Improvements in Railway Buffers, Part of such Improvements being Applicable to other Buffers.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Aug., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 29th May, 1889-Accepted, 29th June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Buffers, Part of such Improvements being
Applicable to other Buffers.
We, TOM LATHAM, of Eldon Street Sheffield in the County of York, Engineer and
WALTER LATHAM of Robertshaw Street Sheffield aforesaid, Silversmith do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention is applicable when modified to what are known as cylinder buffers,
or to solid rod buffers, and a part of our invention may be applied to buffers of various
forms of construction.
The invention relates to the construction of the case or body; to the arrangement
of the springs; and to the use of an auxiliary balance spring to obtain a minimum
resistance.
In the construction of the case, or body, or plunger of a cylinder buffer we make
the sliding part or plunger, with an internal cylinder, the close or partly closed end
when placed in position fitting against the inside of the head of buffer, and the open
end being turned over so as to make an annular flange resting against the end of the
tubular plunger, and projecting sufficiently past it to engage with a shoulder formed
in the body of the buffer case, or that part which is secured to the carriage.
The inside cylinder may be fastened to the plunger in any suitable manner that will
enable it to withstand the concussion when the spring forces the plunger out so as to
bring it in contact with the shoulder before mentioned.
For a cylinder buffer with central stay bolt I reverse the inside cylinder and
arrange its open end to fit against the buffer bead which is afterwards welded or
otherwise secured upon the plunger.
The closed end of the inside cylinder, which may reach either to the end of the
plunger or to only a portion of its length, is provided with a centre hole for the bolt to
pass through, the said bolt being placed in position before the head is secured to the
plunger.
The inside cylinder is secured to the plunger by welding, contraction, bolts or other
like means.
In Buffers with solid rod plungers, and conical cases, and in some other kinds of
buffers, we propose to use in conjunction with the usual volute or conical springs, a
second spring of a parallel coiled form, and of a diameter that will allow it to pass into
the top coil of the volute or conical spring which is therefore made as large as
practicable. This second spring is shorter than the volute or conical spring, and
therefore does not come into action until the volute or conical spring has been com-
pressed for some distance, the shoulder of the plunger or rod then comes in contact
with it and the combination of the two springs forms a very strong resisting
power.
To obtain a minimum of resistance with a spring of full power, wo employ what we
call a tension or balance spring, this we place upon the end of the buffer rod, which
is made to project for that purpose through the back plate of the buffer case, against
which it can be compressed by a nut working on the screwed end of the rod or by
other equivalent means, and thus it can be made to counteract or balance the action of
the volute or conical spring for a short part of its movement; the object being to
provide a yielding action in the buffer proportionate to light concussions.
This tension or balance spring instead of being outside the back plate, may be
placed inside a tubular case projecting inside the buffer case or in other suitable
position.
Dand the 92-1 daw of Anno 1888
ROBT. F. DRURY,
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Buffers, Part of such Improvements being
Applicable to other Buffers.
We TоM LATHAMI of Eldon Street Sheffield in the County of York, Engineer, and
WALTER LATHAM of Robertshaw Street Sheffield, aforesaid, Silversmith do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
כ>
This invention is applicable to what are known as "Cylinder or hollow plunger
buffers, or to solid rod buffers, and a part of our invention may be applied to buffers
of various forms of construction.
It relates to the construction of the case or body to the arrangement of the
springs and to the use of an auxiliary balance spring to obtain a minimum
resistance.
"
Fig. 1, is a sectional view of a
spring.
Fig. 2, sectional view of a modification of construction, and spring arrangement.
Fig. 3, section of solid rod buffer, with improved fast collar, and double spring.
Fig 4, section of Cylinder buffer, with another arrangement of double spring.
In the construction of a "Cylinder Buffer" such as shown in Fig. 1, the case A,
is made of any suitable proportions and with a shoulder such as B; the plunger C
upon which is the head D, is a plain cylinder, and we fit into the plunger a second
cylinder E, preferably but not necessarily, partially closed at its inside end.
cylinder" buffer of our construction, without
The other end of the inner cylinder E, has its edges turned over as shown at F, so
that when in position (as shown) the shoulder B, on the case A will prevent its
further movement outwards.
We find that when the cylinder E is fitted to the plunger, and driven into its place,
it is held with sufficient power by frictional contact for all practical purposes, but it
may be further secured by shrinking the plunger upon it, or by screws or other well
known means.
Although we have shown the cylinder E, as extending to the head of the buffer, it
may be shortened as shown or indicated by the dotted lines.
In Fig. 2, the internal cylinder E, is shown reversed in position, as in this arrange-
ment the case A, is made without a shoulder, the escape of the plunger being prevented
by a bolt G, the head of which is inside the cylinder E, the boli is placed in this
position before the cylinder is fixed in the plunger C. The annular flange F is not
required in this arrangement.
The ordinary single spring may be used with this case and plunger, but we prefer
to use the combination as shown; H is a parallel coiled spring, reaching from the
base plate I, to the closed end of the cylinder E, when fully extended, J is an
auxiliary spring, preferably coiled in the opposite direction to prevent it being caught
by the coils of the outer spring; the spring J is made short so that it does not
come into action until the outer spring H, has been first compressed for a short
distance.
Thus although the combined springs may together have an increased maximum
power, the outer spring alone may yield a minimum resistance to light concussions.
We have shown in this figure another method of obtaining a minimum spring
resistance for light shocks, this is obtained by placing a spiral or other spring K
under the nut (or cotter,) of sufficient strength to balance, or nearly so, the power
of the principal spring for a short portion of its movement.
In Fig. 3, we show a solid rod plunger M in a conical case, with a volute
spring and an internal short auxiliary spring, of such a diameter that it will fit into
the top or smallest coil of the volute spring, and act in the manner described with
reference to Fig 2. We adopt the following method of obtaining a fast collar L,
to prevent the escape of the plunger, and for the end of the volute spring to bear

page_text: against; we cut out a concentric annular groove N in the face of the shoulder formed
by the different diameters of the buffer rod M, and upon the collar L, we make a
circular flange or sleeve to fit tightly into the said annular groove into which it is
driven by force, and where it is held securely by frictional contact.
Fig. 4, shows another method of applying an auxiliary spring to be brought into
action when the chief spring has been compressed a given distance.
A cylinder E is fitted into the hollow plunger C, as before described, and is
provided with a circular flange F to abut against the shoulder B, in the case, and
it may be made with a recess to receive a strong washer plate P. A coiled spring, or
other form of spring Q is placed in the cylinder, and rests upon the collar of a centre
pin R; when therefore the plunger is pushed in the case by pressure applied to the
head, the chief spring only is first compressed, but if the action is continued until the
end of the centre pin strikes the backplate S, the spring Q is also compressed, and
the maximum power obtained.
We wish it to be understood that we do not bind ourselves to any pattern of case,
nor to any particular form of spring but:
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1st. In railway buffers, the combination with a cylindrical plunger, of an internal
cylinder having a circular flange for the purpose specified and substantially as herein-
before described, and as shown in Fig. 1, of the annexed drawings.
2nd. In the construction of "Cylinder" buffers having a stay-bolt, the combination
with the plunger, of an internal cylinder secured thereto by any means, and acting in
the manner herein before described and as shown in Fig. 2.
3rd. In solid rod buffers such as shown in Fig. 3, or the like, constructing a collar
and securing it to the rod in the manner substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown.
4th. In railway buffers, and for the purpose of obtaining a greater range of
minimum and maximum power, the combination with a chief spring of any suitable
construction, of an auxiliary coiled spring, arranged so that it shall not come into
action until the chief spring has been compressed a given distance, as hereinbefore
described and shown in Figs. 2 & 3.
5th. In railway buffers, the combination with a chief spring, of an auxiliary
spring, placed in the cylindrical plunger, with a short centre pin by which it is
compressed after moving a given distance, substantially as herein described and
shown in Fig. 5.
1000
ROBT. F. DRURY,
Bank Buildings, George Street, Sheffield, Agent for the Applicants.