Improvements in Safety Guards for Tramway Engines and Carriages.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 18th May, 1889-Accepted, 22nd June, 1889
TYRIONAL DIBITIVATION.
Improvements in Safety Guards for Tramway Engines and
Carriages.
I CHARLES ALLARTON EDGE of No. 21 Bennett's Hill Birmingham in the County
of Warwick Architect do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:-
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in safety guards
for tramway engines and carriages the said safety guards having for their object to
pick up with little or no injury children or grown up persons who may be in the
path of the engine or carriage as well as to pick up and remove from the path of the
engine or carriage any obstruction of such a size as would if not removed injure
the engine or carriage or interfere with its progress.
I will describe my invention in connection with a tramway engine. On each side
of the front of the engine an arm or bracket is fixed each of the said arms terminating
in a horizontal collar. These arms carry the metallic frame of a net extending across
the lower part of the front of the engine the said collars and net being constructed
arranged and operating in the following manner.
The metallic frame of the net is oblong in figure but is bent or curved to the figure
of the projecting front of the engine. Its ends are curved their convex sides being
turned towards the engine. The net carried by the frame is concave in front its top
being nearly vertical and its bottom nearly horizontal.
The ends of the frame of the net pass through the fixed collars hereinbefore referred
to the height at which the net is supported being determined by adjustable collars on
the ends of the frame bearing on the fixed collars carried by the fixed arms or
brackets. The height of the net from the ground is determined by adjusting the said
collars on the ends of the frame of the net and fixing them by set screws and lock
nuts. I prefer to fix the net at such a height that its lower edge is about an inch
from the ground as at that height it will escape the ordinary asperities of the ground.
On the occurence of any irregularity in the roadway slightly exceeding in height
the height to which the lower edge of the net has been adjusted the lower odgo of
the frame of the net coming in contact with the said irregularity the net rises its
ends rising in the fixed collars. After passing the irregularity the net falls into its
original position by its own weight.
The upper part of the net does not come into contact with the front of the engine
but is supported at a distance of three or four inches therefrom by stops coiled springs
pressing it against the said stops.
When a large obstacle such as a child or grown up person is approached by the
engine the lower edge of the frame coming into contact with the lower part of the
child or person the net is depressed automatically and the child or person is thrown
from his feet and falls into the concave net. The upper edge of the frame of the
net may be connected by means of a horizontal connecting rod to the lower short arm
of a vertical lever under the control of the engine driver. When a child or person
is approached and is seen by the engine driver he can by operating this lever effect
the depression of the net thus anticipating the automatic action by contact with the
child or person.
If the child or person caught in the net has sufficient presence of
mind he may grasp with his hand the upper bar of the frame of the net or pass his
arm over the said bar into the space between it and the front of the engine.
In order to permit of the depression of the lower edge of the net the holes in the
fixed collars hereinbefore referred to through which holes the ends of the frame of
the net pass are not cylindrical but are wider at top and bottom than at the middle.
The net is thereby made capable of taking the position described either automatically

page_text: described.
by contact with a child or person or by the action of the driver on the lever
When the obstacle in front of the engine is other than a child or grown up person
the action of the guard is substantially the saine as that described with reference to a
child or grown up person.
Dried this 1st day of September.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Safety Guards for Tramway Engines and
Carriages.
I CHARLES ALLARTON EDGE of No. 21 Bennett's Hill Birmingham in the County
of Warwick Architect do hereby declare the nature of my 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 consists of the improvements hereinafter described in safety guards
for tramway engines and carriages the said safety guards having for their object to
pick up with little or no injury children or grown up persons who may be in the
path of the engine or carriage as well as to pick up and remove from the path of
the engine or carriage any obstruction of such a size as would if not removed injure
the engine or carriage or interfere with its progress.
I will describe my invention in connection with a tramway engine. On each side
of the front of the engine an arm or bracket is fixed, each of the said arms
terminating in a horizontal collar. These arms carry the metallic frame of a net
extending across the lower part of the front of the engine, the said collars and net
being constructed arranged and operating in the following manner.
The metallic frame of the net is oblong in figure but is bent or curved to the
figure of the projecting front of the engine. Its ends are curved, their convex sides
being turned towards the engine. The net carried by the frame is concave in front
its top being nearly vertical and its bottom nearly horizontal.
The ends of the frame of the net pass through the fixed collars hereinbefore
referred to, the height at which the net is supported being determined by adjustable
collars on the ends of the frame bearing on the fixed collars carried by the fixed
arms or brackets. The height of the net from the ground is determined by adjusting
the said collars on the ends of the frame of the net and fixing them by set screws and
lock nuts.
I prefer to fix the net at such a height that its lower edge is about an
inch from the ground as at that height it will escape the ordinary asperities of the
ground. On the occurrence of any irregularity in the roadway slightly exceeding in
height the height to which the lower edge of the net has been adjusted the lower edge
of the frame of the net coming in contact with the said irregularity the net rises, its
ends rising in the fixed collars. After passing the irregularity the net falls into its
original position by its own weight.
The upper part of the net does not come into contact with the front of the engine
but is supported at a distance of three or four inches therefrom by stops, coiled springs
pressing it against the said stops.
When a large obstacle such as a child or grown up person is approached by the
engine, the lower edge of the frame coming into contact with the lower part of
the child or person the net is depressed automatically and the child or person is
thrown from his feet and falls into the concave net. The upper edge of the frame
of the net may be connected by means of a horizontal connecting rod to the lower
short arm of a vertical lever under the control of the engine driver. When a child
or person is approached and is seen by the engine driver he can by operating this
lever effect the depression of the net thus anticipating the automatic action by contact
with the child or person.
If the child or person caught in the net has sufficient

page_text: presence of mind he may grasp with his hand the upper bar of the frame of the net
or pass his arm over the said bar into the space between it and the front of the
engine.
In order to permit of the depression of the lower edge of the net, the holes in the
fixed collars herein before referred to through which holes the ends of the frame of
the net pass, are not cylindrical but are wider at top and bottom than at the middle.
The net is thereby made capable of taking the position described either automatically
by contact with a child or person or by the action of the driver on the lever
described.
When the obstacle in front of the engine is other than a child or grown up person
the action of the guard is substantially the same as that described with reference to a
child or grown up person.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
nanner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation and Figure 2 in plan taken at different levels
a portion of a tramway engine to which a safety guard constructed according to my
invention is applied, the water tank being situated above the base of the engine;
Figure 3 represents in side elevation and Figure 4 in plan a portion of a tramway
engine to which a safety guard constructed according to my invention is applied, the
water tank being situated at the base of the engine. The appliances for working
the safety guard represented in Figures 1 and 2 are somewhat different from the
appliances for the same purpose represented in Figures 3 and 4 as herein after
described.
Figures 5 and 6 represent details of the supporting and working arrangements
represented in Figures 1 and 2 and Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 represent details of the
working arrangement represented in Figures 3 and 4 drawn to a larger scale.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
a, a is the metallic frame of the net or guard having the form best seen in the
plans Figures 2 and 4, the concave inner part of the said frame following the
general outline of the front of the engine to which it is applied; b is the net carried
by the said frame a the said net having the concave figure at front shown in the
elevations Figures 1 and 3 where it will be seen that the top is nearly vertical and
the bottom nearly horizontal; c, c are the arms or brackets fixed on each side of the
front d of the engine, the said arms or brackets carrying the frame a of the safety
guard. One of the said arms or brackets c is shown drawn to a large scale together
with a portion of the frame of the safety guard and the lever for working it in
elevation, partly in section in Figure 5, and a plan of the said arm or bracket is
shown in Figure 6. The height of the said arms or brackets c, c on the front of the
engine is made adjustable by the fixing screw bolts and nuts and slots c³, c². On the
end of each of the arms or brackets is a fixed collar e through which collars the
ends or sides of the guard frame a pass as best seen in the enlarged view Figure 5.
The fixed collars e, e are made separable from the arms or brackets c, c and have the
shape best seen in the plan Figure 6 and are fixed in their places by the screw bolts
and nuts e. It will be seen by an examination of the sectional view of one of the
collars e Figure 5 that the interior of the said collar is not cylindrical but is wider
at top and bottom than at the middle to permit of the front of the safety guard being
depressed automatically or by the action of the engine driver and of being raised
into its normal position; are the adjustable collars on the net or guard frame a
by which collars the height at which the ends of the frame can be supported is
determined the said adjusting collars ff resting on the upper faces of the fixed
collars e e on the arms or brackets c c. The position of the adjustable collars, on
the net or guard frame is fixed by the set screws and lock nuts at *(see Figure 5).
The net or safety guard is supported by means of the adjustable collars f, f
at such a height that the lower edge of its frame will escape the ordinary
asperities of the ground but the means described and represented by which the said
frame is supported permits the ends of the guard frame a to rise in the fixed

page_text: .
collars e. should the lower edge of the guard frame come in contact with any
irregularity higher than the ordinary asperities of the road, the said net or guard
falling into its normal position by its own weight after having passed the said
irregularities as will be understood by an examination of the drawing. The upper
part of the frame of the guard is prevented from coming into contact with the front
of the engine by the coiled spring of the lever mechanism; or stays or stops may be
used for that purpose.
The arrangement for depressing the front lower edge of the safety guard represented
in Figures 1 and 2 consists of the hand levor y having at its bottom the connecting
rod h, the claw end of which embraces the top of the guard frame a (as best seen in
Figure 5). The hand lever g is pressed outwards or towards the front of the engine
by the coiled spring i. The short bottom arm of the hand lever g is thereby pressed
inwards or from the front of the engine and through the connecting rod
presses
the upper edge of the guard frame inwards and lifts and maintains the said guard in
the position represented in the Drawing. The hand lever g is fixed in its adjusted
position by the pawl and toothed quadrant at k.
In order to depress ab and make its lower front edge touch or nearly touch the
ground the engine driver pulls back the hand lever g in the direction of the arrow
Figure 1. The lower short arm of the said hand lever is thereby pressed outwards
and with it the rod and the latter operating on the upper edge of the frame of
the guard ab gives a tilting action to the said guard and brings its lower front
edge into contact or nearly into contact with the ground.
In the arrangement represented in Figures 3 and 4 the forked lever is made to
embrace the top edge of the frame of the guard a, b the said lever being operated by
the engine driver through the connecting rod m and hand lever n pressed outwards
or towards the front of the engine by the spring p. The engine driver pulls back the
hand lever n in the direction of the arrow Figure 3 for causing the depression of
the front edge of the safety guard the action of the depressing mechanism upon the
safety guard being the same as that of the arrangement represented in Figures 1
and 2. The forked lever 7 turns on the centre carried by the forked army fixed
on the water tank or front d of the engine. A portion of the forked lever land
its connection with the connecting rod m is shown drawn to a larger scale in Figure 7.
A plan of the forked arm and the joint of the lever and a portion of the upper
edge of the safety guard a, b is shown drawn to a larger scale in Figure 8 and a plan
of the said forked lever is represented in Figure 9 and an elevation of the forked
end of the same in Figure 10.
The action of the safety guard is as follows:-
When a large obstacle such as a child or grown up person is approached by the
engine, the lower edge of the frame a coming into contact with the lower part of
the child or person, the net is depressed automatically and the child or person is
thrown from his feet and falls into the concave net. When a child or person in the
path of the engine is approached and is seen by the engine driver he can by operating
the lever g orn effect the depression of the net or guard as before described, thus
anticipating the automatic action by contact with the child or person. The removal
of an obstacle in the path of the engine other than a child or person is effected by
the guard in à like manner.
My improvements may be applied to tramway carriages as well as to tramway
engines.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and the manner of performing the same I declare that 1 claim as my invention
of "Improvements in safety guards for tramway engines and carriages":-
First The arrangement or combination of the parts of the safety guard and its
position with respect to the front of the tramway engine or carriage hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly Connecting the safety guard by the ends or sides of its frame to the
front of the tramway engine or carriage by arms or brackets terminating in

page_text: horizontal collars through which collars the ends or sides of the guard frame pass the
said horizontal collars being so constructed that while they permit the guard to rise
and fall to accommodate it to the asperities of the ground they also permit of the
guard being tilted and its front lower edge being depressed either automatically or
by the engine driver or attendant for the purpose and substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly Supporting the safety guard on the fixed horizontal collars of the arms
or brackets carried by the tramway engine or carriage and determining the normal
height of the guard from the ground by means of adjustable collars secured to the
ends or sides of the guard frame substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
Lastly The arrangements or combinations of the parts of mechanism herein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for depressing the safety
guard by the engine driver or attendant when the engine or carriage is approaching
the child, person or obstacle to be caught by the guard.
Dated the Sixteenth day of May 1889.