IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Atkinson, of Rainham, in the County o
Essex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Atkinson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
September 1859.
I, BENJAMIN ATKINSON, of Rainham, in the County of Essex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
BRAKES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to actuate the brakes of railway carriages
in a more speedy and efficient manner than by the means hitherto adopted
for that purpose, and is effected in the following manner :-I propose placing
an iron framing underneath the carriage for the purpose of supporting two
iron bars, also a strong screw, which will be attached to one of the axles of
the carriage wheels. There will also be placed an iron saddle made to slide
oyer the screw on two iron bars. To the back or under side of the saddle will
be attached a moveable nut, made in two parts, for the above-mentioned screw
to work in, which nut will be made to open and shut by a scroll plate.
(attached to the saddle at the back of the nut) which will be moved by the

page_text: action of an electro-magnet in the manner hereafter described. An electro-
magnet of sufficient power is secured to the saddle; the keeper of the magnet
is also attached to the saddle by hinges. One end of a brass arm will be
jointed to the under side of the keeper, and the other end to the scroll plate in
such a manner that when the magnet is not in action, the nut will be open so
as not to interfere with the revolution of the screw; but when connection is
made between the magnet and a galvanic battery (which can be placed either
on the engine or in the brake van,) the keeper will be attracted to the poles
of the magnet, and thereby close the nut to the screw, and cause the
saddle to be moved up or down the length of the screw according to the
direction the carriage may be moving. To this saddle also will be attached a
lever or levers as may be convenient for the purpose of moving brake levers of
any approved construction for pressing the brake blocks against the carriage
wheels, which pressure will be continually increasing with each revolution of
the wheels until the motion entirely ceases. Having thus brought the carriage
to a stand, the connection between the magnet and battery may be broken;
the keeper will be drawn down by means of a spiral spring, which will cause
the nut to be opened so as to be clear of the screw. The saddle will then be
forced back to the place where it was before it was brought into action by
means of springs, and so release the brakes, and leave them in readiness for
action when again required.
As all the carriages in a train will have to be fitted out in the same manner,
I have given the description of one only, it being common to them all. Con-
nection can be made from one magnet to another by means short lengths of of
insulated copper wire coupled between each carriage. A thread may be cut
on one axle of each carriage, and so dispense with the screw and gearing
wheels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Atkinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th March 1860.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
ATKINSON, of Rainham, in the County of Essex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thiertieth, day, of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her, heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said Benjamin Atkinson, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin
Atkinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Benjamin Atkinson, 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 "IMPROVE
MENTS IN RAILWAY BRAKES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Benjamin Atkinson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Atkinson, 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, that is to say:-
1
It consists in the application of certain methods, and the adoption of certain
means for the purpose of brakeing or actuating the brakes of railway
carriages, and also in the form, arrangement, and combination of the different
parts which constitute the said method, and also the mode of obtaining the
said means. Supported upon a suitable frame upon the under side of the
carriage, or van, or whatever vehicle is to be braked, and preferably placed
near to, or symetrically over the axle, is a saddle plate, which, when a force is
applied, may, by means of guides, rods, or grooves, be forced or carried easily
from the centre to the right or left of the axis of the carriage. From this
saddle plate proceed slot link levers, which are in connexion with, and actuate
the system of brake levers and the breaks, throwing them in and out of action
according as the saddle plate is urged from the centre to either the right or
left of the central axis of the carriage.
The next part of my Invention relates to the mode of driving or carrying
this saddle plate so as to put the system of brakes out and into action. Upon
the axle of the carriage near, over, or underneath which the saddle is placed,
I cut a thread extending over about one-third of its length in the central
part; I place round this axle a nut formed of two parts, so that when these'
parts are brought close together, the thread upon the axle will work in the
corresponding thread on the nut, and the latter will be carried to the one end
or the other of the axle according to the direction of rotation. The nut is

page_text: placed immediately under or in contact with the aforesaid saddle piece, so that
when in action it carries the latter with it to the right or left, and thus
actuates the brakes. It will be seen that, instead of cutting a thread on the
axle of the carriage, the saddle and nut may be mounted upon a subsidiary
axle which may be driven from the main axle by means of suitable gear.
The next part of the Invention relates to the mode of throwing the said nut
and the saddle plate into and out of action as required. To effect this. I
mount over the saddle piece, and so as to be carried by it, a scroll plate,
having slotts on its under side within which studs from each portion of the nut
work, so that if the plate be urged round in one direction, the portions
forming the nut will be brought close together so as to clasp the axle, and
thus be thrown into action, actuating at the same time the breaks through the
saddle plate. When the action of the breaks is complete, and the carriage is
brought to a stand still, the nut is thrown out of action by means of a clutch
lever, which detaches it from the axle, when by means of springs in connexion
with the saddle plate, this latter and the nut are urged back to the centre of
the axle again.
The next part of my Invention relates to the means by which I actuate the
scroll plate, which in its turn throws into action the nut and saddle plate, and
through these latter the brakes. The first of these means is by a simple com-
bination of levers communicating with the person in charge of the carriage; a
small actuating lever attached to the scroll plate is connected with another
system of levers which proceed to a place most convenient for the operator to
act upon them.
The next mode or power which I propose to effect this, is one much more
comprehensive, and consists in introducing the force generated by electro-
magnetism as a moving power. To effect this, I propose to mount upon the
said saddle plate, and so as to be carried with it an electro-magnet of suitable
power; small lever is hinged to the scroll plate, and attached to the keeper
of the magnet. The current is completed in the usual manner, and accessible
to the person in charge; whenever the current is completed the keeper will
be drawn to the magnet, and will draw round the scroll plate, and thus the
nut will be thrown into action. The nut is detached from the axle by means
of the clutch lever before mentioned."
It will be easily seen, by means of this arrangement, one or more, or all the
carriages of a train may at the same instant have their brakes thrown into
action, and the momentum of the train used as a constraining force to
retard its motion. This is effected by means of a circuit formed of insulated
copper wire passing from carriage to carriage, cach portion being connected

page_text: 1
with the other by means of a coiled spring at the junction of two carriages,
which by their elasticity will compensate for the difference in length of the
train at different moments of its motion.
In order to render the preceeding description clear and inteligible, I have
to this Specification appended the accompanying Drawings, and description of
them; at the same time, I wish it understood that I do not confine myself to
the exact details of the system or method therein shewn, nor to the exact
outline or form of any of the different parts, as they may all, or any of them
be modified and varied to suit particular adaptations of my plan, so long as the
main principles of form, combination, and action are retained.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of the frame of the carriage, shewing the application to
it of one arrangement of my system; Figure 2 is an elevation of the same,
and Figure 8 is a similar plan to Figure 1, but shewing in section my saddle
plate and the mode of fixing it, as well as the nut and other portions';
Figure 4 is a similar elevation to Figure 2, but shewing only those parts con-
'nected with my Invention; without the other details of the frame, the scale is
double that of the other Figures in order to render it more clear. In the
different Figures the same or similar letters indicate the same or similar
parts.
.
A is one of the axles, having a thread cut upon its central portion; B, B,
the two portions forming the nut which grasps the cut portion of the axle';
C, the scroll plate by means of which the nut is actuated; D, the saddle platė
moving upon two guide rods e, e, fixed to the frame of the carriage by the
blocks e', e, which have round them the spiral springs f,f; 9, the small lever
hinged to the excentric plate, and also to the keeper h of the magnets m, m,
which are supported on the saddle D; i, i, the slot link rods actuating the
vibrating bars K, K, and through these operating on the link rods 1, 1, and
hence upon the brake levers m³, m³, and the brakes n; n; o is a clutch lever
to open the nut, and detach it from the axle when required; p, p, the wire
forming the circle, which may be completed by small mercury cups so formed
as to prevent the liquid from escaping; q, q, the coiled wire at the junction 'of
the carriages. When it is required to throw the brakes into action, the circuit
is completed by the guard or person in charge of the train; the keeper h iš
instantly attracted to the face of the magnet, drawing with it the lever 9, which
forces round the scroll plate, and thus urges the two parts of the nut together
so as to grasp the thread on the axle, and through the motion of the latter it
travels along from the centre, and carries with it the saddle plate, which acting

page_text: upon one of the slot links i, throws the whole system of links, levers, and
brakes into action; the nut will continue to move as long as the carriage rolls
onwards, but every revolution of the axle will cause the breaks to act more
firmly until the whole is brought to rest. When the circuit is broken the
keeper leaves the magnet, but the nut must be detached from the axle by
means of the clutch lever o, and the springs f, f, will then force back to the
centre of the axle the saddle plate, which will carry with it the two parts
forming the nut, and relieving the brakes and the system of levers, which are
ready then for action again. It will be easily seen that if the electro-magnetic
apparatus be removed, and the small lever g connected with a series of
other levers, and carried to a part where the person in charge of the train is
placed, the same action upon the brakes will be obtained, the only difference
being that the power used to throw the apparatus into action is mechanical
instead of electro-magnetical.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how it is formed;
combined, and acts, I wish it understood that what I claim, and want secured
by the the before in part recited Letters, is,-
First, the application and use of a saddle-plate similar to that herewithin
described as a means for actuating the brakes of railway carriages by means
of its motion, as particularly described in the Specification, and illustrated in
the appended Drawings.
Second, the form and application of a nut to be used in combination with
the axle of the carriage, or with a subsidiary axle driven by the axle of the
carriage. so adapted as to produce a motion which, when communicated
through the other, will act upon the brakes of railway carriages substantially
as described herewithin, and illustrated in the appended Drawings.
Third, the application of a scroll plate for the purpose of throwing the
aforesaid nut into and out of action when applied to the purpose herewithin
mentioned.
Fourth, the combination of the aforesaid saddle-plate with the said nut and
scroll plate, or either of them, to be used as an apparatus to actuate the brakes
of railway carriages in and through the action of the axle of the said carriage,
for the purpose of enabling me to make use of the mommentum within the
said carriage as a constraining power to stop its motion, substantially as here-
within described and illustrated.
Fifth, the use and application of electro-magnetic power for the purpose of
throwing the said apparatus into action when applied for the object herewithin
mentioned, that is to say, of braking railway carriages.
Sixth, the application and use of mechanical power by any well known

page_text: combination and device for the purpose of effecting the same object as that
mentioned in the last described claim.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Atkinson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
BENJAMIN ATKINSON. (LS.)
Witness,
JAMES WRIGHT,
42, Bridge Street, Blackfriars,
London.