A NEW OR IMPROVED HYDRAULIC BUFFER BREAK FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Beck, of 139, Cannon Street, in the City
of London, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, for an Invention of
"A NEW OR IMPROVED HYDRAULIC BUFFER BREAK FOR RAILWAY AND
OTHER CARRIAGES." A communication from abroad by Jean Baptiste
Gustave Adolphe Canet, Civil Engineer, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Beck at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th October 1881.
WILLIAM HENRY BECK, of 139, Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent. "A NEW OR IMPROVED HYDRAULIC
BUFFER BRAKE FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES." [A communication from
abroad by Jean Baptiste Gustave Adolphe Canet, Civil Engineer, of Paris, in the
Republic of France.]
In the buffers or buffing apparatus heretofore in use for preventing shocks to
railway and other carriages the resistance depends upon the springs which act on
them, and is sensibly constant; the consequence of this is that when the stoppage
is sudden the buffers reach the end of their stroke and a shock is produced on the
carriages.
The object of this Invention is to prevent sudden shocks on the carriages when
a collision happens by arranging the buffers so that they offer automatically a
resistance proportionate to the shock of the collision.
In order to effect this result a modification of the hydraulic brakes employed to
resist the recoil in gun carriages is applied to the buffers of the railway or other
carriages, and for this purpose the following arrangements are employed:-
The buffer plate or disc is pinned on to a rod, which forms part of a piston
moving in a cylinder filled with a liquid which is not liable to be frozen in winter
time. This cylinder is secured to the buffer bar of the carriage. In the cylinder
is or are fixed one or more tapered rods or bars, which correspond with and enter
holes or slots in the piston. This piston is furnished with a tail rod, which passes

page_text: out through a stuffing box in the end of the cylinder opposite to that where the
buffer plate is situated. The latter piston rod is further extended either by a
solid prolongation or by a piece attached thereto, so that the ordinary buffer spring
may act thereon to press the buffer outwards under normal conditions.
Supposing now that a carriage fitted with hydraulic buffer-brakes of the kind
above described encounters an obstacle which stops its buffers the following effects
take place-The momentum of the carriage will cause it to slide over the buffer
piston rods, and as it overcomes the resistance of the liquid inside the cylinder
that liquid will be forced through the holes or slots in the piston from one side of
the latter to the other. The velocity of the carriage on the piston rods would
increase if the holes or slots in the piston for the passage of the liquid remained
always of the same size, and the resistance of the hydraulic brake would also
diminished at the same time. In order to prevent this the beforementioned rods or
bars are made taper, so as to decrease the area of the passage through the holes or
slots in the piston as the carriage with the cylinder and its rods or bars slide over
the piston rods. By these means a constant or even an increasing resistance of the
brake may be obtained during the whole time the carriage is moving on the piston
rods.
The liquid in the cylinder passes from one side of the piston to the other with
great speed, and it results from the section of the holes or slots and the form of
the rods or bars that the total force, or vis viva, of the liquid passed through is
equal to that of the carriage; the latter must therefore come to a stand without
shock.
In order to further obviate the possibility of shock, and to prevent the buffer
plate from striking the end of the cylinder or the stuffing box at the said end, the
back piston rod is made somewhat smaller in diameter than the front one, so that
the quantity of liquid displaced by the front rod entering the cylinder may be
greater than the quantity required to fill the space left by the back rod going out
of the cylinder; the liquid is thus compressed, and the resistance of the buffers is
thereby considerably increased by the time the piston has reached the end of its
stroke. By properly proportioning the diameters of the two piston rods the piston
will be prevented from reaching the end of its stroke, as the resistance of the
compressed liquid will increase indefinitely.
It will be understood that these arrangements may be applied to the engines as
well as to the carriages, waggons, and other vehicles of railways or tramways, and
that they may be varied as required to suit various conditions and circumstances.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Henry Beck in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th April 1882.
WILLIAM HENRY BECK, of 139; Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent. "A NEW OR IMPROVED HYDRAULIC
BUFFER BREAK FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES."
In the buffers or buffing apparatus heretofore in use for preventing shocks to
railway and other carriages the resistance depends upon the springs which act on
them and is sensibly constant; the consequence of this is that when the stoppage
is sudden the buffers reach the end of their stroke and a shock is produced on the
carriages. In the case of the instantaneous stoppage of a moving train, such as
takes place in collisions, the effect of the buffers is, so to speak, almost nil.
The object of this Invention is to prevent sudden shocks on the carriages when
a collision happens by arranging the buffers so that they offer automatically a
resistance proportionate to the shock of the collision.
In order to effect this result a modification of the hydraulic brakes employed to
resist the recoil in gun-carriages is applied to the buffers of the railway or other
carriages, and for this purpose the following arrangements (which differ however
in some respects from the artillery brakes at present known) are employed:-
In the Drawings hereto annexed Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a hydraulic
buffer constructed in accordance with this Invention, and Figures 2 and 3 are
vertical sections of same on lines 1-2 and 3-4 respectively of Figure 1.
The buffer plate or disc t is pinned on to a rod f, which forms part of a piston p
moving in a cylinder k filled with a liquid which is not liable to be frozen in
winter time. This cylinder is secured by bolts to the buffer bar 7 of the carriage.
In the cylinder is or are fixed one or more tapered rods or bars m, m', which
correspond with and enter holes or slots n, n, in the piston p. This piston p is
furnished with a tail rod g, which passes out through a stuffing box in the end of
the cylinder opposite to that where the buffer plate is situated. The latter piston
rod is further extended either by a solid prolongation or by a piece h attached
thereto, so that the ordinary buffer spring r may act thereon to press the buffer
rod foutwards under normal conditions.
Supposing now that a carriage fitted with hydraulic buffer brakes of the kind
above described encounters an obstacle which stops its buffers t the following
effects take place :-The momentum of the carriage will cause it to slide over the
buffer piston rods f, g, and as it meets with the resistance of the liquid inside the
cylinder that liquid will be forced through the holes or slots n, n, in the piston
from one side of the latter to the other. The velocity of the carriage on the piston
rods would increase if the holes or slots n, n, in the piston for the passage of the
liquid remained always of the same size, and the resistance of the hydraulic brake
would also diminish at the same time. In order to prevent this the before-
mentioned rods or bars m, m³, are made taper, so as to decrease the area of the
passage through the holes or slots m, n, in the piston p as the carriage with the
cylinder k slide over the piston rods f, g. By this means a constant or even an
increasing resistance of the brake may be obtained during the whole time the
carriage is moving on the piston rods.
The liquid in the cylinder passes from one side of the piston to the other with
great speed, and it results from the section of the holes or slots n, n, and the form
of the rods or bars m, m³, that the total force, or vis viva, of the liquid passed
through is equal to that of the carriage; the latter must therefore come to a stand
without shock.

page_text: In order to further obviate the possibility of shock, and to prevent the buffer
plate t from striking the stuffing box at the end the back piston rod g is made
somewhat smaller in diameter than the front one f, so that the quantity of liquid
displaced by the front rod f entering the cylinder may be greater than the quantity
required to fill the space left by the back rod g going out of the cylinder; the
liquid is thus compressed and the resistance of the buffers is thereby considerably
increased by the time the piston p has reached the end of its stroke. By properly
proportioning the diameters of the two piston rods ƒ and g the piston will be
prevented from reaching the end of its stroke, as the resistance of the compressed
liquid will increase indefinitely.
It will be understood that these arrangements may be applied to the locomotive
engines, as well as to the carriages, waggons, and other vehicles of railways or
tramways, or to other carriages or vehicles, and that they may be varied as required
to suit various conditions and circumstances.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to or may be carried into effect, I would have it understood
that what I claim as the Invention to be secured by the within in part recited
Letters Patent is,-
First. The application of hydraulic brakes to the buffers of carriages, locomotives,
and other vehicles, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
Drawings.
Second. The arrangement of the piston rods ƒ and g of differential diameters, and
the form of the rods m, m', as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the Drawings
and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Beck, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
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