Improvements in Apparatus for Working Electric Tramways.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th July, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 13th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 18th May, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Working Electric Tramways.
I CHRIS ANDERSON of Lane House Jack Lane in Hunslet in the City of Leeds
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Under the present method of working electric tramways it is necessary to have
motors of sufficient capacity to surmount the hardest part of the road although
that part may be but a very small proportion of the whole length of the road.
This is a great drawback because of the additional weight which the tram cars
have to carry which becomes aggravated when the car is required to travel up hill,
besides adding greatly to the expense of working. To overcome these difficulties
and use only motors which are sufficient for the major part of the length of road
I propose to supplement the motors carried by the cars by the use of cable haulage
that is to say by the use of underground travelling cables placed under the
roadway in those places where additional power is required. These cables will be
laid and connection between them and the cars will be made in such manner as is
common to underground haulage cables but they will be worked by electricity by
means of motors driven by the same current as that by which the car propelled
and will be set in motion by the car as it comes to the place where the additional
power is required, and the motion will cease when the additional power is no longer
required. For the purposes aforesaid I mount upon the car a switch, to be
operated by the driver, by means whereof a part of the electric current from the
cable driving the car may be diverted so as to pass downward through suitable
connections into a separate cable or wire below used solely for the purpose of
driving the motors by which the haulage cable is set in motion. This invention is
supplemental to that described in my application for Letters Patent numbered
14647 of the year 1893, but it may be applied to any system of electric tramway.
As applied to my said last mentioned invention the connection between the main
cable and the separate cable for driving the haulage motors may be made through
the mechanical pegs a special form of which would be used for the purpose
whereever a haulage cable is to be used.
Dated this 12th day of July 1894.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Working Electric Tramways.
I CHRIS ANDERSON of Lane House Jack Lane in Hunslet in the City of Leeds
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 :-
Under the present method of working electric tramways it is necessary to have
motors of sufficient capacity to surmount the hardest part of the road although that
part may be but a very small proportion of the whole length of the road. This is
a great drawback because of the additional weight which the tram cars have to
carry which becomes aggravated when the car is required to travel up hill, besides
D

page_text: adding greatly to the expense of working. To overcome these difficulties and use
only motors which are sufficient for the major part of the length of road 1 propose
to supplement the motors carried by the cars by the use of cable haulage that is to
say by the use of underground travelling cables placed under the roadway in those
places where additional power is required. These haulage cables are laid and
connections between them and the cars made in such manner as is common to
underground haulage cables but they are worked by electricity by means of motors
driven by the same current as that by which the car is propelled. Each haulage
cable is set in motion by the car as it comes to the place where the additional
power is required, and the motion ceases when the additional power is no longer
required. For the purposes aforesaid I mount upon the car a switch, to be
operated by the driver, by means whereof a part of the electric current from the
cable driving the car may be diverted so as to pass downward through suitable
connections into a separate cable or wire below used solely for the purpose of
driving the motors by which the haulage cable is set in motion. This invention is
supplemental to that described in my application for Letters Patent numbered
14,647 of the year 1893 but it may be applied to any system of electric tramway.
As applied to my said last mentioned inventions the connection between the main
cable and the separate cable for driving the haulage motors may be made through
the mechanical pegs a special form of which is used for the purpose wherever a
haulage cable is to be used.
Such being the nature of my invention I now proceed to describe more fully by
means of the accompanying drawings the means by which I carry the same into
practical effect.
Figure 1 shows in vertical cross section looking at the back of the car a portion
of the tram car frame with the wheels of the car and the motor with the 2 ramps
and contact brush beneath also a section of the roadway supporting the car
showing the rails, the haulage cable conduit with the slit and in dotted lines the box
containing the peg mechanism showing the pegs up.
Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of the mechanical and contact pegs on
line c. d (see Figure 4) looking toward the car as it approaches showing also in
cross section the contact brush and ramp and showing also the method of forming
connection between the contact peg and the electric supply cable below and also
the method of forming connection between the mechanical peg and the baulage
motor cable below.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of a tram car as seen ascending an incline with the
gripper shown descending from the front of the car down through the slit in
the roadway and in contact with the haulage cable showing also the haulage cable
and haulage motor.
Figure 4 is a plan of the underframe of a tram car also of the roadway with
three mechanical boxes also the slit rail for contact with the haulage cable showing
also the electrical connections from the switch boards to the car motor to the
contact brush and to the ramp.
The same letters and numbers refer to the same parts in each figure.
A. A. represents respectively the tram car as shown in vertical cross section and
side elevation in Figures 1 and 3 and the underframe only as shown in Figure 4.
A Aare the driver's platforms at the ends of the car.
AA are the splash
boards. 1. 1 are the tram car wheels. 2 is the car motor. 3. 3 are the ramps
one for each way the car runs. 4 is the contact brush attached to the car. 5 is
the mechanical peg whose upper end slides through the box cover 10' and its lower
end in the socket 17. The mechanical peg is mounted on a stud or cross arm 6
on the other end of which the contact peg 7 is mounted. 8 is the roadway 9. 9 the
tram rails and 10 the box containing the pegs and operating mechanism, and 10¹ is
the box cover.
11 is the conduit sunk in the roadway and 11' is the slot in the
conduit cover.
12 is the haulage cable. The contact peg 7 is provided with a
rod 51 for the purpose of forming contact with the supply cable 14 by means of the
C spring 5 sliding in the socket 13 connected with the supply cable.

page_text: The contact peg shown in detail in Figure 2 is so constructed as that its sides on
the parts which pass through and in contact with the box cover are insulated from
the top which comes into contact with the contact brush and from the rod 5¹.
When the peg is down it is out of connection with the supply cable.
The mechanical peg 5 is made hollow but with a central rod 18 for the purpose
of forming contact when required with the electric haulage motor cable 20 by
means of the spring 19 projecting through a slot formed on the side of the
mechanical peg. The sides of the mechanical peg are insulated from the central
rod in like manner as the contact peg. 21 is the haulage motor and 22 is the
gripper preferably one at each end of the car for gripping on to the haulage cable.
23. 23 are switchboards mounted one at each end of the car. Each switchboard is
connected by a wire 24 to the contact brush 4 and through it and the contact peg 7
to the electric supply cable. A wire 25 conveys electricity from the switchboard
to the car motor 2 and a third wire 26 is provided capable of being switched into
contact with the ramps 3. 3 (one at a time only according to the direction the car
is to run) and thereby supply electricity to the haulage motor cable through the
central rod of the mechanical peg.
The action of my apparatus is as follows:-Where a car comes to a part of the
road where a haulage cable is laid and it is desired to use it, the driver of the car
will drop the gripper 22 so as to engage with the haulage cable 12 and at the same
time switch on the electric current to the haulage motor cable 20. The electric
current will then pass from the electric supply cable 14 up through the contact
peg 7 then through the contact brush 4 to the switchboard 23 then through the
wire 26 to the mechanical peg 5 and down the central rod 18 and the spring 19 to
the haulage motor cable 20 and thence to the motor 21 and so set the haulage
cable in motion.
My invention is equally applicable to electric tramways worked by means of
overhead wires or to those worked by means of underground wires or cables.
The switch board is so arranged that when it is desired to use the haulage cable
the same switch will operate to turn the electricity on or off the car motor and the
haulage motor at the same time.
Electricity for lighting the car may be taken from the same switch board by the
method at present in use.
Having now particularly described the nature of my invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is
1. The application to and use upon electric tramways of haulage cables as an
auxiliary power.
2. The application to and use upon electric tramways of haulage cables worked
by electric motors as an auxiliary power-such cables being driven by electricity
derived from the same source as the car motor.
Dated this 11th day of Anril 1895.
CHRIS ANDERSON.