Improvements in Starting Gear of Tramcars and other Rolling Stock.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 19th Feb., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Starting Gear of Tramcars and other Rolling Stock.
I, GEORGE PEART, of 6, Westdown Terrace, Camden Street, Peckham, in the
County of London, Gentleman, 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 starting gear for tramcars and other
rolling stock and consists in the adaptation of a series of levers or crowbars to
the wheels of the car or carriage whereby the latter is shifted or caused to travel
a short distance along the permanent way upon operating the said levers or crow-
bars.
These levers are carried by a cross-shaft fitted with an arm or crank pivoted to
the end of a horizontal bar operated by a quadrant lever or other suitable means
from the drivers platform at the end of the car, the said levers being so arranged
that their lower ends rest upon the rails of the permanent way whilst their front
edges bear against the peripheries or tyres of the car wheels.
The ends of the cross shaft carrying the upper ends of the levers are arranged to
slide in radial guides the horizontal operating bar being supported by vertical
slotted guides or brackets fixed underneath the floor or framing of the car.
When the said bars are operated by means of a quadrant lever the latter is
pivoted to a bracket underneath the end of the car and in a line with the bar and
the lower end of the lever is formed with an arm pivoted to a short arm or crank
Similar mechanism is fitted to
likewise pivoted to the front end of the said bar.
the other end of the car to operate when the car is travelling in the reverse
direction.
Instead of operating the mechanism by means of a quadrant lever as described it
may be operated by a double rack lever engaging with racks or teeth formed on the
front ends of two side horizontal bars to the rear end of each of which is pivoted
a short arm or crank pivoted at its other end to the upper end of the starting lever
or crowbar.
The said bars slide in guides fixed underneath the car and the upper ends of the
levers are each guided and supported by a radial slotted guide or guides in which
slide the pivotal pins of the said levers.
The double rack lever is operated by means of a handle at the upper end of a
vertical shaft carried at the end of the car.
The lower end of this shaft is provided with a pinion gearing with a radial rack
fixed to or formed on the end of a third arm forming part of the double rack lever
so that when the pinion is turned a half revolution in one direction it operates
the lever on one side of the car for starting the latter whilst when the pinion is
turned a half revolution in the contrary direction it operates the lever on the other
side of the car the two levers thus acting alternately and continuously upon the
wheels on each side of the car.
The operating mechanism is fitted to the platforms at each end of the car so as
to act upon each set of wheels according to the direction in which the car is travelling

page_text: and the racks on the operating lever and side bars may be separately attached thereto
so that they may be removed when worn and replaced by new ones.
And in order to fully understand my invention and its mode of application I
will describe the same with reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings in
which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the lower frame of a tramcar with my
improved mechanism applied thereto and Fig. 2 is a plan of the mechanism.
Fig. 3 is a plan showing a modified arrangement and Fig. 4 is a side view to an
enlarged scale of one of the wheels of the car and its starting lever.
a, a are the levers or crowbars applied to each wheel b of the car c for starting
the same.
These levers are carried by a cross shaft d supported at each end by the radially
slotted guides or brackets e fixed underneath the bottom of the car c. This shaft
is provided with the arm or crank f pivoted to the end of the horizontal bar g sup-
ported by and sliding in slotted guides g¹. To the other or front end of the bar gis
pivoted the short arm or crank h which is likewise pivoted to the horizontal arm i of
the quadrant lever pivoted to the bracket fixed to the end of the car platform
and working within the slotted quadrant or guide bracket. Similar mechanism
is provided at the other end of the car as shewn.
In order to start the car the driver pulls back the lever thus lowering the
arm as shewn in dotted lines and drawing forward the bar g and with it the
"upper ends of the levers a whose lower ends rest upon the rails at a point near
the centre of the wheels and their front edges bear against the tyres so as to turn
the said wheels a certain distance upon operating the starting mechanism the said
distance approximating to about five or six inches of travel along the rail as
shewn in the dotted positions of the wheel and lever in Figs. 1 and 4. The levers a
thus act as crowbars upon the peripheries of the wheels causing the latter' to turn
or start running in an easy manner, and with a minimum amount of power require
for actuating the said levers.
In the modification shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the operating mechanism consists of
the double rack lever k the radial racks k¹ of which gear with the racks or teeth 11
fixed to or formed on the ends of the horizontal bars sliding in guides l² fixed
underneath the bottom of the car.
The lever is also formed with an arm 2 provided with a radial rack ³ with
which gears a pinion m mounted upon a shaft m¹ provided with a handle for turning
the same by the driver.
To the other end of the bars are pivoted the short arms or cranks n to which
are pivoted the upper ends of the levers a the pivoted pins n¹ sliding in the
slotted radial guides o when the levers are operated and the parts assuming the
positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 when the said levers are drawn forward
for starting the car.
By this arrangement the bars 7 act simultaneously in reverse directions so as to
bring the lever a on one side into action whilst throwing the other lever out of
action and causing one or other of them to start the car whichever direction the
operating handle may be turned.
In some cases the said levers may be slightly modified in shape such as in
forming them with a heel so as to act on the wheels by a back pressure of the
operating mechanism.
And it is evident that arrangements for operating the levers a may be adopted
without departing from the principle of my invention.
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 I
claim is:
(1) In starting gear for tramcars and other rolling stock the application of levers
and crowbars to the wheels of the said vehicles substantially as described and for
the purposes specified.
(2) In starting gear for tramcars and other rolling stock the combination with

page_text: the wheels of the vehicle of levers whose lower ends rest upon the permanent way
whilst their front vertical edges are brought to bear against the peripheries of the
wheels to cause the latter to start or travel a certain distance substantially as
described.
(3) In starting gear as specified in Claims 1 and 2 the combination of the levers a
with the wheels 6 of the vehicle c and the operating mechanism comprising the
shaft d guides e arm or crank f bar g working in guides gl arms h and i levers
pivoted to the brackets 2 and quadrant or guide 23 substantially as described and for
the purposes specified.
(4) The modified arrangement of operating mechanism comprising the lever k
provided with radial racks k¹ arm and rack the side bars 1 racks or teeth /¹
guides pinion m shaft m¹ arms n pins n¹ and guides o combined arranged and
operating substantially as described and shown with reference to Figs. 3 and 4 of
the drawings.
Dated this 5th day of Jonnam 1800
J. B. FLEURET,
5, Hatton Garden, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicant.