IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREAKS FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS, CARRIAGES, OR OTHER VEHICLES
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Footman at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st January
1859.
I, WILLIAM FOOTMAN, of No. 15, Water Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREAKS FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS, CARRIAGES, OR
OTHER VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to provide an efficient means for controlling
or stopping railway trains, so that the engine driver or the guard, either
together or seperately, may work the trains with more regularity and security.
than hitherto.
The following is a description of my Invention and the mode of working the
apparatus: A solid or tubular shaft is placed longitudinally in proper-bearings
beneath the bottom of the carriage; on this longitudinal shaft is formed or
fixed a short endless worm or screw gearing into a toothed wheel fixed on a
transverse or break shaft, and near each end or in the middle of the transverse
or break shaft are formed two cranks or eccentrics, to which the rods of the
break blocks are attached. When the longitudinal shaft is made to revolve,
its endless screw, turns the toothed wheel fixed on the break shaft, and
the cranks or eccentrics to act and give a thrust to each of the rods to which
the break blocks are attached, so as to press the blocks against the peripheries.
of the wheels of the carriages to which the breaks are applied.
causes
In applying the break, berein-before described, to the guard's van or tender,.
the longitudinal shaft is made to revolve and act upon the breaks by means of
bevelled or other wheels gearing into an endless worm, or bevelled wheels on
a vertical or other spindle, and worked by hand by the guard or engine driver.

page_text: In order to connect the longitudinal shafts of two or more carriages when
required, I adopt the following means:-Each end of the longitudinal shaft of
each carriage projects a few inches beyond its bearing, and is made with two
or more sinkings or slots, to enable it to receive the keys herein-after described.
The ends, of the longitudinal shafts are connected together by a telescopic
coupling formed of two tubes sliding one within the other; these tubes are
furnished with grooves and pins, so as to enable them to revolve together
when in use; the telescopic coupling has two or more keys fixed to each end,
so as to drop into the sinkings or slots on the ends of the longitudinal shaft
before described, and the keys are kept in their places by a ferrule made to
slide over them, and secured by a catch or spring. The telescopic coupling is
sometimes attached to the longitudinal shaft by universal joints or other
known means.
The breaks of the several carriages connected together are worked by hand,
by the guard or engine driver in the manner before described.
The longitudinal shafts are sometimes connected in the manner herein before
described throughout the whole or some portion of a train, and a motive power,
derived from the momentum of the train, is sometimes given to the connected
shafts to cause them to revolve. For this purpose bevelled wheels or friction
cones are fixed on one or more of the axles of the tender or of any other
carriage, and bevilled wheels or friction cones are also fixed on a sliding tube
fitted on the end of the longitudinal shaft, and furnished with grooves and pins
to enable them to revolve together. This sliding tube forms a connecting and
disconnecting apparatus, which, when actuated by the guard or engine driver
by means of a lever or handle, is pressed against the wheels or cones before
described, and causes the longitudinal shaft to revolve.
:
The wheels of two or more axles are sometimes coupled or connected in a
manner similar to that adopted in connecting the driving wheels of engines, in
order to develope a greater power from the momentum of the train.
In making up a train it is sometimes desirable to apply more break action
to one part of the train than another; this is accomplished by giving the
longitudinal shaft of the carriage in that part of the train an extra turn or
half turn, more or less, in advance of the other shafts, which will cause a
more immediate action to the particular part of the train required; and an
index or pointer is sometimes applied to the break shaft to indicate where and
to what extent the more immediate power is set or applied.