IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO MOVING LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES ON INCLINED PLANES OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EZRA
COLEMAN, of the City of Philadelphia, in the United States of America, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirtieth day of July, in the ninth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Ezra
.Coleman, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Ezra Coleman, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ezra Coleman, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO MOVING
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES ON INCLINED PLANES OF RAILWAYS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Ezra, Coleman, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High

page_text: Figure 1 is an elevation of a locomotive with my new and improved
attachment resting upon an inclined plane, having my new additions. Figure 2
is an elevation of an endless screw B, its shaft II passing through the same,
and a cogged wheel F upon the shaft H, and also a small number of friction
rollers C, C, between which the thread of the screw works when in motion.
Figure 3 is a ground plan of my improved railroad for ascending or descending
inclined planes, with the driving shaft and wheels of a locomotive resting upon
the same, and also shewing the manner of connecting my improved attachment
to the driving shaft. Upon the shaft of the driving wheels A, A, of the
locomotive is placed a cogged wheel O, this wheel, when not in gear, plays
loosely upon the shaft. Underneath the locomotive the endless screw B is
suspended lengthwise and parallel with the same, and firmly and strongly
secured to the frame or to the boiler of the locomotive by braces, in any
known or usual manner, so as to revolve in boxes at each end of its shaft II.
The cogged wheel O upon the driving shaft of the locomotive works into the
cogged wheel F upon the shaft of the endless screw B. The thread of the
screw B should never exceed an angle of twenty degrees, and I believe the
most advantageous angle for the thread of the screw to be from six to ten
degrees. When it is desired to communicate motion from the driving shaft
'to the endless screw the cogged wheel O is made fast to the driving shaft, by
'means of a coupling box or gland fitting into recesses in the side of the
cogged wheel, constructed and operated upon by a lever in any known or
usual manner, so that the engineer can at will make the cogged wheel O tight
or loose upon the driving shaft by the working of a lever. Inside of the
driving wheels A, A, are two wheels S, S, of a little smaller diameter, which
play loosely upon the driving shaft, and they run on the inner track of rails
D, D, placed a short distance within the main track of rails E, E, and
.

page_text: elevated a few inches above the same; or other means may be resorted to for
applying the whole of the power to the axis of the screw B. I add a single
line of broad rails P, (or a strong course of timber or stone with iron plates
bolted to the top of the same) elevated a short distance above the inner track
of rails D, D, and running parallel with the same, centrally between them.
Along the top of the central rail P, I place friction rollers C, C, revolving on
axles passing up through their centres, which are let into and secured to the
rail P.
The friction rollers C, C, are arranged at such equal distances from each
other that the thread of the endless screw, as it revolves, will work freely into
the spaces between them, as into the groove of a female screw.
I would remark that it is not absolutely necessary to have a whole turn of
a screw, as part or parts may be used, but I prefer three complete turns, as
shewn. When the locomotive with my new attachment approaches an inclined
plano of a railroad having my addition, the inner wheels S, S, mount the inner
track of rails D, D, which lift the outer driving wheels A, A, from the main
track of rails E, E, at the same time the thread of the endless screw B winds
between the friction rollers c, c. The cogged wheel O is then made fast to
the driving shaft (in the manner before described) and the whole power of the
engine is then thrown upon the endless screw. The thread of the screw
working between and bearing against the friction rollers C, C, (as into the
groove of a female screw) carries the locomotive and the load attached to it
up the inclined plane, and in a similar manner takes the same down an
inclined plane with certainty and safety. The thread of the endless screw may
embrace as many of the friction rollers at the same time as safety may
require.
Having thus fully described the nature and operation of my Invention, I
wish it to be understood that what I claim is the application of a series of
rollers on inclines of railways, in such manner that the thread of a screw or
parts of a screw attached to a locomotive may thereby propel carriages, as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ezra Coleman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
EZRA (L.S.) COLEMAN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid Ezra Coleman came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose..
Enrolled the Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.