IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BREAKS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Semple, of Plymouth, in the County of
Devon, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
BREAKS."
Sealed the 4th September 1855, and dated the 22nd March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Semple at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
March 1855.
I, MATTHEW SEMPLE, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
BREAKS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in applying a continuous band round a projection at
the back of the wheels of railway carriages, or on a ring or boss fixed on the
axle of these wheels, and the machinery for tightening the same being a right
and left handed screw attached to each continuous band, and furnished with a
long socket, in which are fitted the ends of rods for turning these sockets; and
these rods are so coupled as to form a continuous length of rods from the
engine, tender, or the guard's carriage along the whole length of the train, so
that the engine itself, or the engineer or stoker at one end, or the guard in any
portion of the train, may, either separately or collectively, make each break act

page_text: on each wheel, ring, or boss of every carriage throughout the train simul-
taneously, and thereby retard without concussion the progress of the whole
train by one mild or gradual but powerful check.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Semple in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
SEMPLE, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Matthew Semple, Her special licence that I, the said Matthew Semple,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Matthew
Semple, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAIL-
WAY BREAKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Matthew
Semple, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Matthew Semple, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in applying a continuous or friction band round a
projection formed at the back or inside on one or each of the wheels of a
railway carriage, or on a ring or boss or on rings or bosses fixed on the axles
of the wheels; and in tightening the said bands by means of right and left
handed screws, which form part of or are connected with a system of rods

page_text: extending the whole or any required portion of the length of the train, and
furnished with gearing, by which the breaksman may work them. It is evident
that the friction band or break may be applied to as many of the carriage
wheels as may be deemed necessary, and that by means of the rods above
described they will all be brought into action simultaneously, and may be
subjected to any degree of pressure that may be required. The connection
between the rods of the several carriages is made by causing a square end or a
continuous key formed on one of them, to take into or on a corresponding socket
or slide formed on the other one; or each end having an universal joint fitted
in or to them, in order to accommodate the arrangement to the circumstances
which arise when the train is passing round curves, and ascending or descending
gradients. The rods which work the screws may be supported entirely by the
axle, or in such other ways as to be quite independent of the carriage, but
fixed so as to accommodate themselves always to the position of the wheels in
their rise and fall occasioned by the wear of the axle boxes. By applying to
the above system of breaks a suitable power, a train may be brought very
smoothly and rapidly to a state of diminished speed, or to rest if required,
entirely without concussion, and without causing the carriage wheels to slide
upon the rails, and thus produce flat places on their peripheries, an evil common
to nearly all, if not to the whole, of the existing railway breaks.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed represents a longitudinal section
of one railway carriage, and a portion of an adjoining one, to which my improve-
ments are applied; Figure 2 is a similar section, shewing a modification of the
method of supporting the longitudinal rods, which in this case are independent
of the carriage; Figure 3 is an end view of the carriage, with the break appa-
ratus applied; Figure 4 is a section of the wheel shewn in Figure 3; Figure 5
is an enlarged view of the arrangement as applied to a single wheel in Figure 2;
Figure 6 is a transverse view of the same arrangement, on the same scale
as Figure 5; Figure 7 is a view of the gearing employed; Figures 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, and 14, are enlarged views of some of the details. The figures
employed to indicate the various parts refer to the same parts wherever they
occur. 1, 1, are the rods employed to tighten the friction bands; 2,2, are the
hanging blocks used for supporting the rods 1, 1, in the arrangement shewn
in Figure 1; 3, 3, are the break wheels or bosses, which are clasped by the
friction bands 4, 4; 4*, 4*, are the frames which support the rods 1, 1; 5, 5,
is the gear by which the breaksman works the rods 1, 1; 6 is a spring, for
keeping the working gear in place; 7, 7, are the sockets and tongues, by which
the rods of the various carriages are connected; 8, 8, are the axles of the
carriages; and 9, 9, are stops for the bands 4, 4.

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is, the employ-
ment as a break apparatus for railway carriages, of friction bands which clasp
bosses or drums attached to the axles or to the wheels of the carriages, and
which are tightened or slackened by means of screws, or of right and left
handed screws, and a system of rods extending the whole or any required
portion of the length of the train, or by other similar contrivances.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Semple, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
M. SEMPLE. (L.S.)