IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING OR OTHERWISE MOVING RAILWAY OR OTHER VEHICLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Rowland Jordan, of the Firm of Thomas B.
Jordan, Son, and Meihè, Engineers, of Queen Victoria Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING OR
OTHERWISE MOVING RAILWAY OR OTHER VEHICLES." A communication from
abroad by William Fraser, of Goteborg, Sweden.
Sealed the 16th March 1880, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, and
dated the 6th September 1879
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Rowland Jordan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th September 1879.
THOMAS ROWLAND JORDAN, of the Firm of Thomas B. Jordan, Son, and Meibè,
Engineers, of Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR SHUNTING OR OTHERWISE MOVING RAILWAY OR OTHER VEHICLES." [A com-
munication from abroad by William Fraser, of Goteborg, Sweden.]
This Invention relates to an apparatus for shunting or otherwise moving railway
or other carriages or vehicles by hand power; and consists in the peculiar combina-
tion and arrangement of two levers, as hereinafter described, that is to say :-At
the end of a wooden or other suitable lever or bar of any required length I fix side
plates, preferably of wrought iron, carrying two joints, one projecting beyond the
end of the said lever; and at a short distance from this joint the other joint is
arranged on the lower side of the lever. By means of the first named joint a clamp
is attached to the said lever for connecting the said apparatus to the carriage or
vehicle to be moved; the said lever then has a free vertical motion about the said
joint.
From the other aforesaid joint a second lever is suspended, having on its lower
end a wrought iron fork, formed to rest on and clip the rails or to engage with the
surface of any road on which the vehicle is to be moved. This lever is of a sufficient
length to occupy an inclined position at an angle of about 45° to the rails towards
or away from the vehicle being moved when its lower end is-resting on the rails,
and when the first lever is in a horizontal position.
The action of this combination of joints and levers when applied to moving or
shunting a railway carriage, or truck, or other vehicle will be as follows:-
The clamp being fixed to the carriage or vehicle and the first named lever being
horizontal the second lever will take an inclined position from its jointed connection
Price G71

page_text: with the horizontal lever to the rail on which its forked feet rest. When therefore
the free end of the horizontal lever is pressed down the lower end of the inclined
lever, maintains its hold on the rail, while the upper end is of necessity lowered, and
consequently with the vehicle is moved onward. By raising the horizontal lever
the lower end of the inclined lever is carried forward and in its fresh position again
grips the rail, thus affording an advanced point, from which by the downward
pressure on the first named lever the vehicle can be again moved forward.. It will
thus be obvious that the movement of the vehicle may be continued to any desired
distance by simply raising and depressing the end of the horizontal lever; and by
reversing the angular position of the second lever the movement of the vehicle will
be reversed, as the inclination of this lever toward or away from the vehicle
determines the direction in which the same is moved.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said Thomas Rowland Jordan
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th March 1880.
THOMAS ROWLAND JORDAN, of the Firm of Thomas B. Jordan, Son, and Meihè,
Engineers, of Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR SHUNTING OR OTHERWISE MOVING RAILWAY OR OTHER VEHICLES." A com-
munication from abroad by William Fraser, of Goteborg, Sweden.
This Invention relates to an apparatus for shunting or otherwise moving railway
or other carriages or vehicles by hand power; and consists in the peculiar combina-
tion and arrangement of two levers, as hereinafter described.
The accompanying Drawing illustrates the construction and manner of using my
improved apparatus.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the said apparatus and a portion of a railway
carriage.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same with a portion of one of the levers
broken away to shew more clearly the connection of the said apparatus with the
carriage.
Like letters indicate the same parts in both of these Figures.
a and b are the two levers. The lever a, which is termed the horizontal lever, is
a wooden or other suitable bar of any required length; on one end thereof I fix
side plates a¹, preferably of wrought iron, provided with two lugs or projections
c, d. One lug c projects beyond the end of the said lever, and the other lug d is
arranged on the lower side of the same, as shewn in Figure 1. By means of the
first named lug c a clamp e is jointed or hinged to the lever a for connecting the
said apparatus to the carriage or vehicle to be moved; the said lever then has a
capability of free vertical motion about the joint c. The said clamp may be attached
to the carriage frame by a screw e', or by other suitable means.
To the lug d the lever b, termed the inclined lever, is jointed. This lever b has
on its lower end a wrought iron double fork b', formed to rest on and clip the rails,
or to engage with the surface of any road on which the vehicle is to be moved.
This lever b is of sufficient length to occupy an inclined position at an angle of
about 45° to the rails, towards or away from the vehicle being moved, when its
lower end is resting on the rails and when the lever a is in a horizontal position.
The action of these jointed levers when applied or used for moving or shunting
a railway carriage, or truck, or other vehicle will be as follows:-The clamp e being
fixed to the carriage or vehicle and the lever a being horizontal the lever b will
assume an inclined position, that is to say, it will extend in an inclined direction
from its jointed connection with the horizontal lever to the rail on which its forked
end rests.
When it is desired to move the carriage in the direction of the arrow the lever b
must be inclined in the direction shewn in full lines in Figure 1. Then when the
free end a of the lever a is depressed the lower end of the lever b will maintain
its position and its hold upon the rail, but its upper end with the carriage will
move in the direction above stated. By raising the horizontal lever the lower end
of this inclined lever b is carried forward, and in its fresh position again grips the
rail, thus affording an advanced point, from which by the downward pressure on
the lever a the vehicle can be again moved forward. It will thus be obvious that
the movement of the vehicle may be continued to any desired distance by simply
raising and depressing the end a² of the horizontal lever a; and by reversing the
angular position of the lever b, as shewn in dotted lines, the movement of the vehicle
will be reversed, as the inclination of this lever toward or away from the vehicle
determines the direction in which the same is moved.

page_text: Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same I wish it understood
that I claim,-
The improved apparatus, constructed substantially as described and as shewn in
the accompanying Drawing, for shunting or otherwise moving railway or other
vehicles, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Rowland Jordan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal; this Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
THOS ROWLAND JORDAN. (L.S.)