IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR TRAMWAYS, RAILWAYS, AND VEHICLES MOVED BY STEAM OR HORSE POWER
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alphonse Kriéger, Mechanician, of No. 8, Rue
Corbeau, Paris, France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BRAKES FOR TRAMWAYS, RAILWAYS, AND VEHICLES MOVED BY STEAM OR
HORSE POWER."
Sealed the 7th November 1873, and dated the 15th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alphonse Kriéger at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th May 1873.
I, ALPHONSE KRIEGER, Mechanician, of No. 8, Rue Corbeau, Paris,
France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR TRAMWAYS, RAILWAYS, AND VEHICLES MOVED BY
STEAM OR HORSE POWER," to be as follows:-
The nature of and principle of this Invention rests entirely on the
novelty of its mode of operation, its functions, and storing of the force
of inertia of the vehicle to utilize it both as a brake and as a means of
impulsion in starting the vehicle,

page_text: The brake consists of the powerful friction of two cones boxing one
within the other. It acts on the axles to render them after stoppage
a part of the force of the movement which served for working the brake
and equally facilitate starting.
On one of the axles is placed a muffle with conical surfaces; it is
fixed thereto by means of a pin, which allows of free longitudinal dis-
placement of the muffle.
The cones, which I shall here designate at b, b', act on the corre-
sponding interior surfaces of two cog wheels c, c¹, fixed on the axle.
The action is effected by manoeuvring a lever to the right or left;
this lever is actuatad by aid of a crank acting on a pinion and rack.
The cog wheel indicated at c turns a cog wheel fixed on an axis of a
pinion which receives the same movement from another cog wheel on
the same axis, and which is actuated by a toothed wheel fixed on the
axle of the vehicle.
The pinion last named, by its contact with a central rack attached to
powerful springs, compresses them against a projection, whilst on the
other hand this pinion receives from these springs an inverse movement
when they distend.
The action of the brake is as follows:-In turning the crank handle so
cog wheel c, a
as to act by the cone 6 on the corresponding cone of the
wheel and pinion forces the rack to press the springs against the pro-
jection, at the same time producing a brake on the axle by the resistance
that the springs offer to the compression.
When the rack becomes immovable, the tramway wheels slide on the
rails, thus exercising the maximum power of the brake.
At starting the conductor locks the cones b and c, and thus returns
the action to the surfaces 6¹, c¹, then as the movement that the brake
has imparted to the cog wheel (with which that c gears) is sustained by
a ratchet, the conductor presses on a pedal actuating a shaft whose bent
end removes the ratchet from the teeth of the cog wheel; the springs
then immediately expand, pushing back the central rack above alluded
to, and then by means of gear wheels communicates to the axle an
impulsion which is employed in starting the vehicle.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alphonse Kriéger in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALPHONSE
KRIEGER, Mechanician, of No. 8, Rue Corbeau, Paris, France, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alphonse Kriéger, Her
special licence that I, the said Alphonse Kriéger, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alphonse
Kriéger, 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 BRAKES FOR TRAMWAYS, RAILWAYS, AND VEHICLES MOVED
BY STEAM OR HORSE POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alphonse Kriéger, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing, under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alphonse Kriéger, 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:―
The feature of novelty in this Invention consists entirely in the mode
of operation and functions of the brake, the principle being the storing
of the force of inertia of the vehicle to utilize it as a brake, and as a
means of impulsion in starting the vehicle.

page_text: The brake consists of the powerful friction of two cones boxing one
within the other. It acts on the axles to render them, after stoppage,
a part of the force of inertia which served in working the brake, and
equally facilitate starting.
The accompanying Drawings represent the mechanical combination
embodying the special characteristics of my Invention.
The brake consists of the powerful friction of two cones boxing one
within the other. It acts on the axles to render them, after stoppage,
a part of the force of inertia which served in working the brake, and
equally facilitate starting.
The accompanying Drawings represent the mechanical combination
embodying the special characteristics of my Invention.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the brake, Fig. 2 is a bottom plan.
On the axle a is placed a muffle with conical surfaces 6, 61, fixed to
the axle by a key, which allows of free longitudinal displacement of the
muffle.
The cones b, 6¹, act on the interior corresponding surfaces of the wheel
gear c, c¹, loose on the axis. This action takes place by manœuvring to
the right or left the lever d set in motion by the crank m, or by other
means, acting by the pinion fand rack f¹ articulated to the lever.
The gear wheel c turns a wheel I solid with the axis o of the pinion h. 1
This pinion receives the same action from the wheel g' which by aid of
the wheel e receives motion from the wheel c¹.
Finally, the pinion h, by contact with a rack k guided by the roller /
and attached to the springs r, r, compresses the latter against the
block p, or receives from them an inverse movement, when they expand, 2
driving the rack as far as the stop p¹.
The action of the brake is as follows:-In turning the crank handle m
so as to act by the cone 6 on the corresponding cone of the cog wheel c,
a wheel g and pinion / forces the rack k to press the springs r, r, guided
by the rod n against the projection p, at the same time producing a 2
brake on the axle a by the resistance that the springs offer to the
compression.
When this compression is more or less complete the rack k becomes
immovable, the wheels of the tramway slide on the rails, thus effecting
the maximum action of the brake.
3
At starting the conductor separates the cones b and c, and by con-
tinuing the movement of the lever d transfers the action to the surfaces
6¹ and c³, then as the motion furnished by the brake to the wheel is
retained by the ratchets (or other method), the conductor presses on the
pedal t, which, by aid of the shaft with bent end, withdraws the ratchet 3.

page_text: 8 from the teeth of the wheel g. The springs then distend, forcing back
the rack k, then the wheels h, g¹, e, and c¹, communicate an impulsion
to the axle which is employed in starting.
By this combination, and by means of the force of inertia of the
vehicle I obtain,―
1st. The action of the brake.
2nd. The storing of this force of inertia by aid of the springs.
And, 3rd. The employment of this force in starting the vehicle.
What has been said with regard to the frictional system of the sur-
faces b and c applies in a like manner to those 6' and c', and the restitu-
tion of the stored force to the axle a is effected by the wheels g and c.
It is to be observed that my system whilst acting in a similar manner
to the ordinary brakes in descending inclines has the marked advantage
that when at the bottom of the declivity the tension of the springs
resulting from the action of the brake is employed in giving an equi-
valent impulsion to the carriage.
The same mechanical combination may be adapted to the other axle
for assisting a backward motion of the vehicle.
Although only one kind of springs is described as illustration of the
system of storing the force of inertia, others can be used, such for
instance as box springs, the compression of which would be effected by
the action of the gear wheels g¹ or g, and the expansion thereof would
act as impelling force on the axle by the wheels g¹ and c³, or g and c.
What I claim therefore is the tramway brake herein described and
illustrated, whose characteristic feature is its double function, that is to
say,-
1st. The powerful friction of two cones or wheels boxing one within
the other for forming the brake.
2nd. The employment of coupled carriage springs or box springs,
compressed air, or other method, whose effect is to store the force acquired
by the moving mass by the compression or tension of the said springs or
air to re-employ it as an impelling power when the carriage again starts.
This tension or compression of the springs or air whilst effecting the
requisite resistance to the action of the brake, is also a powerful agent
of impulsion to the vehicle, assisting the horses in starting.

page_text: The means of carrying this principle into effect may be varied, for
instance, the mechanism of the brake may be actuated from both ends
of the vehicle, and applied to both the fore and hind axles, the form and
dimensions of the parts herein described being in like manner subject
to variation according to their nature of application should it be so
deemed necessary, as although the principle is more particularly applied
to tramways, yet it may be advantageously adapted to all kinds of
locomotion, whether by horse or steam power.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alphonse Kriéger, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
A KRIÉGER. (LA)