IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILWAY TRAINS AND OTHER VEHICLES AND FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING THEIR MOTION." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Eyles, of Weston, near Bath, in the
County of Somerset, and George Eyles, of Bristol, in the County of Gloucester,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILWAY
TRAINS AND OTHER VEHICLES AND FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING THEIR
MOTION."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Eyles and
George Eyles at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd
February 1876.
WILLIAM HENRY EYLES, of Weston, near Bath, in the County of Somerset, and
GEORGE EYLES, of Bristol, in the County of Gloucester. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILWAY TRAINS AND OTHER VEHICLES AND FOR
RETARDING AND STOPPING THEIR MOTION."
Our Invention relates more particularly to an improved mode of applying power
for the purpose of retarding and stopping railway trains, and it consists in the
employment of appliances for taking a grip or bearing upon the rails and raising
the trains, or portions thereof, bodily therefrom whilst they are in motion in lieu
of applying the brakes to the wheels or to the rails whilst the wheels remain
thereon as heretofore.
According to one mode of carrying out our Invention we employ cradles or
frames, which are suspended by means of chains and springs from the under side
of the engine and the vehicles composing the train immediately above the rails, so
as to be capable of being lowered upon and taking a bearing upon or against the
same. These cradles or frames carry hydraulic cylinders, within each of which
is fitted a piston attached by preference so as to be capable of a certain amount of
longitudinal play to the under side of the vehicle. The cylinders are provided with
pipes and connections communicating with suitable brake motive cylinders situate
upon the engine or tender, and arranged in conjunction with the steam cylinders
of the engine and with a water tank or supply in such a manner that by diverting
the steam from the engine cylinders and conducting it into the brake motive
cylinders water is forced into the hydraulic cylinders situate beneath the vehicles.
The cradles or frames carrying the hydraulic cylinders in their normal condition
are maintained by means of the springs above or clear of the rails. When however
[Price 6d.1

page_text: the pressure is applied by the act of the driver operated the brako motive
apparatus, as before mentioned, the cylinders are depressed (the tension of the
springs being overcome) and the cradles or frames are consequently forced into
contact with the rails, and the pistons fitted in the cylinders are simultaneously
elevated, thereby raising the vehicles bodily from the line whilst the wheels
continue to revolve, and promptly arresting the motion of the train.
The vehicles are maintained in their elevated position until by cutting off the
steam from the brake motive cylinder the pressure is removed, when the pistons
with the vehicles descend and the cylinders with the cradles or frames are
re-elevated by the force of the springs.
It is obvious that steam or air pressure may be employed in lieu of hydraulic
power for raising the pistons with the vehicles to which they are connected.
We also propose to apply the power of electro-magnetism in substitution for
steam or hydraulic pressure for elevating the train.
In carrying out this part of our Invention we employ electro-magnets, which
are arranged above the wheels of the vehicles and communicate by means of
suitable wires and binding screws with a battery situate upon the engine or
tender.
We also employ suitable contact makers or interruptors in the circuit of the
wires, and which are arranged in such a manner as to enable the driver or other
attendant to establish a circuit when required, so as to direct a current through
the electro-magnets, whereby the wheels will be attracted and elevated and the
vehicles will be raised above the rails, suitable frames being at the same time
depressed on to the rails in the manner herein-before described; the vehicles
returning to the rails again by the act of the attendant breaking the circuit, as is
well understood.
By means of this Invention much greater facility is afforded for promptly
arresting or retarding the motion of trains, and the liability to collisions is pro-
portionately diminished.
The details of the Invention may be greatly modified in practice, and any other
suitable moving medium or agent may be employed for actuating the lifting gear,
the principle of the Invention consisting in raising the vehicles bodily from the
rails without necessarily stopping the notion of the wheels themselves by the
application of any motive agent which will effect the purpose intended.
It is obvious that the Invention is applicable to other vehicles than those of
railway trains, as also that it may be applied for lifting vehicles when at rest for
the purpose of effecting repairs, or otherwise than for stopping or retarding their
motion if desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Henry Eyles and George Eyles in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd August 1876.
WILLIAM HENRY EYLES, of Weston, near Bath, in the County of Somerset, and
GEORGE EYLES, of Bristol, in the County of Gloucester.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILWAY TRAINS AND OTHER VEHICLES AND FOR
RETARDING AND STOPPING THEIR MOTION."
Our said Invention has for its object more particularly effecting the retarding
and stopping of railway trains with greater rapidity and certainty than are attain-
able by the ordinary methods of applying brakes to the wheels or to the rails
whilst the wheels remain thereon, and this object is effected by the employment in
combination with the vehicles of appliances which may be brought into action
when required so as to take a grip or bearing upon the rails and raise the trains or

page_text: portions thereof bodily therefrom whilst they are in motion. The Invention is,
however, applicable to other vehicles than those of railway trains, as, for example,
to street tram cars. It may also be applied for lifting vehicles when at rest for
the purpose of effecting repairs or otherwise than for stopping or retarding their
motion.
The details of our Invention as applied to the retarding and stopping of vehicles
may be arranged in various ways, and the gripping and lifting appliances may be
operated by means of any suitable motive fluid medium or agent, providing
that the purpose intended is attained of raising the vehicles bodily from the
ground.
The several Figures in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings illustrate the best
methods with which we are acquainted of carrying our Invention into effect, which
we shall now proceed particularly to describo. Similar letters of reference indicate
like parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of our Drawings represents a sectional elevation of one of a series of
vehicles composing a train having our Invention applied thereto.
Figure 2 represents a sectional elevation of a locomotive engine also having our
Invention applied thereto, and adapted to be used with a train composed of or con-
taining carriages similar to that shewn in Figure 1.
And Figure 3 represents a sectional elevation of a modified construction and
arrangement of a locomotive engine which may be employed in carrying out our
Invention.
A is the framing of the engine or other vehicle, to the under side of which,
immediately above the rails A¹, we suspend cradles or shoes B by means of chains a
and springs b in such a manner that such cradles or shoes, which are by preference
flanged, shall be capable of being lowered upon the rails so as to take a bearing
upon or against the same. These cradles or shoes carry hydraulic cylinders C, each
closed at its lower end but open at its upper end and fitted with a piston or ram D
which works through the open end of the cylinder, and is attached at its upper
extremity to the framing A of the engine or other vehicle. The pistons or rams D
may be rigidly attached to the framing A if desired, but it is preferred to make
provision for a certain amount of longitudinal play by applying to the upper ends
of the piston rods c rollers d, which are fitted so as to be free to travel along slots e
formed in the framing A, as shewn in Figure 1, or in an attachment thereto, as
shewn in Figure 2. The cylinders C are provided with pipes and connections E
communicating with suitable apparatus, herein-after described, situate upon the
engine or tender for forcing water into the cylinders beneath the pistons D, in
order to bring the cradles or shoes B into action when it is required to arrest or
retard the motion of the train. These cradles or shoes in their normal condition
are maintained by means of the springs b above or clear of the rails A¹, as shewn
in Figure 3. When, however, pressure is applied by the act of the driver or other
attendant operating the forcing apparatus the cylinders Care depressed (the tension
of the springs b being overcome), and the cradles or shoes B are consequently forced
into contact with the rails A¹, whilst the pistons or rams D fitted in the cylinders C
are simultaneously elevated, thereby raising the vehicles with their wheels F bodily
from the line, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2, and retarding the motion of the train,
or by a continuance of the pressure promptly arresting the same.
The vehicles are maintained in their elevated position until by the act of the
driver or other attendant throwing the forcing apparatus out of action the pressure
is removed, when the pistons or rams D with the vehicles descend, and the
cylinders C with the cradles or shoes B are re-elevated with the force of the
springs b.
It is obvious that if preferred the converse of the arrangement illustrated of the
cylinders and pistons may be adopted, that is to say, the pistons or rams may be
connected to the cradles or shoes, and the cylinders be attached to the framing of
the vehicle; the pistons in that case being depressed so as to force the cradles or

page_text: shoes into contact with the rails whilst the cylinders are elevated, thereby raising
the vehicles bodily.
A convenient arrangement of the apparatus for forcing water into the hydraulic
cylinders is illustrated in Figure 2. Ġ is a tank containing water and provided
with a pipe f for conducting such water to a pump H, with which also communi-
cate by means of the branch E¹ the pipes E of the vehicles composing the train, as
also the hydraulic cylinders C of the engine itself. This pump is operated through
the intervention of suitable rods g from a shaft h, to which motion is imparted by
a steam engine I. Steam from the boiler for working the engine I is supplied
thereto through a pipe i, which is also connected with the pipe for supplying the
driving cylinders K of the locomotive engine.
The course of the steam is controlled or regulated by means of a triple-acting
piston valve or similar contrivance provided at 1, which is arranged in such a
manner that by the act of the driver or other attendant suitably operating a lever
handle m connected with the valve steam may either be shut off from the whole
of the cylinders, or it may be allowed to pass to the driving cylinders K of the
locomotive engines only, or should it be required to arrest or retard the motion of
the train the steam may be cut off or diverted from the cylinders K and conducted
into the cylinder I. The pump H will thus be brought into action so as to draw
water from the tank G and. force it into the cylinders C, whereby the cradles or
shoes B will be depressed and the pistons or rams D with the vehicles elevated, in
the manner herein-before described.
In order to ensure the vehicles when elevated being retained in their track, we
employ horizontal rotating wheels 1 driven through the intervention of the shaft 2
and gearing 3, 4, from the axle 5 of one of the wheels F of the engine. The shaft 2
is made in two parts connected together by a universal coupling at 6, so as to admit
of the horizontal wheels being actuated whatever may be the height to which the
wheels F are elevated above the rails, and also to enable the horizontal wheels 1 to
be raised when required, as, for example, when passing over crossings, by operating
lifting gear 7 provided for the purpose.
In lieu of employing hydraulic power for operating the pistons and cylinders, the
pressure of steam or air may be applied for that purpose. Compressed air may also
be employed in combination with water, in which case the air acts as the forcing
agent, and the water constitutes a medium through which the pressure is applied.
Figure 3 of our Drawings illustrates the latter modification. In this arrange-
ment compressed air is assumed to be the actuating fluid of the locomotive engine.
M is an accumulator containing compressed air which is forced thereinto through a
pipe n by means of an air pump N worked by a small steam engine I¹, and is
thence conducted by a pipe o into the driving cylinders K' of the engine; G is the
tank containing water for supplying the hydraulic cylinders, which water is forced
into such cylinders in the following manner:-The water in the tank G is main-
tained at such a level as to leave a space between its upper surface and the top of
the tank for containing compressed air, which is forced thereinto through a pipe p
communicating with the pipe n for supplying the accumulator M so as to exercise
a pressure upon the surface of the water sufficient when the cock q with which the
pipe E is provided is open to force the water along the pipes E into the cylinders
C for the purpose of operating therein in the manner herein-before described. The
pipes n, o, p, are also furnished with cocks n¹, o¹, p¹, respectively for controlling the
passage of the compressed air, from the arrangement of which it will be obvious
that by closing the cocks n¹, o¹, and opening the cock p¹, the air will be cut off
from the driving cylinders K, and the connection between the accumulator M and
the pump N will be interrupted whilst the pump N will be placed in communication
with the tank G, so as to increase the pressure of the air contained therein, should
it be inadequate to force the water into the hydraulic cylinders and operate the
same together with the lifting pistons or rams as hercin-before described.
It is not necessary that the whole of the vehicles should be fitted with the cradles

page_text: or shoes and hydraulic cylinders, as probably one or two brake vans will be
sufficient, say for example, the first and the last of the vehicles composing the train.
It is however essential that all the vehicles be furnished with pipes or connections
for conducting the water from the engine or tender (as the case may be) to the
extreme brake van. Means must also be provided for coupling the conducting
pipes of the different vehicles together so as to admit of their being readily detached,
and also so as to enable them to accommodate themselves to the curves of the line,
and to slight differences in tension. We have shewn on the right-hand side and
left-hand side respectively of Figure 2, two modifications of a coupling which may
be employed for these purposes, but any other convenient arrangement may be
substituted therefor; referring to the right-hand side of Figure 2, 7, 8, are pipes
which are fitted telescopically (so as to admit of the elongation of the water passage)
to the main pipes E of the vehicles. The pipe r terminates in a syherical chamber t,
which is enclosed in a sylerical case made in two parts u, u¹, the part u of
which is in one with the pipe s, whilst the part u¹ is separate, but screwed on
to the other part.
A packing ring is interposed between the exterior of the
chamber and the interior of its case, in order to render the joint tight and prevent
leakage.
In the modification shewn on the left-hand side of Figure 2, the pipes r¹, 8¹, aro
fitted to the main pipes E in a similar manner to those r, s, in the arrangement
shown on the right-hand side of that Figure, but the pipe terminates in a conical
chamber t, which is partially enclosed in a slotted conical case u² in one with the
pipe s. Packing is provided at v for preventing leakage at the telescopic joints,
and cocks w are also fitted either to the pipes E, as shewn on the right-hand side of
Figure 2, or to the coupling, as shewn on the left-hand side of that Figure, in order
to enable the communication to be cut off as required.
We also apply the power of electro-magnetism in substitution for steam, air, or
hydraulic pressure for elevating the train. In carrying out this part of our Inven-
tion we employ electro-magnets which are arranged above the wheels of the
vehicles, and communicate by means of suitable wires and binding screws with a
battery situate upon the engine or tender.
We also employ suitable contact makers or interruptors in the circuit of the
wires, and which are arranged in such a manner as to enable the driver or other
attendant to establish a circuit when required so as to direct a current through the
electro-magnets, whereby the wheels will be attracted and elevated, and the vehicles
will, be raised above the rails, suitable frames being at the same time depressed on
to the rails in the manner herein-before-described, the vehicles returning to the rails
again by the act of the attendant breaking the circuit, as is well understood.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The employment for effecting the retarding and stopping of railway trains
or other vehicles, of appliances for taking a grip or bearing upon the rails or other
supporting surface and raising the trains or vehicles bodily therefrom, substantially
as herein-before described.
Secondly. The combination with railway and other vehicles of cradles or shoes
having cylinders and pistons or rams capable of being operated by a motive fluid or
agent, in such a manner that the cylinders shall bo depressed so as to cause tho
cradels or shoes to take a grip or bearing upon the rails or other supporting surface,
whilst the pistons or rams are clevated so as to raise the vehicles bodily, or that
the pistous or rains shall be depressed whilst the cylinders are clevated, such cradles
or shoes being automatically returned to their normal position when the action of
the motive fluid or agent is suspended, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described.

page_text: Thirdly. The application and use of the power of electro-magnetism, substantially
as and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Eyles, on behalf of myself and
George Eyles, have to this our Specification set my hand and seal, the
Twenty-third day of August One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
W. HENRY EYLES. (LS.)