Improvements in and relating to Suspension Trolleys, and Railways therefor.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 2nd Mar., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Suspension Trolleys, and Railways
therefor.
I ALEXANDER HUBER of Gereousmuhlengasse 6 Cologne on Rhine in the
Empire of Germany Manufacturer 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 relates to improvements in suspension trolleys and in railways
therefor and the special object of this invention is that in railway crossings
and switches of suspended railways, the passage of the running trolley from one
line of rails onto the other may be effected by simple means by the trolley
itself and that such crossings, points or switches may be traversed without the
wheels losing their support on the line, or receiving concussion when crossing.
These improvements are shown in different views in Figs. 1 to 12 of the annexed
drawing in which ;-
Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of the improved trolley with part of the rail on
which it runs.
Fig. 2
in section.
an elevation of the trolley at right angles to Fig. 1, showing the rails
Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof showing a crossing place in the rails.
Fig. 4 is a detailed view of part of the trolley showing a modified, construction.
Fig. 5 illustrates in plan a crossing place in the rails and means for automatically
turning the trolley from the one to the other track.
Fig. 6 is a plan view of a single point or branch.
Figs. 7 and 8 are elevations of the trolley and of means for supporting the same
when passing crossings at right angles.
Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate modified forms of trolley wheels.
Figs. 11 and 12 show in plan modified constructions of the rails to avoid friction
at crossing places between the wheels and the rails when the trolley is diverted from
the one to the other track.
The invention comprises a running trolley A the axle a of which is at each end
provided with two wheels r r. These wheels are loosely mounted on the axle and
are capable of rotating independently of each other for which purpose separating
washers may be arranged between them. This axle a is in its centre, that is to
say, between the two pairs of wheels, enlarged in diameter at a' from which
enlargement or boss the downward supporting or bearing web e projects. The latter
is provided on its fore and aft edges with a recess c¹ in each of which a rotary
guiding roller d is journalled.
It is not necessary that each pair of wheels r, r¹ as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 be
composed of two equally large wheels; wheels of different sizes and also a larger
number of wheels than two may be employed for attaining the same effect, namely
to impart to the axle a in direction of its vertical axial plane a support on passing
over branches or points in the line (see Fig. 3).
The auxiliary wheels may run free from contact with the rails when the inner
wheels are running on the railway line since the former are required and act only
on traversing crossing or branch lines.
For carrying the running trolleys rails made of angle iron, bars (see Fig. 2) or
the like may be used, two of which are arranged in parallel at a suitable interval
in such a manner that the web c with its guide rollers d has sufficient play in the
slot remaining between the rails.

page_text: These rails e are fixed on the suspension bearings, cantilevers, posts or the
like in such a manner that the trolleys and their cages or the like are enabled to
freely pass.
At those places where two railway lines cross each other the rails are suitably
widened. At crossings which do not cut rectangularly but at an angle of say
50 degrees, first the outer wheel 1 passes the slot of the crossing while the load
rests on the inner wheel r; the inner wheel r then passes over the slot when
the outer wheel has already passed again onto the rail and carries the load.
With the opposite pair of wheels on the other side an inverse process takes place,
namely first the inner wheel traverses the slot, leaving the load on the outer wheel,
while subsequently the outer wheel crosses the slot leaving the load again supported
on the inner wheel.
Thus out of the four wheels indicated in the drawing each passes singly over the
slot at a different time, so that at least always one wheel on each side carries
the load; consequently uninterrupted and uniform support of the load on passing
the railway crossings is completely secured. The same description applies to the
passing of a single switch or siding, but only upon one side of the trolley.
In order to pass the trolley out of one line onto the other cutting or branching
from the former, the trolley is brought up to the crossing point where the rails at
their acute angles are shortened to such extent that the web e with its two guide
rollers d can be turned in the space, and said trolley is then simply turned in the
direction of the other line into which it can then be shunted in either direction. The
turning of the trolley may be executed on all wheels or on two only; when for
instance the turning is to be effected on the inner wheels only, then in arranging
the lines those rails serving for the outer wheels must be cut away at the respective
places (Figs. 11 and 12).
When the trolley is to be passed out of the one line into the other crossing the
first without stoppage being made as described above at the point of crossing, this
may be effected by means of the arrangement hereinafter described and shown in
Fig. 5. On the crossing of two rails (one set of tracks) namely at the obtuse and
suitably rounded off angles W there is at the edge of the bottom side of the rail
a downwardly projecting counter rail W₁ and rearward therefrom an abutment W
is arranged. On the web e of each trolley is an arm c° (Fig. 2) which at its outer
end is provided with a suitably shaped nose c². These parts may be arranged
in such a manner that they may be pushed upward in guides and fixed there
so as to come into the same horizontal plane as the counter rail W' and the
abutment W².
In order to pass a trolley when in movement onto the other line without first
stopping, the arms are put upward so that during the crossing the nose of the
respective arm arrives behind the counter rail. Owing to the particular shape of
this nose as illustrated in Fig. 5 it is not allowed to freely pass through the space
between the counter rail and the abutment W2 but is on the contrary held back by
the latter on which it turns until the trolley has been so far turned that it will run
on the other line, whereupon the nose arrives into such a position as to allow of its
passing in front of the abutment: thus the trolley freely continues its passage
onto the other line without having come to a standstill.
Fig. 6 shows the construction of a single branch. The arrangement shown in
Figs. 7 and 8 enables the trolley where the tracks cross rectangularly to be simply
turned to pass from the one line into that running rectangularly thereto. For this
purpose there is placed vertically above the crossing point a horizontal disc s or
the like vertically suspended. The main axle a of the trolley carries above its
boss a¹ and originating therein a forked arm g; the two arms g' of which carry
each on its inner side a rotary wheel ro. These wheels 70 ride onto the upper face
of the discs as soon as the trolley arrives at the crossing point of the line, so that
the trolley with its load is now suspended from these auxiliary wheels upon the
disc s.
The trolley may then be turned when the wheels 70 will describe arcs of a circle

page_text: upon the disc s.
The rails at the crossing point must be suitably cut away to
afford space for the web with its guide rollers to turn.
In the trolley herein before described the axle a is at each side provided with at
least 2 wheels r, r moving independently from one another to ensure a continuous
and uniform support for the load; by the arrangement which will now be
described, these two wheels provided at each end of the axle may be brought into a
firm connection with each other or be replaced respectively by one suitably shaped
wheel by which owing to its construction alone or together with a particular form
of the rails at the crossing points, uniform support of the load on passing any
crossings of the line or the like may also be secured.
This latter improvement is illustrated in Figs. 9 to 12 of the annexed drawing.
The wheel is of such a width, or two wheels r are firmly connected, so that this
composite wheel on passing over a branch or a non-rectangular crossing, finds
uninterrupted support on at least one of the two edges of the wheel. In order to
reduce the friction to a minimum either the wheel may be provided each with two
running surfaces as in Fig. 9 or otherwise the friction face may be decreased by
reducing the width of the rail as in Fig. 10.
Especially at such crossings or branches of the line where the trolley by simple
turning on its vertical axis is passed out of the one line into the other, that part of
the rail surface which lies at the crossing point may, as illustrated in Fig. 12 be
cut down to an extent of a few millimeters in depth so that the turning motion may
be only executed on the annular part e of the rail surface which is left at the
normal height.
In this respect the same result is attained with the wheel
shown in Fig. 10 as
with the wheel shown in Fig. 9, for which latter the rails at the crossing points
(Fig. 11) are provided with notches so that always only one of the running flanges
will be in contact with the rail surface at any given time.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. For use on a suspension railway a trolley with one axle or with axles one
above the other which axle or axles is or are provided at each side of the vertical
central part of the boss with two wheels moving independently from one another so
as to secure uninterrupted and uniform support for the trolley when traversing a
branch or crossing line.
2. In the trolley described in Claim 1 the combination of the two wheels (r, r) at
each side of the axle as one wheel (¹) of such breadth or as two connected
wheels (r) for continuous support of the trolley as set forth.
3. The construction as set forth of crossings in suspension railways for the
purpose of guiding trolleys from the one railway line onto the other by simply
turning the trolleys around their vertical axes or by guiding an arm thereon by
means of a counter rail.
4. A suspension railway having at crossing places a guiding counter rail Won
the lower side of the rail and an arm c² movably arranged on the bearing web of
the trolley which arm when shifted upwards engages between the counter rail W
and an abutment W' arranged behind said counter rail thus causing the trolley to
turn into the other line without being arrested at the crossing substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 4th day of January 1895.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Agents to Applicant.