IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES FOR CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Smedley, of Holywell; in the County of
Flint, Hotel Keeper; for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BRAKES
FOR CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS.""
Sealed the 24th November 1868, and dated the 26th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Smedley at
thic Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th May 1868..
I, THOMAS SMEDLEY,. of Holywell, in the County of Flint, Hotel
Keeper, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BRAKES FOR CARRIAGES ON COMMON ROADS," to be as follows:-.
My Invention has for its object the construction of brakes in sucli
a manner as to admit of an increased length of wooden block' adapted
to the curvature, of the wheel to which it is applied, and also to
obviate the present liability to wear of the brake block by the vertical!
movements of the wheel. For this purpose the brakes. for an omnibus:
or other four-wheeled carriage consist of a pair of brake blocks. of
suitable curvature for the hinder wheels suspended at one end by
jointed arms fixed to the springs (or to the axle) so as to admit of
their partaking of the vertical movements of the axle, and at the other;

page_text: end by slides capable of the requisite vertical motion on blocks fixed
at the end of the ordinary levers for working the brakes as required.
The aforesaid slides are connected to the brake blocks at the bottom
with hinge joints, and are or may be adjusted by means of screws at
the top as required to keep them in a vertical position. By means of
the foregoing combination of parts the brake blocks are suspended
in such a manner as to maintain their position in relation to the
periphery of the wheels independently of the action of the springs, such
action being also free and not interfered with by the brake apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Smedley in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 26th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SMEDLEY, of Holywell, in the County of Flint, Hotel Keeper, send
grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-cight, in the thirty-first
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Smedley, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Smedley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Smedley, 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 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 BRAKES FOR CARRIAGES ON
COMMON ROADS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Smedley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Smedley, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) -
:-
My Invention of "Improvements in Brakes for Carriages on Common
Roads," has for its object the construction of brakes in such a manner
as to admit of an increased length of brake block adapted to the
curvature of the wheel to which it is applied, and also to obviate the
present liability to the partial and irregular wear of the brake block
against the wheel arising from the movements of the body of the
carriage in a vertical direction consequent upon the vibration of the
springs. For this purpose the brakes for an omnibus or other four-
wheeled carriage consist of a pair of brake blocks (of timber or other
material) of suitable curvature for the hinder wheels, and which are
suspended and applied to the wheels in the following manner :-Iron
standards are fixed to the axle or on the springs immediately over
the axle, the top or upper ends of which standards extend a few inches
above or beyond the periphery of the wheels, where pins are fixed in
the standards and on which pins, jointed arms work, the arms being
of sufficient length to admit of the brake blocks being fastened to them.
At the lower end of these jointed arms are connected slides or vertical
guides in which work suitably formed sliding blocks connected to
the lower end of a lever which is acted upon in the usual manner of
working brakes by levers, thus providing for the movements of the body
of the carriage due to the vibration of the springs. The aforesaid slides
or vertical guides connected to the bottom of the jointed arms are or
may be adjusted by means of screws at the top as required to keep
them in a vertical position. By means of the foregoing combination
of parts the brake blocks are suspended in such a manner as to
maintain their position in relation to the periphery of the wheels
independently of the action of the springs, such action being also
free and not interfered with by the brake apparatus.
Having thus stated the nature of the
to describe more particularly in what
said Invention, I will proceed
manner the same is to be

page_text: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an omnibus with a brake and its
appurtenances applied thereto.
A is a standard which is fixed to that portion of the spring which
is immediately over the axle and is held firmly in its place by the
clamps or screws which fasten the axle and springs together. In the
top of this standard is fixed a pin on which the jointed arm B works,
and on which arm the brake block C is fastened extending over a
considerable portion of the periphery of the wheel, by preference not
less than two feet. At the lower part of the jointed arm B there is
a slide or vertical guide D united to the said jointed arm by a hinge
joint; this slide or vertical guide D is placed in a vertical position, and
is held and adjusted as required by means of a screw pin and two
nuts E. The slide or vertical guide is shewn detached on an enlarged
scale in Fig. 2, which is a front view of it, and in horizontal section in
Fig. 3. On the end of the lever G is a block F capable of sliding or
moving up and down in the slide or vertical guide D, the lever G being
worked by means of a handle H with intermediate levers, as shewn
in Fig. 1, or by means of a treadle, as shown by dotted lines in the
same Figure. The block F is shewn detached on a larger scale at
Figures 4 and 5.
It will be seen on reference to Fig. 5 that there is a hole in the
block through which is passed a pin fixed to the lever G; this block
being so fixed partakes of the up-and-down movements of the carriage
on the springs and it is free to move in the groove of the slide D; it
is also connected by a spiral spring as shewn (or it may be otherwise
connected) to the block C. The object in using a spring for this con-
nection is to hold the brake block away from the wheel when not in
action. The same end might be effected by. an india-rubber draw
spring fixed at one end to the body of the carriage and at the other
end to the brake block. The shaft I on which the lever G works has
its bearing fixed to the body of the carriage, and it extends to the
opposite side of the same and is connected with similar arrangements
for applying the brake block to the other hind wheel.
From the foregoing description it will be seen that by moving the
handle H or a treadle, as shown by dotted lines, the lever G on each
side of the carriage will be turned on the fulcrum I common to both,

page_text: and by this means the brake blocks will be simultaneously applied
to the wheels and will be withdrawn therefrom by the reaction of the
spiral or other springs on the removal of pressure from the handle or
the treadle.
It will also be seen that by the free relative action of the slide D
and the block F, which are respectively connected together and with
the other parts as described, the brake blocks are enabled to maintain
their position in relation to the periphery of the wheels (thereby pre-
venting uneven wear of the brake blocks) without interfering with
the free action of the springs.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim
as of my Invention is, the arrangement of apparatus in which the
brake blocks are suspended from standards fixed to the axle or to the
spring immediately over the axle, the brake blocks being applied to
and acting on the periphery of the wheels and being kept in their
required positions by the use of slides or vertical guides and sliding
blocks between them, and the levers for applying the brakes, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Smedley, have hereunto.
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
THOMAS SMEDLEY. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN DAVIES,
Holywell,
House Surgeon,
Flintshire Dispensary.