A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ELECTRO-MAGNETISM AS ▲ BREAK POWER ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Cowpe and David Hancock, of High
Wycombe, in the County of Bucks, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ELECTRO-MAGNETISM AS
▲ BREAK POWER ON RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 23rd February 1866, and dated the 31st 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Cowpe and David
Hancock at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 31st August 1865.
We, EDWARD COWPE and DAVID HANCOCK, of High Wycombe, in the County
of Bucks, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ELECTRO-MAGNETISM AS A
BREAK POWER ON RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of an improvement on and an addition to an Inven-
tion for which Letters Patent were granted to Frederic Barnes, David
Hancock, and Edward Cowpe, bearing date 12 January 1865, No. 101, for
Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Applying Electro-
magnetism as a break Power to Railway and other Carriages and Machines,"
and is as follows:-
In the Specification of the aforesaid Patent we stated that the magnets
should be applied to the wheels themselves or to plates attached thereto; now,
[Price 8d.]

page_text: according to this our present Invention, we fit the magnets in a frame, by
preference similar in construction to that described in the Specification before
referred to, and capable of receiving a to-and-fro motion with certain limits,
but instead of fixing the said frames as therein described in a horizontal
position, we now place them in a vertical position, and in such manner that
the magnets are suspended above the line of rails or permanent way on which
the train runs. Power is applied from the break van or tender as before, but
the magnets, instead of acting upon the wheels, in this case drop and act
against the rails or permanent way.
In applying this our present Invention as a break power to railway
carriages we use it either in conjunction with the apparatus described in the
Specification of the Patent before referred to, or wholly as a distinct and
effective power in itself.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Cowpe and David Hancock in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
COWPE and DAVID HANCOCK, of High Wycombe, in the County of Bucks, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Edward Cowpe and David Hancock, Her special licence that we, the
said Edward Cowpe and David Hancock, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Edward Cowpe and David Hancock,
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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OP
AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ELECTRO-MAGNETISM AS A BREAK POWER ON
RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edward
Cowpe and David Hancock, our, or one of our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said Edward Cowpe and David Hancock,
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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists of an improvement on and an addition to an Invention
for which Letters Patent were granted Frederick Barnes, David Hancock,
and Edward Cowpe, bearing date 12 January 1865, No. 101, for "Improve-
ments in the Method of and Apparatus for Applying Electro-magnetism as a
Break Power to Railway and other Carriages and Machines," and is as
follows:-
In the Specification of the aforesaid Patent we stated that the magnets
should be applied to the wheels themselves or to plates attached thereto; now,
according to this our present Invention, we fit the magnets in a frame, by
preference similar in construction to that described in the Specification before
referred to, and capable of receiving a to-and-fro motion within certain limits,
but instead of fixing the said frames as therein described in a horizontal
position, we now place them in a vertical position, and in such manner that
the magnets are suspended above the line of rails or permanent way on which
the train runs. Power is applied from the break van or tender as before, but
the magnets, instead of acting upon the wheels, in this case drop and act
against the rails or permanent way.
In applying this our present Invention as a break power to railway
carriages we use it either in conjunction with the apparatus described in the
Specification of the Patent before referred to, or wholly as a distinct and
effective power in itself.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view in side elevation of a
passenger carriage and a break or guard's van, showing the magnets applied
and fitted according to our Invention; Figure 2 is a plan or horizontal section
of the framework of a break van, also showing the magnets applied; and
Figure 3 is a vertical section of a break or guard's van in further illustration
of the same.
Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in all the
Figures.
a, a, are the magnets inserted and firmly secured in metal blocks b, b, the
ends of which are free to slide in grooves formed in metal frames c, c, secured
and bolted to the frame of the carriage. The magnets, blocks, and frames

page_text: are placed on each side of each carriage above the rails on which the wheels
of the carriages run, as seen clearly in Figure 2; and when the current is
applied to the magnets as hereafter described, the latter are caused to drop
and to come in contact or nearly so with the rails. The magnets and blocks
in which they are inserted may be supported in various ways; for example, to
render them self-acting we unite the rods d, d, which are connected to the
blocks b, b, to a strong spring or springs placed beneath the floor of the
carriage, the said spring or springs extending across the carriage, and being
connected to the upper ends of the rods d, d, in this manner maintain the
blocks b, b, and the magnets a, a, at even distances on both sides of the
carriage or carriages above the rails. Sometimes we apply separate and
distinct springs to each block and magnet.
According to another arrangement, and which is particularly applicable for
use in the break or guard's van, we unite levers to the upper end of the
rods d, d, and secure them in a convenient position in the van, and under
easy control of the guard, and in such manner that on releasing one lever both
the blocks b, b, and consequently the magnets a, a, are lowered, and vice
versâ; we do not, however, in any way limit ourselves to the use of a spring
or springs, as before described, for sustaining the blocks and magnets when
the break power is not applied. The apparatus or appliances for applying the
power are set and arranged in the break van, and in order to illustrate how
this may be accomplished we show a battery e, which may contain any desired
number of cells, from which the wires are led to the magnets. The two poles of
the battery are united by means of the dial f,so that according to the direction
in which the handles are moved so the power is applied or withdrawn.
Provision is also made for regulating the intensity with which the current is
applied by the distance the handles are moved.
In order to effect a communication from the break or guard's van to other
carriages, either to all the carriages throughout the train or to only a certain
number to which the magnets and their adjuncts may be fitted, we fit to the
ends of each carriage two spring buffers of unequal length, as shown most
clearly in Figure 2. These buffers carry at their ends metal buttons g, y,
secured to the rods h, h, which are united to the wires in connection with the
magnets and battery in the break or guard's van; a spring at the back of the
rods h, h, allows the said rods to yield when the carriages come together.
These buffers are made of unequal length, so that carriages may be turned
and run in either direction. By the use of buffers made and applied as before
described an effectual electrical communication is maintained throughout the
train without any trouble or difficulty in coupling up or in uniting the

page_text: carriages. As shown in the Drawings these auxiliary buffers are raised above
the ordinary buffers, and consequently free from liability to accident, and not
in any way interfering with the ordinary working of the carriages.
When we apply the magnets to the rails, as herein-before described, in
combination with the arrangement of magnets described in the Specification of
the Patent herein-before referred to, we prefer to apply the power to the last-
named arrangement from separate and distinct dials and (ifnecessary) batteries
in the break or guard's van, and in this manner get a double power, either for
a single carriage break or van or throughout the train, and at the same time
each power can be applied or used without the other. We do not, however,
limit ourselves to this arrangement, as the power can be applied to the
magnets for the wheels as well as to those for the rails at one and the same
time from one set of wires..
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be carried into effect, we declare that we do not limit
orbind ourselves to any or either of the particular arrangements herein-before
described for transmitting the current to the magnets, or to the arrangement
or arrangements herein-before described for supporting or communicating
motion to the blocks carrying the magnets, as the same may be varied, par-
ticularly in detail, without departing from the essential features of our
Invention; but we claim,-
First, the employment of magnets acting on the rails or permanent way of
railways as a break power, substantially in manner herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the particular arrangement or arrangements of the apparatus or
parts thereof for applying the magnets to the rails, and transmitting the
current or currents to the magnets, as herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Cowpe and David Hancock,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-sixth day of
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-six
EDWARD COWPE. (L.S.)
DAVID HANCOCK. (L.S.)