Improvements in Aerial Railways and in Vehicles therefor.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Aerial Railways and in Vehicles therefor.
I, MAURICE BROCHET, of 62, Rue Voltaire, Levallois Perret, near Paris, France,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to aerial railways and has for its object to provide a
construction of great strength and lightness, the object being to cause a train
of cars to travel overhead upon a structure supported by spaced pillars, the
train, according to my invention, being so constructed as to form, practically,
a rigid self-supporting beam or girder so that the stationary parts connecting the
said pillars act mainly as guides for the train and in some cases as supports for
electric wires, but are not necessary, strictly speaking, for supporting the train.
The invention also comprises means whereby the rigid connection between
the cars will be temporarily suspended to enable the train to travel on curves or
at points where the grade varies.
car.
The railway comprises a series of spaced pillars supporting a structure which
may be suspended by means or cables and consists mainly of a beam which is
adapted to act as a guide for the cars which rest upon said guide with the full
weight of the train only at the pillars. The suspension of the cars is effected
by means of trolley wheels resting upon the guide beam and connected with a
hanger which at its lower end has a ball engaging a suitable socket on the
In order to prevent lateral swinging of the cars I may provide the sides
of the pillars with horizontally rotating wheels for the cars to bear against.
The cars may be suspended at both ends or at one end only, and I prefer to
make the train in three sections in which the central section consists of the cars
proper adapted to receive passengers and baggage, while the two end sections
are made up of skeleton cars, the only purpose of which is to form the ends of
the rigid travelling girder formed by the train. The motors would be preferably
arranged at each end of the central section but it will be understood that I do
not confine myself to such an arrangement.
The connection of the cars is effected by means of a ball and socket joint
which connection allows the cars to move one relatively to the other upon curves
and at points where the grade changes. Normally however, it is intended to
rigidly connect the cars and this is effected by means of bolts which are located
within the ball and which are pressed outward by a spring, the length of each
bolt being however such as to allow said bolt to be withdrawn entirely into the
ball. One end of each bolt is adapted to engage a spring-pressed
bolt located within a recess adjacent to the socket and the other
end of the bolt is adapted to engage an arm carrying a trolley. This trolley
normally travels upon the under side of the guide beam and at
every point where it is desired to suspend the rigid connection of the cars, a
downwardly projecting rib is formed upon the guide beam. Normally the springs
will keep the bolts and the troller arm in such position that the bolts connect
the adjacent cars rigidly. The whole train then forms practically a girder

page_text: which rests only upon the pillars and projects freely beyond the same without
bearing, by its weight, upon the guide beam. The operation of the train is
therefor similar to the cantilever construction of a bridge and the guide beam
might be omitted altogether so far as its supporting action is concerned.
It will be obvious however that upon curves the rigid connection between
the cars must be temporarily suspended. This is effected by the action of the
rib upon the trolley which forces the arm inward so as to depress the bolt until
it is contained entirely within the ball which being then no longer locked in
the socket can rotate therein freely. The train is preferably driven by an
electric motor, a special trolley frame provided with wheels running on the
train being provided and a motor wheel connected therewith, the said motor
wheel engaging a suitable roughened or toothed surface arranged at each side of
the guide beam. A suitable device may be provided for increasing at will the
pressure or adhesion of the motor wheels so that these wheels may also be em-
ployed as a brake. The suspension points of the cars are preferably arranged
as close as possible to the ball and socket joint which connects them. It will be
seen that in my improved construction the connection between the pillars, that
is the guide beam, may be very light inasmuch as such connection does not act
as a support for a train but only as a guide therefor.
Dated this 9th day of August 1899
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.
alwayзалиш
опстев щегетог.
I, MAURICE BROCHET, Engineer, of 62, Rue Voltaire, Levallois-Perret, near
Paris, France, 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 aerial railways and has for its object to provide a
construction of great strength and lightness, the object being to cause a train
of cars to travel overhead upon a structure supported by spaced pillars, the
train, according to my invention being so constructed as to form practically
a rigid self-supporting beam or girder so that the stationary parts connecting the
said pillars act mainly as guides for the train and in some cases as supports for
electric wires, but are not necessary strictly speaking, for supporting the train.
The invention also comprises means whereby the rigid connection between
the cars will be temporarily suspended to enable the train to travel on curves or
at points where the grade varies.
The invention will be fully described hereinafter and the features of novelty
pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in all the views.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway constructed according to my invention
with parts in section;
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the train on such a railway;
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the railway and train with parts in section
upon an enlarged scale;
Figure 4 is a transverse section of the structure;

page_text: Figures 5 and 6 are a side elevation and an end elevation respectively showing
the location of the motors;
Figures 7 and 8 are longitudinal sections of adjacent ends of the cars showing
the mechanism for rigidly connecting such cars and for suspending such rigid
connection.
Figures 9 and 10 are cross sections on the lines 9-9 and 10-10 of Figures 7
and 8 respectively; and
F
Figures 11 and 12 are further enlarged details of means for connecting the.
adjacent ends of the cars in positions corresponding to Figures 8 and 7 respec-
tively.
The railway comprises a series of spaced pillars A supporting a structure
which may be suspended by means of cables B or in any suitable way and
consists mainly of a beam C which is adapted to act as a guide for the cars, see
Figure 4. The cars rest upon said guide C with the full weight of the train
only at the pillars A. The suspension of the cars is effected by means of trolley
wheels D resting upon said guide beam C and connected with a hanger E which
at its lower end has a ball F engaging in a suitable socket G₁ on the car G.
To prevent lateral swinging of the cars, horizontally rotating wheels H may be
arranged upon the sides of the pillars A, see Figure 4. The cars may be sus-
pended at both ends or at one end only, and I prefer to make the train in three
sections in which the central section consists of the cars proper adapted to
receive passengers and baggage, as indicated by shaded lines in Figure 1, while
the two end sections are made up of skeleton cars, the only purpose of which is to
form the ends of the rigid travelling girder formed by the train. Motors I are
preferably arranged at each end of the central section, but it will be understood
that I do not confine myself to such an arrangement.
The connection of the cars is effected by means of a ball and socket joint, as
shown best in Figures 3 and 7 to 12. J is the ball and J is the corresponding
socket. It will thus be seen that the connection allows the cars to move one
relatively to the other upon curves and at points where the grade changes, see
Figure 3. Normally, however, it is intended to rigidly connect the cars and
this is effected by means of bolts K which are located within the ball J and
which are pressed outward by a spring L, the length of each bolt K being such
as to allow said bolt to be withdrawn entirely into the ball J, as illustrated in
Figures 7 and 12. One end of each bolt K is adapted to engage a spring-
pressed bolt M located within a recess adjacent to the socket J and the other
end of the bolt K is adapted to engage an arm N carrying a trolley N¹. This
trolley normally travels upon the under side of the guide beam C and at every
point where it is desired to suspend the rigid connection of the cars a down-
wardly projecting rib O is formed upon the guide beam C. Normally the springs
will keep the bolt K and M and the trolley arm N in the position illustrated by
Figures 8, 10 and 11. In such position the bolts K and M connect the adjacent
cars rigidly. The whole train then forms practically a girder which rests only
upon the pillars A and projects freely beyond the same without bearing, by its
weight, upon the guide beam C. The operation of the train is therefore similar
to the cantilever construction of a bridge and the guide beam C might be
omitted altogether, so far as its supporting action is concerned.
It will be obvious, however, that upon curves the rigid connection between
the cars must be temporarily suspended. This is effected by the action of the
rib O upon the trolley N', which forces the arm N inward so as to depress the
bolt K until it is contained entirely within the ball J, see Figures 7, 9 and 12.
The ball J is then no longer locked in the socket J¹ and can rotate therein
freely, as shown best in Figures 3 and 7.
Any suitable motor may be employed. In practice I should prefer an electric
motor. In Figures 5 and 6 the arrangement of the motor is shown in detail.
A special trolley frame E¹ with wheels D' is connected with the motor wheel P
which engages a suitable roughened or toothed surface arranged at each side of

page_text: the guide beam C. A suitable device may be provided for increasing at will
the pressure or adhesion of the motor wheels P, so that these wheels may also be
employed as a brake.
The suspension points of the cars are preferably arranged as close as possible
to the ball and socket joint which connects them. It will be seen that in my
improved construction, the connection between the pillars, that is, the guide
beam C may be very light inasmuch as such connection does not act as a support
for a train but only as a guide therefor.
J
4.
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I desire it to be understood that modifications, as long as they remain within
the scope of the appended claims, constitute no departure from the spirit of my
invention.
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Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
1. Constructing the train in such a manner that it will form a self-supporting
beam from one pillar or support to the next, substantially as described.
2. Constructing the railway with a series of spaced supports or pillars con-
nected by a beam or girder serving as a guide for the train, but not designed to
support the full weight of such train, substantially as described.
3. Providing couplings whereby the ends of adjacent carriages or train sections
may be rigidly connected, substantially as described and for the purpose set
forth.
:
4. The provision of a releasing device for temporarily allowing one carriage
or train section to move relatively to its neighbour, substantially 'as described.
5. The rib (0) provided at such portions of the guide beam (C) at which it is
desired to suspend the rigid connection of the carriages or sections, such rib
being engaged by the trolley (N¹) which by its inward movement releases the
ball (J) from the socket (J) to allow the carriages to move one relatively to
the other, substantially as described.
6. The spring-pressed bolt (K) arranged within the ball (J) and adapted to
pass into the socket (J) to lock it to the ball, said bolt engaging at one end the
spring-pressed bolt (M) and at the other end the trolley arm (N), substantially as
described.
7. The construction of the guide beam (C) with portions or flanges adapted to
be engaged on top by the supporting wheels (D D¹) of the trolleys (E E¹), and at
the bottom by the driving wheels (P), substantially as described.
8. Locating the carriages proper of the train between skeleton sections, sub-
stantially as described.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.