Improved Means for Lessening the Effects of Collisions on Railways.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Aug., 1899-Accepted, 21st Oct., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Lessening the Effects of Collisions on Railways.
I, CHARLES JAMES SINGLETON, of No 8, Staple Inn, London, Chartered
Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows.
-
The use of the force of the impact consequent on the collision of railway trains
to remove the supports of the seats of railway carriages so that the seats either
fall to the floor of the carriage or fold down on to the backs of the compartments
of the railway carriage so soon as the force of the impact 18 sufficiently strong to
break up the carriage or compartment of the carriage and so cause telescoping
of the carriage or compartment of the carriage and nipping of the legs of the
passengers between the edges of the seats
This I effect by resting the seats entirely on moveable legs or supports so
that on removal of the supports the seats fall to the floor of the carnage or by
hinging the seats to the backs of the compartments of the railway carriage and
keeping them in the proper horizontal position by moveable legs or supports in
the front or other part of the seats
The force of the impact is made to act on the supports or legs of the seats
by thrusting bars so fixed to the backs of each compartment of the railway
carriage that upon impact of force sufficient to break up the carriage the bars
will move forward and so push down the legs or supports, upon which the seats
will fall in one of the two ways already set out. The thrusting bars will be
80 fixed that they will find no opposing force to the thrusting down of the supports
or legs and at the same time cannot make any thrust until the carriage 18 being
broken up.
The removal of the legs or supports may be effected also by causing the force
of the impact to act on them by levels or pulleys-which said levers or pulleys,
together with the thrusting bars, may be made to work through the buffers of the
carriages through each cannage as a whole or in each compartment separately.
Dated 10th February 1899.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improved Means for Lessening the Effects of Collisions on Railways.
I, CHARLES JAMES SINGLETON, FCA, of 8, Staple Inn, Holboin, in the County
of London, Chartered Accountant, 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 •—
This invention consists of fixing the seats of the railway carriage on moveable

page_text: supports, which will be thrust away on impact by the action of levers or duect
thrusting bars
The seats may be fixed by hinges at the back, so that the moveable supporting
blocks will be required in front only; in which case on the moveable supporting
blocks being thrust away by the force of impact, the Beat will fall down like a
flap
The seats may also be fixed on moveable blocks both at the back and front,
in which case the seat will fall to the bottom of the carriage on impact
The parts of the seats which will rest on the moveable supports to have function
balls or wheels set into the surface in contact with the support
The force of the impact consequent on the collision of railway trains is used
to remove the supports of the seats of railway carriages so that the seats either
fall to the floor of the carriage or fold down on to the backs of the compartments
of the railway carriage so soon as the force of the impact 18 sufficiently strong to
break up the carriage or compartment of the carriage and so cause telescoping
of the carriage or compartment of the carriage and nipping of the legs of the
passengers between the edges of the seats
This I effect by reating the seats entirely on moveable legs or supports s0
that on removal of the supports the seats fall to the floor of the carriage or by
hinging the seats to the backs of the compartments of the railway carriage and
keeping them in the proper horizontal position by moveable legs or supports in
the front or other part of the seats
The force of the impact is made to act on the supports or legs of the seats
by thrusting bars so fixed to the backs of each compartment of the railway
carriage that upon impact of force sufficient to break up the carriage the bars
will move forward and so push down the supporting legs or supports upon which the
Beats will fall in one of the two ways already set out The thrusting bais will be
80 fixed that they will find no opposing force to the thrusting down of the supports
oi legs and at the same time cannot make any thrust until the carriage is being
bioken up.
The removal of the legs or supports may be effected also by causing the force
of the impact to act on them by levers or pulleys-which said levers or pulleys,
together with the thrusting bars, may be made to work through the buffers of the
cariages, through each carriage as a whole or in each compartment separately.
In order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and cariied:
into effect, I will now proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings more fully
to describe a means of carrying out the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the several figures in the accompanying drawings like parts are indicated
by similar letters of reference.
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal elevation of half of a compartment
of a railway carriage constructed according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan of one compartment of a railway carriage
constructed according to the present invention
Figure 3 is diagrammatic end elevation of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is an end elevation on an enlarged scale of Figure 3 showing more
clearly the details of the present improvement.
Figure 5 is a front elevation of Figure 4.
Figure 6 is a plan of Figure 5.
In order to carry out my invention I longitudinally divide the seats ab of
a compartment c of a railway carriage so that one part 6 is built into the carriage
while the other part of the seat a is hinged or pivotted to b in a convenient
manner. To prevent the seats a a from falling down till a collision occurs (as shall
hereinafter be explained) I support the hinged or pivotted part of the seat a
on hinged side flaps d, which may be let into the sides of the compartment
if desired. The hinged side flaps d d are supported by upright hinged or pivotted

page_text: "
pillarse which are held in position by hooks f f on the ends of certain bars
which I call "thrust bars 9 g. The thrust bars g g may be built into the
floor of the compartment in such a way that they are flush with it, and they may
also be carried up under the seats as shown at h h so as to increase their
rigidity
When a collision occurs sufficient to cause telescoping of the carriage the
sides of the compartment at right angles to the rails approach each other, and
the thrust bars 9 (being built into the floor and into the sides of the compart-
ment and thus forming part of the carriage) also approach each other, and they
force the upright hinged or pivotted pillars oe down into recesses 2 2-see
Figures 3 and 4 thus enabling the hinged side-flaps d d to collapse, and so
allowing the seats a a to fall down-as shown by dotted lines in Figure 4-thus
preventing the legs of passengers being nipped between the seats.
To facilitate the action and to prevent any tendency for the pillars e e to jam,
rollers 3 3 of suitable material may be fixed to the tops of the pillars e c.
Instead of rollers, balls working in cups may be used if desired. Uniformity of
movement of the pillars ee may be secured by connecting them by a bar k,
see Figure 1
The hook forming one end of the thrust bar g though sufficient to hold the
upright pillar e in position in ordinary circumstances, would be pressed forward
and slightly upward under the force of an impact sufficient to telescope a
calllage, and would cause the seats to fall as explained above. The thrust
bais 99 act on the pillars e o at the point where the greatest force 18 exerted in
the shortest time, thus causing the collapse of the seats to be practically instan-
taneous
The seats may be upholstered in a convenient way when desired
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim 18.
1 The hinging or pivotting of railway carriage seats with suitable mechanism
in such a way that on an impact sufficient to cause telescoping of a carriage the
seats or part of the seats will collapse or fall down
2. Supporting folding hinged or pivotted side flaps holding up the hinged
parts of railway carriage seats as herein set forth
3 The combination of mechanism as herein set forth to enable railway carnage
seats or parts of the seats to fall at the moment a railway camage is telescoped
4 The construction of railway carriages embodying the improvements herein
shown and described with reference to the accompanying drawings
Dated this 2nd day of August 1899