AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TRAMRAILS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of the invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TRAMRAILS (a communication to me from abroad by
Jean Baptiste Chaudron, and Louis Victor Manoury, both of Paris, in the Republic
of France, Engineers) to be as follows:-
"
This invention has for its object an improved arrangement of apparatus by
which tramrails are automatically cleaned by the passage of cars over them, the
necessity for manual labour being avoided.
The improved apparatus consists of an instrument in the form of a curved or
crescent shaped steel bar formed of two parts dovetailed together at their centre and
held by two keys or wedges, the central part so united fitting into a corresponding
opening at the outer end of a suspended bar or carrier and being fixed in position
by means of a set screw passing through the end of the carrier.
The upper end of the suspended bar or carrier is pivotted upon a pin which
passes through the lower ends of two V shaped frames, preferably of wrought iron,
the upper ends of which are screwed or bolted to the lower side of the frame of the
tram car.
The suspended bar with the lower curved bar fixed in it as described
hangs above the tramrail, the curved bar being parallel with the rail and in such
position that one of its ends rests upon the rail upon one side of the point of
suspension whilst if it is turned completely over upon its pivot its other point rests
upon the rail on the other side of the point of suspension. The ends of the curved
bar are made of such shape that a projecting tooth enters the groove in the tram-
rail and as the apparatus is drawn forward it cleans and removes any dirt or
obstructions from the groove and rail, whilst when the direction of movement of
the tramcar is reversed the suspended bar is turned completely over on its pivot
and the alternate end of the curved bar rests upon and cleans the rail in the
opposite direction.
Across the upper part of one of the V shaped frames is fixed a bar provided with
two spring catches or detents between which the suspended bar is held when
turned up into a vertical position, the apparatus then being out of action, and

page_text: these spring catches are fitted with handles by which either of them as required
can be drawn back in order to lower the bar upon the rail on one or other side as
already described.
The other V-shaped frame is provided with an arm descending vertically down
for a sufficient distance below the point of suspension and to its lower end is
attached one end of a helical spring the other end of which can be hooked to an
eye upon the suspended bar, and the curved bar is thus drawn down with any
desired force against the rail, from which it is nevertheless able to rise in the event
of its meeting any obstruction too strong to be removed.
An eye to receive the hook on the spring is preferably fixed on each edge of the
suspended bar, either of which can be used according to the direction in which the
car is travelling and the consequent position of the curved cleaning bar, and one
or two similar eyes are also fixed to the frame in a position to carry the spring
hook when the suspended bar is turned up and the cleaning bar not in use.
The apparatus may be modified more or less, as for instance two suspended bars
may be used, one upon each side of a single V-shaped frame which carries both
the spring catches above and the arm for the helical spring below; or a single
suspended bar hung to a single frame may be used.
The apparatus may be fitted at any convenient part of the length of the car, and
the shape of the frames may be modified as may be found convenient.

page_text: I, EDMUND EDWARDS of the firm of Edwards and Co Patent Agents and
Engineers of 35 Southampton Buildings Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex
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:-
The object of our Invention is the construction of an apparatus for automatically
cleaning the rails of tramways and thereby doing away with the labour required
when effecting the same operation by hand.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1. is an elevation and Fig. 2. an end view
of the complete apparatus; Fig. 3. is a profile of the double spring resting gear and
Fig. 4. a full size section of the cleaning tool. In these various figures, the same
letters of reference represent the same parts.
a is the cleaning tool, made of steel or other suitable material and in the form of
a crescent or of any other convenient shape. It is made in two parts joined
together inside the head of the tool bearer b and held in position by means of the
studs cc and the pressing bolt d. The tool bearer b, which is made of iron or
other suitable material, is suspended from the double armature e e having a V or
any other convenient shape and which are attached to the frame f of the tramcar.
The head of the tool bearer is mounted between, and at the appexes of, the said
two armatures, the whole being secured together by means of the bolt g round
which the tool holder can freely turn of a whole revolution. The V shape armature
could be single as well as double, provided it is sufficiently rigid.
A double spring sector s is mounted on the arms of one of the V armatures and
at a distance of about one third of the lengths of the arms of the said armatures.
The space between the two springs form a catch or resting place for the cleaning
tool when the latter is not at work; the tool can be liberated by pulling on the
two knobs h h. The second armature is prolonged by means of a vertical arm k to
the lowest part of which is attached a coil spring; i; the other end of the said
spring is attached to either one or the other of the rings m m¹ with which the tool
bearer e is provided, and according to the direction in which the tramcar is
moving, the said spring being for that purpose capable of oscillating round the
axle
When the cleaning tool is in its resting place, the spring is attached to one of
the two other rings n n.
The object of the coil spring i is to bring the cleaning tool back into the groove
of the tramrail should the said tool happen to lift or jump out of it because the
rails are irregular or if an obstacle is in the way or for any other reason; and the
weight of the said tool and the strength of the said spring are calculated so as to
allow for such lifting or jumping.
The apparatus can be fixed in front, in the middle or at the back of the car and
whatever be its position, precautions must be taken so that the cleaning tool be
exactly in the same plane than the flanges of the wheels.
The cleaning tool may work in both directions.

page_text: Should both rails of a line of tramways require cleaning, two cleaning tools one
over each line of rails may be mounted either separately or on a same rigid bar
between or outside two single V armatures, one of or the two said armatures being
provided with the resting gear ss and with the vertical bar k and spring i.
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
First. The privilege of exclusively working my process of automatically cleaning
tramrails characterized by the following points as above explained. The employ-
ment of railcleaning apparatus suspended from the tramcars and the working parts
of which are placed in the plane of the wheel's flange; the said apparatus being
provided with resting gears and springs and arranged so as to rotate round an axis
and to work in both directions.
Second. The special construction as described of apparatus designed to produce
this result.