IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING RAILWAY
TRAINS." A communication from abroad by Edouard Delebecque and David
Jean Frédéric Sosthène Banderali, both of Paris, France, Engineers.
Sealed the 8th October 1878, and dated the 26th June 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th June 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING
AND STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS." [A communication from abroad by Edouard
Delebecque and David Jean Frédéric Sosthène Banderali, both of Paris, France,
Engineers.]
This Invention relates to improved apparatus for retarding and stopping railway
trains by causing the brakes to be applied by " electro-automatic" means, or by
operating the controlling devices or parts placed on the engine by means of electrical
communication fixed on the train itself.
The said Invention is designed to provide means whereby any person travelling
in a train may be able, by means of electric communication, to apply any brake,
whether continuous or not, the organ or device for operating which is placed on the
engine, or on a carriage or other vehicle, or whereby such person may be able to
close the valve which admits steam to the cylinders to reverso the direction of the
steam entering the cylinders, and generally to control some device or part affecting
the motion of the train notwithstanding any distance at which such person may be
from the said device or organ. The same combination permits of the brakes being
applied or put in operation through a breakage of the connections between the
separate parts of the train taking place, this being effected by the aid of special
mechanism in the whole or a part of the train.

page_text: The parts employed to effect in combination the above-named objects are as
follows, that is to say :-
First. Electrical communication is provided on or in the train, and which extends
upon the tender to one or several special apparatuses fixed upon the engine, the said
apparatuses being operated "electro-automatically," and perinitting the working of
the handles or similar devices which serve to open the various cocks or valves of
the parts through which the engine is set in motion (see Figure 4 in the accom-
panying Drawings).
Second. Electro-automatic apparatus, which may be constructed in various
manners, and one form of which is herein described and shewn.
In this arrangement I employ "electro-automatic" mechanism in connection with
a whistle, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, to open electrically a valve controlling a
brake, which latter may be operated by compressed or rarefied air or by steam.
By means of this arrangement any person in the train, whether a railway officer
or an ordinary traveller, is in a position to slacken the speed of and stop the train
without any action on the part of the driver, that is to say, the various parts, by
means of which slackening of speed and stopping are effected may be operated from
the interior of the train at any distance froin such parts.
In the Specification of former Letters Patent granted to mo in the year 1870,
and numbered 1524, an Invention is described, according to which the same result
may be obtained by an operation at a fixed point on the railway.
According to that Invention the electric current came from the line of railway,
but according to the present Invention the curront comes from the train.
•
The present Invention is based upon the combination of the arrangements
producing the important results above-described.
In the accompanying Drawings, A is an "electro-automatic" whistle; B is a so-
called "Hughes'"" electro-inagnet; C is the armature of the electro-magnet; D
represents the electro-magnet bobbins, through which may pass a current in the
opposite direction to that which has produced the magnetizing effect; E is a spring
capable of being regulated by means of the nut F; G is a lever opening the valve EI,
of the alarm whistle I; J is a lever opening the steam valve S, and provided with a
moveable counterweight K.; M is a moveable piece supporting in a notch the lever
J when the valve S is closed; N is a pin or peg rivetted on the head of the rod O
of the electro-automatic whistle, and penetrating into a slot or opening in the piece
M, the movement of which it regulates; P is a handle for operating by hand the
piece M Qis a screw stop keeping the lever J at rest when the valve S is not
required to operate; R is a handle to bring back by hand the lever J to its normal
position by a single lifting movement; Š is an equilibrium valve with a double
seat forming a passage for the steam from the boiler towards the ejector; U is a
fixed electrical contact piece placed between the rails; V is a metallic brush, sus-
pended from the engine, and collecting the electric current as it comes against the
contact piece, which current goes thence to the whistle; X is the engine screen;
L, L', are wires forming the means of electrical communication between the train,
the whistle, the fixed contact piece, and the battery; T is the earth wire.
i
When a current passes into the bobbins C, following the course shown by the
sign + towards in the Drawings, whether it comes from the fixed contact piece
through the brush V or from the batteries of the train through the wire L', the
electro-magnet B, electrified in an opposite direction, loses its power for a very short
time, and the spring E is in full action, and draws back the rod O, the pin N, and
the piece M. The lever J being no longer sustained falls by the action of the
counterweight K, opens the valve S, and operates the pneumatic brake; at the same
time the valve H is opened, and the alarm whistle I is sounded. The lever J is
lifted by hand by means of the handle R, the whistle having been closed by
pushing the lever Ġ into its normal position.

page_text: "
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
December 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING
AND STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS." A communication from abroad by Edouard
Delebecque and David Joan Frédéric Sosthène Bandérali, both of Paris, France,
Engineers.
This Invention relates to improved apparatus for retarding and stopping railway
trains by the electro-automatic application of the brakes, or by the operation of
mechanism placed on the engine through the medium of conductors of electrical com-
munication mounted on the train.
The said Invention is designed to provide means whereby any person travelling
in a railway train may be able, by means of electrical communication, to apply any
brake, continuous or otherwise, the mechanism or device for operating, which is
placed on the engine or on a carriage or other vehicle, or whereby such person may
be able to close the valve which admits steam to the engine cylinders, to reverse
the direction of the steam entering the said cylinders, and generally to control
devices or parts governing or affecting the motion of the train, notwithstanding
any distance at which such person may be from the said mechanism or device.
The same combination permits the brakes to be applied or put in operation by the
breaking or separation of the connections between the parts of the train; this object
being effected by the aid of special mechanism arranged throughout, or partially
throughout, the same.
The apparatus employed to effect the above objects comprises the following
combination of parts, that is to say :-
First. Means for electrical communication placed on or in the train, and
extending over or through the tender to one or more special devices fixed upon the
engine, the said apparatuses being operated electro-automatically, and perimitting
the electrical disengagement and operation of the handles or similar devices which
serve to open the various cocks or valvos of the engine, as shewn in Figure 4 of the
Drawing.
Second. Electro-automatic apparatus, which may be constructed in various
forms, and one form or arrangement of which is herein described and shewn.
In this arrangement I employ electro-automatic mechanism in connection with a
whistle, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawing, to open electrically a valve
controlling a brake, which may be operated by compressed or rarefied air or by
steam.
By this arrangement any person in the train, whether a railway officer or an
ordinary traveller, is in a position to slacken the speed of and stop the train without
the intervention of the engine driver, that is to say, the various parts of the
apparatus, by means of which the slackening of speed and stopping of the train are
effected, may be operated from the interior of any part of the train at any distance
from such apparatus by means of an electric current.
In the Specification of former Letters Patant, dated the 10 day of April
A.D. 1876, No. 1524, an Invention is described, according to which the same result
may be obtained by an operation at a fixed point on the railway, in which case the
electric current came from the line of railway, but according to the present
Invention the current comes from the train.
The present Invention is based upon the combination of the arrangements,
producing the important results above described.
In the accompanying Drawing, A is an electro-automatic whistle; B is a so-called
Hughes" electro-magnet; C is the armature of the electro-magnet, through whose
bobbins D a current may pass in the opposite direction to that which has produced

page_text: the magnetizing effect; E is a spring capable of being regulated by means of the
nut F; G is a lever for opening the valvo H, of the alarm whistle I; J is a
lever for opening the steam valve S, and provided with a movable counterweight
K; M is a vibrating piece supporting in a notch the lever J when the valve S is
closed; N is a pin or stud, rivetted on the head of the rod O of the electro-
automatic whistle, and entering a slot or opening in the pieco M, whose movement
it regulates; P is a handle for operating the piece M by hand; Qis a screw stop
for keeping the lever J at rest when the valve S is not required to operate; R is a
handle to bring back by hand the lever J to its normal position by a single lifting
movement; S is an equilibrium valve with a double seat forming a passage for the
steam from the boiler to the ejector; U is a fixed electrical contact piece placed
between the rails; V is a metallic brush suspended from the engine for collecting
the electric current as it works against the contact piece, which current passes
thence to the aforesaid whistle; X is the engine screen; L, L', are wires forming
the means for electrical communication between the parts of the train, the whistle,
the fixed contact piece, and the battery; T is the earth wire.
When a current passes into the bobbins D, following the course shewn by the
sign+towards in Figure 4 of the Drawing, whether it comes from the fixed
contact piece through the brush V, or from the batteries of the train through
the iron L', the electro-magnet B, electrified in an opposite direction loses
its power for a very short time, and the spring E, with its full force,
draws back the rod O, the pin N, and the picce M. The lever J being no longer
sustained falls by the action of the counterweight K, opens the valve S, and
operates the pneumatic brake, at the same time the valve H is opened, and the
whistle I is sounded. The lever J is lifted by hand by means of the handle R
after the whistle has been closed, by pushing the lever G into its normal position.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim, the arrangements which permit any person in a railway train to effect,
by means of an electric current, the operation of apparatus capable of directly
causing the retarding or stopping of the train, which apparatus may be arranged
upon the locomotive or in one of the carriages of the train, and may consist of
electro-automatic apparatus that permits the disengagement and working of the
handles of the various cocks or valves of the engine, or may consist of electro-motors
arranged to act upon the controlling mechanism of continuous mechanical, air,
hydraulic, steam, or electric brakes, with which the train may bo fitted, and which
apparatus may control any parts that can be operated by a single effort exerted at
any part of the train.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and soventy-eight.