Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Operating Crane Gantries.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th May, 1894-Accepted, 30th June, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Operating Crane
Gantries.
I, JOHN GRICE STATTER, of 68 Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, Electrical 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 the apparatus employed in operating the gantries of
electric cranes; and it is designed to enable the supporting wheels of the gantry
to be driven directly by the electro-motor employed to actuate the crane and so
to dispense with the hand gearing usually employed.
In order that the description of my invention may be more readily grasped I
have appended hereto a sheet of drawings illustrative of my invention.
In the said drawings
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 an end elevation of an electric crane
upon a gantry to which my invention is applied.
Figure 3 is a diagrammatic end view of the electro-motor employed for raising
the load.
In Figure 4 are grouped the details of a convenient form of connection to be
described hereinafter.
In Figures 1 and 2. A is the gantry, running in this case on the wheels a¹ a².
B is the crane cabin and b the jib. C is the electro-motor, which serves not only
to operate the gantry but also to raise the load on the crane. So far as the present
invention is concerned, we have only to do with the operation of the gantry. To
effect this I attach to the end of the motor shaft a flexible power transmitting
shaft D of any convenient type, and I attach the other end of the said flexible
shaft to the first element of the transmitting gear which transmits the power to the
gantry wheels a¹ and a².
One convenient way of effecting this is shown in the
drawings. E is a spindle or shaft, one end of which turns in the bearing e' and
the other end in the bearing e³. Upon this spindle is mounted the worm e which
engages in and rotates the worm wheel e which operates the gantry wheels a¹ and a³
in a well known way. When it is desired to operate the gantry wheels all that is
necessary is to connect the motor shaft with the worm spindle through the flexible
shaft. A convenient way of effecting this is by the connecting devices shown in
Figure 4. In this figure D is the flexible shaft as before, and d¹ is a slotted collar
adapted to slide circumferentially around the end piece of D. The said end piece
of D has a square orifice d' therein with slot d as shown. Into the said square
orifice fits the squared end e of the spindle E, the stud e thereon lying in the
slot d. It will be understood that the end of the motor shaft might be squared
and fitted with a stud just as the end of the worm spindle is shown to be in
Figure 4. Or instead of these shafts or spindles being squared as described, they
may have sliding collars at their ends and also square orifices and slots similar
to do, do, and the two ends of the flexible shaft may be fitted with squared end
pieces like e and bear studs like eº.
I shall hereinafter for the purposes of this Specification refer to the transmitting
gear serving to actuate the gantry wheels and which connects the worm wheel e
with the said gantry wheels as the "gantry gear": and I shall term the said gantry
gear together with the worm wheel, worm and worm spindle the "gantry operating
device.'
The action of my invention is as follows. Let us assume that it is desired to
move the gantry along the rails on which the wheels a¹ and a³ run. Let us assume

page_text: also that in the form of apparatus employed the flexible shaft has squared end
pieces and that the motor shaft and the worm spindle bave squared orifices and
sliding collars as hereinbefore described. The flexible shaft is taken and one of
the squared ends is thrust into the square orifice of the motor shaft in such manner
that the stud e enters the slot d. The sliding collar is now moved round until its
slot engages the stud when the parts are fixed in position by turning the winged
nut on the said sliding collar. In a similar manner the other end of the flexible
shaft is fixed in the worm spindle. The gantry can now be operated by switching
the current on to the electro-motor, when on the rotation of the armature the
power is transmitted to the gantry wheels a¹ and a through the flexible shaft and the
gantry operating device and the gantry is moved along its rails. When the electro-
motor is to be used for hoisting it is disconnected from the flexible shaft, and the
latter thrown down so as to hang from the connection at the other end.. Or the
flexible shaft may be disconnected altogether both from the motor shaft and from
the worm spindle. The flexible shaft should not be left connected to both the
motor shaft and the worm spindle when the crane is slewing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
-claim is.
1. In an electrically operated gantry, the application of a flexible shaft sub-
stantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination of electro-motor, flexible shaft and gantry operating device
substantially as set forth.
3. The combination of electro-motor, flexible shaft, worm spindle, worm, worm
wheel and gantry gear substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Doted this 16th day of May 1004.
For the Applicant,
J. G. LORRAIN, M. Inst. E.E., M. Inst. M.E.,
Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, Strand, London, WC.,
Chartered Patent Agent.