IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY SHOES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Armand Gilbce, of the Firm of L. de
Fontainemoreau and Co., 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SAFETY SHOES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES."-A communication from abroad
44
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Armand Gilbee
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th April 1875.
I, WILLIAM ARMAND GILBEE, of the Firm of L. de Fontaincmoreau
and Co., 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SAFETY SHOES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to be as follows, that is to
sav

page_text: the rail or rails so as to prevent a train of carriages from entirely leaving
or jumping the track when rounding a curve, meeting an obstruction, or
in the more common cases of a misplaced switch or broken rail.
The improved shoes are made of iron or steel of a rectangular shape
on plan, and formed with a flange projecting from the outer edge and
at right angles with the face of the shoe, such flanges being formed
slightly concave upon their inner face, so as somewhat to conform to the
side shape of the rails. Each end of the said flanges is counter-bevilled
from the wheels of the carriages, the bevil retaining the concave form.
The main and flanged portion of the safety shoes are attached to
transverse timbers, between the outer ends of which and the carriage
frames are fixed springs for relieving the force of the concussion con-
sequent upon the shoe or shoes suddenly striking down upon the rail
or rails. The extending ends of the shoes from the outside of the timbers
to their extreme ends are bent or curved to meet the axle boxes or tho
axles for supporting the said ends.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Armand Gilbec in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th October 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ARMAND GILBEE, of the Firm of L' de Fontainemoreau and Co., 4,
South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send
grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Armand Gilbce,
Her special licence that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Armand Gilbee, 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 law-

page_text: fully 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 SAFETY SHOES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES,” a
communication to him from abroad by Joel Tiffany, of Chicago, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Armand Gilbee, 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 William Armand Gilbee, 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, reference being had to the Drawing horeto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :—
The object of this Invention is an improved construction and method
of applying to railway carriages safety shoes for catching or clutching
the rail or rails, so as to prevent a train of carriages from entirely
leaving or jumping the track when rounding a curve or meeting an
obstruction, or in the more common case of a misplaced switch or broken
rail.
To make the Invention communicated to me better understood I will
now proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying
Drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side view of the frame of a railway
carriage shewing the improved safety shoe applied thereto; Figure 2 is
a plan from underneath; and Figure 3, a cross section of the same.
Similar letters of reference are used in all the Figures to represent similar
parts.
The improved shoes A, A, are made of iron or steel of a rectangular
shape in plan, and formed with a flange H projecting from the outer edge,
and at right angles with the face of the shoe, such flanges H being formed
slightly concave upon their inner face so as somewhat to conform to the
side shape of the Trail, and that they may clutch and cling to the said
rail (or rails) firmly overcoming thereby any tendency of the carriage to
tip. Each end of the said flanges H is counter-bevilled from the wheels F

page_text: of the carriage, the bevils retaining the concave form. The object of
these bevils is that in case the carriage should run off the track at an
angle the shoe will surely catch and hold without cutting into the side
of the rails, and also to enable the flange H to pass any projections from
the side of the rails. The main and flanged portion of the safety shoes A
are attached to transverse, timbers D, between the outer ends of which
timbers D and the carriage frames B are fixed the springs E for relieving
the force of the concussion consequent upon the shoe or shoes A suddenly
striking down upon the rail or rails. The length of the flanges H of the
shoes A is proportionately represented by the distance between the outer
sides of the supporting timbers D. The extending ends of the shoes A.
from the outside of the timbers D to their extreme ends are bent or
curved to meet the axle boxes L, Figure 1, or the axles C, Figure 2, for
supporting the said ends.
Having thus described the Invention communicated to me, and the
manner of performing the same, what I claim is, the construction and
employment of safety shoes applied to railway carriages by means of
supporting timbers in combination with springs, substantially as and for
the purposes herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Armand Gilbee, have hereto
set my hand and scal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.