A NEW AND IMPROVED REACTIONARY SPRING BRAKE TO ARREST OR RETARD THE MOTION OF TRAMWAY, RAILWAY, OR ORDINARY ROAD CARRIAGES OR WAGONS AND SET THEM IN MOTION AGAIN BY THE FORCE CREATED BY THEIR ARREST.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Crispin Simpson, Civil Engineer, of
Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, S.W., for the Invention
of "A NEW AND IMPROVED REACTIONARY SPRING BRAKE TO ARREST OR
RETARD THE MOTION OF TRAMWAY, RAILWAY, OR ORDINARY ROAD CARRIAGES
OR WAGONS AND SET THEM IN MOTION AGAIN BY THE FORCE CREATED BY
THEIR ARREST.'
Sealed the 27th April 1875, and dated the 31st October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Crispin
Simpson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 31st October 1874.
I, BENJAMIN ORISPIN SIMPSON, Civil Engineer, of Victoria Street,
in the City of Westminster, S. W., do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "A NEW AND IMPROVED REACTIONARY SPRING BRAKE TO
ARREST OR RETARD THE MOTION OF TRAMWAY, RAILWAY, OR ORDINARY ROAD
CARRIAGES OR WAGONS AND SET THEM IN MOTION AGAIN BY THE FORCE CREATED
BY THEIR ARREST," to be as follows:-
I propose to place about one or each of the axles of the said carriages,

page_text: as axle connections it will be necessary to have a brake to bear on the
periphery of the disc not in axle gearing that can oppose without
stopping its rotation.
'
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Crispin Simpson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 30th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
CRISPIN SIMPSON, Civil Engineer, of Victoria Street, in the City of
Westminster, S.W., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Crispin Simpson, Her
special license that I, the said Benjamin Crispin Simpson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin
Crispin Simpson, 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 Inven-
tion for "A NEW AND IMPROVED REACTIONARY SPRING BRAKE TO ARREST OR
RETARD THE MOTION OF TRAMWAY, RAILWAY, OR ORDINARY ROAD CARRIAGES OR
WAGONS AND SET THEM IN MOTION AGAIN BY THE FORCE CREATED BY THEIR
ARREST," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin
Crispin Simpson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Benjamin Crispin Simpson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view of the lower parts of a tramway car having
my improved reactionary spring brake applied thereto; and Figures 2,
3, and 4, are respectively cross sections on the lines 1, 1, 2, 2, and 3, 3,
of Figure 1.
a is one of the axles of the car, about or around which axle I place
a cylindrical box or case b, through the centre of which the axle a passes.
The flat ends or discs b', 62, of the cylinder bare capable of rotating
freely and independently of each other about or around the axle a.
Inside of the cylinder I place a coiled spring c of sufficient power
when fully wound up to arrest the motion of the carriage or wagon.
One end of this spring c is by being attached to the inside of the
periphery of the cylinder b connected to the disc 6', and the other end
is by being connected to a sleeve or tube 6s fixed to the disc b². The
cylinder and disc being connected rigidly together, and the disc 6*
being rigidly connected to the tube by casting or otherwise. The
discs b³, b, have fixed thereon brake or ratchet wheels 64, 65, and also
clutch wheels 6º, 6', and corresponding clutch wheels or axle connections
d, d', are mounted on the axle a with capability of being slidden freely
longitudinally thereon, but fixed to rotate with the axle and the axle
with them. The clutch wheels or axle connections d, d', are connected
together by means of a rod or link e connected to the rings e¹, e², and
this link e is connected to a slide f which is capable of being moved in
the one or the other direction in guides g, as desired, by means of a
lever / fixed to the axis i. This axis i has also fixed thereon at each
end a lever j, by which it is operated, and it has also mounted thereon
a double hammer k, which acts in connection with brakes or pawls 7, 1ª,
to raise the one or the other out of contact with the brake or ratchet
wheel 6 or 65, which brakes or pawls when unacted upon by
the hammer k remain always in gear with the brake or ratchet
wheels b*, 65.
In order to arrest the motion of a carriage or wagon to which my
Invention is applied the driver or conductor thereof, or both, shall by
means of one or both levers j, or it may be by means of wheels, treadles,
or other appliances, bring the axle connection or clutch wheel d or ď
into gear with the clutch wheel 66 or 67, thereby connecting one end of

page_text: the spring c with the axle a, and causing the spring to be wound up
by the rotation of the axle until the resistance of the spring is sufficient
to arrest the motion of the carriage. Then when it is desired to start
the motion of the carriage in the same direction in which it was
previously travelling the driver or conductor, or both of them, will by
reversing the position of the levers ; first reverse the axle connections,
and then by continuing the motion of the levers ; in the same direction
will knock up one of the brakes or pawls 1, 1, and thereby release the
corresponding brake or ratchet wheel 6 or 65, when that end of the
spring which was previously held fast will be released, and in uncoiling ]
itself it will give rotary motion to the axle a, and thereby cause the
carriage to move forward.
"
Should it be desired however to reverse the motion of the carriage
instead of reversing the motion of the levers j, as before described, they
will be moved further forward in the same direction as that in which 1
they were moved to arrest the carriage, by which means the hammer k
will raise the other brake or pawl or and thereby release the opposite
end of the spring to that released for the forward motion, by which
means the action of the spring on the axle a will be reversed and the
carriage caused to move in a backward direction, as desired.
Retardation of a tramway, railway, or ordinary road carriage or
waggon without stopping it will be regulated where friction wheels are
used as axle connections by the degree of pressure brought to bear
between the friction wheel and the disc. Where cogged wheels are
used as axle connections it will be necessary to have a friction brake to 2
bear on the periphery of the disc not in axle gearing that can oppose
without stopping its rotation.
"
In applying my Invention to carriages or other vehicles having fixed
axles I mount on the hub of one or more of the wheels a toothed
wheel n, as shown at Figure 5, which takes into and gives motion to a 3
toothed wheel o fixed on a rotating shaft or axle a, to which the
cylinder, spring, and other parts are applied in manner as above
described, or instead of employing toothed wheels plain wheels. p, q, may
be employed, motion being communicated from one to the other by
means of a band r, as shown at Figure 6.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which I am the same into effent I would have it undonstood that
3

page_text: what I claim is the reactionary spring brake arranged, operated, and
working in manner and for the purpose substantially as herein shown
and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Crispin Simpson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five