IMPROVEMENTS IN- ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES FOR DISTRIBUTING SAND UPON THE RAILS TO GIVE ADHESION TO THE DRIVING AND BRAKE WHEELS OF SUCH ENGINES AND CARRIAGES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abraham Priestley, of Huddersfield, in the County
of York, Machine Broker,. for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN-
ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE RAILWAY ENGINES
AND CARRIAGES FOR DISTRIBUTING SAND UPON THE RAILS TO GIVE ADHESION
TO THE DRIVING AND BRAKE WHEELS OF SUCH ENGINES AND CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 28th January 1868, and dated the 5th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abraham Priestley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th August 1862.
I, ABRAHAM PRIESTLEY, of Huddersfield, in the County of York, Machine
Broker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE RAILWAY
ENGINES AND CARRIAGES FOR DISTRIBUTING SAND UPON THE RAILS TO GIVE
ADHESION TO THE DRIVING AND BRAKE WHEELS OF SUCH ENGINES AND CARRIAGES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the use of screws or agitators placed in a box or
hopper containing sand, which screws or agitators receive continuous motion
when required from the axle of the wheels of the engine or carriage to which tho
apparatus is applied, so that the sand is uniformly delivered when required

page_text: from the box or hopper, and is conducted down a pipe to the front of the
wheels to which adhesion is to be given.
The apparatus which I prefer to employ consists of a box or hopper, at the
bottom of which a screw shaft is placed in suitable bearings, the threads of
this screw being both right and left handed, and work in a channel at the
bottom of the box or hopper, so that the sand is brought by the screw threads
'from each end to the middle of the box or hopper, where there is an orifice
by which it escapes down a pipe conducting it on to the rails. The middle
part of the screw works in a tubo or cover which prevents any sand from
escaping except that carried forward by the threads of the screw, which will
break up or reduce small stones which may be in the sand against the ends
of the said tube or cover. The screw shaft has a worm wheel upon its end
which gears with a worm upon a cross shaft placed in suitable bearings, and
this cross shaft receives rotating motion when sand is to be delivered from the
box or hopper from a pulley having its periphery covered with leather or
india-rubber, which pulley is mounted in suitable bearings on a forked lever,
so that by moving this lever by a suitable handle, the pulley can be brought
in and out of contact with the wheel of the locomotive or brake van, or a
pulley on one of the axles of the locomotive or carriage to which the appa-
ratus is applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Abraham Priestley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ABRAHAM
PRIESTLEY, of Huddersfield, in the County of York, Machine Broker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Abraham Priestley, Her special license that I, the said
Abraham Priestley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Abraham Priestley, 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 vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE
RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES FOR DISTRIBUTING SAND UPON THE RAILS TO
GIVE ADHESION TO THE. DRIVING, AND BRAKE WHEELS OF SUCH ENGINES AND
CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Abraham
Priestley, by an instrument in writing under my band and seal, 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 Abraham Priestley, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say).:-
Hitherto sand, to give adhesion to the driving and brake wheels of loco-
motives, has been distributed upon the rails by a box and pipe, such box
being provided with a valve or similar arrangement to regulate and cut off the
supply of sand to the rails. Now, this apparatus is very uncertain and
irregular in its action, and requires, to produce oven a very imperfect result;
that the sand employed should be fine, sharp, dry, and free from stones,
as all stones above a certain size, and wet sand or sand of a clayey character,
will stop up the opening of the valve, and besides this, the sand having to be
fine and dry, is easily blown amongst the mechanism of the engine by the
wind and currents of air produced by the motion of the engine, which is very
objectionable.
The object of my Invention is to overcome the defects mentioned, in such
manner that coarse wet stoney or clayey sand may be used (but coarse wet
sand in preference,) and delivered on to the rails with certainty in a con
tinuous and uniform layer when required.
My Invention consists in the use of agitators and screws (or equivalent
O mechanism) which are placed in a box or hopper containing sand, which
agitators and screws receive continuous motion when required from the axle
of the wheel or the periphery of the wheel of the engine or carriage to which
the apparatus is applied, so that the sand is uniformly delivered, when
required, from the box or hopper, and is conducted down a pipe to the front
5 of the wheels to which adhesion is to be given.
•
The apparatus may be constructed, arranged, and worked in various ways,
but that arrangement which I prefer consists of a box or hopper, at the
bottom of which a screw shaft is placed in suitable bearings, the threads of
this screw being both right and left handed, and work in a channel at the

page_text: bottom of the box or hopper, so that the sand is brought by the screw threads
from each end to the middle of the box or hopper where there is an orifice by
which it escapes down a pipe conducting it to the rail. The middle part of
the screw works in a tube or cover, which prevents any sand from escaping
except that carried forward by the threads of the screw, which will break up
or reduce any small stones that may be mixed with the sand against the ends
of the said tube or cover. Above the screw. shaft, and parallel to its axis;
two sliding rods are placed in the box or hopper; these rods have projections
from them which will agitate the sand, and prevent any tendency which it
may have to adhere or to concrete, and will make it fall and fill the threads of
the screw.
These sliding rods receive motion from a cam on the axis of the
screw shaft, which has a worm wheel upon its end that geers with a worm
upon a cross shaft placed in suitable bearings, and this cross shaft receives
rotating motion (when sand is to be delivered from the box or hopper) from a
pulley, having its periphery covered with leather or india-rubber, which
pulley is mounted in suitable bearings on a forked lever, so that by moving
this lever by a suitable handle, the pulley can be brought in and out of contact
with the wheel of the locomotive or brake van, or a pulley fixed on one of the
axles of the locomotive or carriage to which the-apparatus is applied.
ThesFigures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawing will more particularly
illustrate the manner of carrying my. Invention into effect.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section and elevation; Fig. 2, a plan view; Fig. 3,
an end elevation partly in section; & Fig. 4, a cross sectional elevation of
one modification of my Invention.
a, wrought-iron box or hopper rivetted together, and provided with an
hinged lid (a); b, cast-iron bottom secured to the wrought iron sides of the box;
and having a chiannol in which the right and left handed screw shaft c works;
this double screw shaft has a bearing at one end in a piece (a²) secured to the
bottom part b, and at the other ond in a cast-iron box d secured to the end of
the hopper; this box is provided with a hinged lid (d'), and covers and pro-
tects the mechanism by which motion is given to the double screw, namely, a
worm wheel (e) fixed on the end of the double screw shaft (c) and the worm f
gearing with the worm wheel e; this worm is secured on a cross shaft g,
having bearings in the cast-iron box d. The sliding rods h, carrying the
projecting agitators (h') work through the side of the hopper at one end,
and are jointed with a lever h² at the other end, the fulcrum of which lever
is carried by a projection (*) secured to the side of the hopper. The
alternate-to-and-fro motion of the agitating rods (h) is given by a cam pro-
jection (h), or a series of cam projections formed on one side of the worn

page_text: wheel (e), the tube which covers the middle part of the screw, and against the
ends of which small stones are broken, is marked i, and the pipe which con-.
ducts the sand delivered by the screw to the rail is marked j.
Fig. 4 is a section corresponding to Fig. 1. of another modification, having
a screw shaft with the thread all in one direction, and with two delivery
spouts (). It is intended for locomotives having coupled driving wheels, and
is placed to come between the driving wheels. This modification will dis-
tribute sand upon the rails down one pipe when the engine is going forward,
and down the other pipe when going backward. There is a tube or cover (j)
at each end of the screw shaft (c) instead of one in the middle only, as in tho
first modification described. The apparatus is driven by a pulley k, which is
grooved so that an india-rubber band (k) may be secured upon it; this pulley.
is fixed on one end of a short shaft, carried by a forked lever, having its
fulcrum k' on the framing of the engine or carriage. The short shaft has a
toothed wheel upon its other end, upon which. an endless tooth-jointed
chain
works, which also passes round a-toothed wheel fixed on the end of
the shaft g. The fulcrum of the lever (³) carrying the pulley is fixed, so that
with the weight of the pulley it will (when allowed) always fall towards, the
periphery of the driving wheel. (represented in Fig. 1 and 5 by a segment
marked ), or other rotating surface from which motion is to be taken, the
endless toothed chain being always left sufficiently slack to allow of this, and
so that the lever and pulley will be free to oscillate and give way to any
movements in the driving wheel or in the framing from the oscillations of the
springs. The fulcrum of the lever is supposed, in the Drawings, to be
secured to the upper side of the "foot plate" of a locomotive engine in
Fig. 1, and to the lower side of the foot plate in Fig. 5.
Fig. 6 is an end elevation, and Fig. 7 is partly a side elevation of another
mode of conveying motion to the screw shaft. The short shaft or g in this
case is placed in a bearing, in a lever, having its fulcrum on a stud k
secured in the side of the box (d); the worm (f) is secured on one end of
the short shaft (or g), and the pulley (k) directly upon the other end.
With this arrangement the lever ³ may oscillate sufficiently to allow for the
movements of the carriage or driving wheel without materially altering the
depth of the geer between the worm and worm wheel. A weight is applied
to the lever ³, so that it may always tend towards the periphery of the driving
wheel from which it receives motion.
The details of the mode of applying this apparatus to locomotive engines or
brake vans will depend upon the peculiar construction and circumstances in each
case; sometimes the mode of driving shown in Fig. 1 and 2 will be best

page_text: suited, and in other cases, either that shewn by Fig. 5, or that by Figs. 6
and 7, will be most applicable. One sand box or hopper is of course placed
on each side of the engine or brake van, the apparatus being constructed
"right" and "left" for the purpose. The pulley when at work may bo
pressed against the driving wheels by additional weights or by springs, and
they may be lifted away from the driving wheels by a cord, wire, or rod con-
nected with the levers k³, and a proper handle with catches within easy reach
of the driver, fireman, or brakeman, the catch or other equivalent arrange-
ment being for the purpose of holding the pulleys out of contact with the
driving wheels when sand is not required to be distributed.
My improved mechanism may be modified in various ways, and still retain
its peculiar features, that is, agitators may be either rotated, reciprocated, or
oscillated; and the mode of imparting motion to the mechanism may bo
varied, and mechanism having cavities of definite extent may be substituted
for the screw, and such mechanism may have continuous motion imparted to
it from any convenient moving part of the engine or train when sand is to
be distributed, and the cavities may be filled with sand from the hopper (the
sand being caused to enter by the agitators), so that as the mechanism rotates
or advances this sand will be discharged from the cavities, which will come
back to be again filled, and thus a certain uniform and continuous delivery of
sand will result.
I have now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
Invention, and the mode of carrying the same into effect, and wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the details; but claim, as my
Invention, so long as its peculiar features are retained, the combination of
the mechansm herein-before described, and its mode of action, for distributing
sand upon the rails to give adhesion to the driving and brake wheels of loco-
motive railway engines and carriages.
In witness whereof, I, the said Abraham Priestley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
ABRAHAM PRIESTLEY. (L.S.)