US503684A

US503684A - Rope-driving machinery

Info

Publication number: US503684A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1893-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1910-08-22

Description

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet I. W. H. ROBINSON.

ROPE DRIVING MACHINERY. No. 508,684. I Patented Aug. 22, 1893.

' Mn fay (No Model. 4 Sh'egts-Shet 2.

E. ROBINSON. ROPE DRIYING'MACHINBRY.

No. 503, 684. Patented A'ugt22,1 893 eeeeeee 4 Sheets-Sheet s. W. H. ROBINSON. ROPE DR IIIIIIIIIII ERY.

No. 503,684. PatentedAug.22,1893

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets- Sheet 4.

w. H. ROBINSON.

ROPE DRIVING MACHINERY. I -No. 503,684. Patented Aug. 22, 1893. Q

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROPE-DRIVING MACHINERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,684, dated August 22, 1893.

Application filed May 11,1893. Serial No. 473,353- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rope- Driving Machinery; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertaius to make and use the same.

In the construction and equipment of cable railways it is customary, at the power station, to secure the adhesion necessary to impart motion to the cable by causing it to take a number of turns around two drums one of which is fixed to the power shaft and the other of which is an idler, both being provided with a number of peripheral grooves corresponding to the cable turns upon them. From these drums, the cable passes around a one-grooved sheave supported upon a tension car whose function is to take up slack in the cable and keep it in condition to respond at all times to the calls made upon it. The tension car is mounted upon a trackway called the tensionrun and exerts a constant tension upon the cable, moving backward or forward along the trackway so as to automatically take up and compensate forthe varying amount of slack. Where the cable is of great length the tension run is proportionately long to correspond with the demands put upon it.

One of the objects of my invention is to dispense entirely with this lengthy trackway and the sheave-carrying tension car mounted upon it thereby saving the building space required for its accommodation. To this end, I convert the idler drum hereinbefore referred to, into a tension device by mounting the idler drum bearings-in suitable slides or guide ways and providing means for causing the said idler drum itself to exert the necessary slack takeup tension upon the cable. By this expedient, a small movement of the idler drum will be effective to take up a considerable amount of slack, the differential relationship of the two drums causing the idler drum movement to be multiplied in proportion to the number of turns of cable passing over the two drums. The idler drum may be arranged to move horizontally if desired, but I prefer to suspend sesses of moving relatively to the others.

it to move vertically immediately below the driving drum, in order that its weight may be utilized to keep the cable taut, and in order to effect a still greater saving in ground space, as all the necessary movement can take place in a pit arranged below the driving drum. To obviate any undue strain upon the cable, I may in part counterbalance the weight of the idler drum as will hereinafter more fully appear. I furthermore construct the idler of a series of grooved sheaves mounted side by side upon the same shaft, one of them being keyed thereto in order to carry it around at the speed of the driving drum, but the remaining ones having a capacity of circumferential movement with respect to the shaft and to each other. I thus reduce the wear and tear upon the cable to a very small amount, any slipping of the cable within the grooves due to uneven wear of said grooves, being in great measure prevented by the capacity each sheave plosn.- stead of the cable slipping within any particular groove, therefore, the tendency is for the corresponding sheave to shift its position circumferentially with respect to the others. The life of the cable is consequently materially prolonged the tension upon each turn of the cable upon the drum being equalized, and, in addition thereto, torsional strain upon the idler drum shaft is practically eliminated. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a driving drum, idler wheel and their accessories, arranged and constructed in accordance with one form of my invention. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation thereof, partly in section, and on a somewhat larger scale. Fig. 3 represents a partial view of my improved idler drum, also in section. Fig. 4 represents, in side elevation, another arrangement embodying myinvention; and Fig. 5 represents a plan view of the same partly in section.

Similar numerals of referenceindicate simi lar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, 6 indicates the usual solid grooved driving pulley fixed to its shaft and driven in any suitable manner from the source of power, as will be readily understood. In the form of theinvention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the solid grooved pulley 6 is supported upon a frame provided with vertical guides 7, and within -these guides "are adapted to reciprocate the bearihgs ofa 'ro tatory shaft 9,. The shaft 9 forms the axis of rotation of the idle wheel, which is made up of a grooved sheave 10, keyed to the shaft by the splinebr feather 11, and of additional grooved sheaves not'fixed to the shaft butcapable of independent movement with'respect to each other so as to be capable of shifting independently of each other and of the shaft, while still preservingaworking fit at their, bearing surfaces. The hubs of thesheaves' are connected to their rims In'eferablyv by. spokes, as shown, and in order'to increase the bearing surface of the hubs of the intermediate sheavt's, two of said hubs are mounted upon the other two. Thus, as shown in the drawings, the hubs 12, 13, of the two inner-- most sheaves 14, 1 5, are'extended laterally to form bearings for the hubs 16, 17 of the

adjacentsheaves

18,19. By this expedientQthe,

hubs of all of the intermediate sheaves have;

a greater bearing surface than if they were allm'ounted sideby side upon the shaft 9 and the strain upon said shaft when the sheaves shift is more evenly distributed upon it. The; outer sheaves 10, 20, have laterally extending" hubs; and are'braced against side strains by} ribs 21 fromthe hubs to the spokes. The

sheaves

10, 12, 13,18, 19 and 20are thus as-; sembled upon-the shaft 9 to form anidlepul-L leyj conforming in general structure to the solid grooved pulley, and having its grooves; in the same plane with the corresponding, grooves of said solid pulley. Spacing rings 22 are mounted upon the shaft 9 beyond the? hubs of the sh'eaves 10, 20, and beyond the said.

spacing rings the shaft 9 is suspended by hang-g ers 23, whose ends 24 encircle the guide-b10019; bearings 81but with a capacity to turn thereon, The hangers 23 are adapted to havea slight oscillating movement andto this end are j ournaled at their upper extremities upon a cross.

shaft 25r'nounted within bearings'formed in the; ends of levers '26, which levers are fnl cruinedg upon a suitable-supportor trunnion 27, and are-provided with struts 28. a In practice, these.

' levers will generallybe formed of heavy steel;-

I-beams twenty inches deep and strutted to.

sustain with safety a load of forty to fifty'tonsi and the trunnion shaft 27 will generally be an, eightinc-h' shaft resting-in suitable bearings; as shown. Q -In Fig. 1, I have shown the levers 26 as; partly broken away, in order to indicate that, the outer ends of the levers, beyond the trun-l nion shaft 27, are, in general, longer than the inner ends from which the-idler pulley is suspended. These longer ends are provided with: adjustable or removable weighting facilities, as, for instance, the suspended weights 29, for. the purpose of partlycounterba-lancing the; idler pulley, if required, so that the latter may not exert an undue strain upon the ro'peor; cable. It will be understood however, that the idler is not to be completely counterbalanced, inasmuch as its weight is relied upon to be utilized to keepth'e proper tensionu'pon the rope or cable. The fact that theidler sheaves are thus suspended or hung within the loops of the rope or cable from the driving pulley en- 'ables it to keep the rope taut at all times and to act with equal effect upon each of the loops by reason of the capacity for independent shifting possessed by the idlersheaves.

The rope or cable is indicated in Fig. 1 by the numeral 30. After passing around the grooves of the idler and driving pulley'it is led immediatelyback for service onthe line, the usual""tension-run being entirely dispensed with and superseded by the action of the suspended idler. A suitable guide sheave as 31 may be used to give the desired direction to the outgoingjportion of, the 'cable,as will be understood.

It is a characteristic merit of my invention that the slack, which has heretofore not been {taken up untilafter 'it 'had passed over the drum and was on the 'way out again, is now compensated for atthe-m'oment of'its'occurrence by immediate actionon thepart of the idler, thereby avoiding the unpleasant jerk ingmotion of the cars incident to the former system. I

In Fig. 3,1 have shown the partsofthe idler .pulley on a largerscale, seas to distinguish them clearly. V I

While Lprefer to mount the idler in such manner as to be suspended to-move up and down as shown in Figs.'1'and-2,'I do not re- 'strictmyself to that arrangementbutcontem- {plate broadly any equivalent ineansfor'caus- :ing it to' move toward and from the driving @pulley. 7 Thus, in'Figs. 4 and 5 I haveillnstr'ated means for mounting the idler to'move lhorizontally with respect to the-drivingpulley. In this construction, the idler f'pfulley iproper with its shaft'and independently shiftable grooved sheaves is 'o f the' same cons truction "as that hereinbefore described. {It is 1 ounted withina yoke 33"adapted to'slid'e in guide bearings 34:, and connected by a tension-rope 35, with" any suitable means for exe rting a yielding tension upon thei'dler, as, for instance, a hydraulic'cyli'nd'er.

In Fig. 4, I'hav'e shown two 1pai'rs ofdriving drums and 'idle'i's, operated by'aninte'n l mediate powerip'ulley 36,'and it will,of course,

be understood thatthe' invention is: involved in both pairs. The mechanism 1 is mounted securely upon a foundation 3 7 of masonry or the like, suitably 'stre'ngthenedandanchored,

5 and a sunicie'nt' tension'is put upon the ten- 1 sion-ro'pe '85 to insure the cable loops between the idler and driving'drum being kept taut,

whileat the same'tinie not sufficient fto endanger the cable but permitting" the idler 'to respond by backward and forward movements of its sliding yoke be'a'rin'g 33 tothe varying e'mountdf slalck'to'b'e compensated for.

It'will be apparent that broadly speaking the operation 'of the) form of "my invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is thesame' as the oporation of the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 jro but I prefer the latter, for the reason that it is more compact, takes up less ground space, and utilizes the weight of the idler itself to put the tension on the cable loops in which it is hung.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is V 1. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope-driving pulley having a plurality of rope-receiving grooves, of an idler having a corresponding number of rope-receiving grooves, said idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley and returning it thereto and being mounted to move backward and forward with respect, to the driving pulley, the rope being distended between'the driving pulley and idler to form a plurality of loops; whereby the varying slack is taken up in the space between the driving pulley and idler and is distributed between the multiple loops of the rope; substantially as described.

2. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope-driving pulley having a plurality of rope-receiving grooves, of an idler having a corresponding number of rope-receiving grooves, said idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley and returning it there to and being suspended from the driving pulley within the multiple loops of the rope; substantially as described.

3. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope-driving pulley, of an idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley and returning it thereto, said idler being suspended from the driving pulley through the intermediacy of the rope, and a counterbalance for in part relieving the rope of the weight of the idler; substantially as described.

4. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope driving pulley, of an idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley and returning it thereto, said idler being located immediately below the driving pulley and suspended therefrom through the intermediacy of the rope, guides within which the idler bearings are adapted to move, and a counterbalance lever connected to the idler; substantially as described.

5. In rope-driving machinery the combination with the rope driving pulley, of an idler receiving the rope from the driving pulley and returning it thereto, said idler being suspended from the driving pulley through the intermediacy of the rope, guides within which the idler bearings are adapted to move, a counterbalance lever, and hangers connecting said lever with the idler drum, said hangers being loosely connected to both lever and drum so as to oscillate to the degree required by the movements of the idler; substantially as described.

6. In rope-driving machinery the combination with the rope-driving pulley, of a co-opcrating idl'er consisting of aseries of grooved sheaves assembled upon acommon shaft, one of said sheaves being secured to the shaft and the remainder being mounted loosely thereon and independently of each other; substantially as described.

7. In rope-driving machinery the combination with the rope-driving pulley, of a co-opcrating idler provided with a series of grooved sheaves assembled together upon a common shaft and mounted loosely thereon, and provided with an additional grooved sheave fixed to said shaft, the hub of the fixed sheave being located to one side of the hubs of the loose sheaves; substantially as described.

8. In rope-driving machinery, the combination with the rope-driving pulley, of a co-opcrating idler consisting of a series of grooved sheaves assembled upon a common shaft, one of said sheaves being fixed thereon, and the remainder being loosely mounted some upon the shaft direct and some upon the hubs of the others substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK BUOHARD, WM. H. POWELL.