A NEW MAIL-CATCHING APPARATUS FOR BAGS OR PACKAGES WITHOUT STOPPING THE EXPRESS TRAINS OR OTHERS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrè Chavanne, residing at No. 110, Boulevard de
Sebastopol, Paris, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "A NEW MAIL-CATCHING APPARATUS FOR BAGS OR PACKAGES
WITHOUT STOPPING THE EXPRESS TRAINS OR OTHERS."
Sealed the 7th November 1865, and dated the 16th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrè Chavanne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
May 1865.
I, ANDRE CHAVANNE, residing at No. 110, Boulevard de Sèbastopol, Paris,
in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A NEW MAIL-CATCHING APPARATUS FOR BAGS OR
PACKAGES WITHOUT STOPPING THE EXPRESS TRAINS OR OTHERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for taking up
and delivering mail bags or packages on to and from trains when in motion.
For these purposes I connect horizontally to the upper part of one side of the
mail or post office" carriage of the train a cylinder open at both ends. The
mail to be delivered from the train is placed in a cylindrical case or mail bag,
by preference of metal; this mail bag is placed in the rear end of the cylinder,

page_text: and is supported therein by rings on its exterior being slid on to a rod fixed
to the top of the cylinder; the forward end only of the rod is fixed to the
cylinder, so that the rings by which the mail bag is suspended may slip freely
off its rear end, and so permit the mail bag to pass out of the rear end of the
cylinder. The mail to be picked up by the train is placed in a similar bag or
case to that which contains the mail to be delivered, and this bag rests or is
supported on parallel rods carried by an arm from a post which stands at the
side of the line of rails. The post is placed in such a position that the mail
bag supported by the post will be received into the cylinder carried by the
mail carriage as the train passes the post; the cylinder is for this purpose
made of sufficient internal diameter to allow of the mail bag or case entering
the cylinder in spite of any rocking motion there may be on the carriage; a
slot is also formed through the bottom of the cylinder from one end of it to
the other, so that the bottom of the cylinder may not come in contact with the
arm which supports the mail bag to be picked up.
When the mail bag to be picked up enters the cylinder, the mail bag to be
delivered, and which has previously been placed in the cylinder, strikes
against the mail bag to be picked up and imparts its momentum to it, so that
the bag to be delivered passes out of the rear end of the cylinder whilst the
bag to be picked up remains in the cylinder, and is carried on within it.
The mail bag which passes out of the cylinder is received on to a rod which
passes through rings on the under side of the bag; this rod is supported by
the post which carries the bag to be picked up. In order to insure that the
mail bag which is picked up by the cylinder shall remain within it and not
pass out at its rear end, a net work or partition of tarred ropes is placed across
the centre of the cylinder; this network is connected to the cylinder by rings
or eyes which run on rods carried by the cylinder in order that the network
or partition may be capable of sliding backwards a distance towards the rear
end of the cylinder. Each of the mail bags is furnished with a buffer or
pad at its end so as to lessen the blow of the two bags striking against each
other.
As soon as a mail bag has been picked up by the train, in the manner
above described, the person in charge of the mail carriage will remove the
mail bag from the cylinder, and will then place into the rear end of the
cylinder the mail bag to be delivered at the next station; the mail bags may
thus be delivered to and taken up from each station without either entirely
or partially stopping the train, and without any shock or blow being felt in
the mail carriage.

page_text: Other arrangements of apparatus to those above particularly described may
be resorted to for carrying out my Invention, which consists in so arranging
apparatus for taking up and delivering mail bags or packages on to and from
trains that the momentum of the mail bag to be delivered shall be imparted
to the mail bag to be taken up, and thus prevent any shock or blow being
felt in the mail carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said André Chavanne in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDRÉ
CHAVANNE, residing at No. 110, Boulevard de Sébastopol, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said André Chavanne, Her special licence that I, the said André
Chavanne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said André Chavanne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times there-
after 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 "A NEW
MAIL-CATCHING APPARATUS FOR BAGS OR PACKAGES, WITHOUT STOPPING THE EXPRESS
TRAINS OR OTHERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
André Chavanne, 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 André Chavanne, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-.
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-

page_text: This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for taking up
and delivering mail bags or packages on to and from trains when in motion.
For these purposes I connect horizontally to the side of the mail or "post
office" carriage of the train a cylinder open at both ends. The mail to be
delivered from the train is placed in a cylindrical case or mail bag, by prefer-
ence of metal; this mail bag is placed in the rear end of the cylinder, and is
supported therein by rings on its exterior being slid on to a rod fixed to the
top of the cylinder; the forward end only of the rod is fixed to the cylinder,
so that the rings by which the mail bag is suspended may slip freely off its
rear end, and so permit the mail bag to pass out of the rear end of the
cylinder. The mail to be picked up by the train is placed in a similar bag or
case to that which contains the mail to be delivered, and this bag rests or is
supported on parallel rods carried by an arm from a post which stands at the
side of the line of rails. The post is placed in such a position that the mail
bag supported by the post will be received into the cylinder carried by the
mail carriage as the train passes the post; the cylinder is for this purpose
made of sufficient internal diameter to allow of the mail bag or case entering
the cylinder in spite of any rocking motion there may be on the carriage; a
slot is also formed through the bottom of the cylinder from one end of it to
the other, so that the bottom of the cylinder may not come in contact with
the arm which supports the mail bag to be picked up.
When the mail bag to be picked up enters the cylinder, the mail bag to be
delivered, and which has previously been placed in the cylinder, strikes against
the mail bag to be picked up and imparts its momentum to it so that the
bag to be delivered passes out of the rear end of the cylinder, whilst the bag
to be picked up remains in the cylinder, and is carried on within it. The mail
bag which passes out of the cylinder is received on to a rod which passes
through rings on the under side of the bag; this rod is supported by the post
which carries the bag to be picked up. In order to insure that the mail
bag which is picked up by the cylinder shall remain within it and not pass
out at its rear end, a network or partition of tarred ropes is placed across the
centre of the cylinder; this network is connected to the cylinder by rings or
eyes which run on rods carried by the oylinder in order that the network or
partition may be capable of sliding backwards a distance towards the rear end
of the cylinder. Each of the mail bags is furnished with a buffer or pad at
its end, so as to lessen the blow of the two bags striking against each other.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I have, in the Drawings bereunto annexed, shewn an apparatus
arranged in the manner above described.

page_text: Figure 1 represents an end view of a railway carriage, having a cylinder A,
such as above described, attached to it; this cylinder, in the arrangement
shewn in the Drawing, is attached to the foot board of the carriage, but it
may be otherwise connected to it. The cylinder, as above described, is open
at both ends, and has a slot formed longitudinally along its under side; at its
rear end it is also provided with a flat rod C,.upon which the mail bag to be
delivered is supported; F is the partition of cords across the centre of the
cylinder, which is carried by rings or eyes capable of sliding on the rods f.
At Figure 2 is shewn a longitudinal section of the cylinder A carrying
within it a mail bag or case D ready to be delivered. In this view is also
shown a mail bag.or case E supported by a short post G fixed, at one side
of the line of rails of the railway; the post is provided at its upper extremity
with two horizontal parallel arms 9, 9, upon which this mail bag, which is the
one to be picked up by the cylinder A rests. The mail bag E is prevented
from accidentally falling off the arms g by a spring K entering one of the
loops c on the under side of the mail bag. The cylindrical case or mail bag D
is supported within the cylinder A by the loops c upon it being slid on to the
rod C at the top of the cylinder, and the mail bag is prevented from swaying
to and fro within the cylinder by two brushes B, B, as shown at Figure 1.
As the cylinder A is carried forward with the mail carriage in the direction of
the arrow shown in Figure 2, the forward end of the case D comes against
the rear end of the case E, and imparts its momentum to it; the case D then
passes out of the rear end of the cylinder, whilst, as is shown at Figure 3, the
case E is carried on within it, the partition of cords ensuring its not escaping
at the rear end of the cylinder. The case D, which is expelled from the rear
end of the cylinder A, is left supported on the horizontal arms g of the post G,
and is retained there by the ring i on its under side passing on to the spike g¹
of the post G and slipping past the spring catch L.
As soon as a mail bag has been picked up by the train, in the manner
above described, the person in charge of the mail carriage will remove the
mail bag from the cylinder, and will then place into the rear end of the
cylinder the mail bag to be delivered at the next station; the mail bags may
thus be delivered to and taken up from each station without either entirely or
partially stopping the train, and without any shock or blow being felt in the
mail carriage.
Other arrangements of apparatus to those above particularly described may

page_text: be resorted to for carrying out my Invention, which consists in so arranging
apparatus for taking up and delivering mail bags or packages on to and front
trains that the momentum of the mail bag to be delivered shall be imparted to
the mail bag to be taken up, and thus prevent any shock or blow being felt
in the mail carriage.
f
In witness whereof, I, the said André Chavanne, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
ANDRÉ CHAVANNE. (L.S.)