IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, Patent Agent, of the British
and Foreign Patent Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the
Empire of France, and 38, Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAYS." A communication from François Conrad Beaufays and Jean
Francois Delchef. residing at Liège, in the Kingdom of Belgium.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, and
Declaration, on the 30th March 1864, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, Patent Agent, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,
24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 38, Porchester
Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS," communicated to me by François Conrad Beaufays
and Jean François Delchef, persons residing at Liège, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have
made solemn déclaration that it is a communication.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:―
These improvements consist in the suppression of the turntables now used
for shifting engines and carriages in railway stations and elsewhere by the
following means :-
.
Firstly, by adding to the principal line A two auxiliary curved lines B, C,
on which the movements of the locomotives and carriages are made. These
two auxiliary lines join in order to form a line for the return of the locomotive
and carriages.
.
Secondly, by combining the two lines B and C, and allowing the locomotive
to return and take the required position on the principal line A for starting.
Thirdly, by applying and arranging the three excentrics D, D¹, D", which
open by the action of the engine wheels on the moveable rails, and shut by
means of the balance weights E, E, E.
The shifting is done in the following manner :-For instance, suppose the
front of the engine should be turned for starting in the direction of the arrow N,
the locomotive is made to enter the auxiliary curved line B, passing by the
excentric D, which does not move, and the excentric D³, which opens so as to
allow the engine to change rails; next, the engine is directed on to the line C,
passing the excentric D¹, which this time does not open, and the excentric D",
which opens; then the locomotive comes on to the principal line A and its
front is turned towards the arrow N. When it is necessary to turn the
engine the other way, P, the same operation is performed, but in the opposite
direction.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, I claim the sup-
pression of turntables for changing the direction of engines and carriages by
the means above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
H. BONNEVILLE. (L.S.)