A METHOD OF RETARD- ING OR STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS AND CRRIAGES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Dunne Kyle, of Albany Street, Regent's Park,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A METHOD OF RETARD-
ING OR STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS AND CRRIAGES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS,"
Sealed the 7th July 1857, and dated the 10th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Dunne Kyle at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th January 1857.
1, DAVID DUNNE KYLE, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for" A METHOD
OF RETARDING OR STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS AND CARRIAGES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS," to be as follows:-
The placing or applying, when it is necessary to use this Invention, the
weight of the engine, carriage, load, or portions thereof, on the hinder segments
of the tires, or other concentric parts of the carriage wheels, as these parts or
segments revolve upwards in succession, or in directing it against the other
downward revolving segments or parts, thus counteracting the motion of the
train, engine, or carriage by its weight.
This is effected by constructing the body of the carriage, or the part of it
which contains the load, wholly or partially separate from the frame in which
the wheels run, so as to provide a vertical movement for the carriage or load
whilst the wheels are held or travel forward in the usual manner; or in
arrangements for lifting the body of the carriage or engine off one or more of
the axles and placing it on the tires or other parts of the wheels whilst the
axles remain in their boxes. With the body of the carriage or with its axles
or wheels secondary wheels or rollers are connected, to correspond with and
Price &

page_text: work against the tires or other parts of the carriage wheels, or against drums
or wheels fixed to them or on their axles. When this invention is used, the
body of the engine, or carriage, or load is raised or depressed off the axles,
with or without the intervention of springs, by means of levers, triggers, or
screws, so as to throw its weight through the secondary wheels or breaks on
the tires or corresponding parts of the carriage wheels or drums, thus pressing
on these parts whilst the secondary wheels revolve in contact with them, and
regulating or effecting a retardation or stoppage progressively. When this
arrangement is not used the carriage or load is supported in the usual
manner. Breaks of the ordinary concave surface may be used when expedient,
on these the weight maybe thrown instead of on the secondary wheels; or both
may be used in conjunction, according to the emergency of the case.
The secondary wheels or rollers may constantly revolve with the carriage
wheels, or they may be brought into contact only when in use; in either case
provision is made against any undue action or shock through their sudden
application. Means are also provided for keeping them when in use in con-
stant pressure on the carriage wheels, so as to prevent any irregular action
from a rocking or uneven motion of the carriages.
The secondary wheels or breaks may be applied by hand; projecting arms
or frames may also be fixed, placed temporarily or dropped from the carriages
in the way or road, so as to be self-acting, or to be actuated from a distance
for the purpose of operating on the levers or triggers of the breaks as the
engines or carriages pass; they may be fitted to all the carriages in the train,
and under the control of the driver or guards by means of rods, cams, or
ordinary communicating apparatus,be made to act together or separately with
facility; they are also applicable to any number of carriage wheels.
It will be seen that the principle of this Invention is that of opposing the
weight of the moving body or parts thereof against the revolving force of the
travelling wheels on which it is carried, thus counteracting its own impetus
that the main feature is the intervention of the secondary wheels, but that
any simple or ordinary mechanism will be available in their application.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Dunne Kyle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
DUNNE KYLE, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said David Dunne Kyle, Her special licence that I, the said David
Dunne Kyle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said David Dunne Kyle, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times hereafter 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 A METHOD OF RETARDING OR STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS AND CARRIAGES,
APPLICABLE ALSO TO CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said David Dunne Kyle. 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 David Dunne Kyle, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
My said Invention relates to mechanical arrangements for retarding or
stopping railway trains, engines, or carriages in a more perfect manner
than by the breaks now in use.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Dra ings representsasidealevation
It will be seen that
of a carriage on rails; Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
these are not drawn exactly as the carriages in use, but so as to shew more
clearly the application of the Invention, and in order that the Drawings may
answer for common carriages bysupposing the flanges not on the wheels C,C,
and the rails e, e, to be the surface of the ground or road. A is the body of
the carriage, or the part which contains the load; B, the frame, whichrestson
the axles of the carriage wheels C, C, and holds them in their positions;
D, D, are pivots, working in bearings firmly bolted or attached to the frameB.
On these pivots, or on the bar or axle between them, the body of the carriage
or load A rests at one end, so as to admit of a small vertical motion apart from
the frame; the other end, or rather the carriage A itself, rests on the frame

page_text: when the breaks are not in use, and when in this position is held securely
by the studs or clips E, E, which project into the axles or against them on
both sides. These studs or clips allow the lifting up or depressing of the
body of the carriage on to or off the axles of the break rollers without the
displacement of the carriage wheels C, C.
Instead of constructing the body of the carriage A separate from the
frame B, they may be united, or, in other words, the second framing B may
be dispensed with, and the common construction of carriages used. In this
case, one of the axles of the carriage wheels C, C, would act in place of the
pivots D, D, as the height through which the carriage A or its load has to be
raised or depressed is so small that the play of the springs would admit of the
application of the breaks, which would be attached to the carriage in a
similar manner to that described below. F, F, are the break rollers or
wheels, which have an independent motion from each other, and consist of
wheels or rollers of iron or other necessary material, made of sufficient
strength, and shaped to any convex or conical tires or otherwise, as may be
found best; these are carried on an axle or axles, which receive the weight
of the carriage or load when the breaks are applied. These axles are
connected with or held to the frame B in slots in any ordinary framing,
which slots allow of a greater or lesser pressure being communicated with or
without the intervention of springs, through the break rollers; or theymaybe
fixed to the carriage, as in the case of the common construction of carriages
being used.
The wheel Fx is shewn on the Drawing as working against
the forward carriage wheel C for the purpose of more clearly shewing the
parts; this would be unnecessary in use, but might in some cases be applied.
Drums or wheels G, Figure 2, may be fixed on the axle of the carriage
wheels C, C, at any point, or attached to the wheels themselves; against these
the breaks may be applied instead of against the carriage wheels, and in this
case the drums and breaks may be toothed if it should be found expedient.
The raising or lowering of the body of the carriage A or of the part which
contains the load on to or off the break, axle, or framing is effected by the
lever H, which works on a stud firmly attached to the frame B or to the
carriage A. This is wrought by the guard or driver, and elevates or depresses
the body of the carriage or load, as shewn in the Drawing by the broken line.
Another means is that of a lever J, carried on a stud similar to the above,
and extending below or above the carriages, or at the side; this is actuated by
a frame or block placed in the road, as herein-after described, or by any bar or
projection fixed to a bridge or extending over the road. The screw K, baving
an arm L furnished with a toothed segment working into a pinion on its end,

page_text: which arm extends laterally, or in a similar manner to the levers H and J, will
also apply the breaks.
It will be seen, that by attaching breaks of the ordinary shape and surface
to the carriage in the same manner as the wheels are above described to be
attached, they can be brought to bear against the carriage wheels C, C, and
either in conjunction with or independent of the rollers F,
F.
Means are provided for retaining the break rollers in constant contact (so
far as may be) with the carriage wheels. These means consist of coupling
rods M, M, which hold together the axles of the carriage wheels and of the
break rollers. A strong coiled spring forms part of these rods, so that should
any foreign substance introduce itself between the wheels and rollers, the rods
would elongate and allow the roller to pass over it. For the purpose, however,
of preventing this, scrapers may be fixed over the wheels C, C, so as to preserve
their tires free from such obstructions. The break rollers are here described
as revolving in constant contact with the carriage wheels, but they may also
be held at rest, and by means of the elevating screw K herein-before described,
or of the levers H and J, and with or without intervening springs, be brought
gradually to revolve with the wheels C, C; they may have elastic or slightly
compressible tires, such as india-rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable
material.
The frames, blocks, or anchors, which would arrest and actuate the pro-
jecting levers or arms of the breaks, consist of a frame N, of any ordinary con-
struction, of wood or iron, having a solid bearing on the ballast between the
rails, and presenting an inclined plane to the lever J; these may be fixed at
any point along the line where it would be necessary to apply the breaks, or
they may be portable and placed where required, or they may be dropped from
the engine or carriages. The construction of these would be too simple to
require any particular description. Posts O, O, may be erected along the line
at the sides at necessary distances, having projecting pieces or arms of strong
construction, capable of elevation or extension, and of being wrought by any
ordinary arrangement, such as that applied to signals, so that they would,
when required, actuate the projecting levers or arms of the break rollers.
The breaks may also be applied by the guard or driver of a train by means
of a drum.or drums fixed on the engine or in a carriage; on these are wound
so many ropes or wire strands as may be necessary, each severally capable of
being connected with a drum on the head of one of the elevating screws K,
nd each one extending further along the train of carriages than the one
receding; by these means the guard or driver may also apply all or any of
he breaks in a train should all the carriages be fitted with them.

page_text: It will be seen that by placing the break rollers F, F, on the ends of levers
which work on studs attached to the frame B or to the carriage A, the breaks
can be directed against any portions or points of the carriage wheels C, C, and
applied by the same means as described above.
In the application of these breaks to ordinary carriages or waggons, any of
the levers Hor J, or the screw K, may be used.
Where my method of communicating notion is used, and more particularly
on inclines and farm railways, and where it is applied to portable engines, the
secondary wheels, described in my Specification of that Invention, would be
available for the breaks herein described; and in the case of an ordinary
waggon to which these break rollers would be applied, and which the Drawings
may be taken to represent, the axle or axles of the breaks are made moveable
along a slot, as shewn by the dotted lines a, a, so as to be brought from their
hinder position at a to a forward position at a*, and by this arrangement men
or other power in the waggon would assist the horses, or move it along or up
a steep hill or incline.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without de-
viating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the use and application of the break wheels and rollers.
Second, the use and application of the weight of the engines or carriages in
applying breaks.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Dunne Kyle, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
D. D. KYLE. (L.S.)