IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INJURY TO RAILWAY CARRIAGES BY THE DISPLACEMENT OR REMOVAL OF THE RAILS, THE SLIPPING OF THE WHEELS THEREFROM, OR OTHER LIKE ACCIDENTS
Year: 1872

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London,
for the Invention of " 'IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INJURY
TO RAILWAY CARRIAGES BY THE DISPLACEMENT OR REMOVAL OF THE RAILS,
THE SLIPPING OF THE WHEELS THEREFROM, OR OTHER LIKE ACCIDENTS."-A
communication from abroad by Samuel Webster Emery, Erasmus
Prescott Doyen, and Warren Sparrow, all of Portland, Maine,
United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 14th March 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.

page_text: ** IMPROVED
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for
APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INJURY TO RAILWAY CARRIAGES BY THE DISPLACEMENT
OR REMOVAL OF THE RAILS, THE SLIPPING OF 'THE WHEELS THEREFROM, OF OTHER
LIKE ACCIDENTS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been
communicated to me from abroad by Samuel Webster Emery, Erasmus
Prescott Doyen, and Warren Sparrow, all of Portland, Maine, United
It has further for its object to hold the wheels in place and prevent
their escape from the track in the event of an axle becoming broken.
To accomplish these results the said Invention consists primarily in
the application to the under surface of a carriage truck of two parallel
safety shoes through which the wheels of the truck project to bear upon
the rails. Each shoe is made of much greater width than the thickness
of the wheels, and is formed with a downwardly projecting flange upon
each edge, the distance between such flange and the sides of the
wheels being equal or a little more than equal to the width of a
rail.

page_text: are held thereon by the flanges. The friction of the shoes upon the
rails, owing to the large bearing surface of the former, acts as a power-
ful brake to retard and stop the motion of the carriage without the
application of the train brakes. The trucks of each carriage are
connected together by crossed rods, and their outer ends are secured
to the platform or frame by means of chains or rods to prevent the
trucks from turning transversely beneath the carriages when the wheels
slip off the track, but at the same time they permit the necessary
lateral movement of the trucks in passing curves or irregularities in the
rails.
figure is a side elevation of the platform of a ranway carriage, with
my Invention applied to the same; Figure 2 is a plan of the under side
of the said carriage; Figure 3 shows my improved safety shoe detached
and drawn to an enlarged scale. Like letters indicate the same parts
throughout the Drawing.
•
· A, A, are the wheels, and B the trucks attached to a platform C of
a carriage in the usual manner. D, D, are the safety shoes, constructed
as shown with the parallel side flanges e, and with the slots or openings f
in line with each other between the flanges. Two shoes are applied to
the under side of each truck, and arranged parallel to each other
beneath the axles, so that the wheels shall project slightly through the
opening, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The shoes are bevelled or
turned up in an inclined direction at the ends of the flanges for a two-
fold purpose, to wit, first, to enable the flat portions to be bolted to
the under surface of the truck, and at the same time carry the main
body near the rails. Secondly, to present an inclined surface to the
rails at the ends of the flanges instead of a shoulder, so that in the
event of a rail being broken or removed the shoes shall slide casily upon
the ties or sleepers and mount the adjoining rail.
The body of each shoe is supported at its centre by means of bolts
which pass through the tubes h, and through the side picces of the
trucks. The bolts lock the tubes firmly between the shoes and truck,
while the ends of the tubes form shoulders to prevent the shoes from

page_text: Second. In combination with the safety shoes the crossed rods J and
chains K, substantially as described for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
W. J. LowE.
W³. ROB. LAKE. (L.S.)