US300236A - Chables b - Google Patents

Description

(N0 Model.)

0. B. PAIRCHILD.

CABLE RAILWAY.

No. 300,236. Patented-June 10, 1884'.

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CHARLES B. FAIROHILD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CABLE RAl LWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,236, dated June l0, 1884.

Application filed January 9, 1884. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, CHARLES Fnrncnrnn, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cable Railways; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to cable railways operated with double or twin cables, and to improved devices for gearing the cables together, protecting the same, and taking up the slack therein.

It consists in the combination, with the twin cables, of conical rollers arranged vertically in pairs at suitable intervals along the length of the cables, the lower portionof the rollers being grooved about their periphery, to receive and embrace between them within the grooves, and with a constant frictional pressure, the main driving-cable, the secondary cable being caught and gripped in the V-shaped opening between the conical rollers, whose rotation, produced by themovement of the driving-cable, is in this manner communicated to the secondary cable.

It consists, also, in the conibination,with the 0 car, the couplingdrum on the car over which ,the secondary cable is carried, and the conical pulleys by which motion is communicated to said secondary cable, of adjustable guide or tension pulleys adapted to tighten up the sec- 5 ondary cable, and to protect it from contact and abrasion against the edges of the opening in the subway as it passes to and from the coupling-drum.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a car mounted upon my improved cable railway, and arranged to be propelled by the secondary cable. Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, of the longitudinal covered way in which the cables are inclosed. Fl 3 is a transverse section in line as a; of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation, upon an enlarged scale, of the conical gearing-pulleys by which the movement of the driving-cable is communicated to the secondary cable.

continuously, in the usual manner, by means of a stationary engine located at a convenient point, and is supported upon suitable friction rollers, B 13, within a continuous subway, 0, preferably sunken below the level of the ground between the rails upon which the ears run. At suitable points intermediate the supportingrollers B B the main cable is led between two conical rollers, D D, rotating freely upon vertical spindles D D projecting, the one,'D', from a base-plate, E, fixed upon the bottom of the subway C, and the other, D,

from a movable block, E, sliding within a slot in the fixed base-plate to and from the first. A peripheral groove, d, is formed in thelower portion of each of these conical gear-rollers D D, and the grooves, brought opposite to each other, serve to embrace closely the cable led between them. The required frictional contact and pressure of the rollers with and upon the cable is secured by an adjustment of the movable block E and its roller D, to and from the fixed roller, obtained by means of a set-screw, F, actuating the sliding block E.

G is the secondary cable, which is supported within the subway C over the main cable A, and geared to the latter, to move in unison therewith, by being led into the V-shaped opening between each pair of gear-rollers D D. The weight of the secondary cable serves, in connection with the wedge-shaped opening between the rollers D D, into which it drops, to produce the required frictional contact with said rollers, whereby their rotation, produced by the movement between them of the main cable, is imparted to the secondary cable. The secondary cable is led over a drum, H, mounted to rotate loosely in suitable hearings on each car, and the slack in the cable is taken up by means of guide or takeup pulleys K K, mounted in suitable bearings under the drum, with their axes parallel with its axis. The bearings for one or both of said pulleys K may be made adjustableby fitting the same in a sliding block, L", adapted to move in suitable ways to and from the drum orthe vertical plane of its axis, this block being actuated and adjusted by means of a set-screw, F. By approximating the pulleys K K the cable G is tightened, and vice versa. The car is coupled to the cable, so as to be carried forward by and with it, by arresting the free rotation of the coupling-drum H, over which itis led.

This is accomplished by means of a frictionband,

M, carried over the periphery of the drum,

and which is tightened up, as required, by means of a rotating brake-rod, N, at the front of the car, connected by a chain and rod, N, with the longerarm of a crank-lever, N pivoted at its bend to the car-frame, and whose shorter arm is coupled to the band,'as illustrated in Fig- 1 of the drawings. The move ment of the brake-rod, operating to loosen the band M and allow a free rotation of the coupling-drum H, is made, by means of a second chain and rod, 0, and a lever, P, to actuate simultaneous] y the brakes on the front and rear wheels of the car; The continuous slot or opening in the top of the subway G, in which the main cable isextended, and within which are placed the gear-rollers by which'the secondary cable is coupled with the main cable, may be covered and the subway and its contents protected from dust, dirt, snow, &c., by means of a series of longitudinal plates, Q Q, each adapted to slide transversely in and out of a lateral recess, 1-, formed in one side or edge of the slot. These slides are forced outward to close automatically the opening in the subway by means of springs S,inserted in the rear thereof, and are forced back on the approach of each car, to permit the secondary cable to be lifted out of the subway to pass over the driving-drum on the car, by means of a finger, T, adapted to project beneath the car into the slot, the ends of the slides being beveled off, so that when struck by the finger it shall operate to force open the slide; The beveled ends of the slide are made to break joints, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, so that as each slide is moved back by the car-finger T it shall operateto start back the next slide in front, so that, in fact, the depending finger glides along the edges of the slides without coming into contact with their ends.

To permitthe finger T to move readily and without strain around the curves which are described by the subway in common with the rails of the track, itis secured to an arm or base-plate, which is pivoted to the bed or frame of the car. A second finger, T", is pivoted in like manner to depend from beneath the opposite end of the car, and serves to keep the slides open until the cable has dropped back into the subway as the car passes over it. The

bearings for the guide and tension pulleys K K are preferably mounted in hangers depending so low as to carry the pulleys into the longitudinal opening or slot in the subway C, so that the cable led over them shall be protected thereby from contact with the sides of the opening as it passes up to and returns from the coupling-drum H;

In the operation of my invention the endless main cable A, being kept in constant motion, will, in passing-between the conical rollers D D, which ,bear closely thereon, cause theirrotation. Thesuperimposedendlesssecondary cable G, led between the converging faces of each pair of these conical rollers,will, by its weight, so engage said rollers as to be carried continuously forward thereby in unison with the main cable, and as it admits of being readily lifted frombetweenthe rollers which propel it, and does not engage any fixed or stationary mechanism, it passes readily over a loose drum, H, on each car on the railway. So long assaid drum is left wholly free to rotate loosely in its bearings, the cable, running freely over it, will have no effect upon the car; but by locking the drum, through amovement of the brake-rod N, actuating the frictionband Mwhich said movement will operate simultaneously to release the brakes from the wheels of the carthe car becomes fastened to the secondary cable, and is carried forward thereby. As in locking the loose drum Hthe friction-band M becomes gradually tightened, any sudden jerk of the car in starting is prevented, for the drum will slip under the band more orless until the car has acquired the same rate of movement as the cable. The release of the secondary cable from the grip of the conical pulleys is greatly facilitated by their conical form, which in their rotation tends, so soon as an upward inclination is given to the cable, to work it upward out from between them, while the corresponding inclination of the cable as it drops back from the car tends in like manner to cause it to work in between the rotating rollers. The subway O is uncovered, so as to permit, the secondary cable to be lifted therefrom as the car advances by the movement of the advance finger T, depending from the car between the coveringplates and the edge of the slot in the top of the way, the plates being kept open by the rear'finger, T until the cable has, after passing over the drum on the car, dropped-back into the subway. As each plate opens it tends to open the next plate in front of it in advance of the finger, so that the finger simply moves along the edge of the slotted opening without contact with the ends of the plates. Any undue slackness in the secondary cable is readily taken up by an approximation of the guide or take-up pulleys K K on one or more of the cars coupled to the cable; and I contemplate causing them to operate automatically, so as to produce aconstant tension upon the cable, by combining a spring with the set-screw actuating the movable pulley, so that the spring shall tend constantly to produce an approximation of the two pulleys, and thus exert a constant elastic strain upon the cable to maintain its tension. As these guide-pulleys are carried within the longitudinal slot or opening in the subway, they protect effectually the cable passing over them from injurious contact with its edges.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a twin-cable railway, the combination, with the two superimposed cables, of a series of vertical conical rollersarranged in pairs, each pair being made to embrace the main cable between them with close frictional contact,

10 side of its axis and adapted to engage said cable, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES 1 3. FAIRGHILD.

\Vitn esses:

A. W. Srmon'e, A. MOORE.

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