IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY TRUCKS, WAGGONS, OR CORVES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF COAL AND OTHER MINERALS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Davidson Plimsoll, of Gordon Square,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY TRUCKS, WAGGONS, OR CORVES FOR THE
CONVEYANCE OF COAL AND OTHER MINERALS."
Sealed the 23rd December 1875, and dated the 29th June 1875.
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Davidson
Plimsoll at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th June 1875.
I, HENRY DAVIDSON PLIMSOLL, of Gordon Square, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY TRUCKS, WAGGONS, OR CORVES
FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF COAL AND OTHER MINERALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in railway trucks, waggons,
and corves used for the conveyance of coal, although it is also applicable
to those used for the conveyance of other minerals, and it consists in so
constructing the waggon that its contents may be discharged more

page_text: expeditiously and yet with less violence than by the means at present
in use, which entail considerable waste and loss by the reduction to
the condition of "small" of a large portion of the coal owing to the
manner in which it is discharged.
According to my Invention I divide the waggon body and frame
transversely at or about the middle of its length, the two halves being
hinged together at the upper part of the body, and the parts of the
frame connected by bolts or other fastenings, capable of being withdrawn
in order to discharge the truck. On withdrawing these latter fastenings
the load on the middle of the waggon causes the two pairs of wheels
to recede from one another and the middle of the waggon to sink the
bottom of the truck, forming two inclined planes between which the
contents are discharged without any obstruction.
For readjusting the truck any suitable means may be employed, such
for instance as a pinion operated by a winch handle or lever on one-half
of the truck gearing with a curved or quadrant-shaped rack on the
other. Suitable mechanism may also be used to enable the contents of
the waggon to be discharged as gradually as may be found desirable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
by the said Henry Davidson Plimsoll in the Great Seal Patent 2
Office on the 29th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DAVIDSON PLIMSOLL, of Gordon Square, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 2
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Davidson Plimsoll, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Davidson Plimsoll, my executors, admini- 3
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Davidson
Plimsoll, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY TRUCKS, WAGGONS, OR
CORVES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF COAL AND OTHER MINERALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Davidson Plimsoll, 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.
+
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Davidson Plimsoll, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-.
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of railway
trucks or waggons, and miners' corves, used for the conveyance of coal
or other minerals in bulk, and the object of the Invention is to enable
the contents of the waggon or corve to be discharged more expeditiously
and yet with less violence than from the waggons or corves now in use,
and thus avoid in a great measure waste and loss by breakage.
According to my Invention the waggon or corve is divided trans-
versely at or about the middle of its length, and the two halves
permanently hinged together at the upper part of the body, and
connected at the lower part by temporary fastenings capable of being
readily released. In order to discharge the contents the two halves of
the truck are disconnected at the lower part, whereupon the load on the
middle of the waggon causes that part to sink until the bottom of the
truck is near the rails, the two halves at same time receding from each
other. The bottom of the waggon forms two inclines with a gap between
them, through which the contents are discharged gradually and without
violence or obstruction.
To readjust the truck suitable means may be employed, such for
instance as a pinion operated by a winch handle or lever on one half of

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway waggon or truck constructed
according to my Invention, the two halves of the truck being shown
as connected rigidly for travelling; and Figure 2 is a side elevation of
the truck as separated at the middle for discharging its contents.
The body and frame of the truck are constructed in two halves A, B,
A³, B', each supported on one pair of wheels as shown. The two halves
are hinged together at C, and further secured by connections between
the two parts of the under framing B, B', of sufficient strength to
sustain the weight of the load and keep the two parts of the truck
together as shown in Figure 1, until it is required to discharge the load.
On detaching or releasing these connections the two parts of the truck
are caused to assume the position shown in Figure 2, and the load is dis-
charged gently through the interval or space between them. D is a short
length of chain attached to the two parts B, B', of the under frame of the
truck as shown, one at either side, the said chains serving to limit the
separation of the two parts of the truck, but any other suitable means
may be employed for the same purpose; E is a quadrant-shaped iron
plate fixed permanently to the side of one half A of the truck body, and
passing within the other half as shown, so that when the truck is
tipped as in Figure 2, the coal shall not fall out at the openings at the
sides, there being a similar plate E at either side of the truck.
In order to connect the two parts of the truck rigidly together when
loaded I propose to employ the following connections, but any other
adequate means preferred may be employed instead thereof. F is an
iron bar of sufficient depth and thickness to possess the necessary
strength to bear the strain brought upon it by the weight of the load at
the middle part of the truck. This bar may be say four feet in length,
and it is received and fitted to slide longitudinally in corresponding
guides in the under frame B, B³. In order to support the two parts of
the frame B, B¹, in the position Figure 1, the bar F is brought into the
position shown, one-half of its length being received in either half B, B',
of the frame, in which position it affords the support necessary in con-
sequence of the division of the framing and truck. To this bar F is
connected a rod G, which passes along the side beam of the one-half B

page_text: to the face of the buffer. This rod G will show by projecting from the
face of the buffer whether the bar F is in its proper position, and it will
also serve to prevent the bar F shifting its position by shocks or jars,
as the buffer of the adjacent waggon (when a number of waggons are
coupled together to make up a train) will prevent rod G projecting from
the face of the buffer. There is a similar bar F at either side of the
waggon; and to operate both simultaneously, they or their rods G may
have rack teeth along their under side respectively, and gear with two
cog wheels keyed on the same transverse shaft mounted in bearings
beneath frame B, and rotated by a winch handle. In order to discharge
the load the bars F are each wholly withdrawn into the frame B, which
has guides of sufficient length to receive the said bars. A bolt may be
passed at H through the side frames B' and bars F; and a head G¹, be
formed on the end of rack rod G in order to transmit the pull from one
end of the waggon to the other.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
constructing railway waggons or trucks and mining corves in two halves,
hinged or connected together, so as to tilt and separate as herein
described, and form two inclines with an opening between them as and
for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Davidson Plimsoll, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the above-named Henry
Davidson Plimsoll, in the
presence of
GEO. J. SIMPSON,
Solr.,
Sheffield.
HENRY D. PLIMSOLL. (L.S.)