AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COUPLING THE LOCOMOTIVE WITH THE TENDER, FOR THE PURPOSE OF GIVING GREATER ADHESION BETWEEN THE WHEELS OF THE FORMER AND THE RAILS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Jean Vandecasteele, of Bruges, in the King-
dom of Belgium, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF COUPLING THE LOCOMOTIVE WITH THE TENDER, FOR THE PURPOSE OF GIVING
GREATER ADHESION BETWEEN THE WHEELS OF THE FORMER AND THE RAILS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION- left by the said Louis Jean Vandecasteele
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th November 1859.
I, LOUIS JEAN VANDECASTEELE, of Bruges, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IN-
PROVED METHOD OF COUPLING THE LOCOMOTIVE WITH THE TENDER, FOR THE PUR-
POSE OF GIVING GREATER ADHESION BETWEEN THE WHEELS OF THE FORMER & THE
RAILS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention consists in producing a greater adhesion of the
engine wheels upon the rails, and hence increasing the power of traction in
the engine. In order to effect this, instead of connecting the engine to the
tender by a horizontal coupling, or a coupling whose points of attachment in
each are at the same hight, I make the points of attachment on the engine
to be in the side frames, a little above the axle of the driving wheels, and that

page_text: of the tender below the axle of its wheels, which latter being lower than that
of the driving wheels of the engine, gives an inclination to the coupling, and
therefore to the line of traction, which effects the object in view. The
coupling is composed of several rods properly articulated, and combined with
chains, in order to allow sufficient freedom of movement between the engine!
and tender.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Jean Vandecasteele in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
JEAN VANDECASTEELE, of Bruges, in the Kingdom of Brussels, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Louis Jean Vandecasteele, Her special licence that I, the said
Louis Jean Vandecasteele, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Louis Jean Vandecasteele, my exccutors, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COUPLING THE LOCOMOTIVE WITH
THE TENDER, FOR THE PURPOSE OF GIVING GREATER ADHESION BETWEEN THE
WHEELS OF THE FORMER AND THE RAILS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Louis Jean Vandecasteele, 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 Inven
tion, 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 Louis Jean Vandecasteele, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention consists in producing a greater adhesion of the
engine wheels upon the rails, and hence increasing the power of traction in
the engine. In order to effect this, instead of connecting the engine to the
tender by a horizontal coupling, or a coupling whose points of attachment in
each are at the same height, I make the points of attachment on the engine
to be in the side frames, a little above the axle of the driving wheels, and that.
of the tender below the axle of its wheels, which latter, being lower than that
of the driving wheels of the engine, gives an inclination to the coupling, and
therefore to the line of traction, which effects the object in view. The
coupling is composed of several rods properly articulated, and combined with.
chains, in order to allow sufficient freedom of movement between the engine
and tender.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying my said
Invention into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference
marked thereon respectively, as follows, observing that it is a well-known
principle in mechanics that the horizontal traction of bodies occasions no
decomposition of forces, and is the most efficacious method of moving a given
weight. This principle, however, is not absolute, for if it is true as applied,
for example, to a railway train, in which the carriages and waggons, when
connected together, form a whole, which, when in motion, obeys the same
5 impulse, it is not true as regards the effort made by the locomotive engine,
the power of which is in the ratio of its adhesion to the plane formed by
the surface of the rails on which it moves. Any combination or arrangement,
therefore, which increases this adhesion tends to increase the power of traction
of the locomotive.
D
Hitherto it has been sought to obtain this increase of power by increasing
the weight of the locomotive, but upon examining carefully into the effects
resulting from this mode of traction, I have found them defective, and propose
to remedy such defects by a more simple and efficacious method of connecting
the locomotive to the tender, namely, by placing the link or coupling piece
5 which connects them together in a different manner to that hitherto practised.
For example, instead of connecting the locomotive to the tender horizontally, I
propose that the connecting point of the locomotive should be situated a little
above the centre of the axis of the driving wheels thereof, and the connecting

page_text: Secondly, I claim connecting the tender to the locomotive engine by means
of a parallelogram formed by the balance beam E, F, and rods G, H, arranged
as above described and represented at Figures 1 and 2, for the purpose of
facilitating the motion of the locomotive and tender in passing round the
curves of a line of railway, as above stated.
Lastly, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not intend to limit
myself to the precise details of construction or arrangement herein set forth and
represented, as they may be varied without departing from the essential
character or principle of my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Jean Vandecasteele, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
VANDECASTEELE. (L.S.)