AN IMPROVED DUST SHIELD FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND MODE or HANGING SUCH SHIELD
Year: 1872

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Edmund Edwards, of the Firm of Edwards and
Co., 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agents and Engineers, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED DUST SHIELD FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND MODE or
HANGING SUCH SHIELD."—A communication from abroad by William
McKelvy Thornton and Thomas Alfred Buckland, of Saint Louis,
in the County of Saint Louis, and State of Missouri, United States
of America.
ealed the 9th April 1872, and dated the 16th February 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edmund Edwards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 16th February 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., 22, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents and
Engineers, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
DUST SHIELD FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND MODE OF HANGING SUCH SHIELD,"
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 the said Invention has been
communicated to me from abroad by William M°Kelvy Thornton and
Thomas Alfred Buckland, of Saint Louis, in the County of Saint Louis,
and State of Missouri, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Edwards, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawing:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent dust from rising beneath
railway carriages while in motion, by means of a shield or guard
arranged horizontally beneath the trucks of each carriage in such
manner that currents of air which are induced by the trucks and other
contrivances connected therewith shall not be directed downward upon
the track. The trucks and the apparatus connected to them are what
create the currents of air when the carriages are in motion, and cause
the dust to rise from the road, and accordingly the shield herein-after
described is arranged below everything which would in any way induce
downward currents of air.
Another object of the Invention is to suspend the shield described by
means of adjustable rods arranged and applied in such manner that
while the shield will be allowed freedom to accommodate itself to the
motions of the carriage, and while it can be adjusted so
maintain a parallelism with the track, it will not be subjected to undue
shocks and concussions.
as to
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a
railway carriage, having a dust shield constructed according to this
Invention applied to it; Figure 2 is a top view of one truck and two
sections of the shield; Figure 3 is a detached portion of the truck
section of the shield; Figure 4 is a view of one end of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a section taken vertically and longitudinally through one of
the trucks and its shield section; Figure 6 is a view in detail, showing
the vertical suspension rods of the truck frames; Figure 7 shews one of

page_text: the suspension rods enlarged. Similar letters of reference indicate cor-
responding parts in the several Figures.
A represents the body of a railway carriage; B, B, the truck frames;
and C the wheels, all of which may be constructed in the usual well-
known manner. D, D¹, D, are three horizontal sections, which together
constitute the dust shield or guard, and which are arranged in a plane
beneath the truck frames B, B, as near as practicable to the rails. Tho
two truck sections D, D, of the shield are suspended by means of
diagonal rods a, a, and parallel rods, b, b, b, at and near the ends
of the trucks, and by vertical rods c, c, c, c, between the ends of
the trucks.
All of the suspension rods are constructed as shown by Figure 7,
consisting respectively of two rods having hooks on their extremities and
connected together by a screw swivel joint. By means of the screw
swivel joints on the suspension rods the shield sections D, D, can be
adjusted higher or lower as may be required, and they can also be
adjusted in a plane parallel to the track. The shield sections D, D,
extend out laterally beyond the outer faces of the truck wheels; con-
sequently it is necessary to leave openings through the said sections for
the wheels, and to form each truck section D of three longitudinal parts,
that is to say, a central part, which is between the wheels, and two
outside parts, which are secured to the central part by means of bolts n,
as shewn in Figure 2. By means of the removeable side pieces the
wheels can be taken out for renewal or repair without removing the
central portions of the truck shields. The diagonal rods a, a, are
connected by hooks and eyes to battens on the upper sides of the truck
shields and also to the end beams of the truck frames. These rods a, a,
not only assist in sustaining the truck shields, but they prevent undue
lateral motion thereof. The longitudinal rods 6 extend from the said
battens to the swing beams and prevent undue endwise motion of the
shields. The vertical rods c sustain the truck shields at intermediate
points between their extremities and prevent their" sagging."
The hook-and-eye attachments of all the suspension rods will allow
the shields to rise and fall bodily to a limited extent, sufficient at least
to pass freely over any ordinary object which might accidentally get
beneath them. The intermediate shield section D' is stiffened by means
of transverse battens on its upper side, to which eyes are fastened at

page_text: suitable points for receiving the lower hooked ends of suspension rods g,
the upper hooked ends of which are received by means of eyes which are
secured to the bed of the carriage body, as shewn in Figure 1. This inter-
mediate section D' overlaps the ends of the truck sections D, D, and is
attached thereto by articulating bolts or in any other suitable manner.
In the same manner as the suspension rods of the truck sections D, D,
the rods of the intermediate section D¹ are hooked on their ends and
provided with screw swivel joints for allowing them to be shortened or
lengthened at pleasure, without detaching them from the eye connec
tions at their ends. At the points where the intermediate section D'
laps upon the truck sections, the ends of the latter may be bevilled so as
to offer the least resistance to the air, and not to produce currents which
would in any manner disturb the dust on the track. And a like plan
may be adopted at the ends of the truck sections between the different
carriages, so that a continuity of unobstructing surface may be preserved
throughout a train.
The three sections D, D', D, composing the shield of a carriage may be
made of wood, metal, canvas, or of any other suitable material, properly
braced and strengthened so that they will not warp, as it is desirable to
have the shield maintain a horizontal plane. If desirable, the truck
sections D, D, can be made sufficiently strong to sustain the super-
imposed load upon the rails in the event of one or more of the carriages
of a train leaving the rails, or dropping down, by the breaking of one
or more of the wheels, or the breaking of an axle. The trucks of the
carriages thus injured would in this case slide upon the rails and slowly
stop the train.
The concussion of air caused by the trucks and other obstructions
under railway carriages is the immediate cause of dust rising. The
shield above described prevents the currents of air from striking the
ground, consequently dust will not rise.
The shield will also be the means of saving life, for, should a person
fall between two carriages or slip while getting on or off a carriage, he
will be prevented from coming in contact with the wheels as the shields
will arrest his fall and support him safely.
In addition to the above-named advantages attending the shield
described, it also serves to keep the journal boxes and other wearing
parts and also the upholstering, furniture and other parts comparatively
free from dust.

page_text: EDMUND EDWARDS. (L.S.)