AN IMPROVED ARRANGE- MENT OF APPARATUS FOR MOVING TRAMCARS AND OTHER LIKE VEHICLES BY CAS ENGINE POWER
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jahn Roger Purssell, of No. 172, Blackfriars Road, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ARRANGE-
MENT OF APPARATUS FOR MOVING TRAMCARS AND OTHER LIKE VEHICLES BY
CAS ENGINE POWER"
Sealed the 23rd April 1880, and dated the 29th October 1879.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Roger Purssell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th October 1879.
JOHN ROGER PURSSELL, of No. 172, Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. "AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS FOR MOVING TRAM
CARS AND OTHER LIKE VEHICLES BY GAS ENGINE POWER."
The object of this Invention is apparatus for moving tram cars and other like
vehicles by gas engine power.
To carry my Invention into practice I mount upon suitable supports on a plat-
form or floor of a vehicle a couple of gas engines, preferably those known as the
Silent," the connection rods of which I attach to a double throw crank shaft.
This shaft carries a fly wheel and also a worm, from which through the inter-
mediation of a horizontally fitted worm wheel a vertical shaft can be operated. The
lower end of the vertical shaft carries a bevil wheel which works into two other
bevil gears running loosely upon one of the axles of the bearing wheels of the
vehicle, the inner faces of the hubs of these loose bevil gears being cone shaped
for the reception of similarly shaped clutch blocks which are keyed upon the axle,
and are capable of being slid thereon by a middistance clutch lever to the right or
to the left according to the desired direction of travel of the vehicle. The clutch
lever is connected to a shaft supported under the floor by brackets, and actuated by
a threaded rod surmounted by a hand wheel or other appliance.
The bevil gear is enclosed in a fork strap, the centre of which has free play
through a swivel joint of a sleeve on the vertical shaft, to allow of side oscillation
without throwing the wheels out of gear while the vehicle passes over obstacles,
the sleeve being within a trunk to steady it in its up and down movements.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Roger Purssell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th
April 1880.
JOHN ROGER PURSSELL, of No. 172, Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. "AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF APPARATUS FOR MOVING TRAM CARS
AND OTHER LIKE VEHICLES BY GAS ENGINE POWER."
The object of this Invention is apparatus for moving tram cars and other like
vehicles by gas engine power.
To carry my Invention into practice I mount upon suitable supports on a plat-
form or floor of a vehicle a couple of gas engines, preferably those known as the
Silent, the connection rods of which I attach to a double throw crank shaft;
this shaft carries a fly wheel and also a worm, from which through the inter-
mediation of a horizontally fitted worm wheel a vertical shaft can be operated.
The lower end of the vertical shaft carries a bevil wheel, which works into two
other bevil gears running loosely upon one of the axles of the bearing wheels of the
vehicle, the inner faces of the hubs of these loose bevil gears being cone shaped
for the reception of similarly shaped clutch blocks which are keyed upon the axle,
and are capable of being slid thereon by a slotted lever, that can be moved up or
down, or to the right or to the left according to the desired direction of travel of
the vehicle.
The clutch lever is connected to a shaft supported under the floor by brackets,
and actuated by a threaded rod surmounted by a hand wheel or other appliance.
The bevil gear is enclosed in a fork strap, the centre of which has free play
through a swivel joint of a sleeve on the vertical shaft, to allow of side oscillation
without throwing the wheels out of gear while the vehicle passes over obstacles,
the sleeve being within a trunk to steady it in its up and down movements.
My Invention is clearly represented in the annexed Drawings, in which Figure 1
is a side elevation; Figure 2, a plan and Figure 3, a front view.
A, A, are two gas engines mounted upon the foundations B, B; D, D, are the
cranks upon the shaft E, which is rotated always in the same direction for com-
municating motion through the worm F to the worm wheel G, and from thence by
the shaft H to the bevil wheel I.
The shaft H is fitted to rise within the trunk or sleeve J to allow for the rise
and fall of the main axle K occasioned by the wheels L, L, riding over stones in
the channels or the joints of the tram rails over which the vehicle may be
travelling.
The bevil wheel I gears into two other bevil wheels M, M¹, mounted loosely
upon the axle K as to be always running while the engines A, A, are at work, the
motion being transmitted from either of them when one of the friction cones N, N,
is moved along as to bite the conical surface of the wheel M, M¹; as the case
may be.
The two cones N, N, are feathered upon the axle K, and are moved to and fro
by the drop over link P, this being fitted on one end of the rod Q, whose back end
carries a lever R provided with a pin S riding in an inclined slot of the plate T.
The plate T works on a fulcrum at U' as in the enlarged view Figure 4, that its
opposite end which is attached to a rod V may be raised and lowered by turning
the hand wheel W under the control of an attendant who stands upon the plat-
form X.
Y is the fly wheel on the crank shaft E to regulate the action of the two
engines A, A, these being preferably those known as the "Silent Gas Engines," and
supplied with gas which can be kept in a compressed form within strong tanks
fitted under or upon the platform X in any convenient manner, the water tanks

page_text: being preferably over the roar wheels Z, Z, where dead weight is necessary, as will
be well understood.
a, a, are shafts which take their motion by the bevil pinions b, b, for operating
the slide valves c, c; and d, d, are the band wheels by which the governors e, e, are
actuated.
I purpose connecting the rod Q with the gas supply tap that when the lever R
is vertical only sufficient gas shall pass from the tanks to keep the engines moving,
but as the lever R falls to the right or to the left when the plate T is raised or
lowered a full supply of gas shall be permitted to flow to the engines to move the
vehicle and the tram car attached.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what manner. the
same is to be performed I declare that I claim,-
The arrangement of apparatus described and shown in the annexed Drawings
by which gas engine power may be utilized for moving tram cars.
Secondly. I claim the appliances Q, R, S, T, in combination, as indicated in
Figures 1 and 4 of the annexed Drawings, for the purposes set forth..
In witness wheroof, I, the said John Roger Purssell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
H. GARDNER,
Patent Agent,
40, Fleet Street,
London.
JOHN ROGER PURSSELL. (L.S.)