Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar., 1888
RESER
Complete Specification Left, 6th Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 22nd Jan., 1889
We FREDERICK HENRY GILL of 20 Bucklersbury in the City of London, Draughts-
and JOHN WILLIAM HARTLEY of Stoke-on-Trent in the County of Stafford,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
man,
This invention consists in a novel arrangement of Roundabout.
In carrying out our invention, we employ a circular rail track, having any required
number of undulations therein, and we so arrange the rails on this track, that the car
or cars running thereon shall have a rocking or rolling motion communicated to
them.
In the centre of the track we provide a steam boiler and engine, which may be
mounted on a platform capable of being rotated.-Connected with this platform, so
that they may rise and fall, are two or more trussed girders or frames extending to the
track, and to the outer ends of which the car or cars are attached.
The cars may be of any convenient construction, with converging axles, and they
will be secured to the girders or frames in such a manner as to allow of the rocking
motion mentioned above being given to them.
The cars, which will be started from the top of an incline, will run down that incline,
and partly up the opposite incline by gravity, the engine being used to propel them
over the crest of the incline, preparatory to their descending again on the other side
by gravity. In this way, the work of the engine will be reduced to a minimum, and a
small engine only will be required.
Instead of placing the engine on the boiler, we may fit a small engine or other
propelling mechanism under each car, steam or air for driving these engines being
supplied through pipes carried by the trussed girders or frames.-Motion will be
communicated to the axles of the cars in any well known and convenient manner.
We may also employ a fixed boiler, in which case we use a rotating frictional or
other suitable gearing driven by the engine.-Motion is communicated to the cars by
means of shafts carried by the girders or frames, and suitable gear is placed on the
cars to drive the axles thereof.

page_text: The cars will run independently of one another, and therefore means will be provided
for maintaining the normal distance between them; thus, if one car gains on the other,
the gearing relating to the 2nd car will be disengaged by means of wedges, with which
the girders or frames come into contact, so as to push the shafts out of gear until such
time as the proper distance is regained by this car thus being retarded, when the
driving will be again taken up.-Other mechanical means may also be provided for
this purpose, and when steam or air is used direct for driving, the overrunning of
the car may shut off the steam or air supply valve until the proper position is
regained.
We may also propel the cars by means of rope gearing driven from the engine in
the centre.
It will also be evident that electricity may be used to propel the cars, by
employing small motors on the axles, the electricity being derived from any suitable
generator.
To prevent the cars jumping off the track, I fix to the car, or preferably
a bracket
carried by an extension of the wheel axle, a guide roller, which fits under the head of
the rail, and runs against the web, a compensating gear, consisting of a runner wheel
carried by a lever arm in connection with the bracket of the guide roller, and travelling
on top of the rail, being provided to keep the guide roller in position on the side of the
rail.
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page_text: Improvements in Roundabouts.
We FREDERICK HENRY GILL of 20 Bucklersbury, in the City of London, Draughts-
man, and JOHN WILLIAM HARTLEY of Stoke-on-Trent, in the County of Stafford,
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:-
--
This invention consists in a novel arrangement of Roundabout.
In carrying out our invention, we employ a circular rail track having any required
number of equal or unequal undulations therein.
In the centre of the track we provide a receiver for compressed air, which may be
stationary, or mounted on a platform capable of being rotated. Connected with this
platform or the receiver, so that it may rise and fall and also rotate, is a pipe forming
part of a trussed frame or girder extending to the track, and to the outer ends of which
the car or cars are connected.
The cars, will consist of a main car and supplemental cars, and will be constructed
with converging axles, and the main car will be connected to the frame or girder in
such a manner as to allow of the undulating motion referred to above.
The cars, which will be started from the top of an incline, will run down that incline,
and partly up the opposite incline by gravity, power being used to propel them
over the crest of the incline preparatory to their descending on the other side by
gravity. In this way the power required will be reduced to a minimum.
The air is compressed by means of a suitable engine and compressor, which may be
placed outside and at some distance from the track. We fit a small engine or other
propelling mechanism under the main car, and the air for driving the engine is
supplied through the pipe forming part of the trussed frame or girder. Motion will
be communicated to the axles of the cars by suitable gearing or silent clutch
mechanism.
We may remark that we have described the cars as being driven by compressed air,
which is most convenient for the purpose, but we do not intend to confine ourselves to
compressed air, for we may use steam as the propelling power, a steam generator
taking the place of the air receiver. We may also drive direct from an engine placed
at the centre of the track, through a shaft carried by the trussed frame or girder, and
by which motion will be communicated, by bevel or other gear, to the wheel axles of
the car.
We may also propel the cars by means of rope gearing driven from the engine in
the centre, and carried by the truss frame.
It will also be evident that electricity may be used to propel the cars, by employing
small motors on the axles, the electricity being derived from any suitable generator,
and conveyed to the motors by wires carried by the truss frame.
To prevent the cars jumping off the track, we provide safety guide rollers or wheels,
each carried by a bracket secured to the axle box, or in any other convenient manner.
These safety guide rollers fit under the head of the rails. We also provide what we
will term a "
flexible wheel base," by which means all the four wheels of the car will
always remain on the track, notwithstanding any unevenesses therein.
In the accompanying drawings:-
1
Fig. 1, Sheet I, is a plan view of a Roundabout or circular undulating endless
railway track constructed according to our invention.

page_text: Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, and
Fig. 3, Sheet III, is a cross section of the track, showing a trestle, and the manner
of supporting the rails.
Fig. 4, Sheet II, is a plan view of a segment of the track with a train upon it, and
showing the arrangement of the cars.
Fig. 4 is an underside plan view of a portion of the engine car, showing the mode
of supporting the car.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation of Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a cross section on the line ax, Fig. 4, and
Figs. 7 show in plan and cross section the mode of connecting up the main and
supplemental cars to form a train.
Fig. 8, Sheet III, shows in side view the construction of the truss frame,
and the mode of connecting it to the receiver and the engine and car respectively.
Fig. 9 is a cross section of the truss frame.
Fig. 10 is a partial view of the receiver with the attachment for the air pipe, taken
at right angles to Fig. 8, and
Fig. 11 is a modification in the mode of connecting the air pipe to the car.
Figs. 12 and 13 are details of parts shown at Fig. 4ª.
A is the track, which is circular, or nearly circular, and B is the departure and
arrival platform. The track is arranged with a number of undulations of varying
lengths and heights (see Fig. 2), and is supported by trestles A¹ set at suitable
distances apart. The rails C may be channel shaped in cross section, and laid on one
side, but we prefer to use a wooden sleeper with an overhanging plate of metal
secured thereto in any convenient manner, as being equally efficacious, and more
economical.
D is a compressed air receiver placed in the centre of the track (or it may be a
steam generator), and E is a steam engine and compressor placed outside at any
convenient distance, and connected with the receiver by suitable pipes.-The receiver
and engine and compressor may however be combined, and placed at the centre of the
track.
F is a truss frame or girder, which is connected at one end to the main car G on
the track, and at the other end to the receiver D.-This frame or girder F (which is
shown at Fig. 8, Sheet III) consists of a pipe F by which the compressed air is
conveyed from the receiver to the engine G¹ on the car, and upon which are mounted
collars F provided with radial arms F2 (see Fig. 9).-Through eyes at the ends of these
arms F2, are threaded steel wires F3, which are secured by nuts to collars F' at both ends
of the pipe F.-The pipe F at one end screws into a socket formed in one with a hollow
plug F, provided with an admission port, and which fits into a barrel secured to the end
of a pipe F-This pipe works in a stuffing box F' of the receiver D (see Fig. 10).
The other end of the pipe F slides in a block F* secured to the underside of the car,
and is connected by a flexible tube to a valve box hereafter referred to.
The engine G¹ consists of a pair of oscillating cylinders, the piston rods of which
are connected to a crank axle carried longitudinally of the car in suitable bearings.
On opposite ends of this axle are bevel wheels, which gear with corresponding bevel
wheels on the car wheel axles, as clearly indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, Sheet Il.
The pipe F is connected with the valve box, which is placed between the two cylinders,
and provided with a suitable valve, which will, by means of a handle G2 and its con-
nections, be under the control of an attendant, who will be seated at the part marked G³
of the main car.
On either side of the car, and carried by a bracket attached to the axle boxes or
other convenient part of the car, is a safety wheel H, which projects under the head
of the rail C (see Fig. 6).-By this arrangement the car is prevented from tipping off
the track under the influence of the centrifugal action which is naturally set up when
the cars are running at any speed.
A suitable brake may be provided, although it is found in practice that the attendant
can regulate the movement of the car, by means of the valve, to the greatest nicety.
The main car G, which we may also term the engine car, is provided with four

page_text: wheels, but as it is almost impossible to lay the track without inequalities, we find it
necessary to provide what we term a flexible wheel base," which allows all the wheels
to accommodate themselves to the unevennesses or inequalities in the track, irrespective
of the car.-One method of producing this "flexible wheel base" is to secure the axle
boxes on the side of the car furthest from the centre of the track, direct to the car
frame, but those on the other or inner side of the car, to a bar or frame G5, which is
pivotted at the centre of its length to the car frame at G.
The car is thus supported at three points only, that is to say, two points on one side,
and one point on the other; all the wheels will thus always remain on the rails, and
follow any inequalities of the track, irrespective of the car, which they would not do
were all the axle boxes secured to the rigid portion of the car frame, thereby forming
a "rigid wheel base." For this reason we term the bar or frame G a compensating
arrangement. The position of the bar is shown on an enlarged scale, in cross section,
at Fig. 12, and side view, Fig. 13, Sheet II, G' being the car frame to which the
bar G is pivotted.
The supplemental cars marked G4 in Figs. 4 and 5, are constructed to carry four
passengers each, and are mounted upon a pair of wheels. They are provided with
extension pieces I by which they are attached to the axle I* of the car immediately in
front (see Figs. 4 and 5).-On the axle of the preceding car is mounted a sleeve I¹,
which is tapered externally in opposite directions from the centre. This sleeve I' is
loose on the axle 1*, so that it is free to turn axially. At the end of the extension
piece I is a fork 12, which spans the sleeve I', and is attached thereto by the centres I³,
so that the sleeve Í is free to oscillate horizontally in the fork (see Figs. 6). As an
additional security, a strap I may go round the sleeve and be attached to the fork I.-
We may mention that the supplemental cars form part of the subject matter of a
subsequent application for Letters Patent dated 19th March 1888, No. 4223, and will
be referred to again and claimed in the specification of that Patent.
In the modification of the connection between the pipe F and the car
shown at Fig. 11, Sheet III, two plug connections like that shown at Fig. 10
are employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :-
1. In a circular undulating endless railway, the combination with a car or carriage
to run on such railway, of an engine or motor carried by the car for driving the
same, a receiver for or generator of the motive force, placed at the centre of the
track, and a pipe for conveying said motive force, flexibly connected at one end to
the engine or motor, and pivotted at the other end to the receiver or generator, or
a shaft or other mechanical appliance for communicating the motion from an engine
in the centre of the track, to a motor on the car, and moving round with the car, all
substantially as described.
2. In a gravity or semi-gravity recreational railway, the application of a "flexible
wheel base" or compensating arrangement, which enables the running wheels of the
car to keep the rails, notwithstanding inequalities in the track, and irrespective of the
car, as set forth.
3. The construction of the main or engine car with a compensating bar, as Go, as
and for the purpose set forth.
4. The modes of connecting the car on the track with the receiver or generator in
the centre of the track, as described and shown with reference to Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11.
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