Improved Fender or Obstruction Remover for Attachment to Tramcars.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th June, 1899-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Fender or Obstruction Remover for Attachment to
Tramcars.
I, WILHELM MATTES, of 23, Gr. Rosenstrasse, Altona, Duchy of Holstein, in
the German Empire, Manager, 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 :-
Hitherto fenders or obstruction removers carried by tram cars have possessed
the disadvantage that a body falling in front of the car is either severely injured
by violent contact with the fender, or else gets underneath the fender or guard
itself, so that there is little or no real protection against the danger of being
run over.
"
My improved fender or obstruction remover-when compared with already
known inventions of the same nature, some of which have had to be abandoned
possesses the great advantage that the appliance works quite automatically
at the moment of impending danger, and is completely independent of the.
attention and presence of mind of the driver. When my invention is in use,
it is altogether impossible for a body falling in front of the tram car to be
drawn underneath the wheels, because the action of my improved fender is
two-fold in the following sense. The safety guard provided in front which I
will hereinafter term the fore guard," offers a place of safety to a body fall-
ing direct thereon, said foreguard running on rollers and having joints easily
manipulated and being provided with strong wire-gauze or cord-netting. If,
however, the obstruction lies in the middle of the track, the fore guard, which
has an upturned edge in front, is enabled to pass over the body or obstruction..
rising in so doing and releasing a second fender or catcher, hereinafter termed
the rear guard." situated underneath the ear. This rear guard being thus
automatically released, when the fore guard is lifted by the obstruction, falls
with its two side arms, upon the rails, and sets in motion a system of rollers
situated between the two arms, the effect of this motion being to gently lift
the obstruction, say, the body of a person, and drop same into the net of the
rear guard or second catcher. The latter in its descent will automatically stop
the car, its lateral arms acting as a brake. The same descending motion also
works the slide of a sand box in such a manner that the contents of this box
The moment
fall upon the rails, thus greatly assisting in stopping the car.
the rear guard is released, other nets arranged laterally will be caused by springs
to open out at the sides of the car and drop on the pavement, their normal
positions being at the sides of the car, but turned upwards when the car and
the fore guard and rear guard are also in their normal positions.
Thus a person falling sideways upon the fender or guard is prevented from
being dragged under the wheels of the car.
In order, that my invention may be more clearly understood, I have attached
liereto a sheet of drawings, on which
Figure 1 shows the front part of a tram car with my improved double acting
fender in its usual or non-working position,

page_text: Figure 2 shows the same when an obstruction has come underneath the fore
guard.
Figures 3 to 7 show, on an enlarged scale, the main parts of the arrange-
ment
Figure 3 being a side view of the rear guard,
Figure 4a section of Figure 3, and
Figure 5 a front view of the rear guard.
Figure 6 shows the spring bearings of the india-rubber cylinder hereinafter
described.
Figure a front view of Figure 6, and
Figure 8 a view of the fore guard from line - in Figure 1.
Upon a plate which is preferably situated underneath the car, two levers y
are mounted on a shaft which rotates freely in bearings a¹. These levers y
are bent in an upward direction at the front, and carry an indiarubber roller g'.
Between the said levers g and the plate a, a wire gauze or narrow net of any
suitable material extends in such a manner as to afford plenty of room for the
reception of a person falling upon this safety catcher, the levers g extending
for this purpose as far as convenient towards the front. If, however, a person
or object should be lying already upon the track, this forward safety arrange-
ment fulfils quite another purpose.
Underneath the bottom of car and fixed to same at each side are bearings b
which serve to support the shaft upon which are mounted small levers / in
working connection with the said shaft. These levers are connected at certain
points with the levers g by means of connecting rods k.
The levers, which are arranged at a distance from each other equal to the
width of the track, serve as supports to bent levers which belong to the rear
guard or catcher placed underneath the car, only intended to be used when the
foreguard has not removed the obstruction.
As the front catcher or foreguard is not always capable of catching the body
lying between the rails, it may happen that the body remains on the ground,
the fore guard simply passing over it and thus being raised, whereupon the
levers c which rest upon the levers h are caused to fall, the rods & having drawn
the small levers from their original positions as shown in Figure 2. The
levers which pivot on shaft d now fall-after releasing the levers h-directly
on to the rails, the additional piece c¹ coming into contact with the latter and
thus substantially assisting in stopping the car. A small lever is mounted
upon shaft in such a manner as to press against a compressed spring when
the arrangement is out of action. As soon as the levers are released from
their supports, this spring substantially contributes to an increase in the speed
at which the levers e descend.
As
The second protector or rear guard also offers a convenient resting place for
a person or body falling upon the line and is able to easily pick same up by
means of an arrangement consisting of three rollers m, n, o, the indiarubber
roller m of which touches the pavement as soon as the levers & drop down.
a result of this contact, the roller m is set in rotation, whereby the endless
bands g, which communicate with the rollers and o. cause the body picked up
to be slowly and gently carried to the protecting net r into which it falls on
leaving the roller o.
In order also to prevent the braking action of the levers e from being influ-
enced by the roller lifting the levers in consequence of irregularities in the pave-
ment, the shaft of the said roller m is made elastic at each side by means of
springs (see Figures 6 and 7) so that any jolting to which said roller might
12
be exposed will have little or no influence on the levers c.
Another safety arrangement is provided in case an obstructing body lies
about the rails, but only in part underneath the car. This arrangement con-
sists of a net or catcher t, attached to the car by hinges, which when not
in use is turned up and engages with spring clips to as may be seen in Figure 1,

page_text: but falls down at the same time as the main fender, in such a manner as to
take up a slanting position across the pavement and beside the rails. This
catcher t is provided at the side of the wheel with a wall of net work u made
of flexible material, as the net has to be turned upwards.
In order to keep the levers in position upon the rails after the fender has
fallen down, a stop mechanism is attached to said levers, consisting of a pawl-
like hook p, the teeth of which engage with a stud p¹ fixed to the car, whereby
the levers c are prevented from leaving the rails.
An apparatus for spreading sand, which is coupled to the stop mechanism,
serves materially to assist the stopping of the car, under the influence of the
brake levers. The box s, see Figures 1 and 2, is closed by a slide st which is
lifted simultaneously with the fall of the levers c by means of the pawl-like
hook p, thus causing the contents of said box to pour out upon the rails, and
produce a still more effective braking of the car.
Many small alterations may be made on the double acting fender, without
materially altering the principle of this invention; thus, for example, the
releasing of the levers from their normal positions could be effected by
electric means.
As may be understood from the drawings and description, my improved pro-
tecting apparatus offers an essential advantage when compared with existing
arrangements of the same nature, because injuries to persons accidentally fall-
ing under the car are altogether impossible, the net of the rear guard or
catcher, which affords support for the back of the person caught by same, being
constructed in such a manner that should the body be carried lengthwise on
the bands and either the head or the feet strike against the said net w (which
is made flexible and yielding by expanding springs), there will still be spare
room even in such a position of the body, until the person is entirely raised
from the pavement by the working bands on the rollers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is -
1. A duplex fender or obstruction remover for attachment to tramcars con-
sisting of a forward safety guard in combination with a rear safety catcher the
whole being arranged so that the forward guard when in its normal position
causes a trigger to keep the rear catcher raised out of action the latter remain-
ing unaffected by any body falling upon the forward guard but falling into
working position automatically upon said forward guard passing and rising
over any obstruction said obstruction being drawn into the rear catcher the
arms of which meanwhile act as a retarding brake substantially as described.
2. A duplex fender or obstruction remover for attachment to tramcars con-
sisting of a forward safety guard in combination with a rear safety catcher
the latter being normally held up clear of the track by a trigger operated auto-
matically from the forward guard and having two pivotted side arms with
short hinged extremities capable of dropping within the groove of the rail
for the purpose of braking the car and an endless band passing over three
rollers and being rotated by the friction of one of said rollers against the
ground and the means of operating the side nets the stop mechanism and the
sand box for the purpose and substantially in the manner herein before described.
Dated this 3rd day of J 1800.
C
For the Applicant,
STANLEY, POPPLEWELL & Co.,
61 & 2, Chancery Lane,
(7 & 8, Southampton Buildings), London, W.C.,
Chartered Patent Agents.