CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING ON LAND AND WATER
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
PILBROW, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirty-first day of January (1846), in the ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James Pilbrow, my exors, adiñiors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said James Pilbrow, my exors, adiiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion
of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING ON LAND AND WATER;" in which Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said James Pilbrow, 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 thereto had,.
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Pilbrow, hereby declare that my said Invention has for its object the

page_text: better carrying into effect the system of atmospheric propulsion, for which
Letters Patent for England and the Colonies were granted to me on the 17th
day of May 1344, by the style and title of "Certain Improvements in the
Machinery for, or a new Method of, Propelling Carriages on Railways or
Common Roads, or Vessels on Rivers and Canals." And the nature of my said
present Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the present Specification of the same,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
According to the plan of propulsion described in the Specification of my said
former Letters Patent, two cogged racks were employed, one attached to the
piston, and the other to the under part of the railway carriage or truck, and
the motion onwards was transmitted to the train through and by the medium
of a series of pinions or rollers. Now, by my present invented improvements
the necessity for the said pinions or rollers is superseded, by forming the two
racks (or their substitutes) in such manner that they shall lay hold of or catch
or lock into each other, so that the one being forced onward the other must go
with it. The mode in which this is accomplished is represented in the annexed
Drawings. Figure I. exhibits a longitudinal section of the traction or main
tube as altered to adapt it to my present improvements; Figure II. a section
of it on the line X, X; and Figure III. a section of it on the line Z, Z. The
tube is made, as before, with a square channel along its upper side, as seen in
Figure II.; but at every twenty or thirty feet or thereabouts (where the pinions
or rollers were formerly introduced) the top part of the channel is cut away for
a distance of about three feet, as from a to b, Figure I., and partially filled up
on each side by metal, in the manner shewn at c, Figure I., and d, d, Figure III.,
leaving the space or slit e still preserved. Over this opening I place a flap or
cover f, f, of metal, of a curved form, corresponding with that of the raised
part c, which works upon hinges, and forms a valve to exclude the atmosphere
when shut down, being made with a surface sufficiently true to shut on to the
edges or upper surface of the channel around the orifice, either by grinding or
the use of any suitable sealing material or materials. As the curve of this
valve or flap corresponds exactly with the rising of the portion c, there is no
actual contraction of the size of the channel, but a slight change of direction
only, so that a body just fitting the channel passing along it would be raised by
the elevating cheeks c, Figure I., or d, d, Figure III., into the flap when shut
down, or would project or be raised above and out of the channel when the
flap was up. The piston and connecting arm is similar to that described in the
Specification of my former Patent; but the piston rack, instead of being formed
throughout of one entire and rigid piece of metal cogged, is formed of a triple

page_text: series of flat metal links rivetted together in the manner of a watch chain, as
represented in the side and top views, Figures IV. and V., so that the linked
part shall present a series of holes or interstices i, i, i, for the reception of a
set of teeth or cogs attached to the rack or coulter of the carriage, as herein-
after explained. The part g, g, of the steel arm, which is still kept entire,
is made to turn on a joint at j, so as to permit the head of the chain to be
elevated or depressed. The toothed coulter is represented in Figure VI., and
as in the act of interlocking with the linked parts of the piston arm. k is the
rod which connects it with the under part of the railway carriage; and l, m,
the teeth. The chain part of the piston rod being laid in the square channel
(e), and filling it very nearly, as often as it is brought in contact with or passes
over the raised portions c, c, (Figure I.) it is itself correspondingly elevated,
and rises above the top of the channel, the flap or valve f being raised as after
described, while the teeth of the coulter enter the holes in the chain as they
present themselves, and as the chain advances it drags the coulter along with
it, the teeth entering the holes as they rise, and leaving them as it again sinks
back into the channel. If then a toothed coulter of this description be placed
beneath a carriage so as to pass close along the top of the traction tube of an
atmospheric railway, and be long enough to reach or embrace at once two at
least of such valvular projections or elevations c, c, and be so arranged as to
pass under the cover or flap valve, all as represented in Figure X. of the
annexed Drawings, it is evident that the chain must take the teeth of one
end of the coulter before it leaves the other, and will thus drag on the coulter
and carriage to which it is attached to its journey's end, or so long as the
openings are continued at the proper distances. In Figure X. the toothed
coulter (h) is supposed to be just leaving the orifice or valve at a, and entering
at b; c is part of the body of the carriage; d, d, the wheels; k, k, the arm;
m, the main; e, the square channel; i, i, are two orifices with covers or
flaps ff, to which are attached projecting arms n, n, (see Figure III.,) upon
which are fixed rollers or friction wheels o, o, these arms acting as levers to the
flaps, and when pressed downwards lifting the flaps from their seats, as indi-
cated by the dotted lines p, p, Figure III. A horizontal bar j, j, which I
call the "lift," is placed just above but rather to the side of the toothed coulter,
and attached to the under part of the carriage or its axles in such a position
that the carriage, as it moves onward, must press upon and lower the rollers as
it passes, and thereby cause the flaps to be raised up, and, when passed, permit
them, with their own weight, to fall again and make an air-tight tube. This
bar (j,j) should be longer than the coulter, that it may open or lift up the
flaps in time for the coulter to enter, and the arrangement and situation of

page_text: lever, roller, and bar should be such as to cause the flap to rise high enough
for the clear passage of the coulter of the carriage. Figure XI. represents a
sectional view of the preceeding arrangements. m is the tube; b, the coulter;
f, the lifting flap; o, the friction roller; j, the bar pressing on the roller,
attached to or with the coulter to the axle of the carriage; a, the axle;
d, d, the wheels; and c, the body of the carriage. It must be observed that
it is intended that the linked part of the steel connecting arm 9 of Figure IV.
should fit as nearly as can be laterally the opening of the tube, and that the
first link of the chain over the after part of the piston at q should be made to
fit as nearly air-tight as practicable to the channel in which it is to travel;
and farther, that the chain part should be of about the same length as the
toothed coulter, and never less than the distance from one valve to another,
measured from the further extremities. A modification of the preceeding
arrangements is represented in Figures VII., VIII., and IX. In this there
are no clevating or projecting parts in the channel as at c, Figure I., and the
flap or valve f is made quite flat without any curvature in it. The piston,
morcover, has no chain part, but consists throughout of a rigid bar or rod with
teeth or cogs t, t. v represents the friction roller, and the dotted lines w the
position which the flap valve assumes when lifted up. Instead, therefore, of
the piston rack rising up through the orifice, as in the preceding case, to take
hold of the toothed coulter, the toothed coulter is in this instance so made that
its teeth or projections shall descend through the orifice and fixe themselves in
the teeth of the piston rack; and for this purpose the carriage rack or
coulter is made of several parts and pieces in manner following:-The two
sides consist of flat bars of iron, between which are placed a series of pieces of
iron forming teeth, and moving partially upon the rivets or bolts which hold
them in their places, as shown in Figure VIII., where a, a, represents one of
the metal bars or sides, and y, y, y, the moveable cogs or teeth. These teeth
are so placed that they can move towards the right hand to a limited extent, as
indicated by the dotted teeth z, z, and thus have their lower extremities raised,
but their upper parts are formed with a shoulder, as shewn by the dotted lines
1, 2, which shoulders meeting with suitable projections on the inner side of the
bars which hold them all together, prevent their being forced beyond the position
shewn, or towards the left hand. Let us now suppose that a carriage, with a
toothed rack or coulter of this description beneath it, is placed upon the rails,
and that the coulter lays along the upper part of the atmospheric tube, as
shewn in Figure X.; then if this coulter be placed so low that the points of the
teeth shall touch the top of the outer surface of the channel, and be all pushed
up and towards the right hand, as at ,, Figure VIII., and that the valve

page_text: flaps are lifted up, as before described, it follows that the teeth which are over
the orifices will fall down into the position y, y, Figure VIII., and project
downwards into the corresponding indentations of the piston arm, as shown by
one in dotted lines at a, Figure VII. Figure IX. is a cross section of this
modification, showing the valve lifted up, with its roller and lever (the dotted
lines indicating their positions when closed). If it should be found that
the gravity of these moveable teeth or catches is insufficient to insure their
fall into the indentations of the piston rack, on account of the rapidity of
motion, springs may be provided to act upon them and press them down
whenever they come over the different orifices. To apply these improvements
to water or canal or river propulsion, it is only, as stated in my last Specifica-
tion, necessary to place the atmospheric tube along the banks, or upon piles
down the centre of the canal or river (above high-water mark), and affixing
the "carriage" rack or coulter to the side or bows of the vessel by projecting
arms for that purpose, when all the other parts and arrangements will be as
described for railway purposes. The mode of operation according to this
modification for a railway would be as follows. The piston with its rack would
be inserted into the main tube and channel, until the fore part or the end near
the piston came under the first valvular orifice of the series; the carriage, with
the toothed rack or coulter attached to it, would then be brought up until its
toothed part is exactly over, and matched end to end with the piston rack.
The flat bar (which I term the "lift") coming upon the roller of the first valve
would press it down, lifting the flap sufficiently for the point of the coulter to
pass under it, and the teeth falling into gear with those of the piston rack,
they would become locked together, the first tooth of the coulter being in the
first indent of the piston rack, and the second in the second, and so on. The
vacuum being formed in the usual or most approved way, the effect upon the
piston would be to draw it onwards, and the carriage being free to move, the
coulter and rack would continue to lock their teeth into each other as they
presented themselves at each succeeding orifice or valve. The coulter and
rack being, as before directed, long enough to reach or embrace at least two
or more of the orifices, they would never be out of gear with each other at one
part or other of their entire length, and thus, as long as the vacuum were kept
up, the piston would drag the carriage after it to the journey's end with as
many others attached to it as the vacuum power applied would admit of. The
leakage would in this way be reduced to a minimum, or nearly so, and a
number of short valves would be substituted for one long one, making in the
aggregate but one-tenth of the length, and allowing of space sufficient between
the valves for crossings. The valves too, being small and of one piece of

page_text: metal, would be capable of being made at once air-tight and incapable of being
injuriously affected by changes of weather.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim under my
present Patent is, the propulsion of carriages on atmospheric railways or
common roads, or vessels on rivers or canals, by means of racks or coulters
with fixed teeth working into piston connecting rods, composed in the greater
part thereof of link work, having suitable orifices for the reception of such
teeth, or of coulters with fixed or moveable teeth gearing into piston racks,
both as before described; and, further, the alterations in and additions to the
traction tube or main necessary for carrying the said improved modes of
propulsion into effect, as also before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Pilbrow, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One.
Enrolled the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-six.