IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING VEHICLES USED ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gedge, of No. 4, Wellington Street South,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING
VEHICLES USED ON RAILWAYS."-A communication from Sophia Richter, of
Gorlitz, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 24th August 1855, and dated the 28th February 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gedge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th February 1855.
I, JOHN GEDGE, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING
VEHICLES USED ON RAILWAYS," (a communication from Sophia Richter, of
Gorlitz, in the Kingdom of Prussia,) to be as follows:-
Instead of the modes usually employed for breaking, stopping, or retarding
railway vehicles, I propose to use a pair of partly cogged wheels placed under
the framing of the carriages, acted upon by a toothed bar, which acts on a lever
in the following manner:-In anticipation of danger, or whenever desirable to
stop or retard a railway train, the guard will remove a hook or other stop, which
serves to restrain the action of a small wheel resting on the roof of the vehicle,
and sets the axis thereof in motion by means of a handle thereto affixed (much

page_text: as the loosening or winding up of the common break is now effecter), which,
by the help of a corresponding wheel below or under the bottom framing and
floor of the vehicle, serves to propel an indented or cogged metal bar; this bar
finds its way through an aperture made to permit its passage at the back of
the vehicle; by the time it has projected about one foot it has acted upon
another indented wheel situate at its other extremity. This wheel in its
rotation causes a branch bar and knob to revolve along with it, the latter
being furnished with a second moveable knob, and rolled to secure a lever,
which it drags away with it as far as requisite to allow a vertical hook (weighed
down by a chain) to fall into a horizontal position. The chain in detaching
itself from the hook carries along with it the metal cogged wheel, resting
on the upper part of the hook, to lessen the friction and accelerate the motion
of the indented curved extremity of the lever.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GEDGE, of No. 4, Wellington Street South, Strand, in the County of Middlesex;"
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth-eighth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the
eighteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Gedge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Gedge, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
OR MACHINERY FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING VEHICLES USED ON RAILWAYS,"
a communication from Sophia Richter, of Gorlitz, in the Kingdom of Prussia,
upon condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gedge, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was

page_text: 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 John Gedge, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to
the letters of reference marked on the several Diagrams shown thereon, where
similar parts appear or can be seen respectively:
:-
Among the manifold inventions of the present day, that of the railroad
must be considered one of the most important; yet, however much may have
been done towards furthering its ultimate perfection, it cannot be denied that
there still remains a field for improvement, especially as regards the safety of
those who avail themselves of this mode of travelling, as affording them the
means of reaching the greatest distance in the shortest possible space of time.
We daily witness the establishment of new railroads; they cross each other in
every direction, and there is scarcely a county in England where at some time
or other of the day trains are not seen sweeping along. We behold thousands
of people hurrying to the stations, heedless of the danger to which they are
going to expose themselves, and should any of these individuals chance for a
moment to feel the slightest intimidation, the sight of the many fellow travellers
ready to share the danger soon dissipates their fears; yet how often have we
not reason to shudder at t... .count of some appaling accident, most generally
accompanied with severe loss of life. One of the most essential deficiences on
the railroad appears to be the absence of a contrivance, by means of which the
passenger carriages at least could, in the event of impending danger, be
instantaneously severed from the remainder of the train, and their further
progress in the direction of danger considerably retarded. The travelling
public would undoubtedly welcome with gratitude an invention calculated to
assure the safety of their lives, and to banish all fear or apprehension from their
minds, and thus make room for the delightful feeling of security, and the
consciousness of being enabled to attain the end of their journey free from
injury. In another point of view, what great advantages would not the railway
companies derive from such an invention, inasmuch as the lives of those in
office would thereby be preserved, and consequently the companies would no
longer be exposed to the heavy pecuniary damages awarded against them in
cases of injury to life and limb. The secure fastening or connecting of the
various carriages of a train with one another, so as to insure the greatest
possible safety to the train, has already caused much trouble and research, and

page_text: it is readily to be believed that a contrivance which would at once combine the
solidity of union with the possibility of instant seperation in the event of danger
would be hailed with satisfaction by all. An attempt to solve the problem by
the means herein-after described has now been made, and, it is to be hoped,
successfully. The mechanism as will be seen is by no means complicated, the
expence comparatively small; it can easily be applied to several carriages;
but the object in view, namely, the security of the passengers, might be
attained even by the application of the apparatus to one carriage only in
every train.
Figure 1 of the Drawing shows a horizontal plan of the apparatus as it
would appear under and in the framing or floor of a railway carriage; Figure 2,
a lateral and sectional view of the apparatus, shewing the action of the releasing
and retaining hook 7; there is no draw bar or connecting chains required when
this apparatus is used. The guard, when he desires to bring the mechanism
into operation, sets (by ordinary means) the axis of a of a small wheel (placed
on the top of the vehicle) in motion by means of the handle b, which, by the
help of a corresponding wheel c, situate at its base beneath the flooring & of
the carriage, gearing into a larger cogged wheel, which serves to impel the
partly cogged or toothed iron bar e. This bar finds its way through the
aperture (Figure 1), made to permit its passage at the back of the vehicle;
by the time it has projected about one foot out of the same it has acted upo
the cogged or toothed wheel g, situate at its other extremity. This wheel in
its partial rotation naturally causes the branch bar and knob h to revolve along
with it; the latter is furnished with a second moveable knob and roller i, to
secure the lever k, which it drags away with it as far as requisite to allow the
vertical hook (Figure 2), pressed or weighed down by the chain m, to fall
into a horizontal position. The chain in detaching itself from the hook carries
along with it the small cogged wheel n, resting on the upper part of the hook
when the hook is erect, and which is only placed there to lessen the friction
and to facilitate and accelerate the motion of the cogged or toothed curved
extremity of the lever o; in lieu of the last-mentioned wheel, a small brass
roller, perfectly smooth and polished, will answer the same purpose. The inner
part of the curved end of the lever, instead of being indented, must then also
be smooth and polished, but I prefer that herein described and shewn. Tho
object of detaching the passenger carriages from the engine being thus attained,
1 would here observe that use may be made of the apparatus to affix break
blocks on the peripheries of the carriage wheels; but as I have not provided
any particular or precise means of so doing, no claim will be made by me in
that respect; the Invention having reference principally to the avoidance of

page_text: shocks by disconnecting the train from the prime mover, the engine, and by the
retardation of velocity providing, with the assistance of the "breaks," for the
safety of the passengers.
Having now described the nature of the Invention as communicated to
me by the said Sophia Richter, and the means by which it is carried into
practical effect, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein described, or to the exact proportions of the various
parts of the apparatus to cach other, as they may and in fact must be modified
according to the exigencies of particular cases, and the varying build of railway
vehicles; nor do I claim the exclusive use of any of the mechanical parts herein
described or shewn, taken seperately as parts, and not in combination or for
the purposes of this Invention, which I declare to be, and I claim the exclusive
use of, the combination of mechanical parts herein described and shewn,
forming when so combined a means of instantaneously seperating railway
trains in parts, and thus retarding the motion of that portion or those portions
so severed or seperated from the locomotive engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gedge, have hereunto affixed my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
FREDERICK KEENE,
Great Bland Street,
Dover Road, Southwark.
JOHN GEDGE. (L.S.)