IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR APPLYING MOTIVE POWER TO TRAM-CARS, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Henry Hindle at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd November 1882.
WILLIAM HENRY HINDLE of Blackburn in the County of Lancaster
"IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR APPLYING MOTIVE POWER TO
TRAM-CARS, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER SIMILAR
PURPOSES
"
This invention relates principally to the construction of apparatus for applying
the motive power of a gas engine to propel a tramway car of that class wherein
the body of the car is mounted upon a central stud or pivot, so that when arrived
at its journeys end itcan be turned round end for end, before commencing the
journey in the opposite direction, the under carriage and wheels retaining their
position on the track.
At the front end of the body of the carriage is fixed a small engine shed
carrying the gas engine (which I prefer to be of the vertical type) having at the
top a gas reservoir, and at the other end of the body is the platform for the
entrance and exit of the passengers.
On the axis of the gas engine is keyed a driving pulley which by means of a
band, chain or frictional gearing drives a loose pulley on a short driving shaft
supported in bearings below the foot plate of the engine and in a line with a
similar shaft carried in bearings attached to the under carriage or frame, slightly
above the axles of the running wheels. Upon the short driving shaft before
mentioned and in connection with the loose pulley is mounted a frictional reversing
gear so arranged that by the sliding of a clutch, by means of a lever, the loose
pulley is either locked fast with the short shaft, or caused to drive a second
friction plate and turn the shaft in the reverse direction. By moving this handle
therefore to the right or left the shaft will be driven in the required direction
without reversing the gas engine.
The inner end of the driving shaft is fitted with a sliding clutch which can be
moved into or out of gear with a corresponding clutch one of which is fixed at
each end of the longitudinal shaft carried by the frame or under carriage.
This longitudinal shaft is fitted with two quick threaded worms or screws
driving two worm wheels one fitted onto each axle of the running wheels.
D
77

page_text: Thus it will be seen that when the clutches are in gear at either end of the
longitudinal shaft all four running wheels will be driven by the gas engine.
The advantage of driving the wheels by screw gearing is that in descending an
incline it is impossible for the weight of the carriage to over-run the engine
because although the screws will drive the worm wheels, the latter cannot drive
the former.
The body of the carriage is turned round, end for end, when required by means
of a spur pinion (driven also by the gas engine) acting in gear with an elliptical
rack fixed on the under carriage and so arranged that as the body is turned across
the frame or under carriage, the former is moved endwise so as to prevent the
weight of the gas engine from overbalancing the other end, and as it comes again
into line with the frame it moves back into its former position so as to bring the
clutch of the friction gear nearly into contact with that on the end of the
longitudinal shaft.
To facilitate turning round curves, or from one line onto a branch, either to the
right or left, and to dispense with loose tongues or switches on the rails or track,
the bearings of the running axles are mounted in curved slides so that the axles
may be made to converge slightly instead of being absolutely parallel; the bearings
being moved either forwards or backwards as required by means of screws driven
by toothed gearing actuated by a pair of reversing friction pulleys which can be
moved by a lever into or out of contact with the principal friction plate of the
reversing gear before mentioned.
In order to supply the gas reservoir with gas from a stationary-main-pipe-I
provide the former with a short flexible hose at the outer end of which is fitted a
hollow conical plug tap.
The lower part of the hollow plug projects below the body of the tap and is
made with a reversed-cone which is capable of fitting into and locking with a
hollow conical plug fitted into a similar tap at the end of the stand pipe connected
with the stationary main so that when the two hollow plugs are locked together
the turning of one plug by a key or handle will open both plugs and vice versa.
The connections of the two taps are so arranged that they cannot be disconnected
without closing both taps, so that there can be no escape of gas excepting what
little is contained in the hollow plug when the disconnection is made.
This part of my invention is equally applicable wherever it is required to
charge a movable gas reservoir from a fixed gas main or gasometer for lighting or
other purposes without escape or loss of gas.
In some cases instead of carrying the gas engine on the tram-car, I propose to
mount the same upon an independent carriage and wheels so as to form a gas
traction engine. In this case the engine will drive a longitudinal shaft carried
beneath the floor and connected by screw gearing with the axles. Each end of this
longitudinal shaft is fitted with a self acting coupling box adapted to receive one
end of a coupling bar, the other end of which gears in like manner with a similar
coupling box fitted to each end of the longitudinal driving shaft carried by the
tramcar, and thus the gas engine will drive the wheels of the tramcar as well as
its own wheels. By these means the weight will be distributed over a larger
surface of the road and as the wheels of the tramcar are made to drive there will
be no occasion for the traction engine to be so heavy as would be required if it
had to pull the tramcar along.
The construction of the coupling box is as follows: near to the end of the
longitudinal driving shaft is keyed fast a notched wheel, and on the end of the
shaft outside this is fitted, so as to revolve loosely, a hollow boss or cap, part of
which projects beyond the end of the shaft and has in its centre a slot to receive
the flat end of the coupling bar. A catch works at right angles across this slot,
its end being bevilled, so that when the coupling bar is forced into the slot it
raises the catch which, when the bar is forced in further, falls into a notch in the
bar and holds it fast.
This catch is linked to a second catch one end of which is formed into a spring

page_text: and the other end into a bar which when the coupling bar forces up the catch
falls into one of the notches of the wheel above named and thus locks the loose
boss or cap fast onto the end of the driving shaft, and thus the coupling is effected
by merely pushing the bar into the slot.
To uncouple, all that is required is to raise the catch bar out of the notch of
the wheel which unlocks the loose boss or cap and at the same time withdraws the
catch and releases the coupling bar.
This construction of coupling box is also applicable to the coupling and
uncoupling of driving shafts for other purposes.