Improvements in Apparatus for Cleansing Tram Lines and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Dec., 1897-Accepted, 28th May, 1898
[Communicated from abroad by ACHILLE MOREL, of No. 21, Rue Pletinckx,
Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Cleansing Tram Lines and the like.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, 6, Lord Street,
Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and
Lower Temple Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil 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.
Up to the present the cleansing of tramway and other lines has been done either
by men or by machines. In the machines employed for this purpose we find in
almost all cases that the brushes which perform the cleaning work wear out
rapidly, raise a deal of dust in dry weather, and require excessive motor power.
The administrations have been endeavouring for a long time past to obtain
an automatic system of cleaning, but by employing the apparatus of which I
have already pointed out the defects, lose eventually in repairs and traction
power what they economise in time and workmen's wages.
The object of my invention is to construct a machine which will ensure the
cleaning and cleansing of the line in an.efficacious manner with a slight outlay
of tractive force, and without producing dust or causing perceptible wear to the
apparatus.
The problem to be solved implies the condition that the system can be applied
to any tramway or electric railway car or to an open truck in such a manner that
the traction can be effected by one horse on level lines, and by two horses on
inclined lines, and that the truck can be attached to the electric motor on lines
using this mode of traction.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 shews an elevation of one modification of the apparatus as applied
to a car.
Figure 1 an elevation of a tram-way vehicle with another modification of the
apparatus attached.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the stirrup or support.
Figure 3 is a side view of the same.
Figure 4 a view from above of the cleansing tool.
Figures 5 and 6 are details of the sliding box Q and regulating screw W.
Figure 7 is a horizontal section of the controlling mechanism of the spring
boxes R R¹ on the line X-X° Figure 1.
Figure 8 detail view of bars S and y (Figure 1).
Figure shews an elevation of the cleansing tool and adjacent parts.
Figure 10 a view from above of the same.
Figures 11 and 12 are diagrams of the controlling mechanism.

page_text: Referring first to Figure 1; in this modification the operating of the cleansing
tools is effected by hand by a person stationed either on the route or in the car
or on a seat specially constructed and designed for this purpose in an appropriate
manner.
In this figure, the boxes a a¹ are dispensed with, and the springs Rattached
to the underpart of the vehicle: S S are curved supporting rods, and the pressure
upon the scrapers and their position with regard to the rail can be regulated by
the bars and handles 0 0¹. X is a water tank discharging water for cleansing
the rail through the pipe to.
In Figure I have shewn another system of my apparatus in which all the
workings can be effected from the place occupied by the driver, from each of
the two places occupied by the driver when the car is moving backwards or for-
wards. The raising and lowering of the cleansing tool carrier is brought about
by a simple turn of a handle to the right or left whilst the entry or withdrawal
of the rear cleansing tool in and out of the groove of the line is automatically
effected.
Description of the apparatus (Figure 1)-Between the two wheels D D¹ of the
vehicle are fixed supports E E'. Each support receives in its lower part one of
the two horizontal bars S S¹ connected by a bolt y. To the bars S S are affixed
the end pieces t t forming bearings in which are hinged the sloping scrapers V VI
secured by the bolts G G₁. These scrapers are unchecked in their inward motion,
except by the rail F on which they slide, but their outward motion is limited by
the plates TT. Regulating screws W W₁ piaced at the base of the supports EE
allow the descent to be facilitated in case of wear of the cleansing tools V VI,
whilst at the same time preventing them during their ordinary work from descend-
ing too low owing to an irregularity of the line. This special system of regulating
the exact position of the cleansing tool according to the level of the rail and the
depth of the groove has a capital importance from an economical point of view
and it thereby becomes possible to prevent entire contact of the tool with a certain
part of the rail, that is to say undue contact of iron or steel and to thus avoid
excessive wear of the tool. A second but not less important point is, that accord-
ing to this arrangement of regulated tool carriers the tools never act as a brake
and do not thus absorb much of the motor power as they simply slide on the mud
and not on the rail:
In order to obtain a complete cleansing of the rail I have attached to the
cleansing tools V V1 two pieces of wrought iron each bent at an angle, the one
limb, respectively whereof forms a right angle or almost a right angle with
the tool and the other P P respectively forms an acute angle therewith for the
purpose of throwing off the line the filth extracted.
P
In order to avoid the dust in dry weather a reservoir of water X placed on the
vehicle continually waters by means of a pipe to on each side the part of the line
to be cleansed by the cleanser tools: (See Figure 1^.)
In each of the directions of motion of the car, one of the cleansers can enter
into action whilst the other can drag or be drawn up by the rod 0 or 0¹ (Fig. 1^)
respectively. and vice versa. The rods or 01 respectively serve also to regulate
the descent of the tool carrier and in consequence the pressure with which its acts
on the mud.
The aforesaid Figure 1 shews an elevation of the apparatus applied either to
a car or to a special truck; in the plan to render it clearer all the parts of the
construction which offer nothing new or special have been suppressed.
The reference letters A B C D and so forth have reference to the left side and
the letters A B C D¹ to the right side of the apparatus. The two sides being
equivalent, the description of one will suffice for both.
.
The driver being in front of the car turns the handle A to control the bevelled
cog wheels J and K by means of the upright bar B supported in bearings at
points C and H and thus actuates a horizontal rod running lengthways under the
car and supported at K and M. This rod transmits its rotation by the bevelled

page_text: cog wheels N and Z to a vertical shaft 011 screw threaded and working in a
matrix a forming an adjustable box with a projection or feather h sliding in a
groove on the vertical support U and attached to the end of the spring R. The
other extremity of this spring is connected with the cross bar S attached at y
to the upright U of the car. The two pieces S and R are run into a sliding box
with regulating screw W rigidly supported by the upright E.
At the extremity of R and S is arranged the shoe t which bears hinged on the
bolt G the cleansing tool V provided with a plate P for the exterior and another p
for the interior cleansing whilst the end of the tool itself enters the groove of the
rail F.
The exact position of this end of V with respect to the groove of the rail so
that it continually remains at a certain distance between the two can be regulated
even to a hairs breadth by the regulating screw w of the sliding box Q.
The tool being prevented from descending lower than the regulation arranges
it, it is rendered possible by the descent of the spring box a to give as much
pressure to the spring R and consequently also to the tool carrier as may be
considered necessary and advantageous to effect a perfect cleaning of the track.
It must also be mentioned that the spring box a slides in a groove h on U as
stated to prevent a movement round the axle, and that the screw shaft Ou is
supported by consoles or cross bars e and 7 connected with the upright U which
is connected by means of a cross beam 7 with the corresponding upright of the
tool carrier mechanism placed at the other side of the car.
Figure 7 is a horizontal section of the boxes a a¹ on the line X-X° Fig. 1.
Figures and 10 show a top view and a horizontal view with sections partially
removed of the exact arrangement of the cleansing tool with the directing mud
plates.
In Figures 11 and 12 I have represented a plan of the complete system of central
control working from each of the two plates which the driver can occupy during
the running of the car in the two directions.
This system of control can be applied without in any way influencing or modi-
fying the principle of my invention to any other arrangement of places or seat
of the driver conductor or other person, told off for the route cleansing service
who will have to manœuvre the tool carrier.
In Figs. 11 and 12 the letters of reference m¹ to m10 are used with respect to
the left side of the car whilst the same indications n¹ to n¹0 are used with respect
to the corresponding right side of the same. The letters qqqq represent the
wheels in the ground plan (see Fig. 12): ss23s respectively are the centres of
position of the tool carriers; y and y¹ respectively indicate the vertical uprights
supporting the control system of the spring boxes.
The transmission of movement is thus effected. The driver turns by his handle
the rod m¹, the endless screw m², the screw wheel m³, the chain wheel m³; the
latter transmits the movement by the chain m¹ to the chain wheel m³ which moves
the bevelled cog wheels m¹0 m; the latter control the bevelled cog wheels m³ m8
and cause accordingly the springs to rise or descend and with them the tool
carriers.
Having explained with the aid of the accompanying drawings the details of
the construction on which rest the central control arrangement with automatic
control of the tool carriers, together with the exact regulation of the latter to
prevent them acting as a brake, I wish to reserve myself the right of modification
of one or the other parts of the construction according to the system of traction,
the needs of the service, or the consequent necessary applications.
It remains for me to mention as an advantage of the arrangement described
that the apparatus can be worked at the pace of the electric tram or horse cars
without fatiguing the horses and the action is further remarkable in that it acts
better the faster the pace. The clearing out and throwing off of the mud is
energetically effected on the outside of the rails and it is further to be noticed
that the rails are cleared out to the bottom.

page_text: When the mud is very hard the support of the cleansing knives is taken from
the rail which the apparatus has to clean.
Having new 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. In apparatus for the automatic cleansing of tramways and other lines, the
arrangement of suspension springs controlling the movement of the tool carriers.
to which the cleanser tools are articulated, of the cleansing tools aforesaid, scraping
in a somewhat backwardly inclined position above the track in the grooves of
the rails and provided with directing plates the whole so arranged that the raising
or the lowering of the tool carriers can be effected manually or otherwise, by
means of the rods 0 and 01 respectively, whilst by means of the pieces W W
the cleansing tool is prevented from descending lower than the desired point and
in general from touching the rail itself, all substantially as described above with
reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing.
2. In combination with the arrangements for automatic cleansing of tramway
and other lines specified in Claim 1, the system of central control from any place
on the car or the truck whereby the tool carriers are applied; distinguished by
the transmission of the movement by the turning of a handle to a vertical threaded
rod 11 or 12 which causes a box a or a¹ to rise or descend, in which is fixed one
of the extremities of a spring R or R¹ whilst the other end bears the end of a
cross bar S or S¹ articulated to a central upright U fixed to the car which cross
bar supports a stirrup t in which is articulated the cleansing tool V which is
provided with directing plates P p and whose backward movement is restricted
by a counter plate T, in substance as described above and represented in Figs. 1
and 11 and 12 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In combination with the arrangements of the automatic cleansing of tram-
way and other lines specified in Claims 1 and 2 the special arrangement of the
cleansing tool V pivotted to a horizontal bar S in such a manner as to incline in
a dragging position backwards, to press on the mud in the groove of the rail
whilst the interior p and exterior P directing plates throw the mud off the track,
in substance as described above and represented in the accompanying drawings
by Figures 1 and 4, and 9 and 10.
T 11
T
1
1
100x
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
322, High Holborn, London, W.C., Patent Agents for the Applicant.