PRE-ARRANGING, ASCERTAINING, AND REGISTERING THE RATE OF TRAVELLING OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND OF RAILWAY OR OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Shaw, of Portlaw, in the County of
Waterford, in Ireland, Cotton Spinner & Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "PRE-ARRANGING, ASCERTAINING, AND REGISTERING THE
RATE OF TRAVELLING OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND OF RAILWAY OR
OTHER CARRIAGES."
Scaled the 1st April 1858, and dated the 6th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said Robert Shaw at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th October-1852.
I, ROBERT SHAW, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "PRE-ARRANGING, ASCERTAINING, AND REGISTERING THE RATE OF
TRAVELLING OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND OF RAILWAY OR OTHER CARRIAGES,"
to be as follows:-
Reference being had to the annexed Sketch, the lines A, A, in which
represent the front and back plates of a time piccc or clock, with a
balance wheel escapement, to be attached to the locomotive or other
carriage of a train. The vertical shaft B; is supposed to connect with

page_text: and derive motion from one of the carriage axles, and by any of the
customary modes of connexion to cause the shaft C, to revolve. On this
shaft C, is placed a cam or excentric, which as it revolves causes the
spindle D, to traverse by its contact with a point in the squaring arm E;
this point being kept up to the excentric by the pressure of a spiral or
other spring F. On the outer end of this traversing spindle a pencil is
fitted, so that the spring G, pressing downwards, causes it to lie on to a
piece of parchment or paper H, wrapped round the drum I, which is fast
on to the main spindle K, of the clock movement, a portion only of
which is shown.
Having now described the several parts, let us suppose the train about
to start, when some confidential person in charge sets the pencil to a
particular point on the paper H. The clock and railway train being
both in motion, it will be obvious that the forward motion of the one,
and the transverse of the other, will cause the pencil to describe a
figure, such as represented by the red line on the paper H, and that
this line will vary in.its angle according to the, speed of the train; that
when above the ordinary rate the line will approach a horizontal, and
when under a vertical line; and that when the train stops at a station or
other part of a railway, the pencil scribe will be quite vertical, its length
corresponding with the length of time the train has stood. In fitting
this regulator into the carriage, I propose that it shall be locked up and
inaccessible to the attendants, but that the registering portion shall be
covered by a plate of glass, so that the attendant may be able to observe
its.actions. I also propose that faint lines be printed or traced on the
'paper H, to the angle of speed required, or considered best suited to the
various inclinations of the line of rails, so that he may read off his speed.
Thus the instrument will act as a regulator as well as detector of the
train's progress. Arrived at the terminus or other appointed station, the
paper is taken off, when a perfect diagram of the movement over every
part of the line will be found delineated for the use of the secretary or
board room. It will be obvious that in cases of accident, arising from
collision or other cause, the rate at which the train was travelling at the
moment will be clearly pointed out. As another means of causing the
pencil to delineate the variations of speed, I propose acting on it by

page_text: a governor (as shown in the Drawing), or other modification of the con-
trifugal principle, in lieu of the cam or excentric motion; the drum I, to
receive motion, either as described, or from the engine, locomotive, or
carriage axle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,"
filed by the said Robert Shaw in the Great Seal Patent Office,.
on the 5th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ROBERT SHAW, of Portlaw, in the County of Waterford, in Ireland,
Cotton Spinner and Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Robert Shaw, Her special licence that I,
the said Robert Shaw, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Robert Shaw, 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 of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and the Isle of Man, an Invention for "PRE-ARRANGING, ASCER-
TAINING, AND REGISTERING THE RATE OF TRAVELLING OF LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINES AND OF RAILWAY OR OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Shaw, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and scal, 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 Robert Shaw, 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 (that is to say):

page_text: - My Invention consists in certain improved combinations of machinery
for ascertaining and registering the revolutions of a shaft or axle, which
machinery is particularly applicable for indicating the speed and the:
number and duration of stoppages of a railway or other carriage from
the time of its departure till it arrives at the end of its journey. And in
order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, refc-.
rence being had to the annexed Sheet of 'Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, represents a front clevation of an apparatus such as may
be applied to a locomotive engine or carriage in order to ascertain and
register the velocity at which the engine or carriage is travelling, and the
number and duration of the stoppages which the said engine or carriage
makes in, going from the place at which it starts to the place of its
destination. Figure 2, is a side clevation of Figure 1.
In Figures 1, and 2, A, is a drum, around which a slip of paper or
parchment is stretched; the drum A, is fixed on a shaft B, to which a
regular rotary motion is imparted by the clockwork placed between and,
supported by the side plates C. The peculiar mode of constructing
the clockwork does not require to be particularly described, as any
mechanism for imparting a uniform rotary motion to the drum A, 'will
answer the purpose equally well. Between the two plates C, is also
supported the shaft D, on which is a cam D¹, for giving a to and fro
motion to the marker E; this marker bears upon the paper or parchi-
ment on the drum A, and it is fixed to a sliding bai F, supported at onc
side by the front plate C, and at the other side by the long bush G,
fixed in the back plate C. The arm F¹, fixed on the bar F, is forked!
above, and is guided by the shaft D; the cam D', acts' against the
projection F, rivitted into the arm F': When the marker arrives at:
the outer selvage of the paper or parchment, it is brought back by the,
spring F³, coiled around the sliding bar 1; or it may be done by the
introduction of another cam, being a counterpart of the present cam, in.
lieu of the said spring.
The cam D¹, is made to revolve slowly by the motion communicated

page_text: to it from the axle of a locomotive engine or other carriage. in thic
following manner:-The worm II, fixed on the shaft H', gears into the
worm wheel D³, on the shaft D; and the shaft II', is put in motion by
the worm I, fixed on the upright shaft I', gearing into the worm wheel
II, the lower end of which shaft is furnished with a bevel or other wheel.
gearing into a wheel or worm placed on the axle from which the motion.
is taken, or by any other ordinary mode of driving connexion. From the
foregoing description it will be evident that the drum A rotates on its.
axis at a uniform speed, and that the pointer or marker E, traverses to
and fro' from one selvage to the other of the slip of parchment or paper
at: speeds varying according to the speed of the engine or carriage to.
which the apparatus is applied. The action is as follows-If a diagram.
be required, shewing the speeds of a train going from one place to
another, the distance (say) one hundred and twenty miles, and the rate
of speed thirty miles per hour, suppose the drum A, by means of the
clockwork, to revolve once in four hours (two hundred and forty
minutes), and that the drum be twenty-four inches in circumference, it,
is. evident the motion of the diagram paper or parchment fastened
thereon will be at the rate of one inch in ten minutes, during which
time. the. train at an average rate of speed would have travelled five;
miles. Again, let us suppose that the cam D', makes one revolution for
every five miles; then if the train ran at a uniform rate of thirty miles
per hour without stopping, the pointer would mark diagonal lines, as in
Figure 8, arriving at the margin from which it started at intervals of
ten minutes; but as in practice the speed will necessarily vary, and be.
interrupted by stoppages, the diagram will assume a shape such as is
shown in Figure 4, in which the train is supposed to start at six o'clock.
The time occupied in travelling the first five miles is shown at thirteen'
minutos, and the next five miles at seven minutes. At six hours twenty-
three minutes the train arrives at a station, and stops until six hours
twenty-five minutes, finishing the third five miles in twelve minutes,
including the stoppage of two minutes; (on leaving the last station the
train is shown to have gone back on the line, and after a short stop to
have resumed its journey again. As a rule, it will be evident that the
faster the train travels the more horizontal will be the lines, and that

page_text: where they are vertical they will denote that the train had come to a
station, or stopped from some other cause.
Should a collision or other accident occur to stop the train, the dia-
gram on the drum A, will indicate the speed at which the train was
running immediately before, and also the precise time at which the
stoppage took place.
It would in many cases be desirable (particularly on lines having quick
curves, tunnels; or steep gradients, where the rate- of speed must be
various) to have the diagram papers marked with faint lines at the:
inclination of speed decided on by those in authority as best adapted to
cach portion of the line, and showing the periods at which the train
should arrive and continue at the several stations
It is intended that the diagram paper (though beyond the control of
the engineer or attendant) shall be within his view, that he may be able,
by occasional observation of the faint lines above named, so to control
the speed of the engine as that the lines traced by the marker shall
correspond as near as may be with the faint lines.
At the time appointed for leaving a station the clock should be set in
motion by pressing the handle K, to the left, and when the train arrives
at its clestination it should be stopped by an authorized person, and the
diagram removed.
The mode of securing the paper or parchment on to the drum is
clearly shewn in Figures 1, and 2. The ends of the paper or parchment
are passed through a slot in the circumference of the drum, and are held
fast by the screw clip A', the end of which is drawn towards the centre
of the drum by a spring A², which is intended to compensate by its
elasticity for any variation which may occur in the paper or parchment
by damp or dryness.
The main spring by which the clock is put in motion is contained in
box B, and it is wound up when required by turning the handle B2, in
the direction of the red arrow on Figure 1. The clockwork is stopped
by moving the lever K, from the position in which it is shown in red in
Figure 1, to the position shown in black, by the lever K³, entering
between the teeth of the escapement wheel, or by any other customary
contrivance.

page_text: I wish to observe here that other combinations of machinery might
be shewn to illustrate my Invention, the peculiar feature of which is to
produce diagrams indicating the rate of travelling and the number and
duration of stoppages of locomotive engines, and of railway and other
carriages; and I would have it understood that I do not claim any of
the parts separately, as they may be varied; but what I claim is the
improvements in pre-arranging, ascertaining, and registering the rate of
travelling of locomotive engines, and of railway and other carriages,
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Shaw, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
ROBERT SHAW. (2.5.)