IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE AND TRACTION ENGINES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE RAISING OF HEAVY BODIES
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
May 1867. A communication from abroad by Theodore Krausch, of the
City of Philadephia, and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE AND TRACTION ENGINES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE
RAISING OF HEAVY BODIES," a communication to me from abroad, by Theodore
Krausch, of the City of Philadephia, and State of Pennsylvania, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of increasing the adhesion of the driving
wheels of locomotive and traction engines without permanently adding to the
dead weight of such engines, whether they be employed in dragging or
pushing a load horizontally, or in hoisting or raising a heavy body in a vertical
direction. According to this Invention a part of the strain or effort exerted in
moving the load or heavy body is transferred by means of a "traction lever"
in a downward direction upon the engine, carriage, or travelling motor, and
increases the adhesion of. its driving wheels in proportion to the load to be
moved; or steam pressure may be employed for imparting the downward
pressure to the end of the "traction lever" in lieu of using merely the strain
of the engine for that purpose.

page_text: According to one mode of carrying out this
Invention the locomotive or
traction engine or carriage is provided with a "traction lever," one end of
which is coupled by a short vertical link (capable of rocking to and fro)
to the framing of the engine, whilst the opposite or rear end of such "traction
lever is coupled by another short link to the coupling bar of the carriage
to be haulled. An antifriction roller is fitted to the "traction lever" close
to the link which connects it to the engine framing, and this roller rests
upon a metal bearing surface fixed for that purpose to the framing of the
engine, and thus forms the fulcrum of the "traction lever." The longer end
of the lever is prevented from rising by having the coupling bar so connected-
with the carriage that although it is free to play laterally on its joint pin it
is not free to rise or fall. On starting the engine, whether actuated by steam
or hand power the strain of the load exerted longitudinally upon the "traction
lever" will tend to draw that lever backward, and will cause the front
coupling link to turn slightly on its centre, thereby tending to depress the
short front end of the "traction lever" and elevate the long rear end, but as
the long end is not free to rise it follows that a downward pressure will be
exerted upon the bearing surface by the antifriction roller, and this pressure
by being transferred to the driving wheels will increase their adhesion in
proportion to the load to be hauled. In some cases the rear end of the
"traction lever" may be coupled direct to the carriage to be hauled, in lieu
of having an intermediate coupling bar. It is also proposed to produce a
variable downward pressure of the front end of the "traction lever" by con-
necting it to a piston in a small vertical steam cylinder, so that by admitting
steam above the piston any desired amount of downward pressure may be
exerted upon the framing and driving wheels of the engine. In this case the
downward pressure will depend on the pressure of the steam and area of
the piston, and not upon the load to be hauled or pushed. It is also pro-
posed to provide an inclined slot in the rear end of the "traction lever," and
to allow the end of the coupling bar to play along this slot, so that when
hauling the coupling bar will be at the upper end of the slot, and when
pushing at the bottom of the slot the downward pressure of the fulcrum of
the "traction lever" being produced as before described in whatever direction
the strain is exerted. In some cases the bearing surface of the antifriction
roller is inclined upward in both directions, so that the resulting downward
pressure may be obtained with a less radial motion of the link at the front
end of the traction lever.
In applying this Invention to the hoisting of heavy bodies it is simply
requisite to attach the hoisting rope or chain, passed over or under suitable

page_text: guide pulleys to the rear end of the "traction lever," and to propel the
carriage containing such lever along rails or otherwise in order to obtain the
requisite hoist, when the weight of the load will by exerting a strain upon
the "traction lever" cause that lever in its turn to exert a downward pressure
upon the driving wheels of the carriage, and thus increase their adhesion in
proportion to the weight of the load to be elevated.