Improvements in Apparatus and Appliances for Propelling Tram- cars or the like Vehicles by Gas, Oil, or other Portable Motors.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 7th July, 1892-Accepted, 27th Aug., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus and Appliances for Propelling Tram-
cars or the like Vehicles by Gas, Oil, or other Portable
Motors.
I, FREDERICK YEOMANS, of 15, Saint James' Row, Sheffield, in the County of
York, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
Owing to the heavy expense connected with the use of horse power for the
traction of trams or other vehicles, various attempts have from time to time been
made to invent mechanism or gearing which would permit of portable gas or other
motors being applied as tractive power. The appliances hitherto designed to
transmit the power from the engine to the wheel axle of the car or other vehicle,
have however excellent they may be theoretically, proved in practice unsuitable
for general use on account of their either taking up too much space and thus
requiring a departure from the ordinary form of car, or to be fitted up in a car
by themselves to which the tramcar has to be hung on, or of their being too noisy
or unreliable in their working and communicating the vibrations from the motors
to the car.
The object of my present invention is to obviate these drawbacks.
1 effect this object in the following manner. Two double cylinder gas, oil or
other portable motors of ordinary construction are fitted up one on each side of
the car or vehicle to be propelled and by means of the gearing described below,
they are caused to drive the said tramcar or other vehicle backwards or forwards
and either quickly or slowly as may be desired or the car may be stopped, although
the motors are always working at one speed and in one direction.
In order that this invention may be perfectly understood, I will, with the assistance
of the accompanying two sheets of drawings, describe it in its application to an
ordinary tramcar, as fitted with a gas motor.
Fig. 1. Sheet 1. is a sectional side elevation.
Fig. 2. Sheet 2. is a sectional end view.
Fig. 3. Sheet 1. a plan of the said tramcar.
Fig. 4. Sheet 2. is a detail elevation of the engaging and disengaging gear and
brake arrangement hereinafter described.
On
On each shaft of the said motors the positions of which only are shewn on the
drawings, is mounted loosely, a spur wheel, a, which may be fixed to its shaft as
desired by means of a special form of friction clutch, each spur wheel, a, works
into (according to the direction of motion) one of the spur wheels, c, or, d, the
spur wheels, c, c, are fixed on to the shaft, e, which also carries two further spur
wheels, f, g, the wheel, g, is used for travelling at a fast and the wheel, f, at a slow
speed, the shaft, e, rests on the casement frame, h; parallel to the said shaft, e, is
another shaft, i, on which are fixed the above mentioned spur wheels, d, d, which
as hereinafter described serve to reverse the direction of motion of the car.
the driving car axle, j, the friction clutches, k, and, l, are fixed and the spur
wheels, mn, and n, mounted loosely. The engaging and disengaging mechanism
employed is of the following construction. The hand wheels, o, o, placed one at
each end of the car are connected with the shaft, p, which is provided with a
worm, q, in connection with this worm is the worm wheel, r, which is mounted on
the shaft s, both the ends of which are provided with a right and left hand threaded
screw respectively. On each of these screws rests a guiding fork, t. which are
attached to their respective friction clutches, b, b.
The friction clutches, k, and, l, on the driving car axle, j, are connected in a like

page_text: manner with similarly constructed engaging and disengaging gear, which is worked
by the hand wheels, u, u, fitted in at the end of the car.
The brake employed is connected with the shaft, p, and thereby with the hand
wheel, o, and so arranged that when the driver disengages the spur-wheels a, a, in
the manner described above, the brake is simultaneously applied and the car
stopped by means of the worm, E', and worm wheel, F, fixed upon the brake
shaft, G, actuating the levers connected to the brakes.
The gas motors rest on tee irons H¹ which are fixed in such a manner on
springs on the driving car axle, j, that the said motors are perfectly independent
of the car framework and consequently the vibrations are materially reduced. The
gearing is for the most part fitted in a casement, h.
As the motor framework is fixed on the car axles, v, v, the car wheels, w, w, are
propelled forwards.
The casement, h, is so arranged that the spur wheels can rotate in oil, in order to
reduce the wear and tear and deaden the noise. Arrangements are also made that
all the worms work in oil in order to ensure quiet working.
. Reservoir, x, is the gas holder.
When it is desired to propel the car forward at a slow speed the friction clutch, k,
on the driving car axle, j, is, by turning the hand wheel, u, and wheel, y, (which
are connected by a chain) to the left, pressed into the spur wheel, m, by means of
the worm C and the worm wheel, D', then the friction clutches b, b, on the motor
shaft are by turning the hand wheel, o, put into gear with their respective spur
wheels, a, a, and so the power is transmitted to the spur wheels c, c, on the
secondary shaft, e, and through the spur wheel f, to the spur wheel, m, on the
driving car axle, j, as this wheel, m, as mentioned above is clutched to its shaft, j,
the car is driven forward.
When the speed at which the car travels is to be increased, the friction clutch, k,
is released from its spur wheel, m, by means of the disengaging gear, u, and, y,
and
the friction clutch 1, engaged with its spur wheel, n, by turning the hand wheel, u,
to the right and also by means of the worm C₁ and the worm wheel, D¹.
The spur wheel, n, being smaller than the spur wheel, m, and the driving
wheel, y, being larger than the driving wheel, f, the car is driven at a corre-
spondingly increased speed.
The speed can be altered when the car is in motion by simply releasing the one
clutch, k, or, l, and gearing the other clutch, l, or, k, as the case may be.
When it is desired to reverse the direction of motion of the car, the car is first
stopped in the manner described above and the wheels,,, turned to the right
whereby the shaft provided with a worm, A', is caused to rotate. As the worm
segment, B' is fixed to the casement, h, the latter is consequently pushed round in
the direction shewn by the arrow and the spur wheels d, d, on the shaft, i, are thus
put into gear with the spur wheels a, a, respectively, so that the power from the
wheels a, a, drive the wheels, d, d, and they transinit the power in their turn to
the wheels, c, c, which in consequence revolve in the opposite direction to what
they did when the spur wheels, a, a, geared directly into the spur wheels, c, c.
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. In a tram-car or the like vehicle propelled by gas, oil or other portable motors,
the arrangement and combination of parts and appliances comprising the mechanism
whereby the entire gearing can be disengaged from the motors, so that when the
car is standing the motors only are at work substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and illustrated.
2. In a tram-car or the like vehicle propelled by gas, oil or other portable
motors the arrangement and combination of parts and appliances comprising the
gearing whereby the power is transmitted direct to the car axle without the use
of chains, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and illustrated.

page_text: 3. In a tram-car or the like vehicle propelled by gas, oil or other portable
motors the arrangement and combination of parts and appliances comprising the
mechanism whereby the speed of the car can at once be altered by engaging a
friction clutch or friction clutches, fitted on the car axle and without the use of
secondary shafts and wheels fixed on the same, substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and illustrated.
4. In a tram-car or the like vehicle propelled by gas, oil or other portable
motors, the arrangement and combination of parts and appliances whereby the
frame work of the motor is made independent of the car and whereby the vibrations
caused by the motors are materially reduced substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and illustrated.
5. In a tram-car or the like vehicle propelled by gas, oil or other portable
motors the arrangement and combination of parts and appliances herein previously
claimed together with the arrangement by means of which the gearing and
working parts are enclosed or partly enclosed in a casing or casement so that
the same can rotate in oil and thereby ensure thorough lubrication and at the same
time lessen the wear and tear and deaden the noise arising therefrom substantially
as and for the purposes herein described and illustrated.
Dated this 5th day of July 1892.
R. HEBER RADFORD,
Agent for the Applicant.