IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR WORKINGING THE BRAKES OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Harry Whiteside Cook, of Thurloe Square,
Brompton, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING
Scaled the 28th April 1874, and dated the 1st November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Harry Whiteside Cook
•
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
⚫ on the 1st November 1873.
I, HARRY. WHITESIDE. COOK, of Thurloe Square, Brompton, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
WORKING THE BRAKES OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
.
*
+
This. Invention possesses, two, distinguishing features. In the first
place, the power required for applying, and maintaining the action of the
brakes is, stored up in springs, so that when the brake is to be used all
that has to be done is to release a detent., In the second place the,
apparatus is so arranged that the brake power of one carriage coming
.
+

page_text: into action releases the brake of the next carriage, and so on up or down
the train.
When it is intended to use my.]
7. Invention merely as an accident brake,
the brakes after acting will be taken off by hand and held by the
detent ready for action as before. This will involve a certain delay,
which, however, will not be important if the brake be only used on
occasions of imminent peril.
·
The brakes will differ little from those of the ordinary construction;
but instead of being pressed into action by a screw they will be acted
upon by the contraction or elastic pressure of a spring or springs, a
detent being used to restrain the action thereof and keep the brakes
clear of the wheels.
When it is desired to use my brakes in the ordinary course of running
and stopping trains, the brake apparatus is connected with the coupling
hooks in such a manner that when the engine starts and puts a strain
on the coupling hook of the first carriage its brake will be lifted and
caught automatically by the detent, and so on down the train that
approaches, being thus immediately ready for further use, the apparatus
being thus immediately ready for further use.
The apparatus can be placed under the control of the driver, or the
guard, or of both; and in case of a coupling breaking it will come into
action automatically.
To allow of the carriages being coupled up indiscriminately I may
find it convenient to duplicate parts of the apparatus on each carriage,
so that the detents may be released to set the brakes in action by a pull
thrust in either.direction.
or
In constructing new carriages intended to be fitted with my brake
(as also in the case of a very large number of existing carriages), it will
be easy to utilize the springs of the buffers for the purpose of actuating
the brakes.
The advantages which I expect to be derived from my Invention are
first, that it will be possible to put on the brake power at its full force
all along the train in two or three seconds; and secondly, that there
will be much greater certainty in its action than is usual, as will 'be
understood when the great loss of power involved in the ordinary means
of communication is taken into account.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Harry Whiteside Cook in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HARRY
WHITESIDE COOK, of Thurloe Square, Brompton, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-three, in
the 'thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Harry Whiteside Cook,
Her special licence that I, the said Harry Whiteside Cook, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Harry Whiteside Cook, 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 THE MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE BRAKES OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Harry Whiteside Cook,
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 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 Harry Whiteside Cook, 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 here-
unto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :—
The main objects and the principal advantages of my Invention are,
first, that it will be possible to put on the whole of the brake power of
a train at its full force all along the train almost simultaneously or within

page_text: two or three seconds; and secondly, that there will be greater certainty
in the action of the brake than is usual, as will be understood when the
great loss of power involved in the ordinary means of communication is
taken into account.
i
The Invention possesses two distinguishing features. In the first 5
place the whole of the power required for applying and maintaining the
action of all the brakes is stored up in springs, so that when the brakes
are to be used all that has to be done is to release the detents which
hold them up out of action. In the second place the apparatus is so
arranged that the brake power of one carriage on coming into action 1
releases the brake of the next carriage, and so on up or down the whole
train.
"
The brakes differ in construction but little from those of the ordinary
construction, but instead of being pressed into action by a screw they
will be acted upon by the contraction or clastic pressure of a spring or 1
springs, a detent being used to restrain the action thereof and keep the
brakes clear of the wheels when they are not intended to act.
When it is desired to use the brakes in the ordinary course of running
and stopping trains the brake apparatus is connected with the coupling
hooks in such a manner that when the engine starts and puts a strain on- 2
the coupling hook of the first carriage its brake will be lifted and its
lever caught automatically by the detent, and so on with all the carriages
throughout the train, so as to bring the apparatus into position ready
immediately for further use.
* The apparatus can be placed under the control of the driver or the 2
guard, or of both; and in case of a coupling breaking the brakes will.
come into action automatically.
To allow of the carriages being coupled up. indiscriminately I may
find it convenient to duplicate parts of the apparatus on each carriage,
so that the detents may be released to set the brakes in action by effect- 3
ing a pull or thrust in either direction.
In constructing new carriages intended to be fitted with the improved
brake (as also in the case of a very large number of existing carriages),
it will be easy to utilize the springs of the buffers for the purpose of
actuating the brakes..
3

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a
plan view of the under framing of the carriages of part of a
train to
which my Invention has been adapted. a, a, are the brake blocks which
are attached as usual to levers b, b, connected or jointed at c to the under
framing d of the carriage. The outer end of the lever 6 is bevilled off,
and is supported (when the brake is not in action) by the spring detent i.
Near the end of the lever b is an upright arm b', which carries a bowle or
antifriction roller 62 at its upper end for the purpose hereafter explained.
On the under side of the lever is another arm 6*, which projects down-
wards, and is provided with a short chain, which passes round and is
attached to a pulley e attached to some convenient part of the carriage
framing. On the same shaft as this pulley e is a larger pulley f, to
which is attached one end of the chain f¹, the other end of this latter
being hooked on to a draw rod 9, which is connected to one end of a
horizontal rocking lever h, Fig. 2. The opposite end of this rocking
lever / carries the detent i, so that when the lever is turned on its centre
of motion it will carry back the detent i, thereby releasing the lever 6
and allowing the same to fall and the brake block a to come against the
periphery of the running wheels.
In order that the brake block may act with considerable power on the
wheel it is forced down by the action of a strong spring a*, as shewn at
Fig. 1.
It will now be seen that if the brake apparatus of the first carriage be
placed under the control of the guard so that he may operate the draw
rod g, whereby the detent i is released, then upon the guard pulling on
the draw rod the detent i will be pushed back and the first brake will be
brought into action, and at the same time by the descent of the lever b
the small pulley e will be pulled round by its chain, and in so doing will
carry with it the larger pulley f, which, by its rotation, will wind up the
chain f¹ and pull back the draw rod g of the brake apparatus of the
second carriage, and so on throughout the train, thereby releasing all the
detents and throwing all the brakes into action almost simultaneously
and bringing the train to a standstill within a very short distance.
Should any of the couplings break or any part of the train become
accidentally detached so as to bring a strain on the connecting chains fi
of the brake apparatus, the same result will take place.
•
In order to remove the brakes from the wheels and put them out of.
action so that the train may proceed unimpeded, the draw bar j of the

page_text: carriage is provided on its upper side with a vertical cam or wedge pièce
; which, when the draw bar jis pulled out; will come under the bowle
or antifriction wheel 62 of the vertical arm 6' of the brake lever b, and
will therefore lift up the latter and allow the detent i to spring under
and hold it up out of action until the detent is pushed back a second
time.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Mode
of and Apparatus for Working the Brakes of Railway Carriages," and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as
the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, connecting
the brake apparatus of all the carriages of a railway train, and operating
them as herein set forth, so that all the brakes throughout the train may
be brought into action simultaneously or nearly so when required, as
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Harry Whiteside Cook, have herc-]
unto set my hand and seal; the First day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four: