IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING BREAKS ON RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Clarendon, of the City of Dublin, Gentleman,
and Owen John Gilsen, of the same City, Carpenter, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING BREAKS ON
RAILWAY CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 21st November 1854, and dated the 24th May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Clarendon and
Owen John Gilsen at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 24th May 1854.
We, THOMAS CLARENDON, of the City of Dublin, Gentleman, and OWEN
JOHN GILSEN, of the same City, Carpenter, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING
BREAKS ON RAILWAY CARRIAGES" to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in connecting the breaks in ordinary use with the
inner end of the buffer rods, so that when such rods are driven inwards the
breaks may become applied to the wheels by means of intermediate mechanism,
herein-after described; and the breaks are withdrawn from the wheels by
means of the same mechanism when the pressure on the buffer rods ceases.
The mechanism referred to consists of the following parts:-
To the inner end of the buffer rod on each side of the carriage is jointed a
rod, which is connected at its reverse end to the upper part of a lever, having

page_text: for its fulcrum a bar or shaft extending across the carriage, and suitably
mounted in the underneath part of the frame thereof, such bar or shaft forming
the fulcrum for the lever in connection with each buffer rod. These levers
extend below their fulcrum, and have connected to them at two points, above
& below such fulcrum and equidistant therefrom, two elliptical springs or
other suitable clastic couplings, to the reverse ends of which are united boxes
or guides, capable of sliding on a fixed horizontal guide bar.
To these boxes or guides are fixed the ordinary break blocks, which are thus
rendered capable of being brought into action against the wheels whenever the
buffer rods are driven inwards; and the wheels are released from such action
by the reaction of a strong plate spring, fixed at its centre part to a portion or
portions of the frame of the carriage, and at its two ends to the buffer rods.
The said mechanism may be prevented from communicating the pressure
on the buffer rods to the break blocks, by withdrawing the connecting rods
jointed to such buffer rods out of connection with the levers, by means of hand
gear, conveniently placed, so as to be acted upon by the guard.
In cases also in which it may be desirable to work the breaks by hand in the
ordinary manner, the bar or shaft, which forms the fulcrum of the said levers,
may be acted upon by hand gear from the back part of the carriage, by means
of another lever working on the said common fulcrum, but between the two
levers before described. There is a slot in the rod by which this last-men-
tioned lever is worked, in order to allow of the two side levers being worked
by the pressure on the buffer rods when required. The levers may be made
to act on a bell crank or lever, suitably mounted or fitted beneath the carriage,
which will cause a bell to ring as a signal to the guard wherever the breaks
are put on.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas-Clarendon and Owen John Gilsen in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 24th November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
CLARENDON, of the City of Dublin, Gentleman, and OWEN JOHN GILSEN, of
the same City, Carpenter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the

page_text: said Thomas Clarendon and Owen John Gilsen, Her special licence that we,
the said Thomas Clarendon and Owen John Gilsen, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Clarendon and
Owen John Gilson, our 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
THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING BREAKS ON RAILWAY CARRIAGES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Clarendon and Owen
John Gilsen, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Clarendon and Owen John.
Gilsen, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
Our Invention of "Improvements in the Means or Apparatus for Working
Breaks on Railway Carriages" is designed to render the ordinary breaks in a
railway train self-acting whenever the speed of the engine becomes less than
that of the carriages following it, the breaks being applied to the wheels by
the pressure brought on the buffer rods by the momentum of the carriages
following one upon another; that is to say, cach carriage has its breaks applied
by the pressure upon its buffers of the carriage in front of it; and the object
of our Invention is more especially to produce this effect through the agency
of suitable mechanisın, without interfering with the ordinary working of the
breaks by hand, in circumstances where compression, as mentioned, cannot.be
obtained.
This object is accomplished by connecting the breaks in ordinary use with
the inner end of the buffer rods, so that when such rods are driven inwards the
breaks may become applied to the wheels by means of the intermediate
mechanism, hercin-after described; and the breaks are withdrawn from the
wheels by means of the same mechanism when the pressure on the buffer, rods
ceases.
: )
The mechanism referred to consists of the following parts:-To the inner

page_text: end of the buffer rod on each side of the carriage is jointed a rod, which is
connected at its reverse end to the upper part of a lever, having for its fulcrum
a bar or shaft, extending across the carriage and suitably mounted in the hori-
zontal guide bars, herein-after mentioned, such first-mentioned bar or shaft
forming the fulcrum for the lever in connection with each buffer rod. These
levers extend below their fulcrum, and have connected to them at two points,
above and below such fulcrum and equidistant therefrom, two plate springs or
other suitable elastic couplings, to the reverse end of which are united boxes
or guides, capable of sliding on a fixed horizontal guide bar. To these boxes.
or guides are fixed the ordinary break blocks, which are thus rendered capable
of being brought into action against the wheels whenever the buffer rods are
driven inwards; and the wheels are released from such action by the reaction
of a strong plate spring, fixed at its centre part to a portion or portions of the
frame of the carriage, and at its two ends to the buffer rods.
The said mechanism may be prevented from communicating the pressure on
the buffer rods to the break blocks, by withdrawing the connecting rods jointed
to such buffer rods out of connection with the levers by means of hand gear,
conveniently placed, so as to be acted upon by the guard.
In cases also in which it may be desirable to work the breaks by hand in
the ordinary manner, the bar or shaft which forms the fulcrum of the said
levers may be acted upon by hand gear from the back part of the carriage, by
means of another lever working on the said common fulcrum, but between the
two levers before described. There is a slot in the rod by which this last-men-
tioned lever is worked, in order to allow of the two side levers being worked
by the pressure on the buffer rods when required. The levers may be made to
act on a bell crank or lever, suitably mounted or fitted beneath the carriage,
which will cause a bell to ring as a signal to the guard whenever the breaks
are put on or withdrawn.
In order, however, that our Invention may be fully understood, we will
proceed to describe it more particularly by the aid of the accompanying
Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal-section,-and Fig. 2 is a plan, of a portion of a rail-
way carriage, shewing our improved mechanism for working the breaks-applied
thereto.
In each of these Figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts. A, A, is the frame of the carriage; B, B, are the ordinary buffer rods
(passing through the slide boxes B', B', which serve as guides); to the inner
end of which buffer rods are connected the rods C. D is a lever, having the
bar or shaft E for its fulcrum. The upper end of this lever is formed with a

page_text: slot, into which the rod C drops, and within which the said rod C is confined;
so that when the rod C is moved in a horizontal direction it carries with it
such upper end of the lever, the rod C having a notch which catches on a pin
passing across the slot in the lever. This lever D extends below its fulcrum
E, and has connected to it, at points E and E², equidistant from such fulcrum,
the ends of two coupling rods F, F, to the reverse ends of which are connected
two plate springs G, G, which are again connected to slide boxes H, H, having
fastened to them the ordinary break blocks I, I, which work or slide on the
stationary guide bars K, K. L is a strong plate spring, fixed in the centre to
the frame of the carriage, and connected at its two ends to the buffer rods, in
order to restore the buffers to their first position as soon as the pressure upon
them in an inward direction ceases. L* is a similar spring connected to the
draw bar.
The action of this mechanism is as follows:-When the ordinary buffer
rods B are driven inwards, the rods C are thereby carried in the same direction,
and with them the upper ends of the levers D; the effect of which will be to
force the point of connection E¹, with one pair of the break blocks, in a direc-
tion to the right hand of the fulcrum E (see Fig. 1), and the other point of
connection E with the other pair of blocks in a direction to the left hand of
the said fulcrum. By this means the boxes or guides H will be slidden along
the guide bars K, and the ordinary break blocks I, fixed thereto, will be brought
simultaneously against the wheels on the right and left hand sides respectively
of the fulcrum E. It is, however, to be observed that the break blocks being
thus applied to the wheels through the springs G, the rigidity and suddenness
of the blow is tempered or regulated by the clastic power of such springs. On
the pressure on the buffers ceasing, the several parts of the mechanism will be
restored to their original positions, and the break blocks removed from contact
with the wheels by the reaction of the strong plate springs G.
We will now describe the manner in which the said mechanism may be pre-
vented from communicating the pressure on the buffer rods to the break blocks,
by withdrawing the connecting rods jointed to such buffer rods out of connec-
tion with the levers D. M is a rod extending to the back part of the carriage,
and there connected with a lever handle N, conveniently placed for use by the
guard. In some cases this handle will be more conveniently placed at the
front of the carriage. The connecting rod M is at its inner end fastened to
the lever joint O on the cross rod or bar P, fixed in the frame of the carriage.
This cross bar carries two cams Q, Q, in which position rollers 7, 9, may be
placed. When the lever handle N is raised or depressed (according to the
arrangement of the parts), the rod P is, through the medium of the joint O,

page_text: caused to make a partial revolution, thus bringing the sides of the cams Q, Q
containing the rollers 9, 9, against the rods C, as indicated by the dotted curve
Fig. 1, and raising them in the slots out of connection with the pins in the
levers D, D. When the rods C arc thus raised the movement of the buffer
rods will not be communicated to the mechanism.
We will now describe the mode in which the breaks may be worked by
hand when required. R is a lever, fixed on the fulcrum E, between the two
levers D; to the upper end of the lever R is connected a rod S, through which
the shaft or fulcrum E may be turned sufficiently to apply the breaks in the
ordinary manner. But it will be seen that the end of the rod S has a slot on
its end of sufficient length to allow of the motion of the lever R, when the
shaft or fulcrum E is turned by the levers D. In this manner, it will be per-
ceived, the shaft or fulcrum E may be turned sufficiently to apply the breaks
by the guard as usual, without being interfered with by the action of the
mechanism by which the breaks are rendered self-acting, as described.
We will now describe the mode in which the bell in the guard's box is made
to ring whenever the breaks are put on or withdrawn. a, Fig. 1, is a bracket
fastened to the floor of the carriage; b is a pin, supported by the arms of the
bracket, and which forms the fulcrum of the small lever c; d, d, are two rods,
attached to the lever at equal distances above and below the fulcrum, and also
attached at their reverse ends to the bell wire or rod e, extending to the bell in
the guard's box. The rods d, d, are slotted for the greater part of their length,
and are united by a pin d* in the end of the bell rod, which enters both the
slots, and allows of their alternate working; f is a pin projecting from one of
the levers; g is a spiral tension spring, for bringing back the lever c to its
former position after the bell has been rung. The bell is not shewn, but the
rod extending towards the guard's box is indicated by the letter h. It will
readily be perceived, that when the breaks are applied, the bell wire will be
pulled through the medium of the rod above the fulcrum; when the breaks
are withdrawn, a similar effect will be produced through the medium of the rod
below the fulcrum.
Having thus described-the nature of our Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we would have it understood that we do-not-mean-or
intend to confine ourselves to the precise forms and arrangements of all the
parts represented and described; neither do we claim as of our Invention any
of the foregoing mechanism otherwise than for the purpose described; but
what we do claim as of our Invention is,-
First, the general construction and combination of the mechanism described,
with the ordinary apparatus for working the breaks.

page_text: Secondly, the adaptation and application of the plate springs or other suit-
ble elastic coupling between the break blocks and the levers, by which they
re thrust against the wheels without injurious effects, as described.
Thirdly, the arrangement for causing a bell to ring in the guard's box
henever the breaks are put on or withdrawn.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Clarendon and Owen John
Gilsen, have hereunto subscribed our names and affixed our scals, the
Twenty-first day of November, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said Thomas Clarendon and Owen
John Gilsen, in presence of
JOHN NETTLETON,
PHO
OWEN JOHN GILSEN. (L.S.)
5, Malpas Street,
Dublin.