IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY CLUTCHES
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Handyside at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 18th July 1870.
HENRY HANDYSIDE, of Victoria Chambers, Victoria Street, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY CLUTCHES."
My Invention relates to a new or improved form of clutch having for its object
the prevention of retrograde movement in all carriage wagons or other vehicles
running on wheels or skids, whether running on rails, ropes, or bars, or for use on
cages, lifts, or hoists.
In carrying out my Invention as applied to a railway vehicle, for example, I
employ a clutch lever, the opposite and clutching faces of which act after the manner
of a wrench and firmly grip or grasp the head of the rail whenever a pulling strain
is communicated to a tension rod, which is fastened to the end of the clutch lever.
The lever is secured to a trailing block by a pin which allows the said lever a
certain amount of motion, and the trailing block is suspended from the frame of the
vehicle by say four parallel links or rods arranged in an angular position, to one of
which is attached a lever handle by which the clutch is raised and kept off the
rails when not required. The links or rods by reason of their angular position
produce the necessary adhesion of the clutch when in use.
The safety clutch operates in the following manner:When it is required to be
brought into action, as in the case of ascending an incline, the lever is disengaged
and allowed to drop, and by its weight it maintains the under surface of the trailing
block in close contact with the top surface of the rail, along which it is quite free to
trail in a forward.direction, but the instant a retrograde motion of the vehicle
commences the trailing block is firmly pressed against the rail by the weight of the
wagon or carriage and remains stationary; but as the body of the vehicle is free to
move backward, and as the one end of the tension rod is secured to the frame
thereof, it follows that motion is imparted to the clutch lever and the clutching
faces firmly grasp the rail. By means of this arrangement the greater the pull
imparted to the tension rod the greater will be the holding power of the clutch.
When the apparatus is intended for use in a more contracted position a single
pair of suspending links may be employed, and the handle may be connected
directly to the clutch lever.
According to another modification the clutch lever is composed of two portions,
one of which in the shape of an arm is furnished with an eccentric form of end,
whilst the other part is suspended or brought into action with the head of the rail,
[Price 2d1

page_text: or of the rope or bar, as the case may be, by the aid of links, as in the arrangements
previously described.
In lieu of the methods before mentioned of obtaining a grip on the rail rope or
bar I may employ a crank acting through its pin or shaft on a block pressed against
the side of the rail, rope, or bar, or any other suitable mechanical arrangement for
applying pressure to the grip.
The action of the grip may be reversed so as to avoid turning the train, the
suspending links being attached to a lever which changes the direction of their
angularity.