CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN 'BREAKS' APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Simons, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN 'BREAKS'
APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 1st April 1869, and dated the 6th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Simons at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th October 1868.
I, EDWARD SIMONS, of Sheffield, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
'BREAKS' APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a novel adaptation to the carriages of rail-
way trains or other vehicles of an improved "break." The construction
and peculiarity of the mechanism I employ may be conveyed and
understood by the following description:-I mount or otherwise support
upon a bracket conveniently placed in the carriage, van, or vehicle
a catch and a circular or segmental catch, or indented plate, or other
equivalent, to which plate or the bars thereof a chain dependent there-
from is secured that is capable when the circular plate is partially

page_text: turned of winding up or folding the said chain upon its boss or drum;
to the lower end of this chain a rod is suspended transversely, to
which are secured immediately over the rails or metals shoes or curved
"break blocks," two surfaces of which when lowered fit the periphery
of the wheel and the plane of the metals so as to drag upon and
prevent the revolution of the wheels, a flange being provided which is
employed to keep the shoes or blocks in their true position on the
rails. The transverse rod and block or shoes are governed in their
movement by means of curved slots (formed concentrically to the
periphery of the wheels) formed in the brackets secured to the sides of
the carriage, which are in such a position that when the catch wheel
is slightly turned or wound up so as to be caught and retained by the
lever catch, the shoes or blocks through the medium of the chain are
elevated or raised from the metals or rails, the consecutive groove
governing the position of the rod and "blocks" clears them out of
contact with the wheels, but when lowered the blocks are brought to
bear upon the rail so as to form an abutment for the wheels, thereby
preventing their revolution so as to stop the train. Thus when it is
desired to apply the "breaks" the catch lever is caused to relieve the
circular plate supporting the transverse rod and blocks, the action of
which when relieved slide down the concentric grooves so as to form
a shoe or rest for the wheels, thereby preventing their revolution and
the necessary stoppage of the train.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Simons in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, EDWARD
SIMONS, of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Simons,. Her special license that
I, the said Edward Simons, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edward Simons, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN 'BREAKS'
APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edward Simons, 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 Edward Simons, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :—
My Invention relates to a novel adaptation to the carriages of railway
trains or other vehicles of an improved "break." The construction and
peculiarity of the mechanism which I employ may be conveyed and
understood by the following description of the same as applied to a
railway carriage or van:-I mount or otherwise support upon a bracket,
or in a box conveniently placed in the carriage, van, or vehicle, a catch
and a circular or segmental catch or indented plate, or other equivalent,
to which plate or the boss thereof a chain dependent therefrom is
secured that is capable when the circular plate is partially turned of
winding up or folding the said chain upon its boss or drum; to the
lower end of this chain a rod is suspended transversely, to which are
secured (immediately over the rails or metals) shoes or carved "break
blocks," two surfaces of which when lowered fit the periphery of the
wheel and the plane of the metals so as to drag upon and prevent the
revolution of the wheels, a flange being provided which is employed to
keep the shoes or blocks in their true position on the metals; the
transverse rod and blocks or shoes are governed in their movements by
means of curved slots formed (concentrically or parallel to the periphery
of the wheels) in brackets secured to the sides of the carriage or to the
axle or axle box, and in such a position that when the catch wheel is
slightly turned or wound up so as to be caught and retained by the

page_text: lever catch the shoes or blocks through the medium of the chain are
elevated or raised from the metals or rails; the concentric groove
governing the position of the rod and."blocks" clears them out of
contact with the wheels, but when lowered the blocks are brought to
bear upon the rail so as to form an abutment for the wheels; thereby t
preventing their revolution so as to stop the train. Thus when it is
desired to apply the "breaks" the .catch lever is caused to relieve the
circular plate supporting the transverse rod and blocks, which when
relieved slide down the concentric grooves, so as to form a shoe or rest
for the wheels, thereby preventing their revolution and causing the 1
necessary stoppage of the train.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Certain
Improvements in 'Breaks' applicable to Railway and other Carriages,"
I will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the
same is to be or may be carried into practical effect; and in order that
the same may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet
of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof.
Fig. 1 in the annexed Drawing represents a side elevation, drawn
partly in section, of a railway guard's van with my Invention shown as
applied thereto; and Fig. 2 is an end view of the same.
Inside a box a, a, attached to each end of the carriage I mount a
chain pulley, disc, or wheel b, b, provided with a tooth or catch c (or if
preferred a notched or indented segment or ratchet wheel or other
equivalent may be employed), and to this pulley or to the catch one
end of a chain d, d, is secured, the other end of the said chain sup-
porting by the centre a transverse or horizontal bar e, e, the extremities
of which bar run in concentric curved grooves or slots fif, formed in
brackets g, g, bolted to the axle boxes. (In some instances these
brackets may be fixed to the bottom of the carriage.) This transverse
bar carries two curved break blocks or shoes h, h, placed immediately
over the rails or metals, and provided with a flange i, i, to keep them
in their true position when on the rails.
:.
.The action of this break is as follows:-When the break is out of use
(as shown at the right-hand end at Fig. 1) the chain pulley or disc b, b,
is turned round by means of the handle k, k, till the catch c comes into
the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, where it is held by the catch

page_text: lever, . This turning of the pulley or disc winds up the chain d; d,
and raises the curved break blocks or shoes h, h, off the rails and clear
of the wheel tyres, and they are held in this position by the cateh
lever 1, 1, so long as the break is not required to be in use. When it
is required to "scotch" or "skid" the wheels all that is necessary is
to depress the upper arm of the catch lever 1, 2, which will release the
catch c, and allow the break blocks or shoes h, h, to descend by their
own weight on to the rails or metals, the curved slots f,f, in which the
ends of the transverse bar e, e, move guiding the blocks or shoes under
the wheel until they become wedged between the wheels and the metals,
and effectually stop the revolution of the former. It will be observed
that the break van is fitted with a double set of apparatus, so that the
break can be applied in whichever direction the van or carriage may be
proceeding.
The method of applying my Invention to omnibuses or carriages used
on common roads is shown clearly in side elevation at Fig. 3 and end
view, Fig. 4. In this modification the brackets or guides g, g, (with
their curved slots f,f,) are bolted on to a block forged on to the hinder
axletree. The break blocks or shoes h, h, are mounted on the transverse
bars e, e, the ends of which run in the grooves or slots f, f, as before,
but the transverse bars themselves are carried by the two longer arms of
a bell-crank lever m, m, which is capable of oscillating on the axle, the
third or shorter arm n, n, of the said bell crank being connected by a
rod or link o, o, to the lower end of a lever p, p, the handle or upper
end of which is placed within easy reach of the driver's hand. It will
be evident that a treadle may be employed in place of the lever p, p.
The handle of the lever p, p, moves in contact with a curved guide or
segmental bracket q, q, and is provided with a catch lever r, r, which
by falling into a notch holds it in the central position in which it is
shown in Fig. 3, holding both breaks out of action as drawn in black lines.
When the break is to be applied the driver grasps the handle p and
catch lever r, releasing the latter from the notch in the curved
guide q, q, and then moves the lever either forwards or backwards into
one of the positions drawn in red or blue, according as he wishes to
apply the breaks or shoes behind or in front of the wheels.
I may here observe that in some light descriptions of carriages the
brackets or guides 9, 9, with their curved slots f, f, may be dispensed
with, as the bell-crank lever m, m, will act as a guide to place the shoe
under the wheel.

page_text: Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with
the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be
distinctly understood that I claim as my Invention the general novel
construction and arrangement of the break and its appliances; and more
especially. I claim the use of the pulley, disc, or segment with its notch
or catch and. lever, or other equivalent, and the curved guides or slots
for directing the break blocks or shoes under the wheels, and also the
use of a bell crank lever for applying the breaks at pleasure, either
before or behind the wheels of carriages used on common rods.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Simons, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
EDWARD SIMONS. (L.s.)