IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING OR RETARDING RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES AND TRAINS, LOCOMOTIVE AND STATIONARY ENGINES AND MACHINERY, TOGETHER WITH APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OF WEIGHTS AND OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH POWER IS REQUIRED
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Harris, of Hanwell, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING OR
RETARDING RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES AND TRAINS, LOCOMOTIVE AND
STATIONARY ENGINES AND MACHINERY, TOGETHER WITH APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN, WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OF
WEIGHTS AND OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH POWER IS REQUIRED."
Sealed the 25th February 1862, and dated the 30th August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Harris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th August 1861.
I, JAMES HARRIS, of Hanwell, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING
OR RETARDING RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES AND TRAINS, LOCOMOTIVE AND
STATIONARY ENGINES AND MACHINERY, TOGETHER WITH APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN, WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OF
WEIGHTS AND OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH POWER IS REQUIRED," to be as
follows:-
My present Invention is for improvements on a former Invention, for which
Letters Patent were granted to me for Great Britain on the 24th January

page_text: 1857, No. 216, and cousists chiefly in the employment of air-tight vessels or
reservoirs made of metal or other material fitted with safety valves and
pressure gauges, and placed in some convenient part or parts of railway or
other carriages, on an engine or tonder, in an engine house, manufactory,
mill, on board ship, or other position. I connect with one or more of those
vessels, and communicating therewith by air-tight pipes, cylinders fitted with
pistons, the rods of which are attached to the breaks or break levers, on one or
more or all of tho carriages as well as the engine and tender, as in my former
Specification. The vessels or reservoirs have air forced into them by means
of an air pump or pumps which are fitted to the carriage, engine, or tender,
and worked by either eccentrics or other appliances from the axles of such
carriage, and so arranged as to be thrown in and out of gear, as required.
The pump may also be worked by hand wherever breaks for stopping or
retarding machinery, or the means of quickly opening or closing cocks or
valves for shutting off steam, gas, or water may be necessary. The air pump
communicates direct by air-tight pipes with the vessels for containing the
compressed air. There are also pipes leading from the vessels to the cylinders
in connection with the several breaks, and in those pipes, conveniently placed,
is a three-way cock or valve to be worked by hand. The vessels, which for
convenience may bo-placed under the seats in railway carriages, are always
kept charged with compressed air, by means of the air pump, so as to operate
instantaneously and simultaneously, when required, on all the breaks. To
cause them to so act a cock or valve is opened, which allows the compressed
air to act upon the pistons connected with the breaks, the amount of pressure,
which is quito under control, being regulated by circumstances. The breaks
are immediately liberated on reversing the three-way cock or valve which
allows tho air to escape from the cylinders. Slightly modified,, the apparatus
may be made to actuate ships' rudders and the heavy valve gearing in marine
and other steam engines, and to move other bodies. A separate pump may
be made to exhaust the air from a separate vessel, so that in some instances
the piston may be worked by vacuum as well as by pressure in the same
apparatus through the agency of four-way cocks or suitable valves. With
cylinders of suitable length anil tho appliances before described I sometimes
employ the apparatus as a hoist for raising and lowering weights and for other
purposes. In signalling and opening and closing valves and cocks at a distance
by compressed air and vacuum, I make use of a self-acting apparatus or
tell-tale, by which the operator is made aware that the intended stroke of tho
-piston or other movemont has taken place. This apparatus or tell-tale is
constructed as follows:-A nozzlo is fitted with two lifting or other valves

page_text: between which is a three-way or other suitable cock. This nozzle is connected
with the pipe leading into the cylinder farthest from the operator, and the
lever of the said, cock or valve being connected with the piston rod is thereby,
at each stroke of the piston, made to change the openings in the relative
passages in such manner that so soon as the stroke of the piston, which is
acted upon by a hand pump or otherwise through the air-tight pipes, no
matter how great the distance, is finished in one direction, the tap opens and
allows the air to enter (for example) through the lower valve, thereby
destroying the vacuum. On the reverse action of the piston the cock is turned
in the opposite direction, the air escapes through the upper valve, and the
pressure is neutralized or destroyed, thus showing on a gauge that the opera-
tion or stroke of the piston in either direction, as the case may be, has been
effected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Harris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HARRIS, of Hanwell, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Harris, Her special licence that I, the said James Harris, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Harris, 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 STOPPING OR
RETARDING RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES AND TRAINS, LOCOMOTIVE AND
STATIONARY ENGINES AND MACHINERY, TOGETHER WITH APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN, WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OF
WEIGHTS AND OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH POWER IS REQUIRED," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Harris, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, tho said James Harris, .do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My present Invention is for improvements on a former Invention, for which
Letters Patent were granted to me for Great Britain on the 24th January
1857, No. 216, and consists chiefly in the employment of air-tight vessels or
reservoirs made of metal or other material fitted with safety valves and
pressure gauges, and placed in some convenient part or parts of railway or
other carriages, on an engine or tender, in an engine house, manufactory
mill, on board ship, or other position. I connect with one or more of those
vessels, and communicating therewith by air-tight pipes, cylinders fitted with
pistons, the rods of which are attached to the brakes or brake levers on one or
more or all of the carriages as well as the engine and tender, as in my former
Specification. The vessels or reservoirs have air forced into them by means
of an air pump or pumps, which are fitted to the carriage, engine, or tender,
and worked by either eccentrics or other appliances, from the axles of such
carriage, and so arranged as to be thrown in and out of gear, as required.
The pump may also be worked by hand wherever brakes for stopping or
retarding machinery, or the means of quickly opening or closing cocks or
valves for shutting off steam, gas, or water, may be necessary. The air pump
communicates direct, by air-tight pipes, with the vessels for containing tho
compressed air. There are also pipes leading from the vessels to the cylinders
in connection with the several brakes, and in those pipes, conveniently placed,
is a three-way cock or valve to be worked by hand. The vessels, which for
convenience may be placed under the seats in railway carriages, are always
kept charged with compressed air by means of the air pump, so as to operate
instantaneously and simultaneously, when required, on all the brakes. To
cause them to so act a cock or valve is opened, which allows the compressed
air to nct upon the pistons connected with the brakes, the amount of pressure,
which is quite under control, being regulated by circumstances. The brakes
are immediately liberated on reversing the three-way cock or valve, which
allows the air to escape from the cylinders. Slightly modified, the apparatus
may be made to actuate ships' rudders and the heavy valvo gearing in marine
and other steam engines, and to move ther bodies. A separate pump may

page_text: be made to exhaust the air from a separate vessel, so that in some instances
the piston may be worked by vacuum as well as by pressure in the same:
apparatus through the agency of four-way cocks or suitable valves. With
cylinders of suitable length, and the appliances before described, I sometimes
employ the apparatus as a hoist for raising and lowering weights, and for other
purposes. In signalling and opening and closing valves and cocks at a dis-
tance by compressed air and vacuum, I make use of a self-acting apparatus or
tell-tale, by which the operator is made aware that the intended stroke of the
piston or other movement has taken place. This apparatus or tell-tale is
constructed as follows:-A nozzle is fitted with two lifting or other valves,
between which is a three-way or other suitable cock. This nozzle is connected
with the pipe lending into the cylinder farthest from the operator, and the
lever of the said cock or valve being connected with the piston rod is thereby
at each stroke of the piston made to change the relative openings in the.
passages in such manner that so soon as the stroke of the piston, which is
acted upon by a hand pump or otherwise through the air-tight pipes, no
matter how great the distance, is finished in one direction, the tap opens and
allows the air to enter (for example) through the lower valve, thereby
destroying the vacuum. On the reverse action of the piston the cock is turned
in the opposite direction, the air escapes through the upper valve, and the
pressure is neutralized or destroyed, thus shewing on a gauge that the opera-
tion or stroke of the piston in either direction, as the case may be, has been
effected.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings illustrates the method for working
or actuating a ship's rudder according to my Invention. A is a toothed wheel
secured to the rudder head; B, B, are two cylinders fitted with air-tight
pistons; C, C, are toothed racks gearing into the wheel A; D, D, are guide
rollers; E is the rudder; and F is a four-way cock, the passages of which com-
municate with the two cylinders, a reservoir containing compressed air, and
the external air. By means of a lever, which is not shewn in the Drawing,
on the said cock, the helmsman will be enabled to admit the compressed air
into the cylinders, and thereby retain the rudder of the largest vessel at any
required angle or instantly alter its position with the greatest ease. When
struck by heavy seas the rudder will yield without straining the head, the
air in the cylinders acting as buffers, but the rudder will instantly return to its
previous set. Arms and jointed rods may be used instead of the racks and
wheel for connecting the piston rods with the rudder head. A brake acted
upon by a small cylinder and piston, with a suitable cock and lever for the
admission and exit of the compressed air, is in some cases' useful for setting

page_text: and retaining the rudder when backing the vessel. The pump for forcing the
air into the reservoir or 'accumulator may be worked by hand or by steam
power.
Figure 2 shews, in elevation, one method I adopt for applying my apparatus
as a hoist. A is 'the cylinder fitted with air-tight piston; B is the toothed
wheel; C is the rack secured to the piston at the lower end and working into
the toothed wheel; D is a guide roller; E is a pulley or drum, for rope or
chain, keyed to the same shaft as the wheel B; this pulley or drum would,
in most instances, be fitted with a hand brake; F is a three-way cock, the
passages of which communicate with the cylinder; A, a reservoir containing
compressed air and the external air. On opening tho communication between
the compressed-air chamber and cylinder the piston will be forced upwards,
and by reversing the cock the air is allowed to escape and the piston descends,
and so on continuously, at the pleasure of the operator. The hoist admits of
considerable modification, the ropo being mado to travel a greater or lesser
distance by lengthening or shortening the cylinder and varying the sizes of the
toothed wheel and pulley or drum. When the hoist is actuated by vacuum.
a chain or wire rope is attached to the piston, which chain or rope works over ȧ
pulley in the position occupied by the toothed wheel, and tho cylinders may bo
bolted together to suit any required height of lift. Iron masts may be so con-
structed as to receive a proper hoisting cylinder inside. The rudder and hoist
may be worked from the same compressed-air chamber or reservoir, and the
agent, air or other dry fluid, is such as not to corrode the apparatus or be
effected by the severest frost, as would be the case with water or steam. The
framing would be adapted to circumstances, and is therefore not shown in the
Drawings.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the apparatus as applied to the working of a
semaphoro signal. A is the cylinder fitted with air-tight piston; B, fulcrum
of beam; C is a rod connected with the arm of the signal post; D is a spring
which, by means of the link E, forces the beam forward in either direction,
after it has passed the centre, to the end of the stroke; Fis a nozzle fitted
with two lifting valves for breaking the vacuum or destroying the pressure, as
previously described. Figure. 4 is a section of the nozzlo detached; H is an
air cock adjusted so as to prevent the piston travelling too quickly and re-
bounding at the end of the stroke. Upward motion is given to the piston by
pressure, and downward motion by vacuum, the pump being so constructed as
to compress and exhaust by the turning of a cock.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declaro that I claim,-

page_text: First, the machinery and apparatus herein-before described for the employ-
ment of compressed air in manner and for the purposes described.
Second, the self-acting apparatus or tell-tale employed in compressed air or
other gas apparatus, herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Harris, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
JAMES HARRIS. (L.S.)