IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES, WITH MEANS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GUARD OR CONDUCTOR AND DRIVER
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Alfred Jowett, of Sawley, in the County of
Derby, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKS
FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES, WITH MEANS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
GUARD OR CONDUCTOR AND DRIVER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Alfred Jowett at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st September 1859.
.
I, HENRY ALFRED JOWETT, of Sawley, in the County of Derby, Civil Engi-
neer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREAKS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES, WITH MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN GUARD OR CONDUCTOR AND DRIVER," to be as follows:-
:
I propose to have two cast metal cylinders made of equal size, for example,
12-inches diameter, but one of shorter length than the other, the longer of the
two I place perpendicularly in the break van, the shorter one I place horizon-
tally underneath the bottom of the break, in which I place, a water-tight.
piston or plunger. In the upper cylinder, which is divided by means of a
plate, being cast at one-third the distance from the bottom, upon which plate,
upon the upper side I place a brass slide valve to cover an orifice of 1 to 2;
inches diameter, the connecting rod of which valve works through a stuffing
[Price 8d.]

page_text: box attached to the side of a cylinder. The two cylinders described are con-
nected together by means of a wrought iron or copper pipe of 1 to 2 inches
diameter capable of withstanding the pressure of 4 to 6 tons, or 80 to 100
pounds per square inch. From the surface of the piston in the lower cylin-
der up to the plate and slide valve, I fill perfectly full of water, and in the top
of the upper cylinder above the division plate and valve, I compress atmo-
spheric air by means of a small pump, the rod of which is worked by the
revolution of the break wheels of 1 to 2 inches diameter. The rod of the
piston is connected with the crank and wooden blocks of the present railway
breaks. Upon the lid of the cylinder, within the break, I place a whistle
similar to the present steam whistle, and also a tube connecting between the
carriages, either of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable material.
Thus by the combination of the above machinery, by the aid of three levers
or handles for and within the reach of the guard, I effect by means of atmo-
spheric air and hydraulic pressure, a communication between guard and engine
driver, and an effectual stoppage of a train. My above Invention is also
applicable for carriages on common roads and for communications between
conductors and drivers, which will be more fully set forth in my Complete
Specification. This being my Provisional Specification I shall hereafter
deposit with my Complete Specification explanatory Drawings of my said
Invention.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Henry Alfred Jowett
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ALFRED JOWETT, of Sawley, in the County of Derby, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Alfred Jowett, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Alfred Jowett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Alfred Jowett, 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

page_text: make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN BREAKS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES, WITH MEANS OF COM-
MUNICATION BETWEEN GUARD OR CONDUCTOR AND DRIVER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Alfred Jowett, my executors or adminis
trators, 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 on or before the
Second day of April, One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Alfred Jowett, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement and the accompanying Sheet of illustrative Drawing hereunto
belonging and forming part hereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in so constructing breaks or retarding apparatus for
railway and other carriages as that the frictional pressure upon the wheels
may be effected or given by or through the joint agency or medium of air and
of water employed in combination the one with the other; and also in so
constructing apparatus as to obtain accumulated atmospheric power or pressure
from the motion of the carriage or some part thereof, and rendering such
pressure available when required for application either in combination with
water as above stated for the breaking or retarding purpose, or otherwise, for
sounding a whistle or signal as the means of communicating between the
guard or conductor and the driver.
The accompanying Drawing which illustrates my said improvements is to
be taken as only exemplifying the manner of performance, and not limiting
the Invention to the precise details of construction represented. The view
shewn is partly in section and partly in elevation. A is an axle of a railway
break van or other carriage; A* is an eccentric keyed on the axle A, by the
rotation of which motion is given to the accompanying eccentric rod, and
through it to the air pump B, and this pump by means of the communicating
pipe C forces atmospheric air into the receiver D, D. This receiver consists
of a cylinder or vessel placed vertically in a convenient position upon the van
or carriage, and divided by means of an iron plate or diaphragm M into the
upper and lower chambers D and D* respectively, the pipe C communicating
with the upper or air chamber D. The lower chamber D is intended to be
filled or nearly filled with water, and is furnished with a pipe N leading there-
from, and serving to convey the water into the pressure cylinder E. The

page_text: water-tight piston F within this cylinder is furnished with a piston rod O, con-
nected to which is a pressure rod 0, which actuates the ordinary break
lever P, O. by means of which and the ordinary lever, &c., and the ordinary
break slides L, L, and break blocks L, L, the breaking or retarding
pressure upon the wheels of the carriage is effected; R is one of the ordinary
break slide bars on which the slides L, L, work having a bush screwed thereon
for the axis or the break lever P, Q; K is a counter weight (situate on a lever
or arm projecting from or connected with the break lever P, Q, and made
sufficiently heavy for withdrawing the break blocks and returning the several
parts of the apparatus to their original position when the frictional pressure
is desired to be removed, the quick use of or release from the accumulated
atmospheric power stored within the upper chamber or vessel D being regu-
lated by the guard or attendant by means of the lever or handle H, which
passes through a stuffing box in the side of the chamber D, and works the
three-way cock G (placed in the diaphragm M), by turning which he can
establish a communication between the upper and lower chambers of the
receiver D, D*, or otherwise between the lower chamber D and the external
atmosphere, either of the said communications or ways through the cock
being closed when the other is open. It is evident that the continual working
of the pump B will force air into the chamber D, and keep up a pressure
within it, and that when the communication is established with the chamber D*
this pressure will be transmitted by the water therein, which will be driven or
forced through the pipe N into the pressure cylinder E, the space vacated by
the water being filled with compressed air from the chamber D, and that con-
sequently the piston E will be forced forward, and by means of the levers and
apparatus above described will cause the breaks to act, and also it is evident
that a reversed position of the cock G will remove the air pressure upon the
water by allowing the escape into the external atmosphere of the compressed
air which had replaced the water in the chamber D, and will at the same
time cut off the communication between the upper and lower chambers, and
allow the air pressure to accumulate in the upper chamber D for further use
when required, any surplus air being allowed to escape from such chamber by
means of an ordinary safety valve I; and it is also evident that when such
air pressure is removed from the water, the water pressure is free to be
counteracted or overcome by the counterweight K, which, while withdrawing
the breaks as above explained, will also cause the piston F to retire and thus
force back the water into the chamber D* ready for further use when
required. It remains to be noted that the air pressure within the chamber D
is also available for signalizing when required by means of the whistle J, which

page_text: is an ordinary bell or steam whistle, and brought into use and regulated by.
means of a stop-cock in the ordinary manner. A direct communication to
engine driver may be effected by the introduction of an india-rubber tube
carried by the side of the carriages or on the top of the same; with a whistle
attached to the end near the driver, and a stop-cock on the air receiver at the
break van.
I would remark that I believe it will be found convenient in practice to
make the water vessels D and E of equal diameter and capacity, and to make
the capacity of the air chamber D about double that of the water chamber D*;
and also I would remark that the pressure of about eighty-or one hundred
pounds on the square inch being convenient for working the apparatus, the
chambers D, D*, pipe N, and the cylinder E, and other parts should be made
sufficiently strong to resist the strains to which they will be subjected.
And I wish it particularly to be noted that my Invention is not limited to
the precise details of construction or arrangement herein described and repre-
sented in the Drawing, but that the same may be varied at pleasure so long
as its special features or either of them be retained; but that I claim gene-
rally the improvements of which my said Invention is (in this my Specification
of the same) declared to consist.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Alfred Jowett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
5
HENKY ALFRED JOWETT. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN P. PARKER,
Solicitor,
27, Southampion Bgs., Chancery Lane.