IMPROVEMENTS IN WIRE TRAMWAYS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Simon at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd April
1873. A communication from abroad by Carl Meinicke, of
Claussthal, on the Harz, in the German Empire.
I, HENRY SIMON, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WIRE TRAMWAYS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to that descripton of wire tramways in which
the wire rope forming the tramway is fixed, while the boxes or
receptacles for the materials to be transported are suspended from rollers
or wheels which are hauled along the tramway by any suitable known
means.
According to the present Invention the wire rope is enclosed in a
wrought iron or steel tube upon which the wheels of the boxes run and
which extends with the rope from support to support, while means are
provided, say, at every intermediate support for tightening or straining the
wire rope and the tube independently of each other. The arrangement
employed by preference for this purpose is as follows:-The wire rope

page_text: as also the tubo are made of separate lengths extending from the one
support where the means of tightening are provided to the next one.
At such supports the ends of the rope are led over pulleys and are
connected to tightening screws passing through lugs on the support and
provided with tightening nuts. The tubes terminate at a short distance
from the said pulleys and have lugs formed on their under sides or in
any other suitable position through which pass tightening screws
connected by hinge joints to the support and having tightening nuts on
each side of the lug. This lug has also an eye on its under side to which
is connected a second screw extending downwards at an angle to a
swivelling lug on the support through which it passes and where it is
provided with tightening nuts. The first-named tightening screw
regulates the tension of the tube, while the last-named one ties the tube
down and also supports it firmly at a definite inclination corresponding
with the sag of the span. A bridge consisting of two angle iron or other
suitable rails, one on each side of the wire rope and tube extends from
the middle of the support to either side of the same, terminating at points
somewhat beyond the before-mentioned lugs on the tubes, and at these
points the two rails are connected beneath the tube by a saddle piece
upon which the tube rests so that the latter cannot be deflected below
the level of the rails by the pressure of the load. These rails also rest
upon shoulders on the lug of the tube. The rollers or wheels that
support the load on the tramway on arriving at the said supports run
from the tube on to the angle iron rails, and thus pass from the one
span to the other.
The above described arrangement for tightening the wire rope and
tube is more particularly applicable when a double line of wire tramway
is provided for supporting the load.
When a single line is used the following modification is employed in
order to afford a free way below the tramway for the boxes to pass along.
A strong double bar is secured at one end to the axle of the pulley over
which the wire rope is bent and extends in a direction parallel with the
tramway; the other end of the bar is fixed to a strong pin projecting
from the support and is there provided with the lug for securing the
tightening screw of the wire rope. The tightening screw for the tube is
also connected to the axle of the said pulley by means of a fork, and in
place of the before described arrangement of the second screw for tying
down the tube a screw is fixed to the under side of the lug of the tube,

page_text: and is provided with a nut by means of which it bears upon the above-
named bar to which the tightening screw of the rope is secured, so that
a support is thus afforded to the tube, and the before described angle
iron bridge which rests upon the lug of the tube.
The lengths of the tube required for each span are either welded
and is provided with a nut by means of which it bears upon the above-
named bar to which the tightening screw of the rope is secured, so that
a support is thus afforded to the tube, and the before described angle
iron bridge which rests upon the lug of the tube.
The lengths of the tube required for each span are either welded
together into one length, or the separate lengths are secured together by
internal screwed sockets.