IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND. ARRANGEMENT OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBVIATING. OR DIMINISH- ING THE BAD CONSEQUENCES OF COLLISIONS OF OR ACCIDENTS TO RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Negretti and Joseph Warren
Zambra at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 14th December 1865.
We, HENRY NEGRETTI and JOSEPH WARREN ZAMBRA, of Hatton Garden,
in the City of London,. Philosophical Instrument Makers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND.
ARRANGEMENT OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBVIATING. OR DIMINISH-
ING THE BAD CONSEQUENCES OF COLLISIONS OF OR ACCIDENTS TO RAILWAY TRAINS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in connecting the bodies of railway carriages in
such a manner to the under framework to which the wheels are adapted, that
in the event of a collision either in front or from behind the connections
between the bodies and the under framing of the carriages will be ruptured
by the shock, so as to allow the under framing. (which receives. the shock).
to move forward under the bodies without carrying them along with them as
is the case when they are rigidly bound. By this means passengers: seated
within the carriage, although they may be subjected to a somewhat rude
shock, will not incur any serious personal injury in the event of a collision.
The mode we prefer of effecting the object of our Invention consists in
providing the under framings of all carriages with grooves in which the

page_text: bodies are placed so that they may slide forward or backward on the under
framing if not secured thereon. In order to prevent the bodies from moving
on the framings when in ordinary work they are bolted down by bolts
sufficiently strong for the purpose, but which will yield and be broken if
subjected to any extraordinary strain, and will thus allow the bodies of the
carriages to move forward or backwards on the undet framing. In order to
ensure that the bolts will be severed when a collision takes place, they may
be passed through holes made in steel plates let into the woodwork of the
framing. The bodies may also be provided with buffers at their ends to lessen
the effects of any shock. It will likewise be found desirable that a luggage
truck or van or empty frame provided with a grooved under framing and
also with a set of strong buffers should be placed in front of the train and
between the carriage and the engine, in order that in the event of a collision
the bodies of the passenger carriages may be driven forward partly or wholly
on to it and there remain without further injury. Instead of bolting the
carriages to the under framing they may merely be placed thereon and strong
iron plates may be fixed firmly on the sides of the carriages. These plates
should project over the frames and be screwed to them with such sized screws
as would break or tear out of the wooden frame on a concussion or collision
taking place. As a modification, instead of the plates being screwed to the
frame the latter may have. a groove, cut in it, or a bar screwed on at the
sides, and the plate may be fixed to the frame by simply having a bolt through
it and pressing against the frame with sufficient force to retain the carriage
in its position under ordinary circumstances, but on a collision taking place
it would be sufficiently loose to allow the carriage to slide along on the frame.
The carriage may also be retained in its position on the frame by a plate at
each end, which plate would tear away when a certain force is applied to
it. The carriages may be released and allowed to slide or move on the
frame by the action of the buffers themselves, which when driven quite home
would knock out a bolt or whatever else retains the carriage in its position,
and thereby allow the carriage to move or slide on the frame. The carriages
or frames may also be provided with supplementary buffers which should
come into play when the ordinary buffers have been driven home, and when
the carriage is sliding on the frame, so as to lessen the shock.