AN IMPROVED MODE OF WORKING RAILWAY BREAKS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Austen Chambers, 'of Canterbury, and William
Harrison Champion, of Lyusted, Kent; for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF WORKING RAILWAY BREAKS."
Sealed the 11th July 1856, and dated the 14th January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPE
William Harrison Champion at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 14th January 1856.
We, AUSTEN CHAMBERS, of Canterbury, and WILLIAM HARRISON CHAMPION,
of Lynsted, Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF WORKING RAILWAY BREAKS " to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to breaks employed on railway for arresting or
retarding the motion of railway carriages, and consists of the following mecha-
nical arrangements, or self-acting contrivances, for accomplishing the above
object-To the ends of each pair of buffer rods I connect a cross piece of
metal, which move. with the buffer rods, and press against the buffer springs,
a metal bar, having an incline formed on the under side, being attached to each
cross piece by a ball socket hinge, so as to have liberty of vertical or horizontal
motion when necessary. Midway between the two buffer springs, and crosswise
of the under framing, a rod extends, supported at its ends, and having at its
centre an eccentric projection formed thereon; immediately under this eccentric
are two anti-friction rollers (on which the two ends of the metal bars above

page_text: referred to rest), which are mounted on two bent levers, the fulcra whereof
are rods extending across the under framing; upon each of these rods short
lever arms are fixed, from each of which proceeds, in a longitudinal direction,
a rod suspended from the under framing, to the other end of which the break
block is attached.
The effect of the above arrangements is as follows:-Upon pressure being
exerted against the buffer heads, the inclined parts of the metal bar will be
forced between the eccentric and the rollers, and acting as a wedge depress the
rollers and bent levers, and impart a like movement to the lever arms, thus
forcing the break blocks in contact with the tyres of the wheels, and holds
them in that position until the pressure on the buffers is removed.
When it is desired to prevent the break from being acted upon by the buffer
rods, the same may be effected by raising the eccentric by means of the handle
fixed to the rod upon which the eccentric is mounted. If necessary the
eccentric may be so formed as to enable the guard or breaksman, by means of
the handle, to operate upon the breaks independently of the buffers.
In lieu of using the inclined metal bars for depressing the levers, the same
result may be obtained by having two loose eccentrics (instead of one fixed)
upon the rod above named, and being connected by chains to the buffer rods.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Austen Chambers and William Harrison Champion in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, AUSTEN
CHAMBERS, of Canterbury, and WILLIAM HARRISON CHAMPION, of Lynsted,
Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth 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 us, the
said Austen Chambers and William Harrison Champion, Her special licence
that we, the said Austen Chambers and William Harrison Champion, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Austen
Chambers and William Harrison Champion, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
aud at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and

page_text: lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for AN IMPROVED MODE OF WORKING RAILWAY BREAKS, upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Austen Chambers and William Harrison
Champion, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Austen Chambers and William
Harrison Champion, do hereby declare the nature of our said 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, which relates to breaks applied to railway carriages for
retarding or arresting their motion, has for its object to make use, when required,
of the momentum of the carriages, as a power whereby the break blocks are
pressed upon the wheels. And also to provide self-acting means whereby the
wear of the break blocks is taken up or allowed for, without subjecting the
various parts of the apparatus to undue strain or pressure by the farther col-
lapse of the train after the break blocks have come into contact with the
wheels. For this purpose we connect each pair of buffer rods together by
means of a suitable metallic bar, to the centre of which we joint a rod or piece
of metal having an incline or wedge formed upon its inner end; this incline
passes between a roller upon which it rests (and which is supported from the
carriage framing) and another roller attached to the upper end of two vertical
links, with which it is free to move in a vertical direction when the incline or
wedge is pushed inwards. The lower end of these links carry a pin which
passes through vertical slots formed in the ends of two levers, which are loose
on a transverse shaft, and are maintained from falling below a horizontal
position by chains attached to the framing. To this shaft are attached seg.
ments of ratchet wheels, actuated by clicks or palls carried by the levers.
When it is necessary that the breaks should remain unaffected by the collapse
of the train (as in backing or shunting), the pin travels freely up and down in
the vertical slots, before mentioned, without acting on the levers; but when
the collapse of the train (by reason of the application of the tender break or
otherwise) is required to apply the self-acting breaks, an arrangement, herein-
after described, enables the guard or engine driver, by means of a cord connected
with the apparatus, to produce a change in the position of the links and cause

page_text: the pin to raise the levers, which, by their clicks or pails, act on the segments
of ratchet wheels fixed on the transverse shaft, from which the motion is
communicated by levers and connecting rods to the sliding break blocks, which
are thereby pressed against the wheels. In connection with the break blocks
is a self-acting arrangement whereby they are prevented from moving more
than a limited distance from the peripheries of the wheels, and the wear is
also allowed for.
The mode in which we carry our said Invention into effect is represented in
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, where Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in
section, of the under frame of a railway carriage with our improvements applied
thereto, the draw bar being omitted to avoid confusion; Fig. 2, a plan of the
same, having portions of the draw bars and buffer springs broken away in order
to show parts lying beneath; and Fig. 3, a cross section, through the line's A,
of the preceding Figures. The same parts are marked with similar letters and
figures of reference throughout. a represents the framing; b, b, b, b, are the
buffer rods, acting on springs attached to the draw bars in the usual manner.
On the under sides of the buffer rods 6 are formed brackets c, having eyes for
receiving the ends of the trussed bars d and d', which work loosely therein.
To the centres of these bars d and d' are jointed, in such manner as to allow
of both vertical and horizontal movement, the rods e & e¹, having formed
upon or attached to them the inclines f, f'. In the position shewn, the small
parallel continuations of these inclines rest upon and are supported by the
rollers g, g. The rollers h, h', rest upon these parallel parts of the inclines
in a vertical line directly above the other rollers, and revolve upon a pin w,
the ends of which pass through the vertical slots i, i, in the fixing j, and
thereon the links k, the lower ends of which are provided with a pin 7,
which takes into the vertical slots of the levers m, working loosely on the
shaft n, and carrying clicks or palls o, which take into the segments of ratchet
wheels p keyed on the shaft n, upon which are also keyed the levers q, con
nected by the rods r with the slides s, carrying the break blocks t and working
on the bars u attached to the horn plates. The forked arm vis fixed to the
links k, and forms with them a bell-crank lever, having its fulcrum upon the
pin w. The end of this arm is turned upward so as to work through a hole
y, which may be closed by drawing across it the slide z, to which are attached
the rods 1 and cords 1', which are to be connected at the points 2 with the
corresponding cords of the adjoining carriages, thereby affording à means
whereby the guard, or other person, may at once move the whole of the slides
of the various carriages sò as to close the respective holes; but, unless so acted
on; the slides are maintained in their central position (as shewn) by the helical
carry

page_text: springs 6, which also draw them back on the cord being released. The cords 1'
are guided and supported by carrier pullies 7, attached to diagonally opposite
corners of the framing. With this arrangement, either end of a carriage may
be coupled to either end of a carriage' similarly fitted; and it will be obvious
that as the united cords pass across from side to side of the carriages, their
tension will be but slightly affected when the buffers are driven in. 'To the
slides's carrying the Break blocks are jointed the clicks or palls 3, taking into
ratchet teeth formed in the bars u; and held in contact therewith by links and
springs 4. The holes 5, at the joints of the clicks 3; are elongated so as to
permit a certain amount of movement of the break blocks without affecting the
palls. In the Drawing, clicks are shewn applied to two of the blocks, but the
application to one only is absolutely necessary. The action of the apparatus is
as follows:-On the train being checked by the application of the tender
breaks, or otherwise, the buffer rods are driven inwards, and carry with them
the wedges or inclines f. f', which in their progress raise the rollers h, h', and
with them the links k. The slots allow this to take place without affecting
the levers m. When it is desired that the forcing in of the inclines shall cause
the breaks to act, the slide z is drawn across the hole y; hence it follows that,
as the pullies h,h', together with the links, are forced upwards, the end of the
arm comes in contact with the slide, causing the arm and links to turn on
the pin win the manner of a bell-crank lover, and to throw the pin l'out
of the line of the vertical slot into the narrow portion ², and, consequently,
to communicate the upward movement of the links to the levers m, and from
them, through the clicks o and segments of ratchet wheels p, to the shaft n and
levers q, which communicate with and press the break blocks into forcible con-
tact with the wheels. On the buffer rods and inclines resuming their original
positions, the weight of the segments p causes the break blocks to fall back
from the wheels to the extent of the clongation of the holes 5; any farther
retrograde movement being prevented by the clicks 3, which, by taking into a
tooth nearer the wheels as the blocks wear, prevent the levers q, with their
accompanying shaft and ratchet wheels, from resuming their original position.
The consequence is that the levers m, on falling back with their clicks, take
hold of a fresh tooth of the segments p, and are thus prepared to again carry
the breaks into action.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not claim
as new the application generally of inclines or wedges for actuating or bringing
break blocks into action; neither do we confine ourselves to the precise details
represented; but we claim as new and of our Invention,-

page_text: Firstly, the attachment of an incline, or wedge, in the manner described
(for actuating the break blocks), on a central or nearly central line between
each pair of buffer rods.
Secondly, the means described whereby the connection between the move-
ment of the buffer rods and the break blocks may be established or broken as
required.
Thirdly, the application of ratchets and clicks or palls, in connection with
the transverse shaft and break block bars or guides, for taking up the wear of
the break blocks, and alway keeping them within a limited distance of the
peripheries of the wheels.
Fourthly, the arrangement, diagonally and transversely, of the cords and
rods, or cords only, or their equivalents, which allows the collapse of the train
to take place without deranging the connection of the apparatus for engaging
or disengaging the break apparatus.
In witness whereof, we, the said Austen Chambers and William Harrison
Champion, have hereto set our hands and seals, this 14th day of
וז
1016
AUSTEN
(L.S.)
CHAMBERS.
WILLIAM H. (L.S.) CHAMPION.
AUSTEN
(L.S.) CHAMBERS.
WILLIAM H. (L.S.) CHAMPION.