AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, of
London, Paris, and Brussels, Patent Solicitor, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE "A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte.
de Fontainemoreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 16th September 1857.
I, PETER ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINEMOREAU, of London, Paris, and
Brussels, Patent Solicitor, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in immediately stopping or reducing the speed of
railway trains when in motion by means of brakes acting against the wheels
and rails and by racks and wheels. The brakes, racks, and wheels may be
applied to all the carriages if necessary, the whole being put in action by
a single lever.
The improved brake is composed as follows:-Each axle of the carriage is
provided with two rack wheels which gear with racks placed above and below.
the wheels, so that the traction in opposite direction (produced by the rotation
of the rack wheels) is transferred to a horizontal shaft by means of levers,
which cause it to turn until the brakes press against the wheels and rails.
The brakes and racks are placed in their original position by springs or by
other means.
To obtain a gradual stoppage of the train the brakes may be worked
independently of the racks. This object is accomplished by means of a lever
and chain in connection with the brakes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 13th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINEMOREAU, of London, Paris, and Brussels,
Patent Solicitor, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, Her special licence
that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand le
Comte de Fontainemoreau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
uše, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention of "AN
IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE," Communicated to me by a foreigner residing
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Armand le
Comte de Fontainemoreau, 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 Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine-
moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:
The Invention communicated to me consists in immediately stopping or
reducing the speed of railway trains when in motion by means of improved
brakes acting against the wheels and rails and by racks and wheels, the whole
being put in action by a single lever. The improved brake may be applied to
existing railway carriages.
For the better understanding of the Invention I will now refer to the

page_text: Drawing hereunto annexed, in which Figure 1 represents a side view,:
Figure 2 a longitudinal section, and Figure 3 a plan of the brake apparatus.
Each of the axles carries two rack wheels C, D, Figure 2, with strong teeth
terminating in a point. Over the first two wheels C and below the two.
others D are placed the double racks A, B, which gear with them in such
a manner that the traction in the opposite direction produced by the rotation.
of the rack wheels is transferred to the horizontal shaft H by means of the
levers C and D₁, Figure 2, and forces it to turn until the brake blocks
attached to it by the short connecting rods E, F, and the levers I, J, press
together upon the wheels. The action of the four racks which oppose the
movement of the axles, and that of the brake blocks, which also oppose the
rotation of the wheels, rapidly stop the carriage, which can only slide for:
a short distance. The impulse still remaining is further destroyed by the
adhesion of the brakes, which press strongly on the rails, and thus increase
the surface of friction. Two long bars, strongly connected by means of
bands Z, Figure 1, bolted or otherwise fixed to the grease boxes, serve to.
guide the brakes in their double movement, which brings them close to the
wheels and lowers them on to the rail. These bars, which extend on each >
side beyond the axles of the carriage, also serve as a point of rest to the tie:
pieces which support all the working parts of the brakes. It results from this
arrangement, that the mechanism is independent of the framework, which is
susceptible of falling or rising more or less upon the springs in proportion to
the weight with which it is loaded. A stop bar G placed within reach of the
guard governs by any suitable arrangement two levers K and L fixed upon
a rod M, which is prolonged to a series of carriages. These levers, worked.
by the same movement, cause all the racks to gear simultaneously, the brakes
are then put in motion with a force proportioned to the speed of the train.
Whatever be the weight of the racks of each carriage, they are balanced in.
such a way, one by the other, that no effort is applied on the working rods M.
In order to stop the train the guard has therefore only to exert a force:
capable of overcoming the resistance of the bearings which support them..
These brake rods M are connected by a joint, Figure 4, which, without
causing resistance to their movement, permits a considerable flexion for the
traversing of curves, and a sufficient extension to prevent the rods being
broken or displaced by the shocks which the carriages undergo when in
movement. When the train is completely stopped a spring or the hand of,
the conductor acting on the brake bar G to bring it back to its position
causes the racks of the rack wheels to withdraw; a second spring N acting
on the extremity of the levers C¹ and D' also withdraws the brake blocks, and

page_text: all the wheels are again set free for re-starting. To obtain a progressive
reduction of speed in the movement of the train it is necessary to press the
brakes independantly of the stop racks. For this purpose the shaft H carries
another lever, which is not shewn in the Drawing. This lever may be placed
on the length of the shaft at any part in which it will not interfere with other
movements. A chain attaches it to à tapped rod passing into a crank, and
placed within reach of the guard. This chain serves to isolate the stop pieces
when an instantaneous stoppage is required. The brake blocks disposed as
described have the advantage of reducing gradually the speed of the train
without involving the necessity of tightening them too much against the
wheels, as the pressure resulting from a too violent closing of the ordinary
brakes often injures the grease and axle boxes.
The advantages of the improved brake are, first, the production of an
instantaneous stoppage of the train by preventing entirely the revolution of
the wheels and increasing the surface of contact of the carriages on the rails;
secondly, the facility of acting by another lever on special parts only of the
same brake, so as to produce at will the required resistance or to destroy
entirely the tractive power; thirdly, the facility with which one man with
a single lever and at a given signal may arrest the motion of all the wheels
of a considerable number of carriages, and thus avoid the many accidents
which result from the slow working of the brakes.
Having now described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I observe in conclusion that I do not confine myself to
the precise details herein laid down, reserving the right of modifying the
same; what I claim is,―
First, the arrangement and construction of the brake blocks, racks, and rack
wheels for retarding or instantaneously stopping a train in motion, as herein-
before described, and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the arrangement whereby the brake apparatus can be applied to
several carriages at the same time, as herein-before described, and shewn in
the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine-
moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
תיז
CONTAINEMOREALI
T'
DE FONTAINEMOREAU
(L.B.)