AN IMPROVED BRAKE appli- CABLE TO THE ROLLING STOCK OF RAILWAYS AND OTHER VEHICLES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Exter, of Munich, in the Kingdom of
Bavaria, Engineer, for the Invention of “AN IMPROVED BRAKE appli-
CABLE TO THE ROLLING STOCK OF RAILWAYS AND OTHER VEHICLES."
Sealed the 8th July 1870, and dated the 4th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Exter at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th May 1870.
I, CHARLES EXTER, of Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
Brake APPLICABLE TO THE ROLLING STOCK OF RAILWAYS AND OTHER VEHICLES,” to
be as follows:-
The principal object of this Invention is so to arrange the mechanism
of the brake that the control thereof shall be in the hands of the engine
driver or his assistants, thus dispensing with so great a number of
brakesmen as now employed. Also from the brakes being attached to
all the vehicles composing a train, whether passenger, goods, or mineral,
the stoppage of the train is effected in a far shorter time and distance.

page_text: This brake can also be acted upon by hand independently of the
coupling hook by means of a separate lever and draw rod.. When the
brake is to be put out of action this draw rod is fixed by a pin which
can be put in or out of gear either by a small weighted lever or by a
rod. Should it be considered necessary to dispense with the use of the
buffers in causing the action of the brake, this can be readily effected by
acting upon the brake by means of the spiral springs alone in connection
with the system of lever and rods. The effect of the spring is made to
cease by the draw chain. There is, also a lever which turns freely on the
axle, which with its draw rod, serves for. putting the brake out of action
by hand. The position of this lever may be regulated by means of holes.
in the rod, into which can be fitted suitable pins, so that by this means
the compression and effect of the spring may be increased or diminished
according to the want or necessity. By pulling out the pin, which
may be done easily from the platform or from the sides of the carriage,
the lever is made free, the pressure of the spring ceases and the brake is
put out of action immediately.
I also apply this brake to tenders, and in this case make use of the
ordinary brake lever, which is drawn up by a rod provided with a screw.
The traction of this rod is. effected by a small crank on its axle. This
axle receives its motion and effect by a hand lever and by a weighted
lever when the brake is out of action; the weighted lever is then put
beyond the vertical line, and the hand lover stands below. When the
hand lever is drawn up the weight passes the vertical line, and by its.
gravity puts the brake into action.
'
The regulation of the brake is self-acting, so that the distance of the
For this
brake blocks from the wheels remains always the same.
purpose the rod for working the brake lever is furnished with a small
ratchet wheel which is caught by the pall when the crank comes into its
highest position, and turned by one tooth cach time when tho orank
returns into the lower position. By this rotation of the screw spindle,
the length of which is so regulated that the distance of the brake blocks
from the wheels undergoes no alteration until these blocks are entirely
worn.
This tender brake has in comparison to the existing constructions the
following important advantages:-It is very easily to be put in and out
of gear by the engine driver or stoker, and it acts instantáneously with
full power, while the weight of the lever can be so regulated that the

page_text: wheels of the tender at the greatest effect of the brake are not skidded.
The brake does not require any regulation by hand till the blocks are
entirely worn out.
The brake applied to the locomotive is constructed in the same
manner as the tender brake. The locomotive brake is made to act
instantly with full power when the engine driver or stoker reverses the
weighted lever.
By the instant and simultaneous action of those self-acting carriage,
tender, and locomotive, brakes the time and distance requisite for stopping
the trains is diminished in a high degree, and the longest trains furnished
with these brakes can be stopped in the same short distance as the
locomotive alone.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Exter in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
EXTER, of Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Exter, Her special licence that
I, the said Charles Exter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Charles Exter, 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 "AN IMPROVED. BRAKE APPLICABLE TO
THE ROLLING STOCK OF RAILWAYS AND OTHER VEHICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Exter, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
naturo of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 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 Charles Exter, 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 the retarding the velocity or stopping
entirely the rolling stock of railways and other vehicles, and is effected
by means of a system of brakes applied to the engine, tender, and each
of the vehicles forming the train.
The brake is brought into action by means of springs working on rods
in connection with the buffers, and also connected with the coupling
hooks, and in such manner that immediately the coupling chains become
slack the springs cause the brakes to come into action. By this means
if a coupling should at any time break the disconnected vehicles would
directly come to a standstill, and is therefore of utmost importance on
heavy gradients. There are also levers in connection with the brakes,
so that they can be set in action by hand either from the engine or brake
van, as usual.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown the manner in
which I carry this my Invention into effect, the same letters of reference
iudicating similar parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1, Sheet I, is a longitudinal section through the line A, B, of
Figure 2 of so much of the under portion of a carriage as is sufficient to
show my Invention; Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a front view of
same.
Upon an axle A fastened to the cross beam of the carriage there is a
lever for each buffer rod, which is acted upon by a spiral spring c.
This spiral spring presses against an angle iron d fastened on the buffer
rod, and draws at the rod, and by means of this rod e at the lever b,
with a moderate force, by which the brake is made to act only so much
that the carriage cannot put itself into motion on the steepest gradient.
The brake blocks receive their pressure by the common brake axle by
means of the draw rod o, which is pulled by a small lever or crank p.
applied to the axle A. The draw rodo is provided at its end with a

page_text: .
screw 2, which is carried in a nut r, by the rotation of which the draw
effect of the
rod is shortened according to the wear and tear of the brake blocks. The
rotation of this nut is effected every time when the crank p makes its
greatest way, in which case a pall s catches the next tooth of a ratchet
wheel fastened to the nut, so that the nut is turned by one tooth when
the crank p gocs down again. This action upon the brake is made to
ccase by the traction of a chain, which is fastened to the screw coupling.
This chain, by means of the rod g of the lever and of the rod i, works
upon the lever k, by which the action of the spring c upon the lever
and in consequence that of the brake is made to cease. The moderate
pressure which by this construction is given to brake blocks is con-
siderably augmented by the pressure of the carriage buffers when the
buffer rods with the angle irons d fastened upon them are pushed in and
work upon the brake by means of the spiral springs c.
These springs
prevent at the same time by their elasticity every injurious
most powerful shocks upon the buffers. This brake can also be acted
upon by hand independently of the coupling hook by means of a separate
lever and draw rod m. When the brake is to be put out of action this
draw rod m is fixed by a pin, which can be put in or out of gear either
by a small weighted lever o¹ or by a rod p¹. Should it be considered
necessary to dispense with the use of the buffers in causing the action of
the brake this can be readily effected by acting upon the brake by means
of the spiral springs alone in connection with the system of levers and
rods. This arrangement is shown in Figure 4, a longitudinal section,
Figure 5, Sheet. II., a plan, and Figure 6, Sheet I., a front view of a
portion of a carriage thus fitted. The brake is here acted upon only by
the spiral springs c, which work by means of the levers and rod i upon
the lever k. By this construction the self-acting-spring brake is put out
of action by the slightest pull upon the coupling, and its operation is
quito equal to that of the brake before described, with this exception,
that the co-operation of the buffers is here dispensed with. The effect of
the spring c is made to cease by the draw chain f. The lever z which
turns freely on the axle A which with its draw rod x serves for putting
the brake out of action by hand. The position of this lever may be
regulated by means of holes in the rod x, into which can be fitted
suitable pins y, so that by this means the compression and effect of the
spring c may be increased or diminished according to the want or
necessity. By pulling out the pin y, which may be done casily from the
platform or from the sides of the carriage, the lever is made free, the

page_text: I also apply this brake to tenders, and in this case make use of the
ordinary brake lever, which is drawn up by a rod provided with a screw.
The traction of this rod is effected by a small crank on its axle. This
axle receives its motion and effect by a hand lever and by a weighted
lever when the brake is out of action, the weighted lever is then put
beyond the vertical line, and the hand lever stands below. When the
hand lever is drawn up the weight passes the vertical line, and by its
gravity puts the brake into action.
The regulation of the brake is self-acting, so that the distance of the
brake blocks from the wheels remains always the same. For this
purpose the rod for working the brake lever is furnished with a small
ratchet wheel, which is caught by the pall when the crank comes into
its highest position and turned by one tooth each time when the crank
returns into the lower position. By this rotation of the screw spindle,
the length of which is so regulated that the distance of the brake blocks
from the wheels undergoes no alteration until these blocks are entirely
worn out.
This tender brake has, in comparison to the existing constructions, the
following important advantages:-It is very easily to be put in and out of
gear by the engine driver or stoker, and it acts instantaneously with full
power, while the weight of the lever can be so regulated that the wheels
of the tender at the greatest effect of the brake are not skidded. The
brake does not require any regulation by hand till the blocks are entirely
worn out.
The brake applied to the locomotive is constructed in the same
manner as the tender brake. The locomotive brake is made to act
instantly with full power when the engine driver or stoker reverses the
weighted lover.
By the instant and simultaneous action of these self-acting carriage,
tender, and locomotive brakes the time and distance requisite for
stopping the trains is diminished in a high degree, and the longest trains
furnished with these brakes can be stopped in the same short distance as
the locomotive alone.
By means of the above described mechanical arrangements of the
brake it is so provided that the control thereof shall be in the hands of

page_text: the engine driver or his assistants, thus dispensing with so great a
number of brakesmen as now employed. Also from the brakes being
attached to all the vehicles composing a train, whether passenger, goods,
or mineral, the stoppage of the train is effected in a far shorter time and
distance. In certain conditions also this system of brakes is self-acting,
and thus in descending an incline the brake immediately acts sufficiently
to prevent too much impetus, and should a coupling chain break, the
detached vehicles will directly come to a standstill. The brake is also
so arranged that it is self-compensating for the wear of the blocks, and
is so attached to the vehicles that the relative position of such vehicle to
the other vehicles composing the train is unimportant, and the only
action necessary to make the connection is to attach the coupling link in
the usual way. The power of the brake may also be regulated by the
simple position of a lever to suit vehicles when loaded or empty.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Exter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.