IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ezra Miles, of Soulbury, Bucks, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ezra Miles at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st February 1853.
I, EZRA MILES, of Soulbury, Bucks, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKES," to be as follows:-
My Invention in brakes for railway carriages consists in using hydraulic pressure
as a means of stopping railway carriages in cases of collision or other accident.
I carry out my Invention in the following manner, reserving to myself the right to
vary the details.
On the side of the tender of the engine I place a cylinder, having
a piston therein; a pipe from the boiler of the engine admits steam therein at the
will of the engine-driver or other person. This cylinder is to be kept charged
with water, supplied from the tender by means of a valve. At the end of each
carriage is another smaller cylinder with a solid piston, and a pipe runs the whole
length of the train, also containing water. To admit of attaching & detaching of
carriages, between each carriage the pipe is united by means of an elastic tube,
made of vulcanized india-rubber, or other similar material, with union or other
similar joints. On the the centres of each carriage and the tender cross levers are
attached, which clutch the wheels in the same manner as ordinary brakes; steam
being admitted into the cylinder under the tender, the piston forces the water into
the smaller cylinders, which causes their pistons to rise, and the rising of these
pistons actuates the levers which clutch the wheels.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Ezra Miles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th August
1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EZRA MILES,
of Soulbury, Bucks, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent,
bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty three, in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Ezra Miles, Her
special licence, that I, the said Ezra Miles, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Ezra Miles, 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, exercise, and vend within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY BRAKES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ezra Miles,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ezra Miles, do hereby declare the nature of
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention consists in the application of hydrostatic pressure to the brakes
of railway carriages, whereby the brakes of every carriage throughout a train can
be brought into immediate action, thus quickly stopping its progress. I accomplish
this object by fixing beneath each of the carriages, trucks, or waggons, a metal
tube or tubes in connection with a cylinder, which is screwed to the framing of the
carriage in any convenient manner; these tubes are furnished with suitable joints,
as herein-after described, so that when a number of carriages, trucks, or waggons
are linked together, the tube or pipe forms an uninterrupted communication from
one end to the other. The tender to the locomotive has also a similar tube to the
foregoing, which communicates with the water in the tank, and is continued beyond
this, and finally enters the boiler of the locomotive. Also froin this tube is one
carried on to the front of the engine, which is closed by a tap. The whole is so
arranged that the tubes and cylinders beneath the carriages are filled with water
from the tank of the tender. The piston of each cylinder is connected by a lever
to others which work the brakes. When it is required to put on the brakes, it is
done by simply turning a cock or tap, so as to allow a small portion of water to
issue from the engine-boiler. The pressure of the water in the boiler acting upon
the water in the tube, this immediately causes the pistons of the cylinders to rise,
and thus force the brakes against the wheels. By this means I can bring a force
equivalent to, say, ten thousand pounds, for example, to bear upon each carriage.
Fig. 1 (in the accompanying Drawings) is an elevation of the lower part of a
railway carriage, showing the application of my Invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a
partial elevation of a locomotive and tender; Fig. 3, a plan of one of the cylinders;
Fig. 4, a vertical section of the same; and Fig. 5 shows the mode of connecting
the tubes together.
A, A, Fig. 1, is the framing of the carriage; B, B, the brakes; C, C, the rods
connecting the brakes with the levers D, D; E is a metal tube or pipe, of about

page_text: one inch diameter (but I do not confine myself to any particular sizo), secured to
the framing of the carriage in any convenient manner, and running along the centre
of the same. Opposite the cylinder F the pipo branches off, and is screwed into one
side of the cylinder, as shewn by F. Another pipe is carried from the opposite
side of the cylinder, as at F, to the end of the carriage. G is a short rod forming
a continuation of the piston; this is connected by a joint to the lover H. When
the piston is forced up by pressure on the water it draws with it the lover H,
which, acting on the rods C, C, forces the brakes upon the peripheries of the wheels.
The rod G has a joint G in it to give freedom to the lever H in its ascent and
descent, and maintain the rod G perpendicular.
The arrangement of the tube beneath the tender is similar to the foregoing,
excepting that it must be carried from the centre at the end next the train, and
thence diverge a little at the other end in order to avoid the draw bars, &c., and
bo opposite the short length of tube proceeding from the boiler of the locomotive.
In the Drawing, Fig. 2, E is the tube communicating with the water in the tender
or tank by means of a pipe K bent into a syphon shape, and having a valve fitted
in it so as to allow the water from the tank to fill the tubes throughout the train,
but prevent its return when the pressure of the water in the boiler is applied. Tho
handle or rod L turns a cock, which prevents the water running away when the
tender is disconnected from the carriages, Another cock M is to allow the surplus
water to return to the tank when it is desired to take the pressure of the brakes off
the wheels. N is a cylinder fitted to the framing, similar to that marked F, Fig. 1.
A lever or levers O are jointed to the brake-rods in the manner shown in the
Drawing or by other suitable means. The tube E is continued beneath the
locomotive and into the boiler; a cock turned by the handle P shuts off the water
of the boiler from entering the tube except when required; it is placed so as to be
within immediate reach of the engineer or stoker. Supposing it be necessary to
stop the train by simply turning the handle P, a pressure equivalent to that within
the boiler is instantly brought upon the brakes; the water throughout the tubes
and cylinders, now forming part of that in the boiler, is subjected to the same
degree of compression. The valve in the pipe K preventing the return of any
water into the tank, the pressure may be retained any longth of time, and wholly
independent of any attention beyond that required for the locomotive. Upon
shutting the cock P and opening M the surplus water flows into the tank. The
weight of the pistons in the cylinders forcing it back, and in their descent acting
upon the levers the pressure of the brakes is removed from the wheels, so that the
application and removal of the pressure is under perfect controul. I prefer that
every carriage, truck, or waggon in a train should be furnished with brakes and
the apparatus for acting as herein described, although now only two or three
carriages in a train may have the brakes on them, each carriage requiring an
attendant to work them. I may here observe that I do not propose to remove the
ordinary brakes; these may be retained and applied as usual when required, or,
for instance, when the engine is disconnected. Figs. 3 and 4 represent a plan and
vertical section of the cylinder F, Fig. 1. One of these is secured to the framing
of each carriage, truck, or waggon in any part most suitable for the lover of the
brake. It consists of a metal cylinder Q having a solid piston or ram R travelling
within it, the weight of which forces back the water when the cock M is opened.
Fig. 5 is a plan of the apparatus I propose to uso for connecting the carriages
together, so as to allow for the contraction of the buffer-springs and lateral curvaturo
of the train in passing curves, &c. S is a ball-and-socket joint forming a con-
tinuation of the tube E, Fig. 1; beyond this is the tube T, having at its end a
stuffing-box T, in which the tube U slides to and fro a distance equal to the
traverse of the buffer-bar. The central link W has a stuffing-box W' at each end,
and a water-way through it. The end of the tubes U are passed into the ends of
the link W, and the elisin X looked into the eye X', the opposite chain X" being
hooked in the reverse way to the eye X. The ball-and-socket joints S allow for
the varying curves of the train, and the sliding of the tubes U within the tubes T

page_text: for the shortening of the train by the carriages striking against each other when
the train is stopped or 'the speed slackened, at the same time an uninterrupted
passage is preserved for the circulation of the water.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which I
propose to carry the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein described and shown in the accom-
panying Drawings; for example, I have shown the tube E as entering and
proceeding from the cylinder F, Fig. 1, as in some cases it may be desirable to
maintain a circulation of hot water throughout the tubes for the purpose of
warming the carriage; but it is sufficient for the purpose of putting on the brakes,
if the tube.enters at one side without having an outlet, as shown in the Drawing;
and in some instances it may be desirable to provide against the effects of frost on
the water, for which purpose some slight modifications may be needful. The far
end of the tube must of course be closed by suitable means.
Neither do I confine myself to the precise method of joining the tube, as shown
by Fig. 5, as a combination of elastic or flexible materials and metals may be used
for the same purpose without effecting the principle of my Invention. But,
I claim the application of hydrostatic pressure to the working of brakes of
railway carriages, for the purpose of stopping or retarding trains in the manner
herein-before described, as shown by the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ezra Miles, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
EZRA MILES. (LS.)