Gilded Age & Grid (1870–1900)Passenger Conveyance & Mechanical Handling

Reno Endless Conveyer

US 470,918

Hinged passenger belt, combed landings, and a traveling hand-rail

Inventor(s)Jesse W. Reno

Grant DateMarch 15, 1892

Filing DateJanuary 2, 1891

LocationNew York City, New York

Reno's 1892 grant describes an inclined passenger conveyer made from hinged cast-iron belt sections. Fixed comb-like landings register with the belt's longitudinal grooves, while a linked moving hand-rail travels beside it. The specification gives a preferred 25-degree slope, a speed of about 200 feet per minute, and a stated maximum single-file capacity of 6,000 passengers an hour.

USPTO PDF

Audio Engineering Breakdown~1 min listen

Listen to the narrated mechanical breakdown and civilizational context

Engineering Analysis & Physical Principles

How It Works: Step-by-Step Mechanical & Physical Breakdown

The patent turns an inclined route into a continuously moving passenger platform. Short hinged cast-iron sections form the belt. Their grooves accept fixed landing prongs at the ends, so the moving surface can meet a stationary floor, while the belt's hinge and wheel geometry guides it around the upper and lower turns.

The Core Breakthrough Mechanism

Belt sections 2 are joined at hinges 12 and run on sprocket-wheels 3. I-beams 4 and their channels 15 guide the squared hinge portions along the incline; grooves 16 and seats 17 carry the joints through the turns. At each landing, fixed prongs 5 of comb-like landing 14 enter the belt grooves. A second endless chain, hand-rail 10, runs on fixed rail 7 and sprocket-wheels 6 beside the passenger belt.

Interactive Real-Time Physical Simulation

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INITIALIZING THREE.JS WEBGL SIMULATION...

Host-Model Telemetry/Computed Readout

Source-Bounded Endless Conveyor Kinematics

Selected Belt Speed

Reader Scenario

200 ft/min1.016 m/s[1]

Patent Preferred Speed

Source

200 ft/min≈ 1.016 m/s[1]

Patent Stated Maximum

Source

6,000passengers/h, single file[1]

Preferred Comb Clearance

Source

≤ 1/8 in≤ 3.175 mm[1]

Selected Incline

Reader Scenario

25°source-preference display[1]

Incline (source preference ≈25°)25 °

Belt speed (source reference 200 ft/min)1.016 m/s

Detailed Component Architecture

1Hinged, grooved passenger belt

Sections 2 form a continuous cast-iron belt, hinged at 12 and turned by two pairs of sprocket-wheels 3.

The grant says the grooves may be about three-fourths inch wide and one inch deep. The fixed landing prongs are to have a clearance not exceeding one-eighth inch from the groove bottoms and sides. The patent also allows rows of pegs instead of continuous channels.

19th-C. Term: ConveyerModern: Continuously moving passenger conveyor

2Combed landings and guided turn

Fixed cast-steel landing prongs enter the belt grooves while channels and seats guide the hinges through the end wheels.

The belt slides on two I-beams 4 between the end-wheel pairs. Channel 15 limits lateral motion; its continuation as wheel groove 16 and wheel seats 17 support the rounded hinge parts as the belt turns. This is the actual stated transition geometry, rather than a later standardized escalator comb-plate design.

19th-C. Term: Comb-like landingsModern: Fixed grooved or combed passenger-transfer surface

3Sectional moving hand-rail

Short rail pieces 10 form an endless linked hand-rail that bends around sprocket-wheels 6.

Steel plates 8 slide in a groove in fixed rail 7 and are joined by steel links 9. Their lower notches 18 mesh with teeth 19 on wheels 6. The source describes one rail for a single-file conveyer and preferably two for a wider one.

19th-C. Term: Traveling hand-railModern: Moving handrail assembled from articulated sections

Engineering Principles & Equations

Governing Equations & Engineering Principles

Authored explanation paired with its stated mathematical relation

Reno Comb-Plate Clearance & Inclined Passenger Flux Capacity

Mechanical Transport & KinematicsClaim 1

Mathematical Governing Law

Terms:

Plain English DecoderHover or tap any highlighted phrase

The scales with over , , and , safely transferring riders onto stationary landings via .

\dot{N}_{\text{passengers}}

Passenger Transit Throughput

Maximum continuous carrying capacity (

3,000\text{ to }6,000\text{ persons/hour}

)

Persons / hour[T^-1]

Unlike periodic elevators that require stopping and starting, the inclined elevator provides non-stop continuous flow.

Physical Principle & Engineering Insight

Jesse Reno created the continuous escalator by solving the landing transition problem. His grooved hardwood treads intermesh with stationary comb fingers at the top and bottom landings, creating an unbroken plane that lifts passengers' feet smoothly onto the floor.

Historical Context: US 470918 introduced the inclined moving stairway to the world at Coney Island in 1896, transforming department store architecture and subway transit networks globally.

Continuous Inclined Cleated Treadway Conveyance & Comb-Plate Transition Safety

Mechanical Engineering & Public Transit ArchitectureClaim 1

Mathematical Governing Law

Terms:

Plain English DecoderHover or tap any highlighted phrase

Continuous inclined scales with and over , while balances across and .

\dot{N}_{\text{passenger}}

Continuous Passenger Transit Capacity

Theoretical continuous transit flow capacity (

4,000\text{ to }7,200\text{ persons/hour}

)

Passengers / hour[T^-1]

Over 20 times higher passenger volume than a bank of vertical elevators occupying the same building volume.

Physical Principle & Engineering Insight

In 1892, Jesse Reno patented the first working escalator: the 'Inclined Elevator.' Rather than stepped stairs that flattened, Reno used an endless belt of wooden cleats traveling up a 25-degree incline at a comfortable walking pace. To prevent riders from getting clothing or footwear crushed where the belt disappeared beneath the floor, Reno invented the stationary comb-plate: steel teeth that nested into the grooved cleats, gently lifting riders' feet onto the upper landing.

Historical Context: US 470918 created the modern escalator; Reno installed the first operational unit at Coney Island in 1896 (carrying 75,000 riders in two weeks), and his comb-plate safety geometry remains mandatory on every escalator worldwide today.

Continuous passenger flowAuthored Principle 1

Stated relation

The specification states about 200 feet per minute and a maximum single-file capacity of 6,000 passengers per hour.

Reno's stated operating idea is a conveyor that does not stop or reverse. For opposing traffic, he proposes separate rising and descending conveyers rather than one unit alternately changing direction.

Guided hinged motionAuthored Principle 2

Stated relation

Channels 15 and 16, with seats 17, guide the squared and rounded portions of hinges 12 through the straight run and end-wheel turns.

The source describes a mechanical constraint system: beam channels prevent lateral movement on the incline, then corresponding wheel features take over at the curved path. It does not state motor power, brake performance, load rating, or a modern safety factor.

Interactive Schematic Sheet (Fig. 1)

Side elevation of part of the conveyer and hand-rail at its lower inclined end.

1.00x

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Why It Still Matters

The legal scope is narrower and more mechanical than the old catalogue copy suggested. Claim 1 joins a longitudinally channeled hinged passenger belt to a matching channeled or combed landing; Claim 2 covers the articulated hand-rail and its supports; Claim 3 combines a combed landing, hinged platform, and traveling hand-rail. The grant is a useful primary document for the early engineering of continuously moving passenger conveyers.

Legal Claims Decoder (3 Numbered Claims)

Compare dense legalistic claims directly with decoded plain-English functional specifications.

Claim #1Independent Master Claim

1/3

Verbatim Historical Legal Text

“A traveling conveyer adapted for the conveyance of passengers, composed of short links or sections hinged together in the form of an endless belt, said sections being channeled longitudinally, as described, in combination with a landing or landings channeled or combed to register with the channeled surfaces of said sections, whereby transfer from conveyer to landing, or vice versa, is effected, substantially as set forth.”

Plain English Engineering Translation

Claim 1 covers the matching transfer geometry: a passenger belt made of hinged, longitudinally channeled sections plus a landing whose channels or combs register with them, allowing transfer in either direction.

Key Protected Innovations:

Hinged channeled beltRegistering combed landing

The Historical Bottleneck

The grant names a mechanical incline or slide-conveyer as an alternative to elevators or stairways where large numbers of people must move between levels.

Why Prior Art Failed

•The source frames the target use as replacing conventional elevators or stairways for large passenger flows; it does not identify a specific prior competing machine.
•A single conveyer would require a change of direction for return traffic, which Reno avoids by proposing separate rising and descending units.

The Breakthrough Insight

“A hinged grooved belt can meet a fixed combed landing if the landing's prongs register with its grooves, while channels and wheel seats guide the hinges through the turn. That permits a continuous passenger surface to meet a stationary floor.”

Civilizational Impact

The patent records an early mechanical design for continuously moving people on an incline. Its specification makes the original engineering choices inspectable: articulated cast-iron belt sections, groove-and-prong landings, guided hinges, and an articulated hand-rail.

Further Context

The grant's stated preferred belt-groove dimensions are about three-fourths inch wide by one inch deep, with landing-prong clearance not exceeding one-eighth inch.
The stated intended slope is about 25 degrees; the stated preferred travel rate is about 200 feet per minute.

Historical Specification & Engineering Broadside

I. Historical Context & Grant Summary

II. Core Mechanism & Scientific Principles

III. The Granted Legal Monopoly (Key Claims)

IV. Mechanical Organ Breakdown

Reno Endless Conveyer

How It Works: Step-by-Step Mechanical & Physical Breakdown

Interactive Real-Time Physical Simulation

Detailed Component Architecture

1Hinged, grooved passenger belt

2Combed landings and guided turn

3Sectional moving hand-rail

Governing Equations & Engineering Principles

Reno Comb-Plate Clearance & Inclined Passenger Flux Capacity

Passenger Transit Throughput

Continuous Inclined Cleated Treadway Conveyance & Comb-Plate Transition Safety

Continuous Passenger Transit Capacity

Interactive Schematic Sheet (Fig. 1)

Why It Still Matters

Legal Claims Decoder (3 Numbered Claims)

The Historical Bottleneck

Why Prior Art Failed