IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKS, FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Kemble Hall at
*****the Office of the Commissioners' of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th June 1855..
WILLIAM KEMBLE HALL, of Mark Lane, in the City of London, En-
gineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREAKS, FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES to be, as follows:
*
The break blocks, and levers by which they are applied are carried by a
swinging frame, mounted under the main frame of the carriage and above the
axle: the upper end of the lever to which the break rods, are attached is acted
upon as herein-after described.
The swinging frame with its
against the bottom side of the
1**
break blocks is so hung that the lever is held
draw bar by the preponderating weight of the
opposite portion of the frame; the carriages are connected and drawn by this
draw bar, which is allowed a longitudinal motion of a few inches.
When the velocity of the train is lessened in any manner, either by the
engine driver shutting off the, steam, or an accident occurring to one of the
carriages, the momentum of the carriages carries them forward to the extent
allowed by-the-play of the draw bars, applying the breaks to the wheels
through the intervention of the lovers
-

page_text: When it is desired to back the train, the reverse rotation of the wheels
overcomes the preponderating influence of the heavier end of the frame,
and cants it until the lever is drawn clear of the projection on the drawing rod
by which it was worked, and the breaks are thus thrown off.
The breaks may be acted upon by the buffer rods, or by the draw bar, as
described herein, or by an independant lever worked by hand; but the
particular part which it is desired to secure by Patent is, the swinging frame
arranged as described, by which the wheels are releived from the breaks when
their motion is reversed; but as it is obvious that the swinging frames may
either be so hung out of the centre as described, or may be hung centrally,
and the same effect may be attained by the employment of a spring, the tension
or compression of which might be overcome by the reverse rotation of the
wheels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Kemble Hall in. the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KEMBLE HALL, of Mark Lane, in the City of London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Kemble Hall, Her special licence that I, the said William
Kemble Hall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I the said William Kemble Hall, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN BREAKS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Kemble Hall, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Kemble Hall, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
Hitherto railway carriages, except the guard's van or the breaksman's van
of the train, have been either unprovided with any separate break apparatus,
because such apparatus involves. the addition of a guard or breaksman to work
it; or, where several carriages in a train have been fitted with separate break
apparatus, such have been either connected together by rods extending along
the tops of the carriages, and acted upon from one or two points in the length
of the train at the will of the guard, and then only capable of acting upon
one side of each pair of the wheels of such carriage, and so requiring to be
differently acted upon when going in one or the other direction, and in such
cases always the break or brake requiring to be wound back, taken off or out
of action by hand, by reversing the direction in which the coupled or connected
rods had previously been turned again where any self-acting break arrange-
ment has been attempted; hitherto such apparatus has only been suited to the
carriage to which it had been applied working in one direction, and fitted to
act upon one side of one pair of wheels.
:
Now, my Invention has for its object the better arrangement and applica-
tion of breaks or brake apparatus for checking and stopping railway carriages
and railway trains when such carriages being in rapid motion are required to
be brought to a stand or stop in the shortest possible distance, and inde-
pendently of any separate or distinct action by a breaksman or guard upon
each of such carriages, the sudden checking of the speed of the engine being
sufficient to call into action the brake or break of such carriage so fitted com-
posing the train, and in such a manner as to give the greatest amount of
breaking power or skidding whilst going forward, but also enabling the train
to be backed if necessary immediately that the forward momentum is overcome,
the breaks or brakes being, thereby instantly thrown off or out of action, thus
being self-acting, and rendering it unnecessary to unscrew, detach, or other-
wise act upon or in anywise interfere with the break or breaks of any of the
carriages composing the train, thus being not only entirely self-acting, but also
not involving the necessity for personal attention under the varied circumstances.
of its use and action.
In addition to what I have just described as the advantages appertaining to
my Invention, I effect another and an important improvement in the applica-
tion of breaks or brakes to a railway train in motion, more especially when
such train is travelling at high speeds down incline planes or round curves,
inasmuch as each pair of wheels in the foremost carriage fitted with the break
-or-brake-apparatus-according to my Invention will be first skidded, then the

page_text: following and each succeeding carriage in the train, until the wheels of the last
carriage are skidded, scotched, or braked, and the whole train converted into
a long sledge or sleigh, and thus the momentum of the train is gradually
although very quickly overcome by the breaking of each carriage in the series,
commencing at or immediately behind the point of traction, and the train is
quickly brought to a stand with the greatest safety..
Having thus far described the peculiarities of my Invention more particularly,
its advantages, and wherein it differs from the various plans heretofore in use,
I will next proceed to describe the arrangement of the parts and their uses,
and generally the action of the apparatus in practice, and will afterward refer
to the Drawings which accompanies this Specification, and describe the several
parts with the aid of figures and letters of reference.
The brake or break blocks and the levers by which such blocks are applied
are fixed upon and carried by a swinging frame mounted under the main
frame of the carriage and above the axle; the upper end of the lever to which
the break rods are attached is acted up as herein-after described.
The swinging frame with its break blocks is so hung that the lever is held
against the bottom side of the draw bar by the preponderating weight of the
opposite portion of the frame; the carriages are connected and drawn by this
draw bar, which is allowed a longitudinal motion of a few inches.
When the velocity of the train is lessened in any manner, either by the
engine driver shutting off the steam, or an accident occurring to one of the
carriages, the momentum of the carriages carries them forward to the extent
allowed by the play of the draw bars, and so applies the breaks to the wheels
through the intervention of the levers.
When it is desired to back the train, the reverse rotation of the wheels' over-
comes the preponderating influence of the heavier end of the frame, and cants
it until the lever is drawn clear of the projection on the drawing rod by which
it was worked, and the breaks are thus thrown off.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
a, a, the draw bar, consisting in this case of three rods placed in a triangular
position, with one of them passing over the springs and the other two under
them; b, stop, secured to draw back, and working between the springs by which
the, carriage is drawn; c, c', stops, similarly secured to the draw bar, and
placed in position to act upon the brake levers; d, d', brake levers; e, e, el, e¹,
swinging frame carrying levers and break blocks; f, f', axes of frame;
9.9, 99, brake blocks hung to frame.
When the engineman shuts off the steam at the locomotive, the momentum of

page_text: the carriage carries them forward on their respective draw bars a, applying the
forward set of brakes g, g, to the forward wheels through the intervention of
the lever & and its stop c. In again progressing with the engine, the draw bar
is first drawn out to the extent of the few inches allowed, and the wheels
relieved from the brakes, as shewn in the side elevation of Fig. 1. If it should
be desirable to back the train, the brakes are first applied as they would have
been by the previous stoppage if such had not been the case, and then
immediately thrown off by the reverse rotation of the wheels; the friction of,
the brake blocks on the wheels causing them to move in conformity with the
motion of the wheels, canting the frame e, e¹, and drawing the lever d' clear
of the stop c', as shown in the sectional elevation of Fig. 1.
Having thus described my Invention, and in what manner the same is
carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to
the mode of acting upon the brakes or brake frames shewn in the Drawing
and referred to herein, inasmuch as the brakes or brakes may be acted upon
by the buffer rods or by the draw bar, or, when required or thought desirable,
may be acted upon by an independent lever worked by hand; but what.
I claim is,
1st, the swinging frame arrangements described, by which the wheels are
relieved from the breaks or brakes when their motion is reversed.
2nd, as it is obvious that the swinging frames may either be so hung out of
the centre, as described, or may be hung centrally, and the same effect
attained by the employment of a spring, the tension or compression of which
might be overcome by the reverse rotation of the wheels, I claim such an
arrangement and other mechanically equivalent arrangements for working the
brake or break frames.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Kemble Hall, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM KEMBLE HALL. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM SMITH,
10, Salisbury St., Adelphi.