AN IMPROVED HOIST FOR RAISING AND LOWERING RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Ramsbottom, of Longsight, near the City of
Manchester, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED HOIST FOR
Sealed the 21st July 1854, and dated the 9th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Ramsbottom at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
February 1854.
1, JOHN RAMSBOTTOM, of Longsight, near the City of Manchester, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED HOIST
FOR RAISING AND LOWERING RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK AND OTHER ARTICLES" to be
as follows:-
My improvements consist in the application of steam to working a piston or
rams acting on water or other incompressible fluid, which fluid gives motion to
two platforms or hoists in the following manner-Each platform is provided
with a ram and cylinder of the ordinary construction, and as one ascends the
other may be made to descend. The fluid from each of these cylinders is in
communication with another cylinder in which works the piston, put in motion.
by the action of a steam cylinder. The length of the stroke of the steam
piston, and of the piston or rams working in the cylinder containing water or
other incompressible fluid, and the contents of this latter cylinder are such that
each stroke of the steam piston causes one platform to rise and the other to

page_text: descend the whole lift, and as the fluid acting on the rams of the platformi
passes from one cylinder to the other, it is evident that the weight of the
descending platform, minus the power absorbed by friction, is exerted in aid of
the ascending platform. The above improvements are also applicable where
more than two platforms are required or where a single platform is used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Ramsbottom in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOIN
RAMSBOTTOM, of Longsight, near the City of Manchester, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Ramsbottom, Her especial license that I, the said John Ramsbottoni,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Ramsbottom, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED HOIST FOR RAISING
AND LOWERING RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Ramsbottom, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Ramsbottom, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
The nature of my Invention consists in the direct application of steam to
work a ram or piston acting on water or other incompressible fluid, in such

page_text: wise that in a House WICH two pratiormis, each stroke of the said ram or piston
causes one platform to ascend while the other descends the entire lift, also in
the application of the said improvements to working a hoist with a single plat-
form or with more than two platforms; and in order that my Invention may
be fully understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe
the means pursued by me, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
and to the letters and figures marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation, partly in section of one of my improved
railway hoists, furnished with two platforms. Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
a is a cylinder into which steam is admitted by the supply pipe 6; and in
order that the pressure of the steam on the piston c may be varied according to
the weight of the load to be raised, the pipe conveys the steam under the
valve d, the pressure on which can be regulated by the weighted lever d', then
through the branch pipe e to the valve f, which admits it to the valve box or
steam chest g; is the slide valve worked by the handle ; and i, j, the steam
ways into the cylinder a. The piston c is fixed to one end of the piston rod Z,
to the other end of which is fixed the ram or piston 1, working in the cylin-
der m. The cylinders a and m are connected by the frames s, and each
cylinder is secured to the foundation by side flanges, as shewn in Figure 2.
At each end of the cylinder m is an opening through which the water or other
incompressible fluid is admitted to the vertical cylinders n and n¹; the valve o
and pipe p conduct the fluid from one end of the cylinder m to the cylinder n.
and the valve o' and pipe p' conduct the fluid from the other end of the cylin-
der m to the cylinder 7'. The valves o and o' are worked simultaneously by
the levert and rod t', to which both the valves are attached. The platforms q
and q are fixed on the rams 7 and 7, which work up and down in the cylin-
ders n and n'; the packings of these rams may be made in the same manner
as in hydraulic presses of the usual construction, or they may work in ordinary
stuffing boxes, if preferred.
The ram or piston is represented as being packed with rings of leather or
other suitable material, but it may be packed in any other convenient manner.
The platforms and 2 are supposed to ascend and descend about eighteen feet,
9
but a greater or less lift may be given if required; it is, however, essential that
the fluid displaced by the piston or ram should be equal to that displaced by
the rams r and r³, so that when the ram or piston 7 is at one end of the cylin-
der m, one of the platforms is up and the other down. The mode of operation
is as follows:-A waggon is supposed to be on the platform q, and the slide

page_text: valve h is placed by the attendant in the position shewn in Figure 1; the valves
o and o¹ are then opened, thereby allowing the fluid from the cylinder n to act
on the back of the ram or piston 7, thereby causing the said ram or piston and
the piston c to move in the direction of the arrows, and raising the platform g¹
by the pressure of the ram or piston 7 on the fluid in front of it.
By this arrangement, it is apparent that when the weight of the descending
load is sufficient to overcome the friction of the parts and the ascending load
(if any), no steam is required for working the hoist.
As soon as one of the platforms is up, the attendant by moving the lever t
into the position indicated by the dotted line w, closes the valves o and o¹,
thereby locking the platforms, or the valves may be closed by the action of the
platforms, if desirable.
The platforms may also be locked, if required, in any intermediate position
by shutting the valves o and o¹, and the velocity of the ascent and descent of
the platforms can be regulated by partially closing the said valves.
When a load has to be raised, the following mechanism is brought into
operation: The handle i is connected to the spindle of the slide valve h by
the cross head and side links, as shewn in Figure 2. The levers ¹, projecting
from the handle i, and the slot links, hinged below to the levers i¹, and
jointed above to a stud projecting from the lever f¹ of the valve f, are for the
purpose of raising the said valve when steam is required in the steam chest g.
The handle i is capable of being moved from the position in which it is shewn
in Figure 1 to the position indicated by the dotted line 2, without raising the
valve off its seating, and therefore without admitting steam to the chest g;
the handle i is worked within these limits as long as the descending platform
is sufficiently heavy to raise the ascending one, in order to allow the transfer
of the air or steam from one side of the piston c to the other; but when the
ascending platform cannot be raised without the aid of steam, the attendant by
pushing the handle i a little beyond the previous described limits, say, for
instance, to the lines marked a, a, causes one of the links to raise the end of
the lever f, thereby lifting the valve f, and admitting steam to the cylinder a.
I wish to point out here that when steam is required for working the hoist,
the gravity of the descending platform is exerted in aid of the ascending one.
If it should be desirable to work a single platform, as for instance, q', by the
direct action of steam applied to a piston, it will be necessary to let off the fluid
in the cylinder m into the cistern v, by the pipe v¹; in this case, the platform
is raised by admitting steam to the cylinder a, but no steam is required for
lowering. It is also possible to work four platforms with one steam cylinder
and one cylinder for the incompressible fluid. The dotted circles n² and n³

page_text: represent another pair of cylinders & rams, to which platforms are attached, as
before described. These rams may be worked when the valves o and o² are
closed, by operating on the valves o2 and 03. In those cases where the load
is always descending, the fluid from the cylinder n may be conveyed direct
through a pipe furnished with a valve to the cylinder n². Other combinations
might be shewn, but the foregoing are sufficient to illustrate the nature of my
Invention.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the
details herein set forth, so long as the peculiar character of the Invention be
retained. But what I do claim is, the improved hoist herein-before particu-
larly described, in which each entire ascent or descent of the platform is
effected by a single stroke of the pistons c and l, and the improved mode of
working one or more platforms, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ramsbottom, have hereunto set
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN RAMSBOTTOM. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named John Ramsbottom in the presence of
H. B. BARLOW,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.