IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING TRUCKS, CARRIAGES, ENGINES, OR OTHER SUCH RAILWAY APPENDAGES FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Beckett Johnson, Manager for Messrs.
Ormerod and Son, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING TRUCKS,
CARRIAGES, ENGINES, OR OTHER SUCH RAILWAY APPENDAGES FROM ONE LEVEL
TO ANOTHER."
Ormerod and Son, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING TRUCKS,
CARRIAGES, ENGINES, OR OTHER SUCH RAILWAY APPENDAGES FROM ONE LEVEL
TO ANOTHER."
Sealed the 19th March 1858, and dated the 24th September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Beckett Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th September 1857.
I, WILLIAM BECKETT JOHNSON, Manager for Messrs. Ormerod and Son, of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING
TRUCKS, CARRIAGES, ENGINES, OR OTHER SUCH RAILWAY APPENDAGES FROM ONE
LEVEL TO ANOTHER," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment of the direct action of steam,
hydraulic, or pneumatic power for the purpose of raising or lowering trucks,
engines, carriages, or other such railway appendages from one level to another.
To explain this, I will suppose that at a convenient altitude above the higher

page_text: level a steam cylinder is fixed of sufficient length to allow a piston therein to
travel through a distance equal to or somewhat greater than that of the
required lift. To the said piston I connect the truck, carriage, &c. to be
raised; upon steam, therefore, being admitted to the cylinder it will be drawn
upward. Upon the required level being attained, I cause a projecting part to
arrive in contact with apparatus for cutting off the steam so as to arrest the
motion of the piston. For lowering the apparatus the steam is allowed
gradually to escape through a cock or other suitable apparatus.
In employing pneumatic power I force air into a receiver, from which it is
admitted when required into a cylinder as aforesaid. In order to check an
undue impetus of the body being raised or lowered, I adapt above and below
buffers of india-rubber, and this part of my Invention is applicable to other
machinery employed for a similar purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Beckett Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BECKETT JOHNSON, Manager for Messrs. Ormerod and Son, of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Beckett Johnson, Her especial license that I, the said William
Beckett Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Beckett Johnson, 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 law-
fully 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. Im-
'PROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING TRUCKS, CARRIAGES, ENGINES, OR OTHER.BUCH
RAILWAY APPENDAGES FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER," upon the condition, amongst
others, that: I; the said William Beckett Johnson, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately. after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Beckett Johnson, 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 and accompanying Drawings,' that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the employment of the direct action of steam,
hydraulic, or pneumatic power, for the purpose of raising or lowering trucks,
engines, carriages, or other such railway 'appendages from one level to another.
The method of carrying out this principle may be varied: to a considerable
extent, and will of necessity be modified to suit particular situations. I have,
however, to this my Specification appended a Sheet of illustrative Drawings,
which I will now proceed to describe.
Figure 1 is a section of the apparatus taken transversely to the line of rails
from which the raising or lowering is to be effected, and Figure 2 is a longi-
tudinal view. The situation of the rails is shewn at a, attached for the
necessary length to a platform b, strengthened, by metal beams c, and capable
of moving upward and downward within guides d. To this platform are
attached rods e united at their upper ends by a beam, f, from which situation
extend rods 9 connected by a bolt to the piston rod h, the piston i of which is
placed within a steam cylinder k. This cylinder is secured by means of a
flange to a beam'l, and is furnished at its upper end with a cross piece m,
within which is a cavity n for the reception of a piston o acting against discs
of india-rubber p, and thereby constituting an elastic, abutment for the piston
rod h. Upon sleepers r at the. bottom of the apparatus are sockets..q.con-
taining discs of india-rubber t, against which the beam c arrives upon the the
descent of the platform, an elastic. abutment being here also, thus established.
A pipe for conveying steam to the cylinder k is shewn at 8, furnished with a
cock at w; to this cock is attached a lever v, one end of which is weighted in
such a direction that the steam is thereby cut off. The other end of the lever
vis provided with a rod w extending downward, and in a convenient situation
for being handled by the attendant; to the rod w is affixed, a stop piece x,
against which a bracket 6, extending from the platform; arrives when the load
has been carried up. To the cylinder k, is adapted an exhaust pipe y, fur-
nished with a cock z, weighted lever 1, and rod 2, as described in reference, to
the steam pipe s; the weight in this case also being so disposed as to close the
pipe. To the lever 1, however, is attached an additional rod.3; furnished with
a stop piece 4, against which a part 7 attached to the platform arrives when
the weight is being lowered. Fig. 1 shews the apparatus as consisting of a

page_text: pair of steam cylinders, which, as hereafter to be described, may be used in
conjunction with advantage; but I will now point out the operation. of one
only, using that at the left-hand for this purpose, and treating the other as a
separate Figure, upon which similar letters and number of reference are
marked with the addition of a a. According to the position shewn, the plat-
form bis at the bottom level, and the piston i consequently at the lower end
of the cylinder k. When the load is to be raised the attendant pulls downward
the road w, so as to open the cock u; steam will then flow through the pipe s
to the under side of the piston i, and by forcing it upward will lift the platform
by a direct action; upon the required height having been attained, as shewn
at Fig. 2 and right hand of Fig. 1, the bracket 6 will have arrived in contact
with the stop a, so as to carry the rod w out of the attendant's hand, and by
turning the lever shut off the steam; this having been accomplished, any
remaining impetus will be met by the arrival of the piston rod h in contact
with the elastic abutment o, p. The upper level having been gained, the
platform is retained in its elevated position by means of suitable catches.
When it is desired to lower the platform the attendant liberates the weight
from the catches by admitting steam; these catches may then be withdrawn
and the steam shut off; he then pulls downward the rod 2, so as to open the
exhaust pipe y, and as the platform descends it will arrive in contact with the
stop 4 upon the rod 3, so as to draw the other rod 2 from the attendant's hand
and close the exhaust passage. I have observed that the levers of the cocks
and z are so arranged as to be closed by the action of a weight: it will
therefore be evident, that should the attendant neglect the rod by which he
governs their action, the said weight will come into operation and the motion
of the apparatus will be arrested. The area of the steam pipe and that of the
exhaust will of course determine the velocity with which the platform will
travel, and they will therefore be modified to meet required speeds, as regards
the maximum, the attendant, however, having the power of reducing the
apertures by means of the rods w, 2, or by suitable valves. A pair of cylinders,
as in Fig. 1, or more, may be used independently, but a combined action may
be adopted, if desired; for, suppose the platform and its load to have been
raised as at A, the exhaust steam from that cylinder may then be allowed to
pass into that shewn at B, and an empty truck or other comparatively light
load raised thereby, from which it may then be discharged or passed into a
third cylinder to be again used. I have above described one method of
carrying my Invention into operation, but it will be evident that, if desired,
the rods e, g, may be connected to the upper end of the piston rod, or that the
steam cylinder may be placed below the platform so as to lift it, and that

page_text: many other modifications may be adopted. I have also above alluded par-
ticularly to the use of steam within the direct acting cylinders, but water, air,
or other fluid under pressure may in like manner be employed.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and
the method of carrying the same into effect, I desire it to be understood that
I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly, the use of the direct action of steam, hydraulic or pneumatic
pressure, for the purposes above set forth.
Secondly, the use of the stops acted upon by the ascending or descending
load for cutting off the source of power and exhaust.
Thirdly, the use of india-rubber abutments for the upper and lower situations
of the platform, whether such abutinents be used with direct acting motive
power, or with other machinery employed for the purposes to which my
Invention relates.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Beckett Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
W. D. JOHNSON. (L.S.)