IMPROVEMENTS IN BUFFER, BEARING, AND DRAW SPRINGS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Burdett Turton and John Root, both of the
"Sheaf and Spring Works." Sheffield, in the County of York, for the
Sealed the 17th June 1856, and dated the 31st January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Burdett Turton
and John Root at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 31st January 1856.1
We, THOMAS BURDETT TURTON and JOHN ROOT, both of the Sheaf &
Spring Works." Sheffield, in the County of York, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUFFER, BEARING, AND DRAW
SPRINGS," to be as follows:-
It consists in applying to these purposes the helical or spiral spring, so
arranged, that the elasticity may be taken advantage of both in the direction
of its axis and round its axis. The best arrangement with which we are at
present acquainted for accomplishing this purpose being two cylinders, having
formed on them screw inclines, in such a manner as will cause one of them
to revolve when made to approach the other. The spiral or helical spring is
placed round these cylinders, one end of it being secured to one of them,
which is fixed in position; the other end, after the spring has been twisted
round its axis, being secured to the other cylinder, which is moveable. The
[Price 8.]

page_text: spring, so arranged, will be prevented from untwisting by the contact of the
screw inclines formed on the cylinders, upon the face of which the elastic force
of the spring in this direction will be exerted, and will resist the approach of
the moveable cylinder towards the fixed one with a pressure that will be
increased by the revolving motion of the moveable cylinder, which will add
more twist or torsion to the spring, and thus more resistance to the motion of
the moveable cylinder towards the fixed one. With this arrangement, it will
be seen, that the clasticity of the spiral or helical spring, in both directions
mentioned, is brought into operation. The cylinder mentioned as the move-
able one may have attached to or formed on it a part corresponding to and
answering the purpose of the slide bar of ordinary buffers and draw springs, or
a part corresponding to and answering the purpose of the spindle of ordinary
bearing springs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Burdett Turton and John Root in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, THOMAS
BURDETT TURTON and JOHN ROOT, both of the Sheaf and Spring Works,"
Sheffield, in the County of York. send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Thomas Burdett Turton and John Root, Her special license that we, the
said Thomas Burdett Turton and John Root, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we. the said Thomas Burdett Turton and John
Root, our exccutors. 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 BUFFER, BEARING,
AND DRAW SPRINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Thomas Burdett Turton and John Root, by an instrument in writing under
our hands and seals, should particularly 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent,
.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Burdett Turton and John Root,
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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
Our Invention consists in applying for buffer, bearing, and draw springs, a
combination of the helical or spiral spring with screw inclines, so arranged that
the elastic force of the spring is taken advantage of both in the direction of its
axis and round its axis. The best arrangement with which we are acquainted
for accomplishing this purpose. being two cylinders, having formed on them
screw inclines in such manner as will cause one or both of them to revolve when
made to approach the other. The spiral or helical spring surrounds these
cylinders. one end being secured to one of them and the other end to the
other. With this arrangement. both movements of the cylinder (rectilinear
and rotatory) are resisted by the elastic force of the spring, and thus advantage
is taken of its elasticity both in the direction of its axis and round its axis.
One of the cylinders with screw inclines may be made fixed, the other being
consequently left moveable, on which may be formed or attached a pari corre-
sponding to and answering the purpose of the slide bar of ordinary buffers
and draw springs, or the spindle of bearing springs. Having given a general
description of the nature of our Invention, we shall now proceed particularly
to describe our mode of carrying it.into effect by reference to the accompanying
Drawings, in which the same letters and figures of reference denote the same
and corresponding parts.
Fig. 1 shews a side view of our combination of spiral or helical spring (a)
and cylinders with screw inclines when uncompressed; and Fig. 2. the same.
when compressed to the utmost extent. Two screw inclines (a' and a²) are
formed on each cylinder, one on the opposite side to the other, as shewn by
Fig. 3. an end view of one of the cylinders. looking at the screw inclines.
The cylinders are duplicates of each other. Each cylinder has a flange formed
on it. against which the spring (a) abnis, and the attachment of the ends of
the spring to the cylinders so as to resist their rotation is made by passing the
bent ends of them into holes formed in the flanges of the cylinders, as shewn.
The section of the metal forming the spring a may be made circular, square. or
of any other desired form. A bolt b is shewn as passing through the cylinders
(which are free to slide upon it) that forms an axis to keep them central.
and serves when cotters, shoulders, or screw nuts are added to limit the
reaction of the spring, and it may be made to form a part of the slide bar of
the buffer or draw spring, or the spindle of the bearing spring, as will be
hereafter explained. In Fig. 1 the screw inclines are shown in contact with

page_text: each other, in which position they are supposed to be at the limit of the
reaction allowed. In this position, the spring a. according to the purpose
required, may be either compressed or in its normal or uncompressed state, or
the limit of reaction of the spring may be fixed at a point where the screw
inclines on the cylinders are separated, so that a certain amount of compression
of the spring will have to take place before the screw inclines come into
operation. We have found that a sufficient action of the spring round its
axis and upon the screw inclines may be obtained by leaving the spring in its
normal or untwisted state when it touches the inclines; but should a pressure
be required when the cylinders are at a limit of their reaction, it may he
obtained by twisting the spring round till it will give the pressure required.
the contact of the screw inclines preventing it from untwisting. The amount.
of compression of the spring is limited by the cylinders, that is, by the tops
of the screw inclines of one cylinder coming against the bottom of the screw
inclines on the other cylinder. as shewn by Fig. 2. which is arranged so that
at this point a slight space will be left between each coil of the spring. The
amount of rotation of the cylinders in moving from the position shewn in Fig. 1
to that of Fig. 2 will be seen in Fig. 4 by the distance between the circles a³
and a, which in this case is rather more than a third part of a revolution:
but this will vary according to the pitch of the screw inclines, and the point at
which they are made to come in contact .at their limit of reaction. The
resisting action of the screw inclines on the cylinders may be increased by
decreasing the pitch of them, and vice versa. It will be seen that a large
amount of the resistance of the cylinders to compression, apart from the
action of the spring, arises from the friction between the, ends of them and
the shoulders or abutments that act upon them. which friction resists their
rotation, and thus, any force tending to force them together; the spring, there-
fore, need have, if desired, little more action than is sufficient to rotate the
cylinders back when the reaction takes place. It will be observed, that this
peculiar action of the cylinders gives an advantage which those buffer arrange-
ments in common use do not possess, namely, that of diminishing the force of
reaction, a great part of the acting force being absorbed or counteracted by
the friction, which thus operates as a "brake." Our combination of spring
and cylinders with screw inclines may be used singly, or two or more of them
may be arranged side by side to act together, according to convenience or the
situation to which they are to be applied; or they may be arranged in groups side
by side. Two or more of them may also be placed on the same axis, so as to
multiply the length of action or stroke, and a number of such may be arranged
side by side. Our combination of spring and cylinders may also be arranged

page_text: one within another concentrically, and a number of such may be arranged to
act together side by side. Any person versed practically in mechanics will be
competent to make, such combinations as are above alluded to, after studying
the following explanations of the examples shewn in the Drawings.
Fig. 5 is a side view, shewing the application of our Invention to that class
of buffers used in railway carriages having a long slide bar extending from the
buffer head under the frame of the carriage. c is supposed to be one of the cross
beams of the carriage frame: c'. plates fixed to the beam, forming a guide to the
slide har b b¹, buffer head; a*, our combination of spring and cylinders with
It will be
screw inclines, through which the slide bar bis free to move.
observed, that the end of one cylinder is against one of the plates on the beam
c, the end of the other bearing against a collar or shoulder b³, which may be
formed or fixed on the slide bar b; b³, is a collar (it may be a cotier or screw
nut) to limit the reaction of the spring. When a force acts on the buffer.
head b, the bar b slides through the bearings in the plates c. and the spring
is compressed.
Fig. 6 shews another combination which may be used for the same purpose
as that shewn by Fig. 5 the arrangement is the same as Fig. 5. except that
two of our combination of spring and cylinders with screw inclines are placed
on the same axis or slide bar. any convenient number may be added in the
same manner. The arrows shewn in this Figure point the direction in
which the cylinders rotate when made to approach each other.
Fig. 7 shows a sectional view of the application of our combination of
spring and cylinders with screw inclines to that class of buffers contained
within a case. d, outer case; d, plunger; b. plunger or buffer head: a*, our
combination of spring and cylinders with screw inclines; b, bolt forming its
axis, and which serves to limit the reaction of the spring by a cotter, screw nut
or collar b. fixed on its end, which comes against the bottom of the outer
case a hole or space is left in the beam (c), to which the buffer case is fixed,
for the passage of the end of the bolt b when the plunger d' is acted upon.
the end of which may be arranged to come against the bottom of the
buffer case when the compression of the spring has reached the proposed
limit.
Fig. 8 shews a sectional view of another case buffer, which is the same as
Fig. 7. except that two of our combination of spring and cylinders with screw
inclines are used, arranged concentrically one within the other. The cylinders
of the outer combination may have their screw inclines made so as to give the
same amount of rotation as the interior combination, but this is not necessary,
and with cylinders of large diameter the angle of inclination would become very

page_text: small, and might present too much resistance. In this case the screw inclines of
cylinders of large diameter may be made with the same angle of inclination as
the cylinders of small diameter, which would give room (if desired) for three
or more inclines on each cylinder. according to its diameter.
Fig. 9, 10, and I are views, showing the application of our Invention to car-
riages for bearing springs. In these views, e represents the side frame of the
carriage, stays or plates that form guides to the axle or axle box: f. axle or
axle box. In Fig. 9 one spring (a*) is used. The head of one of the cylinders.
with screw inclines, is made to fit on the top of the axle box. The head of the
axis or bolt passing through the cylinders is countersunk in the cylinder fixed
on the axle box, the other end of it passes through a plate fixed to the under
side of the carriage frame, in which a hole or passage is formed for the bolt
to work in as the spring gives way to the movements of the carriage or axle.
In Fig. 10 two springs (ax) are used. In this modification, one cylinder of
each combination is secured to the under side of the frame of the carriage:
the other cylinders rest upon the ends of a bar . made to span the axle
box. The bolt or axis (b) of the cylinders each pass through holes in the
bar . in which they are free to slide by the movements of the carriage or
axle. In Fig. 9 and 10, one cylinder is fixed. so that when compressed the
· rotation is made wholly by the other, which is free, but this is not requisite.
both cylinders may be left free to rotate. as in the next modification, Fig. 11.
Fig. 11 shows the application of our Invention to such carriages as have
their bearing springs arranged similar to locomotive engines and their tenders:
b, spindle of the axle box. on it a collar or shoulder 3 is formed. Our com-
bination of spring and cylinders with screw inclines is placed upon the spindle b
the end of one cylinder resting upon the shoulder 3. and the end of the
other bearing against and supporting a bracket g. secured to the frame e, the
end of the spindle b passing through a socket formed in the bracket g. in
which it is free to movements caused by the frame or axle box.
Fig. 12 and 13 show the application of our Invention as buffers to shocks
to be resisted by the draw bars of railway and other carriages, and to other
purposes where shocks are to be resisted or moderated.
Fig. 12 shows the application of our Invention to the draw bars of railway
carriages as commonly arranged; c. cross beams of the frame of the carriage
through which the draw bar bis made to pass and is free to slide. On the end
of the draw bar our combination of spring and cylinders with screw inclines
(ax) is placed: its action will be obvious.
Fig. 13 shows an arrangement of our Invention to which the draw bars at.
each end of the carriage may be connected. The arrangement consists in a

page_text: frame h. having a socket formed at each end; one draw bar b is attached
to one socket, the other draw bar bx passes and slides freely through the
other socket. On the end of this draw bar, within the frame h, our combina-
tion of spring and cylinders with screw inclines is placed. The end of one
cylinder bears against the end of the frame h, the other against a collar or
shoulder, cottered or secured by screw nuts on the end of the slide bar;
the draw bars have shoulders formed on them that bear against the end
beams of the carriage frame. It will now be seen, when force is applied to
one draw bar that the spring will be compressed, and that the carriage will
be drawn by the shoulder on the other draw bar at the opposite end of the
carriage. It will be observed also, that the shock of starting the next attached
carriage will not affect the carriage to which it is attached, but will be borne
wholly by its draw bars and the spring common to both of them.
We have now particularly described the nature of our Invention, and the
modes in which it may be carried into effect, and wish it to be understood
that we claim as our Invention the combination of the spiral or helical spring
and cylinders with screw inclines upon them, by which advantage is taken of
the elasticity of the spring both in the direction of its axis and round its
axis, in like manner and for the like purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Burdett Turton and John
Root, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-first day
of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
six.
5
Witness.
W. J. THOMPSON.
THOMAS BURDETT TURTON. (L.S.)
JOHN ROOT.
(L.S.)