, when employed on tramways,
common roads, or railways, have accommodation for passengers or luggage
combined therewith, or they may be used as traction engines for driving or
pushing other carriages.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Richardson Wigham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th December 1881.
JOHN RICHARDSON WIGHAM, of Capel Street, in the City and County of Dublin,
Ireland. IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES FOR TRAMWAYS, RAILWAYS,
AND COMMON ROADS."
My Invention relates to locomotive engines more particularly for running on
tramways, but also applicable to railways and common roads, wherein the motive
power is obtained by a motor engine that may either be worked by the combustion
of a mixture of combustible gas or vapour and air inside the working cylinder,
commonly known as 'gas motor engines," or by steam, compressed air, or other
motive force, or dynamo electric engines may be employed.
**
According to one part of my present Invention I impart the motion from the
driving shaft of such engines to the driving wheels of the locomotive engine by
means of an arrangement of variable speed pullies, for which Letters Patent,
No. 2441, of 1879, were granted to B. and A. B. Blackburn, or pullies of similar
construction. For this purpose, according to one arrangement, a broad pulley ou
the engine shaft has an open strap and a crossed strap, by which it can drive a
countershaft alternately in contrary directions by means of two loose and one fast
pulley, in a well known manner. This countershaft carries one of Blackburn's
variable speed pullies before referred to, and a second such pulley is mounted on a
second countershaft having a pinion gearing with a spur wheel on the axle of the
road wheels, so that by rotating the first countershaft in one direction or the other
the rond wheels are made to travel in one direction or the other, while by varying
the distance apart of the conical discs of one of the "Blackburn " speed pullies, the
speed imparted to the road wheels by the second countershaft may be varied or the
motion entirely stopped or started. For varying the distance of the said conical
discs according to the speed required, I employ by preference the following
mechanism: The first countershaft has a right and left screw thread cut on part
of its length, on each of which threads is a nut carrying a bevil wheel, which
wheels are both in gear with n planet bevil wheel situated between them on an
axis carried by a boss that revolves with the countershaft but can slide longi-
tudinally thercon. Each nut also carries a friction riu having a break strap so
arranged in combination with a sliding break spindle that by applying the one or
other of the straps the one or other of the nuts can be prevented from revolving,
while at the same time it causes by means of the planet wheel the other nut to
revolve at double the speed of the counter shaft in the same direction therewith ;
thus according as the ono or the other break strap is tightened, the two nuts
together with the parts connected there with will be made to travel longitudinally
upon the countershaft, and the one conical disc of the "Blackburn" pulley being
connected to the said mechanism it will be moved to or from the other disc, and thus
vary the speed imparted to the second countershaft or stop or start the motion
thereof.
The said breakstraps may be actuated either by hand or by foot, or they may be
connected with a governor of any known suitable construction, whereby the speed
of the locomotive is automatically controlled. The lever actuating the said break
straps may also be connected to the breaks of the road wheels, so that when the
apparatus is moved so as to moderate or stop the motion, the break blocks will be
applied with more or less force to the road wheels. According to another modifi-
cution of the one "Blackburn" speed pulley, together with the beforedescribed
controlling mechanism, are mounted directly on the engine shaft, and the reversal

page_text: screw threads on the shaft A for actuating the "Blackburn" pulley; G' is the
second "Blackburn " pulley mounted on the countershaft F, on which is a sliding
sleeve F¹ carrying two pinions P, P', which by sliding the sleeve upon its shaft
by means of a lever not shewn can be made to gear respectively with the spur
wheel and the internal spur wheel Q' of larger diameter, both of which are fixed
on the second countershaft H, which carries a spur pinion I gearing with a spur
wheel I' on the road axle K. Thus it will be seen that while the speed of the
road wheels can be varied by shifting the "Blackburn" pulley G as before
described, their direction of rotation will be changed according as the pinion P is
put in gear with the wheel Q, or the pinion Pl is put in gear with the wheel Q';
R, R¹, R², is the before described "jack in the box" contrivance for facilitating
moving round curves, the road wheel S being loose on its axle K, and having the
bevil wheel R attached to it in gear with the planet wheels R', R', carried by the
spur wheel I' which is loose on the shaft K, and on this is fixed the bevil wheel R³
also in gear with the wheels R'. Thus it will be seen that by applying the brakes
to one only of the road wheels S or S', the other one will be made to revolve at a
quicker speed, thus giving the locomotive a corresponding impulse to the right or
to the left.
Fig. 6 shows a plan of another of the before described arrangements. A is a
countershaft driven by the engine in any convenient manner, and having a spur
wheel B and another C of smaller diameter, both being loose thereon, but capable
of being geared therewith by friction discs D, D, E, E', of which D' and E¹ revolve
with but slide upon the shaft A. The motion of the discs D1, E', in one direction
or the other for this purpose is effected by the screw nut device L, L', working on
a right and left handed screw thread on the shaft, and operating in the same
manner as the mechanism described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 for actuating
the "Blackburn pullies. The wheels B and C gear respectively with the
wheels G and H on a second countershaft I, G and B being of equal diameter,
while H is double the diameter of C. On the sleeve of the spur wheel B
is a loose chain wheel T capable of being geared thereto by a clutch T,
and on the shaft I is a loose chain wheel U capable of being geared there-
with by a clutch U. An endless chain is passed over these two chain wheels
and round a third one fixed on the axle of the road wheels, or connected thereto by
the beforedescribed "jack in the box device. From this arrangement it will be
seen that if pinion C be geared with shaft A by its friction discs, and chain wheel U
be geared to I, then the road wheels will be driven at a slow speed in the same
direction as shaft I; if on the other hand T be geared with B, U, and D, D',
remaining out of gear, the road wheels will be rotated at the same speed as before
but in the contrary direction. Again if E, E¹, be put out of gear, and D, D', in
gear, and U be geared to I, then the road wheels will be driven at a quick speed in
the same direction as I. If on the other hand T be geared with B and U be
put out of gear, then the road wheels will be rotated at the same speed but in tho
contrary direction.
Fig. 7 shows a plan of another of the before described arrangements. A is the
engine shaft, on which is fixed the spur wheel B and the smaller one C. B is in
gear with a spur wheel D, loose on the countershaft E, and C is in gear with an
idle pinion Fin gear with a second spur wheel G, also loose on the shaft E. Both
the wheels D and G are capable of being geared with the shaft E by means of
clutches H, H', so that by gearing H with D the shaft E will be driven in one
direction, while by gearing H¹ with G the shaft will be driven in the contrary
direction. Two friction discs I, I', are keyed on the shaft E, and capable of gearing
with other friction discs J, J', that are loose upon the shaft E, and that have
connected to them the chain wheels K, K', each of which is geared by an endless
chain with a corresponding chain wheel on the road axle of the car below. The
middle part of the shaft E has a right and left handed screw thread cut upon it, as
shewn, upon which screwed parts are two nuts L, L', having friction discs M, M',
and bevil wheels N, N1, attached to them. Between the latter is a boss O revolving

page_text: with but capable of sliding upon the shaft E, and carrying a bevil pinion P in gear
with the wheels N, N. A sliding brake-spindle Q can be moved by a pinion R
and lever R', so as to prevent the rotation of either M or M', so that according as
the rotation of either L or L' is stopped by this means while the shaft E is revolving
the entire device will be mando to travel in one direction or the other along the
shaft, and in coming in contact with the boss of either K or K¹ will press the one
or other friction disc J or J' in gear with the friction disc I or I. From this
arrangement it will be seen that if, for example, the clutch H be geared with
wheel D so as to drive E in one direction, disc 1¹ will be rotated in the same
direction, and if the nuts L, L', be shifted so as to press the disc J' of chain
wheel K¹ in gear with I¹ the road axlo will be rotated by K' at a certain speed.
If on the other hand L, L', be shifted, so as to press K and J in gear with I, then
the road axle will be rotated at a greater speed due to the greater size of the chain
wheel K. By putting the clutch E' in gear with wheel G the shaft E will be
rotated in the contrary direction to that above described, and the road axle may
then be driven in a corresponding direction either by the chain wheel K or K', as
before.
Fig. 8 shews a part plan of the before described arrangement for obtaining
increased power at starting. The shaft A of the motor engine on the locomotive
vehicle has an excentric B which works a force pump C, forcing liquid into the air
vessel or accumulator D, the liquid pressure from which is admitted when required
to a hydraulic engine or other hydraulic motor of any suitable known construction,
which assists in imparting motion to the road wheels.
Fig. 1 shews the before described appliances for working the motor engine with
carburetted air. a is the air reservoir; b, the air pump; c, the apparatus for
generating hydrogen gas; and d, the apparatus for carburetting the air; c is a
water tank for supplying the water for cooling the engine.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim the several herein described arrangements for
imparting motion to the road wheels of locomotives or locomotivo vehicles from a
motor engine situated thereon.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Richardson Wigham, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
JOHN RICHARDSON WIGHAM. (L.S.)