IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS, AND THE DISTANCE OR STAGES TRAVELLED BY SAME IN TRAMCARS AND OTHER VEHICLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wells, of Coatham, in the North Riding of the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
REGISTERING THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS, AND THE DISTANCE OR STAGES
TRAVELLED BY SAME IN TRAMCARS AND OTHER VEHICLES."
Scaled the 27th April 1880, and dated the 14th November 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wells at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th November 1879.
JOHN WELLS, of Coatham, in the North Riding of the County of York.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS,
AND THE DISTANCE OR STAGES TRAVELLED BY SAME IN TRAMCARS AND
VEHICLES."
OTHER
According to this Invention I register the stage on which a passenger enters a
vehicle and the stage on which he leaves the same by means of apparatus con-
structed and operating substantially as follows:-
At the place of entry I arrange a vertical post close against each side of entrance,
these I call swing posts, each has a horizontal projecting bar, the person entering
pushing with his leg or part of the body against one or both of said arms causes one
or both swing posts to turn, they are brought back to their normal positions by
spring or weights. To each of the swing posts I fit a cam or eccentric for
actuating a lever which I call the actuating lever, and which by rod and lever
connection turns a fusee spring barrel that again, by a cam, impels a pad lever;
a type of paper coiling off one drum and coiling on to another drum is thereby
brought up against one of several stamps mounted in or on a disc and receives an
impression therefrom.
In order to ensure a perfect register even though, as it frequently would occur,
only one of the two swing posts were moved by an entering or leaving passenger, or
one post moved first and then another, or one held back while the other was moved by
the passenger, I form the cam on each of the two fusee barrels between which the
pad lever is arranged in the shape of a narrow curved projecting bar which, when
the pin from the pad lever is on one side of it, depresses the lever, and when it is
on the other side, raises it, the pin when it comes to the end of the cam dropping
past the end of same and returning along the other side.

page_text: To the pad lever I connect a pawl which, when the pad lever is depressed and
the impression is made, rides over the teeth of a pawl wheel on the paper coiling
drum, but which, when the pad lever is raised, gears with the said pawl wheel and
coils the paper on the drum.
To the aforesaid actuating levers, but so as to work in the opposite direction, I
also connect similar sets of fusee barrels, pad levers, stamp barrel, and paper coiling
and uncoiling drum for registering the exit of the passengers.
Then by comparing the impression made on the two paper strips I find the
number of stages the total number of passengers have travelled.
To turn the stamp wheels according to the stages or distances travelled on the
journey I use a wheel running on the tram rail so as to receive motion therefrom
by friction. By means of one or more sets of worm wheel gear I reduce the speed
to the stamp wheels so as to cause the same to turn not more than one turn during
a whole journey travelled.
For the return journey, when the wheel runs in the opposite direction, though
the stamp wheels shall continue to work in the same direction and register con-
tinuously, I arrange a pawl wheel on the stamp wheel spindle and impel it by
spring pawl at the end of a lever which is raised by a rocking piece or tumbler, on
the spindle of which I mount two joint pieces or levers having stops in opposite
directions, which levers are impelled one of them by pins mounted on one side of a
disc in distances corresponding with the stages on the out journey, and the other
one by pins mounted on the opposite of the disc in distances corresponding with the
stages on the home journey; one lever only is actuated on the out journey, the
other on the home journey. The discs are driven by the last wheel receiving motion
from the aforesaid worm wheel gear.
The stamp wheels may be held and locked in position by means of locking lever
appliance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Wells in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th May 1880.
JOHN WELLS, of Coatham, in the North Riding of the County of York.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS,
AND THE DISTANCE OR STAGES TRAVELLED BY SAME IN TRAM-CARS AND OTHER
VEHICLES."
According to this Invention I register the stage on which a passenger enters a
vehicle and the stage on which he leaves the same by means of apparatus con-
structed and operating substantially as follows:-
At the place of entry I arrange a vertical post close against each side of entrance,
these I call swing posts, each has a horizontal projecting bar, the person entering
pushing with his leg or part of the body against one or both of said arins causes
one or both swing posts to turn, they are brought back to their normal positions
by springs or weights. To each of the swing posts I fit a cam or eccentric for
actuating a lever which I call the actuating lever, and which, by rod and lever
connection, turns a fusee spring barrel that again by a cam impels a pad lever; a
tape of paper coiling off one drum and coiling on to another drum is thereby
brought up against one of the several stamps mounted in or on a disc and receives
an impression therefrom. In order to ensure a perfect register even though, as it
frequently would occur, only one of the two swing posts were moved by an
entering or leaving passenger, or one post moved first and then another, or one held
back while the other was moved by the passenger, I form the cam on each of
the two fusee barrels, between which the pad lever is arranged in the shape of a
narrow projecting bar which, when the pin from the pad lever is on one side of
it, depresses the lever, and when it is on the other side raises it, the pin when it
comes to the end of the cam dropping past the end of same and returning along the
other side.
To the pad lever I connect a pawl, which when the pad lever is depressed and
the impression is made, over the teeth of a pawl wheel on the paper coiling drum,
but which, when the pad lever is raised, gears with the said pawl wheel and coils
the paper on the drum.
To the aforesaid actuating levers, but so as to work in the opposite direction, I
also connect similar sets of fusee barrels, pad levers, stainp barrel, and paper coiling
and uncoiling drum for registering the exit of the passengers.
Then by comparing the impression made on the two paper strips I find the
number of stages the total number of passengers have travelled.
To turn the stamp wheels according to the stages or distances travelled on the
journey I use a wheel running on the tram rail so as to receive motion therefrom
by friction. By means of one or more sets of worm wheel gear I reduce the speed
to the stamp wheel so as to cause the same to turn not more than one turn during
a whole journey travelled.
For the return journey, when the wheel runs in the opposite direction, though
the stamp wheels shall continue to work in the same direction and register
continuously, I arrange a pawl wheel on the stamp wheel spindle and impel it by
spring pawl at the end of a lever which is raised by a rocking piece or tumbler, on
the spindle of which I mount two joint pieces or levers having stops in opposite
directions, which levers.are impelled one of them by pins mounted on one side of a
disc in distances corresponding with the stages on the out journey, and the other
one by pins mounted on the opposite of the discs in distances corresponding with
the stages on the hoine journey; one lever only is actuated on the out journey, the
other on the home journey. The discs are driven by the last wheel receiving
motion from the aforesaid worm wheel gear.
For stamp wheels may be held locked in position by means of locking lever
annliance

page_text: And in order that this my Invention may be more fully understood I will explain
the same with reference to the accompany Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a
side view of an ordinary tramcar shewing the gear for revolving part of my
registering apparatus; Figure 2, a diagram plan of underside of tramcar shewing
the turnstile and other parts for actuating part of my registering apparatus;
Figure 3 is an end view of the car with the stair-case removed for shewing the
turnstile and parts connected therewith; Figure 4 is a transverse part sectional
view on a larger scale of the box containing the registering mechanism proper, and
the parts actuated from the turnstile.
Figure 5 is a side elevation, and Figure 6 a part plan of the registering apparatus
proper, the other part not shewn can easily be imagined as it is a repetition of the
parts shewn below the centre line; Figures 7, 8, and 9 are details or part views of
same.
At each entrance or end of the tram-car I arrange a vertical post or swing post
A1, A2, A3, and A, close against each side of the door way, as shewn in Figures 2
and 3; each of these swing posts has a horizontal projecting bar a fixed to it, the
person entering the tramcar must push against one or both swing post bars a with
part of his body, causing one or both to turn with the height of bars a here shown
above the floor of the tramcar; the conductor may, with some little inconvenience,
step over it without causing a register if he required to enter the car for any
purpose. On each swing post A', A2, A3, A4, there is a cam a¹ or disc having a
curved notch for actuating what I call an actuating lever B turning on the
fulcrum b; each cam a¹ is also formed with a cam path a² below, against which
works a lever a³, which, by weight at at its other end, or it may be a spring, serves
to bring the cam a' and swing post back to its normal position when the passenger
has gone past and released the bar a thereon. The actuating levers B pass
through slots in the cross bars C1, C2, C3, and 0%, one end of each of which bars is
guided in the bracket C, and to the other end of which are jointed the cam levers c',
which pass up into the box D containing the registering mechanism proper. There
is thus one cam lever c¹ for each swing post, and thus a register is made, but only
one, whether one swing post or the opposite swing post at the same entrance, or
even both these swing posts are moved by an entering or leaving passenger.
I may in some cases, especially for omnibusses, do with only one actuating lever B,
which receives its motion by a weigh shaft and lever connections placed below the
swing post entrance, and actuated by a cam fixed on the cam a¹ on each swing
post that is actuated from either of them or from both.
The cross bars C¹, C, C³, and C, are operated from either end of the car, thus a
passenger entering the left hand end of car, Figure 2, and turning the swing post A¹
will push in the cross bar C¹, if he at the same time operated the swing post A² the
cross bar would be pulled out; in leaving the car and turning the swing post A¹
outward the cross bar C will be pulled out, and if he, at the same time, pushed
the swing post A2 outward the cross bar C³ would be pushed in. Similar actions
would take place if the swing posts A³ and A' are operated.
Swing posts having this peculiar action may be combined with any suitable
counting or registering apparatus for toll gates on ferry boats, or toll gates con-
nected therewith, or with piers, bridges, or other places, the register being correct,
whether one or both swing posts be moved at a time, or one first and then the
other.
I will now proceed to describe the registering mechanism proper with reference
to Figures 5 to 9; Figures 5 and 6 show the four cam levers c¹, c³, c³, and c
entering the box D from below; these cam levers are each jointed to a cross bar
C1, C2, C³, and C4, the cam levers c¹, c², are for registering the entering passengers
at either end of car, and the cam levers c³, c, the leaving passengers respectively.
Each lever c¹, c², c³, and c, is formed with a cam cat the upper end, and con-
nected to a helical spring co (or it might be a drum containing a spiral fusee spring);
each pair of cams c³ impels a pad lever E, E¹, which turns on or with a fulcrum
bar e, and is formed with a pad e¹, shewn in dotted lines Figure 5; F, F', are two

page_text: paper tapes which coil off the drums or reels G, supported in bracket d, in box D; the
said tapes F, F, pass under the guides f and f¹, and are coiled onto the drums or
reels H, H¹. The band F is, say, for registering the entering inside passengers, and
F similarly the outside passengers; there are duplicate bands, not shown here,
for registering the leaving passengers. The stamp wheels I which are provided with
stamps on their circumference, one of these stamps makes an impression on its
corresponding paper tape when the corresponding pad lever E or E¹ is raised.
M is a lever which, by its spring m³, is pressed against the peg e¹ on the pad
lever E or E¹ to steady its motion; in the upstroke of this end of the pad lever
the peg e² rides against the edge m², and in the down stroke against the edge m.
In order to ensure a perfect register, even though as it frequently happens only
one of the two swing posts A were moved by one entering or leaving passenger, or
one post moved first and then the other, or one held back while the other is moved
by the passenger, I form the cams c in the shape of a narrow projecting bar,
which, when the pin e¹ standing out from each side of pad lever E or E', is on one
side of it, as here shown, depresses the said pad lever, and in its backward move-
ment comes on the other side of the pin e¹ that is below it, and so raises it ; the
pin e when it comes to the end of the cam c, dropping past the end of same
and returning along the underside of said cam track c
To each pad lever is connected a pawl K having a tooth or peg K¹, and with a
weighted outer end assisted, if required, by a spring K". When the pad lever E
or E is depressed at the end nearest the cam lever c¹ or c², and the opposite end is
raised, and the impression is thus made on the paper band, the pawl, tooth, or
peg K¹ rides over the teeth of its pawl wheel L or L on the paper coiling drum H
or H¹, but when the cam lever c¹ or craises the pad lever E or E¹ the pawl tooth K¹
gears with the teeth of the pawl wheel L or L', and causes the paper to be coiled
on to the drum H or H¹; h is a spring for preventing the pawl wheel L or L' from
turning back when the pawl tooth rides on its teeth.
The stamp wheels I are caused to rotate by and in accordance with the motion
or travel of the tramcar. For this purpose I use a wheel N, Figure 1, running on
the tram-rail, or it may run on one of the car wheels in level tramways so as to
receive motion therefrom by friction when the car is travelling. On the spindle of
the wheel N is fixed a worm, which gears with the worm wheel n on the spindle n',
also shown in Figure 1. The spindle of wheel N has its bearing in a block that can
slide up and down in hornplates or guides to accommodate the wheel N to the vertical
oscillations or height of the car over the rails. There is a similar provision for the
worm wheel n to rise and full on its spindle as required.
The spindle n¹ again, or a continuation thereof coupled thereto, has a worm fitted
or formed thereon, which gears into a worm wheel which by pawl gear impels the
stamp wheels so as to cause them to make not more than one revolution during a
whole journey travelled, and also so that for the journey when the wheel N running
on the tramrail runs in the opposite direction the stamp wheels shall continue to
work in the same direction and register continuously.
These parts are shewn in Figure 6, and separately in Figures 7, 8, and 9,
Figure 7 being a side elevation, Figure 8 a sectional end elevation, and Figure 9 a
plan of the spindle which is coupled to spindlen and the parts connected therewith
and for imparting motion to the stamp wheels. The spindle n³ is formed with a
worm which gears with the worm wheel O fixed on the spindle o. On the latter
are also fixed two discs o¹ and o³, on which are mounted pins o³, 0, 0, and oº. The
pins o³ are for the stages on the out journey, and o* for the stages on the home
journey. The pins o* and os are placed similarly respectively to the pins o³ and o³,
but a little behind them, so as to be behind in their action.
The reason of this is as follows:-Each journey being divided into stages it
would not be fair that a passenger entering a car some yards before coming to a
stage should pay for such few yards' journey; also, if a passenger left the car a few
yards beyond the intended stage it would not be fair to charge him with the
payment for the following stage. I therefore arrange the stamp wheels and parts

page_text: connected therewith so that the entering register changes a short distance before
coming to a change, and the leaving register a short distance after.
It will be understood from the foregoing that if the stamps are marked respec-
tively 1, 2, 3, and so on, according to the number of stages, every passenger entering
at, say, the first stage, will be registered by the stamp I on the paper band for
entering. Any one entering on any other will be registered accordingly by a stamp
2 or 3, &c., and every leaving passenger will be registered on the stage he leaves on
the paper band for leaving passengers.
P, P¹, are ratchet wheels fixed on the stamp wheel spindles; these wheels are
impelled by the spring pawls q, q¹, at the ends of the levers Q, Q', which are raised
by the rocking pieces or tumblers R, R¹. On the fulcrum spindler of the tumblers
are mounted joint pieces or levers S, S¹, which have stops in opposite direction, and
are impelled by the pins o³ and o* on one side or other of the discs, according to the
stages on the out journey or home journey. The one lever S or S' is actuated on
the out journey, and the other S¹ or S on the home journey. T, T', are levers
weighted at the end, and serving to give a retaining or stopping action to the stamp
wheel spindles. The lever Q and tumbler R may be made in one solid piece, the
action being the same.
To read off the amount of fares to be accounted for the figures representing the
number of stage at which each passenger entered are added up (thus, for instance,
3 entered on first stage count 3; 4 entered on second stage count 8; 2 entered
on the third stage count 6; the total amount is 17). In a similar manner the
figures representing the number of the stage at which each passenger left the car
are added up, the first entering amount being substracted from the last (the leaving),
and the rest being added to the number of passengers who have travelled gives a
correct estimate of the money to be accounted for, always providing the charge for
each stage be the same, even although the charges for the outside passengers may
not be the same as for the inside passengers.
And having thus described and ascertained the nature of this my Invention I
declare that I claim,-
Firstly. Two doorway swing posts with cams or eccentrics in combination with
actuating levers and with cams for working pad levers or other levers in the manner
described, and with any suitable counting or registering apparatus for ensuring a
perfect register, even though only one of the swing posts be moved by an entering
or leaving passenger, or one to be moved first and then the other, substantially as
described.
Secondly. Swing posts with cams or eccentrics in combination with levers and
cams for working pad levers and paper bands, and with stamp wheels, the latter
being driven from the tram rail for registering separately on two bands the ingoing
and outgoing passengers respectively on the various stages of the out journey or
home journey, substantially as described.
Thirdly. The combination of parts forming the registering apparatus, substantially
as described and shown.
:
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wells, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
JOHN WELLS. (L.S.)