IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MEANS OF WORKING BREAKS ON CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bridges, of Bridgewater, in the County of
Somerset, Railway Carriage Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS OF WORKING BREAKS ON CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 7th June 1859, and dated the 15th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bridges at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th December 1858.
I, HENRY BRIDGES, of Bridgewater, in the County of Somerset, Railway.
Carriage Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF WORKING BREAKS ON CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS,"
to be as follows:-
I place under each carriage, to which it is intended to apply my improve-
ments, in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position, and extending the whole
length of such carriages, a screw shaft, having on the screw part thereof a
wormed nut, and I have connecting rods attached at one end to the nut, and
at the other to a lever or wheel, and I have on the screw shaft a toothed
bevelled wheel, which works into another toothed wheel on a vertical shaft,

page_text: therefore, when this vertical shaft is moved round, it will, by means of the
toothed bevel wheels, cause the screw shaft to revolve, and the nut being
restrained from revolving with the screw shaft, will traverse or move longi-
tudinally along the screw shaft, and carry with it the connecting rods, and
thereby actuate the breaks against the wheels.
I have the screw shaft near the ends thereof, double or slotted, and I leave
a space between the respective cheeks or sides to allow a compensating
connection to slide between the said cheeks. I unite this double or slotted
part to a socket at the end of the screw shaft, through which the compensating
connection slides. I couple or connect the revolving shaft for actuating or
working the breaks on one carriage with the revolving shaft, which actuates
or works the breaks on another carriage by means of coupling shackles or
pieces made male and female. I have one end of the female coupling piece
formed with a socket, and the other end with a joint, by which it is attached
to the compensating connection slide, and on the outside of the socket I have
a screw thread. I have also one end of the male coupling piece formed with
a joint, and I attach such joint to one of the compensating connection slides,
and I have the other end of the male coupling piece made in a shape to fit
into the socket; the section of this end and the socket being of such a form,
that when placed in the socket, and the female coupling piece is made to
revolve, the male piece will revolve with it, and vice versa. In some cases I
use a pin or bolt to make one coupling piece turn the other. On the male
coupling piece I place a metal nut, which is free to revolve thereon, but which
is prevented from coming off by a pin or collar, so that when the end of one
coupling piece is inserted in the other, and the nut is caused to revolve as it
fits the thread outside the socket of the female coupling piece, the male and
female pieces are held together.
When the compensating slides are caused to revolve by means of the screw
shaft, and such shaft is coupled or connected with the compensating slides on
another carriage, the breaks on the carriages so connected will be actuated or
worked simultaneously or nearly so.
When it is necessary to provide for six-wheeled carriages to work indis-
criminately, either end forward or toward the engine, I place break blocks and
screws on the wheels on each side of the carriage, so that when the motion is
communicated the break blocks approach both sides of each of the wheels on
one side of the carriage, and recede from each side of the wheels on the other
side of the carriage, one screw shaft actuating the levers and blocks on both
sides of the carriage at the same time.

page_text: I form the screw shaft with collars at each end, and support it in bearings
on hangers, and in some cases I form such bangers in two parts.
The details of my improvements may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bridges in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BRIDGES, of Bridgewater, in the County of Somerset, Railway Carriage
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Bridges, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Bridges,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Bridges, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS OF WORKING BREAKS ON CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Bridges, 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 Henry Bridges, 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:-
I place under each carriage to which it is intended to apply my improve-
ments in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position, and extending the whole

page_text: length of such carriage a screw shaft, having on the screw part thereof a
wormed nut, and I have connecting rods attached at one end to the nut, and
at the other to a lever or wheel, and I have on the screw shaft a toothed
bevilled wheel, which works into another toothed wheel on a vertical shaft,
therefore when this vertical shaft is moved round, it will, by means of the
toothed bevel wheels, cause the screw shaft to revolve, and the nut being
restrained from revolving with the screw shaft, will traverse or move longi-
tudinally along the screw shaft, and carry with it the connecting rods, and
thereby actuate the breaks against the wheels.
I have the screw shaft near the ends thereof double or slotted, and I leave a
space between the respective cheeks or sides to allow a compensating
connection to slide between the said cheeks; I unite this double or slotted
part to a socket at the end of the screw shaft, through which the compensating
connection slides. I couple or connect the revolving shaft for actuating or
working the breaks on one carriage with the revolving shaft, which actuates
or works the breaks on another carriage by means of coupling shackles or
pieces made male and female. I have one end of the female coupling piece
formed with a socket, and the other end with a joint, by which it is attached to
the compensating connection slide, and on the outside of the socket I have a
screw thread. I have also one end of the male coupling piece formed with a
joint and I attach such joint to one of the compensating connection slides, and
I have the other end of the male coupling piece made in a shape to fit into
the socket, the section of this end and the socket being of such a form, that
when placed in the socket, and the female coupling piece is made to revolve,
the male piece will revolve with it, and vice versa. In some cases I use a
pin or bolt to make one coupling piece turn the other. On the male coupling
piece I place a metal nut, which is free to revolve thereon, but which is
prevented from coming off by a pin or collar, so that when the end of one
coupling piece is inserted in the other, and the nut is caused to revolve, as it fits
the thread outside the socket of the female coupling pieces, the male and female
pieces are held together. When the compensating slides are caused to revolve
by means of the screw shaft, and such shaft is coupled or connected with the
compensating slides on another carriage, the breaks on the carriages so
connected will be actuated or worked simultaneously or nearly so.
In some cases when it is necessary to provide for six-wheeled carriages to
work indiscriminately either end forward or toward the engine, I place break
blocks and screws on the wheels on each side of the carriage, so that when the
motion is communicated, the break blocks approach both sides of each of the

page_text: wheels on one side of the carriage, and recede from each side of the wheels
on the other side of the carriage, one screw shaft actuating the levers and
blocks on both sides of the carriage at the same time. I form a screw shaft
with collars at each end, and support it in bearings on hangers, and in some
cases I form such hangers in two parts.
Sheet 1.Fig. 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan view of my improve-
ments, in which the breaks are shewn attached to the carriages and coupled
together. A is the vertical shaft and handle (which may be of any suitable
form and placed in any convenient position); B is the screw shaft; C, the
bevel wheels; D, the wormed nut; E, the connecting rods; and F, the com-
pensating slides. Fig. 3 shews one form of the male and female coupling
pieces, one end of one piece being inserted into the socket end of the other,
and held together by the nut, the other end of each coupling piece terminating
in a forked or jaw end, which is attached by pins or bolts to the compensating
slides, so as to form joints which are at right angles to each other when the
coupling pieces are connected together. A, A, are the coupling pieces; B,
the joints, and C the nut; I sometimes form lever handles on the nut,
as shewn, by which it may be turned, and I also form the nut so that
it be turned by inserting a lever in holes in the nut, or by means of a
wrench.
Figs. 4 and 5 are sections of coupling pieces, in which double joints are
used formed by the compensating slides and the coupling pieces, terminating
each in sockets and connected together by pins or bolts and shackles; these
joints allow a greater play than those in Fig. 3. A, A, are the coupling
pieces; B, the joints; and C, the nut.
Fig. 6 is a section of one form of the compensating slide. A is the slide;
B, the end of screw shaft; C is a stop, pinned on to the slide, after it is
inserted from the front end of the shaft; D is a cross section of this form of
compensating slide.
Fig. 7 is a section of another form of compensating slides, in which the
screw shaft A terminates in a flat end, which is received in a mortice formed in
a collar piece B, which collar piece also receives the end of the compensating
slide C, either in the same or a separate mortice, so that the end of the com-
pensating slide is free to move backwards and forwards, but not to turn round,
within the collar piece; the external form of this collar piece is cylindrical;
and being supported in suitable bearings, revolves with the screw shaft, but is
restrained from moving endways.
:
In Fig. 7 I shew in section another mode of connecting the compensating

page_text: slides together, the ends of the compensating slides being formed with sockets;
and between them I place a centre piece D, having holes with moveable pins
therein at right angles to each other.
In some cases I connect by means of such pins a shackle, as shewn by f, f;
the other end of the shackle is attached to the compensating slides by pins or
bolts. I form these compensating slides of iron or steel or any suitable metal,
but I prefer steel, sufficiently elastic to prevent them being strained or taking
a set from any irregular motion of the carriages or otherwise.
Sheet 2.-Fig. 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a front view of another mode of
working the screw shaft of the break. A is the handle for working the break
attached to a shaft, on which is fastened a toothed spur wheel B. On the
screw shaft C, I place another toothed spur wheel D, gearing into the inter-
mediate wheel or wheels E, as may be required. In turning the handle A motion
will be given to the screw shaft, and the breaks which are coupled together
will be set in motion.
Fig. 3 is an arrangement by which I sometimes actuate the breaks by spur
and bevil wheels combined. A is the handle; B and B are the toothed bevel
wheels gearing into each other; C and C are toothed spur wheels, which also
gear into each other. One spur wheel is fixed on to the screw shaft E, and
the other on an intermediate shaft D; one of the bevel wheels is also fixed on
this intermediate shaft, and the other on to the vertical shaft E¹, to which
the handle is affixed. On turning the handle motion is communicated to the
screw shaft and thence to the breaks. Fig. 4 is a larger view of the bevel
gearing shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, and in which a bell or gong may be employed
as a means of giving alarm or communication from one carriage to another
by causing the shaft to revolve.
In Figs. 5 and 6 I shew a hanger which I use for suspending the shaft;
the hanger is made in two parts A, A, which is attached to the frame D;
those two parts are held together at the bottom by a metal bearing of brass or
other suitable metal formed in two pieces B, B, in which the screw shaft C
revolves and is supported; these hangers are shewn affixed to the carriage D.
By the use of the banger in two parts, the screw shaft may be in one entire
piece, which I prefer, and may readily be placed in position.
Having described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is or may be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
as my Invention any of the parts taken separately; but that what I claim as
my Invention is, the particular combinations of parts, as herein-before described
and as shewn in the several Figures in Sheets 1 and 2, except Figure 3, in

page_text: Sheet 1, and Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, in Sheet 2, which I have given only by
way of illustration; and the right to vary such combinations without departing
from the nature of my said Invention; and I also claim the particular mode
of forming the hanger for suspending the shaft, as shewn in Figs. 5 and 6,
Sheet 2.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bridges, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
above-named Henry Bridges in the
presence of
H. WICKENS,
"Patent" Solicitor,
HENRY BRIDGES. (L.S.)
4, Tokenhouse Yard, Bank,
London.
presence of
H. WICKENS,
Patent" Solicitor,
4, Tokenhouse Yard, Bank,
London.