IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRINGS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Timothy Whitby, of 156, York Road, Lambeth,
in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRINGS
FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 14th December 1866, and dated the 22nd June 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Timothy Whitby at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
June 1866.
I, TIMOTHY WHITBY, of 156, York Road, Lambeth, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SPRINGS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in springs for railway and
other carriages. For these purposes corrugated metal is used, generally steel,
and in constructing a spring for a railway or other carriage to be used
between the frame and body of the carriage two corrugated plates are used,
which are respectively fixed to the frame and to the body of the carriage, the
fixing being ordinarily midway of the length of the corrugated plates, so that
the ends and parts of the plates beyond the points of fixture may when the
convex parts of one plate are pressed more and more into the concave parts
of the other corrugated plate tend to flatten the corrugations and extend the
length of the springs, whilst the reaction of the springs causes the corrugations
of the plates to assume their norinal form and force the convex corrugations
of one plate out of the concave corrugations of the other plate. More than

page_text: two corrugated plates may be thus employed between the body and frame of
a railway or other carriage. In some cases, in constructing springs applied
between the bodies and frames of carriages in place of fixing them inter-
mediate of their length, as above mentioned, the plates of the springs may be
fixed at or near their ends.
In forming buffing springs between the ends of two carriages each carriage
may have only one corrugated plate affixed thereto, in which case I usually
fix the ends of the plates to the frames of the carriages, and obtain the
requisite play and elasticity between the two points of fixture of each plate.
Or more than one such plate to each carriage may be thus used in constructing
buffers between two carriages, and in some cases in constructing buffer springs
between the ends of carriages the fixing of the corrugated plates may, as before
stated, be at a point or points intermediate of their length. Guards or checks
are applied when requisite to prevent the corrugated plates separating
laterally.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Timothy Whitby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TIMOTHY
WHITBY, of 156, York Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Timothy Whitby, Her special licence that I, the said Timothy Whitby, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Timothy
Whitby, 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, exerciso, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRINGS FOR
RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Timothy Whitby, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same was 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 Timothy Whitby, 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 following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in springs for railway and
other carriages. For these purposes corrugated metal is used, generally steel,
and in constructing a spring for a railway or other carriage to be used
between the frame and body of the carriage two corrugated plates are used,
which are respectively fixed to the frame and to the body of the carriage, the
fixing being ordinarily so that the ends of the plates are free to slide to and
fro, so that when the convex parts of one plate are pressed more and more
into the concave parts of the other plate they tend to flatten the corrugations
and extend the length of the springs, whilst the reaction of the springs causes
the corrugations of the plates to assume their normal form and force the
convex corrugations of one plate out of the concave corrugations of the other
plate. More than two corrugated plates may be thus employed between the
body and frame of a railway or other carriage. In some cases, in constructing
springs applied between the bodies and frames of carriages in place of fixing
them intermediate of their length, as above mentioned, the plates of the springs
may be fixed at or near their ends.
In forming buffing springs between the ends of two carriages each carriage
may have only one corrugated plate affixed thereto, in which case I usually
fix the ends of the plates to the frames of the carriages, and obtain the requisite
play and elasticity between the two points of fixture of each plate. Or
more than one such plate to each carriage may be thus used in constructing
buffers between two carriages, and in some cases in constructing buffer
springs between the ends of carriages the fixing of the corrugated plates may,
as before stated, be at a point or points intermediate of their length.
Guards or checks are applied when requisite to prevent the corrugated plates
separating laterally.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
more fully the manner of performing the same.

page_text: carriage; Figure 1 being a side elevation, and Figure 2 a vertical transverse
section.
In these Figures a is a metal frame connected to the under side of the
body of the carriage as is usual; 6 is the axle box capable of sliding up and
down in a slot in this frame; on the top of the axle box is an angle iron c, and
on the under side of the body another angle iron c', these angle irons are for the
purpose of retaining in position the corrugated springs; one corrugated spring
is connected to the angle iron on the top of the axle box, and the ends of the
other corrugated spring are free to slide backwards and forwards through
projections d on the under side of the body, the ends of the lower corrugated
spring may also if desired be free to slide backwards and forwards, or they may
be fixed if they are to have endway play, then slots are formed in their ends,
through which the retaining bolts pass.
A full size view of a portion of the springs is shown in Figure 8; springs
so formed are suitable for a railway carriage.
When forming lighter carriage springs each corrugated spring may
conveniently be formed from two corrugated plates of steel combined together,
with a strip of leather between them; a light elastic spring will thus be
formed.
At Figures 4 and 5 is shown a manner of applying a similar system of
corrugated springs as buffing springs between the ends of two carriages. In
this arrangement the ends of each carriage are provided with two corrugated
springs, one on either side, and as will be seen the corrugations of the two
springs on the end of one carriage enter between the corrugations of the two
springs of the other carriage; one advantage of employing the system of cor-
rugated springs above described as buffer springs is that the oscillation of the
carriages will be greatly checked.
The mode shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawings of applying these
springs will also allow of the ordinary arrangements of coupling gear being
employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Timothy Whitby, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of December, in the year of
themand night hundred and sixty-six
TIMOTHY WHITBY. (L.S.)