IM- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR RAISING, TRANSPORTING, AND LOWERING OR DELIVERING MERCHANDISE AND WEIGHTS GENERALLY."
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Ernest Latham at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 15th January 1879.
ERNEST LATHAM, of Birkenhead, in the County of Chester, Engineer. "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR RAISING, TRANSPORTING, AND
LOWERING OR DELIVERING MERCHANDISE AND WEIGHTS GENERALLY."
Hitherto when it has been desired to transfer cargoes from a ships hold to a quay,
or effect the transporting of materials in loading waggons, in building operations,
in mining and quarrying, and the like, it has been customary to employ a swinging
boom, a crane having a swinging jib, or shear legs, or other like appliances. Thero
is however a great objection to the use of such appliances on account of the loss
of time consequent on the various motions required for raising, moving, and lowering
the merchandise or articles from one position to another. Now the object of my
Invention is to provide apparatus or appliances in which the lifting, transporting,
and lowering shall all be effected by a simple instead of a compound motion.
In carrying my Invention into practico I employ in combination a movable
adjustable tramway or carrier fitted at each end with detents or locking appliances,
and a carriage or travelling piece fitted with a pulley, around or over which and a
pulley at the higher end of a tramway or carrier the cord, rope, chain, or the like
passes. The said cord, rope, chain, or the like is attached at one end to a drum or
barrel operated by hand or power, the free end being provided with a hook or
other means of securing it to the merchandise or weights to be moved.
The detents or locking apparatus are constructed in the following novel manner :-
That at the lower end is hung on a pivot, and kept closed by a weight or spring,
and is opened by a striking pieco secured to the cord, rope, chain, or the like,
which acts when the merchandise or weights have been raised to the desired height.
The detent at the higher end is fitted or provided with a shunt hinged at one end,
and held in position by springs or weights, so that after the carriage or sliding
piece has once passed it, it will close behind such carriage or sliding piece, and allow
it to pass in the reverse direction down the incline to the lower end of the tramway
or carrier. The detent or locking appliances both at the top and bottom may be
made adjustable, so that the weights may be raised from and deposited at any
desired points in the length of tramway or carrier.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
Supposing the carriage or sliding piece to be at the lower end of the tramway or
carrier and the rone chain cord or its equivalent attached to the weight to be

page_text: raised and transported, motion is given to the cord, rope, or chain until the striking
piece acts on the detent. The carriage or sliding piece then commences to travel
up the incline, and proceeds until it reaches the detent at the higher end; motion is
then given to the cord, rope, or chain in the opposite direction, and the weight is
deposited. The cord, rope, or chain is again drawn in until the carriage is carried
up the tramway or carried past the shunt, when it is allowed to descend until it
reaches the bottom detent.
The tramway or carrier may be made in several pieces or lengths. The carriage
or sliding piece may be fitted with a box for carrying weights, or other means may
be employed to prevent the weight on the free end of the cord, rope, or chain
causing the said carriage or sliding piece to ascend the tramway or carrier too
rapidly.