Year: 1897

page_text: I, THOMAS JOSEPH SMITH, of 19, Berkeley Road, White Post Lane, Manor
Park, Essex, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:
-
This invention relates to improvements in the gripping mechanism of cable
tramways whereby the wear and tear of the rails and the cost of manufacture
is reduced.
My invention consists essentially in dispensing with the use of the dummy at
present employed with cable tramways and in fixing the gripper directly to the
car out of sight of the passengers.
For this purpose the gripper consists of two jaws pivoted to the lower end of
a vertical plate or bracket attached by means of a cross-plate or flanges to a
separate plate fixed to the under framing or floor of the car.
The jaws are provided with springs for keeping them apart when out of gear
and with extensions or cams acted upon by the bevelled edges of a vertically sliding
plate or plates for causing them to grip the cable.
This plate or plates is or are actuated by a horizontally sliding wedge connected
with suitable levers to a rack and pinion mechanism operated by a hand wheel
or lever from the platforms.
The plate carrying the jaws is pivoted to the carrying bracket and a pin
passes through holes in the said plate and bracket to lock them together.
This pin is removed by means of levers actuated by the driver when he arrives
at the terminus where the doors open in the permanent way and the said pivoted
plate is connected by a wire or chain to a drum also actuated by the driver for
raising the gripper out of the slot rail.
The car is then turned by horses as usual and the gripper is lowered into the
slot and locked by the said pin for the return journey.
The bracket is bolted to the sole plate fixed to the car by means of bolts formed
to engage with slots in the flanges of bracket in such manner as to allow of the
movement of the car in passing round the curves.
The operating mechanism is fitted to the platforms at each end of the car and
the folding doors of the boxes may be connected by rods leading from the slot
rail to a convenient place on the side of the road whereby the doors may be
opened or closed without going into the middle of the road at the terminus.
T
this (Quch das of December 1897.
J. B. FLEURET,
5. Hatton Garden, Holborn Circus, E.C., Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Gripping Mechanism for Cable Tramways.
I, THOMAS JOSEPH SMITH, of 19, Berkeley Road, White Post Lane, Manor
Park, Essex, 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 ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in the gripping mechanism of cable
tramways whereby the wear and tear of the rails and the cost of manufacture
is reduced.
The invention consists, essentially in dispensing with the dummy hitherto
employed with cable tramways and in fixing the gripper directly to the car out
of sight of the passengers.
For this purpose the gripper consists of an upper and a lower horizontal jaw,
the upper jaw being suspended from a plate or bracket by pivotal-bearings fixed
to the bottom framing of the car at or about the centre thereof. This plate or
bracket is formed with a central open portion in which slides vertically a plate
carrying the lower jaw. This slide is operated by a vertical screw engaging with a
nut on the same, the said screw being provided with a worm-wheel which engages
with a worm on either side thereof, the said worms being carried by shafts operated
from either end of the car.
These worms are carried by sliding brackets fitted with hand screws for bring-
ing one or the other of them into gear with the worm-wheel and they are operated
by shafts and bevel gearing from each end of the car. The jaws as above
described are constructed with two recesses so as to grip the cable on either side
of their centre.
Instead of a single central screws and worm-wheel I may in some cases use
two screws and worm-wheels one on each side of the gripper for operating the slide
and lower jaw worms operating the said worm-wheels as before described.
The pivoted bracket carrying the jaws is connected by a wire, or chain to a
drum actuated by the driver for raising the gripper out of the slot-rail when
the car arrives at the terminus where the doors open in the permanent way. The
car is then turned by horses as usual and the gripper is lowered into the slot
for the return journey, the cable being held in the opposite recess in the jaws to
that which it occupied before.
The folding doors of the boxes may be connected by rods leading from the
slot rail to a convenient place on the side of the road whereby the doors may be
opened or closed without going into the middle of the road at the terminus. In a
modified arrangement of gripper the two jaws are pivoted to the lower end of a
vertical plate or bracket attached by means of a cross-plate or flanges to a seperate
plate fixed to the underframing or floor of the car.
The jaws are kept apart by springs when out of gear and are formed with
extensions or cams which are acted upon by wedges formed on or carried by a
vertically sliding plate carried by the bracket for causing them to grip the cable.
This plate is actuated by a horizontally sliding wedge connected by suitable
levers to a rack and pinion mechanism operated by a hand-wheel or lever from the
platforms.
The plate carrying the jaws is pivoted to the bracket and a pin passes through
holes in the said plate and bracket to lock them together.
This pin is removed by means of levers actuated by the driver when arriving

page_text: at the terminus so that the jaws may be raised out of the slot-rail by the chain
and drum as described in the first arrangement.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation
partly in section of a portion of a tramway car fitted with the cable gripper,
Fig. 2 is a plan thereof and Fig. 3 a cross-section. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views
to a larger scale of the gripper and Figs. 6 and 7 are similar views of a modifica-
tion. a is the car and 6 the gripper suspended by pivotal bearings 61 to the
cross-frames a¹. As shewn in Figs. 4 and 5 the gripper consists of a central
plate c, sliding within a frame, or bracket . The bracket d carries the upper
jaw and the slide c passes through the said jaw and carries the lower jaw e.
The said slide is operated by a screw f engaging with a nut fl fixed thereto,
the screw being provided with a worm-wheel g which is operated by one or the
other of the worms h, h¹ carried by the shafts i, i¹. These shafts are provided
with flexible joints and are operated by bevel gearing k in connection with the
hand-wheel A from the drivers platform."
The worms h, h¹ are mounted in sliding brackets, operated by means of the
screw rods m, m¹ provided with hand-wheels m² on each side of the car, for engag-
The jaws
ing, or disengaging either of the said worms with the worm-wheel g.
are formed with the two recesses e¹, e², for receiving the cable n according to
which direction the car is going. The gripper being suspended by the pivotal
or rocking bearing 61 permits of its being turned or raised sideways out of the
slotted rail at the end of the journey to allow of the car being turned in the
reverse direction for the return journey. In order to raise the gripper it is con-
nected by a chain or wire rope o to a winding drum p which drum is operated
by bevel or spur gearing 7 and a shaft q' from the drivers platform. As the car
is turned in the reverse direction the cable which before engaged with the recess e¹
of the jaws now engage with the recess e² and the lower jawe is raised by means
of the screw operated by either the worm h, or h¹ according to which one is
engaged by the screw rods m, or m¹, the said lower jaw e gripping the cable
between it and the upper one .
In the modification shewn in Figs. 6 and 7 the gripper is formed of two jaws r, rl
pivoted together at 2. These jaws are formed with inclined projections, or
cams extending upwards at an angle with each other and between which are
arranged the wedges s, s¹. fitted to or forming part of the sliding plate carried
by the plate or bracket to which the jaws are pivoted and which is bolted to
a suspension plate or cradle underneath the floor of the carriage. The vertically
sliding plate t may be operated by horizontally moving wedge-pieces actuated
by means of a rack and pinion from the drivers platform.
In order to loosen the grip upon the cable the driver actuates the plate t so as to
raise the wedges s. s from between the cams 3 thus permitting the jaws to open
and release the cable by the action of the springs fitted in the said jaws. The
slide plate t is locked to the bracket u by a pin r, and in order to raise the gripper
out of the slot rail at the end of the journey by means of a winding drum and
chain as described in the first arrangement the pin is disengaged from its hole
in the plate by means of a screwed rod engaging with a screwed head of the pin,
or by any other means operated by bevel or other gearing from the platform.
The gripper can then be turned up on its pivot y in the direction of the arrow
Fig. 6.
The bolts connecting the brackets to the cradle are formed to engage with
slots in the flanges of the bracket in such manner as to permit of the movement
of the car in passing round curves.
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 improvements in connection with the gripping mechanism of cable
tramways comprising a gripper fixed directly to the car underneath the same

page_text: with the object of dispensing with the dummy heretofore in use for this purpose
substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
(2 In gripping mechanism fixed directly to the car of cable tramways with the
object of dispensing with the dummies heretofore in use the combination with the
car a of the gripper 6 carried by the pivotal bearings 61 supported by the cross
frame of the car and means for raising the gripper out of the slot rail sub-
stantially as described.
(3) In gripping mechanism fixed directly to the car of cable tramways with
the object of dispensing with the dummies heretofore in use the combination
with the car of the gripper b provided with pivoted bearings a sliding plate
carrying the lower jaw e formed with recesses e¹, e2 the plate or bracket & carrying
the upper jaw the screw f nut f¹ worm-wheel g worms h, h¹ carried by shafts i
joints gearing k, sliding brackets, screwed rods m m³, hand-wheels m²,
cable a chain or wire o, drum p, gearing q, and shaft ql all arranged and operating
substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
n
the
(4) The modified arrangement of gripper mechanism for cable tramways com-
prising the jaws, r, pivoted at 2 and formed with projections, or cams
wedges s, s¹, carried by the sliding plate t, the plate or bracket u spring, wedge-
pieces w. pin c, and pivot y combined and operating substantially as described.
Dated this 16th day of July 1898.
J. B. FLEURET,
5, Hatton Garden, Holborn Circus, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicant.