Improvements in Apparatus for Facilitating the Starting and Stopping of Tramway and other Vehicles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 7th Jan., 1896 -Accepted, 8th Feb., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Facilitating the Starting and
Stopping of Tramway and other Vehicles.
We, JOSEPH WILLIAM LEE, of Rock Estate, Cambridge, in the County of
Cambridge, Consulting Engineer, and SAMUEL BURLINGHAM, and GEORGE
HARDING INNES, of the Exchange Iron Works, Hitchin, in the County of Herts,
Agricultural Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus for facilitating the starting and stopping of
tramway and other vehicles, and to that class of such apparatus in which a spring
is arranged to be coiled upon the application of the brake, the object of the
invention being to simplify the construction and increase the efficiency of such
apparatus.
According to this invention we make use of an epicyclic train consisting of two
similar face or bevel gear wheels mounted loosely on one of the wheel axles (which
for convenience of description we will call "disc wheels") having the teeth on
their opposing faces, and of a third gear wheel mounted on an arm secured to the
wheel axle and engaging with both disc wheels. One disc wheel carries a box
containing a coiled spring one end of which is fixed to the axle and the other to the
box. The other disc wheel is provided with a flange or pulley or otherwise
so constructed that brake pressure may be applied thereto an arrangement of
ratchet or eccentric being provided so as to allow of the brake wheel rotating in one
direction only.
With this arrangement the two disc wheels together with the pulley and the
spring box rotate with the axle so long as no pressure is applied by the brake.
When however the brake is applied the rotation of the brake disc wheel having the
brake pulley or flange is stopped whereby the intermediate wheel owing to its
engagement with the fixed brake disc wheel imparts a rotation to the spring box
disc wheel at a greater speed than that of the axle, thereby coiling the spring.
It will be understood that when the spring is fully wound the rotation of the axle
will be arrested whereby the wheels will skid upon the rails and effectually
stop the car. When the brake pressure is removed the spring will react to start
the car.
We may if desired provide auxiliary brake mechanism in connection with the
wheels for stopping the car quickly if desired.
Dated the 9th day of March 1895.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Facilitating the Starting and
Stopping of Tramway and other Vehicles.
We, JOSEPH William Lee, of Rock Estate, Cambridge, in the County of
Cambridge, Consulting Engineer, and SAMUEL BURLINGHAM and GEORGE
HARDING INNES, of the Exchange Iron Works, Hitchin, in the County of Herts,
Agricultural Engineers, 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 relates to apparatus for facilitating the starting and stopping of
tramway and other vehicles, and to that class of such apparatus in which a spring
is arranged to be coiled upon the application of the brake, the object of the
invention being to simplify the construction and increase the efficiency of such
apparatus.
According to this invention we make use of an epicyclic train consisting of two
similar face or bevel gear wheels (which for convenience of description we will call
"disc wheels") mounted loosely on one of the wheel axles and having the teeth on
their opposing faces, and of a third gear wheel mounted on an arm secured to the
wheel axle and engaging with both disc wheels. One disc wheel carries a box
containing a coiled spring one end of which is fixed to the axle and the other to the
box, an arrangement of ratchet or eccentric being provided so as to allow of the
brake wheel rotating in one direction only. The other disc wheel is provided with
a flange or pulley or otherwise so constructed that brake pressure may be applied
thereto.
With this arrangement the two disc wheels together with the pulley and the
spring-box rotate with the axle so long as no pressure is applied by the brake.
When, however, the brake is applied the rotation of the brake disc wheel having
the brake pulley or flange is stopped, whereby the intermediate wheel owing to its
engagement with the fixed brake disc wheel imparts a rotation to the spring-box
disc wheel at a greater speed than that of the axle, thereby coiling the spring.
It will be understood that when the spring is fully wound, the rotation of the
axle will be arrested and the car brought to a standstill. When the brake pressure
is removed the spring will react to start the car.
We may,
if desired, provide auxiliary brake mechanism in connection with the
wheels for stopping the car quickly.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a plan view of so much of a tramway vehicle as is necessary to
illustrate the application of our invention thereto; and,
Figure 2 is a longitudinal central section of the same:
Figure 3 is a vertical section of the main part of the mechanism drawn to an
enlarged scale; and,
Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4, Figure 3:
Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the train of epicyclic gear
wheels.
a is the framework of the vehicle which is mounted in the usual manner by means
of springs upon the axles b, of the travelling wheels c, c.
d, d are the two disc wheels of our mechanism which are mounted so as to rotate
independently of the axle b. e is a spring-box in which the spring fis placed, the
said box being formed partly by the disc wheel d and by an extension g thereon and
partly by the cap or cover bolted to the said extension 9 clearly shewn in Figure 3 ;
the said spring f is connected at one end to a hub or boss i fixed to the axle b so as

page_text: to rotate therewith and at the other end to the internal circumference of the box e,
for instance, by means of a stud ; which projects through a slot in the said box as
shewn in Figures 3 and 4. is the gear wheel engaging with both of the disc
wheels d and d, the said gear wheel being mounted upon an arm ¹ secured to a
sleeve or collar k² fixed to the axle 6 so that as the said axle rotates the arm k¹ will
move around with it.
The gear wheel as shewn in the drawings is provided with two sets of teeth one
of which engages with the teeth of the wheel d and the other with the teeth of the
wheel d¹. This arrangement being employed in order that the speed of rotation of
the spring-box and the consequent coiling of the spring shall approximately
correspond with the time occupied in bringing the vehicle to rest, so that whilst the
spring will be fully coiled the wheels shall not be caused to skid.
I is the flange or pulley which is formed upon an extension or web on the disc
wheel d' Around this flange is a friction band m made in two parts so arranged
relatively with each other that, by moving a lever n in connection with the said
sections of the band, the latter will grip the flange l. The band m is suspended
from a bracket o carried by the axle 6 so that the position of the said band
relatively with the flange will not vary owing to the movement of the body of the
vehicle upon its springs.
p is a band which surrounds the spring-box e and which is designed to be gripped
upon the periphery of the said spring-box by the movement of a lever pl similar to
the lever n. This band is also supported by the bracket o by means of a bar o¹ ;
the said bracket o and bands m and p are prevented from rotating relatively
with the axle by means of a bar or plate through which the bar o¹ of the band p
passes, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4, the said bar or plate q being attached to the
body of the vehicle as shewn in Figure 2 and permitting of the rising and falling
movements of the body without in any way imparting a corresponding movement
to the bands.
It will be understood that in practice two sets of our apparatus are used, namely,
one for working the car in one direction and the other for working it in the reverse
direction. The lever in each set of apparatus is connected by a chain r with a
hand winch s upon the platform which is in front when the particular set of
apparatus to which the winch is applied is being used, and the other lever p' is
connected by a chaint to a foot lever u upon the other or tail platform.
v, v are pawls connected to the bar o' in each apparatus, which pawls are adapted
to engage with teeth ex on the periphery of the spring box and hold the latter
against rotation in one direction, the said pawls being normally held out of
engagement with the said teeth by pins vi, v' impinging against extensions ², v² on
the pawls. The pins v, v are upon a plate v³ adapted to slide upon one side of the
bar o, it being limited in its sliding movement by pins v, v on the said bar passing
through slots in the plate. The plate 3 is moved in one direction so as to allow
the pawls to fall into engagement with the teeth ex by a chain connected to the
chain and in the opposite direction by a spring vª when the chain r is slack, the
said spring being also connected to the framing of the car.
The operation of the apparatus herein before described is as follows:-The
tram-car being in motion the brake bands m and p are both out of contact with the
flange and spring-box respectively, the result being that the intermediate gear-
wheel, the spring-box e and the disc wheel d¹ and flange will move with the
axle so that there is no movement of either of the disc wheels or of the wheel k
relatively with each other or with the axle. If now the driver wishes to bring the
vehicle to rest, he rotates the winch s at his end of the car to tighten the chain r
to move the plate v³ to allow the pawls v, v to engage the teeth of the spring-box e
and also to move the lever n to cause the band m to grip the flange of the disc
wheel d¹ whereby the said wheel is beld against rotation; the result of this is that
the continued movement of the axle 6 causes the rotation of the gear wheel k and
consequently also the rotation of the disc wheel and spring-box e in the same
direction as the axle bis rotating but more quickly, whereby the spring f will be

page_text: coiled up in the box. Whilst the spring is being coiled up the pawls v, v do not
interfere with the rotation of the spring-box e.
When it is again desired to start the vehicle, the driver removes the band m
from the pulley 7 so that the spring f by reacting upon the bub or boss i causes the
rotation of the driving axle b and the consequent forward movement of the vehicle,
the spring being prevented from reacting to drive the car backwards by the
pawls v, v. During this reaction of the spring, the spring-box is held against
rotation by the pawls v, whilst the wheel d with the flange has a rotation due to
the engagement of the gear wheel k with the then stationary disc wheel d as the
said gear wheel is moved relatively with the disc wheel d by the rotation of the
axle b under the action of the spring. When the spring has expended its energy,
it commences to rotate with the axle and with the disc wheel d' in the manner
hereinbefore described, and the pawls v, v are at the same time withdrawn from
the teeth ex by the spring vs.
In order that in case of urgency additional brake-power may be readily applied,
it is only necessary, in addition to operating the winch as herein before described,
for the driver also to place his foot upon the pedal u and thereby operate the
lever pl which tightens the band upon the spring-box e at the rear end of the
vehicle and which had not previously been in use; as the result of thus tightening
the band p, the rotation of this spring-box is arrested so that the continued
movement of the driving axle carrying the said box winds up the spring therein
and thereby offers a certain amount of resistance. After the vehicle has been
brought to rest, the spring band p is released when the spring-box (not being
further held) flies back.
Although we have described the train of gearing as provided with an inter-
mediate bevel wheel between the two disc wheels, it is to be understood that we
may employ ordinary spur gearing as illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 5, the
circle windicating the pitch line of the teeth on the disc wheel d which are
internal teeth, the circle x the pitch line of the teeth on the disc d' which are
external teeth and the circle y the pinion engaging with both the internal and
external toothed wheels.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. In apparatus for facilitating the starting and stopping of tramway and other
vehicles, the employment of an epicyclic train of gearing in connection with a
spring for storing the energy of momentum rotating with the wheel axle, the said
train of gearing being so arranged that the spring is wound by causing one end to
travel faster than the other, substantially as described.
2. Apparatus for facilitating the starting and stopping of tramway and other
vehicles comprising an epicyclic train of three gear wheels two of which are loose
upon the wheel axle whilst the third is carried by an arm upon the said axle, one
of the said wheels being arranged in connection with a coiled spring whilst the
other is arranged in connection with a brake which serves to hold it. stationary
when required, substantially as described.
3. The improvements in apparatus for facilitating the starting and stopping of
tramway and other vehicles hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accom-.
panying drawings.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.