CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO RAILWAYS, AND ALSO TO CARRIAGES TO BE USED THEREON
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL
ESENTS SHALL ME, I, JOHN
HAWKSHAW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of December, in the second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Hawkshaw, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said John Hawkshaw, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Hawkshaw, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my In-
vention of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS APPLICABLE
TO RAILWAYS, AND ALSO TO CARRIAGES TO BE USED THEREON;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Hawkshaw, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto bad, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Hawkshaw, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof, that is to say:-
My Improvements in Mechanism or Apparatus applicable to Railways, and
also to Carriages to be Used thereon, consist,-
Firstly, in a novel construction of apparatus to be attached to or applied
upon railways upon those parts termed switches, shunts, or moveable rails,
which are commonly used for transferring engines, carriages, or trains from
one line of rails to another, as occasion may require, and which apparatus I
call a "switch or shunt protector." In the generality of such cases there is one
position of the switches, shunts, or moveable rails which is necessary for the
thorough or principle traffic, and in which direction the trains may have to
pass at a maximum velocity, while the change of direction that is given by the
other position of the switches or shunts is less frequently required,and is chiefly
passed over by the trains at a slow rate. The principle object of this Inven-
tion, therefore, is to secure the switches or shunts being held or kept-in a
proper position at all times for the principle or thorough traffic, and when
there is occasion to transfer the trains or engine, &c. to another line then that
upon which the chief traffic passes, it has to be done by some person holding
the switch protector in a proper position for the purpose, and immediately after
such transfer from one line to the other has been effected, he lets go his hold
upon the handle of the apparatus, and it will instantly, from its self-acting
construction return to its original position, moving also at the same time by its
own action the switches, shunts, or double rails to, and retaining them in, the
right direction for the principle or thorough traffic, and thus prevent the
possibility of the main line of rails being left unconnected.
Secondly, my improvements applicable to railways consist in the application
of an extra plate to the moveable rails, which have hitherto been objectionable,
in order to render their use perfectly safe, as this plate being furnished with an
inclined plane.and being also used in connection with my improved shuntpro-
tector, as hereafter particularly described, enables double rails to be employed
in some cases with more convenience than switches or shunts, and is thus of
considerable advantage.
Thirdly, my improvements are applicable to carriages to be used upon rail-
ways,and consist in a contrivance for attaching engines, carriages,or waggons
to each other, and for the purpose of bringing them in closer connection with
each other. This object is effected by a single movement and by means of a

page_text: small eccentric worked between the two ends of the connecting link, but as
the excentric is a substitute for a crank, and, consequently, the crank may
also be here used as a substitute for the excentric, then this carriage-connect-
ing link may be made to be worked either by an eccentric or by a crank.
But in order that my improvements may be more readily explained, I have
I attached to these presents a Sheet of Drawings illustrative of the following
more detailed description thereof, and inarked the same with figures and
letters of refere ce, similar letters being placed upon corresponding parts of
the mechanism.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved self-acting mechanism to be
applied to railways and has the front plate removed inorder to shew the
interior of the apparatus; Figure 2 is a plan or horizontal view of the same,
with the top removed for the same purpose, and here shewn in connection
with a moveable or double rail; Figure 3 shews its connection with an
ordinary switch or shunt; and Figure 4 is a vertical section of the apparatus.
The main line of railways or that used for the thorough or principal traffic
(in the direction of the arrows) is shewn at a, a, and the diversion of the line
at b,b; the rails or shunts are connected tothe apparatus or "shunt protector"
by the horizontal rods c, c, and actuated by the excentric d in the usual
manner. In order to move the switches or shunts, and to bring the main
feature of my improvements into operation, the railway attendant has to
depress the lever e into the horizontal position, and holdit there while the train
is passing from the main line a, a, upon the diversion at b, b, which will bring
the parts into the position shewn by red lines in the Figure 2. Thus the
depression of the lever e has, by means of the bevil wheel fupon the shaft 9
and the pinion h upon the shaft i, caused the excentric d to perform half a
revolution, and, consequently, move the shunts or switches, and at the same
time to raise the balance weight k, which is keyed to and suspended upon the
shaft g, Now when the train has passed from the main line to the diversion,
the instant the attendant releases his hold on the lever e, this combination of
mechanism, that is, the connection of the balance weight, the bevil wheels,
and the excentric, immediately brings the rails or switches into their former
position, and thus always preserves the right direction of the line for the
principle or thorough traffic. In order also to ensure a still greater degree of
safety, the same movement which actuates the excentric is, by means of the
mitre wheels, m, made to turn the upright spindlen with an outside signal,
which shews to the engineman the position of the shunts. Of course this
external part of the apparatus may be constructed in a variety of ways. I
have hitherto employed a plane or disc o painted black and white, and it is so

page_text: placed that the plane of the disc is parallel to the direction of the rails when
the switches are right for the thorough or principle traffic, and, consequently,
in a position not to be seen by the approaching engineman except edgewise,
It will thus be evident that the same motion which actuates the switches
turns this signal a quarter of a revolution, and brings it into the full view of
the engineman. To make the same part of this apparatus equally applicable
at night, it only requires to have a common lamp fixed in the centre of the
disc o, which will, of course, be fully visible or not visible under the same
circumstances as those just described. It will be seen by reference to Figure 2
that there is also attached to the moveable rails an extra plate or way p, p,
which is formed with a slight inclined plane upon its surface in order to lift
anyengine or carriage which may accidentallybe passing along the lineof rails
b, b, and thus easily pass or guide such carriage upon the main lines a instead
of allowing it to escape from the ends of the diversion line b, b, and be thrown
off the rails entirely; this improvement will be found to effect a still further
securityagainst accidents, andshould be used in connection with the apparatus
above described, as shewn in Figure 2.
My improved connecting link for attaching engines and carriages, and
bringing them in closer connection with other in trains, is exhibitedin Figure5,
which is a side elevation, and Figure 6, which is a plan or top view of the same
a, a, are theeyes of the link to receive the hooks which areupon the endsof the
carriages to be connected; upon one of these eyes is formed a circular race or
rim 6 inwhich theexcentricwheel c works; this excentric is fixed upon a small
stud d, to which the other eye is attached by the parallel armse, e; there is a
handle or leverf also keyed upon this stud for the purpose of turning the
excentric in the grooved rim b, and thus it will be evident that by a single
movement of the handle, causing a semi-revolution of the excentric, the con
nectinglink may be lengthened or shortened at pleasure,as shewn by red lines
in Figure 5. There is a small spring catch g, working on a stud in the arme,
which enters or catches into a recess in the excentric when half a revolution
has been performed, and thus holds or secures the connecting link in its
shortened position.
Having now particularly described my improvements, and the manner in
which the same may be carried into operation, I desire it to be understood
that I claim as my Invention the particular combination of mechanism above
described and shewn in the Drawings attached for the purpose of working the
shunts, switches, or double rails upon railways, and thus after the transfer of
any engine, carriage, or train, keeping the line for the thorough or principle
traffic always entire. And also the mode of connecting engines, carriages, or

page_text: trains by the improved link shewn in the Drawings by means of a smal
excentric wheel or crank. But it will not be imperative that the excentric
should be placed as shewn in the Drawings, as it may be fixed in the end of
the carriage.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hawkshaw, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
JOHN (L.S.) HAWKSHAW.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of June, in.
the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said John
Hawkshaw came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument afore-
said was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Seventeenth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and