AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward John Dixon, of Richmond, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE."
Sealed the 3rd January 1865, and dated the 8th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward John Dixon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th July 1864.
I, EDWARD JOHN DIXON, of Richmond, in the County of Surrey, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE,"
to be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention has reference to an improved system of stopping or checking
the speed of trains upon railways by enabling the brake power to be placed
immediately under the controul of the engine driver and applied simulta-
neously to the wheels of each carriage throughout the entire train, whereby
greater uniformity and certainty of action is obtained than at present, and
consists in forming a communication between the ordinary brake levers
placed on the outside of the wheels and the traction bars secured to the bed
or framing of the carriages, by which the requisite brake power is applied
through the medium of coupling hooks or connecting rods, and causing the
said traction bars to slide through fixed guides, so as to receive motion from

page_text: a hand lever worked by toothed bevilled wheels and pinion gear direct from
the engine, by which arrangement the said traction bars on receiving motion
from the engine driver coupled to the brakes, as aforesaid, are caused to act
conjointly with each other upon the wheels, the said connection between the
engine and carriages being formed by a radial bar and link motion in con-
nection with a rod passing through a hole in the centre of each traction bar
longitudinally with the train, and screwed or set up by nuts or otherwise on
the outside, the said carriages being coupled in the usual manner by bringing
the buffer heads together, so as to obtain the requisite set and action thereto.
And, secondly, in the employment of friction wheels or drums placed in the
centre of the axis of the running wheels furnished with bands or straps of soft
steel or iron passing round the periphery of the said friction drums, so as to
grip the same firmly when in motion, and thereby put on the retarding action
in lieu of the ordinary brake.
SPÉCIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward John Dixon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
JOHN DIXON, of Richmond, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward John Dixon, Her special licence that I, the said Edward John
Dixon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward John Dixon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IMPROVED
RAILWAY BRAKE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
John Dixon, 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

page_text: 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 John Dixon, 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 fol-
lowing statement and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say) :-
My Invention has reference to an improved system of stopping or checking
the speed of trains upon railways by enabling the brake power to be placed
immediately under the controle of the engine driver or guard and applied
simultaneously to the wheels of each carriage throughout the entire train,
whereby greater uniformity and certainty of action is obtained than by the
method at present in use, and consists in forming a communication between
the ordinary brake blocks placed on the outside of the wheels and the draw or
traction bar secured to the bed or under framing of the carriages, so as to
receive motion through the medium of serew gear direct from the engine, by
which arrangement the said brakes, as aforesaid, are caused to act conjointly
with each other upon the wheels, the said carriages being coupled in the
ordinary manner, and admitting of the usual play between the buffer
heads.
And, secondly, in employing in connection with the above arrangement friction
wheels or drums placed in the centre of the axis of the running wheels in
lieu of the brake blocks, as above described, the said friction drums being
provided with bands or straps of soft steel or iron passing round the periphery
of each of the said friction drums so as to grip or impinge firmly on the same
when in motion, and thereby communicate the required brake power in like
manner.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of an engine and carriages shewing my
improvements attached thereto, partly in section; Fig. 2, a plan or under-
neath view thereof; Fig. 3, an end elevation of one of the carriages detached ;
Fig. 4, a longitudinal side elevation of a carriage under framing, shewing a
modification of the above as referred to under the second head of my Invention,
and Fig. 6, a front view thereof. In each Figure the same letters of reference
denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, body of the carriage; B, B, engine or tender from which the brake..
power is applied; C, C, bed or carriage framing, to which the running wheels

page_text: D, D, are secured through the medium of the horne plates E and axil boxes
E; F, F, brake blocks; G, G, pivot bearings secured to the framing in which
the brake blocks work; H, H, reacting pressure springs for deadning or
checking the concussion of the blocks when applied to the wheels; I, I, brake
lever; J, J, lever rods moving in connection with the brake blocks as re-
presented; K, K, bearing bars in which the brake lever works; L, L, coupling
link for giving motion to the lever through the medium of the connecting rod
L'; M, M, pins for attaching or detaching the same; N, N, draw bar, to
which the coupling hooks N¹ are attached; 0, 0, carriage couplings; P, P,
pressure springs acting in connection with the draw bar, to which it is attached
through the medium of the india-rubber pads p, p, as shewn; R, R, flat pins
for maintaining the traction bar in its place whilst coupling the carriages;
S, S, slot holes in which the same is inserted; T, T, screw gear attached to
the engine or tender for actuating the brake; U, U, guide stops through
which the sliding action of the draw bar is effected; V, V, friction drum ;
W, W, friction bands; X, X, transverse bar connecting the brakes, to
which the lever rods are centrely attached through the medium of screw
nuts Z¹.
In conclusion to the foregoing description it may be here necessary to note
that, in place of the ordinary draw bar, separate bars may be employed in
like manner, as also tooth and pinion gear in connection with the ordinary
rack movement in place of the above for actuating the draw bar and giving
motion to the brake; and I would further note that the coupling rod may be
so arranged as to admit of being readily adjusted to the opposite end of the
draw bar through the intervention of the brackets and shifting pins without
necessitating the turning of the carriages when making up the train, by the
arrangement of which the draw bar may be caused to actuate the brake in
either direction on being pulled forward by the engine driver.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried
into effect, I would have it clearly understood that I do not confine myself to
the precise details herein-before set forth and described, as the same may be
otherwise varied by enabling the power to be employed in connection with
the present system, and actuated by steam, hand, or otherwise, without de-
parting from the general principle of this my said Invention, nor do I claim
as of my said Invention the exclusive use of the several parts, except when
the same are employed in and for the purposes of my said Invention, which I
hereby declare to consist in the mechanical combination and arrangement of
the several parts in connection with the mode of actuating the brakes through

page_text: the medium of the draw bar simultaneously throughout the train in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward John Dixon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. GRAY,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
Law Chambers,
77, Chancery Lane.
E. J. DIXON. (LS.)