IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1858

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Arnoud Félix Delacroix at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th September 1858.
I, ARNOUD FÉLIX DELACROIX, of Chartres, Department of Eure & Loir, in
the Empire of France, Watchmaker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist of, 1st, a new system of transmitting the move-
ment of the steam cylinder piston to the driving wheels; 2nd, a particular
system of brakes permitting the stopping of a train of carriages without
shock at the third or fourth turn of the wheel. It is, above all, in the
mechanism of the brakes in which consists the superiority of this new
engine over the old ones.
The annexed Drawing represent a longitudinal elevation of a locomotive of
this kind, furnished with this particular arrangement of brakes..
a, shaft
receiving movement direct from the steam cylinder by means of ordinary
connecting rods; b, cranks mounted on shaft a, which are four in number,
and adjusted at right angles to each other, they move with the shaft a; c,
connecting rods fitted to cranks 6; d, four levers connected with the ends of
connecting rods c; they receive from them an alternate to-and-fro motion at
each stroke of the piston, they are fixed at their lower extremities to a shaft
on which they oscillate; this shaft is mounted in two bearings fixed to tho

page_text: side frames of the locomotive; e, four levers which I call pushers; they are
attached at one end to the centre of each lever d, their free ends engage in a
ratchet wheel placed on the motive shaft; f, double ratchet wheel, having
two ratchets with teeth set in different directions; it is mounted on the shaft of
the motive wheels, each pusher engages itself in its movement in one of the
teeth of the ratchet wheel. This arrangement has for object to make the
shaft turn, & to propel the locomotive; this is repeated at each revolution of
crank b. It will be readily understood that by this means the motive wheels
being pushed at a point immediately over the centre, the train can without
much trouble mount an incline of about one in thirty. g, fly wheel mounted
on shaft a, it is intended to regulate the motion of the machine; h, pulley,
mounted on the shaft a; i, pully, mounted on a shaft fitted to bearings on
the longitudinal framing of the machine; j, tension pulley, intended at a given
moment to stop the machine by pressing on a driving strap, which will cause
the transmission of the movement of the pulley h to the pulley i; k, rod or
cord placed at the extremity of the lever which supports the rollers j, it is
drawn by hand by the attendant; 1, double-armed lever fixed at its centre to
the shaft of the pulley i, from which it receives its movement; m, lever
turning on a fixed falcrum placed on the frame of the machine; this lever is
lowered at one of its extremities by the movement of the lever 1, during this
time its other extremity elevates the pushers e, causing them to leave the
ratchet teeth, thus stopping the movement of the motive wheels; n, rod
worked by the other extremity of the lever e; in its movement it disengages
the weighted lever n', and thus by means of a rod n³ shuts the passage of the
steam to the driving cylinders, and lifts at the same time the safety valves; o
windlass placed close to the attendant of the engine; p, chain winding on the
wheel or windlass o at one end; its other end after passing over a pulley is
hooked in an eye on the lever m, which elevates the pushers e; q, catch bars
placed on the levers d, engaging in the ratchets of the wheel when it is wished
to reverse the engine; r, levers for suspending the catch bars q during the
forward motion; s, chain winding on the windlass o in a contrary way to the
former one p; it is at the other end on an arc r', which carries lever r³; t,
lever serving to lower the pushers e, as also the catch bars q, when it is
wished to move either backward or forward; u, chain winding on the shaft of
pulley; it is fixed at its other extremity to a bar u¹, which passing from one
end to the other of the train, serves for the management of the brakes; x,
shoes of the brakes; y, levers, which being lifted by the rods v, apply the
brakes to the wheels,

page_text: To put the machine in motion, the engine driver opens the steam pipe; the
pistons receiving the steam, communicate their movement to the connecting
rods, and these to the shafts a; the cranks 6 being cast in one with the shaft a,
are drawn by it, and thus move the levers d, as also the pushers e, which gear
with the ratchets wheel f, which motion turns the driving wheels, and thus
L
The engine driver turns the windlass o, and by this movement draws the
O chain p and 8 one forward and the other backward; the first p raises the
pushers e, which produce the forward motion, at the same time the other
chains lowers the catch bars q, which in their turn move the wheels, but in a
q
The engine driver pulls a rod or cord close at hand; this rod or cord acts
upon the lever of tension pulley j, which pulley presses on the driving strap,
which connects the two pulleys h and i; this driving belt being tightened,
transmits the movement of the pulley h to pulley i, which latter pulley turning
moves the lever l, which in bearing on the lever m, raises the pushers e or the
catch bars from their ratchets, and leaves the machine free for its proper
movement of inertia. The other extremity of lever bears on a bent lever r,
which thereby disengages the weighted lever n', and this latter in falling acts
upon the rod n³, which shuts off the steam, and opens the safety valves. To
stop the movement of inertia of the machine, I employ brakes, which are
worked in the following manner :-When the movement of the pulley h is
communicated to pulley i, this in turning moves the shaft on which it is
mounted. On this shaft is wound the chain u, which drawing the bar u,
causes the rods v to act on levers y, and press the brakes on the flanges of
the wheels; this bar u running from one end of the train to the other, it is
easily understood that a shoe may be applied to each of the wheels of the
carriages, and consequently stop the engine in a very short time.
The rod or
cord k also runs the length of the train, and may be drawn at will by the
conductor; it is suitable to make it two or three yards longer than the train,
so that if any of the furthest carriages were to become seperated from the

page_text: others, on arriving at the end of this cord the tension exercised suffices to
stop the train.
For starting the train after a stoppage, the lever t is applied, which, by
means on the lever causes the pushers e to fall into the ratchets of wheel f
All these movements are made with very great rapidity.