IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR TAKING-UP AND DELIVERING MAIL BAGS AND OTHER PACKAGES FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE OR CARRIAGES WHILST THE TRAIN IS IN MOTION
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Dacre Lacy, of Hall House, Knayton,
near Thirsk, Yorkshire, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR TAKING-UP AND DELIVERING MAIL BAGS AND OTHER
PACKAGES FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE OR CARRIAGES WHILST THE TRAIN IS
IN MOTION"
Scaled the 5th September 1856, and dated the 19th March 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Dacre Lacy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th March 1856.
I, AUGUSTUS DACRE LACY, of Hall House, Knayton, near Thirsk, Yorkshire,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CERTAIN APPARATUS POR TAKING-UP AND DELIVERING MAIL BAGS AND
OTHER PACKAGES FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE OR CARRIAGES WHILST THE TRAIN IS IN
MOTION," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in adapting and applying to the carriage or carriages
of the train and the line of railway respectively the apparatus herein-after
described, by means of which the bag or package on the moving train may be
delivered therefrom on the line, and the bag or package on the line may be
taken up by the moving train at one and the same time.
The apparatus on the line of railway consists of an upright post, from
which is extended a curved arm or supporter, to which is attached a cross bar
of polished steel or iron, which is parallel to the line of rails. The same kind

page_text: of apparatus is also attached to the carriage, with the exception that the
extended arm is straight, and turns,and works on a hinge at the point of
junction, so as to be lowered or raised, at the will of the operator, by the aid
of a copper wire or other flexible rope or connection, which is attached to
the centre of the cross, passing over a pulley at right angles into the interior
of the carriage. The rod or bar on the carriage will thus be carried along in
a direction parallel to the corresponding bar or rod on the line.
The mail bag or other package to be taken up is suspended by means of a
suitably formed ring from the bar or rod on the line on that side of the cross
towards which the train is advancing, and the bag or package to be delivered
from the carriage is suspended from the carriage cross on the opposite side of
the latter. The said ring is formed with a hole or socket, formed in a boss
in the centre of the upper part, so as to receive the bar or rod, and admit of
the ring. passing readily along the latter. The ring is also formed so as to be
capable of being caught by the second bar or rod (whether that on the line
or that on the carriage respectively), and transferred with the bag or package
from one bar or rod to the other by the motion of the carriage, and retained
on its intended bar or rod by coming in contact with a boss or stop on the
end of the bar or arm to which the rod is applied. A vulcanized india-
rubber washer encircles the bar at the point of concussion. to destroy the
vibration. A spring attached prevents the bag from slipping off after delivery
from the recoil caused by the concussion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Augustus Dacre Lacy in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
DACRE LACY, of Hall House, Knayton, near Thirsk, Yorkshire, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 'Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One, thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign; did, for 'Herself, Her, heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Augustus Dacre Lacy, Her special license that I; the said Augustus Dacre
Lacy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Augustus Dacre Lacy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 "IM-.
PROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR TAKING-UP AND DELIVERING MAIL BAGS
AND OTHER: PACKAGES FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE OR CARRIAGES WHILST THE TRAIN
IS IN MOTION," upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said Augustus
Dacre Lacy, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is 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 Augustus Dacre Lacy, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in certain Apparatus for. Taking-up and
Delivering Mail Bags and other Packages from a Railway Carriage or
Carriages whilst the Train is in Motion," has for its object the safer delivery
of the bags or packages from the train on to the: line of railway; so as to
obviate the present liability to injury from shock or concussion produced by the
sudden-transference of the said articles from a train in rapid motion, to a
stationary apparatus or-receptacle on the line, also combined therewith the safer
means of taking up the said articles. by the moving train from the stationary
apparatus on the line. And this object. is accomplished by adapting and
applying to the carriage or carriages of the train, and the line of, railway
respectively, the apparatus herein-after described, by means of which the bag
or package on the moving train may be delivered therefrom on the line, and
the bag or package on the line may be taken up by the moving train.
The apparatus on the line of railway, consists of a. bracket. or support,
extending from a post fixed into the ground at the side of the line of rails,
such bracket or support carrying a bar, which extends in a direction parallel
with the line of rails.. At the end of this bar is fixed a pair of springs, of
such form as to be capable of receiving the ring of the bag or package as. it
is delivered from the moving carriage, and gradually to offer resistance to its
motion until it is passed into a retaining hook and there held, such retaining
hook being connected with a spring, so as to lessen the concussion occasioned
by: the ring passing into the hook. The apparatus on the carriage or carriages
consists of a support, mounted on a pivot fixed to the side of the carriage, and

page_text: carrying a similar bar with springs, to lessen the motion of the bag or package,
by partially resisting the motion of its ring, and also a retaining hook with
spring, to lessen the concussion of the ring on entering the hook; also, on the
box containing the kind of buffer spring in connection with the hook, both on
the stationary apparatus applied on the line and on the apparatus applied to 5
the moving carriage or carriages respectively, there is a socket capable of
receiving a kind of neck attached to the bag or package, and there holding
the latter after it has been delivered from the moving carriage, or in readiness
to be taken up thereby, as the case may be.
The stationary apparatus on the line and that applied to the carriage or
carriages possess the same means of delivering and taking up the bag or
package as required, and of reducing the effects of concussion occasioned by
the sudden transfer of the article from the train in motion to the post at rest,
and vice versa.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed
to describe it more particularly by the aid of the accompanying Drawing, in
which is represented the apparatus above referred to.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is a plan or horizontal view of the apparatus as applied to the
carriage and the line of railway respectively; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the
same apparatus; and Fig. 3 represents the post on the line, and the carriage
of the train, with the apparatus on each, seen in end view. In these several
views the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. A is the
post on the line of railway; B is the carriage of the train; C is the bracket
or support for the apparatus on the post; C is the support for the apparatus
on the carriage; D is the bar, carried by the bracket or support C; and D*, a
corresponding bar, carried by the support C. In each case the bar D or D*
bas springs E or E* fixed to it on each side, so as to be capable of offering
some resistance to the motion of the bag or package towards the hook by
pressing against the inner surface of the ring as it passes along the springs.
F is the hook of the apparatus belonging to the post, and F that of the
same belonging to the carriage. At the back of this hook in each case is a
rod G and G*, extending to a kind of buffer spring, shewn by dotted lines.
H is the bag on the bracket of the post, which is being taken up by the
carriage as it passes; and H is the bag on the carriage which is being
transferred to and left on the bracket of the post. I is the ring of the former
bag or package, and I that of the latter; K and K are the sockets in each
apparatus respectively in which the necks of the bags are held. In these

page_text: sockets there are springs, as shewn, in order to retain the neck of the bag
after it has passed into the fork of the socket. L is a rope, by means of which
the apparatus on the carriage may be lowered or drawn up as required.
The action of above-described apparatus is as follows.-As the carriage B
passes the post A in the direction of the arrow, the bag or package H* will be
drawn out of its socket K*, and its ring I will be made to embrace the
springs E, E, the pressure of which, in resisting their collapsing by the ring,
will retard the motion of the bag towards the hook F, and the pressure of the
ring against the hook will be taken by the spring connected with the rod G;
the ring I of the bag or package will then be retained in the hook F, and
the bag will thus be safely transferred from the moving carriage to the
stationary post; at the same time the bar E* will enter the ring I of the
bag or package H, and the force of the concussion of the ring I against
the hook F will be counteracted or suitably lessened by the resistance of the
springs E, E, and that on the rod G*, when the bag or package will be
drawn out of the socket K and retained by the hook F*, and will thus be
transferred from the stationary post to the carriage of the passing train.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
mean or intend to confine myself to the particular arrangement and con-
struction of the apparatus above described, neither do I claim such apparatus
as of my Invention otherwise than as adapted and applied to the purpose
described; but I claim the adaptation and application to the line of railway,
and the carriage or carriages respectively, of apparatus by means of which the
one bag or package may be delivered on to the line and the other taken up
therefrom by the passing train, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Dacre Lacy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
GEO. FARRAH,
Supt. Constable, Thirsk.
AUGS D. LACY. (L.S.)