Improved Stationary Buffer for Re-adjusting, on Railway Wagons, Loads which have Shifted during Transport.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 27th July, 1898-Accepted, 11th Feb., 1899
Improved Stationary Buffer for Re-adjusting, on Railway Wagons,
Loads which have Shifted during Transport.
I, FRITZ WESTMEYER, Civil Engineer, St. Johann-Saarbrucken, in the Empire
of Germany, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
This invention relates to a stationary buffer arrangement, and is intended for
re-adjusting or restoring to their original position loads of long beams, iron rails
for railways, wooden beams and all kinds of similar material which, in the course
of a long journey, have, in consequence of shocks against the sides of the wagons
during the journey, or in coupling up, or in consequence of the absence of any
protecting sides to such wagons, shifted so that they project beyond the wagon
and thereby render it unfit for running. As soon as any such shifting occurs, the
load is usually transferred to another wagon if it is to be further transported.
This operation, however, is attended with much trouble, shaking and loss of time.
In the accompanying drawings, a stationary buffer is illustrated with the aid of
which the foregoing difficulties are got rid of in the simplest and least expensive
manner.
Fig. 1 is a side view of the buffer with a goods wagon, with shifted load, in
front of it.
Fig. 2 a plan thereof and
Fig. 3 a partial side view as Fig. 1, showing the wagon after the load has been
pushed back into place.
The buffer is chiefly composed of four long pieces a, b, c, d made of iron rails,
wood or stonework, connected together in a suitable manner by means of cross-
beams..
and then mounted on a foundation and sleepers s. In order that the
foot-boards h of the wagons may not strike against the parts a b c d, the two
outer of these, a and d are bent, as will be seen from Figs. 1 and 3.
On the front of the stationary buffer is a plate e, which has to be adjusted
according to the height of the wagon that is being dealt with. This plate serves
for supporting or pressing the load L.
The buffer abutment fixed to the uprights and cross beams of the stationary
buffer lies as far behind the pressing plate, as the buffers f project beyond the
front of the wagon. It thus comes into contact with these only when the dis-
placed load has been brought back again to its original position.
This is effected with the aid of the locomotive, which slowly presses against
the wagon and thus forces the load against the pressing plate e, the projecting
part of the contents of the wagon being gradually pushed back again into the
vehicle, and in this way the load is so re-adjusted that it is possible to run the
wagon and transport the load to its destination.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;-
A buffer contrivance for restoring loads, which have shifted during transport,
to their original position, characterised by the long and straight pieces cb and
the bent pieces ad, the fixed or adjustable plate e, as supporting point for the
load, and the buffer abutment lying back on the stationary buffer and fastened
to the perpendicular parts as well as to the cross-beams of the same, and only
coming into contact with the wagon buffers after the load has been pushed back into
its original position; the whole substantially as described with reference to the
drawings.
Dated this 27th day of July 1898.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.; Agents.