Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 5th Oct., 1887
Complete Accepted, 18th Nov., 1887
I JOSEPH KINCAID of 11 Great George Street in the City of Westminster Civil
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to points for tramways actuated by electricity or by
means of an endless rope or other mechanical contrivance necessitating the
construction of a conduit or tube underneath the roadway and has for its object to
provide apparatus or means for supporting and adjusting the position of the point or
movable tongue at the junction of such tubes or conduits for directing the gripper or
other connecting device between the tube and the vehicles into the desired track
whichever direction they run in it also consists of an improved construction of the
box in which the movable tongue and parts connected therewith are fitted the
said tongue and parts connected therewith being so constructed and arranged as to
be capable of being readily removed for repairs or renewal without disturbing the
roadway.
:
In carrying out my Invention I provide the heel of the movable tongue of the
point with a spring arrangement preferably consisting of a steel strap or loop in
which is fitted to turn an eccentric bolt or equivalent device having its bearings in
the fixed casting at the rear of the heel of the tongue. This eccentric bolt or
equivalent device may be turned by means of a key or otherwise so as to cause it to
bear against one or other of the sides of the spring loop and thereby move over the
tongue to cause its outer end to bear against either the one or the other of the sides of
the opening in the box in which it works or against the rail with which it is required
to be normally in contact for the purpose of directing the gripping or other
connecting device into the required track in accordance with the direction of travel
of the vehicles on the line. When the tongue has been opened or forced by the said
device out of contact with the rail with which it is normally in contact so soon as the
vehicle has passed the said tongue will be automatically returned to its normal
position by the spring loop or strap and this applies to either direction of travel
on the line as the tongue is turned over by the key aforesaid to normally bear
on one side or the other to suit one or other direction of travel on the main
line.

page_text: The tongue is supported so as to bear the weight of passing vehicles by means of
two or more tumblers which in their normal position engage and support the said
tongue but which are so shaped as to offer no impediment to the passage of the
gripping or other connecting device carried by the vehicles. These tumblers are
acted upon by the shank of the gripping or other connecting device so as to force
them clear of the tube as a vehicle passes the said tumblers automatically returning
to their normal position when the vehicle has passed. The said tumblers are so
arranged that only one at a time is acted upon or moved aside as the wheels pass.
The box in which the tongue and the tumblers or supports are fitted to work is
preferably constructed of wrought iron or steel plates connected together by angle
irons the bottom of the said box being strengthened by and supported upon
transverse angle irons arranged at suitable distances apart whilst the upper portion of
the box forming the hatchways for obtaining access to the interior thereof is
preferably formed of iron or steel cast in one with a portion of the rail constituting
one of the sides of the slot or groove through which the shank of the gripping or like
device travels.
The movable tongue and the fixed casting to which it is attached are preferably
recessed on their upper sides for the reception of blocks of wood granite or other
suitable material and the non-recessed portions are suitably roughened to afford
foot-hold.
When it is required to remove the tongue for repairs or renewal it is simply
necessary to remove the eccentric bolt or like device from the fixed casting and then
the tongue together with the spring loop may be readily withdrawn and lifted out
and replaced without disturbing the roadway.
11007
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Agents for the said J. Kincaid.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and Connected with Points for Tramways.
I JOSEPH KINCAID of 11 Great George Street in the City of Westminster Civil
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 :-
My Invention relates to points for Tramways actuated by electricity or by means
of an endless rope or other mechanical contrivance necessitating the construction of a
conduit or tube underneath the roadway and has for its object to provide apparatus
or means for supporting and adjusting the position of the point or movable tongue at
the junction of such tubes or conduits for directing the gripper or other connecting
device between the tube and the vehicles into the desired track, whichever direction
the vehicles may run in. The Invention also consists of an improved construction
of the box in which the movable tongue and parts connected therewith are fitted
the said tongue and parts connected therewith being so constructed and arranged as
to be capable of being readily removed for repairs or renewal without disturbing the
roadway.
In carrying out my Invention I provide the heel of the moveable tongue with a
spring arrangement preferably consisting of a steel strap or loop in which is fitted
to turn an eccentric bolt or equivalent device having its bearings in the fixed casting
at the rear of the heel of the tongue. This eccentric bolt or equivalent device may
be turned by means of a key or otherwise so as to cause it to bear against one or
other of the sides of the spring loop and thereby move over the tongue to cause its
outer end to bear against either the one or the other of the sides of the opening in
the box in which it works or against the rail with which it is required to be normally
in contact for the purpose of directing the gripping or other connecting device into
the required track in accordance with the direction of travel of the vehicles on the
line. When the tongue has been opened or forced by the said device out of
contact with the rail with which it is normally in contact so soon as the vehicle has
passed the said tongue will be automatically returned to its normal position by the
spring loop or strap and this applies to either direction of travel on the line as the
tongue is turned over by the key aforesaid to normally bear on one side or the other
to suit one or other direction of travel on the main line.
The tongue is supported so as to bear the weight of passing vehicles by means of
two or more tumblers which in their normal position engage and support the said
tongue but which are so shaped as to offer no impediment to the passage of the
gripping or other connecting device carried by the Vehicles. These tumblers are
acted upon by the shank of the gripping or other connecting device so as to force
them clear of the tube as the vehicle passes; the said tumblers automatically
returning to their normal position when the vehicle has passed. The said tumblers
are so arranged that only one at a time is acted upon or moved aside as the
wheels pass.

page_text: And in order that my Invention may be clearly understood 1 will proceed to
describe it more particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings Figure 1
of which represents in plan a cable slot point constructed according to my Invention
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same figures 3. 4 and 5 are transverse sections
taken respectively along the lines 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 Figure 1. Figure 6 is a
longitudinal vertical section taken along the line 4-4 Figure 1 and Figure 7 is a
longitudinal vertical section taken through the heel portion of the movable tongue.
Figure 8 is a section in a horizontal plane drawn to a larger scale showing more
clearly the strap E and excentric F.
Referring to Figure 1. A represents the slot or groove in the tube of the main
track and B represents the slot or groove in the tube of a branch track or
turn out.
At the junction of the slots A and B I provide a casting C to which the switch or
moveable tongue D is connected so as to be capable of being operated by the gripper
or other connecting device of the passing vehicles. To the heel of the tongue D is
attached a spring strap E (preferably of steel) in the loop of which is fitted to turn
an eccentric bolt F having its bearings in the casting C and prevented from
becoming displaced by means of a screw G the end of which engages an annular
groove in the upper end of the bolt as shewn clearly in Figure 7. The bolt F is
provided with an opening for the reception of a key for the purpose of turning the
bolt so as to cause the eccentric portion thereof (see Figures 8 & 8) to bear on one
or other of the sides of the spring strap E and thereby cause the nose d of the
tongue D to normally bear against one or other of the sides of the slot A according
to the direction in which the vehicles are travelling.
When the tongue is adjusted so as to normally assume the position shewn by full
lines in Figure 1 the branch track B will be open to the passage of the vehicles
without moving the tongue D whilst the gripping or other connecting device on the
vehicles travelling on the main track A in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1
will in passing the point force the nose d of the tongue out of contact with the
side of the slot and the said tongue after the gripper has passed will return again to
its normal position by the action of the spring strap E.
If it be desired to maintain the track A normally open for the passage of vehicles
and the branch track B normally closed in one direction this may be effected by
turning the bolt F by means of a key or otherwise so as to cause the eccentric
portion thereof to bear upon the opposite side of the spring loop or strap E and
thereby cause the nose d of the tongue to be normally in the position shewn by dotted
lines in Figure 1.
GG are oscillating supports or tumblers fitted to turn in bearings g in the box H
which tumblers in their normal position engage the under side of the tongue D
as shewn in Figures 1, 4, and 5 so as to support it against the weight of passing
vehicles. These tumblers are maintained in their normal position by loose weights
or by springs and the upper end of each of the tumblers is inclined in opposite
directions from the part thereof which supports the tongue D as shewn at 92
Figure 1 against one or other of which inclines (according to the direction in
which the vehicles are travelling) the stem of the gripping or other connecting device
carried by the vehicle acts so as to cause first one and then the other of the tumblers
to turn on its bearing and its upper end to move to one side from beneath the tongue
clear of the slots so as not to form an obstruction to the passage of the vehicle.
The two tumblers G are acted upon one after the other and the one first acted on
returns to its supporting position before the other is acted upon so that at all times
the tongue is supported.
The box H in which the tongue D and the tumblers or supports G are fitted to
work is preferably constructed of wrought iron or steel plates K connected together
by angle irons the bottom of the said box being strengthened by and supported upon
transverse angle irons N arranged at suitable distances apart whilst the upper
portion O of the box forming the hatchways for obtaining access to the interior
thereof is preferably formed of iron or steel cast in one with a portion of the point

page_text: constituting one of the sides a of the slot or groove through which the shank o the
gripping or like device travels.
Hatchways e are provided in the top of the box H to facilitate access to the
tumblers or supports & and through which the said tumblers may be readily passed
for repairs or renewal. The hatchways are provided with suitable covers.
The moveable tongue D and the fixed casting C to which it is attached are
preferably recessed on their upper sides as shewn at 6 for the reception of blocks of
wood granite or other suitable material and the iron recessed portions are suitably
roughened to afford foothold.
When it is required to remove the tongue for repairs or renewal it is simply
necessary to remove the eccentric bolt F from the fixed casting C and then the
tongue D together with the spring loop E may be readily withdrawn lifted out and
replaced without disturbing the roadway.
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.
First In points for tramways of the kind hereinbefore described a moveable
switch or tongue connected to a stationary part of the point by means of an eccentric
bolt and spring loop or its equivalent so as to be capable of being readily removed
without disturbing the roadway and by means of which the nose of the movable
tongue may as required be caused to bear normally on either side of the slot (through
which the gripping or other connecting device travels) substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Second-In points for tramways of the kind hereinbefore described the tumblers or
supports G for the moveable tongue constructed arranged and operated so as not to
present any obstruction to the passage of the vehicles and yet give the necessary
support to the tongue substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Third In tramway points of the kind hereinbefore described the box E having the
top portion O cast in one with a rail constituting one side of a portion of the slot in
which the gripping or like connecting device travels and provided with hatchways to
facilitate access to the interior of the box substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fourth-The general construction combination and arrangement of parts con-
stituting the point for cable or electrical tramways substantially as herein before
described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.