IMPROVE- MENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING BY TRACTION CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES ON RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND OTHER ROADS
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Edwards at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the 1st August
1861.
I, GEORGE EDWARDS, of 4, Park Road Villas, Battersea, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING BY TRACTION CARRIAGES AND
OTHER VEHICLES ON RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND OTHER ROADS," to be as
follows:
My Invention consists in the employment of ropes for traction. These
ropes are placed parallel to the roads, and each one has its ends joined so as
to form what is called an endless rope. The ropes are put in movement by
any power or fixed engine most convenient. When a considerable length of
rope is required I divide it into more than one length or section, and pass
each end of each section of the rope over pullies or drums to give it the
tension required, as also for the purpose of communicating the power of the
fixed engine to the rope. This power is communicated by means of drums at
one or each end of the section, being made to revolve by their connection with
the fixed engine. These drums are arranged in relation to the working shaft
of the fixed engine so as to be connected and disconnected at pleasure; and
this is effected by means of a break, disc, or wheel being fixed to the working
shaft of the engine while the drums are only connected with it when they are
brought in contact with the disk by means of levers or screws. The dis-
connection is effected at pleasure by the same means. Thus the movement of
the ropes may be connected and discontinued while the first engine is still
working. In some cases I employ the same fixed engine for putting in

page_text: motion several ropes. This is effected by connecting the pullies or drums
at the ends of the various sections by means of screws or levers, and thus
communicating the movement and power of one rope to another. Το
compensate for the contraction and expansion of the rope, I pass it over
two or more fixed pullies or rollers, and between these fixed pullies I place
another moveable one over the rope, and this last pulley being loaded to the
required weight, keeps the rope at an even tension by rising or falling as the
rope contracts or expands. A rope thus arranged and put in motion by the
fixed engine has its power and movement communicated to one part of it in
one direction while the other part of it is moving in the opposite direction.
To effect the traction of a train of carriages, I connect one or more of them
with that part of the rope which moves in the direction required. The
carriage to be attached to the rope is furnished with coupling breaks formed
of rollers and blocks of wood, or any convenient material, and are brought in
contact by levers, and tightened or released at pleasure by the conductor of
the-train. The-rollers-serve-to-keep-the-rope between_the_break_blocks_when_
the train is not in motion, and also to soften the contact of the carriages with
the ropes.
When it is required to pass from one rope to another, this
is effected by means of inclined planes fixed to or near the road; these
inclined planes act upon the coupling levers by means of sliding frames
attached to the carriage. The sliding frames are furnished with rollers to
soften their contact with the fixed inclines, and also with levers for fixing to
and releasing the slides from their guides. The carriage being brought by the
rope into contact with the inclined planes, the breaks are opened and
detached from the first rope, and when it has passed the breach between
the two ropes, the inclined planes close the coupling breaks, and attach the
carriage to the second rope, which is moving in the same direction as the first.
In some cases I prefer placing the rollers of the shifting frame directly upon
the break lever, instead of employing the sliding frame. To stop the train I
apply the ordinary breaks, after partly releasing the coupling breaks, so that
the coupling rollers allow the rope to pass between them without moving the
train. I cause the train to change its direction by releasing it from one part
of the rope and attaching it to that part which moves in the opposite direction.
This second rope is placed between the breaks by means of a lever having
rollers attached to it.