AN IMPROVED GUARD FOR TRAM ENGINES AND TRAM CARS
Year: 1885

page_text: I JOHN RAWNSLEY of Cobden Street Lister Hills, Bradford in the County of
York, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED
GUARD FOR TRAM ENGINES AND TRAM CARS to be as follows:
This invention relates to an improved guard for tram engines and cars by which
means any comparatively light obstruction (for instance a foot passenger) in front
of such tram engine or car is pushed or rolled on one side off the track.
To apply my invention to a tram engine or car I fit on the front of it, and close
to the bottom, two guard rollers, by preference of a conical or taper form and
covered with india-rubber or other elastic material, these guard rollers are made
to revolve in a nearly horizontal position in a direction opposite to the tram
engine or car's wheels, and at a greater surface speed than such wheels, and are
driven by mechanism preferably connected with the front axle of the tram engine
or car. The guard rollers are placed with their largest ends meeting in front of
the tram engine, or car, and in advance of the outside ends, thus any obstruction
coming in contact with the front of the engine or car is pushed, or rolled off
the track,
I may employ more than two guard rollers and place them over the hereinbefore
mentioned guard rollers, in which case they are driven by intermediate gearing or
by a vertical shaft,

page_text: An Improved Guard for Tram Engines and Tram Cars.
I JOHN RAWNSLEY, of Cobden Street Lister Hills, Bradford, in the County of
York, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED
GUARD FOR TRAM ENGINES AND TRAM CARS, 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 an improved guard for tram engines and tram cars, by
which any comparatively light obstruction (as for instance a foot passenger) in
front of such tram engine or car is pushed or rolled on one side off the track.
To apply my invention to a tram engine, or car I fit on the front of it, close to
the bottom, two horizontal guard rollers, covered with india rubber or other elastic
material, with their inner ends meeting in front, and in advance of their outer
ends, and when the tram engine, or car, is in motion such guard rollers are made
to revolve (preferably by mechanism connected with the front axle of the engine
or car) at a greater surface speed than and, in a contrary direction to the wheels of
the engine, or car; thus any obstruction coming in contact with the front of such
engine, or car, is pushed or rolled off the track by the guard rollers.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1 is an inverted plan of a tram engine fitted with my improved guard
rollers and the mechanism for driving them. Figure 2 is a side elevation partly
in section, and Figure 3 is a front elevation of the same. Figure 4 is a front
elevation of a tram engine fitted with four guard rollers.
The two guard rollers A are supported in bearings formed in the central bracket B
and the outer brackets C, fixed to the framework of the engine D, and such rollers
are driven by means of the bevel wheels E keyed on their arbors F which wheels
gear with the wheels G keyed on the chain wheel shaft H and the chain wheel J
on the shaft H is actuated by the chain K from the chain wheel L on the front
axle M of the engine. The cover N closes the space between the inner ends of the
guard rollers and encloses the upper surface and outer ends of such rollers The
chain wheel J being smaller than the chain wheel Land the bevel wheels E being
of less diameter than the wheels G the surface speed of the rollers A is considerably
faster than the speed of the engine, and such rollers being back from the centre of
the front of the engine they tend to push or roll any obstacle off the track.
I may if the mechanism or construction of the engine or car necessitates it
employ other methods of driving the guard rollers but I prefer the method
described, as the rollers may thus be placed comparatively close together.
Referring to Figure 4. The bottom guard rollers A are driven in the manner
herein before described, and the top rollers A¹ are supported by brackets on the
front of the engine, and are driven by the wide belts O passing round the bottom
and top rollers A and A¹; thus forming a guard for the whole front of the engine.
A cover P is placed over the opening between the two belts. The belts O are
preferably made from india rubber belting, or other material not effected by the
atmosphere.

page_text: 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.) The application to tram engines, or cars, of guard rollers (A) revolving at
a greater surface speed than the speed of such engines or cars substantially as
herein shewn and described and for the purpose set forth.
(2.) The application to tram engines or cars of two pairs of guard rollers (A
and A¹) connected by belts (0) as herein shewn and described and for the purpose
specified.