Improvements in or in connection with the Conveyance or Transit of Coal or other Merchandise by Railway, Road, or Sea, and in Means or Appliances for Loading and Unloading such Merchandise.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 24th July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 26th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 24th July, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or in connection with the Conveyance or Transit
of Coal or other Merchandise by Railway, Road, or Sea, and in
Means or Appliances for Loading and Unloading such Merchandise.
I, JOHN COWAN of The Vineyard, Garston, in the County of Lancaster,
Nurseryman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the conveyance or transit of coal and other merchandise.
by railway, road or sea and in appliances or means for loading and unloading such
merchandise. Hitherto in the case of coal, the coal has had to be loaded into the
railway trucks, and when conveyed to its destination, transferred to a road cart for
delivery to the consumer, the transfer of the coal in one or both cases being effected
by hand labour. Now my present invention is designed to improve the system
hitherto in vogue.
In carrying the same into effect, as to the delivery of coal, the plan I prefer is to
provide receptacles for holding the coal. These are made of any suitable shape and
size and are mounted on flanged wheels or rollers of any given gauge, so as to run on
rails or on a smooth bottom in a railway vehicle, by preference a vehicle constructed
of a suitable under-frame with wheels adapted to run on the usual permanent way.
The auxiliary rails for the wheeled receptacles are mounted on these under-frames
Three or any suitable number of receptacles are mounted on each vehicle. In the
case of coal being required to be delivered by road, the road carts are provided with
rails or with a smooth bottom of a similar gauge, on to which the receptacles can be
transported, suitable means being provided (such as a short bridge or auxiliary lengths
of rails) to connect the cart with the railway wagon. In the case of delivery by sea,
an auxiliary set of rails or ways are provided leading from the railway vehicle to the
steamer along which the receptacles can be run. The result is that the receptacles
are individually loaded at the pit (in the case of coal), and transported on to the
railway vehicle where they are securely fastened in place so as to prevent them
accidentally rolling off. The means for securely fastening them may consist for
example of wedges secured by staples or sockets, or hinged flaps or plates all round
which form abutments for keeping the receptacles steady, or the short lengths of rail
or the bridge for connecting the cart with the railway wagon may be used for this
purpose. Thus secured the railway vehicles can be transported to their destination,
and in order to deliver the merchandise to the consumer without having to use a
shovel or any hand labour, the road delivery carts which are provided with rails are
drawn up in close proximity to the railway vehicles and its rails or ways connected
to the rails or ways on the railway wagon. The receptacles are then released and
rolled one by one on to the carts placed in readiness to receive them and so carted
away to the consumer. The transfer of the receptacles to the carts is effected by
simply pushing the receptacles along the rails or ways, or by providing crank handles
on the end of the axles, whereby by rotating these handles the receptacle will be
easily moved, or the receptacles may be moved by means of gearing worked by a
handle.
In order to facilitate the actual delivery, the receptacles may be provided with false
bottoms or movable sides so that the material may be delivered direct without any

page_text: handling whatsoever. Furthermore the delivery of the receptacles from the railway
wagon to the carts may take place at the ends of the wagons, in which case the
receptacles in a train of wagons can be delivered one by one on to the carts at the
end of the train, or the delivery may take place at the side, in which latter case of
course, the rails will be placed transversely across the trucks instead of longitudinally.
Means are also provided for coupling the carts to the wagons so as to prevent their
separating while the transfer of the receptacles from the wagon to the cart takes place
In some cases when the vehicles have been transported to their destination, the
receptacles can be wheeled away from the vehicles into a storage shed ready for
delivery whenever required, thus avoiding any detention of the railway vehicles
which can thus be returned to the colliery or elsewhere.
In case of conveyance by sea a short length of tramway is by preference provided,
whereby the receptacles can be run direct from the trucks on to the steamer deck, or
the receptacle may if preferred be transferred to steamer by means of a crane.
It will be obvious that I do not confine my invention to the delivery of coal, as it
may be usefully applied to the conveyance and the loading and unloading of other
merchandise such as those which are liable to be injured in transhipment.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1896.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or in connection with the Conveyance or Transit
of Coal or other Merchandise by Railway, Road, or Sea, and in
Means or Appliances for Loading and Unloading such Merchandise.
I, Jons COWAN of The Vineyard, Carston in the County of Lancaster, Nurseryman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to he
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to the conveyance or transit of coal and other merchandise
by railway, road or sea and in appliances or means for loading and unloading such
merchandise. Hitherto in the case of coal, the coal has had to be loaded into the
railway trucks, and when conveyed to its destination, transferred to a road cart for
delivery to the consumer, the transfer of the coal in one or both cases being effected
by hand labour. Now my present invention is designed to improve the system
hitherto in vogue.
The invention will be understood from the following description, reference being
had to the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a front elevation showing my invention applied to the transhipment
of coal;
Figure 2, a front elevation showing my invention applied to the removal of
furniture, etcetera ;
Figure 3, an end elevation of the road delivery cart;
Figure 4, an enlarged view of the arrangement for moving the body along the tram
rails.
By my invention I form the body portion of the railway vehicles which contain
the goods, as movable trucks or receptacles A, mounted on a tram or railway on the
floor or underframe of the vehicle, so that they can be transferred from one vehicle
to the other and vice versa. For this purpose, the bodies A are made of any suitable
shape and size and are mounted on flauged wheels or rollers B so as to run on the
tram or railway C of any given gauge or on a smooth plateway in the railway
vehicle D, by preference a vehicle constructed with a suitable underframe having

page_text: sides d and ends H, and wheels E adapted to run on the usual permanent way F.
The tram rails C for the wheeled receptacles A are mounted on these underframes.
Three or any suitable number of receptacles are mounted on each vehicle. In the
case of coal being required to be delivered by road, I provide a road cart G also fitted
with a tram C or with a smooth plateway of a similar gauge, on to which the
receptacles A can be transported, the end of the railway vehicle being provided with
a hinged door H which will fall down horizontally as shown by the dotted lines
(Figure 1) so as to form a short bridge between the railway vehicle and the road
cart when the latter is drawn up in proximity. This door is provided with an
auxiliary set of rails C to connect the cart with the railway wagon. In the case of
delivery by sea, an auxiliary set of rails or ways are provided from the vehicle to the
steamer along which the receptacle can be run.
The
In use, the receptacles A are individually londed at the pit in the case of coal, and
transported to the railway vehicles where they are securely fastened in place so as to
prevent them accidentally rolling off. The meaus for securely fastening them may
consist for example of wedges 1 placed against the wheels and secured by staples Jor
sockets, or the closing of the end door it of the railway wagon may be sufficient to
keep them beld in position. Thus secured, the railway vehicles can be transported
to their destination, and in order to deliver the inerchandise to the consumer without
having to use a shovel or any hand labour, the road delivery carts G which are
provided with rails Care dmwn up in close proximity to the railway vehicles, and
their rails or ways connected to the rails or ways on the railway wagons by the
arrangement above described. The receptacles are then rolled one by one onto the
carts placed in readiness to receive them and so carted away to the consumer.
The transfer of the receptacles to the carts is effected by simply pushing the
receptacles along the rails or ways, or by providing crank handles K adapted to be
fitted to the end of the axles L to which are secured the rollers or wheels. By
rotating these handles therefore, the rollers are rotated and the receptacles moved, or
the receptacles may be moved by means of gearing worked by a handle.
sides d may be provided with hinged or removable doors which when opened or
removed enable the crank handle to be fitted on to the ends of the axles when the
receptacle is in situ on the wagon. In order to facilitate the actual delivery, the
receptacles A may be provided with false bottons or movable sides M so that the
material may be delivered direct without any handling whatsoever. Furthermore,
the delivery of the receptacles from the railway wagon to the carts may take place at
the ends of the wagons, as shown in the drawings, in which case the receptacles in a
train of wagons can be delivered one by one on to the carts at the end of the train,
or the delivery may take place at the side, in which latter case of course, the rails
will be placed transversely across the trucks instead of longitudinally. Means are
also provided for coupling the carts to the wagons so as to prevent their separating
while the transfer of the receptacles from the wagon to the cart takes place, such as
the clasp N. In some cases when the vehicles have been transported to their
destination, the receptacles can he wheeled away from the vehicles into a storage shed
or platform ready for delivery whenever required, thus avoiding any detention of the
railway vehicles which can thus be returned to the colliery or elsewhere.
In case of conveyance by sea a short length of tramway is by preference provided,
whereby the receptacles can be run direct from the trucks on to the steamer deck, or
the receptacle may if preferred be transferred to steamer by means of a crane.
It will be obvious that I do not confine my invention to the delivery of coal, as it
may be usefully applied to the conveyance and the loading and unloading of other
merchandise such as those which are liable to be injured in transhipment. Thus
Figure 2 shows an arrangement for transporting furniture or other articles in which,
A is the body of the vehicle for carrying the furniture, etceteru, which body can be
transferred from the road vehicle on to the railway vehicle and vice versu by means of
the rollers B runuing on the train or railway C C and C. L are the axles of the
rollers B to the ends of which the handles aforesaid may be fitted. By rotating the

page_text: handles the body A can be moved along the rails. The other reference letters on this
figure will be understood by reference to the preceding description.
It will be seen that by my invention, the wagons having sides and ends d and H
can be used for the transit of goods in the ordinary manner when the bodies or
receptacles A are removed. This is a very important consideration as otherwise the
wagons might have to remain idle until the receptacles were returned.
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 improvement in the conveyance or transit of coal or other merchandise by
railway, which consists in forming the body portions of the railway vehicles which
contain the goods, as movable trucks or receptacles mounted on a tram or railway on
the floor or underframe of said vehicles, in combination with a road cart also provided
with a tram or railway of similar gauge, and an auxiliary set of rails or ways adapted
to join the rails on the railway vehicle with those on the road cart when the two
vehicles are placed in proximity substantially as and for the purposes described.
2. A railway wagon having hinged or removable ends or sides, a tram or railway
arranged on the floor or underframe thereof, and receptacles or trucks mounted on
this tram or railway for holding the coal or other merchandise it is desired to
convey, in combination with an auxiliary tram for conducting the receptacles or
trucks to a road cart, steamer or elsewhere, whereby the wagon can be loaded or
unloaded without removing the coal or other merchandise by band, while the
arrangement also provides that the wagons can be used for the transit of goods in
the ordinary way when the receptacles are removed, substantially as described.
3. In a railway wagon having a longitudinal tram or railway placed on the floor or
underframe thereof, forming the said wagon with a hinged end having an auxiliary
set of rails or ways of similar gauge to the rails or ways on the wagon floor, the said
end when closed forming the end of the vehicle, but when open forming a bridge for
conveying trucks or receptacles from the railway wagon to a road cart, etcetera, or
vice versa substantially as described, or any mere mechanical equivalent thereof, such
as forming the door at the sides instead of the end and making the rails or ways
transverse instead of longitudinal.
4. The arrangement for moving the receptacles from one vehicle to another along
the tram rails or ways which consists in mounting them on axles provided with
rollers or wheels fixed thereon and running on the rails or ways aforesaid, in
combination with a crank handle adapted to be fitted to the end of the axles or to
gearing adapted to operate the axles, whereby by rotating the handles, the axles and
wheels are revolved and the vehicles moved, substantially as described.
5. The general combined arrangement and construction of parts forming my
improved arrangement for the conveyance or transit of coal or other merchandise by
railway, road or sea, substantially as described.
Dated this 24th day of April 1897.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London, Patent Agents.