IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ROBBINS, of Forest Lodge, near Hythe, in the County of Southampton,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventh day of May, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Robbins, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said George Robbins, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said George Robbins, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY
CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said George Robbins, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same
to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery' within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Robbins, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of Improvements in the Construction of Railway Carriages
refers to improvements upon those parts of such carriages as serve to retard
and stop the progress of a train, the object being to brake all the carriages of
a train simultaneously at the pleasure of the engine driver or guard.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, forming part of this my
Specification, one arrangement of apparatus whereby I am enabled to carry
out the object of my Invention is shewn. Fig. 1 is a plan view of the under
framing of a tender and passenger carriage coupled together, shewing a system
of self-acting brakes, which are brought into operation upon the running
wheels by the inward movement of the buffer rods, and also an arrangement
of apparatus for preventing the action of the brakes when the train is being
backed, and the motive power is necessarily applied to the carriages through
the buffers instead of through the draw bars and chains. Fig. 2 is a
longitudinal sectional elevation of the same, taken at the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1,
the apparatus for preventing the braking of the wheels being out of action;
and Fig. 3 is a similar elevation, representing the apparatus for preventing
the braking of the wheels in action. A, A, (Fig. 1) is the framing of the
carriage supported on the running wheels B, and carrying the buffers C, C,
and the hooked draw bars or rods D, as usual. The inner ends of the draw
rods are respectively furnished with straps a, each of which embraces and
supports a buffer spring composed of two parts b and *. The ends of these
springs ride upon the shoes c attached to the ends of the buffer rods. The
buffer springs are divided into two parts b and b*, as shewn at Fig. 1, to allow
of an extraordinary amount of power to resist the backward thrust of the
engine being given to the buffers, by bringing the full resisting power of
the part 6 into use), when the brakes are required to be kept free from the
wheels. Near the periphery of each running wheel a brake E is suspended
from the framing by a joint pin and bracket, as shewn, and attached to cach
buffer rod is a spring F, which is brought into connection with one of the
suspended brakes, and is made to bear upon the back thereof when the
buffers are driven home, and by this means an elastic pressure is put upon all
the wheels of the train of carriages. At about the middle of the framing A
two weighted, tumbling, or stop pieces G, G, are mounted, from the lower

page_text: side of the shorter or lighter limb of each of which an arm & projects for the
purpose of carrying a friction roller. e, e, are similar arms attached to the
framing A, but each carrying two friction rollers, between which and over
the pullies of the arms & a chain f, extending from one end of the carriage to
the other, is passed. This chain f is connected at either end to the link
pieces g, g, jointed one to either end of the framing A of the passenger
carriage, and carrying also a coupling chain h to be attached to a similar chain
or swivel attachment of the next adjoining carriage. When, therefore, this
chain is brought to tension at the time that the drag of the engine is upon the
draw rods, and the buffer springs b, b*, b, b*, are made to slightly recede from
the other, and thereby leave sufficient space for the tumbling pieces G, G, to
assume a horizontal position, the pressure of the chain f upon the pullies of
the arms d will draw the tumbling pieces into the position shewn at Fig. 3.
By this means a solid unyielding substance will be brought in contact with
the back of the strap a of the buffer springs at the time that the part 6* is
subject to great pressure by being drawn against the part b; an extra
amount of resistance will therefore be presented to the buffer rods if a
tendency is imparted to them to move inwards (as at the backing of a train),
by reason of the springs not being able to assume their usual positions when
released from the drag strain of the engine, whereby the brakes (which are
driven forwards by the movement of the buffer rods) will be allowed to remain
inactive. On the engine proceeding again in its forward direction, and the
chain f being slackened, the tumbling pieces will, by reason of their own
gravity, take the position shewn at Fig. 2, and release the parts of the
springs from their extra pressure, the buffer rods will then be free to move
inwards as before, and bring the brakes into action when found requisite.
I will now describe the means whereby the slack of the chain f is taken up
and the buffer springs are contracted, so as to allow the tumbling pieces G, G,
to fall into a horizontal position. Mounted in suitable guides, below the
framing A of the tender (or it may be of the guard's carriage), are two sliding
rods i,, connected together by a strong helical spring k, and for each of
these rods a catch piece is provided to regulate. the distance of their traverse.
To the outer end of the bar i a swivel is attached, which is secured to the
chain of the link piece g, and the opposite extremity of the bar i* to that
which is secured to the helical spring a common carriage spring is
attached, the ends of which slide over suitable friction plates or shoes bolted
to the framing, and to the opposite side of the spring, in a line with the bar i*,
a chain m is connected. This chain is secured at its other end to a segment
piece n, which is keyed to a cross shaft o, supported in suitable bearings on

page_text: the framing A. Upon this shaft is also mounted a bevel wheel P, which gears
into a similar wheel on a vertical shaft q, to the upper end of which a winch
handle is affixed. Now, supposing the train to be quiescent, and that it is
required to back the train, the mode of proceeding to prevent the brakes from
coming into action is simply this:-The engine driver or brakesman, by
turning the winch handle of the shaft q partially rotates the segment piece n,
takes up a portion of the chain m, which, through the agency of the rods **
and i, and the chain h and link piece g, will give tension to the chain f, and
thereby cause the tumbling pieces G, G, to fall into a horizontal position on
the train being moved a short distance ahead. When this movement has
been effected the train will be free to move in a backward course without the
brakes being brought into action. On releasing the chain f from its state of
tension, and reversing the direction of the progress of the engine, the self-
acting brakes will be free to come in contact with the periphery of the wheels
whenever the speed of the engine is sufficiently retarded to cause the
momentum of the train to drive in the buffer rods. The use of the spring lis
to yield to any undue tension put on the chain m by the brakesman. The
helical spring k is for the purpose of yielding in case of too much strain being
put on the chains f and h, and of taking up any slack of those chains.
In Sheet II. of the accompanying Drawings several modifications of the
apparatus, whereby I am enabled to carry out the object of my Invention, are
shewn; the principle, however, on which they act to prevent the recession of the
buffer rods to such a degree as would suffice to bring the brakes into action
will be seen to be the same in all the arrangements. Fig. 4 is a partial plan
view of the bottom framing of a carriage, shewing an arrangement by which
the recession or inward movement of the buffers may be arrested or prevented
by the direct action of the tumbling pieces on the buffer rods; and Fig. 5 is
a partial sectional elevation of the same. In this arrangement four tumbling
pieces are employed in each carriage, as shewn at a, a, one for every buffer
rcd, and they are situate immediately behind their respective rods. These
tumbling pieces are mounted in suitable bearings attached to the main
framing, and they are connected together in pairs by means of cross rods
b, b, which are secured to the tumblers, as shewn at Fig. 6, and carry at
the middle of their length a forked piece forming the bearing for a friction
pulley c. d is a central bracket carrying two friction pullies, and e, e, are
other brackets also carrying pullies to support the chain f, which, as in
the former arrangement, is caused to rock the tumbling pieces a, a, and
bring them into a position to stop the movement inwards of the buffer rods.
9, 9, are the brakes suspended from the framing, and for actuating the same,

page_text: In
instead of the spring before mentioned, a bent rocking lever h (one for each
brake) is employed, which lever has its bearing on a pin in a bracket piece i
bolted to the framing. The upper end of this lever is secured to the buffer
rod, and the lower end is jointed to a spring with which the back of the brake
is provided, as shewn at Fig. 5; the inward motion therefore of the buffer rod
will be immediately communicated to its brake through the intervention of
the lever h when the brake is required to be brought into action. The mode
of operating with this apparatus is the same as that above described, with this
exception that the tumbling pieces may be brought into the proper position for
preventing the inward movement of the buffer rods without the power of the
engine being required for compressing the buffer springs. Fig. 7 shews in
partial plan, and Fig. 8 in longitudinal elevation, a modified arrangement
which admits of a set of brakes for four wheels being brought into operation
by the action of one pair of buffer rods only, and consequently rendering it
unnecessary that more than one pair of tumblers shall be used to prevent
(at certain periods) the buffer rods from acting upon the brakes.
this instance, the motion of the buffer rod is communicated through an
arm a affixed thereto, and a connecting rod jointed to the arm, to a vibrating
lever c, which rocks on a stud of a bracket & projecting downwards from the
framing of the carriage. At opposite sides, and at equal distances from the
fulcrum of this lever, two connecting rods e, e, are jointed, their other ends
being attached to a spring with which the brakes f, f, are respectively pro-
vided at back. When therefore the pair of buffer rods which carry the arms
a are driven in, the pair of brakes f, f*, will be forced against the peripheries
of their respective wheels in the same manner as in the last-described arrange-
ment. And when this action is not required at the time that an inward
pressure is given to the buffers, the tumblers or stop pieces g, g, are thrown
into action by putting tension upon the chain h, as before described. Instead
of jointing the connecting rods e, e, to springs at the backs of the brakes, they
may be jointed directly to the back of the brakes, and the requisite yielding
character may be given to the friction surface thereof by the interposition of
packing of vulcanized india rubber, as shewn at Fig. 9. Fig. 10 shews a
modification which will admit of the tumblers being made to act upon short
buffer rods. In this case a slot is cut in the side framing to allow of the free
movement of the buffer rod, which is provided with a projecting stud a for
the purpose of meeting the tumbling or stop piece shewn at 6 when the
buffer rod is not required to bring the brake into action. The tumbling or
stop piece will in this arrangement be caused to rise and fall, as before.
described, and the brake is put in action by a fixed arm c pendent from the

page_text: buffer rod coming in contact with the brake.
If thought desirable, in place of
the arm c the stud a may be continued into a rod or bar, as shewn in red in
the Figure, and made to act upon the upper end of an elastic lever, which,
with a friction piece at its lower end, forms a brake.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, I claim as of my Invention of Improvements in the Con-
struction of Railway Carriages, the means herein-before described, whereby
self-acting brakes may be brought under the command of the brakesman.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Robbins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand richt handed and fift..