IMPROVED MEANS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY BRAKES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY BRAKES."―
A communication.
Sealed the 17th September 1858, and dated the 13th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th April 1858.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY BRAKES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a method of applying railway brakes by means of
electro-magnets, and attaching the same to the carriages whereby the power
of the magnets is applied in the most direct manner; the mechanism employed
is rendered very simple, and facility is afforded for graduating the pressure of
the brakes upon the wheels. The brakes are attached to horizontal bars
placed before and behind the wheels, and are suspended from centres above
the wheels. Electro-magnets are adapted to the brake bars by means of
links and screw bolts, so as to admit of adjustment when required.. The
electro-magnets are supported in a horizontal position by means of pendent
springs or arms, which will allow them to move a sufficient distance in a
horizontal direction to bring the brakes against the peripheries of the wheels.,

page_text: The electro-magnets are connected by means of suitable wires with a battery,
and when the circuit is closed, they will be attracted towards each other,
and will then draw up the brakes against the wheels, and retard the carriages.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 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 FOR OPERATING RAILWAY BRAKES," being a
eominunication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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 Edward Newton, 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 hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of improved means for operating railway brakes relates
to a certain method of applying railway brakes to the wheels by means of
electro-magnets, and consists in the means of attaching the same to the

page_text: carriages, whereby the power of the magnets is applied in the most direct
manner, and the mechanism employed is rendered very simple, and facility is
afforded for graduating the pressure of the brakes upon the wheels.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, which forms.
part of this Specification. Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of a portion
of a railway carriage, with the brakes applied, according to the present Inven-
tion, to one pair of wheels; Fig. 2 is an inverted plan or view of the under side
of the same. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both
Figures. A, A, represent the two wheels to which the brakes are applied,
and which are mounted on the axle B; C, C, are two bars to which the
brake shoes D, D, are attached, these bars being arranged on opposite sides
of the wheels, and both having a shoe attached at each end, so that each wheel
when the brakes are applied shall be acted upon by two shoes D, D. The
shoe bars C, C, may be suspended in the usual way; or the upper ends of the
shoes D, D, of each wheel may be connected by a joint a (Fig. 1), and
attached to the floor frame E of the carriage.
a
To the centre of each shoe bar C, an electro-magnet F of horse-shoe form
is attached. These magnets are each connected with the shoe bars by means
of a link band screw bolt c, the latter passing through the bars and having
nut d on its outer end, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. These magnets are
arranged with the positive pole of the one opposite the negative pole of the
other, so that they may, when charged, attract each other. The magnets are
also attached by clamps I, I, to pendent springs G, G, (Fig. 1,) the upper ends
being attached to the floor or frame E of the carriage. The springs G, G, are
merely flat steel strips, sufficiently elastic to allow the magnets when the
circuit is closed to meet so as to apply the brakes, that is, to press the shoes D
against the treads of the wheels, these springs at the same time having
sufficient elasticity to throw back the magnets and brakes when the circuit is
open or broken. The wires e of the magnets are connected with a battery
placed on the locomotive at any convenient spot, or upon the brake van or
any carriage in a train, so that the circuit may be readily opened and closed
by a key provided for the purpose. When the circuit is closed, the poles of
the two magnets will approach each other and meet; the shoes D by this
movement being pressed against the peripheries or treads of the wheels, and
producing the friction necessary to stop the train. The pressure of the shoes
D, D, may be regulated as desired by means of the nuts d, d. By turning
these nuts on the bolts c, c, the magnets may be so adjusted that there will
be a greater or less distance between their poles when the brake shoes come
in contact with the wheels. The closer the poles are permitted to approach

page_text: each other, the greater will be the attraction between the magnets, and the
greater the pressure on the brakes. It is obvious, however, that the magnets
must not be permitted to meet before the brakes are in contact with the
wheels, or they would act as stops to prevent the pressure of the brakes.
This arrangement it will be seen is very simple, and the power is applied
in a very direct manner, all the levers, clutches, and various other devices
frequently employed being dispensed with. The efficacy of the brake is also
augmented in consequence of having two shoes to each wheel, but although
two electro-magnets are herein-before shewn and described, one only may be
used, a magnet being attached to one shoe bar C, and an armature to the
opposite one.
The Inventor, however, prefers to use two magnets, one
applied to each shoe bar, as shown and described.
I am aware that railway brakes have been operated by electro-magnets con-
nected with proper batteries and arranged in various ways, but magnets have
not as far as I am aware been applied directly to the shoe bars as herein
shown, so that the magnets are rendered capable of adjustment for the purpose
of graduating the pressure of the shoes; and I would observe that I do not
claim broadly and irrespective of the arrangement herein shown the application
of electro-magnets to railway brakes for operating the same; but what I
consider to be new in the above-described improved means for operating
railway brakes, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, is, the application of one or more electro-magnets to a
railway brake by a direct attachment to the shoe bars C, C, and a connection
with the body or frame of the carriage by springs G, G, or other analogous
contrivances. And I also claim the within described method of attaching the
magnets to the shoe bars for the purpose of graduating the pressure of the
shoes upon the wheels, (viz.) by means of the links b, and screw bolts c, applied
as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)