IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS, IN CAR- RIAGES TO BE USED ON RAILWAYS, AND IN GIVING SIGNALS TO RAILWAYS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BURCH, of Newcastle Place, Clerkenwell Close, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of July,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Burch, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Burch, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Burch, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS, IN CAR-
RIAGES TO BE USED ON RAILWAYS, AND IN GIVING SIGNALS TO RAILWAYS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Burch,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in

page_text: part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Burch, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My improvements consist,-
Firstly, in a method of breaking the extraordinary shocks to which railway
carriages are occasionally exposed.
Secondly, in a method of obtaining a signal to show the time which has
elapsed since the passing of a train.
Thirdly, in a method of using steel as an elastic resisting power for railway
carriages.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
earried into effect, I will proceed to describe it more fully in connection with
the Drawings attached, premising that the same letters or figures refer to the
same parts in all the Drawings.
The first plan for breaking larger shocks than the present buffing apparatus
is adapted for, by expending the momentum of the train in overcoming the
tension of substances, is proposed to be used subsidiarily to the spring buffers,
and not to come into use except in greater resistance being required than the
spring buffers are capable of affording. By experiment I find that the usual
buffing resistance of a passenger carriage is about equal to one ton working
through a space of two feet, and is not adapted to resist the shock resulting
from a speed greater than five miles per hour, the momentum due to any
higher velocity must be expended in more or less damage to the framework
of the carriages. At ten miles per hour the momentum is four times that of
five miles, requiring a resisting power proportionally of four tons through two
feet. At twenty miles per hour the momentum is four times that of ten miles,
requiring for equal carriage a resisting power equal to sixteen tons working
through two feet, or sixteen times greater than the actual resisting power of
the buffers. This extra momentum is, in a case of collision, usually expended
in the destruction of portions of the railway carriages and passengers. My
proposition is to expend it without danger of reaction by providing substances
of great strength, in the destruction of which it shall be legitimately expended,
such substances being exposed to its action in that position in which they
exert the greatest resisting power, namely, by pulling them asunder lengthwise.

page_text: may
The plan which I consider best adapted for effecting this object is, as shewn in
Figure 1, to form the substance to be destroyed into a ring or series of rings,
and to cause the momentum of the train to act upon them so as to burst them
open in succession by forcing a circular wedge or cone through them. m¹ and
m² is a mandril on which the rings r are placed loose, and the cone c is fixed.
s is a stop for the rings, through which the mandril passes. On applying the
power at m the cone c broaches or bursts the rings in succession. The
resisting power would be in proportion to the quantity and strength of the
rings and length of movement. Figures 2 shows rings of various forms.
In this way I consider a most intense resisting power, sufficient to break a
shock up to twenty miles per hour, may be obtained within reasonable limits
as to size, weight, and expense, and the carriages and passengers saved from
destruction by a small expenditure of some material at once cheap and
strong, probably either iron or hemp. It will be apparent that this principle
be applied in various ways. I will describe two plans which I consider
well adapted for effecting the object. Figure 3 is a plan, partly sectional, of
the under framing of a railway carriage, which shows the application to the
buffers of an ordinary carriage having twelve inches of buffing movement.
I cramp the spring up four inches, which will diminish its total resistance
about a seventh, and take three inches from the buffer heads, by which
I obtain a range of seven inches for my expending apparatus without the
buffer faces projecting more than the usual two feet. r are the rings; c,
the cone; t is a piece of wrought-iron tube; v is a screw working in the
slot, by taking out which the apparatus may be drawn forward and the rings
readily renewed if broken. 9 is a guide or bearing. On pressure being
applied at the buffer face the spring will first be driven home, and, secondly,
the rings will be broached, the rod sliding within the tube. In case of a
stationary train being run into by another at a speed not exceeding
twelve miles per hour at the moment of collision, I consider this plan
will be sufficient to expend the momentum. But to sustain greater shocks
propose the more powerful apparatus described in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, and 10, which show, placed under the carriage lengthwise, a power
bar or tube on which I propose to throw all the strain, both of the regular
travelling and cases of collision. Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation.
Figure 5 is a plan of under framing, partly sectional. Figure 6 is an end
elevation, partly sectional. Figure 7 is an end elevation, as are also Figures 8
and 9, Figure 10 is a plan, partly sectional, of the after end of the power
bar.
I
To describe the Figures more particularly:-p is the power bar or tube,

page_text: placed lengthwise under the carriage, confined longitudinally to the carriage by
means of the slides working in the power bar guards k, which allow a few
inches vertical movement. This power bar is attached by means of the bolts
and plates a to the single plate springs b. The end of the springs b, by means
of the bearers y, which work in the guides d, are fixed on the centre of the
bearing springs of the carriage immediately over the axle. By this arrange-
ment I attain the very desirable object of rendering the buffing apparatus
independent of the load in the carriage, and preserving a horizontal line of
action.
The spring apparatus for traction and ordinary buffing is placed in
the pointed or forward end of the power bar, and the apparatus for expending
the momentum of extraordinary shocks in the after end e is for the purpose of
both buffer rod and traction rod. The head f is for the purpose of connecting
the carriage to the preceding one, as shewn by the dotted lines at the after
of Figure 5. w is key through the buffing rod, on which the centres of
the buffing springs are fixed. h is also a key through the buffing rod, to
which, by means of the connecting rods and bolts i, the ends of the buffing
springs are attached. In traction the key h works in the slot in the power
bar, and the key w in the slot in the buffing rod. In buffing the key h works
in the slot in the buffing rod, and the key w in the slot in the power bar. The
expending apparatus is marked as in Figure 1. 9 are guides or bearings.
9 is a screw, which, when drawn, will allow the mandril to be taken out.
m, the mandril. c, the cone. r, the rings.
The apparatus for attaching and detaching is shewn at the end of the power
bar (see Figure 5). j are two powerful latches (to hold the head g of the
buffing rod) which are clipped together by the spring n (see Figure 9). 0, see
Figure 8, is a cam, with two handles for opening the latches ; when the
carriage is to be detached. The upper handle should be heavier than the
lower, which would avoid a necessity for fixing it when not in operation. In
Figure 10 the rings and cone are placed outside the tube, the cone c being
forced forward by means of the key passing through the mandril m, and
working in the slot in the power bar. I would use this form when the
substance to be broken occupies too large a space to be conveniently placed
inside the power bar. ¹ shews a stop for the rings fitted with bolts and nuts,
and adapted to take the power bar asunder in the centre if required. The
after end of the power bar is enlarged in order to ensure the buffing rod
entering. The operation in case of collision would be that the spring buffer
would first be driven home, and then the head of the power bar would force
the mandril before it, broaching the rings in its progress, and the several power
bars of the carriages would form in effect one powerful bar throughout the

page_text: length of the train. By placing two power bars under each carriage, with
their ends reversed, the carriages would not require turning, which would be
the case with a single power bar. By using metal rings indented more or less
on the inner edges (as shewn by Figure 2*) the momentum of the train
would be partially expended in bending the points previously to breaking the
ring. This plan may be used in combination with that already described, and
it would allow the cone to enter more easily; or it may be used independently
by keeping the cone so small as not to burst the rings; or points may be fixed
protruding from a tube (as shewn in the sectional Figure 11), and bent by the
passage of the mandril and collar, which in that case need not be a cone; but
I consider the best application of this principal will be in combination with
that already described. The value of the momentum of a train of twelve
carriages, weighing sixty tons, at a speed of twenty miles per hour, would be in
round numbers nine hundred tons working through one foot space. Supposing
this train to run into a stationary train of equal weight a portion of this
momentum would be expended on the buffers of the carriages of both trains, a
further portion would be expended in giving motion to the stationary train,
and a further portion would be accounted for by the coming train not being
actually stopped. On these gronnds I calculate that the apparatus I have
described would give safety up to twenty miles per hour at the moment of
collision, and in consequence of the guards skidding or breaking the wheels on
the approach of danger there are few collisions occur over that speed.
I will now describe the second portion of my Invention, which consists in
giving to or graduating the motion of an apparatus for denoting the lapse of
time for railway signals by means of the graduated escape of a fluid, or small
substance such as sand. I will describe one apparatus suited for a fluid only,
and another suited either for fluid or dry substance. I will assume the fluid
to be mercury and the dry substance sand. A (see Figure 12) is a hollow
vessel free to swing on the pivot B, with a portion of mercury placed in the
hatchet-shaped end, which can only get to the other end by percolating
gradually through the small tube C. D is a string of weights attached
at one end to the lever E, and at the other end to the hollow vessel, and
so balanced as to bring the apparatus to commence its action in the
position shewn in the Figure. As the fluid gradually percolates through the
tube its weight passing from one end of the vessel to the other will cause it
gradually to turn on its axis, assuming the position shewn by the dotted lines,
and the pointer F, provided with glass of different colors, and placed in front
of a lamp for night and a figured index for day signals, will have indicated the
lapse of time for which the apparatus is graduated. On the passing of a train

page_text: by means of an apparatus attached to the rod G (similar to that to b
presently described) the lever E is lowered to the position shewn by the dotted
line, when the additional weight will cause the vessel to assume the position
shewn in Figure 13, and the liquid will then return into the hatched-shaped
end. After the train has passed the lever E is again raised to its former
position, and the apparatus is ready to recommence its operation. Figure 14
shews a plan of the vessel, lever, and post. Figures 15, 16, 17, 18,
and 19, shew an apparatus adapted either for sand or mercury. Figure 15
is a front elevation. Figure 16, the same. Figure 17, a plan. Figure 18, side
elevation; and Figure 19, an elevation. H (see Figure 15) is a circular disk
fixed on a post turning on its centre in front of a lamp, and fitted with colored
glass and figures to give a day and night signal; the outer rim (shewn in
section) is hollow, and contains a number of cells with orifices, (shewn more
particularly in the enlarged sectional Figure 20*), for the gradual escape of
mercury or sand. I is a treble crank (for which a wheel might be substituted)
weighted to cause the disk to revolve by means of the cord J working round
the drum K. M is a traverser working in the guides N connected with I by
the rod L. O is a weighted bent lever, connected by a chain with the lever
arm P, which is fixed on the horizontal shaft Q. On the shaft Q, which is
placed along near the surface of the rail, is also fixed the treddle R, to be
depressed by the wheel of the engine on the passing of a train. S is a weight
fixed by a lever to the shaft Q, for the purpose of raising the treadle R,
and also the weighted bent lever O, after the train has passed. X is a hori-
zontal block of wood lying along the sleepers by the side of the rail, with
bearings for the horizontal shaft Q. Y is a bearing, the bolt through which
is the axis of O and M; the Figure is shewn during the passing of a train.
On the train having passed, its mode of operation will be as follows:-The
weight S will raise the treadle, and also the weighted bent lever, to the position
shewn by the dotted circle, the upper arm of O being thus drawn back from
the end of the conducting rod L; the weight on the treble crank I is then
free to act, and will cause the disk to revolve till counterbalanced by the
mercury or sand being raised in the cells, as shewn in Figure 16. The
duated action will then commence, and the disk will revolve, shewing a day
and night signal, as the liquid or sand escapes through the orifices in the cells.
To obtain a fog signal, T is a part of the side framing of a locomotive carriage,
to which is attached three light hanging levers U in the guide frame V, their
fulcrum being the bolt W. To the upper part of each lever a line is attached
passing through a hole in the upper part of the guide frame. The three lines
are attached to three small colored bent levers Z (see Figure 19), in a
gra-

page_text: frame A¹, on the fire box A2, fronting the engineer, so placed and weighted
that on any one or more cords being pulled the weights shall fall over and
remain in that position till returned by the engineer. One lever is shewn pulled
over and two not. In the progress of a train the three hanging levers U,
coming in contact with the traverser M, will indicate five distinct lapses of time
since the passing of a preceding train. The treadle R must be placed at such
a distance from the traverser that the signal shall be given before the appa-
ratus is reversed. The fog apparatus may be taken off the engine when not
required. The hollow rim of the disk (which is intended to be air-tight if a
fluid is used) must be of a material not acted upon by the fluid. I propose
to use gutta percha for the purpose, but wood or iron may do. I thus obtain
a self-acting apparatus, shewing day, night, and fog signals, without using
either springs or clockwork, but by the action of gravity only.
The third portion of my Invention consisting in applying the elastic resisting
power of steel as railway carriage springs by pulling the curved spring in the
direction of its length. I propose to call this a tension spring. It is in the
simplest possible form what is termed a shifting fulcrum spring. The power
applied has less leverage as the steel bar approaches more nearly to a straight
line. By experiment I find that any given weight of steel made into a spring of
any ordinary form, and worked through its whole range of elasticity, will give
the same amount of resisting power, but I believe that in consequence of the
neutral line vanishing as the spring assumes more nearly a straight line, the
principle I propose will develope a greater amount of resisting power than any
other form of spring, and it certainly would be cheaper. Figure 20 is a
sectional elevation, and Figure 21 is a plan of part of the under framing of an
ordinary carriage, and show the application of this principle as a traction and
buffing spring. The ordinary spring is removed, and the cross bar a¹ substi-
tuted; the middle part of the traction rod is also removed and the tension
spring a (being merely a curved piece of steel with a hole in each end), is
substituted, being held by the hooks as shown. In the action of either buffing
or traction, the elastic power of this spring will be obtained by pulling it
lengthwise.
Figure 22 is a sectional elevation of part of the under framing of two
common bufferless trucks, shewing a simple application of the principle as a
traction spring. The spring a² is merely placed on the hooks of the carriages,
as shown. Figure 23 shows an application of this principle in the bearing
springs of a carriage. To the axle box (shewn in section) is bolted an under
slide a³, and also, by means of the upright bearer a*, an upper slide a"; through
these slides the axle guard works, taking a shoulder bearing on and bolted to

page_text: the under bearer a", to which and to the upper slide a the springs a² are
attached. The axle guard connecting rod may be attached to the under
bearer a, as shown.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and its mode of opera-
tion, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the details
herein shown and described, but that the details may be varied so long as the
peculiar character of my Invention is retained. What I claim is,―
Firstly, the breaking the extraordinary shocks of carriages on railways by
so arranging apparatus as to expend the momentum in tearing asunder
substances.
Secondly, the obtaining or graduating the motion of an apparatus for giving
time signals on railways by means of the graduated escape of a fluid or small
substance.
Thirdly, the obtaining elastic resisting power of steel for purposes of railway
carriage springs, by pulling in the direction of the length of the steel.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Burch, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.