Improvements in Rope Traction Apparatus for Railways or Tramways.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 11th July, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 13th Apr., 1891-Accepted, 16th May, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM S. EVANS, of Melbourne, Victoria,
Engineer.]
Improvements in Rope Traction Apparatus for Railways or
Tramways.
I, WOODFORD PILKINGTON of No. 65 St. John's Park, Blackheath in the
County of Kent, Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
For
In the rope traction apparatus ordinarily employed for railways or tramways the
vehicles carry grippers by which the rope has to be pinched and as there is
necessarily slip of the grippers at starting, the rope soon becomes seriously damage:1
and worn.
This invention relates to means of obtaining and applying the rope
traction without grippers, thus avoiding the objectionable damage and wear.
this purpose the rope is provided with blocks or protuberances on it at equal
intervals apart, or the rope is made double with rungs at intervals connecting the
two lines, so that the rope becomes vertically, a flexible rack, the protuberances or
the rungs constituting the teeth of the rack. On the vehicle is mounted a toothed
wheel which is in gear with this rack and is free to revolve but can have its revo-
lution retarded or stopped by a suitable brake.
When it is desired to start the vehicle this toothed wheel is gradually retarded
by the brake and the vehicle is thus gradually put into motion until it attains the
velocity of the rope. For stopping the vehicle the brake is taken off the toothed
wheel which is then free to revolve without exercising any propelling power on
the vehicle.
Datad this 11th or of Tul, 1900
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rope Traction Apparatus for Railways or
Tramways.
I, WOODFORD PILKINGTON, late of No. 65 but now of No. 46 St. John's Park,
Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Civil 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:-
For
In the rope traction apparatus ordinarily employed for railways or tramways the
vehicles carry grippers by which the rope has to be pinched and as there is
necessarily slip of the grippers at starting, the rope soon becomes seriously damaged
and worn. This invention relates to means of obtaining and applying the rope
traction without grippers, thus avoiding the objectionable damage and wear.
this purpose the rope is provided with blocks or protuberances on it at equal
intervals apart, or the rope is made double with rungs at intervals connecting the
two lines so that the rope becomes virtually a flexible rack, the protuberances, or
the rungs constituting the teeth of the rack. On the vehicle is mounted a toothed
wheel which is in gear with this rack and is free to revolve but can have its revo-
lution retarded or stopped by a suitable brake.
When it is desired to start the vehicle this toothed wheel is gradually retarded
by the brake and the vehicle is thus gradually put into motion until it attains the
velocity of the rope.

page_text: For stopping the vehicle the brake is taken off the toothed wheel which is then
free to revolve without exercising any propelling power on the vehicle.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side view of a car driven by rope
traction according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan shewing the means of
returning or driving the traction rope for a double line of railway.
The rope R is double with a space between its two strands which is crossed by
rungs fixed to the strands at equal intervals apart. The rope may be driven by a
horizontal sprocket wheel W at the one terminus of the line, a similar wheel at the
'other terminus acting as a pulley for the return of the rope. Throughout the line
the rope is supported on pullies P at suitable intervals, The vehicle V to bu
driven has mounted on it two guide pullies G over which the rope passes, and
between them is mounted in vertically sliding bearings a sprocket wheel S, having
its cogs spaced to suit the rungs of the rope. On the shaft of this wheel is a brake
wheel B provided with a flexible brake strap and tightening lever or with any
other suitable brake. When it is desired to start the vehicle, the wheel S is
lowered until its cogs engage between the rungs of the rope, the wheel revolving
freely at the speed imparted to it by the rope. The brake B being then gradually
applied, the vehicle gradually acquires the speed of the rope. For stopping the
vehicle, it is only necessary to release the brake allowing the wheel S to revolve
freely.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
For rope traction on railways or tramways the combination of a rope, constructed
to form a flexible rack, with a wheel mounted on the vehicle and gearing with the
rope, and a brake arranged to retard and stop the wheel, substantially as
described.
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