IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS OR TRAMS FOR STREET AND OTHER ROADS OR WAYS, IN WHEELS TO RUN THEREON, AND IN THE WORKING PARTS OF CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Zebina Eastman, of the United States of America,
but at present residing at Bristol, in the County of Gloucester, Gentle-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS OR TRAMS FOR STREET
AND OTHER ROADS OR WAYS, IN WHEELS TO RUN THEREON, AND IN THE
WORKING PARTS OF CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS TO BE USED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 9th June 1865, and dated the 17th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Zebina Eastman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
December 1864.
I, ZEBINA EASTMAN, of the United States of America, but at present
residing at Bristol, in the County of Gloucester, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS OR TRAMS FOR
STREET AND OTHER ROADS OR WAYS, IN WHEELS TO RUN THEREON, AND IN THE
WORKING PARTS OF CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS TO BE USED THEREWITH," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in the construction of rails for street and other
roads or ways of a concave, grooved, or cupped form or shape. I form the

page_text: rail with a rib or flange on its under side to insert and hold it tightly in
the ground, and when so secured the top surface lies flush or even with the
ground or track on or in which it is laid.
Second, in forming the running surfaces of wheels with a convex rim to
adapt itself to the concave tram before described. The rim of the wheel does
not fit the tram tightly, but is free to move somewhat loosely thereon, in order
to give the wheels play and to facilitate their entrance and exit from the tram.
Sometimes I only use one grooved tram or rail, and instead of the second
I lay on or insert in the ground a flat piece or plate of metal, on which the
second set of wheels travel. This flat piece or plate is made somewhat broad,
so that carriages of different widths are enabled to run with one wheel in the
grooved or cupped rail or tram and the other on the flat surface.
Third, in constructing the working part of carriages or waggons as follows:
I mount the axle on which the wheels run on a table or frame which is
free to move on a bolt firmly secured to the under side of the carriage or
waggon. This table or frame carries or is formed in a piece with an arm
which is jointed to another and similar arm on a similar table or frame for
the next pair of wheels, and in such manner that as soon as one pair of wheels
moves the other pair radiates to the same circle, curve, or bend of the tram
'or rail on which the carriage or waggon is running, whereby no more friction
is produced in travelling round sharp curves, or even complete circles, than
there is in running on a strait line. The arrangement just described is
particularly adapted to carriages having only four wheels, whereas the fol-
lowing arrangement now about to be described is adapted to carriages fitted
with six or more wheels. The axles are mounted and free to move as before,
the fore frame being linked to the hind in a similar manner as when only four
wheels are used. The central axle, however, carries a quadrant-shaped frame
provided with teeth in gear with corresponding teeth on the fore carriage, so
that as the carriage moves the six wheels radiate, as in the case of the four
before described, and travel equally well round curves and circles without
friction, as in the previous case.
The rail or tram, the wheels and the carriages, constructed all as before
.described, and used in combination, form a new system of city or road tram or
railway whereby many advantages are obtained, and among others, the facility
with which the carriages are taken round, curves. and. complete circles by
means of the self-radiating axes without friction, and also the. facility. with
which the carriages are run off and on to the rail or tram; also its adaptibility
to the use of common carriages, the little alteration, in the appearance of the
road or way that it entails, and, finally, that it does not render, any, obstacle to

page_text: the free passage across it of any ordinary carriage
hitherto unattained by any street railway.
or conveyance, a point
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Zebina Eastman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ZEBINA
EASTMAN, of the United States of America, but at present residing at Bristol,
in the County of Gloucester, Gentleman, send greeting.
f
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Zebina Eastman, Her special licence that I, the said Zebina Eastman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Zebina
Eastman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS OR TRAMS
FOR STREET AND OTHER ROADS OR WAYS, IN WHEELS TO RUN THEREON, AND IN THE
WORKING PARTS OF CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS TO BE USED THERE WITH," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Zebina Eastman, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Zebina Eastman, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention consists in the construction of rails for street
and other roads or ways of a concave, grooved, or cupped form or shape. I
form the rail with a rib or flange on its under side to strengthen the plate
and to insert and hold it tightly in the ground, and when so secured the top
°

page_text: surface lies flush or even with the ground, paving, or track on or in which
it is laid.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view in plan, and Figure 2 in
vertical section, of a portion of a tram or rail sufficient to illustrate how this
part of my Invention is carried into effect.
a is the rib formed on the under side of the rail or tram and inserted in the
ground, as shown; b is the concave surface thereof to receive the running
wheels of carriages. The rail may be secured in position by metal cross ties
or bars, as shown in Figure 2, or by any other approved means best adapted
to the ground, paving, or road in which it is to be laid. Sometimes I alto-
gether dispense with the flange or rib on the under side of the concave plate,
and in this case I secure the said plate to a wood or other sleeper by bolts or
otherwise. As a rule I use rails or trams with a concave surface on both
sides of the road or way, but sometimes, however, I employ the tram or rail
with a concave surface on one side only, and on the other I lay or insert in
the ground a flat rail consisting of a piece or plate of metal somewhat broader
than the concave rail, as shown in plan and section at Figures 3 and 4. By
this means carriages of different widths are enabled to run easily and freely
on the tram with the wheel or wheels on one side in the grooved or cupped
rail or tram, and the wheel or wheels on the other side on the flat surface.
The second part of my Invention consists in forming the running surfaces
of wheels with a convex rim to adapt itself to the concave tram before
described; the rim of the wheel and its convex form is of a smaller circle and
does not fit the tram tightly, but is free to move somewhat loosely thereon in
order to give the wheels play and a small bearing surface of the metal to save
friction and facilitate their entrance and exit from the tram. Figure 5 is a
view in side elevation, and Figure 6 an end view, of a wheel constructed in
this manner; c is the convex rim of the wheel.
The third part of my Invention consists in constructing the working part
of carriages or waggons with movable and self-radiating and adjusting axle-
trees to adapt themselves and the carriages to curves and circles or strait
lines, as it may be necessary in conforming to the rails, to run with less
friction, as follows:-
I construct my carriages to run with four or six wheels, according to the
necessity for long or short carriages, and as hereafter described. For my
four-wheel carriages I mount upon each of the two axletrees a circular rim
or bed piece which is firmly bolted to the axletrees, upon which the body of
the carriage rests, and on which it turns, assisted by friction rollers when
necessary, as the axletree turns or oscillates while the carriage is making a

page_text: Thus, when one
circle. I secure the carriage with a king bolt through the centre of each
axletree, and which also forms the centre of this supporting ring or bed piece
or table on which the carriage rests. I ease the carriage by an india-rubber
spring or pad through which the king bolt passes, or by the use of other
springs attached to the friction rollers. I connect the two axletrees by a
reach or connecting rod in the centre through which the king bolt passes. I
also connect the axletrees with another reach or connecting rod which I attach
to an ear piece upon the outer side of the supporting ring near one end of the
axletree, and pass it diagonally or transversely across the centre reach to a
like ear piece on the opposite end of the other axletree.
axletree is moved in either direction to adapt itself to the curve in the rails,
the opposite end of the other axletree will be moved by this transverse rod
in like manner, and thus, by the force of the propelling power by this com-
bination, whenever one pair of wheels or an axletree moves in a circle the
other pair radiates to the same circle, curve, or bend of the tram or rails on
which the carriage or waggon is running, and returning again to parallel lines
when the carriage is drawn upon a strait tram or way, and thus no more
friction is produced in travelling round sharp curves, or even complete circles,
than when running on a strait line.
Figure 7 is a view in plan, and Figure 8 a view in side elevation, of the
working part of a carriage or waggon having four wheels with this improve-
ment applied. d, d, are the tables or bed pieces to which the axles e, e, are
united, and on which the wheels f, f, f', f', are free to rotate; 9, 9, are the
king bolts by which the carriage or waggon, not shown, is or may be attached
thereto; h is the connecting rod or reach uniting the axles e, e, and loosely
connected thereto; i is the rod or transverse reach uniting the tables d, d.
When the carriage or waggon travels in a strait line, or nearly so, as shown
in Figures 7 and 8, the axles remain parallel to one another, or nearly so, as
seen in those Figures; but at a curve or bend of the tram, as shown in
Figure 9, the wheels radiate and adapt themselves thereto, no matter how
great or little the curve may be.
I construct my carriages of six wheels and three axletrees as follows:-
(a view in plan of this arrangement is given at Figure 10). I connect the
axletrees e, e, with centre reaches, as in the carriage before described, but
I joint the reaches at the connection with the central axletree so as to allow
it to oscillate across the carriage body. The central axletree g carries a
quadrant-shaped framer provided with teeth or cogs in gear with corrc-
sponding teeth on a similar frame on the fore or hind axletree, as the case
may be; 8, s; are similar shaped arms with teeth or cogs, forming a segnient

page_text: of a gear wheel, which are bolted to the front or rear axletrees and united
with each in gear, as shown. Thus by the combination of the segments and
reaches, when the carriage moves and turns upon a circle the axletrees all
radiate by a simultaneous action, as in the case of the two-axletree carriage
before described, and the line of each of the three axletrees points to a
common centre of a circle which is defined by the curve of the rails or tram
on which the carriage is then moving, changing their radius and radiating
point according to the form and degree of the circle, or coming into parallel
lines with each other when the carriage is moving in a strait line, and travels
in a circle with as little friction as in a direct course. The carriage frame or
body is attached to the running gear king bolts and elastic springs through
the reaches, as seen at o, o, and is also supported and kept in a steady and
easy position by semi-eliptic springs on the sides of the carriages resting upon
the middle axletree, as seen at v, v. The movement of the end axletrees into
a curve causes the middle axletree to traverse endwise across the frame of
the carriage, the line of which is always directly square with the carriage.
The rail or tram, the wheels and the carriages, all as before described, and
used in combination, form a new system of city or road tram or railway
whereby many advantages are obtained, and among others, the facility with
which the carriages are taken round curves and complete circles by means of
the self-radiating axles without friction, and also the facility with which the
carriages are run off and on the rail or tram; also the adaptability of the rails
to the use of common carriages, they making little alteration in the appear-
ance of the road or way, and their not being raised above the surface no
obstruction is afforded to the free passage across the rails or into or out of the
groove of any ordinary carriage or conveyance, a point hitherto unattained by
any street railway.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the construction of rails or trams for street and other roads or ways
of a concave, grooved, or cupped form, substantially in manner herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, forming or constructing the running, surfaces of wheels of a
convex form or shape for adapting themselves to trams or rails of streets or
other roads or ways, as herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
Third, the construction, arrangement, and method of action of the working
part or parts of carriages or waggons, whereby the pair or pairs of wheels are
caused to radiate to the same or a similar circle, curve, or bend of the tram-
:

page_text: road or rail on which the carriage, waggon, or truck, or other vehicle is
running, all substantially in manner herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Zebina Eastman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
ZEBINA EASTMAN. (L.B.).