IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- BATUS FOR PROVIDING AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN HOISTING MACHINERY, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY CARRIAGE COUPLING T.INFO.
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Walmsley and John Rostron, both of Disley,
in the County of Chester. for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
BATUS FOR PROVIDING AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN HOISTING MACHINERY, PART OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY CARRIAGE COUPLING
T.INFO.
17
BATUS FOR PROVIDING AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN HOISTING MACHINERY, PART OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY CARRIAGE COUPLING
LINFO."
Sealed the 30th July 1861. and dated the 1th February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Walmsley and
John Rostron at the Ollire of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 4th February 1861.
We, DAVID WALMSLEY and JOHN ROSTROX, both of Disley, in the County
of Chester, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN HOISTING MACHINERY
PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY CARRIAGE COUPLING
LINKS," to be follows:
Our Invention relates, firstly, to arrangements to be applied to the "boxes"
or cages" of "hoists" used in factories, warehouses, mines, and other places,
the object of which arrangements is to arrest the descent of the hox or cre
when by accident the rope on chain breaks by which the box or cage is sus
pended, and also to provide means by which the mechanism which attests the
SIT

page_text: descent of the box or cage, when the suspending rope or chain breaks can
be brought into action at any time to arrest or prevent the descent of the
box or cage below an assigned position; and our Invention consists in the
following combination of mechanism, namely, two or more toothed racks
which are fixed so as to act as the guides or conductors for the box or cage;
a cross shaft free to rotate in bearings secured to the box or cage; toothed
pinions or their equivalents, upon each end of the said cross shaft, made to
geer with teeth formed upon bolts (arranged to slide in bearings secured to
the box or cage) so as to force the said bolts into or withdraw them from the
said toothed racks; one or more springs tending to give rotation to the said
cross shaft, or to force the said bolts or their equivalents into the said toothed
racks; an arm arranged loose on the said cross shaft, but so as to be readily
connected or disconnected with it by a suitable clutch-box and handle; and a
hand wheel or lever with or without geering for rotating the said cross shaft
to withdraw the said bolts from the said toothed racks. When two rack-
conducting guides or rods are employed, catches on the ends of the said cross
shaft are used in place of the said pinions and bolts, which said catches will
enter the teeth of the said toothed racks when the said cross shaft is suffi-
ciently rotated. The suspending rope or chain is secured to the end of the
said arm from the said cross shaft, which is thus prevented from being turned
while the suspending rope or chain is tight and unbroken: but when it
becomes slack or broken, the said cross shaft is acted upon by the said springs,
and the said bolts or catches are caused to enter the teeth of the said racks,
and to arrest the descent of the box or cage. This will also happen when the
handle is acted upon by which the said arm is disconnected with the said
cross shaft, though the suspending rope or chain is tight and unbroken.
Our Invention also consists in the combination of the mechanism herein-
before mentioned, when in place of the said toothed racks and bolts or
catches the mechanism is caused to operate upon brakes acting upon the con-
ducting guides or rods so as to produce a jam, and thus prevent the descent of
the box or cage.
Our Invention relates, secondly, to the peculiar construction of a coupling
link to be placed between the box or cage of hoists and the suspending rope
or chain, the object of which is to provide against the consequence of over-
winding, the coupling link being arranged so that the suspending rope or chain
will become disconnected from the fax or cage when it gets above a certain
elevation fixed upon and this part of our Invention consists in constructing
such coupling links in the form of a box disc, having pivots in its centre or axis
upon which a link or hook is jointed. In the edge of the said box disc a

page_text: T-shaped slot is made, one end only of which will admit of the passage of
the T-formed head of another link or hook, and thus when it is placed in the
said T-shaped slot, the said box dise will have to be turned on it axis before
the said T-headed link or hook can be detached from the said T-shaped
groove. The said box disc is weighted so as not to turn by accident, and it
has a projecting arm which comes against a stop when the box or cage
ascends too high, which will cause the said box disc to turn and allow the
T-headed link or hook to become detached from it. One of the said links is
connected with the suspending rope or chain, the other with the box or cage.
This part of our Invention is also applicable as a coupling link for railway
carriages, by the use of which. and by means of a rope or chain, or other
arrangement connected with the said box disc, the carriages of a train may be
readily disconnected, either when standing or in motion, without danger to the
person employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Walmsley and John Rostron in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. we, DAVID
WALMSLEY and JOHN ROSTRON. both of Disley. in the County of Chester,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors. give and grant unto us, the
said David Walmsley and John Rostron, Her special license that we, the said
David Walmsley and John Rostron, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said David Walmsley and John Rostron. our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the Lnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRC.
VIDING AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN HOISTING MACHINERY, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY CARRIAGE COUPLING LINKS." upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said David Walmsley and John Rostron, or
one of us, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under

page_text: was to be
the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said David Walmsley and John Rostron
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed. to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to
say:
Our Invention relates firstly, to arrangements or apparatus to be applied to
the boxes or cages of hoists used in factories. warehouses, mines, and other
places, the object of which arrangements or apparatus is to arrest the descent
of the box or cage, when by accident the rope or chain breaks by which
the box or cage is suspended, and also to provide means by which the
mechanism which arrests the descent of the box or cage when the suspending
rope or chain breaks. can be brought into action at any time to arrest or
prevent the descent of the box or cage below an assigned position: and our
Invention consists in the following combination of mechanism, namely, two or
more toothed racks which are fixed so as to act as the guides or conductors for
the box or cage: a cross shaft free to rotate (when permitted) in bearings.
secured to the box or cage: toothed pinions or their equivalents, upon each end
of the said cross shaft, made to geer with teeth formed upon or applied to bolts
arranged to slide in bearings secured to the box or cage, so as to force the said
bolts into or withdraw them from the said toothed racks: one or more springs
tending to give rotation to the said cross shaft or to force the said bolts or their
equivalents into the said toothed racks: an arm arranged loose on the said cross
shaft, but so as to be readily connected or disconnected with it by a suitable
clutch-box and handle and a hand wheel or lever with or without geering for
rotating the said cross shaft to withdraw the said bolts from the said toothed
racks.
When a couple of toothed rack-conducting guides or rods or employed
catches on the ends of the said cross shaft may be used in place of the said
pinions and bolts, which said catches will enter the teeth of the said toothed
racks when the said cross shaft is sufficiently rotated. The suspending rope
or chain is secured to the said arm from the said cross shaft, which is thus
prevented from being turned while the suspending rope or chain is tight or
unbroken; but when it becomes slack or broken, the said cross shaft is acted
upon by the said springs, and the said bolts or catches are caused to enter the

page_text: teeth of the said toothed racks to arrest the descent of the box or cage; this
will also happen when the handle is acted upon by which the said arm is
disconnected with the said cross shaft, though the suspending rope or chain is
tight and unbroken. Our Invention also consists in the combination of the
mechanism herein-before mentioned, when in place of the said toothed racks
and bolts or catches the mechanism is caused to operate upon brakes acting
upon the conducting guides or rods so as to produce a jam and thus prevent
the descent of the box or cage.
Our Invention relates secondly, to the construction of a coupling link to bo
placed between the box or cage of hoists and the suspending rope or chain.
the object of which is to provide against the consequence of over-winding;
the coupling link being arranged so that the suspending rope or chain will
become disconnected from the box or cage when it gets above a certain
elevation fixed upon: and this part of our Invention consists in constructing
such coupling links in the form of a box disc, having pivots in its centre or
axis upon which a link or hook is jointed. In the edge of the said box
disc a T-shaped slot is made, one end only of which will admit of the passage
of the T-formed head of another link or hook, and thus when it is placed in
the said T-shaped slot, the said box disc will have to be turned on its axis
before the said T-headed link or hook can be detached from the said T-shaped
groove. The said box disc is weighted or acted upon by a spring or springs
so as not to turn by accident, and it has a projecting arm which comes against
a stop when the box or cage ascends too high, which will cause the said box
disc to turn and allow the T-formed headed link or hook to become detached
from it. One of the said links is connected with the suspending rope or chain,
the other with the box or cage.
This part of our Invention is also applicable as a coupling link for railway
carriages, by the use of which, and by means of a rope or chain, or other
arrangements connected with the said box disc or discs, the carriages of a train
may be readily disconnected, either when standing or in motion, without danger
to the person employed.
Fig. is a front or side elevation, one side in section: Fig. 2 is a side
elevation at a right angle to Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a plan sectional view of the
hoist, with four toothed racks, according to our Invention.
a represents the frame of the box or enge: b. toothed racks (with side
flangers to strengthen the tooth fixed to uprights b' by bolts, so as to
form with the uprights one side of an angle, to guide the corner of the
hoist's box: c, cross shaft, secured (so as to be free to turn when acted
upon in bearings formed in castings (e
secured to the framing
firmly

page_text: of the hoist box: care toothed pinions. fixed one at each end of the cross
shaft (c). each pinion geering with toothed racks (e'). secured by pins (e) on
two sliding bolts e. The arrangement of these sliding bolts on one side (both
sides are alike) is best seen in Fig. 2. One end of each sliding bolt passes
through a staple (e) formed in the casting (c). the other end is held by an
eye (e) secured in the casting (c). A spring (e) is placed around each
sliding bolt, having its abutment against the eye (e'), the other end acting
upon the toothed rack (e), so that the action of each spring is to force its bolt
into the toothed racks, as shewn in Fig. 2, and this will take place when the
cross shaft (c) is permitted to revolve in one direction, and on the cross shaft
being turned in the other direction the bolts will be withdrawn: f is the arm.
which is loose upon the cross shaft (c), to which the suspendling rope or chain
(g) is attached. This arm is so arranged between two brackets (f) from the
cross framing of the hoist that the weight of the hoist does not come upon the
cross shaft (c), but upon the boss of the arm which rests against the brackets
(f), and thus friction, tending to obstruct the rotation of the cross shaft (c),
is avoided. One side of the boss of the arm () is made to form one side of
a one-toothed clutch box, the other side of it (h) being placed on the cross
shaft (c) so as to slide on a fixed key. and thus be carried round with it; a
groove is formed in this side of the clutch, into which a forked clip (h) fits,
which is connected with a rod (4) jointed to a lever (4) having its fulcrum
(h) on the castings (c). The lower end of this lever is formed into a handle
(), as shewn. by pulling which the clutch is brought out of gear, and it is
forced into geer again by a spring (4) placed round the cross shaft (c), which
spring acts upon the moveable side (h) of the clutch, and has its abutment
against the boss of the handle (k) fixed on the cross shaft (c) for the purpose
of drawing the sliding bolts (e) out of the toothed racks. It will now be seen
that as long as the rope or chain is tight the arm () is kept upright, but
that if the rope or chain becomes slack or broken or detached, there will be
nothing to keep the arm upright, and the springs will consequently force the
sliding bolts into the toothed racks and at the same time turn the cross shaft,
clutch box, and arm.
Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view shewing the applications of our Invention to
a hoist with a couple of toothed racks. The arrangement of the mechanism
is substantially the same as that shewn by Figs. 1, 2, and 3, except that the
casting (c) is slightly modified, so that it can be fixed across the centre of the
hoist box, and that the arm f is placed on a boss from the casting (c), and
prevented from moving endways on the shaft by a pin passing through the
boss of the arm and fitting in a groove in the boss from the casting (c').

page_text: The hoist box is guided upon the toothed racks (b) by brackets (1), one on
each side of each toothed rack. Levers or arms may be fixed on the ends of
the cross shaft in place of the pinions, and made to act upon a pin or stud
fixed in or upon one end of a slot formed in the sliding bolts. These levers or
armis may be arranged so that the rotation of the cross shaft one way will
cause them to withdraw the sliding bolts, but so that the rotation of the shaft
in the opposite direction will leave the bolts at liberty to be forced outwards
by the springs. The sliding bolts are shewn and arranged so that one bolt
will catch upon one tooth of the racks and the other on the next tooth below;
but the bolts may be arranged on the same line if required, so as to act upon
those teeth of the racks which are on the same level.
Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating how catches may be used in place of sliding
bolts. In this case the front of the toothed racks (b) is parallel with the axis
on the cross shaft (c). the sliding bolts and pinion are dispensed with, and a
catch (e) is placed on each end of the cross shaft (c). and a spring is applied
and made to rotate the cross shaft when permitted. This spring may be fixed
at one end to any convenient part of the hoist box, and the other end to a
fever or arm secured upon the cross shaft. The arm f, clutch box h, spring h³,
and the two handles and k, may be arranged similar to these shewn in
Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating how part of our improved combination of
mechanism may be applied to arrest the descent of the hoist box or cage when
brakes are used for the purpose, which are made to act upon the conducting
rods. In this case our arrangement is the same as that shewn by Fig. 5, and
above described, the brake cams are substituted for the catches. When these
brake cams are brought against the conducting rods m by the rotation of
the shaft (c) a jam is produced, which tends to rotate the cross shaft and make
the brake cams "bite" sufficiently to arrest the descent of the hoist box or
cage. The lateral strain put upon the conducting rods or toothed racks by
the action of the catches or brake cams is resisted by pieces (1) firmly secured
to the hoist box or cage.
Fig. 7 is a side sectional view; Fig. 8 is an edge sectional view at a right
angle to Fig. 7. of the coupling link for preventing over-winding. a is a forked
link which carries the axis b, upon which the box disc turns. The other link
d is forked at the end so as to pass on each side of the axis b, and has side
projections (d) which prevent it from passing out of the slot in the box disc e
except at the enlarged end; there are also projections from the upper part
of this link, which have each a hole fitting upon the prongs of the forked link,
upon which springs (e) are placed, which have their abutment against shoul-

page_text: ders on the prongs of the link (a), and these springs tend to force the link d
off the prongs. The object of this arrangement is to prevent the link d from
getting free from the slot in the disc when the rope is slack, and the springs (e)
also cause the projections d' from the link d to keep in a slight notch in the
box disc. so as to prevent it turning by accident: the weight acting through
the links has also the same effect. as well as the balance weight f. The arm g
is fixed in a socket formed in the box disc. and this arm comes against the
stop g. which is fixed where the link is to be released in over-winding, and
thus the box disc is turned. This stop may be a ring, so that it will not matter
on which side the arm comes against it. Of course in applying this safety
link apparatus must be employed for arresting the descent of the cage or box,
such as that herein-before described, or apparatus must be specially arranged
to prevent the descent of the box or cage when it has ascended above the
point fixed upon.
Fig. 9 is a side sectional view, and Fig. 10 a plan sectional view, shewing
the modification of the safety link when used as a coupling link for railway
carriages. The end of each draw-bar (a) is forked to receive the box disc (c).
as shewn. The other part of the coupling link consists of a link h to which is
jointed a weighted arm i. At each end of the link is a screw d, one right, the
other left handed; one end of each screw d is forked so as to pass on each
side of the axis b of the box disc (c), and the screw has also projections d'
which prevent it from getting out of the T-formed slot in the edge of the box
disc till it is turned so that the projections (d) will be opposite the enlarged
end of the slot. A shaft (e) may be placed across each end of the carriage
in suitable bearings. having at the outside and at each end a handle (e¹), by
which it can be turned, and in the centre a segment pulley (e) connected by
a chain (e), with a segment projection (e) from the box disc (c), as shewn;
a certain length of slack chain (e) is allowed for the movements of the draw-
bar. An arm (e) fixed in a socket in the box disc descends and rests against
a stud (e) in the segment pulley (e), and as the arm is left in the position
shewn, when the coupling link is attached, the box disc (c) cannot be turned
in the required direction to release the link by accident; but when the shaft
(e) is turned, the stud (e) is removed out of the way, and by the time it is
turned about one-fourth of a revolution the slack chain is taken up, when the
box dise will begin to turn, and by the continued rotation of the shaft the box
disc is turned sufficiently to release the coupling link.
We have now particularly described the nature of our Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, and wish it to be under-
stood that we claim as our Invention,-

page_text: Walmsley & Rostron's Improvements in Hoisting Machinery, so
Firstly, the combinations of mechanism herein-before described for arresting
the descent of the cage or box of hoists when the rope or chain breaks,
becomes slack, or detached.
Secondly, the combination of mechanism for arresting the descent of the
hoist box or cage, or for preventing it from being lowered when the rope or
chain is tight and unbroken, whether applied to mechanism which acts upon
toothed racks, or mechanism which acts upon brake cams, substantially in the
manner herein-before described.
Thirdly, the safety link for preventing accidents by over-winding, as
described.
Fourthly, the combination of mechanism forming a railway carriage coupling
link, as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said David Walmsley and John Rostron. have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirtieth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
DAVID WALMSLEY. (L..s.)
JOHN ROSTRON.
(1..S.)