IM- PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BREAK APPARATUS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson, Cornelius Jeffer-
son, Lazarus Jefferson, and Mordecai Jefferson, all of Bradford, in the
County of York, Engineers and Machinists, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BREAK APPARATUS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Jefferson, Joseph
Jefferson, Cornelius Jefferson, Lazarus Jefferson, and Mordecai Jeffer-
son, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 5th May 1864.
We, ISAAC JEFFERSON, Joseph Jefferson, CORNELIUS JEFFERSON, LAZARUS
JEFFERSON, and MORDECAI JEFFERSON, all of Bradford, in the County of York,
Engineers and Machinists, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BREAK APPARATUS," to be as follows: -
Our improvements relate to those arrangements of railway break appa
ratus where a bar is employed for connecting the break apparatus of one
carriage to the break apparatus of another carriage, the break apparatus of
the series of carriages thus connected being actuated by the guard of the
train by means of suitable gearing in the break van or carriage; and the
object of our improvements is, first, a more efficient arrangement of the parts
which connect the ends of the longitudinal connecting bars or axes for the
purpose of affording greater facility in connecting them together, and also to
allow the universal joints formed near the ends of the connecting bars or axes
to act with perfect freedom when the parts are caused to assume different
angles to one another at the time the carriages are passing around curves,
and yet admit of the free revolution of the connecting bars or axes when the
breaks are being brought into action. These improvements also relate to

page_text: arrangements of the break apparatus whereby the whole of the break blocks
(which are of the ordinary character) of a train of carriages may be brought
to bear with great facility and certainty upon the whole of the wheels to
which breaks are applied, the apparatus being brought into action by the
guard of the train acting on suitable gearing in the break van or carriage,
or by the engineer acting on similar break apparatus connected with the
tender.
We will first describe our improvements in the construction of the parts
which connect the ends of the longitudinal revolving connecting bars or axes
which connect the break apparatus of one carriage to another, and give motion
to such apparatus when putting on or taking off the breaks. For this
purpose we form the socket, attached by a joint constructed as herein-after
described, to the end of one longitudinal bar or axis, with a bell-mouthed
opening, four or other suitable number of grooves or channels being formed
within the socket for receiving the end of the longitudinal break bar or axis
of the adjoining carriage to which it is to be connected. The end of this bar
is also formed with a joint, and has one or more ribs or projections thereon
to fit or slide into the grooves in the socket carried by the longitudinal break
bar or axis to which it is to be connected. The ends of the ribs or projections
are brought to a point at the end of the bar, so as to ensure their entering the
openings to the grooves in the connecting sockets, the metal between such
grooves being tapered off to a point at the bell-mouthed entrance to the
socket. By forming the connecting ends of the longitudinal break bars or
axes of each carriage as previously described, the difficulty hitherto experi-
enced in adjusting and coupling together the ends of the longitudinal axes
(as previously constructed with square ends and sockets) is altogether avoided,
as the connecting parts, constructed as previously described, cannot fail to
engage with one another correctly when the end of one bar or axis is
presented to and introduced into the socket on the end of the opposite bar or
axis whatever the relative positions of the ribs and grooves may be.
We will now describe the means we employ in connecting the parts
previously described to the revolving break bars or axes, so that they may act
as universal joints when the break apparatus and carriages are connected
together, and are passing around curves, thus causing the connecting parts to
deviate from a right line. Between the end of the bar and the end of the
connecting part, to which it is to be attached by a joint capable of moving in
any direction, a spherical chamber is formed for receiving the spherical end
on the connecting part of the bar or axis. Upon this spherical part there
are pins or projections which move in corresponding grooves or recesses

page_text: formed in the spherical chamber, so that in place of acting to the samo
extent as a ball-and-socket joint when the longitudinal bar or axis is caused
to revolve, the projections on the spherical end will act as clutches in their
respective grooves, and thus cause the parts so connected to revolve. Rings
of india-rubber or other elastic material are introduced between the parts of
the joint thus formed to give elasticity thereto, in order to retain them in a
right line when disconnected.
We will now describe the apparatus for actuating the break blocks. Upon
each longitudinal bar or axis (arranged to connect the break apparatus of a
train of carriages together as previously described) a toothed pinion is
mounted so as to revolve therewith, at the same time being capable of sliding
to and fro thereon. This toothed pinion, which is formed with plates or
flanches at each end, takes into and drives a toothed wheel carried by an
axis, the opposite ends of which are formed with right and left handed screws,
which enter into and are supported in corresponding female screw sockets,
which sockets pass through and are supported in sliding bearings which act
with a regulated amount of friction upon the screw sockets to prevent them
from revolving until the pressure of the ends of the sockets upon the trans-
verse bars connecting the break blocks overcomes the friction of the sliding
bearings. The screw sockets are connected in any convenient manner (so as
to be capable of revolving) to transverse travelling bars, the outer ends of
which are attached to the backs of two pairs of break blocks on opposite sides
of the carriage. The break blocks are suspended by arms, or arranged to
slide on guides to and from the periphery of the carriage wheels. The
apparatus, previously described, acts in the following manner:-When it is
desired to put on the breaks, rotary motion is communicated to the series of
longitudinal bars or axes connecting the train of carriages together by any
suitable driving gear mounted in or upon the guard's break van or carriage,
or upon the tender. The toothed pinions sliding upon and revolving with the
jointed longitudinal bar or axis give motion to the toothed wheels with
which they engage, and the right and left handed screws act upon the screw
sockets to force them, and the transverse bars which connect two opposite
break blocks together, out in opposite directions, until the break blocks come
in contact with the periphery of each of the carriage wheels they are arranged
to act upon, and as soon as either of the break blocks are brought into action,
the screw socket which bears upon the transverse bar overcomes the friction
of its sliding bearing, thus causing the screw socket to revolve with the screw
axis. When the screw axis moves more in one direction than in another, the
ends of the teeth on the wheel act on the inner surface of one of the flanches

page_text: on the driving pinion, and cause it to slide upon its axis in the direction in
which the toothed wheel moves.
We would remark that it is quite unimportant whether the several break
blocks are placed at various distances from the wheels when they are being
brought into action, as the outward thrust of the ends of the screw sockets
upon the transverse bars will cause the break blocks to come into action in
quick succession should they happen to be placed at varying distances from
the wheels when the breaks are first applied. When the wheels to which the
pairs of breaks are applied are at a considerable distance apart, then additional
stationary bearings are arranged to support, the right and left handed screw
axis, and toothed wheel mounted thereon, and this axis may have motion
imparted thereto by frictional or other gearing. if desired, in place of the
toothed wheel and pinion previously described, which is the arrangement we
prefer to employ for this purpose. Self-acting mechanism may be arranged
to actuate the series of breaks by causing a friction wheel to press on the
surface of the rail when the train is in motion, suitable gearing being arranged
in connection therewith to actuate the jointed longitudinal axis, which actuates
and connects the series of break apparatus. Hand wheels or other actuating
gear may be applied to the longitudinal revolving bar or axis of each carriage
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson, Cornelius Jefferson,
Lazarus Jefferson, and Mordecai Jefferson, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ISAAC
JEFFERSON, JOSEPH JEFFERSON, CORNELIUS JEFFERSON, LAZARUS JEFFERSON,
and MORDECAI JEFFERSON, all of Bradford, in the County of York, Engineers
and Machinists, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson, Cornelius Jefferson, Lazarus
Jefferson, and Mordecai Jefferson, Her special licence that we, the said
Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson, Cornelius Jefferson, Lazarus Jefferson, and
Mordecai Jefferson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
we, the said Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson, Cornelius Jefferson,

page_text: Lazarus Jefferson, and Mordecai. Jefferson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BREAK APPARATUS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson,
Cornelius Jefferson, Lazarus Jefferson, and Mordecai Jefferson, our executors,
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great.
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after.
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson,
Cornelius Jefferson, Lazarus Jefferson, and Mordecai Jefferson, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-.
4
Our improvements relate to those arrangements of railway break apparatus
where a bar is employed for connecting the break apparatus of one carriage to
the break apparatus of another carriage, the break apparatus of the series of
carriages thus connected being actuated by the guard of the train, by means
of suitable gearing in the break van or carriage, and the object of our improve-
ments is first a more efficient arrangement of the parts which connect the
ends of the longitudinal connecting bars or axes, for the purpose of affording
greater facility in connecting them together, and also to allow the universal,
joints formed near the ends of the connecting bars or axes to act with perfect
freedom when the parts are caused to assume different angles to one another
at the time the carriages are passing around curves and yet admit of the free
revolution of the connecting bars or axes when the breaks are being brought
into action.
These improvements also relate to arrangements of the break apparatus
whereby the whole of the break blocks (which are of the ordinary character),
of a train of carriages may be brought to bear with great facility and certainty
upon the whole of the wheels to which breaks are applied, the apparatus being
brought into action by the guard of the train acting on suitable gearing in
the break van or carriage, or by the engineer acting on similar break apparatus
connected with the tender.

page_text: Figure 1 shows a s
of apparatus, arranged and constructed according to our Invention, for con-
necting the break apparatus of one carriage to the break apparatus of another
carriage.
We will first describe our improvements in the construction of the parts
which connect the ends of the longitudinal revolving connecting bars or axes.
A and B, which connect the break apparatus of one carriage to the break
apparatus of another carriage, and give motion to such apparatus when
putting on or taking off the breaks. For this purpose we form the socket b,
which is keyed or otherwise fixed on the rod b', '(attached by a joint con-
structed as berein-after described to the end of the longitudinal bar or axis A)
with a bell-mouthed opening, four or other suitable number of grooves or
channels 62 being formed within the socket 6 for receiving the end a¹ of the
longitudinal break bar or axis A of the adjoining carriage to which it is to be
connected. The connecting end a¹ of this bar A is also formed with a joint,
and has one or more ribs or projections' a² thereon to fit or slide into the grooves
be in the socket b, carried by the longitudinal break bar or axis B to which it
is to be connected. The ends of the ribs or projections are curved off or brought
to a point at the end of the bar so as to ensure their entering the openings to
the grooves in the connecting socket b, the metal between such grooves being
curved or tapered off to a point at the bell-mouthed entrance to the socket b.
By forming the connecting ends a', b', of the longitudinal break-bars or axes
A, B, of each adjoining carriage as previously described, the difficulty hitherto
experienced in adjusting and coupling together the ends of the longitudinal
axis (as previously constructed with square ends and sockets) is altogether
avoided as the connecting parts constructed as previously described: cannot fail
to engage with one another correctly when the end of one bar or axis is
presented to and introduced into the socket 6 on the end of the opposite bar
or axis whatever the relative positions of the ribs and grooves may be.
We will now describe the means we employ in connecting the parts pre-
viously described to the revolving break bars or axes A, B, so that they may
act as universal joints when the break apparatus and carriages are connected
together and are passing around curves, thus causing the connecting parts to
deviate from a right line. Between the end of the bar A and the end of the

page_text: connecting part a¹ to which it is to be attached by a joint capable of moving
in any direction, a spherical chamber A* is formed for receiving the spherical
end a* on the connecting part a¹ of the bar or axis A. Upon this spherical
part there are pins or projections which move in corresponding grooves, or
recesses formed in the spherical chamber, so that in place of acting to the
same extent as a ball-and-socket joint when the longitudinal bar or axis is
caused to revolve, the projections on the spherical end will act as clutches in
their respective grooves or recesses, and thus cause the parts so connected to
revolve. Rings -c of india-rubber or other elastic material are introduced
between the parts of the joint thus formed, to give elasticity thereto, in order
to retain them in a right line when disconnected. The length of the connec-
ting rod a' and the socket 6 will admit of variations in the endway movement
and distance apart of the carriages, and at the same time permit the rotary.
motion to be transmitted from one break bar or axis to another.
We will now describe the apparatus we prefer to employ for actuating the
break blocks, shown by Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawings. Upon each longi-
tudinal bar or axis A, B, (arranged to connect the break apparatus of a train
of carriages together as previously described,) a toothed pinion d is mounted
so as to revolve therewith, at the same time being capable of sliding to and
fro thereon by means of a feather upon the axis. This toothed pinion d (which
is formed with plates or flanches at each end) takes into and drives a toothed
wheel e carried by the axis e', the opposite ends.of which are formed with
right and left handed screws, which enter into and are supported in correspond-
ing female screw sockets e, e², which sockets pass through and are supported
in sliding bearings e, e', which act with a regulated amount of friction upon
the screw sockets e, e², to prevent them from revolving in the bearings e³, e³,
until the pressure of the ends of the sockets upon the transverse bars e*, e',
which connect the break blocks of a pair of wheels together) overcomes the
friction of the sliding bearings e, e³. The screw sockets es, e, are connected
by the rods e³, es, or in any other convenient manner (so as to be capable of
revolving) to the transverse travelling bars e, e, the outer ends of which are
attaclied to the backs of two pairs of break blocks f, f, on opposite sides of
the carriage as shown. The break blocks f, f, are suspended by arms f'.
arranged to slide or travel on guides to and from the periphery of the carriage
wheels, as shown; 9 is a rod or bar fixed underneath the carriage to support
the sliding bearings e³ and the bearings e* which carry and support the screw
axis e; friction rollers may be substituted for the sockets of the bearings.
which slides to and fro on the axes A and 9 if desired. The apparatus pre-
viously described may be applied to one or any number of carriages composing

page_text: a train, and acts in the following manner :-When it is desired to put on the
breaks rotary motion is communicated to the series of longitudinal bars o
axes A, B, connecting the train of carriages together by means of the vertica
axis C and bevilled toothed wheels C', or by any suitable driving gear mounted
in or upon the guard's break van or carriage, or upon the tender. The toothed
pinion d sliding upon a feather and revolving with the jointed longitudinal ba
or axis gives motion to the toothed wheel e, with which it. engages, and the
right and left handed screws e¹, e¹, act upon the screw sockets e², e, to force
them and the transverse bars e, et, (which connect two opposite break blocks
together,) out in opposite directions until the break blocks f, f, come in contact
with the periphery of each of the carriage wheels they are arranged to act
upon, and as soon as either of the break blocks are brought into action the
screw socket e which bears upon the transverse bar e', overcomes the friction
of its sliding bearing e³, e³, thus causing the screw socket e² to revolve with
the screw axis. When the screw axis e¹ moves more in one direction than
another the ends of the teeth on the wheel e act on the inner surface of one
of the flanches on the driving pinion d, and cause it to slide upon its axis in
the direction in which the toothed wheel e moves. We would remark that it is
quite unimportant whether the several break blocks are placed at various
distances from the wheels, when they are being brought into action, as the
outward thrust of the ends of the screw sockets & upon the transverse bars e
will cause the break blocks to come into action in quick succession by reason
of their baving independent movement should they happen to be placed at
varying distances from the wheels when the breaks are first applied. When
the wheels to which the pairs of breaks are applied are at a considerable dis-
tance apart additional stationary bearings are.arranged to support the right
and left handed screw axis, and toothed wheels mounted thereon, and this axis
may have motion imparted thereto by frictional or other gearing, if desired, in
place of the toothed wheel and pinion previously described, which is the arrange-
ment we prefer to employ for this purpose.
We would here remark that other arrangements of mechanism may be
substituted for the right and left hand screw axis and apparatus previously
described for moving the break blocks to and fro, so as to adjust their position,
and thus cause them to have independent action without departing from the
true spirit and character of our Invention, and a competent mechanic, aided
by the previous description of the nature of our improvements, would readily
arrange other combinations of mechanism, such as scroll or other cam surfaces,
or combinations of lever apparatus, or other suitable mechanical contrivances,
capable of independent movement, so as to adjust and actuate the break blocks

page_text: in the manner and on the principle previously described, to cause them to come
into action in quick succession without the disadvantage of having to wear
down the surfaces of one or more of the blocks before the others of the series
are capable of coming into action as is the case with the break apparatus now
generally employed; self-acting mechanism may be arranged to actuate the
series of breaks by causing a friction wheel to press on the surface of the rail
when the train is in motion, in order to impart motion to such friction wheel,
and from its axis to the break apparatus, by suitable gearing arranged in con-
nection therewith, to actuate the jointed longitudinal axis which actuates and
connects the series of break apparatus of a train of carriages together. Hand
wheels or other actuating gear may also be applied to the longitudinal re-
volving bar or axis of each carriage for actuating the breaks when desired. We
have not thought it necessary to show the self-acting mechanism and hand
gear previously described as a competent mechanic will readily apply the same
from the above description thereof.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner in
which the same is carried into practice, we would have it understood that we
do not confine ourselves to the exact details herein shown and described so
long as the essential character of our improvements be retained; but what we
claim is,-
First, the means or apparatus herein described for coupling or connecting
the break apparatus of one carriage to the break apparatus of an adjoining
carriage.
And, secondly, we claim the combination and arrangement of apparatus for
adjusting and governing the action of the break blocks in the manner herein
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Isaac Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson,.
Cornelius Jefferson, Lazarus Jefferson, and Mordecai Jefferson, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this First day of November in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
ISAAC JEFFERSON.
JOSEPH JEFFERSON.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)