AN IMPROVED RAILWAY CARRIAGE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Bussi, of Milan, resident in London at 38,
Cannon Street, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED RAILWAY CARRIAGE."
-A communication from Charles Perratone.
Sealed the 9th July 1858, and dated the 28th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Bussi at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th January
1858.
I, PETER BUSSI, of Milan, resident in London at 38, Cannon Street, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED RAILWAY
CARRIAGE," to be as follows:-
The carriage differs essentially from all others running or now in use,
inasmuch as it allows of the centre of gravity being lowered as much as
required independently of the diameter of the wheels, and without hindering
the action of the machinery necessary to form the train. The frame of the
carriage stays underneath the frame of the axle; any diameter is allowed to
the wheel without raising the vehicle; vide the Drawings deposited herewith.
A, guard plate; B, grease box; C, suspending apparatus; and D, apparatus
of traction. The principal dimensions of the carriage can be perfectly equal
to those of any vehicle now in use. The space now allowed to the steps may
be utilised for augmenting the useful weight of the vehicle.
The system is applicable always and in every combination by wooden and

page_text: iron frames, joined according to the rules of art, as shewn in the Drawings.
Any other system of suspension of the vehicles and traction may be perfectly
adapted to the Invention, the result of which will be the diminishing the
effects of prejudicial forces on railway vehicles, saving in the expense of
construction of ways, carriages, vehicles, and their repairs, and increasing
of comfort, security, easiness, and economy in the public service.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Bussi in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
Bussi, of Milan, resident in London, 38, Cannon Street, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Bussi, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Bussi, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter
Bussi, my 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 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED RAILWAY CARRIAGE," a com-
munication from Charles Perratone, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Peter Bussi, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 I, the said Peter Bussi, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, which may with propriety be designated a new system of framing
for all kinds of railway vehicles.
The principle on which this framing is constructed differs essentially from
that of any other railway framing now in use, inasmuch as it allows the centre

page_text: of gravity of the vehicle to be lowered at pleasure independent of the diameter
of the wheels. This important object is effected by the following means:-
.
1st, the vehicle is suspended from the axle boxes instead of being supported
over them, as is commonly done.
2nd, the traction mechanism (or drawing gear) of the vehicle is placed
below the pivots of the axles, and made to act on a vertical plan passing by
the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
3rd, the wheel apparatus can be altered at pleasure, either to suit the
position or diameter of the wheels of the carriage or vehicle placed upon
them.
These three leading characteristics of this system of framing combine to
increase the stability of any vehicle, whatever may be the rate of speed at
which it travels, and allows any train of vehicles to run freely round sharp
curves.
The Plans I., II., II., IV., V., VI., VII., show in horizontal projections
and elevation the different constructions of the system for which the inventor
desires a Patent. The means of obtaining "the new result," which is the
object of the Patent, are plainly demonstrated by the Figures in the said
accompanying Plans. The Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6, in the Plans I., II., III.,
show how, with the same means now employed and in use, the Inventor has
obtained the aforesaid result.
The figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, in the Plans
I., II., III., IV., V., VI., VII., show how the same results are obtained by
new means included in the Patent.
The advantages of the Invention being obtainable by the means now in use
greatly facilitates its application to existing vehicles, whilst the new mechanism,
specially adapted to the objects of this Invention, facilitates its application to
new vehicles.
The Figure 17, Plan VI., and the Figure 18, Plan VII., which represent
the system in operation on a curve of 20 metres (1 chain or 66 feet) radius,
with the aid of "rail Laignel," show also the arrangement of the frames,
supposing the wheels to be free on their axles instead of being fixed to them,
as in the latter case the "rail Laignel" is of no use. In the Plans III., IV.,
V., VI., VII., is represented the position of the system when applied to the
different construction of frames necessary for the various shapes of vehicles.
The undersigned, although confining his Invention particularly to the three
leading points already described (1st, 2nd, and 3d,) as they determine the new
result of his system, viz., any lowering of the centre of gravity of the vehicles
(railway or otherwise), whatever may be the diameter of the wheels and how-

page_text: ever sharp the curves of the line of railway, claims also to include in the Patent
all the mechanism of traction and of suspension, particular forms and arrange-
mants figured on his Plans, now unknown or not used until adopted to obtain
the result of this Invention, the more so as the Inventor recommends these
particulars, forms, plans, and arrangements to the protection of the law, since
the future profits of the Invention depend in no small degree on these Plans.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Bussi, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of July, Anno Domini, One thousand
eight hundred and fifte-eight
P. BUSSI. (L.S.)