IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES AND VEHICLES
Year: 1853

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Perceval Moses Parsons at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th November 1853.
I, PERCEVAL MOSES PARSONS, of Duke Street, Adelphi, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES AND
VEHICLES" to be as follows:-
. I construct such carriages and vehicles with certain mechanical
arrangements and contrivances, which when thrown into gear by hand
or otherwise will cause the rotatory motion of the wheels or axles to
force the brakes of the same carriage or vehicle into action, or will
cause the rotatory motion derived from a periphery of a certain wheel
or ring, turning at one rate of speed, to be transformed and applied
against that of another wheel turning at a different rate of speed or in
a different direction. The first may be accomplished by placing on the
axle a friction clutch and clutch box, one of them fixed to and revolving
with the axle, the other loose, and allowing the axle to revolve freely

page_text: within it; the latter having attached to it cranks, levers, eccentrics, or
other similar contrivances, by which, together with a suitable mecha-
nical arrangement of shafts, levers, cranks, pins, rods, pulleys, weights,
or springs and brake blocks, when thrown into gear by hand or other-
wise, the motion caused by its tendency to revolve with the axle will be
imparted to the brake blocks and cause them to be forced against the
wheels, or rails, or elsewhere, for the purpose of retarding or stopping
the train. Instead of a clutch and box an endless screw or worm, or a
friction clutch and box in connection therewith, or any other suitable
contrivance, may be employed, for the purpose of rendering the rotatory
motion of the wheels or axles available. The second may be accom-
plished by constructing the wheels with or attaching to them rings of
different diameters, slightly conical, concentric with the wheel and
axle, with a pulley, also slightly conical, and of the same diameter as
the space between the rings, turning freely on a shaft carried by the
framing of the carriage, and placed in such a position that it can be
made to slide forward, so that when thrown into gear by hand or other-
wise it will force the pulley in between the two rings, one of which
turning with it, the pulley will cause its opposite side to rub against the
other ring, and thus retard or stop the circular motion of the wheels.
The play of the carriage on the springs is found to interfere with the
action of the brakes, as the handle or screw by which the brake is put
on is mounted on the carriage and plays up and down with it, while the
brake itself is required to be kept in contact with the wheel.
By constructing the springs in the following manner their motion is
restricted so as to prevent or reduce this injurious action on the brakes.
I construct them in such a manner that one or more of the plates is
made to strain or brace and reduce the compass of the spring to any
required degree, by their tensile actión on one or more of the others or
on each other, in such a manner as to allow it free action to yield ar
bend to any weight or strain it may be subjected to greater than that
to which it is thus braced or strained. This may be effected as follows:
-I make use of a suitable number of plates of steel or other suitable
material, similar to those used in the ordinary laminated springs, which
are properly tempered and set to curves of a quicker or smaller radius

page_text: than it is intended they shall assume when the spring is finally prepared
for use. Near the extremities of one, two, or more of the longest plates
(or the uppermost plates in bearing springs) I fix strong studs or pins,
and I make in the respective adjoining plates beneath corresponding
slot holes into which the pins or studs enter, the distance between the
extreme ends of the slot holes in each plate being slightly less than that
of the studs of the adjoining plate above; the plates are then forced to
a flatter curve than they are set to, and the studs slipped into the slot
holes, which will prevent them from springing back to their natural
form. The slot holes should be made rather longer at their inner end
than the pins or studs, to provide for the play of the spring when it sus-
tains a greater weight or is subjected to a greater strain than it is thus
braced to. A sufficient number of the upper or longer plates being
braced or flattened in this manner, the remaining plates are then
strained or forced against them and retained by means of the ordinary
clips or spring ties. These springs are also applicable to carriages and
vehicles, whether the same are or not provided with brakes, and will be
found advantageous in preventing too great oscillation or motion, and
also in keeping the buffers of railway carriages more nearly to the same
level when unequally loaded than is the case with the ordinary springs.
They may also be used for the buffer and draw springs if desired.