IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING RAILWAY BREAKS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER AUTOMATIC BREAKS ACTUATED BY STEAM, COMPRESSED AIR, VACUUM, OR OTHER POWER
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Ferdinand Augusto Achard, of Paris, France,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR
ACTUATING RAILWAY BREAKS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO
OTHER AUTOMATIC BREAKS ACTUATED BY STEAM, COMPRESSED AIR, VACUUM,
OR OTHER POWER."
Sealed the 29th September 1877, and dated the 9th April 1877.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said François Ferdinand Auguste
66
Achard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th April 1877.
FRANÇOIS FERDINAND AUGUSTE ACHARD, of Paris, France, Engineer. IM-
PROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR ACTUATING RAILWAY BREAKS, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER AUTOMATIC BREAKS ACTUATED BY
STEAM, COMPRESSED AIR, VACUUM, OR OTHER POWER."
My improvements in apparatus for actuating railway breaks have for object to
render the action of the blocks on the wheels instantaneous, so that the wheels may
be immediately, if required, firmly fixed. In the different arrangements which
I have designed, the break lever is lifted by one or several chains, the winding of
which is effected on a shaft or a sleeve receiving a rotary movement of the axle of
the vehicle, through the intermediation of an engaging apparatus. The parts
which serve for putting the break in action, therefore, serve to effect at the proper
moment the engagement of an axle which turns continuously with the shaft or
sleeve of the chains. It is this mode of engagement which forms the common
characteristic feature of my improvements. In order to cause this engagement, I
can employ all known forces, electricity, steam, compressed air, and vacuum for
example; according as I employ one or either of these agents I arrange special
accessory parts. I will describe successively with reference to the annexed
Drawings the different combinations which I have devised in accordance with the
principles above set out and for the object named.
As regards the employment of electricity, I improve the electric break described
in the Specifications of former Letters Patent granted to me (dated respectively

page_text: 30 April 1862, No. 1268; 2 December 1864, No. 3006, and 8 July 1873, No.
2350), so as to make its action certain and instantaneous, and of such a power
that all the wheels of the vehicles of a train are stopped rotating, if necessary, in
less than a second, whatever be the speed of the train and the gradient of the way. {
Even when running at great speed, a train can be stopped with my apparatus in a
distance of 350 yards.
The improvements relate chiefly to the following points :-
1. The improved apparatus dispenses with the circular electro-magnets previously
employed, and which, suspended to the frame of the vehicle, were at the moment of 1
action drawn against the axle, so that the shaft of the electro-magnet was put in
motion, and received from the axle the necessary power to cause the winding of the
chains for working the break. The shaft of the electro-magnet does not oscillato,
and now turns with a continuous movement taken from the axle of the vehicle
through the intermediation of friction pulleys. The duty of the electric current is 1
therefore much simplified, it has not to move the magnet to or from the axle, it has
only to produce the momentary engagement of the electro-magnet, and of plates
which form its armatures, when it is required to cause the application of the
break.
2. In order to apply the electric break to all the vehicles of a train, I have s
designed a special arrangement of the wires for transmitting the current to all the
vehicles, as well as a strengthened pile and a commutator of instantaneous action.
3. My improved electric break can be fitted so as to work simultaneously the
break of the tender and that of the locomotive.
Lastly. The chains, the supports of the shaft of the electro-magnet, and the 2
various accessory parts of my electric break, present in their operation special
arrangements, which, as well as the features above referred to, will be clearly under-
stood by an examination of the annexed Drawings.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a longitudinal section of the frame of a tender provided
with iny electric break, the electro-magnet actuating simultaneously both the break 3
of the tender and that of the locomotive. I key, when hot, on the rear axle E of
the tender, sleeves or collars a, which drive by friction the pulleys b, fixed on the
shaft O of the 4-pole electro-magnet A. Opposite each of the two faces of the
magnet are arranged, at a slight distance, the plates B, B, which form the arma-
tures; these plates carry sleeves c, c, in which the shaft O of the magnet turns 3
freely. Chains C, C are, on the one hand, fixed to these sleeves near the plates B,
and, on the other hand, wound in spirals on a drum D situated at the upper part
of the frame. To this drum are fixed the ends of the chains C₁, which descend
vertically, pass round the rollers d, and extend to c. In cases where the electric
break is applied to one carriage or a tender only, that is to say, when the maguet
commands the break of only one vehicle, the chains C¹ terminate at e in a fixed
point. The rollers & are situated at the end of the lever D, which, pivoting around
the axis E, lift, through the intermediation of the pin f and lever g, the break
rods F, and produce the "breaking" of the wheels by the blocks. When the
magnet has to work both the break of the tender and that of the engine, as is seen
in the Drawing (Figure 1), the chains C₁ pass over a roller c, then finally lead to a
rod supported by rollers, and at the end of which is fixed the chain C; this chain
which commands the break of the engine passes over a roller e', then descends, and
is fixed to the lever D. This lever actuates the lever h, which, oscillating around
the axis i, communicates motion to the lever ¹ through the intermediation of the
connecting rod j. Lastly, to the lever h¹ is connected the rod E, which acts directly
on the break shaft of the engine; this part of the break is not shewn in the
Drawing.
When the magnet A acts and causes the winding of the chains C, these lift at
once the two levers D1, D2, and consequently produce the simultaneous application
of the tender and engine breaks. The sleeves c, c, of the plates B, B, should be
longer when they work the break of a single vehicle, as they have to wind part of
the chain C and the chain C³. However, the rotation of the magnet is so rapid

page_text: "
that the breaking of the wheels of the tender and engine is effected quite as
instantaneously.
In order to release the breaks, the electric current is interrupted and a reverso
current sent, the armatures are pushed back and at once become loose, the chains
unwind, the large levers fall, and the break blocks separate from the wheels. To
facilitate the release of the breaks, I make the chains C a little oblique, as seen in
the plan, Figure 2, in relation to the plates B, B; the winding of these chains on
the drum D is such, that this obliquity is preserved whatever be the amount of
chain wound.
The intermediate levers between the large lever D2 and the rod E take their
point of support on the rear cross beam of the engine frames. This is important for
the following reason:-When the train is in motion the rear beam of the engine
and the front one of the tender separate a little, owing to the play allowed by
coupling; now, the lever D², the rod E, and the parts of the break of the engine
could not allow of this separation if they were fixed on the cross beam of the
tender, while being jointed to the cross beam of the engine there is only a slight
deviation of the chain C, a deviation which does not prevent the working of the
apparatus.
The regulation of the breaks according to the state of wear of the blocks is made
by the pins and k¹ of the levers D', D³, and by the displacement of the axes i, i¹,
by means of double-threaded nuts 7.
The working of the break of the locomotive, independently of the electric
apparatus, can be effected by a hand wheel v provided with a threaded rod m; this
rod carries a pin m³, which actuates the end of the lever ; the groove n of this
lever is to permit of the action of the electric break when the wheel and its rod
remain fixed.
I now proceed to explain how the electric current is established, and how it
is transmitted to the electro-magnet of each vehicle.
I arrange in the front and rear vans a pile and a commutator; this arrangement
is necessary to avoid the breaking up and re-making of the train at each end of the
line for the up and down journeys. Each pole of the pile is in communication with
a wire which extends from the tender to the rear van at each side of the train,
passing under the frames. A current is thus established at each side of every carriage
of the train. I connect to each of the two wires for every carriage, and for the
tender a special wire (fil derivé) in communication with the 4-pole electro-magnet.
The arrangement which. I have devised for passing the electric current into the
electro-magnet, as well as the mode of supporting the shaft of this magnet will be
fully understood on reference to Figures 3 and 4, which represent on a larger scale
respectively a longitudinal section through the shaft of the magnet, and a transverse
section through one of the supports of this shaft. The magnet shaft O is square at
the end to receive a bronze bearing p keyed by the wedges 9 of hard wood forcibly
driven in. The bearing turns in a cast-iron plummer block P fixed to the
support S. b represents a friction pulley keyed on the shaft O.
The-4 pole
magnet is shewn in section, as well as its armatures B and their sleeves c loose on
the shaft O. F is a wire connected to one of the wires of the general circuit; it
leads to the plummer block P above and below by the oil reservoir. The current
passes by the springs to the bearing p which the wood wedges insulate; then
finally reaches the clectro-inagnet, following a wire fixed first to the pulley b, and
which afterwards follows a longitudinal groove of the shaft O.
2
A wire F¹ connected to the second wire of the general circuit leads to the other
side of the magnet. The pile arranged in each van is a strengthened pile of the
Planté" system. It is formed of 4 elements, each arranged in a special case, as seen
in Figure 5; each of these elements comprises a Planté pile Q formed of two discs of
lead in spiral form dipped in a bath of sulphuric acid; these discs communicate on
the one hand with the poles of three elements of the Daniell pile Q¹ connected in
tension. During work, the current of the Daniell piles produces the superficial
oxidation of the lead discs, and peroxide of lead is formed. These latter communi-

page_text: cate on the other hand with the wires which make the turn of the train, that is to
say, which are in communication with the electro-magnets; when it is wished to apply
the breaks, the circuit of the Planté pile is closed, peroxide of lead is decomposed,
and the decomposed water is recomposed; the lead is regenerated; there is thus
developed an electric current of very great intensity, to which is further added that
of the Daniell piles. Under these circumstances the Planté piles play a part
analogous to that of Leyden jars in static electricity; they constitute real
accumulators. The peroxide of lead, which is formed between the stations under
the action of the current from the Daniell piles, is decomposed at the moment of
actuating the breaks, producing a very powerful electric current.
"
It is by combining this strengthened pile that I can cause the stoppage of a
whole train in a very short distance, and at the relatively small cost which the
maintenance of 12 elements of a Daniell pile requires.
I will now describe the combination of the commutator which I employ to
produce instanteously on the one hand the sending of an electric current into the
4-pole electro-magnet, and on the other hand the cessation of this current, and the
sending of a reverse current, which destroys the existing current and separates the
armatures from the magnets. My commutator is represented in side view in
Figure 6, and in end view in Figure 7, Sheet 1. It is fixed to the platform R of the
vall. It is composed of two rods q, q', to which are attached cords 8, 8', which lead
to the engine to the hand of the driver; the cords 82, 83, allow in like manner the
guard of the train to actuate these rods. Each of them carries two metal barst insulated
by wooden boards, and intended to put each pole of the pile in communication with
the poles of the electro-magnets by the train wires. For this purpose, by producing
a traction on these rods q, q', the metal bars t come in contact with metal contacts
u, u, communicating, some with the pile, and the others with the electro-magnets.
The sign indicates on the Drawing the contacts which communicate with the
positive pole of the pile; the sign -, those which communicate with the negative
pole, and the letters A indicate those which communicate with the electro-
magnets. The direction of the wires will be sufficiently understood by the
Drawings. The rod 9 serves to transmit the current, and by working the rod q¹ a
current, the reverse of the preceding, is sent to the electro-magnets, as the arrange-
ment of the wires shews. It may be remarked that the springs r, ¹, which
surround the rods q, q', constantly disengage the barst from the contacts u. But
on the other hand when pulling violently the cord s or that s³, the rod q has been
put in action to send a current; this rod is kept alone in contact with the
corresponding contacts, and therefore the electric current circulates so long as the
opposite rod q is not acted upon to produce a current the reverse of the preceding.
But also the putting in action of this last rod q' instanteously produces the separation
of the rod by the spring 7, and consequently the interruption of the existing
direct current. Thus then the direct current lasts for a certain time, the rod
maintaining it alone, and closing the circuit so long as the rod q¹ is not pulled; then
the direct current ceases, and a reverse current passes. This latter is of very short
duration, the rod q¹ not maintaining it alone; further, it should be less intense than
the direct current to prevent a winding of the chains, which would again cause the
breaks to be applied. For this purpose I increase the resistance of the wire corre-
sponding to the positive pole of the pile in its passage from the contact u, +, to the
contact u,+; this additional resistance is obtained by means of an iron wire x
rolled around a board. The contacts u, +, and u¹, +, communicate with metal
plates y screwed on the board in contact with the iron wire; by varying the
distance of these plates y the intensity of the resistance is varied, and consequently
that of the reverse current.
In order to carry out the above described action of the rods q, q¹, I have devised
an arrangement, which is shown in Figure 8; this Figure is a portion of the com-
mutator in plan, the platform R being supposed removed.
The rod has at its end an inclined part forming a catch; this inclined part
passes through a guides, which pushes against a small spring 7. When the rod

page_text: is pulled, the inclined part pushes aside the guides, and when this has been passed,
the spring acts and retains the bar by its catch. If in this situation the
second rod q¹ be pulled, the piece which is jointed to its end pushes the guides, and
allows the rod q to return.
In cases where it is desired to prevent the continuous rotation of the shaft of the
electro-magnet through the axle, as in the arrangement previously described with
reference to Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1, I arrange my electric break, as represented in
clevation and transverse section respectively in Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 2. The end
of the lever A is connected to a chain a, fixed at b, and passing over rollers c, c¹,
and finally descending almost vertically to a shaft B. This shaft is held at the ond
of the short arm of a lever C, jointed at d; by raising with very slight force the
long arm of this lever the shaft B is moved towards the axle E, and therefore the
contact of the pulleys D and of the drums F, which the axle carries, is effected in
such manner that the rotation of the latter causes that of the shaft B, and con-
sequently the chains wind and the break is applied.
Owing to the almost vertical direction of the chains from the shaft B to the
roller c, there is no force required there to move the pulleys D from the drums F;
the weight of the lover C is quite sufficient.
I will now explain how I cause the lifting of the lever C by the sending of an
electric current. The end of this lever is connected to a chain e, which after having
passed over the pulley, leads to an electro-magnet; this latter is formed of two
iron crowns, ff, containing between them the iron ring g, the copper ring h, and
besides these about 300 yards of wire; wooden wedges, h¹, h', insulate from the
crown f, the copper rings, in the grooves of which are engaged the wires 6, by
which the current arrives. The ends of the inner wire are in metallic communi-
cation with a ring . As is shewn, the electro-magnet is hollow to allow the
second axle E¹ to pass freely into its interior; the crown f, f', form the poles of the
electro-magnet opposite a plate G keyed on the axle E¹; as soon as the electric
current is sent to the magnet the latter is attracted against the plate G; the magnet
is therefore drawn with it and turns with the axle; this produces the winding
of the chain e, and therefore the lifting of the lever C and the application of
the break.
Instead of employing the 4-pole electro-magnet I can use other forms of electro-
magnets. That shewn in Figures 3 and 4, like the preceding, is placed freely
around the axle and is in two parts to allow of its being put in place. The electro-
magnet is formed of a metal plate o, constituting the body (culasse) of the electro-
magnet, on which are fixed the electro-magnets y; a bronze washer holds the
magnets and prevents them moving about; copper rings, k, l, insulated by pieces of
wood, h¹, h, hold in their grooves the wires which transmit the electric current.
This electro-magnet acts like the 4-pole magnet; it comes in contact with the plate
G on the axle E¹ as soon as the current passes, and it turns therewith; the chain e
is thereby wound and. the lever C lifted.
I can effect the working of the lever A by other arrangements than that
described, and by employing other power than electricity; I can for example
have recourse to steam, compressed air, or vacuum, as herein-before mentioned. In
this case the chain e of the lever C is, as seen in Figure 5, connected directly to tho
rod of a piston p, fitted in a cylinder m, which is fixed to the frame of a vehicle.
When I employ steam, compressed air, or other fluid under pressure to apply the
break, I conduct it under the piston by the pipe n; when I employ vacuum the
suction pipe communicates with the upper part of the cylinder.
The arrangement represented in Figure 5, Sheet 2, is a little different from
that shewn in Figure 1; Figure 6 is a plan of the engaging apparatus represented
in Figure 5.
The chain for working the break lever winds on a sleeve o, loose on the axle E,
placed opposite to and a slight distance from a plate q, fixed on this axle. The
winding of the chain is caused by putting the sleeve o and the plate q in contact.
To do this the sleeve o has a circular groove in which are engaged the prongs of a

page_text: fork jointed at its upper part to an axis 8, as seen in the end view, Figure 7. On
the other hand this fork is fixed to a horizontal lever t, the opposite end of which
is engaged at u, in a hole formed in a lover C; this latter is besides movable on
the axis x. When this lever rises, lifted by the chain e, it causes the end u of the
levert to rise slightly, and therefore the fork r pushes the sleeve o in contact with
the plate q, the result of which is that the chain a is immediately wound and the
break applied.
In these arrangements the lever C, instead of being actuated by a chain as above
described, may be connected directly to a rod which would be worked by a hand
wheel. This last arrangement might be added to the mechanical apparatus in cases
where the latter might get damaged.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,--
1. Constructing apparatus for actuating railway breaks in which the break lever
is worked by a chain winding on a sleeve or other like devico which receives
a rotary movement from the axle of the vehicle as soon as the engagement
is effected, substantially as herein-before described and represented in the accom-
panying Drawings.
2. The several mechanical arrangements herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings for causing the engagement of the axle with the
sleeve or device on which the chains are wound.
3. The improved arrangement of electric break herein-before described with
reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, Sheet 1.
4. Constructing electric breaks with a suspended electro-magnet of one of the
forms herein-before described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, Sheet 2.
5. The employment of steam, compressed air, or vacuum, under the conditions
explained, to actuate a break arranged in a manner analogous to the preceding,
or that represented in Figures 5, 6, and 7, Sheet 2, and with or without apparatus
for working it by hand if required.
6. The arrangement described with reference to Figure 1, Sheet 1, for actuating
by the same chain the break of the tender and that of the engino, whether the
system of break bo electrical or otherwise.
7. The employment of a Planté pile in the manner described to producea very
intense momentary electric current for the purpose explained.
8. The commutator described and represented in Figures 6, 7, and 8, Sheet 1,
to instantaneously cause the sending of an electric current into all the apparatus
of the train as explained, and to make it cease also instantaneously.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Ferdinand Auguste Achard, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
PIERRE SINIBALDI,
23, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
à Paris.
F. F. A. ACHARD. (L.S.)