IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- RATUS FOR LIFTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WAGGONS, AND LOCOMOTIVES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Lee Corlett, of Inchicore, in the County
of Dublin, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR LIFTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WAGGONS, AND LOCOMOTIVES."
Scaled the 29th August 1871, and dated the 14th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Lee Corlett at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition', on
the 14th March 1871.
I, HENRY LEE CORLETT, of Inchicore, in the County of Dublin,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LIFTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WAGGONS, AND
LOCOMOTIVES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object an increase of facilities for lifting
rolling stock off the running wheels thereof when required, and also an
cconomy of space in the workshops where the lifting apparatus is used.
For this purpose four hydraulic jacks are arranged and combined so as
to form a permanent machine. The said jacks are fixed on suitable
bed plates and may be fitted either so as to be stationary or to be capable.

page_text: of sliding laterally or longitudinally. Two of these jacks are intended
to be used as a lifting power at each end of the carriage to be lifted,
and they are caused to act simultaneously either by being worked by
one pump or otherwise. If preferred the mechanism may be arranged
so as to work all the four jacks by one pump. A shoe or support for
the carriage is fixed on the top of each hydraulic ram, and is capable
of sliding in and out as required, or it may be turned out of the way in
order to allow the carriage to pass and returned when the carriage is in
position to rest on it. The several shoes or supports being moved out
of the way when the carriage is placed in the position required for lifting
are turned round and moved forward by rack or screw motion or other-
wise a sufficient distance to take some portion of the carriage frame.
The pumps are then set to work and the carriage lifted clear of the
wheels which can then be run out. The carriage thus lifted off the
wheels can remain on the said supports until the repairs are executed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Lee Corlett in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
LEE CORLETT, of Inchicore, in the County of Dublin, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Lee Corlett, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Lee Corlett, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Lee Corlett, 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 APPARATUS
FOR LIFTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WAGGONS, AND LOCOMOTIVES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Lee Corlett, my executors
1.

page_text: 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 Henry Lee Corlett, 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, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :—
My Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for Lifting Railway
Carriages, Waggons, and Locomotives," has for its object an increase of
facilities for lifting rolling stock off the running wheels thereof when
required, and also an economy of space in the workshops where the
lifting apparatus is used. For this purpose four hydraulic jacks are
arranged and combined so as to form a permanent machine. The said
jacks are fixed on suitable bed plates, and may be fitted either so as to
be stationary, or to be capable of sliding laterally or longitudinally. Two
of these jacks are intended to be used as a lifting power at each end
of the carriage to be lifted, and they are caused to act simultaneously
either by being worked by one pump or otherwise. If preferred the
mechanism may be arranged so as to work all the four jacks by onc
pump. A shoe or support for the carriage is fixed on the top of each
hydraulic ram, and is capable of sliding in and out as required, or it
may be turned out of the way in order to allow the carriage to pass and
returned when the carriage is in position to rest on it. The several shoes
or supports being moved out of the way when the carriage is placed
in the position required for lifting are turned round and moved forward
by rack or screw motion or otherwise a sufficient distance to take some
portion of the carriage frame. The pumps are then set to work and
the carriage lifted clear of the wheels, which can then be run out. The
carriage thus lifted off the wheels can remain on the said supports until
the repairs are executed.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed,
by the aid of the accompanying Drawings, in which are represented

page_text: Fig. 1 is an elevation shewing the frame of a six-wheeled railway
carriage lifted off its wheels by a lifting apparatus composed of a pair of
hydraulic jacks at each end, whereof one pair is stationary and the other
capable of sliding longitudinally; Fig. 2 is an end view; and Fig. 3
is a plan or horizontal view of the same; Figures 4, 5, and 6 are corre-
sponding views shewing a lifting apparatus composed of four hydraulic
jacks, whereof two are capable of sliding both longitudinally and laterally,
the other two being stationary; Figures 7 and 8 are enlarged sections
of the ram head, shewing the mode of sliding or adjusting the shoe or
support at the top of the same. In these several Figures the same letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A, A, is the masonry on which the hydraulic jacks are fixed; B, B,
are the several hydraulic jacks with their appurtenances as usual.
These jacks may be arranged and fitted so as to be either stationary or
capable of sliding either laterally or longitudinally or both. The pumps
of two of these jacks in a position to lift each end of a carriage waggon
or locomotive are connected by a pipe C, so as to admit of their being
worked simultaneously, or the said two jacks may be arranged so as
to be worked by one pump; D, D, are screws for sliding the jacks
longitudinally, and E are screws for sliding them laterally. The four
jacks thus arranged may be worked as required in pairs at a time.
F, F, are the hydraulic rams, each having on the top a shoe or support G.
These rams are mounted with standards adapted to act as vertical guides
for the shoes or supports G, and also to admit of their being moved out
of the way in order to allow of a carriage being placed in the position
required for lifting, and they are afterwards turned and slidden under
the frame of the carriage, as shewn in Figures 2 and 4, by means of
racks and pinions as shown in Figures 7 and 8 or by other suitable
means; H is the lower portion of the frame of a carriage lifted off its
wheels and supported on the shoes or supports G, G, as long as required
for repairs, the wheels being left on the rails I, I, ready to be moved
away to any required part of the shop, and admit of the same or other
wheels being brought again under the carriage to receive it when lowered
down on to the same by the jacks as required.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I
do not claim as of my Invention the use of hydraulic jacks for lifting
railway rolling stock, nor the apparatus represented in the Drawings
and described in connection therewith, otherwise than as forming parts
of the lifting apparatus described, but what I do claim as of my
Invention is,
First. The combination of four hydraulic jacks into or so as to form a
permanent machine or lifting apparatus, on to which carriages, waggons,
or locomotives may be brought, and on which they may be lifted and
supported during repairs as described.
And, secondly. The use in such lifting apparatus of adjustable shoes
or supports and standards or guides for the same as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Lee Corlett, have hereunto
set my hand seal the First day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lanc.
H. L. CORLETT. (L.S.)