An Improved Wheel Guard Applicable for use on Tramcars, Railway Carriages, and other Vehicles
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Aug., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Mar., 1890-Accepted, 26th Apr., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Wheel Guard Applicable for use on Tramcars,
Railway Carriages, and other Vehicles,
I, JOHN MOUNTGOMERY COLLINS, of 45 Bartholomew Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In the majority of vehicles as presently constructed, no provision whatever is made
for preventing pedestrians and others, who may happen to be knocked down by the
vehicle, from being run over by the wheels. In some vehicles, however, very crude
and inefficient wheel guarding appliances are provided.
This invention has for its object the providing of an efficient wheel guard for
tramcars, railway carriages and other vehicles, which will prevent, or aid in the
prevention, of the, at present, too numerous fatalities arising from persons being run
over by passing vehicles.
My improved wheel guard, which, for the sake of illustration I will describe as
heing fitted to a tramcar, consists of a, preferably, metal shield which is shaped
somewhat after the manner of the mould-board of a plough. This shield has its
sharp part or edge a little in front of the wheel of the car and the two sides extend
backwards for a distance sufficient to enclose the front part of the wheel. Inside the
guard or shield at its lower part, pretty well forward, is fitted a small broad wheel the
periphery of which projects a little underneath the lower edges of the guard or shield.
This wheel is or may be loosely fitted on a stud or pin passed through the guard from
side to side.
The wheel guard is at its upper end so pivotted to the car at a point perpendicularly
or nearly so above the axle of the car wheel that, on the slightest inequality of the
rail, or on the small wheel over-riding any small obstruction, or in the event of any
extra pressure being put on the car springs by over-crowding of passengers, it is free
to rise and fall, as the case may be, and so automatically adjust itself.
The guard is so arranged as to have its lower edges just above and clear of the
rails.
The guard can, if desired, be used in lieu of the ordinary brake skid or it may be
used as an auxiliary thereto. For this purpose a plate or other spring may be fitted
to the under side of the car and to the front or other part of the guard, in such
manner, that, the guard will normally press against the car wheel and thus act as a
brake. To take off the guard a wedge piece or equivalent device may be so fitted fo
the under side of the car that when it is pushed forward it will jamb itself between
the upper end of the back part of the guard and the bottom of the car, and thus press
down the back part of the guard and lift off the front part, against the action of the
spring, from the car wheel.
The guards would be fitted one on each wheel of the car, and the wedge pieces,
when the guard is used also as a brake, could be actuated by the driver by means of
rods, or in any other well known manner. Instead of having a spring and wedge
piece as described, the brake can be applied by pulling the guard up against the wheel
by means of a chain or rod attached to its front part.
The mould-board shape of the shield, in the event of an accident throws the person
knocked down, to one side and clear of the rails. To prevent the possibility of the
person being, by any chance, thrown in front of the following wheel of the car, the
guard may be prolonged backward for some distance, or it may be connected by rods
or metal strips with the guard of the following wheel.
If desired the guards may be made open and be fitted so as to cage in the wheels
either partially or wholly

page_text: In the case of wheels turning on pivots, such as the front wheels of carriages and
the like, the guard would, by preference, be fitted to the axle so as to allow of the
wheels turning freely.
Dated this Twenty-eighth day of August 1889
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Wheel Guard Applicable for use on Tramcars,
Railway Carriages, and other Vehicles,
1, JOHN MOUNTGOMERY COLLINS, of 45 Bartholomew Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow,
Engineer, 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:-
In the majority of vehicles as presently constructed, no provision whatever is made
for preventing pedestrians and others, who may happen to be knocked down by the
vehicle, from being run over by the wheels. In some vehicles, however, very crude
and inefficient wheel guarding appliances are provided.
This invention has for its object the providing of an efficient wheel guard, for
tramears, railway carriages and other vehicles, which will prevent, or and in the
prevention, of the, at present, too numerous fatalities arising from persons being run
over by passing vehicles.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood I have hereunto
appended two explanatory sheets of drawings, whereon
Fig. 1 shows in side elevation a tramcar with my guard appliance fitted thereto.
Fig. 2 is an underside view of the car, fig. 1.
Fig. 3 shows part of a tramcar with guard appliance fitted thereto.
Fig. 4 is an end view of the car, fig. 3.
Fig. 5 shows, in side view, part of a car with guarding and braking appliance fitted
thereto.
Fig. 6 is an underside view of the car, fig. 5.
Fig. 7 shows position of guard when car is ascending an incline.
Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 are detail views to an enlarged scale.
Fig. 15 (sheet 2) shows, in side elevation, an engine and tender with my guard
appliance fitted thereto.
Fig. 16 is an end elevation of the engine tender, fig. 15.
Fig. 17 is a front elevation of the locomotive, fig. 15.
Fig. 18 is a cross section, to an enlarged scale, of the frame of the tender fig. lò,
showing guard raising mechanism.
Fig. 19 is a longitudinal section of the frame, fig. 18.
Fig. 20° is a cross section of frame showing a different arrangement of mechanism
for raising the guards.
Fig. 21 is a longitudinal section of the frame fig. 20.
Fig. 22 is an enlarged detail view of part of the guard raising mechanism
fig. 20.
I will now proceed to describe my invention reference being had to the drawings
whereon the same reference letters wherever repeated indicate similar or like parts.
Referring to the figs, on sheet 1 which show my invention as applied to a framear.
A is the tramcar, B the wheels, C the wheel axles, A¹ are the rails. The wheel
guard consists of a, preferably, metal shield D which is shaped somewhat after the
manner of the mould board of a plough as shown. This shield D has its sharp part
or edge a little in front of the wheel of the car and the two sides extend backwards
for a distance sufficient to enclose the front part of the wheel as shown more
particularly at figs. 1 and 2. Inside the guard or shield at its lower part, pretty well
forward is fitted a small broad wheel or roller E, the periphery of which projects, as

page_text: shown, a little underneath the lower edges of the guard or shield, so that it can run
freely on the rail. The wheel E is or may be loosely fitted on a stud or pin E' passed
through the guard from side to side as shown at fig. 2. The wheel guard is, preferably,
pivotted or hinged at G to a bracket I bolted or otherwise attached to the axle box H
so that on the slightest inequality of the rail or on the small wheel E over riding any
small obstruction or in the event of any extra pressure being put on the car springs by
over-crowding of passengers it is free to rise and fall, as the case may be, and so
automatically adjust itself. Instead of pivotting the shields D to the axle boxes H
they may be pivotted, hinged or fitted to the axles or to any other suitable part of the
car. The wheel E is fitted at such a height in the shield D, that the lower edges of
the shield shall be just above and clear of the rails.
As will
Instead of having only one guard to each wheel as herein before described I may
have two guards or shields D, to each wheel as shown at figs. 1, 2, 8, 9 and 10.
In figs. 3 and 4 the tramcar is shown as having its wheels B protected by means of
a shield D fitted to each wheel and also by guard plates J extending across the front
of the wheels so as to make it impossible for any one who had been knocked down by
the horses or engine or other iractive power from passing underneath the car.
be seen more particularly from the plan view at fig. 6 the guard plates J are bulged
or bent out at their middle and slant backwards on either side, in order that persons
caught thereon may be thrown outwards and free of the vehicle. The guards J are
pivotted or otherwise connected at K to the shields D. Besides the shields D and
guard plates J there may also he fitted to the car at both sides, a plate L for
preventing the possibility of the person knocked down being by any chance thrown
in front of the following wheels of the car. The guard plates L may be fitted to the
axle box as shown or to the axle or to any other convenient part of the ear. The
plates L may have fitted in them rollers or wheels L'.
In figs. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13 and 14 an arrangement of brake skid or shoe is shown as
being used in conjunction with the guards D. The shoe M which is shown to an
enlarged scale at fig. 14, has a wedge shaped end M' and a weighted end Mr. The
shoe is pinned at N to the lower end of a rod or arm which is pivotted or hinged at
its upper end O' to a bracket N' on the axle box, or to other suitable part of the car.
Fitted in suitable bearings (2 to the bottom of the car is a shaft or rod P which has
on each of its outer ends a drum or wheel P. Chains Q are connected to the drum Pl
and to the rods 0. For actuating the brake, a brake lever R, which is connected by
a chain R¹ or its equivalent to the centre or other part of the shaft 1 is provided. A
catch is provided for keeping the lever R in its locked position. When the chains Q
are connected to the drums P in the manner shown, the chain R is preferably
connected to the underside or to the back of the shaft P in order that when the chain
is pulled it will cause the shaft to turn round from right to left and so pull up the
chains Q. The chains Q and R' may, however, be so fitted to the shaft P and
drums P that to pull the chains Q the drums would turn from left to right. On the
car, figs. 5 and 6, brake skids are shown as fitted to each wheel.
With this arrange-
ment the brake shoes M will apply themselves by their own weight to the wheels, on
the lever R. being released from its catch. The lever R is shown released in figs. 5
and G and the brakes M are shown as applied to the wheels. The shoes are lifted
or pulled up off the wheels by the driver or guard pulling the lever R towards him, which
action pulls the chain R' and so causes the shaft P to turn. The turning of the shaft
also causes the drums P¹ on it to turn from right to left and to thus wind up or pull
the chains Q and lift up the shoes M. The shoes M are kept up off the wheels so
long as the lever R is retained in the catch but immediately it is released the brakes
are applied.
In fig. 7 the car A is shown as going up an incline and as will be seen the guard
or shield in this case rises slightly upwards from the position shown in dotted lines
so as to adapt itself to the rail.
Referring to the figs. in sheet 2, which show my invention as applied to locomotives
and rolling stock.
In fios 15 16 and 17 the invention is shown as analind to
S Insaniative Sanl

page_text: tender S. The locomotive S has a guard plate J, hinged or pivotted at S2 to the
front of the engine frame and which extends across and covers over the front wheels.
The guard plate,J, is bulged out at its centre in the same manner as the guard plate,
figs. 5, 6, and for the same purpose. The guard plate J, has rollers or wheels E fitted
to it which run on the rails. Shields D are shown as fitted to each wheel of the tender.
The shields may be hinged or pivotted to brackets I, on the axle boxes or to other
suitable part.
As it is not desirable, when the train is travelling at a great speed to have the
wheels, E, of the guards D running on the rails, I have shown at figs. 18, 19, 20, 21
One arrange-
and 22 arrangements or devices for lifting the guards up off the rails.
ment consists as shown at figs. 18 and 19 of a centrifugal governor movement. On
any one of the axles of the tender, carriage or other rolling stock but, preferably on
the middle one when there are three pairs of wheels as shown, there are fitted two
sliding collars T connected by rods Ti to balls T which have holes in them and are
free to slide in and out on the guides or arms T2. The balls T are prevented from
flying off the arms or guides by the heads T³. Forked levers T+, pivotted at their
upper ends T to the underside of the frame T, catch on the collars T. Chains T
connect the levers T with the hinged levers T. The levers Ts are connected at T
to the guards D. The chains T run on pulleys T fitted to the outside of the
frame. The axles may have on them springs T for forcing out the collars T, as
shown. With this arrangement as the speed of the train increases the revolutions of
the wheels and axle also increase, the consequence of this is that the centrifugal
action throws or impels outwards the balls T. The impelling outwards of the balls T
draws the collars T, by means of the rods T together. The coming together of the
collars T draws the forked levers inwards and at the same time pulls up the chains T
and hinged levers Ts and thus forces outwards and upwards the guards D lifting them
clear of the rails. When guards are fitted to every wheel the chains T, connected
thereto may be actuated by means of two hanging shafts U, one fitted at each side of
the frame (see fig. 19) which are swung inwards and outwards by means of a pair
of forked levers T working on collars T fitted to one of the axles as shown. The
shafts U, which are pivotted at each end to brackets U¹, have the forked levers T
and the chains T connected to them so that the guards D on the wheels will be
lifted up or let fall in unison.
Instead of having a centrifugal movement, as herein before described, for raising
the guards D they may be raised, as shown at figs. 20, 21 and 22, by means of steam
or air pressure supplied from the engine. Steam or air is admitted to the upper side
of the piston V in the cylinder W which is fitted to the underside of the frame. The
steam or air pressure forces the piston downwards and the piston rod V1 forces down-
wards the inner ends of two bell crank levers V2, pivotted at V3 to arms or brackets X
cast on or fitted to the cylinder W. As a consequence of the downward movement
of the inner ends of the levers V2 their outer ends, which have toothed segments V
on them, are moved upwards through an are of a circle having the pivots V3 as the
centre. As the toothed segments V gear with toothed wheels V on the shafts U
the shafts are caused to revolve. The shafts U in this case are not hanging shafts
but are carried by and are free to revolve in bearings U". The chains T, as before
are connected to the shafts U. As the shafts revolve or turn, the chains T, are drawn
or pulled up and thus lift up the guards D. With this arrangement the fluid
pressure can be applied by the engine driver and the guards be lifted up or let fall
at will.
Guard plates J, may be used with railway rolling stock if desired.
Instead of making the shields D and guards of metal plates they may be made of rods
The guards
or bars interlaced or they may be made in the form of gratings.
may cover or cage in the wheels wholly, instead of partially as shown on the
drawings.
My improved hinged or pivotted wheel guard whilst being simple in construction
and cheap, is very efficient as it can if desired be made to adjust itself to the varying
height of the body of the car from the rails, and its mould board shape, in the event

page_text: of an accident, throws the person knocked down to one side and clear of the rails.
When the guards are fitted to the axles they, of course, always retain their relative
position to the rails so long as the bearings are in good order.
The guard may be fitted to omnibuses, carriages or carts, as well as tramcars and
trains. In this case the wheels E, would, preferably, be made larger than those
shown, and the guard would be kept a little higher off the ground.
In the case of wheels turning on pivots, such as the front wheels of carriages and
the like, the guard would be fitted to the axle so as to allow of the wheels turning
freely.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
1 claim is
1. In tramcars, railway carriages and other vehicles, a wheel guard hinged or
pivotted to any suitable part of the car or other vehicle and partially or wholly
enclosing the wheels, substantially as hereinbefore described and shown on the annexed
drawings.
2. In tramcars. railway carriages and other vehicles, a wheel guard hinged or
pivotted to any suitable part of the car or other vehicle and having wheels or rollers
at its underside which may run on the rails, substantially as herein before described and
shown on the drawings annexed.
3. The combination with the guards D of the hinged or pivotted side plates L and
end plates J substantially as herein before described and shown on the annexed
drawings.
Dated this 21 of 1000