Improvements in Wire Ropeways.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Dec., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 16th Oct., 1899-Accepted, 18th Nov.,
1899
I, PETER JENSEN, of 77, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention, a communication to me from William
Kemlo, of Munaar, Devikulam, South India, Engineer, to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object to provide on or in connection with the load
carrier suitable devices for gripping the travelling wire rope or ropes for flat and
steep grades and especially where a single running load carrying rope is used
which at suitable intervals passes over supporting pulleys on standards, the
gripping devices being of such a nature and shape as to hold onto the rope with
certainty and without slipping while the load carriers can be readily loaded and
unloaded at rest. The load carriers can generally be fixed at any desired distance
apart and be put on at any desired point, while any number may be on at one
time, so that the wear and tear of the rope will be equally distributed throughout
its length.
The gripping devices are made more or less in the form of jaws so_constructed
that they automatically grip the rope when the load is on.
In one form the gripping devices consist of a metal frame carrying one or
more upper pulleys adapted to run cn guide rails fixed at the stations or terminals.
To this frame are connected two pendant jaws each on its fulcrum and which
are so connected that they automatically grip the rope from each side when the
load presses one part down on the rope but which open automatically when the
load is off that is to say when the aforesaid pulley or pulleys come onto the
guide rail or rails. Thus the heavier the load the tighter the grip. The carrier
having come on the rail or rails the load can be dealt with as desired.
Deted this Fifteenth day of December 1898.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wire Ropeways.
I, PETER JENSEN, of 77, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention, a communication to me from William
Kemlo, of Munaar, Devikulam, South India, Engineer, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
This invention has for its object to provide on or in connection with the load
carrier improved devices for gripping the travelling wire rope or ropes for flat and
steep grades and especially where a single running load carrying rope is used,
which at suitable intervals passes over supporting pulleys on standards, the
gripping devices being of such a nature and improved shape as to hold on to

page_text: the rope with certainty and without slipping and so that the heavier the load the
tighter the grip and so that as soon as the load is taken off the grip on the rope
is released while the load carriers can be readily loaded and unloaded at rest.
The load carriers can generally be fixed at any desired distance apart and be put
on at any desired point, while any suitable number may be on at one time, so
that the wear and tear of the rope will be equally distributed throughout its
length.
Fig. 1 of the drawings is an end view of my apparatus and Figs. 2 and 3
detail views of the rope gripping devices or jaws. These consist of a metal
frame A carrying one or two upper pulleys or wheels D adapted to run on guide
or shunt rails F fixed at the stations or terminals. To this frame A are con-
nected two pendent jaws E and E¹ each on its fulcrum G formed on the lower
part of the frame A. To the frame A is connected by a pin H the hanger B
which carries the load C. The jaw E has in its forked end pins E which work in
slots formed in the jaw E¹. Fig. shows the jaws in the closed position gripping
the rope R nearly all round the load being on. The rope R runs on pulleys I
which can be deep grooved thus preventing the rope from running off. Fig. 3
shows the jaws in the open position the load being off. The jaws all but
surround the rope and yet are able to pass the pulleys I. It will be understood
that the closing and the opening of the jaws is effected automatically. The
load is taken off the jaws when the pulleys or wheels D come upon the shunt
rail F. The load can then be dealt with as desired. The jaws interlocking by
the pins and slots, certainty of joint action in unison is secured.
Figs. 4 and 5 show a slightly different form of gripping jaws, the slots being
at another angle. In this case the lower blockshaped part of the frame A is
shown rivetted between two flat upper parts of same but if the frame were made
of cast steel it could be made in one piece therewith.
Greater or less gripping force can be got as required for different gradients of
rope by altering the angle between the centres of the jaws and the centre of the
rope. The greater the angle the greater will be the gripping force up to the
point when the three centres are in one straight line.
The mode of operating is as follows:-
Any number of grips necessary are suspended on the shunt rails F at the
terminal stations and are loaded when at rest as convenient. The grip is pushed
along the shunt rail or if the latter is laid at a slight angle it will of its own
accord run along with its pendant jaws open, and as the wheel D is carried onto
the line of the rope R and at a somewhat steeper grade the jaws will grip the
rope as soon as the distance between the shunt rail and the rope is less than the
distance between the jaws and the wheel D. As soon as the jaws grip the rope
the wheel D is carried off the rail, and the load C moves along with and sus-
pended from the rope. When it arrives at the other terminus the operation is
reversed, and the shunt rail being down at a flatter angle than the rope will
take up the weight, so that the jaws automatically open and the load travels along
the shunt rail automatically to a convenient point for dealing with the loads.
For ordinary goods traffic one wheel D is sufficient but for passenger cars
two wheels should be used.
The aforesaid construction of gripping jaws can be attached to small loads in
close succession or to heavy loads further apart on the rope with equal facility.
It can be used on ropes at very steep gradients as well as on flat country. It
wears the rope equally because it all but encircles it as shown and yet can pass
over deep grooved rope supporting pulleys which prevent the running rope from
running off them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
-
In connection with a travelling roneway. shunt rails at its terminal stations

page_text: and apparatus adapted to run on such rails and to carry a load a pair of rope
gripping jaws which are positively connected by pins and slots and constructed as
hereinbefore described and shown.
Dated this Sixteenth day of October 1899
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.