IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS FOR COMMON ROADS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lionel Barnet Joseph, of Wyattville, Central Hill,
Upper Norwood, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IM-
BAR
Sealed the 19th May 1868, and dated the 20th November 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lionel Barnet Joseph
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1867.
I, LIONEL BARNET JOSEPH, of Wyattville, Central Hill, Upper Norwood,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS FOR COMMON ROADS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in tramway for common
roads.
In tramways as heretofore constructed an inconvenient obstruction is offered
to carriages crossing the line in consequence of rail projecting above the
surface of the road.
Now according to my Invention I make the tramway of a trough-like form
and the rails are sunk, so that the surface of the road is flush with the top of
the rail, and the trough is made so narrow that the tyre of an ordinary wheel is
unable to enter into it. The upper edges of the trough rails are suitably formed
to support the wheels running upon them. The rails may be of cast or
wrought iron or of other material, and they may be laid on longitudinal or
transverse sleepers. Where wrought iron is used the rail is advantageously

page_text: made of sheet metal bent to a trough-like form, and it is then by pre-
ference supported on longitudinal sleepers which are recessed to receive it.
In some cases I make the interior of the trough wider than its mouth, so that
stones and dirt may not be able to wedge into it, and I connect the troughs
with small cess-pits at intervals into which any dirt entering the trough may
be discharged. I place guards on the carriage in front of the wheels, and
these guards enter the trough and clear from it any impediment there may be.
Each wheel has a narrow central flange upon it which enters the trough rail,
but without penetrating quite to the bottom of the trough, or the flanges may
be on the sides of the wheels,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Lionel Barnet Joseph in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LIONEL
BARNET JOSEPH, of Wyattville, Central Hill, Upper Norwood, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Lionel Barnet Joseph, Her special licence that I, the said Lionel
Barnet Joseph, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
1, the said Lionel Barnet Joseph, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS FOR COMMON ROADS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Lionel Barnet Joseph, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Lionel Barnet Joseph; do hereby ileclare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is: to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in tramways for common
roads.
According to my Invention I make the tramway of a trough-like form with
the sides of the trough rapidly tapering, so that stones cannot wedge in them,
and the rails are sunk so that the surface of the road is flush with the top of
the rail, and the trough is made so narrow that the tyre of an ordinary road
wheel is unable to enter into it. The upper edges of the trough rails are
suitably formed to support the wheels running upon them. The rails may be.
of cast or wrought iron or of other material, and they may be laid on
longitudinal or transverse sleepers or by any other method.
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a transverse section full size, or thereabout,
of a rail for a common road tramway constructed according to my Invention ;
Figure 8 is a transverse section of a portion of the rad with the tramway.
laid in it.
a is the bar or rail; b a longitudinal sleeper of timber to which it is secured
by spikes or other fastenings; and c, c, are granite blocks laid so as to come
flush with the top of the bar or rail a; d is a cement filled in to make good
between the granite blocks and the rail or bar on each side. In place of
forming a continuous flange on the sides of the bar or rail to receive the
fastenings, it may be made with lugs at intervals.
:
Figure 4 is a transverse section of a bar or rail of a somewhat modified.
form, the running surface at the top being convex. The form of the wheel is
indicated by dotted lines.
Figure 5 is a transverse section of a bar or rail of another and cheaper form
with a groove on the under side to lighten the section, and it also serves to
render the attachment to the longitudinal sleeper beneath more secure.
The
grooves also may be similar on the two sides of the bar or rail, so that it may
be turned when it becomes worn. Other forms are shown at Figures 6 and
7 and 7. Where wrought iron is used the rail is advantageously made of
sheet metal bent to a trough-like form, as is shown in transverse section at
Figures 8 and 9, and it is then by preference supported on longitudinal sleepers
which are recessed to receive it, and it is secured to the sleepers by spikes.
In some cases I make the interior of the trough wider than its mouth, as is
shown in transverse section at Figure 10, so that stones and dirt may not be
able to wedge into it. Methods of supporting the rails are also shown in
Figures 11, 11, 12, and 18, which latter Figure also shows a rail which may
be used on either of its four sides, in place of having projections on the chairs

page_text: to enter the side grooves in the rail, these may be filled with wood. In
order that horses may not slip upon the running or upper surfaces of the
bars or rails, these are in each case, as will be observed, made as narrow as is
consistent with giving a proper support to the wheels; they may also be roughened
with cross-cut grooves if desired. The troughs may be connected with small
cess-pits at intervals, into which any dirt entering the trough may be dis-
charged. I place guards on the carriage in front of the wheels, and these
guards enter the trough and clear from it any impediment there may be.
Each wheel has a narrow central flange upon it, which enters the trough rail,
but by preference without penetrating quite to the bottom of the trough.
As to the method of fixing, securing, or supporting the rails, I do not bind
myself to any particular form, they may be secured either by side flanges and
bolts and spikes fixed into the bottom sleepers or else by means of spikes or
bolts driven through the trough or groove, or by straps and through bolts, or
any other method that circumstances may require. Some of these methods
are shown in connection with the various forms already described, as well as
in Figures 11, 11, 12, and 13.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lionel Barnet Joseph, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
TR JOSEPH