IMPROVEMENTS IN OPERATING RAILWAY CARRIAGE BRAKES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OPERATING RAILWAY CARRIAGE BRAKES."
-A communication from abroad by Samuel M°Cambridge, of Phila-
delphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Sealed the 28th August 1866, and dated the 3rd March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd March 1866..
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,"
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OPERATING RAILWAY CARRIAGE
BRAKES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in operating railway carriage brakes by means of a
belt, which is actuated by a pulley on one of the axles of a carriage or engine,
O and passes round a pulley on a second shaft provided with a toothed wheel,'
which actuates a similar wheel on a third shaft. In combination therewith

page_text: is a chain or chains, and connecting rods, which are connected to this third
shaft. The chain or chains are wound over a series of sheaves or pullies in con-
nection with the brake levers on the carriages behind so as to effect the braking
or checking of the rear carriage of a train first, and the others in succession
until the front carriage is checked. A hand lever is used to throw the toothed
wheels on the second and third shafts in and out of gear when required.
When the wheels are thrown into gear the third shaft rotates and winds up
the chain thereon, and thus acts on the brake levers behind. These latter
are prevented from being drawn too far by means of adjustable stop rods.
The usual mode of braking or retarding trains is to check the front carriage
first, and the rear carriage last. This as is well known causes considerable
bumping of the carriages, and consequently uncomfortable jostling of the
passengers, as well as great wear and tear of the carriages and engine, besides
endangering the lives of persons who may happen to be on the platforms. But
as by the improved plan the rear carriage is checked first, and the others in
succession to the front carriage, the evils consequent on the bumping are
avoided, and the train is checked much sooner than in the usual way, and
thereby gives additional security to travelling, and saves much loss of time
when many stoppages have to be made.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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,

page_text: make, use, exercise, and vend,, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OPERATING RAILWAY. CARRIAGE BRAKES," being a communi-
cation to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instru,
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that. I,. the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to. the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists. in the first place in operating railway carriage
brakes by means of a belt, which is actuated by a pulley on one of the axles
of a carriage or engine; and in the second place in combining therewith a
chain on chains and connecting rods. The chain or chains are wound over
a series of sheaves or pullies in connection with, the brakes on the carriage
behind, and in such a manner as to effect the braking or checking of the rear
carriage of a train first, and the others so on in succession until the front
carriage is checked. The usual mode is to check the front carriage first and
the rear carriage last; this as is well, known causes considerable bumping of
the carriages, and consequently uncomfortable. jostling of the passenger as
well as great wear and tear of the carriages and engine, besides endangering
the lives of persons who may happen to be on the platforms. But as by the
improved. plan the rear carriage is checked first, and the others in succession
to the front carriage, the evils consequent on the bumping are avoided, and
the train is checked much sooner than in the usual way, and thereby gives
additional security to travelling, and saves much loss of time when many
stoppages have to be made.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan or top view of the running
gear of an engine and tender in connection with two trucks which represent
a train of carriages with the improvement attached; Fig. 2 is a vertical
longitudinal section of the same taken at the red line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3
is an end view of one of the trucks; Fig. 4 is a top view of the machine F
drawn on an enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 6

page_text: is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of one of the rods Q, a chain P¹;
sheaves R, S, and lever E in the position shown in Fig. 2. -
..
✓ A, represents the bed plate of an engine, and B, that of the tender, and
,C, C, the frames of two trucks which are in connection with the former in
the same manner as a train of carriages. Each pair of the check blocks D
¡are connected together by means of the cross bars a, each pair of which is
combined with the longitudinal rods 6, and levers E; but as there is nothing
new in the construction and arrangement of these parts in relation to each
other I. omit a particular description thereof.
For operating the brakes thère is an apparatus F, which is shown in con-
nection therewith in Figures 1 and 2, and detached therefrom in Figures 4 and 5,
where it is drawn on an enlarged scale. This apparatus F has vertical side
pieces c, c, which sustain the journals of the shafts G, H, I. On the shaft G
there are excentrics J, J, to one of which is attached the connecting rod K,
which has a connection with the lever. L for starting the apparatus. The
excentrics operate the boxes d, d, of the journals of the shaft H. These boxes
slide in the curved grooves e, e, of the side pieces c, c, as the pinion f is thrown
in and out of gear with the wheel 9 on the shaft I. The grooves are con-
'centric with the shaft I when it and the shaft H should be in connection, but
have an outward turn to bring the wheel and pinion out of gear except when
the brakes are to be operated. The moveable shaft H is connected with the
shaft M of the rear traction wheels of the engine by means of the belt N and
pullies O and 0¹; P is a chain, which is connected at one end with the shaft I,
and at the other end with a series of rods Q and chains P¹ with all the car-
riages of the train, the chains P¹ being wound respectively over the sheaves R
in the upper ends of the levers E and the sheaves S in the pedestals h, which
are secured by means of bolts to the bolsters i. The chains P¹ pass over the
sheave R of the first lever E and take a half turn, and then a half turn around
the sheave S, from which, with its rod and chain connection, the next lever E
is reached, and the chain is wound over the sheave R, and back, forward in
like manner with the whole series of sheaves throughout the whole train of
carriages. The chain is then made fast to the last one in rear of the lever E.
The rods are connected at each end of the carriages by means of hooks and
eyes as represented in the Drawings, to provide for readily detaching and
attaching the same when the carriages are uncoupled and coupled together.
The chain P is duplicated at the rear end of the tender as represented to
provide for attaching the same to either end of the train. The chain runs in
a straight direction as represented when the tender has the connection shown
;

page_text: .
in the Drawings, but when the connection is made with the other end of the
train the chain is unhooked at the point 1, and the inner end of the piece P¹¹,
which is represented hooked up out of the way, is attached, forming a connec
tion represented by red lines in Fig. 1. To give the chain its proper direction
in this arrangement there are sheaves T at the points 1, 2. To prevent much
swagging of the chain P, and its rod connections, sheaves T are provided, and
'are supported by hangers u that are secured to the floors of the carriages.
The operation of the mechanism is as follows:-When the engineer wishes
to stop the train he puts the mechanism F in motion by means of the lever L
by pulling it in the direction of the arrow, which brings the large parts of the
excentrics J, J, against the sliding boxes d, d, and forces them in the grooves e, è,
towards the rear end of the machine, thereby bringing the pinion f on the
shaft H into gear with the wheel 9 on the shaft I, to which the forward end
of the chain P is attached. By the same operation the belt N. is tightened,
and by the forward motion of the engine the chain is wound round the shaft I,
and drawn forward, and the chain being loose around all the sheaves in con²-
nection with the brakes, and fast at its rear end as above described, it is
tightened first on the sheaves R, S, of the rear truck by which the upper end
of the lever is drawn forward, and the rear end is thrown backward, and the
brakes of the truck are drawn towards each other, and the wheels thereby
checked. The wheels of the next truck are then in like manner checked, and
so on in succession until those of the front carriage are checked. To prevent
the slipping of the wheels adjustable stop rods vare provided, the screw ends
of which have nuts; each side of the pedestals won the bolsters i for setting
the heads of the rods, so that the upper ends of the levers E shall bear against
them when the latter are borne forward far enough to act with sufficient
force on the check blocks D. The above described attachment for operating
the brakes may be used in connection with the hand levers if desired, at the
same time the engineer applies the mechanism F for that purpose. It will
readily be seen that the above-described apparatus for operating the brakes
may be applied to carriages without disturbing the brakes already on them. !
A modification of the arrangement of the continuous chain P with the
lever E is shown at Fig. 7, Sheet II. In this arrangement instead of placing
the sheave R in the lever E it is placed in the short bell-crank lever X, which
is jointed to the hanger j attached to the cross piece k of the carriage frame
as represented, or it may be bolted to the under side of the floor. In the
lever X there is a small friction wheel 7 that bears against the handle of the
lever E so as to produce the same effect upon this lever as when it is provided

page_text: with the sheave R.. The object of the modification is to supersede the neces-
sity of altering the levers for the reception of the sheaves in carriages
already in use, there being no necessity when the lever X is used of altering
any existing arrangement of the brake levers. The lever X, sheave R, and
friction wheel are shown detached in Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
•
Y is a hollow cylinder as seen in Fig. 7, that turns freely on the central
shaft m, which is mounted in, the brackets or hangers n, which are bolted to
the under side of the floor of the carriage, or to some other fixed part thereof.
There is a coiled spring o in the cylinder Y, one end of which is secured by
means of screws or otherwise to the central shaft m, and the other end to the
inner periphery of the cylinder. To the outer periphery of the cylinder one
end of the chain Z is bolted, and the other end is hooked to the continuous
chain P. This mechanism is fixed under each carriage of the train. for the
,combined action in unwinding the continuous chain P. from the shaft I at, the
time the brakes are to be released from the wheels to take the strain off of
the springs which are connected with the check blocks to throw them back
from the wheels, so that the springs may only have to perform their legitimate
function.
Fig. 14 represents a device for holding the chain shaft I when the hooks
have been sufficiently tightened so that the engineer may disengage this
shaft from its connection with the engine. On one end of the shaft there is
fastened the ratchet wheel p, into, which the catch of the pawl q falls to secure
the shaft from turning. There is a vertical rod r. jointed at its lower end to
the outer end of the pawl, the rod having on its upper end the foot pieces,
on which the engineer places his foot when he wishes to disengage the pawl
from the ratchet wheel, the spring t on the rod between the foot piece and the
floor which hold the pawl in position as represented in the Drawing, yielding
to allow of the descent of the rod r.
Having thus fully described the improvement in operating railway carriage
.brakes as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, what I claim
therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First, operating carriage brakes by means of a belt in connection with a
shaft or axle of the carriage or engine and the shaft H, the latter being
combined and arranged with the shafts G. and J in the manner above
.described.
Second, checking the rear carriage of the train first, and so on in succes-
sion until the front carriage is checked as herein-before described, and for the
purposes specified.

page_text: Third, the combination of the stop rods with the carriages or trucks, and
the levers E, arranged to operate in relation to the latter, as and for the
purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)