IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING RAILWAY ENGINES, CARRIAGES, AND TRAINS, AND COMMUNICATING SIGNALS BETWEEN PARTS OF A TRAIN." TRAINS, ANDTINGS BE OF A TRA
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John William Claré, of Surrey Square, in the County
of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING RAILWAY ENGINES, CARRIAGES, AND
TRAINS, AND COMMUNICATING SIGNALS BETWEEN PARTS OF A TRAIN."
TRAINS, AND COMMUNICATING SIGNALS BETWEEN PARTS OF A TRAIN."
Sealed the 20th August 1858, and dated the 6th March 1858.;
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John William Clare
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th March 1858.
I, JOHN WILLIAM CLARE, of Surrey Square, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING RAILWAY ENGINES,
CARRIAGES, AND TRAINS, AND COMMUNICATING SIGNALS BETWEEN PARTS OF A TRAIN,"
to be as follows:-
I place a tube under the carriage, supported (so as to be free to revolve)
in blocks or frames fitted on the carriage axles (but so that the latter may turn
within them), and kept in position by a brace bar. I firmly secure a band-
wheel or rigger on the axle, having a band on it attached at one end to the
block and at the other to a lever or rod which is connected to and centered on
the block, and has attached to it one extremity of a chain, the other extremity

page_text: of which is connected to the tube. Or the levers may be centered on, and the
bands connected to the brace bar instead of to the block.
The tubes have suitable coupling arrangements so that they may form (as
it were) a continuous tube or series of tubes when the wagons are made up
into a train, but yet allowing for curves on the line.
To stop the carriages a pinion is put into gear with a toothed wheel, which
is mounted on the tubes of the break vans and tender, or so as to be at the
ends or other convenient part of the train, and by actuating the pinion the
tube is caused to turn and wind the lever chains round it, whereby the lever
rods are depressed and the bands tightened on their riggers so as to stop
them, thus retarding and ultimately stopping the axles and wheels of the
wagons. The lever rods are afterwards restored to position by springs.
Where there are more than two axles to a carriage, it will suffice to apply my
arrangements to any two of them. After a certain number of revolutions the
tube wheel may be made, by suitable arrangements, to act upon the lever for
shutting off the steam, if not duly done by the driver.
My arrangements may also be adopted for engines where there is space to
apply them. When the handle is rotated the teeth of the tube wheel, are so
brought into contact with a suitably placed ratchet or rattling contrivance as to
cause a clattering sound or succession of sounds, and thus communicate various
signals between parts of the train.
The tubes being coupled by air-tight connections the voice could be carried
from end to end so that a person at one extremity might communicate verbal
signals through them to the other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John William Clare in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILLIAM CLARE, of Surrey Square, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give, and grant unto me, the said
John William Clare, Her special licence that I, the said John William
Clare, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said John William Clare, 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;
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING OR RETARDING RAILWAY ENGINES, CARRIAGES,
AND TRAINS, AND COMMUNICATING SIGNALS BETWEEN PARTS OF A TRAIN," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John William Clare, 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 John William Clare, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is an effective arrangement for stopping or
retarding railway engines, carriages, and trains, and for communicating signals
between parts of a train.
According to this Invention, a tube is placed under a carriage, being
supported so as to be free to revolve in blocks or frames, which are fitted on
the axles so that the latter may turn. within them, and are kept in position by
a brace bar; and a band wheel is secured on the axle, surrounded by a band,
attached at one extremity to the block and at the other to a lever or rod
connected to and centred on the block, and having attached to it one end of
a chain, the other end of which is connected to the tube; or, the levers may
be centred on, and the bands connected to the brace bar, instead of centering
The tubes have
the levers on and connecting the bands to the block.
suitable coupling arrangements, so that they may form a continuous tube or
series of tubes when the carriages are made up into a train, but yet allow
necessary play for deviations of the line. A toothed wheel is mounted on the
tubes of the break vans and tender, or so as to be at the ends or other
convenient part of the train; and with this wheel in order to stop the
carriages, a pinion is put in gear, so that by actuating it the tubes may be
caused to turn and wind the lever chains around them, thereby causing the
levers to tighten the bands on their wheels and stop them, and thus retard.

page_text: and ultimately stop the axles and wheels of the carriages. The levers are
afterwards, where necessary, restored to position by springs. When there are
more than two axles to a carriage of ordinary length, it will be sufficient to fit
my arrangements to two of them.
My method may be applied to engines when the construction will permit,
and the tube-actuating wheel may be made. by suitable arrangements to act,
after a certain number of revolutions, on a lever for shutting off the steam, if
not done in due course by the driver.
For purposes of signalling or communicating between parts of a train,
ratchets or rattling contrivances are so arranged that the teeth of wheels
connected with the tubes may be brought into contact with them, and so
cause a clattering noise or succession of sounds in order to communicate
various signals between parts of a train. (When the tubes are coupled. by
air-tight connections, the voice may be carried through them, so as also to
transmit verbal signals from end to end.) When, in carrying the Invention
into effect, my arrangements are to be applied to two of the axles of a
carriage provided with more than two, they should be applied to the front
and back axles.
a.
The accompanying Drawings exemplify the manner of carrying my Invention
into effect. In Figure 1 the apparatus is shewn applied to a break van and
tender, and in Figure 2 to two of the intermediate carriages, here represented as
coupled. These Figures are side elevations, and Figures 3 and 4 edge views.
A, A, are the front and back axletrees, on each of which is fitted at the centre
(cast-iron) block B, secured in place by a cap B¹; both block and cap are
hollowed out to form a plummer block or journal for the axle to revolve in,
being provided (in order to reduce friction) with brass bushes a, a, lubricated
from a grease cup and passage b; C, C, are brace bars or stays, bolted through
the blocks to keep them in a vertical position; D, D, are tubes passing through
and free to revolve in the upper part of the blocks; E, E, are levers centred
on the bars C, tapered off to the end (as shewn) in order that when sufficient
strain is placed on the band, they may bend or adapt themselves to the
variations caused by the greater strain on the tubes nearest to where the
force is applied; F, F. are chains, connected at one end to the levers E and
at the other to the tubes D, passing over pulleys d, d, attached to the under
part of the carriage. On each axle a, at the side of the block, is firmly keyed
a band wheel G, formed by preference of cast-iron, in two parts, bolted
together. Each wheel G is (nearly) surrounded by a band H, one end of
which is attached to the brace bar C and the other to the short end of the
lever E. (by a joint e; so contrived that the band may be tightened up or

page_text: adjusted from time to time, as it wears). ff. are guides. or guards, which
keep the bands in place, and which also when the bands are not to act, hold
them off the wheels, retaining them in a fixed position, so as to prevent their
vibrating against the wheels. 9, 9, are guard plates for receiving and securing
the nut ends of bolts g', g, by which the levers and bands are fixed to the
brace bars. All these arrangements are fitted under the carriage, between the
ordinary flanged wheels. The mode preferred for so coupling the tubes (when
the carriages are made up into a train) as to allow of necessary play for curves and
gradients, while still maintaining secure connection, is shewn in the Drawings.
I, I, are bell-mouthed end or junction pieces fitted on each extremity of each
tulie where a connection is to be effected. These pieces are attached to the
tubes by flat bolts h, and are formed with slots h' at top and bottom, so that
when the buffers are driven up the slots will slide upon or against the bolts h,
and allow for horizontal play; i are springs abutting against collars for.
restoring the pieces I to position; grooves i, ', are formed on opposite sides
of the internal surface of the pieces I at the other ends. J, J, are connecting
pieces formed with lugs k, k, on opposite sides at one end; a piece J is fitted
(by a bolt and linch pin 7') in the extremity ; of one junction piece I of each
tube, where a connection has to be effected, while at the other end it travels,
by its lungs k, k, in the grooves ' in the inside surface at the end of the next
adjacent junction piece I of another carriage. The pieces J may readily be,
reversed when desirable. The bolt j' acts in a slot through the connecting
picce J to allow of vertical play for gradients, and a spring j2 is so fitted
within it as to abut against the bolt and keep the piece J horizontal.
toothed wheels placed on the tubes of the break vans and tender; K', inter-
mediate toothed wheels in gear with K, and employed in order to bring the
command of K within reach of the guard or driver; L are spindles actuated
by bandles L', and carrying a pinion M; N, N, are ratchets or blades of hard
flexible material fitted on spindles L, and forced by springs n to enter between
the teeth of the wheels K; the ratchets are jointed so as to offer a sufficiently
rigid resistance to the teeth of the wheels when acting on them (being kept
for the purpose against a stop), but yet so as not to resist the backward, action
of the wheels. (There is such an arrangement of toothed wheels & ratchets
at every guard's van and at the tender. By pushing the spindle L the pinion
M will be brought into gear with the wheels K, K', and by rotating the
handle L' the whole series of tubes D and all the wheels K, K', will be
caused to revolve,. the latter as they pass bringing their teeth in contact with
the blades N,,N, in the guard's van and front of the tender, so as to occasion
a succession of clattering-sounds, at the same time winding up the chains F,
K are.

page_text: so that the levers E tighten the bands H on the wheels G, and thus cause
a retarding influence throughout the train. The levers will be restored to
position by their own gravity and the expansion of the bands H. By merely
pushing the spindle L into gear and working the handle L' to and fro, but
without causing the wheels K¹ to revolve sufficiently to act on the bands,
a succession of sounds or signals may be produced by the contact of the
blades and the teeth of the wheels in all parts of the train where they may be
fitted, but without interfering with the train's motion. Instead of mounting
the ratchets, as shewn, they may be placed on supports in such a position as
to be in the same plane with or in a line with the diameter of the wheels, so
as to be depressed by their teeth as they pass. The ratchets when impelled
by the wheels may also be made to act on gongs, bells, detonating balls, or
other alarm contrivance for signalizing purposes. O is a support, shewn
detached in Figure 5, passed under the junction piece I, so that the latter
may rest on it, and fixed at o¹, 0%, to the lower part of the ends of the carriage,
thereby forming a rest to the coupling, and preventing it from "sagging."
Wooden shafts or light metallic tubes enclosing wooden shafts may be sub-
stituted for the tubes D as equivalent contrivances.
My retarding arrangements can only be applied to engines when there are
running wheels behind, with sufficient room for a band wheel on their axle-
trees. Instead of having to turn by hand the handle M of the retarding
apparatus fitted to the tender, this may be done by steam from the engine.
When there is only a very restricted space the levers E may be attached
and centred on the block B instead of on the brace bars, and the ends of the
bands I connected to the blocks instead of to the brace bars. In such case
the bands may be so placed as to have their ends at the upper (instead of the
lower) part of the band wheels, and be there connected to the levers and
blocks, the chains passing over pulleys on the brace bars instead of on the
under part of the carriages, while the levers after acting would be restored to
position by springs.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I lay no claim to any of
the herein-before described mechanical parts separately considered, neither do
I confine myself to the precise details shewn in the Drawings, provided the
general character of my Invention be retained; but that I claim,-
First, the general arrangement and combination of parts for stopping or
retarding purposes, herein-before described, that is to say, combining and
arranging blocks fitted on the axles, brace bars, band wheels, and bands,
levers, and chains, and tubes (or mechanical equivalents), as described, so.

page_text: that by actuating the tubes the chains may wind thereon, causing the levers
to tighten the bands on their wheels, and thus effect the retarding or stopping
of engines, carriages, and trains.
Second, the arrangement and combination with my retarding apparatus of
a ratchet caused to act by contact with toothed wheels, contrived and
operating in the manner herein-before described for purposes of com-
municating signals between parts of a train.
In witness whereof, I, the said John William Clare, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
CHAS. H. LANGMEAD,
84, Fleet Street.
JOHN WILLIAM CLARE. (L.S.)