IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING GAS TO MOVEABLE GAS-MOTOR ENGINES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis William Crossley, of Great Marlborough Street,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING GAS TO
MOVEABLE GAS-MOTOR ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis William Crossley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st May 1881.
FRANCIS WILLIAM CROSSLEY, of Great Marlborough Street, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD AND APPARATUS
FOR SUPPLYING GAS TO MOVEABLE GAS MOTOR ENGINES."
My Invention relates to means of supplying gas to moveable gas motor engines,
such as may be employed on cranes or travellers, or on tramway or other locomotive
vehicles. For supplying a gas motor engine on a crane or traveller which is moved
to and fro longitudinally along rails, I fix parallel with one of the rails a trough,
the section of which is of scroll form, that is to say, one side instead of terminating
at the same level as the other is carried upwards and bent over and then down-
wards, so that its lip projects down nearly to the bottom of the trough at about
the middle thereof. I charge this trough with water or other liquid to a level
above that of the lip above mentioned, so that seals the cavity formed within
the bend of the higher side of the trough, which cavity I keep supplied with gas.
To the moving platform of the crane or traveller I attach a pipe which I bend
downwards into the trough, and again upwards, so that its mouth opens in the gas
cavity. This pipe being free to travel along the trough with its bend immersed in
the liquid, receives from the gas cavity of the trough the supply for the engine on
the moving platform.
For the purpose of supplying a gas motor locomotive with gas, I provide gas
holders, each mounted on a pair of wheels like a truck, baving a tubular pole which
I connect to a socket on the locomotive, the pole forming a pipe connection from
the gas holder to the engine on the locomotive. In the tubular pole or gas pipe,
and in the socket which receives it, I provide valves which are kept closed by
springs, but which are opened by the act of connecting the pipe to the socket, so as
to give free passage for gas.
When the gas supply is exhausted or nearly so, the truck is detached from the
locomotive, the valves closing automatically. Another charged truck of like kind
can then be connected to the locomotive. Thus by relays of trucks at suitable
stations the supply of gas for the locomotive can be maintained over any desired
distance of travel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Francis William Crossley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th November 1881.
FRANCIS WILLIAM CROSSLEY, of Great Marlborough Street, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD AND APPARATUS
FOR SUPPLYING GAS TO MOVEABLE GAS MOTOR ENGINES."
My Invention relates to means of supplying gas to moveable gas motor engines,
such as may be employed on cranes or travellers, or on tramway or other locomotive
vehicles. For supplying a gas motor engine on a crane or traveller which is moved
to and fro longitudinally along rails, I fix parallel with one of the rails a trough,
the section of which is of scroll form, that is to say, one side, instead of terminating
at the same level as the other, is carried upwards and bent over and then down-
wards, so that its lip projects down nearly to the bottom of the trough at about
the middle thereof. I charge this trough with water or other liquid to a level
above that of the lip above mentioned, so that it seals the cavity formed within the
bend of the higher side of the trough, which cavity I keep supplied with gas. To
the moving platform of the crane or traveller I attach a pipe which I bend down-
wards into the trough, and again upwards so that its mouth opens in the gas
cavity. This pipe being free to travel along the trough with its bend immersed in
the liquid, receives from the gas cavity of the trough the supply for the engine on
the moving platform.
For the purpose of supplying a gas motor locomotive with gas, I provide gas
holders, each mounted on a pair of wheels like a truck, having a tubular pole which
I connect to a socket on the locomotive, the pole forming a pipe connection from
the gas holder to the engine on the locomotive. In the tubular pole or gas pipe,
and in the socket which receives it, I provide valves which are kept closed by
springs, but which are opened by the act of connecting the pipe to the socket, so as
to give free passage for gas.
When the gas supply is exhausted, or nearly so, the truck is detached from the
locomotive, the valve closing automatically. Another charged truck of like kind
can then be connected to the locomotive. Thus by relays of trucks at suitable
stations the supply of gas for the locomotive can be maintained over any desired
distance of travel.
Figs. 1 and 1ª of the accompanying Drawings are sections shewing the arrange-
ment of trough according to my Invention for supplying gas to an engine on a
travelling crane. A is the trough which may be bolted against the wall or timber
that supports the rails for the traveller; it is made with a lip a projecting down-
wards. B is the gas pipe which bends under the lip a and terminates with an open
mouth b within the upper cavity of this trough. This cavity being supplied with
gas supplies the pipe B, while it is sealed by the water or liquid C, and the pipe B
is free to move with the traveller along the trough. Fig. 2 shews a car D with a
truck E containing a supply of gas connected to E by a tubular pole F. The
connecting socket G may be constructed as shewn in section to an enlarged scale at
Fig. 3, both the socket and the mouth of the pole being provided with valves H, H,
pressed by springs against their seats when the pole and socket are disjoined, but
when they are joined the stems h, h, of the valves butting against each other raise
the valves from their seats, and thus there is a free passage for gas from the truck
to the car.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I claim,―
First. For supplying gas to a gas motor engine which is moved to and fro along
rails, the use of a scroll shaped trough containing a liquid seal, substantially as
herein described with reference to Fia 1

page_text: Second. For supplying gas to a gas motor locomotive, the use of a truck con-
nected to the locomotive by a tubular pole, substantially as berein described with
reference to Figs. 2 and 3.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis William Crossley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
FRANCIS WILLIAM CROSSLEY. (L.s.)