IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR RAILWAY TRAINS, AND IN APPAratus for WORKING TTL THE SAME.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR RAILWAY TRAINS, AND IN APPAratus for
WORKING
TTL
THE
SAME. ."-A communication from abroad by Jacob
Mich
the Kingdom of Dowania
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th February 1875.
I, JOHN IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR RAILWAY TRAINS, AND IN
APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
In the Specifications of Patents granted to J. Heberlein on the 11th
April 1872, No. 1071, and to J. Imray, for communications from the
said J. Heberlein, on the 17th May 1872, No. 1508, and on the

page_text: 19th June 1872, No. 1849, were described several modified forms of
mechanism for working brakes on railway trains, the power for working
the brakes being derived from a drum which could at will be brought
into frictional contact with a wooden drum on one of the running axles
so as to be driven thereby, and to wind up chains connected to the brake
levers and rods. Part of the present Invention relates to improvements in
mechanism of the kind above referred to which will now be described.
When the brakes are off there is a certain amount of slack in the
couplings and joints of the brake rods and in the chains that have to
be wound up by the rotation of the friction drum, which having to
perform some part of its movement in merely taking up the slack does
not at once become effective on the brakes. In order to avoid loss of
time from this cause each chain pulley is according to the present
improvements provided with two crank arms, one on each side, which
are jointed by a pin passing through both of them to two long links
forming the commencement of the chain. When the pulley first begins
to revolve the extremities of the crank arms having considerably greater
velocity than the periphery of the pulley draw rapidly in the slack until
the shorter links of the chain come in contact with the periphery of the
pulley, when the movement of the chain becomes more slow with pro-
portionally increased power.
In arranging the break drum with its chains, rods, and levers according
to the present improvements, the said drum is made of larger diameter
than the drum on the running axle, and is mounted so that its axis is
some distance above that of the latter, and thus there is room provided
for the chains to pass clear over the axle. These chains (of which, as
described in the previous Specifications there are two, each attached to
a pulley on each side of the brake drum) are jointed to a sliding bar
guided in brackets projecting down from the carriage frame. This bar
is jointed by a connecting rod to a horizontal lever, the fulcrum and arm
of which are respectively connected by rods to the brake levers of the
brake carriage, and of carriages before and behind it, the arms of the
lever being proportioned so as to equalize the strain on the several
wheels.
The arrangements of parts above described may be employed in con-
junction with
any known form of brakes. I prefer however to employ
brakes of the following description:-On the axle box, or on the axle
beside the box I mount a bar having two arms projecting each way a

page_text: little beyond the circumference of the wheel. To the one of these arms
I joint the end of a curved strap which is passed over the upper part
of the wheel, and has its other end jointed to a lever pivotted on the end
of the other arm of the bar. The curved strap is faced with pieces of
metal, wood, or other suitable material so as to constitute a brake when
it is pressed against the wheel.
The putting on or taking off the brake is effected by the movement
of the lever, which when it is moved downwards draws the strap down
upon the wheel, and when it is moved upwards raises it off the tyre.
By thus mounting the brake and its lever on the axle or its box, instead
of mounting them on the body of the carriage the action of the brake is
rendered independent of the carriage springs. Moreover the brake
being thus made to act on the upper part of the wheel no lateral strain
Breaks constructed in this manner may
is thrown on the axle bearings.
be worked by apparatus of the kind mentioned above, the movement
being obtained from a running axle, or they may be worked by other
known means, such as the ordinary hand screw gear, or by fluid
pressure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Imray, Her special
license, that I, the said John Imray, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Imray, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BRAKES FOR RAILWAY TRAINS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SAME," a
communication to me from abroad by Jacob Heberlein, of Munich, in
the Kingdom of Bavaria, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Imray, 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 John Imray, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say :-
-
In the Specifications of Patents granted to J. Heberlein on the 11th
April 1872, No. 1071, and to me the said John Imray, for communications
from the said J. Heberlein on the 17th May, 1872, No. 1508, and on
the 19th June 1872, No. 1849, were described several modified forms of
mechanism for working brakes on railway trains, the power for working
the brakes being derived from a drum which could at will be brought
into frictional contact with a wooden drum on one of the running axles
so as to be driven thereby, and to wind up chains connected to the brake
levers and rods. Part of the present Invention relates to improvements
in mechanism of the kind above referred to, which will now be described.
When the brakes are off there is a certain amount of slack in the
couplings and joints of the brake rods and in the chains that have to be
wound up by the rotation of the friction drum, which having to perform
some part of its movement in merely taking up the slack does not at
once become effective on the brakes. In order to avoid loss of time
from this cause each chain pulley is, according to the present improve-
ments, provided with two crank arms, one on each side, which are jointed
by a pin passing through both of them to two long links forming the
commencement of the chain. When the pulley first begins to revolve
the extremities of the crank arms, having considerably greater velocity

page_text: than the periphery of the pulley, draw rapidly in the slack until the
shorter links of the chain come in contact with the periphery of the
pulley, when the movement of the chain becomes more slow with pro-
portionately increased power.
In arranging the brake drum with its chains, rods, and levers according
to the present improvements, the said drum is made of larger diameter
than the drum on the running axle, and is mounted so that its axis is
some distance above that of the latter, and thus there is room provided
for the chains to pass clear over the axle. These chains (of which, as
described in the previous Specifications there are two, each attached to a
pulley on each side of the brake drum) are jointed to a sliding bar guided
in brackets projecting down from the carriage frame. This bar is jointed
by a connecting rod to a horizontal lever, the fulcrum and arm of which
are respectively connected by rods to the brake levers of the brake
carriage, and of carriages before and behind it, the arms of the lever
being proportioned so as to equalize the strain on the several
wheels.
The arrangements of parts above described may be employed in con
junction with any known form of brakes. Brakes of the following
description may however be employed:-On the axle box, or on the axle
beside the box I mount a bar having two arms projecting each way a
little beyond the circumference of the wheel. To the one of these arms
I joint the end of a curved strap which is passed over the upper part of
the wheel, and has its other end jointed to a lever pivotted on the end of
the other arm of the bar. The curved strap is faced with pieces of
metal, wood, or other suitable material so as to constitute a brake when
it is pressed against the wheel.
The putting on or taking off the brake is effected by the movement of
the lever, which when it is moved downwards draws the strap down
upon the wheel, and when it is moved upwards raises it off the tyre.
By thus mounting the brake and its lever on the axle or its box instead
of mounting on the body of the carriage the action of the brake is
rendered independent of the carriage springs. Moreover the brake
being thus made to act on the upper part of the wheel no lateral strain
is thrown on the axle bearings. Brakes constructed in this manner may
be worked by apparatus of the kind mentioned above, the movement
being obtained from a running axle, or they may be worked by other

page_text: Fig. 1 represents a side clevation; and Fig. 2, a plan of part of the
brake working gear of a railway carriage embodying the improvements.
above described. A is the axle drum with its wooden periphery; and
B is the brake drum worked by frictional contact with A when it is let
down to bear on it by lowering the lever C. The pullies D, D, on the
shaft of the brake drum are made with crank arms d, d, to which are
attached the chains E, E, the first links of which e, e, are lengthened to
suit the crank arms d, d. Thus when the pullies D, D, are caused to
revolve in either direction, the first part of their rotation by acting
through the arm d, d, on the chains rapidly pulls in the slack of the
chains and their connections to the brake blocks until the chains E, E,
'themselves come to bear on the peripheries of the pullies, when they are
drawn in more slowly but with greater power to strain the brake blocks
against the wheels. The chains E, E, are attached to a sway beam F,
by which they pull a sliding rod G. To this rod is connected a lever H,
from which one rod I extends forwards to the middle of a sway beam K,
giving motion to two rods L, M, the one of which L may be applied to
work the brakes of the brake carriage itself, and the other M is extended
forwards and coupled up to the brake rods of carriages in front.
Another rod N extends backwards from the lever H and is coupled up
to the brake rods of carriages behind. The joints of the rods I and N to
the lever H can be placed in such positions on the lever as to give an
equal strain to the several brakes, or to proportion their respective
strains, as may be desired. Further the rods M. and N are preferably
arranged to be equidistant on opposite sides of the middle line of the
carriage indicated by the dotted lines Z, Z, so that the parts of these
rods projecting at each end of the carriage, whichever way the carriage
may be turned, are always in the right position to be coupled up to the
rods of the adjacent carriages.
Fig. 3 represents a side view; and Fig. 4, a plan of the arrangement
of flexible strap brake according to this Invention. O is a bar mounted
on the axle box, to one end of which o is jointed one end of a flexible
strap P passed over the wheel, the other end of the strap being jointed
to an arm q on a rocking shaft Q. A lever arm R on the middle or any

page_text: other convenient part of the shaft Q being pulled in the direction of the
arrow has the effect of tightening the strap P on the periphery of the
wheel, as described above.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. The use in brake apparatus wherein chain pullies are worked
from a running axle of crank arms on the said pullies for the attach-
ment of the chain, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
herein set forth.
Second. The use as a brake for railway wheels of a flexible strap
jointed to a bar mounted on the axle box and worked by an arm pivotted
on the said bar, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
JOHN IMRAY. (L.S.)