Improvements in Cable Traction Tramways, and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Aug.. 1896
Complete Specification Left, 4th June, 1897-Accepte 1, 31st July, 1897
ISIONAL SPECIE
TION.
Improvements in Cable Traction Tramways, and Apparatus therefor.
I, MUSTAPHA JEMALEDDEN, of Constantinople, but at present of Taverner's
Temperance Hotel, 41 and 43 Judd Street, Euston Road, London, Draughtsman in the
Imperial Turkish Arsenal, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be, as
follows:-
According to my invention I construct cable traction tramways as follows.
I provide a cable tube having a deep and narrow cross section, the lower part being
of sufficient width to afford room for the gripper when gripping the cable, to pass
along freely, while the sides approach each other as they rise so as at top to form
only a narrow slot of sufficient width for the gripper to pass through. When the
trainway line is double, there are two such single tubes, one between each line of
rails, one being the up line and the other the down line. When the line is a single
one serving both for up and down traffic, the cable tube is formed double, that is to
say, it contains two such deep narrow grooves, side by side, each containing a cable
running in contrary directions.
At the stations or junctions these grooves separate out forining two separate tubes
which are united to the tube with double groove at each end by suitable junction
pieces.
At the ends of the line the cable passes from the double tube into a box containing
a horizontal grooved pulley round which the loop of the cable passes, the pulley at
one end being driven by a suitable motor engine.
The rope tube is supported in the ground in its vertical position between the
longitudinal sleepers that carry the tram rails, to which the tube is connected by
lateral stays.
The tube rests upon transverse sleepers that support the longitudinal sleepers at
intervals.
The cars have at each end a gripper which consists of two steel jaws of some width
in the direction of the length of the car but comparatively thin in the transverse
direction so that they will just pass through the narrow slot in the top of the
tube.
The lower ends of these jaws are formed with concave serrated surfaces with
which they grip the rope when lowered and made to approach each other. They are
pivotted together by a strong pin at a point above the ground, and they have upward
extending tail pieces each of which terminates in an eye having an internal screw
thread the one being right handed and the other left handed.
Through these eyes is screwed a right and left handed screw spindle, so that by
rotating this in one direction it is made to move the tail pieces apart thereby causing
the gripper jaws to approach each other and to grip the rope between them, while
when rotated in the contrary direction, the spindle opens the jaws so as to release the
rope, this spindle is carried by a sheath that partly surrounds the gripper, and that is
capable of sliding up and down in fixed guides on the underside of the car, so as to
lower the gripper into or raise it out of the cable tube..

page_text: Such vertical motion can be effected by means of a vertical screw spindle screwing
through a threaded sleeve on the sheath, and rotated at top by a hand wheel.
The turning of the right and left handed screw spindle that opens and closes the
gripper jaws is effected by a vertical spindle carried by a bracket on the guide of the
sheath and connected to the said screw spindle by bevil gear.
In front of each gripper projects an arm, the lower end of which has a semi-
circular saddle piece fitting over the cable a short distance in front of the part held
by the gripper thus clearing the cable of any dirt that may lie upon it, and also
guiding it to the gripper when the latter is being moved down to grip it. When the
car arrives at the end of the line, and requires to be shifted on to the other part of the
cable for performing the return journey, the gripper at the one end of the car is
simply released from the cable and raised up out of the groove as above described,
and the gripper at the other end is then lowered into the other groove and made to
grip the cable therein.
At the points where the cables issue from the grooves in order to pass round the
driving and guide pullies, they are made to pass through lengths of tube having
internal brush surfaces, whereby they are brushed clean of any adhering dirt.
If requisite, guide rollers may be provided within the cable tubes, for the cable to
run upon, or the bottom of the tube may be provided with projecting parts at
intervals over which the cable slides.
Dated this 6th day of August 1896.
ABEL & IMRAY
Agents for the Applicant.
I, MUSTAPHA JEMALEDDEN, of Constantinople, but at present of Taverner's Temper-
ance Hotel, 41 and 43 Judd Street, Euston Road, London, Draughtsman in the
Imperial Turkish Arsenal, 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 :-
This invention relates to an improved construction of rope traction tramways which
is free from the danger of accidents occurring, is very economical and very regular and
reliable in its action.
I will describe the construction thereof with reference to the accompanying draw-
ings, in which Figure 1 shews a side elevation, partly in section, of part of the tramway
line and a car thereon, Figure 2 is an end view of the car and cross section of the line,
Figures 3 and 4 shew part plans of each end of a double line of tramway, Figure 5
shews a part plan of a single line of trainway at a siding. Figure 6 shews a plan of
the intermediate part of a single line, and Figure 7 a plan of the intermediate part
of a double line. Figure 8 shews an enlarged plan and an end view of the length of
tube with double groove at the ends of the double line, Figure 9 shews a plan and an
end view of a length of tube at the junction of a double line with a single one,
Figure 10 shews a side view and cross section of an intermediate length of tube
with double groove, Figure 11 shews the same views of a tube with single
groove.
Figures 12, 13 and 14 shew respectively a side view, a vertical section and a plan of
the gripper apparatus, and Figures 15 and 16 shew respectively a sectional elevation
and a plan of the driving pulley and its casing at the end of the line.

page_text: As shewn at Figures 1 and 2 there is placed under the road level centrally between
the tram rails a cable tube A or A' which if the line is a single one is constructed with
two grooves one for the down traffic cable and the other for the up traffic cable, as
shewn at A Figure 10, while for a double line, the tube only has a single groove, as
shewn at A Figure 11, there being a tube for each line as shewn at Figures 3,
4 and 7.
The tube A or A' is secured in the upright position by means of the stays B secured
to tlie longitudinal sleepers of the line. The opening of the cable grooves, which is
slightly above the road surface, is made as narrow as possible so that it will just admit
the gripper when this is lowered to grip the cable, and froin snch opening the sides of the
groove widen out slightly towards the botton, so as to allow of the expanding of the
gripper jaws when seizing or releasing the cable.
For supporting the cable in the groove so that the gripper jaws shall readily seize
it, small projections a a are formed at intervals, on the hollowed surfaces of which it
rests; the cable is thus also preserved from unnecessary friction which would ensue
if it were allowed to slide along the entire bottom surface of the groove.
When the tram line is double the arrangement at the ends of the line is as shewn
at Figures 3 and 4. The cable, being endless it passes at the one end round the
driving pulley C which is driven by a suitable motor; from this it passes into a length
of tube 1 with double groove corresponding to the length of single line into which
the double line converges, which tube is branched at the end, as shewn at Figure 8,
so as to guide the two sides of the cable readily from the pulley into the two
grooves.
From the double groove length D the two sides of the cable then pass into the
two single groove tubes A A of the two lines, the tube D being suitably branched for
this purpose as shewn at Figure 9.
At the other end of the line the two tubes A A again converge into the double
groove tube D, of a length of single line as at Figure 4, and from the grooves the loop
of the cable passes round the guide pulley I. The cable is by preference made of a
number of separate lengths secured together by hook joints, so that should the cable
break at any point it can be readily repaired by replacing the broken length by a new
one.
When the line is a single one, the two sides of the cable pass along the double
groove tube A Figure 10, along the whole length of the line, with the exception of
the sidings at the intermediate stations as at Figure 5, where the double groove tube
branches off into two lengths of single groove tubes, which converge again to a double
groove tube, as shewn.
The car, Figures 1 and 2, has at each end platform a gripper apparatus F, which,
when the line is a single one with a double groove tube, are so arranged that the
gripper at the one end of the car is situated over the one groove of the tube, while
the gripper at the other end is situated over the other groove. The construction of
the gripper F will be readily seen from Figures 12, 13 and 14. It consists of two steel
jaws GG of some width in the direction of the length of the car, but comparatively
thin in the transverse direction, so that they will just pass through the narrow slot
in the top of the tube. The lower ends of these jaws are formed with concave serrated
surfaces at G', with which they grip the cable when lowered into the groove and made
to approach each other.
They are pivotted together by a strong pin at H above the tube. and they have
upward extending tail pieces II each of which terminates in au eye having an
internal screw thread, the one being right handed and the other left handed. Through
these eyes is screwed a right and left handed screw spindle J, so that by rotating this
in one direction it is made to move the jaws G to approach each other so as to grip
the cable between then, while when rotated in the contrary direction the spindle J
opens the jaws so as to release the rope.
The spindle J is carried by a sheath K that partly surrounds the gripper and that
is capable of sliding up and down in guides L L fixed to the platform of the ear as at
Figure 1, so that by such motion the gripper jaws G are either lowered into the

page_text: groove of the tube for gripping the cable, or they are raised up out of the
groove.
This vertical motion is effected by means of a vertical screw spindle M, screwing
through a threaded sleeve L' fixed to the guide L, and rotated by the conductor by a
hand wheel M' for this purpose.
The turning of the screw spindle J for opening and closing the gripper jaws is
effected by means of a second spindle M carried by a bracket 0 on the guides I. and
geared to the spindle J by bevil wheels P, the spindle N being rotated by a crank
Landle N',
Projecting from the sheath K of the gripper is an arm Q, the lower end of which
has a semicircular groove or saddle piece Q which, when the gripper is lowered so as
to grip the cable, fits closely over the latter just in front of the gripper, and thus
serves both as a guide to the cable facilitating the entrance thereof between the jaws,
and also to remove any small amount of dirt that may fall on to the cable, through
the slot of the tube. The cable is also effectually cleared of all dirt by causing it to
pass through tubes or troughs R provided internally with brush surfaces as it passes
into the casing containing the driving and guide pulleys C and E.
The construction of the guide pulley E and its casing E¹ with brush tubes R is shewn
clearly at Figures 15 and 16.
At the driving station there is by preference provided a second motor engine.
arranged to be coupled to the driving pulley C, in case the other engine should require
repairs so as not to interrupt the working of the line when this occurs.
The driving pulley may be provided with two or more grooves simultaneously
driving the cables of two or more tram lines extending in different directions from the
driving station.
When a car arrives at the end of the line, and requires to commence the return
journey, the gripper at the one end which has been engaged with the cable in the one
groove of the tube D, say that in which the cable is travelling in the direction of the
arrow X at Figure 3, is disengaged from the cable and is raised up out of the tube,
and the gripper at the other end of the car is then lowered into the groove in which
the cable is travelling in the direction of the arrow X1, so that the car will then be
propelled in the contrary direction.
Where the cable runs round curves, the slightly inclined sides of the groove
will effectually prevent the cable from riding up the groove and escaping from the
slot.
If necessary lateral guide rollers might be provided at such points, running in lateral
recesses in the tube.
It will be seen that the construction of the gripper apparatus and the mode of
securing it to the car is such that it can be readily applied to cars of all constructions
without requiring modifications for this purpose.
1
The slots of the tabe grooves being kept very narrow (about 26 millimetres) all
accidents through the catching of the feet of animals or persons in the groove are
obviated.
This small width of the slot will be maintained for all tramways whether for light
or heavy car traffic, the necessary modification in the strength of the gripper being
Provided simply by making the same of a greater or less width in the direction of the
length of the tube.
The gripper may be enclosed in a sheet metal casing S, Figure 1 for protecting it
against dust and dirt.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The berein described improved construction of cable traction tramways wherein
the cable is made to travel in tubes supported by stays from the longitudinal bearers
of the line and having a single or double narrow groove with slightly inclined sides for

page_text: the cable to travel in, there being only a single cable in each groove the widths of
which is only sufficient for the introdution of a narrow gripper.
2. In the construction of cable tramways referred to the first claim, when applied to
a double line trainway, the arrangement of a tube with a single narrow groove in each
line, such tubes being made to converge to a single tube with two grooves at each end
of the line, from which the cable pisses round a driving pulley at the one end and
round a guide pulley at the others, substantially as described.
3. In the construction of cable tramways referred to in the first clain when applied
to a single line tramway, the arrangement of a tube with two grooves, one of which
contains the cable running in the one direction while the other contains the cable
running in the other direction, so that for changing the direction in which the cars
require to travel, the grippers thereof are respectively raised out of the one groove and
lowered into the other groove, substantially as described.
4. In the construction of cable tramways, referred to in the first claim, a gripper
apparatus consisting of the combination of two thin jaws of some width in the direction
of the length of the cable, such jaws being pivotted together at a point above the
cable tube and having upward extending arms, a right and left handed screw spindle
actuating the said arms for opening and closing the jaws and a sheath carrying the
said jaws that can be lowered and raised in guides fixed to the car frame for lowering
the jaws into and raising them out of the groove, substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
5. In combination with the gripper apparatus referred to in the preceding claim an
arın projecting from the sheath and having a grooved saddle piece fitting over the
cable in front of the jaws, so as both to act as a guide and to clear the cable of dirt,
substantially as described.
6. Causing the cable, after leaving the grooves of the cable tubes to pass through
tubes or troughs containing brush surfaces for clearing them of dirt, substantially as
described.
7. The construction of cable traction tramways combined and operating as herein
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 3rd day of June 1897.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.