IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKE AND COUPLING APPARATUS
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Duffey at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
March 1869.
I, JAMES DUFFEY, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, Piano
Tuner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKE AND COUPLING APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, first, to improvements in railway brakes by the
aid of which the motion of a train may be arrested in a much shorter
space than hitherto. This improved brake, which may be applied either
to the engine or brake van, consists of curved brake surfaces connected
together, and pendant in front of each pair of wheels from a point of the
framing above the latter. The brakes are connected together by suitable
rods, so that they may be applied to all the wheels of the engine or
carriage at once upon releasing a hand lever which holds them back
from the wheels. These brake surfaces are curved to suit the periphery
of the wheels, and are of such a length that when applied to the wheels
their lower ends (which may be flanged if required) will be interposed
between the wheels and rails, so as to instantly check the rotation of the

page_text: wheels by lifting them completely off the rails, the brakes, which act as
skids, forming a sort of cradle for the engine or carriage to which they
may be applied. In addition to the means thus provided for quickly
arresting the motion of the train, I cause the buffers when suddenly
compressed to act on ordinary brake surfaces depending in front of the
end wheels of each carriage, which brakes will be applied to the wheels
directly by the sudden compression of the buffers when stopping a train
by the aid of the brakes before referred to. In order to prevent these
buffer brakes being brought into action when backing the train, I
employ a second spring for each buffer, arranged so as to prevent the
buffers acting on the brakes when backing, the power of the spring
being, however, overcome when the buffers are forcibly compressed.
The second part of my Invention relates to improvements in the mode
of coupling railway carriages, and consists in utilizing the buffers for
that purpose
in such manner as to render the carriages self-coupling,
and so dispense with the ordinary draw bars, the assistance of an
attendant to couple up the carriages being also rendered unnecessary.
To effect this I provide one buffer head in each pair of buffers with a
projecting piece and spring catch, the other buffer head being provided
with a recess or mortise. The carriages are all similarly provided, and
when brought into contact will be coupled together by the projecting
part in the one buffer entering the recess on the buffer of the next
carriage, the spring catch at same time engaging with a fixed catch on
the latter. As the projections and recesses are arranged on opposite
sides at the two ends of each carriage the recess and fixed catch on the
one buffer will always be opposite the projection and spring catch on the
buffer of the other carriage. In order to ensure the coupling being
always of one height irrespective of the amount of freight carried in each
carriage I mount the buffers and consequently the couplings in a frame
independent of the carriage, and resting directly on the wheel axles
without the intervention of springs, the latter however being provided
as usual for the support of the carriage proper; or I may provide other
means for ensuring the action of the couplings.