Improvements in Means or Automatic Apparatus for Storing the Brake-power of Tram-cars and other Vehicles to Assist them in Starting.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Nov., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Sept., 1890-Accepted, 4th Oct., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Automatic Apparatus for Storing the
Brake-power of Tram-cars and other Vehicles to Assist them in
Starting.
SAMUEL MILLER of No. 1 Langton Cottages Melbourne Square, Brixton, Surrey,
Engineer, ROBERT CHURCHYARD STEED of No. 71 Mostyn Road Brixton, Sarrey,
Banker's Cashier, and FREDERICK GOOCH of No. 21 Fairholt Road, Stoke Newington
Banker's Cashier, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Running free on the car axle side by side are two bevel cog wheels, and running
into them is a smaller bevil cog wheel, attached to which is a drum, on which two
wire ropes or chains will wind both in opposite directions to store up the power by
pulling on suitable springs. On the outside faces of each of the large bevil wheels
hangs a paul, each set in an opposite direction, and working a ratchet wheel which
also is free on the car axle. These ratchet wheels are hollow having divisions, into
which is pressed any number of pieces of india-rubber or steel springs, which act as
buffers when the gear engages, thus avoiding a sudden jar, a disk having any suitable
number of webs on one face, is let into the hollow ratchet wheel, its webs being
pressed between the pieces of india-rubber or steel springs so as to act as buffers each
way, on the other and outer face of the disk are grooves and a plate which is free to
slide on the axle (but is rotated by a feather or key) carrying corresponding
projections gears into it, and is kept in gear by suitable springs, in the boses of
these plates are turned grooves into which is fitted striking levers to throw the
plates out of gear, to the other end of these striking levers is fitted a wire rope,
light chain or rod, the other end of which is attached to the draw bar on which the
horses pull, this draw bar is kept in by the springs against the plates and is capable
of being drawn out by the horses about one inch before the pull comes on the car.
The action of the gear is as follows-When the horses pull on the draw bar, it runs out
about and inch, and pulls (by the wire rope chain or rod) the striking lever which
draws out the plate and compresses the spring, the gear is now at rest, but the
other side plate is in gear, but does not drive the gear, as the ratchet wheel is
over-running the paul, now when the horses slack up, the spring pushes the plate
into gear, and pulls the draw bar back, the ratchet wheel is now driven against the
paul which rotates that side bevil wheel in the direction the car is going, this rotates
the small bevil wheel and drum (but at a higher speed) and so winds the wire ropes
which pull on the power springs, and rotating the other side bevil wheel in the
opposite direction to which the car is going, the car is now being stopped, but
directly the horses pull out the draw bar and with it the striking lover releasing
the bevil wheel, the small bevil wheel is turned in the opposite direction by the
power springs and drives the other side bevil wheel (at a reduced speed and starting
slowly,) which by the paul and ratchet wheel drives the plate as also the car axle,
this action is continually going on and so regulating the speed of the car. Although
bevil wheels and ratchets have been described, friction wheels or chain wheels, and
friction clutches may be used and air or vacuum pumps in place of springs, the
gear may consist of three or more wheels and of different and separate diameters.
Dated the Fifth day of November 1889.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Automatic Apparatus for Storing the
Brake-power of Tram-cars and other Vehicles to Assist them in
Starting.
We, SAMUEL MILLER, of 1, Langton Cottages, Melbourne Square, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, ROBERT CHURCHYARD STEED, of 71, Mostyn Road,
Brixton aforesaid Banker's Cashier, and FREDERICK GOOCH, of 21, Fairholt Road,
Stoke Newington, in the County of Middlesex, Banker's Cashier, 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:-
Our invention relates to means or apparatus for storing the energy of momentum
of tram-cars and other vehicles by restraining or stopping the motion of the vehicle
and for utilizing the said energy for the purpose of assisting to start the vehicle.
According to our invention we so construct or arrange the apparatus that the
energy of momentum is stored when the pull on the draw-bar of the vehicle is
relieved and is given out directly the pull on the draw-har is resumed.
The apparatus which we have devised for carrying out our invention comprises a
spring adapted to be wound up or placed in tension by gearing actuated by one of
the axles of the vehicle through the medium of two clutches. Each of the said
clutches is connected to a draw-bar and is in engagement so long as there is no pull
on its draw-bar, but is disengaged immediately the traction of the vehicle is resumed.
The said gearing consists mainly of a bevel-pinion which directly winds up the spring,
two bevel-wheels mounted loosely on the axle of the vehicle and engaging with the
said pinion, and two ratchet wheels (also loose on the said axle) having their teeth.
arranged in opposite directions and operated by pawls upon the bevel-wheels.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe how it can be
carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a plan of the under-frame of a tram-car provided with our
improvements:
Figures 2 and 3 are sections on lines A B and C D respectively of Figure 1.
Figures 4 to 8 are views of details hereinafter described.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar parts.
a, a, a represent the under frame, b, b, b1, b the wheels, and c, c¹ the wheel-axles
of the car, all of which are of usual construction.
d is the spring the power of which is intended to be utilized for assisting to start
the car, the said spring being arranged in and having its outer end attached to a
case e bolted to a frame supported by the axle c¹ and a portion of the under
frame a of the car.
is the bevel-pinion which we employ to wind up the spring the said pinion for
this purpose engaging by means of a square on one end a boss d' to which the inner
end of the spring d is attached. By forming the boss d' separate from the pinion g
the spring can easily be removed without disturbing the said pinion. The pinion g
revolves in a bearing in the frame and also on a shaft h supported by the axle c¹.
i and are the two bevel wheels mounted loosely on the axle c' and permanently in
gear with the pinion g.
k and are the two ratchet wheels also mounted loosely on the axle c¹ and inde-
pendently of the bevel wheels i and j and having their teeth arranged in opposite
directions; m and n are the pawls attached to the bevel wheels i and ; whereby the
ratchet wheels k and I are respectively operated in the manner hereafter described.
The ratchet wheels are formed with a number of cells in which are placed springs
such as blocks o of india rubber having spaces p between them as shown in Figure 4
which is an end elevation of one of the bevel wheels, say that marked j in Figure 1,
with its pawl n and ratchet wheel 7 shewing the interior of the latter so provided
with the indi. rubber blocks o. The spaces serve to receive webs or projections q
on one side of a disc r shewn in face views at Figures 5 and 6 and in edge view at

page_text: Figure 7, Figure 8 being a section shewing the bevel wheel j, pawl n, ratchet wheel
and disc r, connected together.
t and u are the clutches which slide on the axle c¹ and rotate therewith. They are
caused to engage with projections s on the discs by means of springs e¹ and fl and
are disengaged therefrom by the draw bars and to respectively (which are arranged
to slide for a limited extent in the frame a of the car) through the medium of
chains and y and forked clutch-levers z and a¹. The india rubber or other springs
interposed between the ratchet wheels and the discs r act as buffers, thereby avoiding
shocks when the gear engages.
The operation is as follows:-
Suppose the car is being drawn in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1,
the parts would be in the position shewn in the said figure, that is to say, the draw
bar would be pulled out and the clutch t thereby disengaged from the ratchet
wheel k, the draw bar w pulled inwards and the clutch u consequently engaged with
the ratchet wheel Z, and the spring d unwound. As long as the traction of the car
continues the bevel wheels i and j and pinion g will remain motionless upon the
axle c' as the clutch t is disengaged from the ratchet wheel and the clutch u,
although engaged with the ratchet wheel will be revolving it in that direction in
which the teeth will merely slide under the pawl.
Directly the pull on the draw-bar o ceases, as it would while stopping the car, the
said draw-bar will be moved inwards and the clutch t caused to engage its discr by
the spring e, whereby the ratchet wheel k will be caused to revolve with the axle c¹,
and drive the bevel-wheel i which, through the medium of the pinion g, will wind up
the spring d until the car comes to a standstill or until the traction of the car is
resumed. Directly the draw-bar vis again pulled to move the car, the clutch t will
again become disengaged and the power of the spring d in unwinding will, through
the medium of the pinion g, wheel j, pawl n, ratchet wheel 7 and clutch u be exerted
to rotate the wheels of the car and thereby assist in starting it until the spring has
run down when the ratchet wheel i will again revolve independently of the bevel-
wheel and so on.
1j
If the car be drawn in the reverse direction to that herein before described the
clutch u will be operated in a similar manner to the clutch t as herein before described,
so as to wind up the spring through the medium of the parts 1, n and j, the energy
due to the unwinding of the spring, when the clutch u is disengaged by the pull on
its draw-bar being imparted to the axle c' through the medium of the parts i, m,
and t.
k
In place of the bevel and ratchet wheels herein before described friction wheels or
chain wheels can be employed, and air or vacuum pumps can be used instead of
springs. Further the gear may consist of three or more wheels of different
diameters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
:-
1. Means or apparatus for storing the energy of momentum of vehicles and for
utilizing the stored energy for assisting to start them, in which the said energy is
stored when the pull on the draw-bar of the vehicle is relieved, and is given out
directly the pull on the draw-bar is resumed, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. Means or apparatus for storing the energy of momentum of vehicles and for
utilizing the stored energy for assisting to start them, consisting essentially of a
spring adapted to be wound up by gearing actuated by one of the wheel-axles of the
vehicle through the medium of two clutches each of which is connected to a draw-bar
in such a manner that it is in engagement so long as there is no pull on its draw-bar
but is released immediately the pull on the draw-bar is resumed, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
3. In means or apparatus for storing the energy of momentum of vehicles and for
utilizing the stored energy for assisting to start them, the combination with a spring

page_text: of gearing comprising a bevel-pinion connected to one end of the said spring, two
bevel wheels mounted loosely on one of the axles of the vehicle and engaging with the
said pinion, two ratchet wheels having their teeth arranged in opposite directions, and
operated by pawls upon the bevel-wheels, and clutches adapted to automatically engage
with the said ratchet wheels when there is no pull upon the draw-bars and to be dis-
engaged therefrom when the respective draw-bars are being pulled, substantially as
as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
4. The arrangement of ratchet wheel having springs acting as buffers for the
purpose of avoiding shocks when engaging the gear, substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to Figures 4 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.
5. The combination of parts forming the improved means or apparatus for storing
the energy of momentum of vehicles and for utilizing the stored energy for assisting to
start them, substantially as berein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated the 3rd day of September 1890.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.