Improvements in Means for Facilitating Starting of Tramcars and other Vehicles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Sept., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 21st May, 1892--Accepted, 25th June, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Facilitating Starting of Tramcars and
other Vehicles.
I, THOMAS JAMES NORTHCOTT, of 1, Laira Bridge Place, Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, Market Gardener, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention consists in means for facilitating starting of tramcars, omnibuses
and other vehicles.
According to this invention, as adapted to tramcars and like vehicles fitted for
running in either direction without being turned, a system of articulated levers is
pivotted under the floor of the vehicle and is connected at each end to a block
arranged to slide longitudinally in guides, or to run on rollers. To each block,
which is connected by chains or ropes to the draw-bar, is hinged an arm the lower
end of which is, at the will of the driver or other attendant, allowed to rest upon
the ground.
The system of levers is normally kept contracted or drawn together by a spring
or springs attached to them and to the vehicle frame. When the vehicle stops,
the arm situated towards the rear end thereof is lowered so that its lower end rests
on the ground. At restarting, the arm, acting against the ground as a fulcrum,
serves to thrust the vehicle forward and the system of levers expands under the
strain exerted by the horse or horses or other power employed to draw or propel
the vehicle. Thus the tractive strain is, at starting, shared between the vehicle
and the yielding system of levers and is not entirely concentrated upon the vehicle
until such time as the draw-bar reaches its limit of extension which is regulated
by a stop provided therefor. After starting, the rear arm is raised out of contact
with the ground.
At each stop the levers contract, under the influence of their spring or springs,
upon their pivot, and the rear arm is lowered so that its free end is brought into
contact with the ground, as aforesaid.
Under a modification two separate sets of levers are employed, one for each end
of the vehicle.
In single-ended vehicles, that is to say, in vehicles which require turning, one
sliding or rolling block and arm only are used in connection with the system of
levers, the block being towards the rear end of the vehicle.
If desired, the system of levers may be attached to the draw-bar chain or rope
by branch chains or ropes extending to the outer ends of the system.
In vehicles fitted with the mechanism above described, starting is effected with
much less strain than is required where such provisions does not exist.
Dated this 2nd day of September 1891.
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Applicant's Agent.
J
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Facilitating Starting of Tramcars and
other Vehicles.
I, THOMAS JAMES NORTHCOTT, of 1, Laira Bridge Place, Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, Market Gardener, 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 means for facilitating the starting of tramcars, omnibuses
and other vehicles, and consists in the provision of means whereby a vehicle in

page_text: starting is caused to move at a much slower speed than that at which the horses
are travelling, so that the power which under ordinary conditions is expended in
moving the vehicle a certain distance, say one yard, is utilized for moving the
vehicle, say, half that distance, thereby reducing the strain upon the horses by
about one half.
In applying my invention to tramcars and like vehicles intended to travel in
opposite directions without being turned, I advantageously employ a system of
articulated levers pivotted under the floor of the vehicle and connected at each
end to a block arranged to slide longitudinally in guides or to run on rollers. To
each block, which is connected by chains or ropes to the draw-bar, is hinged an
arm or claw, the lower end of which is at the will of the driver or other attendant
allowed to rest upon the ground. The system of levers is normally kept contracted
or drawn together by a spring or springs.
In single-ended vehicles, that is to say, in vehicles which require turning, one
sliding or rolling block and arm only are used in connection with the system of
levers, the block being towards the rear end of the vehicle.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same as applied
to a tramway vehicle adapted to travel in opposite directions without being turned,
and in the said drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan view of the under-framing of such a vehicle having my
improvements applied thereto, the parts being shewn in the position which they
occupy when the vehicle is at rest:
Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but shewing the position of the parts after
they have operated to move the vehicle:
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section on the line, Figure 1; and,
Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line y y, Figure 1:
Figure 5 is a view illustrating a modification of my invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a indicates the under-frame of the trancar, b, b, c, c, d, d the articulated levers,
and e, the blocks. The levers b, b are mounted upon the pivot g, and the
levers c, d, d connected to the opposite ends of the levers b, band to the blocks e, f
respectively by pins h, h, the said levers being thus arranged on the principle of
lazy tongs "levers. i, i are the guides in which the blocks e, f slide, the said
guides, as shewn in the drawings, being composed of bars of channel iron placed
with the channeled surfaces face to face. j,k are the arms or claws pivotted to
the blocks e, respectively, and is a spring arranged in one of the guides i to
bear upon the block e for returning the levers to the position shewn in Figure 1
after they have been pulled to the position shewn in Figure 2. The dotted
lines m n indicate the draw-bars or chains which are connected to the blocks e, f
respectively, and the dotted lines op indicate chains which are respectively con-
nected with the arms or claws j, k aud which pass over suitable pulleys to drums q, r,
to the former of which the chain o is connected and to the latter of which the
chain p
is connected; the said drums g, r being arranged upon the platforms of the
tramear at opposite ends in order that they may be operated by the attendants
when required to raise one or the other of the claws j, k from the ground.
The operation of the apparatus hereinbefore described is as follows:-
Assume the articulated levers to be in the position shewn in Figures 1, 3, and 4,
with the claw resting upon the ground, and the horses to be attached to the
draw-bar so that the vehicle will move in the direction of the arrow, Figure 1;
if now the horses commence to pull, the articulated levers will be extended; as,
however, the block e cannot move back in its guide, owing to the engagement of
the claw with the ground, it follows that the car will be moved forward a distance
corresponding to the difference in the distance between the claw; and the central
pivot g when in the position shewn in Figure 1 and that shewn in Figure 2: whilst
at the same time the block f will have been moved forward twice this distance, half
of which is due to the forward movement of the car and the other half to the
elongation due to the movement of the levers d, d, that is to say, for an elongated

page_text: movement of the articulated levers of, say, one yard, due to the draught of the
horses upon the block the car has been moved forward only half this distance.
When the vehicle has acquired a certain amount of momentum the spring I, which
was compressed during the extension of the articulated levers, will re-act to a
certain extent to return the levers to the position shewn in Figure 1 and, when the
vehicle stops, it will completely return the said levers to their normal position
ready for operating when the vehicle is again started.
It is obvious that when the vehicle is intended to travel in the opposite direction
to that indicated by the arrow, Figure, the claw is lowered to the ground by
means of the drum and the clawj raised by means of the drum
As represented in Figure 3 one of the arms or claws is designed to trail upon the
ground when the vehicle is travelling in one direction and the other when travelling
in the opposite direction, the arm or claw which is in operation being lowered by
the driver from the rear platform of the vehicle by means of the connected drum.
If desired the connecting chains, between the claws and the drums q, r, may be
so arranged that the claw which is required when travelling in either direction
may be lowered by the driver from time to time, instead of only once at the
commencement of each journey.
In cases where my invention is applied to a vehicle designed to constantly
travel with the same end forward it is obvious that the claw at the frout end of
the articulated levers can be dispensed with and it is also obvious that, instead of
employing a single set of articulated levers as shewn with a claw at each end, I
may employ two sets of articulated levers, each carrying one claw and adapted one
to work when travelling in one direction and the other when travelling in the
opposite direction.
It is to be understood that I do not confine my invention to use with the
articulated levers hereinbefore described as I may entirely dispense with the levers
and obtain the same result by different means. For instance I sometimes pass the
draw-chain around a pulleys, Figure 5, and connect the end to the sliding block.
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. Facilitating the starting of a tramcar or other vehicle by the use of an arm
or claw, adapted to engage with the surface of the ground and attached to a block
adapted to slide longitudinally relatively to such vehicle and connected to the draw-
bar in such a manner that the power exerted by the horses tends to move the said
arm or claw in an opposite direction to that in which the horses are moving,
whereby, when the said arm or claw is in engagement with the ground, the
draught of the horses will move the car forward substantially as, and for the
purpose, described.
2. Facilitating the starting of tramcars and other vehicles by the use of a
system of levers articulated upon the principle of "lazy tongs" levers and adapted
at one end for connection to the draw-bar of the vehicle and having at the other
extremity an arm or claw designed to engage with the ground, substantially as
described.
3. In apparatus for facilitating the starting of tramcars and other vehicles, the
combination of articulated levers, sliding blocks and arms or claws, substantially
as described.
4. Apparatus for facilitating the starting of tramcars and other vehicles, con-
structed and arranged substantially in the manner hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 21st don of Nov 1900
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.