Improvements in Cushioning Railway and similar Vehicles, Carriages, and the like.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cushioning Railway and similar Vehicles,
Carriages, and the like.
I, BRUCE GREEN of 65 and 66 Chancery Lane in the County of London Gentleman
do declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
It has been proposed to apply the principle of pneumatic cushioning to railway
and other vehicles in order to reduce the vibration experienced by persons riding
therein, by placing hollow rubber balls between surfaces under the several seats, by
placing extensive air mattresses under the body of the carriage and between it and
the truck frame; by placing the body of the carriage on inverted cup or trough
shaped bearers coinciding with similar cup or trough like bearers carried by the
truck frame there being ball like or hose like pneumatic cushions embraced by or
between the said bearers, and also in a former Patent No. 3419 of 1895 granted to
myself to attain the purpose either by the use of annular air cushions of comparatively
small extent traversed by bolts having a sliding connection with the one of the two
surfaces between which the cushions are placed and rigid connection with the other
sui face; or by making the interior of the carriage body as a separate entity from
the exterior thereof or the body proper and placing between the one and the other
air cushions beneath and around the inner body but without specific connection, of
the inner to the outer body.
According to the present invention I use in place of annular cushions surrounding
each bolt, one or more hose or snake shaped cushions which may be straight or
intertwined among or around the bolts or groups of bolts or may annularly surround
a group of bolts forming for instance a hollow rectangle about four or six bolts or
any other continuous or discontinuous form.
I may further dispense with the connections of bolts by so making the part which
rests upon the pneumatic cushions with regard to the part that supports the said
cushions, that the one may have movement to or from or into or out of the other
being guided by ledges or projecting edges so that lateral movement of the parts
one with regard to the other may be avoided.
Thus in a railway carriage while dispensing with the direct connection of the parts
by bolts I may still make the movable parts separately from each other (and
not as one integral inner carriage body) as for instance the seats, the seat
backs and the floor on which the feet of the occupants rest, which may
all be separate from cach other; and I may support each said part or hose
like or similar pneumatic cushions while making the side edges or other projecting
ledges on the fixed under seats, floor or partitions of the compartments, or
on the movable seats, floor, or seat backs, or on both; to engage either with the
other to permit of the desired guiding of the said movable parts with regard to
the fixed parts without the lateral displacement of the said movable parts.
The several air cushions may be separately inflated or I may provide connecting
tubes leading from one place to several air cushions so that they may be
simultaneously inflated from said one place, from for instance, from outside the
...

page_text: carriage and in such case I prefer to place an anti-return valve at or near
each air cushion as well as a similar valve at the place of attachment of the
inflator.
In fitting a railway carriage compartment with the air cushions according to
this invention, I may provide a flooring of a length slightly less than the width
of the compartment from door to door and of a width rather greater than the
distance from seat to seat. On the floor of the compartment I fit ledges so that
the flooring aforesaid may drop easily between them and be left in position
thereby after one or more of the aforesaid air cushions have been placed
upon the floor and retained in position by suitable lateral blocks or guides fixed to
the floor.
The seats are made of an underpart and an upper part the latter suitably
covered and stuffed. The upper part has at its front edge a downward ledge
passing outside an upward ledge on the under part. The air cushions are placed
on the lower part and held in place by side blocks and the upper part rests
thereon. The seat is prevented from sliding forward by a ledge on the back
resting laterally against the hindermost air cushion or part of the air cushion.
The seat backs are independent from the seats and are built up with springs and
stuffing in the usual manner upon independent frames suspended at their upper
edges by fillets of leather or other materia! attached to the partition from which
the frame is spaced by one or more of the aforesaid air cushions.
Dated this 9th day of December 1896.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, Agents to Applicant.
Improvements in Cushioning Railway and similar Vehicles,
Carriages, and the like.
I, BRUCE GREEN of 65 and 66 Chancery Lane, in the County of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
It has been proposed to apply the principle of pneumatic cushioning to railway
and other vehicles in order to reduce the vibration experienced by persons riding
therein, by placing hollow rubber balls between surfaces under the several seats, by
placing extensive air mattresses under the body of the carriage and between it and
the truck frame, by placing the body of the carriage on inverted cup or trough
shaped bearers coinciding with similar cup or trough like bearers carried by the
truck frame there being ball like or hose like pneumatic cushions embraced by or
between the said bearers and also in a former Patent No. 3419 of 1895 granted to
myself to attain the purpose either by the use of annular air cushions of comparatively
small extent traversed by bolts having a sliding connection with the one of the two
surfaces between which the cushions are placed and rigid connection with the other
surface; or by making the interior of the carriage body as a separate entity from the
exterior thereof or body proper and placing between the one and the other air
cushions beneath and around the inner body but without specific connection of the
inner to the outer body.
According to the present invention I use in place of annular cushions surrounding
each bolt, one or more hose or snake shaped cushions which may be straight or
intertwined among or around the bolts or groups of bolts or may annularly surround

page_text: a group of bolts forming for instance a hollow rectangle about four or six bolts or any
other continuous or discontinuous form.
I may further dispense with the connections of bolts by so making the part which
rests upon the pneumatic cushions with regard to the part that supports the said
cushions that the one may have movement to or from or into or out of the other
being guided by ledges or projecting edges so that lateral movement of the parts
one with regard to the other may be avoided.
Thus in a railway carriage while dispensing with the direct connection of the parts
by bolts I may still make the movable parts separately from each other (and not as
one integral inner carriage body) as for instance the seats the seat backs and the
floor on which the feet of the occupants rest, which may all be separate from each
other; and may support each said part on hose like or similar pneumatic cushions
while making the side edges or other projecting ledges on the fixed under seats,
floor, or partitions of the compartments, or on the movable seats, floor, or-seat backs,
or on both, to engage either with the other to permit of the desired guiding of the
said movable parts with regard to the fixed parts without the lateral displacement of
the said movable parts.
The several air cushions may be separately inflated or I may provide connecting
tubes leading from one place to several air cushions so that they may be
simultaneously inflated from said one place, for instance, from outside the carriage
and in such case I prefer to place an anti-return valve at or near each air cushion as
well as a similar valve at the place of attachınent of the inflator.
The annexed drawings illustrate the construction of a railway carriage
compartment in so far as is necessary to explain the method of fitting this invention
to the floor, seats and seat backs thereof.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of such compartment.
Fig. 2 is a part plan view thereof.
Fig. 3 is a part vertical cross section.
In fitting a railway carriage compartment with the air cushions according to this
invention, I may provide a flooring A of a length slightly less than the width of
the compartment from door to door and of a width rather greater than the distance
from seat to seat. On the floor B of the compartment I fit ledges C so that the
flooring aforesaid may drop easily between them and be held in position thereby
after one or more of the aforesaid air cushions I have been placed upon the floor B
and retained in position by suitable lateral blocks or guides E fixed to the floor B.
The seats are made of an under part F and an upper part G the latter suitably
covered and stuffed. The upper part G has at its front edge a downward ledge H
passing outside an upward ledge Jon the under part F. The air cushions D are
placed on the lower part F and held in place by side blocks such as E and the upper
part G rests thereon. The seat is prevented from sliding forward by a ledge Kon
the back resting laterally against the hindermost air cushion or part of the air
cushion D¹.
The seat backs L are independent from the seats and are built up with springs
and stuffing in the usual manner upon independent frames L' suspended at their
upper edges by fillets M of leather or other material attached to the partition N
from which the frame is spaced by one or more air cushions D2 of the aforesaid kind.
Each of the cushions D D1 D2 aforesaid is made in an annular or continuous form
approaching a rectangle in shape, the length and width of the rectangle being
proportioned to the length and width respectively of the floor, seat, or seat back
to which the cushion is to give pneumatic bearing substantially as illustrated in
the drawing. O denotes the inflating tubes which are attached to the cushions
in the well known manner and in any suitable place, these tubes having valves also
of any well known construction and being carried to any one or more suitable places
for purposes of inflation in a manner that will be well understood without specific
illustration.
The method of constructing the invention in its application to other types of
vehicles carriages or the like in the same as that hereinbefore described that is to

page_text: say by the formation of the parts which are to be pneumatically cushioned upon
separate frames guided by ledges or suspended by fillets as herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The improvement in the cushioning of Railway and similar vehicles carriages
and the like consisting in forming the parts to be cushioned each of or with a
separate frame guided in respect of a backing or under layer by means of ledges or
fillets and placing between each frame and its backing or under layer a hose like
inflatable cushion suitably disposed between or about guiding or retaining nosings
or equivalent devices that such cushions may afford a pneumatic bearing for such
frame substantially as herein described.
2'In a railway carriage compartiment or similar vehicle or the like an additional
'floor extending over such part of the main floor as is subject to the tread of
passengers or occupants, said additional floor being guided between ledges and
supported by a hose like pneumatic cushion.
3. In a railway carriage compartment or similar vehicle or the like a seat-formed
by or upon a frame extending over an under frame and guided by a ledge at the
front against a ledge on the under frame, a hose like pneumatic cushion between
said frames, nosings or equivalent guides for said cushion and a ledge at the back of
the upper frame guided against said cushion.
4. In a railway carriage compartment or similar vehicle or the like a seat back
formed by or upon a frame suspended from the partition of the compartment or its
equivalent by a flexible fillet and a hose like pneumatic cushion spacing said back
from the partition or equivalent.
5. In a railway or similar vehicle carriage or the like. The construction of the
pneumatically supported floor seats and seat backs with their respective pneumatic
supports or carriers substantially as set forth.
6. In a railway or similar vehicle carriage or the like the combination of the
pneumatically supported floor, pneumatically supported seats and pneumatically
carried seat backs said parts being severally independent and constructed with their
respective pneumatic supports or carriers substantially in the manner herein
described.
tobox 1007
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, Agents to Applicant.