A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF HANGING OR FITTING BREAK BLOCKS TO Railway VEHICLES, AND IN OPERATING BUCH BREAK BLOCKS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Adam Burdess, of Coventry, in the County of
Warwick, Watch Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OF HANGING OR FITTING BREAK BLOCKS TO Railway
VEHICLES, AND IN OPERATING BUCH BREAK BLOCKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Adam Burdess at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th June 1875.
I, ADAM BURDESS, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Watch
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF HANGING OR FITTING BREAK BLOCKS TO
RAILWAY VEHICLES, AND IN OPERATING SUCH BREAK BLOCKS," to be as follows:-
The object of my present Invention is, by a new or improved method
of hanging or fitting the break blocks to railway vehicles, to gain an
additional power in operating or applying such break blocks.
Instead of hanging the break block to the carriage frame as usual I
pivot the upper end of the break iron to a triangular plate or frame,

page_text: herein-after called a "link," which link is pivotted to the carriage frame
at or near the centre of the side of the said link opposite to the aforesaid
pivot, the distance between which two pivots is the leverage obtained
and the measure of the additional power gained thereby in applying
such blocks. At the back of and parallel with the said side of the link
is an upright lever extending from the upper part of the said side to the
centre of the break block below; this upright lever is jointed to two
connecting rods (horizontal or nearly so) connected to the ends of the
centre vertical lever of an ordinary break apparatus. The usual con-
necting rod is jointed to the upper end of the said upright lever and to
the centre of the break block acting against the opposite wheel.
The break blocks are applied in the first instance in the usual way by
the ordinary hand lever by wheel and screw in the guard's van, or by
any other suitable means. When the break block is thus brought in
contact with the wheel of the vehicle, the said wheel by its upward
motion raises the break block, and thereby turns the link upwards and
presses the upper end of the said side of the link against the upright
lever at its back, and this upright lever by its connection with the
ordinary break apparatus, herein-before described, adds considerable
power in applying the said apparatus, and thus causes the carriage to be
speedily brought to a stand.
By preference I fix to the upper connecting rod a spiral spring, so as
to use its power when compressed to further aid in operating the break
blocks, and to modify the concussions or shocks when the breaks are
quickly and strongly applied.
When the vehicle is travelling in the opposite direction the motion of
the wheel draws the break block downwards, and with it the said link,
which causes the lower end of the said side thereof to press against the
said upright lever at its back, and thus operates the break apparatus, as
herein-before described. The break iron is jointed so as to permit these
operations to be performed without interfering with the action of the
break block.
Or I dispense with the said upright lover at the back of the link, and
the upper horizontal connecting rod attached thereto, and apply the
power obtained by the link arrangement to the break apparatus by
means of two chains attached to either end of the said side of the link,
the other ends of which chains being fixed to the upper end of the said

page_text: centre vertical lever when aiding the break apparatus from one end of
the carriage, and are fixed to the lower end of the said centre vertical
lever when operating from the opposite end of the carriage.
.
In order to prevent the link from being tipped or tilted too much, so
as to jam it and prevent its action, a slot may be formed in the said
link, through which slot a fixed pin or stud projects and limits the range,
of action of the said link as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Adam Burdess in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ADAM
BURDESS, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Watch Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Adam Burdess, Her special licence that
I, the said Adam Burdess, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Adam Burdess, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 “A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD.
OP HANGING OR FITTING BREAK BLOCKS TO RAILWAY VEHICLES, AND IN OPERATING
SUCH BREAKS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I; the said Adam'
Burdess, my executors or administrators, 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 within six calendar, months,next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
: ་

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Adam Burdess, 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
following statement :-
The object of my present Invention is, by a new or improved method E
of hanging or fitting the break blocks to railway vehicles to gain an
additional power in operating or applying such break blocks.
In order that my said Invention may be more clearly and more fully
understood, and be more readily performed, I now proceed to explain
the same with the aid of the accompanying Drawing, which forms part 1
of this Specification, reference being made thereto by the numerals and
letters marked thereon; which reference applies to each Figure of the
said Drawing where the same index numerals and letters appear.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a railway vehicle, and
shewing my said improvements.
Figures 2 and 3 are similar elevations, and shewing variations in the
method of carrying out my said improvements.
Instead of hanging the break blocks 6 to the carriage frame in the
usual way I pivot at a¹ the upper end of the iron of such break blocks
to a link, lever crank, or lever a, herein-after called a "link," which link
is pivotted at a³ to the carriage frame or to a bracket fixed thereto. The
distance between the several pivots of the link a gives the leverage
obtained and the measure of the additional power gained thereby in
applying the break blocks. I apply the power obtained by the link
arrangement to the break apparatus by means of the two chains c and d ¦
attached to the upper and lower ends of the link a and to the upper end
of the vertical part e of the T shaped lever h. The connecting rod fis
jointed to the upper end of the said vertical part e of the T lever h and
also to the iron of the break block 6, and the rod is jointed to the lower
end of the said vertical part e of the said T lever hand to the iron of the
opposite block b³, see Figure 1.
The break blocks in this arrangement are applied by the said + shaped
lever, which when its other end e' is pressed downwards the upper end
of the part e thereof through the rod ƒ presses the block 6 against the
wheel i, and at the same time through the rod g also presses the block b¹
against the opposite wheel. Further, when the wheel is running
1

page_text: downwards or in the direction of the arrow ³, it pulls the block b with
it, and thereby pulls the chain d towards it, which aids in operating the
end e of the T lever h, and thus gives additional pressure to the block b
against the wheels. When the said wheel runs in the opposite direction
it pulls the chain c, and thus aids in operating the block b in like
manner.
Figure 2 shews my improved arrangement adapted to the wheel and
screw apparatus as usually fixed and operated in the guard's van. By
turning the handle ; the T lever is tipped or tilted, and the break
apparatus is operated, as herein-before described when the wheel i is
running downwards or in the direction indicated by the arrow i³, the
rod & being substituted for the chain d of Figure 1; but instead of
using the chain c (Figure 1), I similarly hang or fit the opposite break
block b³, so that when the wheels run in the opposite direction the break
apparatus is similarly operated, the rod c¹ being substituted for the said
chain c.
The stops k are fixed, as shewn, to prevent the links a being
carried further upwards. The rods c², d³, are provided with slots at their
ends X, so that when the wheels are going upwards the said rods have
no power to push the blocks against the wheels.
Figure 3 shews a modification of my improvements, in which one end
of the lever is hung on or fitted to a stud or bracket fixed to the
carriage framing, the other end of which lever is attached to the
block b, so that the wheel pulls the said block 6 downwards with it,
and by the aid of the lever la further pressure is given to such block
when the apparatus is being operated and the wheel i running down-
wards or in the direction indicated by the arrow. This modification is
so arranged and fitted as to operate the reverse way on the opposite
wheel. This modification is shewn as arranged to be operated by the
usual wheel and screw motion, but it can also be operated by the
ordinary hand lever.
Each arrangement of my said improvements can be applied to and be

page_text: Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the method of performing the same, I wish it to be
understood that I do not claim as new the parts of the ordinary break
apparatus shewn in the Drawing, but I claim as my Invention and
desire to secure by the before-mentioned in part recited Letters Patent, 5
the method of hanging or fitting break blocks to railway vehicles, and
operating the same by means of a link, lever crank, or lever and their
requisite addenda, substantially as herein described and shown in the