IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Abrahams, of 9, Great Prescott Street,
Goodman's Fields, E., Watch Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IM-
DRAKENDUTS IN REARTS PAD RAILWAY AND AND CARDIACNG"
a
Sealed the 29th January 1864, and dated the 4th August 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Abrahams at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th August 1863.
I, JOSEPH ABRAHAMS, of 9, Great Prescott Street, Goodman's Fields, E.,
Watch Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to brakes more particularly but not exclusively suited
for railway carriages, or carriages composing a railway train, and it consists
in a peculiar mode or method of giving motion to a brake or brakes, and in
the mechanical apparatus and the parts thereof for transmitting motion, first,
from a shaft or means of rotating or turning the motion or gear of the brake
apparatus, and, second, for communicating the forward (or backward) motion
from one brake to the next adjoining brake apparatus or several thereof. It
is proposed that each carriage in the train should be fitted with a brake or
brakes, although it is not absolutely necessary that the whole should be so
fitted, so long as the means of transmitting the motion from one carriage to
the other is provided. To the under side of each carriage fitted with a brake
I fix bearers, blocks, or carriages for supporting the apparatus for giving
motion to the weigh shaft, arms, or levers for operating the brake or brakes,
and to or within one of these carriages I mount and fix a box nut, which is free

page_text: to turn or rotate, but is provented from moving longitudinally. Within the
other bearer, block, or carriage works a shaft having a coarse pitch screw at
one end, and a fork with a square hole at the other end, and having also at
some convenient part a projection or other means of communicating motion
to the spanner, fork lever, or arm of the brake; this latter portion of the
apparatus is both free to revolve and move longitudinally as the screwed end
thereof enters into or is withdrawn from the box nut, and the extent of motion
or screwing in and out determines the extent of travel or motion of the
brake. To one end of the box nut or shank thereof is a fork end or hollow
extension having at its end a disc or plate with a square or other suitably
shaped hole therein for receiving the end of a square or other suitably shaped
bar receiving motion from or communicating rotary motion to either the
longitudinal shaft or the gear or apparatus, according to the direction in which
motion is transınitted. The projection or extension at the end of the male
and female screw is made sufficiently long to allow of the bar traversing back-
ward and forward therein to compensate for the motion of the screw within the
nut, and also for the lengthening and shortening of the train. Or, instead of
the fork end and disc at one end of the box nut or shank thereof, as just
described, and also for accomplishing the same result or action, the square or
other suitably shaped prolongation of the screwed shaft may be attached to a
tube, the interior of which may be formed of a square or other suitable shape
to suit a shaft working therein. The tube with the shaft therein and that
portion of the shaft nearest the screwed end thereof may be supported in
suitable bearings or carriages attached to the under side of the carriage.
Instead of the longitudinal bar or rod, through which motion is communicated,
extending from end to end of the train in the same axial line as that of the
male and female screw, as just described, the motion gear or apparatus for
operating upon the spanner or lever of the brake may receive motion from the
longitudinal bars or rods by means of gearing, and the square or other shaped
motion bars or rods may be parallel with the longitudinal axes of the
male and female screws or motion gear or apparatus, and at such a distance
therefrom as may be necessitated by the proportions or dimensions of the
intermediate gearing, provision being made for the longitudinal motion or play
of the shafts as before described. The brakes may be made self-acting and
be put into action by the motion of the wheels through the rotation of the axles
by means of friction wheels and clutch gear, or any of the well-known means
in use for communication, and by means of a lever and clutch may be discon
nected and disengaged; or the brake apparatus may be worked by hand, the
square or other shaped bars being turned round in one direction or anothe

page_text: to put the brakes on or off by means of a band wheel and any convenient
intermediate gearing. The shafts of the portion of the apparatus belonging to
each carriage are joined or connected to those of the next by means of an uni-
versal joint or other suitable compensating arrangement. The extremity of the
shaft, or the end of that portion of it which is situated below the carriage at ono
extremity of the train, is fixed, and prevented from having either rotary or longi-
tudinal motion, so that upon the portion of the apparatus at the other extremity of
the train being caused to revolve, the portion belonging to each carriage can only
act upon the brake or brakes belonging thereto with the same force with which,
by means of the connecting gear, it actuates the brakes of the next carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Abrahams in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ABRAHAMS, of Great Prescott Street, Goodman's Fields, E., Watch Manu-
facturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Abrahams, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Abrahams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Joseph Abrahams, my executors, administrators, or 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
nake, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN BRAKES FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition
(amongst others), that I, the said Joseph Abrahams, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under
the hand and seal of one of them, 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 1, the said Joseph Abrahams, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to he

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Sheet of Drawings:-
This Invention relates to brakes more particularly but not exclusively
suited for railway carriages, or carriages composing a railway train, and it
consists in a peculiar mode or method of giving notion to a brake or brakes,
and in the mechanical apparatus and the parts thereof for transmitting motion,
first, from a shaft or means of rotating or turning the motion. or gear of the
brake apparatus, and, second, for communicating the forward or backward.
motion for one brake to the next adjoining brako apparatus or several thereof.
It is proposed that each carriage in the train should be fitted with a brako or
brakes, although it is not absolutely necessary that the whole should be so
fitted, so long as the means of transmitting the motion from one carriage to
the other is provided. To the under side of each carriage fitted with a brake
I fix bearers, blocks, or carriages for supporting the apparatus for giving
motion to the weigh shaft, arms, or levers for operating the brake or brakes,
and to or within one of these carriages I mount and fix a box nut, which is
frco to turn or rotate, but is prevented from moving longitudinally. Within
one of the other bearers, blocks, or carriages works a shaft having a coarse
pitch screw at one end, and at the other extremity a fork end or hollow exten-
sion, having at its end a disc or plate with a square or other suitably shaped
hole for receiving the end of a square or other suitably shaped bar receiving
motion from or communicating motion to either the longitudinal shaft or the
gear or apparatus, according to the direction in which motion is transmitted,
and having also at some convenient part a projection or other means of
communicating motion to the spanner, fork lever, or arm of the brake; this
latter portion of the apparatus, namely, the revolving rod or bar screwed at
one of its ends and fitted at the other with a means of coupling it to the next
of a series of longitudinal rods, is both free to revolve and move longitudinally
as the screwed end thereof enters into or is withdrawn from the box nut, and
the extent of motion or screwing in and out determines the extent of travel or
motion of the brake lever and brake block. To the end of the rod, which has
at its opposite extremity the box nut, is a similar arrangement of fork end or
hollow extension with disc or plate to that just described, this portion of the
apparatus being that which projects at each end of each carriage for the
purpose of coupling the apparatus together and communicating motion from
one end of the train to the other. The projection or extension at the end of
the male and female screw is made sufficiently long to allow of the bar tra-
versing backward or forward therein to compensate for the motion of the
screw within the nut, and also for the lengthening and shortening of the train.

page_text: Or, instead of the fork end and disc at one end of the box nut or shank
thereof, as just described, and also for accomplishing the same result or action,
the square or other suitably shaped prolongation of the screwed shaft,. as well
as the shaft forming the extension of the box nut or female screw, may each
be adapted to a tube, the interior of which may be formed of a square or other
suitable shape to receive the connecting shaft or rod working therein. Instead
of a straight and parallel bar of square or other section being introduced
between the projecting end of the longitudinal bars of the apparatus, con-
structed according to this Invention, a spirally twisted bar of square or round
section, or a round bar having a spiral groove or grooves cut therein, or having
spiral projections formed thercon may be substituted, and by means of a hollow
tube or projection to each bar at each end of the railway carriage, and so
formed internally as to correspond with the section of the bar used, the slight
parting of the carriages, which usually takes place on the first application of
the brake, will, by means of the spirally-formed connection sliding in the hollow
ends or tubes, cause the screw of ono carriage to revolve in one direction, and
the nut of the next in the other direction, and inay thus serve as a means of
applying the final power to the brakes; and by reversing the twist this part of
the apparatus can be made to act by the compression of the carriages when
the brake is placed on the fore part of the train. Instead also of the longi-
tudinal bar or rod, through which motion is communicated, extending from
end to end of the train in the same axial line as that of the male and femalo
screw, as before described, the motion gear or apparatus for operating upon
the spanner or lever of the brake may receive motion from the longitudinal
bars or rods by means of gearing, and the square or other shaped motion bars
or rods may be parallel with the longitudinal axes of the male and female
screws or motion gear or apparatus, and at such a distance therefrom as may
be necessitated by the proportions or dimensions of the intermediate gearing,
provision being made for the longitudinal motion or play of the shafts, as
before described. The brakes may be made self-acting and be put into action by
motion of wheels through the rotation of the axles by means of friction wheels and
clutch gear, or any of the well-known means in use for communicating motion,
and by means of a lever and clutch may be disconnected and disengaged; or
the brake apparatus may be worked by hand, the square or other shaped bars
being turned round in one direction or another to put the brakes on or off by
means of a band wheel, and any convenient intermediate gearing, such as.a
worm and wheel or other mechanism, may be interposed..
In the case of eightwheeled carriages when it is necessary to connect the
brakes of the set of wheels at each end, the arrangement of a nut and screw

page_text: might be placed between the two levers of the respective brakes, and in that
. case both nut and screw would move in a longitudinal direction as well as
rotate. The shafts of the portion of the apparatus belonging to each carriage
are joined or connected together to those of the next by means of an universal
joint, or other suitable compensating arrangement. That extremity of the
line of rods or shafts furthest removed from the source of inotion or which is
situated at one extremity of the train, is fixed and prevented from having
either rotary or longitudinal motion, so that upon the portion of the apparatus
at the other extremity of the train being caused to revolve, the portion belong-
ing to cach carriage can only act upon the brake or brakes belonging thereto
with the same force with which by means of the connecting gear it actuates
the brakes of the next carriage, and so on through the series of carriages com-
posing the train; but the end which is secured or held fast at one time may
be rotated or be caused to communicate motion, whilst the end of the rod
furthest therefrom or situated at the opposite end of the train would then have
to be held fast or secured from rotary or longitudinal motion. For the purposo
of allowing for the play of the springs and of the lever of the brake, I employ
the following arrangement, and which is shewn in the accompanying Drawing,
Figures 3, 4, & 5 :-Between the screw and tube of one of the shafts arc
two collars, between which is placed a block or bearing formed of two pieces,
and bolted together in the manner shewn, in which the shaft is free to revolve;
this block has a groove or slot on each side; the lever which actuates the
brake has at its end a fork, on each side of which is a pin; the screw shaft
moves the lever by means of the fork, and the pins slide up and down the slots
in the blocks and allow for the play of the springs; or instead of or in addition
to the pins, antifriction balls may be introduced between the guide block and
the collar next the screw. .
In the application in practice of my said Invention of." Improvements in
Brakes for Railway and other Carriages," I prefer to adopt that arrangement
of parts as shown in the accompanying Drawings, in which I have shewn
apparatus constructed according to my Invention for giving motion to, by
.putting into or out of motion the friction brakes for skidding or checking the
rotation of the wheels of railway or other carriages; and also I have shewn
therein variations in the form and arrangements of the details or accessorial
parts of the apparatus, and as mechanical adaptations which have occurred to
.me as being suited for effecting the necessary movements; yet I wish it to be
clearly understood that in every case the means of transmitting motion from
cone end of a carriage to the other is through the intervention of two or more
length of rods or bars, the one taking into the other or acting thereon by

page_text: means of a male screw taking into a female screw or box nut, or vice versa;
and also that in the arrangement for operating one pair of breaks of a carriage,
one of the rods or bars belonging to each carriage bas no longitudinal motion,
whilst the other has longitudinal as well as rotary motion communicated to it,
and moreover that the application or removal of the brake power is produced
by the longitudinal motion or travel of one of the rods, of which a brake appa-
ratus according to my Invention consists in part, and such longitudinal motion
of the one rod or bar may be communicated to the brake through a fork lever,
spanner, or other suitable mechanical contrivance; whilst in the case of em-
ploying two pairs of brakes to a four-wheeled carriage, or where the carriage
has more than four wheels, I prefer for the purpose of operating both sets of
brakes by the same apparatus to employ the arrangement of a male and female
screw at some convenient point between the two lovers of the respective
brakes, and thus cause both the nut and screw to move in a longitudinal
direction by the rotary motion communicated thereto.
I also wish it to be understood that a distinctive feature of my Invention is,
that the brake apparatus of each carriage composing the train is successively
applied, and the order of succession may be varied.
In the accompanying Shect of Drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation,
partly in section; Figure 2, a plan of a brake arrangement constructed upon
the principle of my Invention.
The motion is given from one extremity a of any of the carriages connected
together by means of one of the before-mentioned mechanical contrivances;
b, b, are guide blocks, in the slots of which plays the fork c, c', which in its
turn actuates the levers for moving the brake blocks. The guide blocks b, b',
and the extremities of the forks alluded to are shown on a larger scale in
Figures 3, 4, and 5, Figure 3 being a longitudinal elevation, Figure 4 a plan,
and Figure 5 half of a cross section and half of an end view of the guide
block. The pins d, d', at the extremity of the fork work in the slots on cach
side of the block; e, e, are the male screws working in the female screws or
box nuts f. f. 9. g', are the telescope tubes (one of which is here shewn
broken); in these tubes slide the lengthening bars h, h', connected by means
of the universal point i; j, j, is the shaft, forming one piece with the male
screw, and supported in the bearings k, k, and moving in them longitudinally
when the male screw acts in the box nut; 1, 1', are the shafts, forming one
piece with the box nut, and supported in the bearings m, m'; a collar n' is
connected with the block 6 by means of a rigid bar or brace o, for the purpose
of securing the block in its proper position; p, p', are friction wheels or rollers
for guiding the extreme surfaces of the box nuts; q, q', aro ratchet wheels for

page_text: preventing the male screw retiring unnecessarily far when the brake power is
.taken off.
. The action of the apparatus is as follows:-On the screwed shaft j being
.turned in one direction it moves longitudinally, and carries with it the forked
lever c which actuates the brake, but no pressure can take place unless the
nut is prevented from revolving, as otherwise the nut and screw would
revolve as one piece without any force in the direction of its length being
exercised; the rotary motion of the nut, however, is communicated by means
of connecting shafts or lengthening bars h, h', working in the telescope
tubes g, g', to the screw of the brake apparatus of the next carriage, and so
on till it comes to the last nut of the series, which being fixed, causes a
resistance to the whole of the rotary motion; the first screw e then actuates
its brake according to the resistance offered by its nut, which in its turn
actuates the screw of the next brake, and as the resistance of each nut depends
on the degree in which the next brake is actuated, it follows that the pressure
on all the brakes must be alike, that no one brake can act unless the others
act, or fail to act when the other brakes are worked; also that the torsional
strain in the shafts will be the same, irrespective of the number of brakes con-
nected together. The action may, however, be reversed, the nut of each
brake being turned first, and then nioving the screw; and it is evident that it
will be the same in effect, whether it is by unscrewing or screwing up that
the brake is brought into play; it is also evident that either a right or left
handed screw may be used.
i
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Brakes for
Railway and other Carriages," and having in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings illustrated one of the modes or methods in which I prefer to
.construct the said brake apparatus, I wish it to be understood that I do not
claim the use or employment of one longitudinal bar or rod, nor of one or
more such rods, which, whilst being free to revolve aro connected together,
and each of them prevented from moving longitudinally, nor the use or
employment of screw and nut, howsoever the same may be employed, or
irrespective of their action upon one another, nor to the employment of a
traversing collar or nut acting on the fork, end of a lever or spanner, con-
nected directly or indirectly with the brake block or blocks, for I am aware that
various arrangements of screws, and moving or traversing nuts for operating
brakes, have heretofore been employed; but what I claim as my Invention is
as follows:-
.
First, the use or employment of two rods or bars in the manner described
for working the brake blocks of one pair of wheels, both rods being free to

page_text: revolve, whilst one has also a longitudinal motion communicated to it by
means of a rotary motion, and producing a screwing in and out of the female
screw or box nut of the revolving but non-traversing rod, the friction brake
or brake block being actuated by the longitudinal motion or traversing of one
of the rods or bars, as herein described.
Second, the apparatus herein described for actuating the lever arm of the
friction brake or brakes of the carriage.
Third, the mode or method herein described of transmitting motion from
one end to the other of a series or train of carriages, for the purpose of
operating successively the several friction brakes belonging thereto when cach
carriage has the brake applied to one pair of wheels only.
Fourth, the use or employment of a longitudinal series of articulated bars,
in the manner and for the purpose herein described, the joints of such rods
which are within the length of the carriage (or the inner ends of the rods
belonging to each carriage) taking into or screwing one into the other, whilst
the outer ends or ends projecting beyond the extremity of the carriage are so
formed as to readily couple to the next rod, or to the rod projecting from and
belonging to the next adjoining carriage, either by the mechanical means
herein described, and as shewn in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, or
any other which may be found equally well or better suited to the purpose.
Fifth, I claim where more than one set of brake apparatus is employed in a
carriage, or where more than one pair of wheels are fitted with brakes, the
operating both sets of brakes by employing a male and female screw, as herein
described, at some convenient part between the two levers, thereby moving
them in opposite directions, whilst both the screw and nut, and the rods
belonging thereto respectively, are caused to move in a longitudinal direction
by the rotary motion communicated thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Abrahams, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JAMES STEVENSON,
19, Salisbury St., Strand.
JOSEPH ABRAHAMS. (L.B.)