CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO RAILWAY CARRIAGES TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS THEREON
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
HOLDSWORTH, of Norwood, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by ller
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixth day of October, in the tenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel
Holdsworth, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Samuel Holdsworth, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said Samuel Holdsworth, my exors, admors, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and
in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sárk, and Man, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO RAILWAY CARRIAGES
TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS THEREON;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, obliging me, the said Samuel Holdsworth, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Holdsworth, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates to the construction of improved apparatus called
buffers, and their adaptation to railway carriages, so that in the event of the
carriages coming in contact with each other, the shock resulting from the
collision will be very materially diminished, and the fatal effects oftentimes
resulting therefrom wholly prevented. I effect these improvements by con-
structing these buffers (as I shall herein-after denominate them) by fixing
inside the carriage framing and under the flooring a series of metal tubes, in
which suitable pistons are to be fitted with piston rods which project out at
one end of the tubes and terminate in the cushions. The elastic force
required may be obtained in various modes.
.
But in order that my Invention may be better understood and more readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating similar parts in all the Figures.
"
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents the side view of a railway carriage; Figure 2, a plan
view of the underneath part thereof; and Figure 3, an end view of the same.
But as these Figures only shew the application of the apparatus, I shall at
once proceed to detail the same. Figure 4 represents a side view of the
apparatus; Figure 5, a portion of the same in section; and Figure 6, a section
taken through the line 1, 2, Figure 4. a, a, are tubes, which may be made
in copper, brass, iron, or any other metal that may be found most suitable for
the purpose. These tubes.a, a, must be truly bored or otherwise adapted to
the working of the piston, and smooth in the insides. b, b, are pistons, which
must be packed in a similar way to those used in the steam engine, and are
furnished with piston rods c, c, c; one of the ends of these piston rods are
fixed in the pistons b, b, b; the other ends pass through the stuffing boxes d, d, d,
and are secured by screws and nuts or other suitable means into the cushion 8,
as seen in section at Figure 7. These series of tubes a, a, may be of any
number, but I prefer applying four of them on each side of the carriage frame
as I have found in practice that that number will be sufficient to resist any

page_text: ordinary shock. f, f, are flanches, screwed on the ends of the tubes a, a, a ;
g is a circular hollow belt, more clearly seen at Figure 6, for the purpose of
supplying air into the tubes a, a, a, behind the pistons b, b, b; h, h, and i, i,
are two metal rings, forming between them the circular channel j, j, com-
municating with the tubes a, a, a, through the passage k, k, k, k, and to the
inside or smaller cylinder a' by the passage ¹; 7 is an air cock, communicating
with the channel j, j, having a screw cut on the end thereof, for the purpose
of screwing it to the air pump or other suitable air compresser; m is a safety
valve, which is fixed to the top of the hollow belt g by the screws 9', 9'; n is
a spiral spring on end, acting against the support n', and the other end acting
against the shoulder n; this spring must be of a sufficient elasticity so as to
keep the valve m closed until the air is compressed to the pressure required,
and as soon as more pressure is put on than is necessary the valve m will open
and the air will be forced through the passage o, which communicates to the
whistle P, and indicates to the person employed in compressing the air that
the same is compressed sufficiently. 9, 9, 9, 9, are supports, to which the
hollow belt g is fixed.
I will now proceed to describe the manner in which the same may be put
into operation. After the carriages are all linked together, I apply the air
pump to the cock and compress the air behind the pistons b, b, b; the buffer
cushions of one carriage should come against the buffer cushions of the other
carriage, and the air still being compressed until the required pressure is
indicated by the whistle p, then the pump is applied to the next carriage and
again operated in the same manner until the whole of the carriages composing
the train shall be in close contact with each other, and the air so compressed,
according to the power of the spiral spring n, will retain a great elastic
force.
Figure 8 shews another arrangement by which the elastic force is obtained,
by means of the strong expanding spiral spring r, r, having one end fixed to
the piston 6 and the other end pressing against the end of the tube a; and I
propose also using the compressed air and the spiral spring in conjunction, so
that in the event of any derangement of the air apparatus the spiral spring
may be used with safety. Figure 9 shews the ends of the tubes a, a, a, a, with
the flange removed; and Figure 10 shews the same with the flange f, f,
applied, shewing the stuffing boxes d, d, d, d. Figure 11 shews the inside
face of the buffer cushion e, with the screw holes for the piston rods c, c, c, c;
and Figure 12, a front view of the same. The tube a, a, should be of the
same length as the carriage, and may be placed as found most convenient; but
by referring to Figures 2 and 3 it will be perceived they are fixed inside of the

page_text: framing 8, 8, 8, 8, and the wheels t, t, t, t; but I prefer fixing them as shewn in
the Drawing.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carry-
ing it into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise details herein described, so long as the peculiar character of my said
Invention or any part thereof be retained, and I do not claim the use of com-
pressed air as applied to railway buffers, or the use of spiral springs, as the same
have been before applied to railway carriages to effect the same object; but what
I claim is, the construction of the apparatus as shewn in the accompanying
Drawings and above described, and their combination with the various parts
thereof herein detailed, to be applied to railway carriages, for the purpose of
preventing accidents and for lessening the violence of the shocks consequent
to collisions on railways.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Holdsworth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of April. One thousand eight hundred
SAMUEL (L.S.) HOLDSWORTH.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Samuel Holdsworth came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven.