IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC BRAKE APPARATUS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Eames, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC BRAKE
APPARATUS."
Sealed the 3rd June 1879, and dated the 15th February 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William Eames
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th February 1879.
FREDERICK WILLIAM EAMES, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer. "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC BRAKE APPARATUS."
This Invention relates to improvements in the brake apparatus for which I have
already obtained or applied for Letters Patent in the name of H. E. Newton, dated
October 18th 1877, No. 3861, and in my own name, dated respectively October
19th 1878, No. 4172, and January 20th 1879, No. 225.
The present improvements 'apply both to vacuum brakes and to compressed air
brakes, the main object being to provide for the maintenance in the one case of a
vacuum which shall always be at command, and in the other case of a pressure of
air. As a modification of the apparatus in which a piston is employed with a
vacuum maintained at its opposite sides I propose to employ the following con-
trivance-I provide two flanged dish shaped iron shells, which clamp between
their flanges a flexible diaphragm carrying a central plate, which serves to secure
to the diaphragm a pendant central rod connected to the brake levers. As a
packing to this rod I provide a flexible conical sleeve or envelope, which covers
the opening in the shell for the rod, and is attached to the rod by an air tight
joint. Each shell is provided with an exhaust pipe, and these pipes connect with
a common pipe which leads to the exhauster or ejector. The pipe of the upper
shell is fitted with a clack valve, which on air being admitted to the exhaust pipe
will prevent its passage to the upper shell, leaving the air free to pass to the under
side of the diaphragm and set the brake in action. Or the air may be withdrawn
from both shells by means of a single pipe attached to the lower shell, a clack valve
opening outwards being secured to an opening formed in its diaphragm in such a
manner that air may be admitted directly to the upper shell to release the brakes
of a detached carriage by opening a cock or valve provided for that purpose.

page_text: To quicken the action of the brake and increase its power I propose to use a
modified form of valve described in my Provisional Specification of January 1879,
in order to exhaust both sides of the diaphragm or floating piston simultaneously,
and to close one side when air is admitted to apply the brakes. The pipes from
the opposite sides of the diaphragm or piston communicate with a cylindrical
barrol, which is fitted with a valve seat at its opposite ends.
Surrounding this barrel is an annular passage in communication with the pipe
leading to the lower shell or back end of the diaphragm or floating piston for
operating the brakes. Communications between this annular chamber and the
barrel are made by posts at two levels, which posts are alternately opened and
closed by an elongated piston carrying a conical valve at each end for fitting on to
the valve seats before mentioned. The rod of this piston is hollow, and it is
attached by a flanged coupling with a flexible diaphragm contained in a case, which
forms a virtual extension of the cylindrical barrel in which the valve piston works.
This case above the diaphragm is in communication with the line of exhaust tubes
which extends from end to end of the train, and below the diaphragm it is open to
the air, preferably in communication with a compartment of the carriage to which
the apparatus is attached. The hollow piston rod is closed at top by a poppet valve,
and under the action of the exhaust in the vacuum tubes it rises to allow of the
air being drawn from the opposite sides of the diaphragm or piston of the shell in
direct connection with the brakes. At this time the valve piston will be at its
highest position by reason of the exhaust above the diaphragm and the pressure of
air below the diaphragm. When however air is admitted to the vacuum tubes the
poppet valve will drop and the valve piston will be forced down, thereby closing the
pipe which leads to the front of the floating piston and opening a passage for the
air at the back of that piston.
To maintain the vacuum to keep the brake ready for action I may use a small
ejector, constantly blowing, or an automatically operating ejector; and to render the
same entirely automatic in a very simple and compact manner I locate on the
engine and attach to the ejector a diaphragm acted upon by vacuum on one side
and a spring or weight on the other, and connect it by a lever to a secondary valve,
which when opened allows steam to lift the main valve of the ejector and thus
open a passage for the steam from the boiler through the ejector or exhaust
apparatus.
Where two sets of exhaust tubes are used for putting on and taking off the
brakes I connect these tubes with the exhaust by means of a rocking or other slide
valve actuated by a hand lever. Instead of the diaphragm or piston operating the
brake levers I may use two flexible diaphragms or sacks, with solid moveable heads
connected to the brake levers. The inner ends of these sacks I secure to a solid
head immoveably attached to the body of the car, and having passages within it so
arranged that air may be withdrawn from both sacks. When air is withdrawn
from both sacks the levers will be held in equilibrium, but on admitting air into
one of the sacks the balance will be destroyed and the brakes applied.
Another form of car brake device is two cylinders or diaphragms acting on the
same or different levers, and one of them being acted upon before the other takes
up the slack; the other then coming into action on an increased leverage applies
greater power with but little more exhaustion of air. To effect this object a central
opening is made in the fixed head to bring into communication the vacuum
chambers on the opposite side thereof, and this opening is closed by a check valve.
Both chambers are exhausted from one pipe, and the diaphragm of the chamber
which has the exhaust pipe is fitted internally with a stud which as its chamber
is exhausted to put on the brakes strikes the valve, and thus puts both chambers
into communication with the exhaust apparatus. The diaphragm of the second
chamber now moving inwards will, by being connected with the brako levers,
reinforce the action of the first chamber. It will be obvious that a like result may
be obtained by coupling two shells together, and causing the movement of the
diaphragm of one to bring the other shell into connection with the vacuum tube or

page_text: reservoir, the rods of the two diaphragms being connected with the same lever or
arrangement of levers. In all cases the above named sack or diaphragm devices
may be attached to supplementary vacuum reservoirs, or they may have sufficient
capacity to constitute reservoirs of themselves.
When using compressed air as the motive force for actuating brakes I effect the
compression of the air by the use of a novel arrangement of force pumps; thus
I mount upon the locomotive engine two air cylinders of different sizes, the larger
one pumping into the smaller one and that in turn into the brake tubes and
reservoirs. At the commencement of their action both cylinders discharge directly
into the air tubes and rapidly compress the air to a certain pressure; an automatic
valve then turns the discharge of the larger cylinder into the smaller cylinder,
where the air is still further compressed and discharged at an increased rate of
pressure-into-the-air-tubes or reservoirs. The pistons of these cylinders may be
driven by means of a reciprocating crank, the cylinders being in that case arranged
at an angle to each other, or the cylinders may be set in line with each other,
and the steam power applied directly to a piston rod connected to the pistons of
both cylinders.
Under each carriage I may use a simple cylinder and piston, in which the direct
pressure of its air will be brought to bear on the brake levers; but I prefer to use
a cylinder in which compressed air is kept on both sides of one or more pistons,
and the brakes are operated by discharging it from one side only of the piston or
pistons. To quicken the action of this brake I provide each branch pipe to the
cylinder with a shallow circular chamber, in which I fit loosely a piston. Pendent
from this piston is a valve which rests on a valve seat in the branch pipe below the
connection with the air cylinder. The loosely fitting piston allows air to pass it slowly
into the cylinder, but any sudden discharge of air above it carries the piston up and
opens the poppet valve and allows the air in the cylinder instantly to escape below
the valve, and thus permit the air at the back of the piston or on the corresponding
cylinder to put on the brakes. The air escaping from the cylinder may by passing
through a sinall ejector creato a partial vacuum in another cylinder, also attached
to the brake levers, and additional power may be obtained from what now is a total
waste, or the air from one side of a piston may be exhausted and a counterbalancing
partial vacuum may be formed on the other side of the piston by a jet of compressed
air or steam.
Another form of vacuum brake cylinder is one having two pistons therein,
applying the brakes by their outward thrust or by a pull. The piston rods are
made air tight where they pass through the cylinder heads by the use of the flexible
rubber sleeve before mentioned. The main vacuum tube connects with the space
between the pistons, and by means of a valve also with their opposite ends. When
the air is exhausted in the main pipe it is also drawn from both sides of the pistons
and the brakes are off. To apply the brakes the vacuum in the main pipe and
between the pistons is destroyed, and the check valve preventing its destruction
on the other side of the piston, the brakes are at once put on by the vacuum
remaining on that side. A vacuum chamber may also be connected to the vacuum
spaces of the cylinder by an open or valved connection. The same devices may be
used for applying compressed air.
As a means of providing for the application of the brakes, either through or by
the accidental severance of a train, I propose to employ a regulated amount of
vacuum power for holding off the brakes and to provide that when this power is
exceeded or destroyed the brakes shall be applied. To this end I attach to a
diaphragm which is acted on by the exhaust apparatus a rod which I connect by
a sliding or other valve having three ways. Two of these ways will serve to close
passages leading from the vacuum chamber, and the third and intermediate way
will keep open a passage which leads from the open air to the diaphragm or piston
which actuates the brakes. When the vacuum in the continuous tubes is increased
the valve rod will be moved in one direction, and when the vacuum is decreased

page_text: the valve rod will be moved in the other direction; thus the air passage will in
either case be closed, and the vacuum in the reserve chamber will be brought into
communication with the brake diaphragm or piston, and thus cause the instant
application of the brakes. This valve rod, or its equivalent, may be used to work
a four way cock for the like purpose.
Where two continuous tubes throughout the train are used for operating the
brakes, I prefer to provide couplings of such a form that the pipes of both tubes
may be joined up without the possibility of mistake. To this end I construct a
coupling having two divisions, an upper and a lower one, the upper one having a
valve and the lower one none, ench half coupling being the counterpart of the
other, and having studs and stud holes to receive the same. The flexible portions
of the tubes join onto the projecting shanks of each half coupling, or the ends of
the tubes may be so arranged that they will be concentric one with the other, and
the couplings must then be made to correspond thereto. Another plan will be to
make the couplings like that described in the Specification of the 1877 Patent 1
above referred to, but with the inclined contact faces for the two sets of tubes
reversed; thus no mistake can be made, even though the half couplings should not
be cast together in one piece.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Frederick William Eames in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th August 1879.
FREDERICK WILLIAM EAMES, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer.
PROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC BRAKE APPARATUS."
"IM-
This Invention relates to improvements in the brake apparatus for which I
obtained Letters Patent in the name of Henry Edward Newton, dated October
Eighteenth, One thousand eight hundred and seventy seven, No. 3861, and in my
own name, dated respectively October Nineteenth, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy eight, No. 4172, and January Twentieth, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy nine, No. 225.
The present improvements apply both to vacuum brakes and to compressed air
brakes, the main object being to provide for the maintenance in the one case of a
vacuum which shall always be at command, and in the other case of a pressure of
air.
As a modification of the apparatus in which a piston is employed with a vacuum
maintained at its opposite sides, I propose to employ the contrivance shewn in vertical
section in Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
In this arrangement two flanged dish shaped iron shells A, A', are provided, which,
shells clamp between their flanges a flexible diaphragm B. This diaphragm carries
a central plate B³, which serves to secure to the diaphragm a pendent central rod C
connected to the brake lovers. In lieu of a packing I fit to this rod a flexible
conical sleeve, acting somewhat after the manner of that described in the Specifi-
cation of Henry Edward Newton's Patent above referred to. This sleeve covers
the opening in the shell A', as shewn at D, and is attached to the rod by an air
tight joint. It is made of a length equal at least to half the stroke of the pendent
rod C, and it moves with that rod in and out of the shell A¹. The advantage of
this arrangement of air tight sleeves is that when in motion there will be no
tendency for it to become crushed, the inward strokes of the rod serving merely to
turn it inside out. Each shell is provided with an exhaust pipe E, E, and these
pipes connect with a common pipe E2, which leads to the air exhauster or ejector,
The pipe of the upper shell is fitted with a clack valve F, which on air being
admitted to the exhaust pipe will prevent its passage to the upper shell, leaving the
air free to pass to the under side of the diaphragm and set the brake in action.
Air may be admitted directly to the upper shell to release the brakes of a detached
carriage by opening a cock or valve u provided for that purpose. If thought
desirable the air may be withdrawn from both shells by means of a single pipe
attached to the lower shell, an opening in the diaphragm closed by a clack valve
opening downwards serving to bring the two shells into communication with each
other.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Air being withdrawn from the pipe E
by means of a continuous exhaust, a vacuum will be maintained in both the shells
A and A¹, and the diaphragın B being in equilibrium the weight of the brake levers
will suffice to depress it into the position shewn in the Drawing, and the brakes
will be off. On air being admitted into the pipe E³ the clack valve F will be closed,
and will thereby maintain a vacuum in the shell A. The air will however pass to
the lower shell A', destroy the vacuum therein, and drive up the diaphragm B, and
cause the brakes to be applied.
This arrangement may be modified by placing the valve F in the pipe E' leading
into the lower shell A¹, and so adjusting the balance of the brake levers as to
drive the diaphragm into the upper shell when the brakes are off. On air being
admitted into the pipe Es the brakes will be applied by the downward thrust of the
rod C.
In order to quicken the action of the vacuum brake and increase its power, I
propose to use a modified form of the valve described in the Specification of my

page_text: Patent of January, One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine, so as to exhaust
both sides of the diaphragm or floating piston simultaneously, and to close one side
when air is admitted to apply the brakes. This arrangement is shewn in vertical
section at Fig. 2. The pipes E, E', from the opposite sides of the diaphragm B or
piston communicate with the cylindrical barrel G provided with a valve seat at its
opposite ends. The pipe E¹ leading from the shell A¹ connects with the end of the
barrel G. Surrounding this barrel is an annular chamber, which is in communi-
cation with the pipe Eleading to the shell A. Communications between this annular
chamber and the barrel are made by ports g, g, which ports are alternately opened
and closed by the elongated piston H, which carries a conical valve h, h¹, at its
opposite ends for fitting onto the valve seats before mentioned. The rod of this
piston is hollow, and it is attached by a flanged coupling with a flexible diaphragm I
contained in a caso K, which forms a virtual extension of the cylindrical barrel G
in which the valve piston H works. This case K above the diaphragm is in com-
munication with the line of exhaust tubes which extends from end to end of the
train, and below the diaphragm it is open to the air, preferably in communication
with a compartment of the carriage to which the apparatus is attached. The hollow
piston rod is closed at top by a poppet valve h³, and under the action of the exhaust
in the vacuum tubes it rises to allow of the air being drawn from the opposite sides
of the diaphragm or piston of the shell in direct connection with the brakes. At
this time the piston H will be at its highest position, by reason of the exhaust above
the diaphragm and the pressure of air below the diaphragm. When however air is
admitted to the vacuum tubes the poppet valve h³ will drop, and the piston H will
be forced down, thereby closing the pipe El and opening a passage for the air into
the pipe E, thereby applying the brakes.
To maintain the vacuum to keep the brake ready for action I may use a small
ejector constantly blowing, or an automatically operating ejector, and to render the
same entirely automatic in a very simple and compact manner I locate on the
engine and attach to the ejector a diaphragm acted upon by vacuum on one side
and a spring or weight on the other, and connect it by a lever to a secondary
valve, which when opened allows steam to lift the main valve of the ejector, and
thus open a passage for the steam from the boiler through the ejector or exhaust
apparatus.
This arrangement is shewn in sectional elevation in Figures 3 and 4, where a is
a diaphragm connected to a lever b which is pivotted to the lower end of the
ejector a. To this lever is connected a valve c which closes a steam passage leading
to the chamber d. Surrounding the rod of the valve c is a coiled spring c¹, the
tendency of which is to thrust open the valve c against the counteracting force of
the back pressure of the air on the diaphragm a. In this chamber d is a piston e
which is situate immediately below the valve f of the air ejector. It will now be
understood that so long as a vacuum of the required degree is maintained at the inner
face of the diaphragm a, the steam valve f will retain its seat. When however the
vacuum falls below the required degree, the spring c¹ will come into action, open
the valve c, thereby admitting steam below the piston e, which rising will lift the
valve f from its seat and set the air ejector in action.
Instead of the diaphragm or piston operating the brake levers, I may use two
flexible diaphragms or sacks with solid moveable heads connected to the brake
levers. The inner ends of these sacks I secure to a solid head immovably attached
to the body of the car, and having passages within it so arranged that air may be
withdrawn from both sacks. When air is withdrawn from both sacks the levers
will be held in equilibrium, but on admitting air into one of the sacks the balance
will be destroyed and the brakes applied.
Fig. 6 is a sectional view illustrating this improvement; a and a³ are the two
sacks of equal diameter, the latter however being of larger capacity than the
former. These sacks are placed on opposite sides of a fixed partition b fitted with
a clack valve c which opens towards the smaller sack. Attached to the rigid
heads of these sacks are levers d, d, which are pivotted at e, e, to some suitable

page_text: attachment of the carriage, and are connected together at their extremities by a rigid
rod f. The pivots e, e, it will be seen are so situate as to give the sack a a greater
leverage than the sock [sic] a'; h is a vacuum tube opening into the sock [sic] a,
and serving both to exhaust and to admit air thereto. The action of this apparatus
is as follows:-Supposing the rod f to be rigidly connected to the brakes by levers
or otherwise, on applying the exhaust to the pipe h the air contained in the sacks
a, a', will be withdrawn therefrom. During this operation the pressure of air on
the head of the sack a will through the arrangement of lovers d, d², and rod f
extend the sack a', and thereby hold off the brakes. So soon however as air is
admitted by the pipe to the sack a the reverse action will take place, the clack
valve c closing and preventing the admission of air to the sack a¹. The inward
movement of the head of the sack a¹ will cause the rod to move in the direction
of the arrow, and thereby put the brakes in action.
Fig. 6 shews_in_section a modification of the arrangement just described, its
action being first to take up the slack rapidly, and then to apply the brakes with
vigour. In this example, A and A' are collapsible vessels similar to those described
in the Specification of my Patent of October, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy eight above referred to. The metal basins of these two vessels are formed
in one piece which is fixed rigidly to the underside of the carriage, the division
between them constituting a fixed bead. A central opening is made in this head
to bring the collapsible vessels into communication with each other, and this
opening is closed by a clack valve B. Both vessels are exhausted from the pipe C.
The rigid head of the diaphragm of the vessel A is connected with one of the brake
levers, and it is fitted internally with a stud a. As the vessel is exhausted to put
on the brakes it will collapse, and thereby rapidly advance the brakes to their
works, at the same time the stud a will strike the valve B and force it open,
thus putting both vessels into communication with the exhaust apparatus. The
diaphragm of the second vessel A¹ now moving inwards under the effect of the exhaust,
will by reason of its being connected with the brake levers reinforce the action of
the first vessel and apply the brakes. It will be obvious that a like result may be
obtained by coupling two shells together, and causing the movement of the
diaphragm of one to bring the other shell into direct connection with the vacuum
tube or reservoir, the rods of the two diaphragms being connected with the same
lever or arrangement of levers. In all cases the above named sack or diaphragm
devices may be attached to supplementary vacuum reservoirs, or they may have
sufficient capacity to constitute reservoirs of themselves.
When using compressed air as the motive force for actuating brakes, I affect the
compression of the air by the use of the novel arrangement of force pumps, shewn
in vertical section at Fig. 7. Mounted upon the locomotive engine are two air
pumps A, A', of different sizes, the larger one A pumping into the smaller one A',
and that in turn pumping into the brake tubes and reservoirs. These pumps are
brought into communication with each other by means of an air pipe B which leads
also to the brake tubes, and the pump A' is connected by a pipe b' to the brake
tubes. At the point where this pipe joins the brake tubes a lightly weighted
valve a is fitted, and at its junction with the pump A' it is provided with a valve b,
which is weighted by a spring so as to yield only to a much greater pressure.
At the commencement of their action both pumps discharge into the brake pipes,
and rapidly compress the air to the degree of pressure at which the valve b will
yield. The back pressure will then close the valve a and turn the discharge of the
cylinder A into the smaller cylinder A', where the air will be still further com-
pressed to bring it up to the required pressure for applying the brakes. The
compressed air is discharged from the pump A¹ through the pipe b' to the brake
pipes or reservoirs. The pistons of the pumps A and A¹ are driven by means of the
reciprocating crank C, the cylinders being arranged at an angle to each other. Or
the cylinders may be set in line with each other, as shewn in the sectional view
Fig. 8, the steam power being in that case applied directly from a cylinder placed
midway between the two pumps,
•

page_text: Under each carriage I may use a simple cylinder and piston in which the direct
pressure of its air will be brought to bear on the brake levers, but I prefer to use a
cylinder in which compressed air is kept on both sides of one or more pistons, and
the brakes are operated by discharging it from one side only of the piston or
pistons. This arrangement is shewn in the sectional view Fig. 9, where A is the
horizontal cylinder fitted with a floating double piston B, B, having a hollow rod
closed at one end by a clack valve. The end 1 of this cylinder is connected with
the brake pipes C, and the end 2 with an air reservoir D, by which means a
balance of compressed air is supplied to the opposite heads of the floating piston.
Connected with the piston rod is a rock lever E which is pivotted to a bearing in
the cylinder, and is connected at its outer end to the brake levers.
It will now be understood that if air is discharged at the end 1 the piston will
be forced in that direction by the compressed air supplied from the reservoir, and
thus the brakes will be brought into action. So soon however as the balance of
pressure is restored in the cylinder A the brakes will be taken off and will remain
out of action until the balance is again destroyed. To quicken the action of this
apparatus I provide the branch pipe leading to the cylinder from the brake pipe C
with a shallow circular chamber a, in which I fit loosely a piston b. Pendent from
this piston is a valve c which rests on a valve seat in the branch pipe below its
connection with the air cylinder A. The loosely fitting piston b allows air to pass
it slowly into the cylinder A, but any sudden discharge of air above the piston b
carries the piston up and opens the poppet valve, and thus allows the air in the
cylinder instantly to escape below the valve. This escape of air from the front of
the floating piston b will permit the air at the back of the piston to put on the
brakes, as before explained. For releasing the brakes compressed air is again
supplied to the end 1 of the cylinder A, in doing which the valve c is forced
onto its seat and the connection with the atmosphere is cut off. The apparatus
just described admits also of being worked in the following manner, viz., the air
from one side of the floating piston may be exhausted, and a counterbalancing partial
vacuum may be formed on the other side of the piston by a jet of compressed air
or steam.
Another form of vacuum brake cylinder which I employ is shewn in section at
Figures 10 and 11. In this example the cylinder A. is provided with two pistons B, B¹,
which apply the brakes by their outward thrust or by a pull. The piston rods are
made air tight where they pass through the cylinder heads by the use of the flexible
rubber sleeves C, C, before mentioned. The main vacuum tube D connects with the
space between the pistons, and by means of a valve E and branch pipes also with the
spaces at their opposite ends. When the air is exhausted in the main pipe it is
drawn from both sides of the pistons and the brakes are off. To apply the brakes
the vacuum in the main pipe and between the pistons is destroyed, and the check
valve preventing its destruction on the other side of the pistons the brakes are at once
put on by the vacuum remaining on that side. A vacuum chamber may also be
connected to the vacuum spaces of the cylinder by an open or valved connection.
The same devices it will be readily understood may be used for applying compressed
air.
As a means of providing for the application of the brakes either through or by
the accidental severance of a train I propose to employ a regulated amount of
vacuum power for holding off the brakes, and to provide that when this power is
exceeded or destroyed the brakes shall be applied. To this end I use the arrange-
ment shown in sectional elevation at Fig. 12. To the flexible diaphragm A of an
air tight vessel A¹ in connection with the exhaust apparatus a rod B is attached.
This rod connects to a sliding valve O in a valve box C¹ in direct communication
with a vacuum chamber D, and with a collapsible vessel E which is used to apply
the brakes. The valve C has three ways. Two of these ways serve to cover pas-
sages leading from the vacuum chamber D, and the third and intermediate way
will keep open a passage which leads from the open air to the collapsible vessel E
which actuates the brakes. When the vacuum in the continuous tubes is increased,

page_text: the valve rod, by reason of the corresponding movement of the diaphragm A, will
be moved in one direction, and when the vacuum is decreased the valve rod will
be moved in the opposite direction; thus the air passage will in either case be closed
and the vacuum in the reserve chamber will be brought into communication with
the collapsible vessel E and thus cause the instant application of the brakes. This
valve rod or its equivalent may be used to work a four way cock for the like
purpose.
When two continuous tubes throughout the train are used for operating the
brakes, as described in the Specification of the Patent of Henry Edward Newton
above referred to, I prefer to provide couplings of such a form that the pipes of both
tubes may be joined up without the possibility of mistake. To this end I construct
a coupling as shewn at Figures 13, 14, & 15. This coupling has two divisions, an
upper and a lower one, the upper one having a valve and the lower one none. Each
half-coupling-is-a-counter-part-of the-other,-and-has-studs and stud holes to receive.
the same. The flexible portions of the tubes join onto the projecting shanks of each
half coupling; or the ends of the tubes may be so arranged that they will be con-
centric one with the other, and the couplings must then be made to correspond
thereto. Another plan will be to make the couplings like that described in the
Specification of the One thousand eight hundred and seventy seven Patent above
referred to, but with the inclined contact faces for the two sets of tubes reversed;
as shown in Figures 16, 17, & 18, thus no mistake can be marie even though the half
couplings should not be cast together in one piece.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of " Improvements in
Pneumatic Brake Apparatus," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim,-
First. The arrangement of apparatus described with reference to Fig. 1, and the
modification thereof for applying the brakes; I also claim the modification of flexible
sleeve 1, above described, as a substitute for a stuffing box in vacuum brake
apparatus.
Second. The valvular apparatus described with reference to Fig. 2 for increasing
the efficiency of the brake's apparatus.
Third. The arrangement of automatic apparatus described with reference to Fig. 3
for putting the air ejector in action when required.
Fourth. The arrangement of apparatus shewn at Figures 5 and 6 for operating
brakes by the action of atmospheric pressure.
Fifth. The arrangement described with reference to Figures 7 and 8 for pro-
viding the brake pipes and reservoirs with compressed air.
Sixth. The arrangement of apparatus, described with reference to Fig. 9, for
working the brakes of railway carriages.
Seventh. The arrangement of brake cylinder described with reference to Figures 10
and 11.
Eighth. The means above described with reference to Fig. 12 for applying the
brakes both when the vacuum is destroyed and applied.
Lastly. The modifications of tube couplings above described for ensuring the
proper coupling up of the sections of the two lines of tubing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick William Eames, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
FREDERICK W. EAMES. (L.S).