Year: 1899

page_text: ALEXANDER MEIN, of Hope Ironworks, Station Street, Stratford, E, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention relates to a simple device for automatically locking two of the
wheels of a trolley when standing on a platform of a railway station the arrange-
ment being such that the locking arrangement is released while the trolley is
being pushed along. Various mechanical devices may be used for the locking
arrangement but the following is the plan that has been found to give satisfac-
tory results. Upon the axle of two wheels is secured a boss, formed as a square
hexagon or other shaped nut, a bearing face of a pivotted locking lever arranged
under the floor of the trolley is normally pressed by spring upon one of the
sides of the nut thereby locking the axle from turning."
At each end of the trolley is a projection hand rail or button connected by
linked pendant levers with the locking lever in such a way that pressing down
the hand rail or button causes the face of the spring controlled lever to be lifted
off the square of the nut, thereby releasing the wheels and allowing the trolley
to be moved, on removing the hand from the hand rail the spring at once locks
the face of the locking lever against the nut. To enable the hand rail to be at
both ends of the trolley an additional pivotted lever is necessary to operate the
locking lever. The hand rail is so arranged that it stands slightly aliove the
part the person moving the trolley will lay hold of but before doing this the
rail must be depressed.
Dated this 20th day of June 1800
FREDERIC PRINCE,
Agent for Applicant.
improved flatiorm roney.
I, ALEXANDER MEIN, of Hope Ironworks, Station Street, Stratford, London, E:.
Engineer, 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 refers to an improved device of simple and effective character,
designed for locking say two of the wheels of a platform trolley, by an automatic
mechanical action of the parts, such locking of the said wheels being particularly
essential when the vehicle is standing upon a railway platform, the said locking
ID: 017

page_text: device always remaining in operation excepting when the trolley is being moved
by hand from place to place, the arrangement being such that the releasing
movement is effected and the wheels remain free, only during the period the
attendant is wheeling or manipulating the trolley.
In order that my said invention may be readily understood I will describe an
example of the construction of same with reference to the accompanying draw-
ings whereon Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation, one wheel and its bearing hanger
baving been removed and Fig. 2 is a plan view, these figures shewing so much
of a railway platform trolley as will be necessary to describe the application of
my invention thereto.
The trolley shewn is composed of an underframe A, side parts A¹, and end
frames A2 A3, having a pair of pivotted wheels A+ for steering near one end and a
pair of wheels A5 A5, near the other end, the latter wheels being fixed upon
an axle B. rotating in fixed bearings carried by hangers from the underframe
of the vehicle and of such general construction as is known and in common use.
Now according to my invention I form or fix upon the axle B, a boss or
collar C. of square, hexagonal or similar shape, and below the underframe A,
I pivot at Da locking lever D₁, upon a bracket D2. The end of the lever D
carries a bearing face or forked slide which is normally faced by a spring into a
position in which it grips or partly embraces the collar C, and thereby prevent
the rotation of the axle B, and the wheels A
What I have found to be a convenient and suitable construction of this locking
mechanism is shown in the accompanying drawings, where the end of the
lever D, adjacent to the axle B, is bifurcated, a forked slide E, being pivotted
between the bifurcated part of lever.
This forked slide E, is carried between guide brackets F', fixed below the under-
frame A, and is capable of vertical motion between the brackets F, while a
spring G, acting between the underframe and the said slide E, forces the latter
downwards and causes its lower forked part to normally embrace the hexagonal
or other collar C, and secure the axle B, against rotation and consequently hold
the wheels A stationary.
It will thus be understood that by raising that arm of the lever D¹, adjacent to
the locking device the slide E, will be lifted and the axle and wheels A*,
released. In order to effect this the lever D. is extended beyond its pivot D,
to the opposite end of the vehicle and is there bifurcated and the bifurcated parts
pivotted, each to one of the two parallel vertical rods H. These vertical rods H,
are carried in the end frame A³, are capable of vertical motion therein and are
surmounted at their upper ends by a hand rail H₁, which extends along the
width of the end frame and at a short distance above the upper rail of same,
when the shaft B, is locked.
Obviously the vertical rods H. may be provided at their upper ends with
bottons or knobs instead of the rail aforesaid.
In order that the locking device can be controlled from the end A² of the
vehicle, I provide a lever J. pivotted at J¹. beneath the underframe, one end of
said lever being connected by a pivotted link J, to the lever D¹, between the
pivot D. of the latter and the locking device. This lever J, is bifurcated and
extends to beneath the end frame A2, where the ends of the lever are respectively
pivotted to parallel vertical rods K, capable of vertical motion in the end frames
and fitted at the upper normally projecting ends with a transverse hand rail K¹.
When the attendant requires to remove the trolley from one place to another
he seizes same by the upper bar of one of the transverse end frames, say that
marked A3 at the same time depressing the hand rail H, and thereby operating
the lever D, and unlocking the wheels.A. Similarly if the upper bar of the
end frames A2 is seized and the hand rail K. depressed the wheels A5, will be
unlocked by the action of the lever J, raising locking end of the lever D'. Thus
at which ever end the attendant may be placed the wheels can be unlocked
with equal facility,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature, of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A platform trolley in which a rotating axle (having travelling wheels fixed
thereto) is formed with a square or polygonal collar, a lever being provided
fulcrumed below the underframe and carrying upon one end a forked slide,
adapted to engage with and lock the aforesaid collar, and a spring to hold the
forked slide in engagement with the collar, and prevent the rotation of the
wheels, the said lever extending to the end of the vehicle, and being actuated
for the freeing of the wheels by connecting rods, through the medium of a hand
rail operated by the attendant when wheeling the vehicle, together with mechanism
whereby the unlocking lever may be similarly operated from the opposite end
of the vehicle substantially as described.
2. The construction and arrangement of parts composing my improved device
for locking the wheels of a platform trolley, by an automatic mechanical action
of the parts, in combination with the means described whereby the wheels may
be released during the period the attendant is wheeling the trolley substantially
as shewn and described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
D 11
DALL 1
1
1000
FREDERIC PRINCE,
Agent for Applicant, 37, Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, London, E.C.