IMPROVEMENTS IN BAILWAY CARRIAGES AND ENGINES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN LANE,
of Oriel Street, Liverpool, Brewer, 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 Fifteenth day of June,
in the tenth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,.
give and grant unto me, the said John Lane, my exors, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said John Lane, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Lane, my exors, admors, 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, the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man,
and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BAILWAY CARRIAGES AND ENGINES;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said John Lane, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Lane, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates, first, to a mode of applying breaks to retard the
motion of railway carriages and engines.
Secondly, my Invention relates to a mode of arranging apparatus to be
used in retarding the motion of railway carriages and engines.
Thirdly, my Invention relates to an arrangement of buffing apparatus to be
used in connection with railway carriages and engines.
And, fourthly, my Invention relates to a mode of adjusting the height of
the body of railway carriages and engines, so that whatever be the load
which any carriage or carriages of a train of carriages may have to support
over others of the same train, the buffers may be caused to act in the same
line or nearly so.
But in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a side view, in section, and Figure 2 is a plan of so much of
the framing of a railway carriage or of an engine as will enable me to describe
this part of my Invention, a, a, are the axles of the carrying wheels, which
may be of the ordinary description; and I would here state that I prefer to
apply my apparatus to each of the axles as shown, though I do not confine
myself to that arrangement. On each of the axles a is affixed an excentric b
which is embraced by the band of the excentric rod d, and this rod is attached
by pin joints to the rod e of the piston e, which is capable of travelling in the
cylinder f; f is a passage between the two ends of the cylinder f, so that
water or other liquid placed in the cylinder f may, unless that passage be
closed, be allowed to flow freely from one to the other end of the cylinder, as the
piston is moved by the excentric in the revolution of the axle a. In this passage
I apply a stop-cock or other valve so as to cut off the communication, and that
by so doing the liquid in either end of the cylinder may, when desired, act
upon the piston to prevent its to-and-fro movement, and consequently the
revolution of the axle a, or the passage between the two ends of the cylinder
may be partially closed, and thereby create friction in the passage of the piston
to and fro, so as to retard without stopping the carriage. To the tap f² is

page_text: affixed the lever 9; and the levers g of the apparatus, in connection with the
two axles, are connected together by means of the link h, so that by acting
upon one of the apparatus the other may be brought into action at the same
time. The link h is connected by means of the link i to rod j, which slides in
bearings carried by the framing, which carries the cylinders and parts con-
nected therewith, and which I prefer should be attached to the axle boxes so
as always to maintain the same relative position with respect to the axles.
The apparatus is brought into action in the following manner:-k is an arm,
one end of which is connected to the rod j, the other end being affixed to the
axle k³, on which is affixed the bevilled pinion 1, which is taken into by the
bevilled pinion m on the axle m², on which is affixed the bevilled pinion m²,
which is taken into by the bevilled pinion n on the axle n', the upper end of
which carries a winch; by turning which the apparatus will be brought into or
thrown out of action as required; but when an arrangement of parts, such as
described under the third part of my Invention, is employed, or otherwise
all the carriages of a train are, when in use, kept at the same distance apart,
I apply buffing heads or other means of communication to the rods j, so that,
there being similar apparatus applied to each of the carriages, by acting upon
one, the whole may be brought into operation at the same time.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which is shewn applied
at Figures 3 and 4, and which is capable of being brought into action in a
similar manner to that described under the first part of the Invention. A, A,
are the axles of the carrying wheels, on each of which is affixed a drum or
pulley B, which is capable of being embraced so as to prevent the turning of
the axles by means of the bands or straps C, C, which, in order to their having
a better holding on the peripheries of the drums, are lined with wood, or wood
covered with copper. These bands or straps C, C, are connected together at
C¹ by a pin joint, which is carried by the framing D affixed to the axle boxes,
and the other ends of the bands or straps C; C, are connected by means of
links C², C, to arms E affixed to the axis E', which turns in bearings
carried by the framing D. It will be evident that by turning the axis E! in
one or other direction, the bands or straps C, C, will be caused to clip or be
relieved from the drum or pulley B; and it is a mode of acting upon the axis E,
so as to bring into action or throw out of action the straps or bands C, C,
which constitutes the peculiarity of this part of my Invention. On the
axis E' is affixed the ratchet wheel E³, which is capable of being acted upon
by the clawker F, which turns upon a piu G¹ projecting from the upper end
of the arm G, the lower end of the arm G embracing loosely the axis E'.
The pin G' passes through the arm G, and receives the end of the excentric

page_text: rod H of the excentric H¹, and when the break is required to be brought into
operation to retard the carriage, the clawker F and the click I must be brought
into contact with the ratchet wheel E, when a few revolutions of the shaft A
will, by means of the eccentric H', cause the ratchet wheel E" and axis E¹ to
be turned so as to cause the straps or bands C to embrace and hold firmly the
drums B, and prevent the further turning of the axle A. The clawker F and
click I are allowed to come into or are thrown out of action in the following
manner is a rod which is acted upon as described with respect to that
shewn in Figures 1 and 2; it is connected by means of the link K to the
lever L, which turns upon the axis L'. This lever L is by means of the
connecting rod M connected to the levers N of each apparatus so as to bring
each into operation at the same time. The lever N turns upon the axes N¹,
and to the shorter arms thereof is attached the link O, in a slot at the upper
end of which a pin from the clawker F rests; there is also a link P from the
lever N, by which the lever N is connected to the arm I' from the axis I", to
which is also affixed the click arm I. When the clawker F and click are
thrown out of contact with the ratchet wheel E, the ratchet wheel E³ and
axis F are thrown back so as to lift the bands or straps C, C, out of contact
with the drum B by means of the spring Q.
.
I will now describe the third part of my Invention, which is shewn applied
at Figures 5 and 6. a, a, is a cylinder having stuffing boxes at each end, through
which passes the rod b, forming the piston rod of the piston 6². The cylinder a
is in communication with the air vessel c (which may be of any suitable form),
by the aperture c¹. The cylinder a is filled with water or other fluid, which also
occupies part of the air chamber c; the remaining internal part of the air
chamber is filled with compressed air, which is forced therein by any suitable
apparatus through the opening c².
k
I would here state that in arranging the framings of carriages or engines to
have this part of my Invention applied thereto, I prefer that there should be
as little play as possible between the separate carriages of a train, and that
there be one or more of the apparatus according to this part of my Invention
applied to each carriage, and that the rods b, each terminate at each end in a
buffer head, and then any shock received by the first buffer will be at once
communicated through the whole series of buffers instead of to the separate
carriages, as is the case by the ordinary arrangement of buffer apparatus.
The rod b, being acted upon at the end b, will cause the piston to be forced in
the direction of the arrow, whereby the water or other fluid in the cylinder a
will be forced through the opening c¹ into the air chamber c, further compressing
the air therein, whilst at the same time a vacuum will be created behind the

page_text: piston 6'; and it is this mode of applying water or other liquid to act upon
compressed air, assisted by the vacuum, which constitutes the peculiarity of this
part of:
Invention.
my
And I would remark that I do not confine myself to a single cylinder and
air vessel having a rod b, as several such cylinders and air vessels may be
combined and the piston rods be connected together by a cross head to which
the buffer rod would be connected, or there may be separate cylinders and air
vessels at each end of the carriage, (whether the carriage be an ordinary
passenger carriage or the engine,) with the piston rod extended through'
a stuffing box only at one end of the cylinder a to a suitable buffer situated
as in the ordinary arrangement of buffer or otherwise. In applying my
arrangement of buffer, to the central part of a locomotive engine, I enclose
the part which passes through the fire box in a close cylinder, within which
I cause water to flow continuously in order to keep the parts cool.
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention. It is well known by
persons employed in connection with railways that the springs which support
the carriages, after the carriages have been in use some time, become per-
manently flattened, assuming a less curve than they had when the carriages
were built, so that when a number of old carriages are combined with a number
of new ones to compose a train it has been found that the buffers do not come
opposite to each other, although the centre line of the buffers of the whole
of the carriages were when the carriages were new at the same elevation
from the rails; and to this circumstance has been attributed many of those
fearful consequences which have attended railway collisions. And it is the
object of this part of my Invention so to arrange parts in connection with the
springs, that the body of the carriage may from time to time be adjusted so
as to bring the buffers in the same horizontal line as those of other carriages
with which it may be combined. Figure 7 shews so much of the framing of
a railway carriage as will enable me to describe this part of the Invention.
a is one of the axles of the carrying wheels, which may be of the ordinary
description; b is one of the axle boxes; and c is one of the supporting springs,
which I make fast to the stem c³, on which is formed a worm to suit the female
screw formed in the nut d; and this nut d is capable of turning loosely in,
whilst by its projecting flange it is supported by the axle box, as shewn, and
by turning the nut d in one or other direction, so will the spring, and conse-
quently the carriage, be raised or lowered. I would, however, remark, that I
do not confine myself to placing the means of adjustment as shewn in Figure
7 as the same may be applied to the bearings of the ends of the springs as
sliewn at Figure 8, where the same letters are used to indicate similar parts,

page_text: and the description thereof above given will apply. I would here state that
although in describing the various parts of my Invention I have spoken of
their being applied to the carriages, which may be understood simply to refer
to the ordinary carriages, the same are intended to apply equally to the
engines.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the various details shewn, so long as the peculiar character of
either part of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is,--First, the mode
of arranging apparatus herein described, whereby water or other fluid is made
the means of operating on a piston worked by the axles of the carriages, so as
to retard or stop such piston, and consequently the wheels of the carriage.
Secondly, I claim the mode of arranging apparatus, as described in respect
to Figures 3 and 4, for bringing strap breaks into action to retard and stop
carriages and engines used on railways.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of arranging buffing apparatus, whereby water or
other fluid is caused to be driven into a vessel or vessels containing condensed
air, as above described.
And, fourthly, I claim the means herein described of adjusting the height
of the body of a railway carriage or engine, as explained in respect, Figures
7 and. 8.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lane, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.