IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WAGGONS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Potter Burt, of Charlotte Row, Mansion
House, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WAGGONS."
Sealed the 26th July 1859, and dated the 10th February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Potter Burt,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th February 1859.
I, HENRY POTTER BURT, of Charlotte Row, Mansion House, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WAGGONS," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to means of facilitating the moving of railway carriages
and waggons by hand, in stations and other places. I apply to the axle or
axles, or to one or more of the wheels of railway carriages or waggons, a
wheel and pinion, or a wheel and screw, or a chain wheel and pinion, or a
friction wheel and pinion, or a friction pinion acting on the wheel itself of the
carriage or waggon, or other similar contrivance, for multiplying power; and
I apply one or more handles, or hand wheels, or ratchet handles to the same,
by turning or moving which the porters or workmen are enabled to move,
or start, or stop the carriage or waggon with facility. When once started,
the motion may be continued by the same means, or by pushing the carriage
in the ordinary manner. The apparatus is so constructed that it may be

page_text: thrown out of geer, and kept out of geer while the carriage or waggon is being
drawn or propelled by the engine, and may be readily put into geer when it is
desired to move the carriage by hand. By this means a carriage may be
started, and stopped, and moved about with great facility by one man.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Potter Burt, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th August 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
POTTER BURT, of Charlotte Row, Mansion House, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, 'did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Potter Burt, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Potter Burt, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Potter Burt, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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 RAILWAY CARRIAGES
AND WAGGONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Potter Burt, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Potter Burt, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention relates to means of facilitating the moving of railway
carriages and waggons by hand, in stations and other places. I apply to the
axle or axles, or to one or more of the wheels of railway carriages or waggons,

page_text: a wheel and pinion, or a wheel and screw, or a chain wheel and pinion, or a
friction wheel and pinion, or a friction pinion acting on the wheel itself of the
carriage or waggon, or other similar contrivance for multiplying power; and
I apply one or more handles, or hand wheels, or ratchet handles to the same,
by turning or moving which the porters or workmen are enabled to move, or
start, or stop the carriage or waggon with facility. When once started, the
motion may be continued by the same means, or by pushing the carriage in
the ordinary manner. The apparatus is so constructed that it may be thrown
out of geer, and kept out of gear, while the carriage or waggon is being
drawn or propelled by the engine, and may be readily put into gear, when it
is desired to move the carriage by hand. By this means a carriage may be
started, and stopped, and moved about with great facility by one man.
Figure 1, Sheet I., of the accompanying Drawings, is an elevation or side
view of a portion of a railway carriage, showing one mode of applying my
Invention thereto. Figure 2 is a plan of the same with portions removed, to
show the improved parts. Figure 3, Sheet II., is an elevation on a larger
scale of a portion of the wheel B, and the apparatus for moving it. Figure 4
is a horizontal section of the same. Figure 5 is an elevation, and Figure 6 is
a plan, of a ratchet handle for actuating the apparatus. Figure 7 is a view of
one end of the handle. The same letters refer to similar parts in each
Figure.
A is the main frame of the carriage; B, B, are the wheels running upon
the rails C; D is a ring with an angular inner edge, which is bolted or fixed
to one of the wheels B; E is a smaller wheel or pinion, with a V shaped or
angular groove, which is brought in contact with the angular edge of the ring
D; so that by turning the wheel E, the ring D and wheel B are caused to
revolve. The spindle F of the wheel E is supported by a pair of brasses a, b;
and a collar G, supported by two arms H, H, bolted to the axle guard or
guide I. J is the axle, and K is the axle-box. The brasses a, b, are inclosed
in a strap or frame c. The brass a rests against two keys e, e, which are let
into the strap c. The brass b is forced towards the brass a by a screw f,
screwed through the end of the strap c, and acting against a plate g. A
piece of vulcanized india-rubber h, or a spring of steel or other suitable
material is placed between the plate g and the brass b. The strap or frame c
slides in a box which is bolted to the axle-guard I, and is closed in front by
a plate k bolted to it; l is a small excentric, whose spindle m is carried by the
plate k, and the side of the box i, and terminates in a square end. This
excentric bears against the end of the strap or frame c, and the brass a.
When it is in the position shown in Figures 3 and 4, the wheel E is in contact

page_text: with the ring D, and is kept in contact with it by the spring h, not-
withstanding any slight irregularities in the wheels. When, however, the
excentric is turned half, round, the brasses a, b, and frame c are pushed back,
so as to withdraw the wheel E from the ring D; and the wheel E is thus
thrown out of gear, its spindle assuming an angular position, as indicated by
dotted lines in Figure 2.. The collar G is rounded on the inside, and the
spindle F is of spherical or similar form at the part which fits in the brasses
a, b, so as to allow of its assuming the angular position. The end of the
spindle F is made square to receive the ratchet handle or lever, shown in
Figures 5 and 6. L is the lever which is forked or made with two eyes nn,
which receive the cylindrical block p, which carries the ratchet wheel 9; ris
the paul, which is pressed into the teeth of the ratchet 2 by a spring s. The
block has a square hole which fits on the end of the spindle F. The other
end of the lever L has a square socket t, which fits the square end of the
excentric spindle m. This socket may be jointed to the lever L, so as to admit
of the lever being turned at right angles to obtain a greater power or purchase
to turn the excentric; or it may be fixed to the lever either in a line with it,
or at right angles, or other angle to it, or a separate lever or spanner may be
used for turning the excentric.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-The excentric is first
turned into the position shown in Figures 3 and 4, so as to bring the wheel E
into geer. The ratchet lever is then placed on the spindle F, and the handlo
or lever L.is moved backwards and forwards by a man standing or walking at
the side of the carriage, or standing on the step M. The wheel E is thus
turned round and gives motion to the ring D, and wheel B, and thus moves
the carriage along upon the rails. By taking off the ratchet lever and
reversing it, the carriage is propelled in the opposite direction. When the
carriage is once in motion the lever may be removed, and the carriage
pushed on by hand, as the chief part of the labour is required in starting the
carriage. When the carriage has started, or when it has been moved to its
required position, the excentric is turned back so as to throw the wheel E
out of gear; and the carriage is then ready for being drawn by a locomotive,
as though it were not fitted with the aforesaid apparatus. If by accident the
wheel E should be left in gear, while the carriage is being drawn at a great
velocity by a locomotive engine, the wheel E would be caused to revolve with
very great velocity, occasioning unnecessary wear and tear; and, therefore, it
should be thrown out of geer when the operation of moving the carriage by
hand is completed.
This apparatus admits of many modifications. Thus, in lieu of the ratchet

page_text: lever, a light hand wheel with a smooth rim may be placed on the end of the
spindle F. By turning this wheel the carriage is propelled, and by holding
on to this wheel it may be stopped. This wheel may be fixed on the spindle
F, or may be moveable like the ratchet lever. The excentric spindle m may
have a lever permanently attached to it; or in lieu of the excentric, a screw
and a lever, or hand wheel, or any other suitable means may be employed to
move the wheel E in and out of geer. The wheel E may be made to drive
the wheel B by its external flange, instead of driving the ring D; but as the
exterior of the wheel is subject to very considerable wear and abrasion,
I prefer to employ a separate ring or surface for the friction wheel to act
upon. As already mentioned, a wheel and pinion may be used instead of the
friction wheels. Thus, a large toothed wheel or ring may be fixed on the axle
or on the wheel B, and may be driven by a toothed pinion turned by a hand
wheel, or by a ratchet lever. The pinion is made to move in and out of geer
by sliding endways in the direction of its axis, or by having a moveable
bearing, which is moved by an excentric in the manner berein-before described,
or by a screw or otherwise, so as to advance the pinion to the wheel, or to
withdraw it from it. Spur wheels, or bevil wheels and pinions may be used in
this manner, or a worm wheel may be fixed on the axle, or on the wheel B,
and driven by an endless screw, with a handle or hand wheel, at the end of the
carriage, or at other convenient part. The endless screw is supported on a
moveable bearing moved by an excentric or otherwise, so as to place it in or
out of geer with the worm wheel at pleasure. The screw should be a quick
screw, or have a thread of considerable inclination, to enable it to be driven
by the worm wheel when the carriage has been put in motion. A chain wheel
be mounted loose upon the axle, and connected to it or to the wheel B
by a clutch. An endless chain passes round the chain wheel, and round
a smaller chain wheel or pinion, which is turned by a handle or hand wheel.
When the apparatus is out of use, the clutch is disengaged, so as to leave the
axle and wheels B free to revolve, while the chain wheel remains stationary.
The clutch is also applicable to the other arrangements herein-befor
described.
may
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim is,
constructing railway carriages and waggons with a toothed wheel and pinion,
or a friction wheel and pinion, or other equivalent mechanical means of
communicating motion at a reduced velocity and increased power, from a
handle, or hand wheel, or ratchet handle, to one or more of the supporting or -
running wheels of the railway carriage or waggon, the apparatus being

page_text: so arranged as to be readily placed in and out of geer by an eccentric, or.
clutch, or otherwise,. as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Potter Burt, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
HENRY POTTER BURT. (L.S.)