A NEW IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Moulin, of Lyons, in the Empire of France,
Mechanician, for the Invention of "A NEW IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Moulin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
July 1857.
I, FRANCOIS MOULIN, of Lyons, in the Empire of France, Mechanician,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW IMPROVED
RAILWAY BRAKE," to be as follows:-
This new improved brake is composed of two separate impeding apparatuses
independant of each other, and working separately.
The first apparatus is composed of pressing blocks G, G, as usual, represented
on Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawing, which shows, in side elevation, a portion of
a cominon frame; E, wheels; C, bearings of the axle boxes and shafts M
of the common brake; D, longitudinal wrought-iron band, uniting together
all the pressing blocks; the said blocks are worked by arms J, hinging
at I on the lugs H of the blocks G, and at K on the forked levers L, which are
actuated by the levers N, rod Y, and lever A', at the command of the attendant.
The second impeding organ, which is made to work when the wheels are
pressed on both sides by the blocks G, is composed of two iron bands Q, Q, the
one above the other under the axletrees, the said bands being acted upon

page_text: by levers L, on which they hinge at o', the said levers being themselves driven
by the rod O' and lever D', at the command of the brakesman; the bands
Qare brought nearer the axletrees, on which cast-iron blocks are keyed.
Those blocks carry eccentrics l. 1, which catch into notches R cut through the
bands Q, impeding thus altogether the rotatory motion of the wheels. The
driving levers A' & D' being moved in opposite directions, the blocks G
are withdrawn, the bands Q are removed, and the motion of the wheels
becomes free, as before.
Fig. 2 shows another arrangement of the impeding blocks keyed on the
axletrees; they bear four eccentrics 1, 1, which are moveable at i between two
flat rings X, X. The moveable eccentrics are kept outwards by suitable
springs U to catch into the notches of the bands Q, and are stopped in their
inward motion by the blocks S, S.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Moulin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCOIS
MOULIN, of Lyons, in the Empire of France, Mechanician, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, benring date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Francois Moulin, Her special licence that I, the said Francois Moulin,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Francois Moulin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 IMPROVED
RAILWAY BRAKE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francois
Moulin, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their 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 I, the said Francois Moulin, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My improved railway brake produces, when acted upon, an instantaneous
stoppage of the rotatory motion of the wheels of a waggon.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a waggon with the improved brake fitted upon
it, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the brake alone. This brake is constructed of
a jointed frame of the shape of a parallelogram, A, B, D, C, carried by a
middle piece M, N, which rests upon the axles E, E, of the waggon. When
the waggon is running the lever O, L, which works the brake is kept in
a vertical position; but whenever it is requisito to stop the rotatory motion of
the wheels, the lever is shifted to the right to O, L', or to the left at O, L",
according to the direction in which the waggons are progressing. When the
lever is set in such inclined position, the position of the parallelogramic frame
above mentioned is altered from A, B, D, C, either to A', B', D', C', or to
A", B", D", C"; and the cams or cogs c, c, c, c, which are keyed fast on the
axles, advance into the spaces v, v, shewn on Fig. 2 of the side pieces A, B,
& C, D, strike against the buffers t, t, t, t, or against the buffers t', t', t, t,
which buffers stop the revolving motion of the cams or cogs c, c, and of courso
also the motion of the wheels. In order to deaden the stroke of the cams or
cogs c, c, against the buffers t, t', I have fitted the buffers between two parallel
pieces which are fixed on the parallelogramic frame A, B, D, C, as shewn in
Fig. 2. The buffers t, t', can slide between the parallel guiding pieces towards
cach other, but they cannot slide away from one another; a spiral spring
is placed between them, which is located in a brass box, together with the ends
of the buffer rods or stems, as shewn in both Figures. When the buffer t' is
struck by the cam c its stem enters further into the brass box, squeezing the
spiral spring, and the buffer t remains at the same place, being prevented
moving by the stoppers r³, 1, and vice versa when the buffer t' is struck. The
middle picce M, N, is provided with two springs R, R, upon which the rods
A, B, and C, D, are brought to bear when the lever L, O, is driven either way,
and the elasticity of the said springs prevent the hammering of the cam c, c,
against the buffers t, t'. The various pieces comprising my brake being
insulated from the box and frame of the waggon, and carried only by the axles,
the passengers or goods which are in the vehicle will experienco no jerking
whenever the brake is worked. On account of the special arrangement of my
brake it can be applied to railway waggons already provided with the brakes
in actual use, without any hindrance to the latter, which might be used in

page_text: ordinary circumstances; and my double stopping brake should be used only in
cases where there is serious danger, or when a quicker stoppage of the train
would be required, the rotatory motion of the wheels being already slackened
by the friction blocks of the common brake. This double application or
disposition of the brakes has been adopted in the trial waggon.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francois Moulin, of Lyons, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of January, A.D. 1858.
Witness,
CABANE EAGAN.
F. MOULIN. (L.S.)