IMPROVEMENTS IN BUFFERS FOR RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES, CARRIAGES, AND VEHICLES."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Nelson Arnold, of Solihull, in the County of
Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BUFFERS FOR RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES, CARRIAGES, AND VEHICLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Nelson Arnold at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th August 1880.
DAVID NELSON ARNOLD, of Solihull, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUFFERS FOR RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES, CARRIAGES,
AND VEHICLES."
My Invention has for its object the production of buffers free from the liability
to the loss of the buffer disc and rod and spring, which often occurs in case of
accident to buffers of the ordinary construction.
In constructing a buffer according to one of my improvements I make on the
front end of that part of the buffer rod which occupies the buffer caso a collar of
an oblong figure.
In the middle of a disc or circular plate fitting the interior of the buffer case I
make an oblong hole of a size and shape suitable to permit the collar on the buffer
rod to pass through it. I take a second disc or circular plate, which also has at its
middle a hole of a size and shape suitable for the passage of the oblong collar of the
buffer rod. On one face of the second disc or circular plate are two rib like snugs
or projections. These snugs or projections are situated respectively at the longer
sides of the hole in the disc or plate, the length of the snugs being equal to the
breadth of the oblong hole, so that when the two discs are brought together, and
the oblong holes in them are made to cross at right angles, the snugs in the second
disc or plate enter the oblong hole in the first disc or plate, and filling the ends of
that hole convert it into a square hole. The parts of the buffer are put together
in the following manner :-The buffer rod is introduced into its case from the
front. The first disc or circular plate is passed from the back of the case along
the buffer rod, the said plate being turned on the rod until its oblong hole coincides
with the oblong collar, when the said plate can be passed over the said collar.
By now turning the plate through an angle of 90 degrees its oblong hole crosses

page_text: the oblong collar on the buffer rod, and the said plate can no longer be with-
drawn from the buffer rod. In order to fix the said plate the second plate or disc
is passed from the back of the buffer case onto the oblong shoulder on the buffer rod,
its snugs engaging with the ends of the oblong hole in the first plate or disc,
thereby fixing the latter plate or disc and preventing it turning so as to bring its
oblong hole coincident with the oblong collar on the buffer rod. When the buffer
spring has been put in its place in the case and secured by the back plate, the
front end of the spring pressing against the second disc or locking plate described,
keeps it in close contact with the first disc or plate. The buffer is now completo,
and the buffer rod is incapable of passing out of the buffer case at the front.
The oblong collar on the buffer rod and the two discs described for engaging
with the said collar may be situated at the rear instead of at the front end of the
buffer case, but I prefer the arrangement first described. When the fixing discs
are at the rear part of the case the ordinary back plate is so made as to perform
the function of one of the locking discs or plates described.
According to another of my improvements I make that part of the buffer rod
which slides in the neck of the case square or angular in cross section, and I make
the said neck of a corresponding figure. By this arrangement the buffer rod is
made incapable of rotation. The rear end of the buffer rod is without a head,
and slides in a guide tube at the base of the case. The fore part, or that part of
the buffer rod which is within the case, has a screwed shoulder on which a bush
or collar is screwed. Upon this bush or collar the fore end of the spring bears.
The said bush or collar prevents the loss of the disc and rod, as the said rod cannot
pass out of the case in front, the forward motion of the rod being limited by the
said bush or collar.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said David Nelson Arnold in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th February 1881.
DAVID NELSON ARNOLD, of Solihull, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUFFERS FOR RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES, CARRIAGES,
AND VEHICLES."
My Invention has for its object the production of buffers free from the liability
to the loss of the buffer disc and rod and spring, which often occurs in case of
accident to buffers of the ordinary construction.
In constructing a buffer according to my Invention I make on the front end of
that part of the buffer rod which occupies the buffer case a collar or projection of
an oblong figure. In the middle of a disc or circular plate fitting the interior
of the buffer case I make an oblong hole of a size and shape suitable to permit the
collar or projection on the buffer rod to pass through it.
I take a second die or circular plate, which also has at its middle a hole of a
size and shape suitable for the passage of the oblong collar of the buffer rod. On
one face of the second disc or circular plate are two rib like snugs or projections.
These snugs or projections are situated respectively at the longer sides of the
hole in the disc or plate, the length of the snugs being equal to the breadth of
the oblong hole, so that when the two discs are brought together, and the oblong
holes in them are made to cross at right angles, the snugs in the second disc or
plate enter the oblong hole in the first disc or plate, and filling the ends of that
hole convert it into a square hole. The parts of the buffer are put together in the
following manner :-
The buffer rod is introduced into its case from the front. The first disc or
circular plate is passed from the back of the case along the buffer rod, the said
plate being turned on the rod until its oblong hole coincides with the oblong collar
when the said plate can be passed over the said collar. By now turning the plate
through an angle of 90 degrees its oblong holes crosses the oblong collar on the
buffer rod, and the said plate can no longer be withdrawn from the buffer rod.
In order to fix the said plate the second plate or disc is passed from the back of
the buffer case onto the oblong shoulder on the buffer rod, its snugs engaging
with the ends of the oblong hole in the first plate or disc, thereby fixing the latter
plate or disc, and preventing it turning so as to bring its oblong hole coincident
with the oblong collar on the buffer rod.
When the buffer spring has been put in its place in the case and secured by the
back plate, the front end of the spring pressing against the second disc or locking
plate described, keeps it in close contact with the first disc or plate. The buffer
is now complete, and the buffer rod is incapable of passing out of the buffer case
at the front.
The oblong collar on the buffer rod and the two discs described for engaging
with the said collar may be situated at the rear instead of at the front end of the
buffer case, but I prefer the arrangement first described. When the fixing
discs are at the rear part of the case, the ordinary back plate is so made as to
perform the function of one of the locking discs or plates described.
I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings,
the manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents, partly in longitudinal section and partly in elevation, the
buffer of a railway locomotive, carriage, or vehicle constructed according to my
Invention; Figure 2 is a cross section of the buffer taken on the line x, x,
Figure 1; Figure 3 represents a front elevation and edge view of the front disc or
plate; and Figure 4 represents a front elevation and edge view of the second or
locking disc or plate.

page_text: The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
a is the buffer case, and b is the buffer rod, which has on that end which occupies
the front of the buffer case an oblong collar or projection_c.
The said oblong
collar or projection c on the buffer rod is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2; d is
the front disc or circular plate fitting the interior of the front of the buffer case,
as seen in Figure 1. In the middle of the said disc or plate d is an oblong hole d
of a size and shape proper to permit it to pass over the collar c on the buffer rod b;
e is the second or locking disc or plate having an oblong hole e² in its middle of the
same size and shape as that in the front disc or plate d. On one face of the said
second or locking disc or plate e are two rib like snugs e³, e3, the shape of which
will be seen by referring to the separate view of the said disc or plate, Figure 4.
It will be seen by referring to the said Figure 4 that the snugs e³, e³, are situated
respectively at the longer sides of the oblong hole in the disc or plate e, the
length of the said snugs being equal to the breadth of the said oblong hole.
By this construction the two snugs on the plate or disc e, when the oblong
holes d, e, in the plates or discs d, e, are made to cross one another at right
angles, are made to enter and fill up the ends of the oblong hole in the front
disc d, so as virtually to convert that oblong hole into a square hole.
In putting together the parts of the buffer the buffer rod b is first introduced
into the case a from the front, the back plate f not having been put in its place.
The front disc or plate is passed from the open back of the case a, along the
buffer rod b to the front thereof, and is then turned until its hole is coincident
with the oblong collar c on the rod, so that the said disc or plate & can be passed
over the said collar and seated at the front end of the buffer case. After the disc
or plate & has passed the collar c the said disc or plate d, or the buffer rod b, is
turned through a quadrant or an angle of 90 degrees.
By this motion the oblong hole d in the disc or plate d is made to cross the
oblong collar c on the buffer rod and take into the neck behind the said collar, as
represented in Figure 2. The disc or plate e is thereby prevented from being
withdrawn from the buffer rod. The second or locking disc or plate e is next
passed from the back of the buffer case a, and its oblong hole e engaged with or
passed onto the oblong collar c on the buffer rod, its snugs e, e³, engaging in the
ends of the oblong hole in the front plate or disc d. The said front plate or
disc d is thereby prevented from turning on the buffer rod so as to bring its
hole coincident with the oblong collar c on the said rod. The buffer spring, not
represented in the Drawing, is next placed in the case a and secured by the back
plate f. By the front end of the spring pressing against the the locking disc e,
the latter is kept in close contact with the disc or plate d, as represented. The
buffer is now complete, the buffer rod being prevented from being withdrawn from
the buffer case at front by the fixing discs d, e, and collar c, as described and
represented.
When the fixing parts are situated at the rear end of the buffer case and on the
rear end of the buffer rod, the several parts are arranged and modified in the
manner represented in longitudinal section in Figure 5 and cross section in
Figure 6; Figures 7 and 8 represent two of the plates or discs used; c is the oblong
collar or projection on the rear end of the buffer rod b; e is one of the fixing plates
or discs provided with the oblong hole e² at its middle, and having a conical edge
(see the separate view, Figure 8); f is the modified back plate, which, in this
arrangement, is furnished with an oblong hole f² and snugs ƒ³, ƒ³, at the longer
sides of the said oblong hole, as described and represented with respect to the
plate or disc, Figure 4. At the front end of the buffer case a is a disc or plate g
(shown separately in Figure 8) for the front end of the buffer spring to bear
against. After the plate g and spring have been placed in the buffer case a, the
fixing plate or disc e is passed over the oblong collar c on the buffer rod, and made
to seat itself at the rear end of the buffer case, as represented in Figure 5. The
modified back plate f is then passed over and engaged behind the collar c, the

page_text: buffer rod being pressed inwards to permit of the introduction of the said back
plate into its place.
The said back plate is next turned through a quadrant, so that its opening f' is
made to cross that in the plate or disc e, and its snugs ƒ³, ƒ³, made to enter the ends
of the oblong opening e³ in the said plate or disc e, as seen in Figures 5 and 6.
The opening in the modified back plate crossing that in the disce is indicated
in dotted lines in Figure 6. The back plate is finally bolted to the flange of the
buffer case a, and the buffer rod is allowed to resume its normal position, as
represented in Figure 5. The buffer rod is thereby prevented from being withdrawn
from the buffer case at the front.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention, the improvements in buffers for railway locomotives, carriages, and
vehicles, herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say, preventing the withdrawal of the buffer
rod from the front of the buffer case by making an oblong collar or projection con
the buffer rod near its front end, and using, in conjunction with the said collar or
projection c, two fixing discs or plates d and e, each disc or plate having an oblong
hole in its middle of the same shape and size as the collar or projection on the
buffer rod, and the disc or plate a being also furnished on one side with snugs of a
size and shape proper to take into and fill up the ends of the slot in the other
disc d, the said disc d being engaged with the collar or projection on the buffer
rod, and prevented from rotating by the second or back disc e, in the manner
described and illustrated; also the modification described and illustrated in
Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, in which the oblong collar or projection on the buffer rod is
situated at the rear of the case, and the locking parts are arranged substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Nelson Arnold, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Third day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
Witness,
GEORGE FREDERIC MOULD,
67, Alum Rock Road,
Saltley,
Birmingham.
DAVID NELSON ARNOLD. (L.S.)