Improvements in or connected with Aerial Suspension Railways for Recreational Purposes, and in Means employed for Imparting a Rotary Motion to the Cars or Carriages employed therewith.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 20th Dec., 1890.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Aerial Suspension Railways for
Recreational Purposes, and in Means employed for Imparting a
Rotary Motion to the Cars or Carriages employed therewith.
I THOMAS LIDSTER, of 12 Richmond Terrace, Studley Street, Holderness Road,
Hull, Yorkshire Engine Driver do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to he particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object improvements in or connected with aerial
suspension railways used for recreational purposes and consists of a novel arrange-
ment of parts whereby an aerially suspended car or carriage is caused to travel from
one point to another and to return again and also to simultaneously receive a rotary
motion.
In order that my invention may be thoroughly understood I have appended the
accompanying sheet of drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side view showing my improved aerial suspension railway.
Figs. 2 and 3 are views of the car or carriage.
Fig. 4 is a view of the slide or carrier and part of the curved guide hereinafter
referred to.
In these figures similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A and B are two platforms or supports, one of which is higher than the other,
Cis the car or carriage which is suspended from and travels along the rope D.
One end of the rope D is supported by the platform or support B and the other end
of the same is attached to a slide or carrier E by two ropes F. F which are each fixed
at one end to one of the flanges of a winding drum G and at the other end to the
slide or carrier F. The ropes F. F are wound round the winding drum G in opposite
directions.
The slide or carrier E is provided with anti-friction rollers e, which travel on a
guide H curved to a radius of the same length as the rope D. The curved guide H
is fixed to the platform or support A. are pulleys provided at the ends of the
curved guide H for the purpose of guiding the ropes F. F. Motion is from time to
time given to the drum G by means of a sliding clutch which is driven by any
suitable means.
The upper part of the car or carriage is provided with mechanism by means of
which a rotary motion is imparted to it whilst it is travelling along the rope D.
Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate this mechanism. The car or carriage C is suspended from
the rope I) by means of a grooved pulley I. The grooved pulley 1 is keyed to a
shaft J which turns in bearings provided in a frame K. A toothed wheel L which
is keyed to one end of the shaft J gears with a pinion M. The pinion M is keyed to
a shaft N which is provided with a worm O. The worm O engages with a worm wheel P
keyed to the upper end of the rod Q carrying the car or carriage C and turning in the
lower part of the frame K.
I may employ a pair of bevel or mitre wheels instead of the arrangements of
toothed wheel and pinion described above, for driving the shaft N from the shaft J.
The shaft J is provided with any suitable brake by means of which the speed of the
car or carriage can be lessened or the car or carriage stopped when it is near to or
has reached one of the platforms or supports.
In the arrangement shown in the accompanying drawings access to the car or
carriage is obtained by means of stairs R provided at the platform or support A, and
the passengers alight from the car or carriage on to the ground at the same end of the
railway when the return journey has been effected.
I may place two or more of the described railways end to end.

page_text: The manner in which my improved railway is worked is as follows :-
The passengers enter the car or carriage at the platform A, the brake is taken off
the shaft J, the pulley I rotates and the car or carriage C, travels along the rope D
from the platform or support A to the platform or support B, a rotary motion being
simultaneously imparted to the car or carriage by the mechanism above described.
When the car or carriage arrives at or near the platform or support B'the brake is
put on, the car or carriage C is stopped, and motion being imparted to the drum G
by means of the sliding clutch the slide or carrier E moves from the upper to the
lower end of the curved guide H. The rope then assumes the position shown
in dotted lines in Fig. 1. On the brake being taken off, the car or carriage C.
travels along the rope D from the platform or support B to the platform or support A.
Motion is then given to the
The brake is then put on and the passengers alight.
drum G in the reverse direction and the slide or carrier E moves to the upper end
of the curved guido H and the car or carriage is then ready for the next journey.
I wish it to be understood that I do not claim as my invention the construction
of an aerial suspension railway in which the car or carriage travels by the action of
gravity along an inclined rope from one point to another, but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is
In aerial suspension railways of the kind described herein, the improved means
for raising and lowering one end of the rope along which the car or carriage travels
and the means for imparting a rotary motion to the car or carriage as described herein
and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
1
Contambor 1890
JAMES STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers, 20, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agent for Applicant.