IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Urbain Chauveau and Charles D'Epinois, both of
Paris, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS."
Scaled the 2nd January 1855, and dated the 3rd July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Urbain Chauveau and
Charles D'Epinois at the Office of. the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 3rd July 1854.
We, URBAIN CHAUVEAU and CHARLES D'EPINOIS, both of Paris, in the
Empire of France, Civil Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON
RAILWAYS" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to establish between the rails, and at specified
or given distances apart, certain small apparatus or machines, which may when
required be made to strike against a lever catch or other contrivance, attached
either to the engine or the break carriage, and in connection with the steam
ports or valves of the engine; in the one case, to cut off the steam from the
cylinder or the break apparatus; in the other case, to bring the breaks against
the wheels of the carriages, in order to retard the progress of the train. The
apparatus placed between the rails as aforesaid for acting on the engine or
break apparatus consists principally of a lever or arm and pulley, mounted on
a short shaft, at one end of which is a crank or arm, which is acted upon by
the under part of the engine or carriage, and thus causes the short shaft to
turn in its bearings and bring the lever or arm up, so that it may be in a
position to act on the engine or carriage of another train: There are pairs of

page_text: these little apparatus arranged together at the same spot, and the pullies of one
apparatus are connected with the pullies of the next succeeding and preceding
but distant apparatus, say, 500 yards away, by means of a cord or chain, so
that when the engine or carriage acts upon the cranks or arm of one apparatus,
it may, by means of the chains or cords from the pullies, act on the pullies of
the apparatus 500 yards off and in advance, and thereby raise the lever or
arm of that apparatus, so that it may catch or strike against the engine or
carriage of any other approaching train, and thus cut off the steam and act
on the breaks of such train without the intervention of the attendants.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Urbain Chauveau and Charles D'Epinois in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, URBAIN
CHAUVEAU and CHARLES D'EPINOIS, both of Paris, in the Empire of France,
Civil Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Urbain Chauveau and Charles D'Epinois, Her special license that we, the said
Urbain Chauveau and Charles D'Epinois, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Urbain Chauveau and Charles
D'Epinois, our 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OR
APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we. the said Urbain Chauveau and Charles D'Epinois,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Urbain Chauveau and Charles
D'Epinois, do hereby declare the nature of our 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 Drawings
bereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
The object of this Invention is by means of certain small apparatus or
machines, placed at convenient distances along the line of railway, to strike
against a lever catch or other contrivance, attached either to the engine or the
break carriage of an advancing train, so as to bring into action certain levers
or mechanical contrivances in connexion with the steam ports or valves of the
engine, in order to cut off the steam from the cylinder, or by operating on the
break apparatus, to bring the breaks against the wheels of the carriages, in
order to retard the progress of the train. The apparatus that is to be placed
along the line of rails as aforesaid for acting on the engine or break
apparatus consists principally of a lever or arm and pulley; mounted on a
short shaft, at one end of which is a crank or arm, which is acted upon
by the under part of the engine or carriage, and thus causes the short shaft
to turn in its bearings and bring the lever or arm up, so. that it may be
in a position to act on the engine or carriage of another train. There are
pairs of these little apparatus arranged together at the same spot, and the
pulleys of one apparatus are connected with the pulleys of the next suc-
ceeding and preceding but distant apparatus (say, five hundred yards away,)
by means of a cord or chain, so that when the engine or carriage acts upon
the crank or arm of one apparatus, it may, by means of the chains or cords
from the pulley, act on the pullies of the apparatus five hundred yards off' and
in advance, and thereby raise the lever or arm of that apparatus, so that such
lever or arm may catch or strike against the engine or carriage of any
other approaching train, and thus cut off the steam and act on the breaks
of such train, and thereby stop the train without the intervention of the
attendants.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a locomotive
engine with our improvements adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan or top view
of the same. The red lines represent the position which the parts will assumo
on coming in contact with the stationary stops. Fig. 3 is a transverse
section of the stopping apparatus, taken in the line X, Y, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4
represents one of the apparatus with its stop lowered and the road clear;
Fig. 5 shows the same with the stop raised; Figure 4* is a plan view of the
above; Fig. 6 is a side view on a smaller scale, or diagram of the apparatus,

page_text: shewing the manner in which stopping apparatuses are arranged upon the line
and connected together. The red lines in Figures 1, 2, and 3 shew the steam
cock closed. The red lines in Fig. 6 shew the stops raised, and the position
of the levers when the stops are in this position. a is the arm or handle of
the steam cock; B, the pipe for supplying the steam to the cylinders; C is a
moveable arm or lever, which is mounted on a stud affixed to the engine, and
is acted upon by the stops. This arm or lever C is connected by means of a
link i, with the lever arm h, whereby the steam cock may be opened and
closed. P, P, are inclined planes attached to the sides of the engine, and
whereby the stopping apparatus is ucted upon as the engine passes along the
line. Q is the boiler; S. the safety valve; D (Figures 4 and 5) are the arms
or levers of the stopping apparatus, and which are depressed by the inclined
planes P. On the same shaft as the levers or arms D are mounted the
arms or levers E, and being at right angles thereto, it follows that when the
arms D are depressed the arms E will be elevated, as shown at Fig. 5.
The stopping apparatus is composed of two distinct parts, vizt, first, the
apparatus adapted to the line of rails, and which is intended to be acted on by
the inclined planes of the engine, and also on the advancing train; second,
corresponding apparatus applied to the locomotive.
On a level or nearly so with the rails is fixed a foundation plate or framing F,
(Figures 3, 4, and 5,) carrying two horizontal axles T, mounted in suitable
bearings. These axles carry a crank piece D, which is acted upon by the inclined
planes P, (adapted to the locomotive, and which may be raised or lowered, as
desired.) The shafts or axles T also carry the arms or lever stops E, which
are mounted on the shaft T at right angles or nearly so to the arms D, and
the arms or stop levers E will therefore rise when the arms D are depressed,
and vice versa. All these parts we prefer to construct of iron.
Similar groups of apparatus are placed upon the line at certain distances
apart, (say, 'five hundred yards, for example,) as shewn at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c.,
Fig. 6, and are connected together by wires, passing round and fixed upon
moveable pullies or drums G, mounted on the same axle T as carries the
arms or levers D and E. The apparatus No. 1, Fig. 6, is made to commu-
nicate with No. 3; and No. 2 with No. 4, No. 3 with No. 5, and so on. The
wires are reversed, in order that a stop on rising may raise its corresponding
one in a reverse direction, and thus ensure protection to a train both in front
and rear. Thus a locomotive by a single movement raises two stops, which
severally protect it from the approach of another locomotive either in front
or rear.
To the sides of the locomotive are adapted the two inclined planes or

page_text: arms P, above referred to, one pair being placed on each side of the locomotive
(see Figures 1, 2, 3, and 3). To the steam cock is adapted an arrangement
of levers h, i, connected to the stop lever C, which, when acted upon by the
stops E, causes the steam to be shut off from the cylinders. The action of
the apparatus is the same whether the engine be moving forwards or backwards,
and is as follows:-.
upon
The locomotive on starting will raise the stop of the apparatus No. 1, which
serves to protect it from collision with a train that may have started behind it
after it has left the station; but by reason of the communication established by
incans of the connecting wires between the several stopping apparatus, the
same movement will also raise the stop of apparatus No. 3 (at a distance of
The
one thousand yards in the contrary direction), that is, in advance.
apparatus No. 3 will protect it from collision with a train which may be
approaching in an opposite direction. On the locomotive coming in contact
with the stop No. 2, the same effect will be produced thereon, and also upon
No. 4, in front. As the locomotive proceeds, the same result will be produced
No. 3 and No. 5, No. 4 and No. 6, and so on, throughout the whole
line;
but on the locomotive arriving at No. 3, the stop No. 1 will no longer
be required to act, and the locomotive in passing will depress it, by means of
the second inclined plane P, which will raise the lever D. The stops E are
constructed in such a manner that on being raised they will all be at the same
level, in order that when in that position they may be acted upon by the stop
lever C of the locomotive. Thus, when a locomotive arrives at any one of the
stopping apparatus, its inclined plane P will press upon the crank arm D,
thereby raising the stop E (which turns therewith) to such a height as to be
capable of coming in contact with the stop levers C of the locomotive; so that,
on a train following, the lever C will be acted upon by that stop, thereby
shutting off the steam; the train will then stop of itself after running on for a
few hundred yards (say, from two hundred to four hundred). It must, how-
ever, be borne in mind that this locomotive will (by reason of the communication
established by the connecting wires or cords) have also raised another stop, at
a distance of one thousand yards in advance, in order to check the progress of
any train approaching in the opposite direction, and this latter train would
have produced the same effect upon the former one; there will therefore be
a distance of one thousand yards between the two trains, and as they will by
reason of their momentum run on for a distance of from two to four hundred
yards after the steam has been shut off, as above stated, there will upon their
stopping be a distance of at least two hundred yards between them.
The distance between the stopping apparatus along the railway may of

page_text: course be varied, but we have given five hundred yards, as that distance has
been found by competent persons to be sufficient for the purpose. When
there is no other train either behind or before within the given distance, the
locomotive will proceed along the line without interruption, and will only
be stopped when there is danger of its coming into collision with another
train.
It will be easily understood that this apparatus is entirely self-acting, and
does not require any care or attention on the part of the engine driver or
guard. The same method may be employed of connecting our improve-
ments to the break apparatus, as is shewn, as adapted to the steam pipe for
cutting off the steam, but we have not thought it necessary to shew the break
apparatus in the Drawings.
Having now described our Invention of "Improved Means or Apparatus for
Preventing Collisions on Railways," and the means of carrying the same into
effect, we claim, in conclusion, the self-acting apparatus above shewn and
described, or any mere modification thereof, in which the steam may be cut
off, and the break apparatus of a train brought into operation, without the
assistance of the driver or guard, by means of apparatus placed along the
line at different distances, and so arranged that they may be made to act on
and be acted on by the engine or carriages of an approaching train, for the
purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said Urbain Chauveau and Charles D'Epinois,
have hereunto set our hands and scals, the First day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.