AN IMPROVED APPA- RATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS OR COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS.
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau,. of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39; Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris,
in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPA-
RATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS OR COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS.".
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de. Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
3.
with his Petition, on the 17th January 1856.
'
I, PETER ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of
France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN IM-
PROVED APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS OR COLLISIONS.ON RAILWAYS"
to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in improved apparatus or mechanical arrangements
for stopping railway trains when in motion.
To each wheel of the carriage may be applied either one or two of the
ordinary or any other kind of breaks, and the mechanism employed in this
Invention consists in bringing the breaks in contact with the wheels by. means
of an excentric (or any equivalent thereto) fixed to one of the xes of the

page_text: carriage. In order to put the breaks in action when necessary, a paul
attached to the end of the connecting rod of the excentric is put in gear with
a ratchet wheel, fixed on a shaft, with levers and connecting rods for giving
the requisite motion to the breaks. The ratchet wheel is provided with such
a number of teeth as are required for giving motion to the breaks. The
excentric causes the paul to take up one tooth in each revolution, and the
ratchet wheel is maintained in its position by means of a friction break acted
on by a knee lever. The paul having taken up all the teeth, may continue to
work without giving any further motion to the ratchet wheel. or pressure
to the breaks, and thus the action of the breaks is controlled. The paul is
put in gear with the ratchet wheel by means of a horizontal.shaft, fixed in a
longitudinal direction to the frame of the carriage. This shaft is provided
with suitable couplings, so that whenever it is desirable to use the breaks on
several carriages, the motion of one lever placed in a convenient position for
the guard or engine man is sufficient. The construction of the mechanism
may be varied, according to circumstances, without deviating from the principle
herein mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand lo Comte de Fontaine Moreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 17th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Her special license
that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand le
Comte de Fontaine Moreau, 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, IM-
PROVED APPARATUS FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS OR COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS,'

page_text: communicated to me from a foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau,
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 Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:
This Invention consists in the employment of an excentric, or any other
arrangement of mechanism producing similar effects, fixed to one of the axles,
which, in connection with a paul and ratchet wheel, is made to put in action
the breaks to any number of carriages, and thus enable the train to be stopped
when necessary.
To put the breaks in action, a paul is constantly worked by the said
excentric, which at the moment of danger, or whenever it is desirable to stop
the train, the said paul is put in gear with a ratchet wheel, fixed on a shaft,
with levers and connecting rods for giving the requisite motion to the breaks.
The ratchet wheel is provided with such a number of teeth as requisite for
giving motion to the breaks. The excentric takes up only one tooth at each
revolution, and the ratchet wheel is successively maintained in its required
position by means of a friction break acted on by a knee lever. The paul,
after having taken up all the teeth on the ratchet wheel, may continue to
work without giving any further motion to the ratchet wheel or pressure
to the breaks, and thus the pressure of the breaks is controlled, notwith-
standing the number of revolutions of the excentric or the motion of the
train. The paul is put in gear with the ratchet wheel by the motion of a
horizontal shaft, which is fixed longitudinally to the frame of the carriage, and
the said horizontal shaft is provided with suitable couplings, so that whenever
it is desirable to use the breaks on several carriages the horizontal shafts may
be coupled together, and thus, by means of one lever only placed in a con-
venient position for working by the guard or engine man, the several motions
required may be transmitted for putting in gear all the pauls with the ratchet
wheels. It is further evident that the construction of this mechanism will
depend on the form or nature of the carriages.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the frame of a carriage; Figure 2 is
a plan of the same. The same letters refer to similar parts in all the Figures.
A and B are the axles of the carriage; C, C, C, C, are the 'breaks; composed
of wood or cast iron, shewn in contact with the wheels; D is the shaft used
for giving motion to the breaks by means of the levers E, E', and connecting
Fods F, F. These connecting rods are adjustable by means of a riglit and
left handed screw at their ends, so that by turning the rods round the pressure
on the breaks may at any time be conveniently adjusted; as shewn separately
in Figure 3. G is the ratchet wheel fixed on the shaft D; H is an excentric
fastened to the axle A; I is the excentric connecting rod, giving motion to
two levers K and K', one being placed on each side of the ratchet wheel:
These levers give motion to the paul L. The ratchet wheel has only a part
of the circumference provided with teeth, and part without, for enabling a
friction break M to be applied. The required pressure on this break is
obtained by means of the angular rod N, which, in combination with the
centre of the shaft D, forms a knee lever of great power. O is a forked iron
bar, supported at one end by the shaft D, and at the other on the axle B.
The object of this forked bar is to obtain a fixed point from which the
pressure may be given to the break on the ratchet wheel. The form of this
forked iron bar is further shewn in Figures 4, 5, and 6. P is a longitudinal
shaft, attached to the carriage frame, and provided with á lever Q and a rod
R for lifting the paul L, and at the same time the friction break M; for which
purpose the rod R las á small slot M', in order that the paul L may first be
raised clear of the teeth of the ratchet wheel before the break M is lifted;
S, S, are counter weights by which the breaks C; C, C, C, are drawn from the
wheels the moment the paul and wheel break M are lifted; T is another lever,
fixed to the horizontal shaft P, and provided with a ratchet rod U, which is
hooked up when the breaks are not in use, but the moment this rod is let
down by the guard or engine man, motion is given to the horizontal shaft for
letting down the paul on the ratchet wheel. The breaks are thus by the
motion of the excentrić instantaneously put in action. When it is desirable
to connect several carriages together, ordinary universal joints W, W, are
used, fixed to two coupling tubes, one sliding in the other, which allows of an
adjustable motion. It is only necessary to continue the longitudinal shaft
along the train, and apply the breaks, as described, to the whole, to the first
and last, or to any intermediate number of carriages that may be thought
desirable.

page_text: Having thus described the main features of the Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what
I claim is,―
First, the mode of employing the motion obtained from the revolving axle
or axles of a railway carriage for the purpose of transmitting motion to
breaks of railway carriages by means of an excentric, or any arrangement of
mechanism producing similar effects, as herein-before described, and referred
to in the annexed Drawing.
Secondly, the general arrangement of apparatus for putting the breaks in
action, as herein-before described, and referred to in the Figures of the
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of
July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-six.
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.S.)
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.B.)