IMPROVE- ̈ MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF PERSONS AND GOODS OR MERCHANDIZE
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I RAMSEY
RICHARD REINAGLE, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Sixth day of August, in the seventh year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Ramsey Richard Reinagle, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Ramsey Richard Reinagle, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ramsey Richard Reinagle, my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of “IMPROVE-¨
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF PERSONS AND
GOODS OR MERCHANDIZE; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Ramsey Richard Reinagle, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Ramsey Richard Reinagle, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention, as exhibited on Drawing No. 1, consists,-
First, in suspending the bodies of carriages of whatsoever description on
an iron frame with upright arms of support terminating at their tops, with a
cross bar or T-piece to press upwards against strings of any convenient
character suited to the intended vehicle and the weight it is to carry, Figures
I., II., III., IV., A, A, or by hanging or hooking the body by hooks affixed
to it over a connecting bar from arm to arm, as b, b, b, b, Figures III. and
IV., or by rings or chain links fastened to a strong caoutchouc rope, extending
over each arm on a fluted elliptic or half circular projection, as half a sheave
of a block. The short axle a is the bearer of this frame; such axle will
seldom exceed one foot long. Descending spring bars from the frame act
within a guide projection S from the bottom of the body, resembling the
principle of steam engine piston guides, that is, to steady the body and unite
the frame. to it, as shewn in Figures II., III., and IV.
My mode of constructing the bodies of carriages is by panelling of sheet
metal (iron principally) over an iron framing. By my fixing the axle to a
frame, as described, I am able to drop the body of any sort of carriage to
within a foot of the ground, if required. This renders my mode of suspension
far safer from the liability of overturning than any general principle hitherto
used. And in employing two main large wheels at the centres of the sides
of the body on the axles to the frame, and separating the body from the usual
connection with the front wheels and framing on which the driver and outside
passengers may sit, thus giving to the body of the omnibus, or other four-
wheeled carriage, the easy draught and simplicity of a two-wheeled one, as
seen at a, a, Figure I.
The mode by which I unite the body of the carriage to the front action is
by two pair of draught shaft arms, constructed of strong rods of iron, placing
one in a line with the axle to the front framing, and uniting these bars with
any open or fillagree or angle work, as shewn by E, Figure I. The back arm
proceeds from the root of the axle to the front frame. The front arm is fixed
the same, and will be bowed out where it would meet the periphery of the
wheel, to avoid touching. It is fixed over the end of the axle on the flatted

page_text: face of the nave by a connection to a large washer. The whole is secured by
a countersunk screw to the axle.
Secondly, in the use of elastic anti-concussion wheels of larger dimensions
than ordinary, hereafter to be described, Figure V. and Figure VI., or non-
elastic incompressible wheels, Figure VII.
And, first, I proceed to describe the construction of the elastic anti-con-
cussion wheel, Figure V. If the dimensions of the wheel be six feet six
inches, or only six feet, the nave will usually be one sixth. It is flatted
at both ends. The wheel is quite upright. The nave is of cast iron, hollow,
about half an inch thick; suitable dovetailed spaces are left for the spokes.
The casting has nothing new in it. The elliptic formed and nipped end
spokes 9, 9, 9, 9, of Figure V. are usually two feet five inches long,.
two inches being for insertion in the nave, the remainder rests on its
rounded end on a hoop of iron of suitable thickness; and every such spoke
is rivetted with a square bolt to such hoop. This wheel is seated in
wooden fellies of ordinary kind. The fellies may be sheathed on both sides
with plates of iron of suitable thickness. The ends of the spokes on the
nave are secured from drawing out by a small wedge l, jammed in tight
between the straight end within the dovetail openings in the nave 1, 1, 1.
Each spoke has a rivet just beyond the nave. Between each spoke I place
a T-rest t, t, t, same Figure, which is screwed into the nave. These rests are
to give firmness and to prevent torsion when the wheel is in motion. Large
flanges are then bolted over the roots of these spokes, front and rear, each
bolt going between each spring and T-rest c, c, c, c. The flanges extend
about eight inches beyond the nave.
Secondly, the less flexible wheel is formed, as Figure VI., with numerous
acute formed elliptic steel spokes h, h, h, h. These do not require the wedges
m, to be bolted between the two
to fix them. The flanges will suffice, m, m,
sides of the spring, as p, p, p.
And, thirdly, the inflexible or incompressible wheel, Figure VII., is formed
by wrought iron and sheets bars of suitable thickness bent over a form the
shape of an egg k, k, k, the two ends being either welded or rivetted together
to form a leg for insertion in the nave, each having the common shoulder and
tenon of wooden spokes. The convex sides of these spokes are brought into
contact with each other all round the wheel. These are rivetted two and two.
The legs enter a strong iron ring of suitable thickness on the centre of the
wooden nave, which are perforated to admit the spokes. The tier of the spokes
are bolted to wide and deep wooden fellies D, D, D. These may be sheathed,
as the other wheels, with strong plates of iron, bolted firmly, and the tire is

page_text: extra thick, and fluted. When necessary, I use flange bracings, of about half-
inch iron, to the legs of the spokes, as before described.
Figure VIII. is a section of a wheel I propose for railways, with a half
cylinder hollowed tier, and a flange on one side.
Thirdly, my Invention of a new mode of forming the tenons of wooden
spokes; and the mortices to receive them in the nave, is shwn by Figure IX.,
n and o, o, o. The angular cuttings of the mortices will prevent splitting.
Fourthly, in the mode I have invented to facilitate the turning of a carriage
by employing triple arms, carrying friction rollers within a circular box or case
capped over to keep out dirt, shewn in Figure XI. S, S, S, the rollers;
F, F, F, being the box; p, p, the spindle; q, q, the tube in which it works.
See also Figure I., F.
Fifthly, my Invention of a carriage pole to be made of blades of steel, see
Figure X, a, a, bowed elliptically, to afford a spring power, and having for a
pair of leaders, or a single horse as leader to two-wheelers, a piston rod
acting upon a powerful spring within the tubular head (see L). The leader
or leaders will always be drawing upon this spring, which will keep each horse
to his equal share of work with the other, and such pole spring will save much
strain upon the carriage in sudden starting. e, e, shew the loops for attaching-
the pole to the harness. The attachment to the iron splinter bar by a ball
and socket joint in some cases when desirable, or by a rising and falling hinge
joint, receiving a lateral motion by a round flat plate, and acting on a rising
pin a.
This pin serves for the joint to the splinter bar to facilitate the bending
out the arm on either wheel to remove the wheel.
Sixthly, I now proceed to describe my Inventions or improvements of rail-
way breaks or regulators, as exhibited by Drawing numbered 2. The object
of these Inventions or improvements is to apply train breaks or carriage
regulators, in the manner herein-after described, to facilitate the stopping, or,
as the case may be, retarding the velocity of railway carriages, to be actuated
by the momentum of the train through the medium of peculiarly arranged
apparatus adapted to that purpose on the velocity of the engine and tender
being reduced by any of the usual means.
The first part of my Inventions or improvements consists in fixing a break or
regulator to each of the four wheels of a carriage, and to all or as many car-
riages of a train as may be considered expedient, in the manner shewn in the
Drawing, A, A, &c., Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (the letters denote the same parts
in all the Figures). In the sections, Figure 1 and 4, are shewn two forms of
break or regulator, in order to illustrate the mode of connecting them to the main
rod L, L. The block, breaks, or regulators, see Figures 1, 2, and 3, are hinged

page_text: to or connected by moveable joints to the ends of their respective cross heads
B, B, Figure 3. Each break or regulator has a tang or tail-piece, attached
by a moveable joint, as shewn in Figure 1, C, C. There are two swing bars
extending across the framing of each carriage, for the purpose of keeping the
breaks or regulators in their respective positions. Each bar has its ends or
bearings supported by brackets, as D, D, &c., Figures 2 and 5, on either side
of the carriage or framing E, E. Figure 1 shews sections of these bars, and
the manner of coupling the breaks or regulators thereto by means of perforated
swells, through which the tangs, provided with a nut above and below for
adjustment, are inserted. The band or strap, breaks or regulators, Figure 4,
are mounted in like manner, but the mounting in either case may, of course,
be varied by substituting equivalent or to suit any particular conformation of
carriage. These straps, breaks, or regulators, instead of being hinged to cross
heads, as in the case before described, are attached to and form moveable
joints, with levers on a second swing bar, F, F, &c., Figures 4 and 6, also
mounted in like manner as the swing bar before described, which through
the medium of the levers H, H, Figures 4 and 6, are connected to the
main rod.
The seventh part of my Inventions or improvements consists in each carriage
having a main rod L, L, &c., see Figures 1, 3, &c., whether the carriage be
furnished with breaks or regulators, or otherwise. To these rods such of the
carriages as have breaks or regulators have their respective cross heads fixed
on the levers H, H, of the second swing bar attached. These main rods are
connected together by the joints M, M, &c., or by any other suitable means,
so as to form a continuous line throughout the train. The carriages also are
connected independent of these rods, and kept equidistant by the connecting
links O, O, &c., or by any other convenient method, and the jaws by which
these links are secured to the carriages have sufficient liberty on the pins in
the framing to admit of the train adjusting itself to any curve it may have to
travel. The main rod of the carriage at each extremity of the train, each of
which becomes the leading carriage alternately, is fitted in a different manner
from those of the intermediate carriages, as will be perceived by the Drawing,
Figure 1, where part of the main rod is enlarged and hollow, whereby a
chamber is formed for containing the traction or drag rod p, surrounded by two
spiral springs. This traction rod has a collar R, which acts upon the train
through the medium of one spring in giving motion, and through the other in
resisting its progress. It will also be perceived that this collar is of larger
diameter than the springs, and moves in an enlarged part of the chamber; so

page_text: that when either of the springs are compressed to the extent to which they are
calculated to sustain the collar comes into contact with the end of the reduced
part of the chamber, which will then take any extra strain that the springs
would otherwise have to withstand, and from which they are thus protected.
I have thus described the mode of connecting the main rod L to the engine
as illustrated by the Drawing, but other means suited to the purpose may be
substituted. The end of the main rod passes freely through a tubular sliding
stopper S, or, which would be an equivalent, a sliding stopper bolt on each side
of the main rod. This stopper sliding in the end of the carriage frame has a
collar T in the inside, while its other end is attached by the hook or other
suitable means to the main rod on either side, as shewn by the Figures 2 and 3.
The stopper is connected to the main rod only during the time the carriage is
directly attached to the engine and is the leading carriage of the train, which
happens every alternate journey, but while it is the last of the train the stopper
is to be liberated by throwing back the hooks, or by attaching any other means
of connection that may be employed.
Such being the different parts and disposition of the apparatus, the mode
of action is simply as follows:-The sliding stopper being connected to the
main rod L, and the engine coupled to the traction rod P, which, on being
put in motion, compresses that spring nearest to the extreme end of the main
rod, whence the force is transferred by means of the hooks to the collar T of
the stopper, and which is then kept in close contact with the frame, whereby
the breaks or regulators are maintained in the position shewn by Figures 1
and 4, but the moment the velocity of the engine is reduced below that which
the train has acquired, the main rod feels the resistance, and slides back accom-
panied by the stopper, or rather the train runs forward, and the breaks or regu-
lators at the leading end of each of the carraiages throughout the train are
simultaneously applied to the wheels, whilst those at the aft end are removed
farther off by the action, and remain neuter until the leading end of the train
is reversed, when they are brought into action on the required occasions, and
vice versa. When an assistant engine is required, it is employed in pushing,
in the usual manner, without endangering the efficiency of the break apparatus,
and for which object buffers are provided at both extremities of the train.
Having thus described the nature of my said Inventions or improvements
relative to breaks or regulators, and the mode of action, I would have it
understood that I claim as a novelty of:
Invention,-
my
First, the suspension of the body of a carriage upon springs attached to the
upper part or roofing, which frame is fastened to short axles, as shewn in

page_text: Figure I., A, a, and also to Figure II., Figure III., and Figure IV., on
which the springs will rest, whether placed under the roof's projection, or on
it, or against the side of the body, or within the body, or, if hooked to the
body, from a connecting bar, from arm to arm, or upon traversing bars across
the top of the framing, in the inside or outside, and by any means of elastic
india rubber, rope, or chains, and the employment of two large wheels at the
centre of the body, and the mode of uniting the body to the front action, as
before respectively described.
I claim, secondly, as a novelty, the Invention of the elastic wheels with
elliptical spokes, Figure V., 9, 9, 9, and Figure VI., h, h, h, h, and the non-
elastic spokes k, k, k, k; the resting these spokes to trice-formed iron tires or
hoops f, f; the securing the collapsed portion of the legs of the spring spokes
from withdrawing from the nave by small wedges, as seen in Figure V., 1, 1, 1;
also the Invention of the rests for the springs, as shewn in the same Figure,
t, t, t; likewise the Invention of the great flanges to brace the said spokes
m, m, m; also for the casing the wooden fellies with plates of iron, and fluting
the tires of wheels for railways by using a half cylinder hollow, with a dipping'
flange on one side, shewn in section, D, Figure VII., the whole of these
particulars being shewn in Figures V., VI., VII., and VIII.
I claim, thirdly, as a novelty, the shaping of the tenons of wooden spokes
wedge-formed, as above described, and seen in Figure IX., and my mode of
inserting the spokes into the naves of wheels, same Figure, a, a, a.
I rest my
claim to novelty upon the combination of the several parts before described,
forming a new wheel; the one anti-concussion spring wheels more or less, as
explained by Figures V. and VI.; the other an incompressible wheel, as shewn
in Figure VII.
I claim, fourthly, as a novelty of Invention, the mode of turning a carriage
round, as above described, and shewn in Figure XI., by friction rollers, in a
round case acting on a spindle.
I claim, fifthly, as a novelty of Invention, my pole, to which the horses are
attached, as above described, and seen in Figure X., with the spring pole head
for the leaders, as shewn by L, same Figure.
I claim, sixthly, the application of a break or regulator to each of the
four wheels of a carriage, and to all or as many of the carriages comprizing a
5 train as the gradients may require, or other circumstances render expedient.
I claim, seventhly, the continuous line of main rods, for the purpose or pur-
poses herein-before described, together with the sliding stopper for maintaining
the breaks or regulators in the required position when not in action. And,
Lastly, I claim the mode of connecting the traction rod with its springs to

page_text: the train, and also the method of protecting such springs from extra strain in
railway carriages.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ramsey Richard Reinagle, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.