CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1849

page_text: MERCHANT AND HARLAND'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
MERCHANT, of Derby, Civil Engineer, and ROBERT HARLAND, of Derby,
Carriage Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fifth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Thomas Merchant and Robert Harland, our exors, adñiors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
Thomas Merchant and Robert Harland, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, and
such others as we, the said Thomas Merchant and Robert Harland, our exors,
adiňors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, that we, the said Thomas Merchant and Robert Harland, or
one of us, should cause a particular description of the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery .within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Thomas Merchant and Robert Harland, do hereby declare that the nature of.

page_text: our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of a method of connecting together the
several carriages of a railway train in such a manner that the buffers of each
of the said carriages shall be kept in contact with the buffers of the adjoining
carriage or carriages, whether the said train be moving in a right line or in a
curve, and thereby prevent or diminish the oscillation to which the carriages
in a railway train are liable; secondly, of an improved drag or apparatus
to be applied to railway carriages for retarding and stopping the same when
in motion; thirdly, of an improved "mercantile carriage," or carriage for the
conveyance of luggage or merebandise.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents a plan of the frame of
a railway carriage constructed after the manner of our Invention. The out-
side framing f, f, does not differ from the framing of ordinary railway
carriages. d is the "draw bar," by which the carriages are attached to one
another or to the engine; e is the spring by which the draw bar is brought
back to its position after the pressure by which it was drawn out is removed;
c, c², are connecting rods or arms attached to the draw bar d by joints at c¹;
a, a¹, are two levers, turning upon the pin a" as a centre, which said pin a"
is attached to the framing; one of the connecting rods c is attached to the
lever a', and the other of the said connecting rods c³ is connected with the
lever a; the end 1 of the lever a is connected to the buffer rod b, and the
end 2 of the said lever a is connected to the buffer rod 62, and it will be seen
by inspection of the Drawing that the rod c³ is similarly connected with the
lever a', and the said lever with the buffer rods 63, 64. The action of this part
of our Invention is as follows:-When the force by which the train is put in
motion first acts on the draw bar d, the spring e of the said draw bar yields,
and the said draw bar is drawn out, (and the same takes place with respect
to the draw bars of each of the carriages.) As the said draw bar moves, it
communicates motion through the connecting rods c, c², to the levers a, a¹, and
the said levers thrust forward the buffer rods b, 62, 63, b, to which they are con-
nected. The said buffer rods moving simultaneously with the draw bar, the
buffers of each carriage are maintained in close contact with the buffers of the
adjoining carriages, and the whole train tightly coupled together.
In the accompanying Drawing we have represented the connecting rods
c, c³, connected with the levers a, a', at such a point that any given motion in
the draw bar will produce in the buffer rods b, 63, 63, 64, motion through three

page_text: times the range of the said motion of the draw bar; but we do not confine
ourselves to this proportion, for we sometimes connect the rods c, c², with the
levers a, a, at points nearer to or farther from the centre a" on which the
levers turn, so as to increase or diminish the ratio of the motion of the draw
bar and buffer rods. By examining the Drawing it will be seen that the
links which connect the buffer rods to the levers a, a¹, are not connected there-
with by a simple joint, but that there is a slot in each of the said links, in
which slot a pin in the end of the lever works. The object of this con-
truction is as follows:-When the train is moving on a curve it is necessary
that the buffers on the convex side of the curve should be forced out, while
those on the concave side of the curve should be capable of retiring. When the
pressure against the buffer is greater than the resistance of the buffer
spring, the pin in the lever a¹ moves in the slot in the link y, and does not
push the said buffer forward. Although we prefer carrying this part of our
Invention into effect in the way described, yet it may be carried into effect
in a greater variety of ways; for example, the ordinary draw bar may be
dispensed with, and the buffers securely coupled together by any suitable
coupling, but we prefer the first-described method. When the carriages of
a railway train are connected together according to the manner of our
Invention, the oscillation to which railway carriages are liable, and which is
both destructive to the carriages and permanent way, and dangerous to the
passengers, is very much diminished or altogether prevented.
Figure 2 represents a side elevation, and Figure 3 an end elevation, of a
railway truck to which our improved break is attached. a, b, are two blocks
of wood or other suitable material, the curved faces of which are made to press
against the wheels c, c¹. The lever d, the connecting rods e, e¹, and the winch f
do not differ from those of the common break, and we therefore deem it
unnecessary to describe them. The novelty in our break consists of attaching
the blocks a, b, by a joint to the bar g, which connects the bearings of the
wheels c, c', instead of jointing them to the carriage frame h.
Our improved "mercantile carriage" is presented in Figures 4, 5, 6,
and 7; Figure 4 representing a side elevation; Figure 5, an end elevation ;
Figure 6, a plan of the under side of the top with the door shut; and Figure
7, a plan of the top with the door open.
Our improvement consists in constructing a cover or lid for the carriage
which shall be more readily opened and closed and occupy less room in
opening and closing than the covers or lids of ordinary carriages. a is the
lid or cover, which is connected with the, top of the carriage by the pin b,
about which the said lid turns as a centre instead of opening by hinges or

page_text: sliding; c is a semicircular horizontal bearing, on which the lid a is supported
as it is moved.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not con-
fine ourselves to the precise methods of carrying our Invention into effect
herein described, and represented on the accompanying Drawing, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of our said Invention; but
we claim,―
Firstly, the coupling together of the carriages and engine of a railway train
in such a manner that the buffers of each carriage shall be kept in contact
with the buffers of the carriage or carriages to which it is coupled, under all
the circumstances to which a railway train is ordinarily exposed, such as
changes of velocity, and inclines, and curves on the railway, whether the same
be effected by the method herein-before described, and represented in the
accompanying Drawing, or by any modification of the same.
Secondly, the method of constructing the drags of railway carriages, herein-
before described, and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly, the method, herein-before described, and represented in the accom-
panying Drawing, of constructing the cover of a mercantile carriage, that is to
say, by causing the moveable lid or cover of the same to open and shut by
turning in a horizontal plane upon a centre fixed in the top of the carriage.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Merchant and Robert Harland,
have hereunto set our bands and seals, this Twentieth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.