IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION OF WAGGONS AND OTHER CARRIAGES FOR RAILWAYS AND ORDINARY PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Ernest Aimont, of Paris, in the French
Empire, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTION OF WAGGONS AND OTHER CARRIAGES FOR RAILWAYS AND ORDINARY
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Ernest Aimont
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th March-1859.
I, PIERRE ERNEST AIMONT, of Paris, in the French Empire, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WAGGONS AND OTHER CARRIAGES FOR RAILWAYS AND
ORDINARY ROADS, AND OF APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in constructing waggons and other carriages
in such manner that, should the wheels of the same pass over inclined or
irregular ground, or round a curve, the body of the waggon or other carriage
will nevertheless continue vertical. This I effect. by suspending the body of
the carriage or waggon upon springs from transverse shafts by means of
jointed suspending rods or plates, and by mounting the said transverse shafts
upon suitable wheels by means of upright jointed arms or frames, which are
jointed to the said shafts at their upper ends, and carry the axles of the wheels

page_text: at their lower ends. I prefer forming these upright arms forked at their lower
ends, so as to embrace the wheel and receive both ends of its axle, and with
their inner sides free to slide up and down in grooves formed to receive them
in the side of the carriage. I likewise prefer to form the wheels with grooves
round their circumferences, and to form the rails with an upright tongue to
take into the grooves of the wheels so as to keep the wheels always upright.
Provision is also made for allowing the wheels to accommodate themselves to
curves in the road by moving laterally.
My Invention consists, secondly, in forming rails with an upright tongue,
as already described, and with the bottom sloping upward from the middle
towards both sides, so that wedges may be conveniently placed under the rails
as may be required to support them and keep them upright. The successive
lengths of rails are jointed together by links, which allow of their conforming
themselves to curves and irregularities of the ground, and both rails and
wedges are bolted down by suitable spikes.
My Invention consists, thirdly, in forming an instrument with a plumb
weight or similar weight to indicate the middle of the track, and with upright
arms and transverse bars so combined as to determine the gauge of the way
as the rails are laid down.
My Invention consists, fourthly, in adapting my present improvements to
ordinary railways by mounting ordinary railway wheels in the manner already
described, and laying down a single line of rails of the kind before described
in the middle of the railway, and fitting the carriages with middle wheels of
my improved construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Ernest Aimont in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
ERNEST AIMONT, of Paris, in the French Empire, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Pierre Ernest Aimont, Her special licence that I, the said

page_text: Pierre Ernest Aimont, my executors, administrators, and assigns,or such others
as I,the said Pierre Ernest Aimont, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WAGGONS AND OTHER CARRIAGES FOR
RAILWAYS AND ORDINARY ROADS, AND OF APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Pierre Ernest Aimont,
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Pierre Ernest Aimont, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, in constructing waggons and other carriages
in such manner that, should the wheels of the same pass over inclined or
irregular ground, or round a curve, the body of the waggon or other carriage
will nevertheless continue vertical. This I effect by suspending the body of
the carriageor waggon upon springs from transverse shafts by means of jointed
suspending rods or plates, and by mounting the said transverse shafts upon
suitable wheels by means of upright jointed arms or frames, which arejoicted
to the said shafts at their upper ends, and carry the axles of the wheels at
their lower ends. I prefer forming these upright arms forked at their lower
ends, so as to embrace the wheel and receive both ends of its axle,aud with
their inuer sides free to slide up and down in grooves formed to receive them
in the side of the carriage. I likewise prefer to form the wheels with grooves
round their circumferences, and to form the rails with an upright tongue to
take in to the grooves of the wheels, so as to keep the wheels always upright.
Provision is also made for allowing the wheels to accommodate themselves to
curves in the road, by moving laterally.
My Invention consists, secondly, in forming rails with au upright tongue as
already described, and with the bottom sloping upward from the middle

page_text: towards both sides, so that wedges may be conveniently placed under the rails
as may be required to support them and keep them upright. The successive
lengths of rail are jointed together by links, which allow of their conforming
themselves to curves and, irregularities of the ground, and both rails &
wedges are bolted down by suitable spikes.
My Invention consists, thirdly, in forming an instrument with a plumb
weight or similar weight to indicate the middle of the track, and with upright
arms and transverse bars so combined as to determine the gauge of the way
as the rails are laid down.
My Invention consists, fourthly, in adapting my present improvements to
ordinary railways by mounting ordinary railway wheels in the manner already
described, and laying down asingle line of rails of the kind before described in
the middle of the railway, and fitting the carriages with middle wheels of my
improved construction.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of part of a
railway waggon or carriage constructed according to my Invention, and
Figure 2 is an end view of the same. Figure 3 is a view on a smaller scale
of a waggon or carriage in which the wheels are shewn at different levels,
while the body of the waggon or carriage is maintained in a horizontal
position. Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 are views in plan and elevation of a portion
of the jointed rail which forms part of my Invention. Figures 8, 9, 10, 11,
12, and 13 are views of the details which form parts of the rails, and
Figure 14 is a view of a lever which I employ to raise the spikes that hold
the rails in the ground. (1) is the body of a carriage which is suspended by
means of two shafts (22) and (23) placed one behind the other. These shafts
carry at or about their centre the links (24) and (25), and at their extremities
the links (11), (12), and (10), (13). The former are attached to the uprights
(7) and (8), whilst the latter are attached to the uprights (6) and (9). These
uprights slide or are free to move up and down in spaces formed in the sides
of the waggon or carriage. The upright (7) terminates in two shoulders
(15) and (18), in which bearings are formed for carrying the wheel (3). The
uprights (8), (6), and (9) have shoulders (16, 19, 14, 21, 17, 20,) attached to
them, and are similar in all other respects to those before mentioned. The
waggon or carriage carries at each end the bearings (32, 33, 34, 35), in which
the levers which carry the springs (30) and (51) rock. The middle of these
springs are held in links (26) and (37), by means of a bolt shewn in dotted
lines passing through the springs. These links (28) and (27) are united to
the other links (24) and (25) by means of the intermediate pieces (28) and

page_text: (29). By these arrangements the carriage always remains in a vertical
position. To render clear the action of the carriage, suppose the wheel (3)
to have met with an obstacle or to have risen on the tramway, as the wheel
(2) rises, so will the upright (6), which slides in the groove formed in the
carriage. The upright (6) being connected to the link (10), and this link to
the cross shaft (23) as well as to the links (13) and (39), it follows that the
three links and the shaft will assume an oblique position asshewn at Figure 3.
The shaft which carries the link (25) is placed in such manner that its position
is never altered, and as it is from this point that the carriage is suspended,
through the cross shaft (28) and the link (27) holding the spring (31), it
follows that the carriage will always find its own centre of gravity, and will
allow the wheels to ascend or descend at pleasure without departing from its
vertical position. In order that the wheels shall not tend to take an oblique
and thus
position, I form grooves in the wheels, into which the rails enter,
always keep them in a vertical position. I cause a train to go round a curve
or to follow any deviations from a straight line in the rail or tramway in the
following manner:-For the sake of brevity and clearness, I will describe this
arrangement as applied to the wheel marked (2), the description equally
applies to the other wheels. This wheel (2) is placed between the upright
(6) in the shoulder (15), which terminates on one side in an upright which
carries a bearing (4), in which the shaft (51) that carries the wheel (2) turus.
A pin or stud is placed in this bearing, which is free to turn in the upright
(7), another pin is placed in the bearing (47) of the shoulder (18), but instead
of being free to turn as that in the shoulder (15), it works in a curved groove
formed in the other arm of the upright (7), the centre of which is the same as
that of the pin in the shoulder (15). The consequence is that the wheel as
well as the shaft will be enabled to assume an oblique position, and thereby
describe or tollow any curve in the line of rail without altering the vertical
position of the carriage or carriages, or injuring their working parts. The rails
are formed with an upright tongue in the shape of an inverted T, thus 1; they
are jointed at their ends to intermediate pieces as shewa at Figures 1 and 7,
which connect them together,and allow them to ascend and descend according
to the ground on which they are placed, or to deviate from left to right, or
vice versa, according to the curve they are required to describe. The rails
are held in the ground by spikes. In Figure 4, which is a plan view, the rails
are fixed by spikes, and are straightened or have their height regulated by
wedges. The same arrangement is shewn at Figure 5, which is a side elevation.
To place the rails in position drive the spikes a, a, into the holes b, Figure 4.

page_text: If the rail is not quite perpendicular, it is quite sufficient to push a wedge
beneath it, and to fix it by spikes similar to those employed for holding the
rails. The rails cannot become displaced, for the weight of the waggon passing
over them will soon fix them firmly in the ground. When the rails are
required to be removed, I employ a lever d, Figure 14, one end of which I
place beneath the head of the spikes, and depress the opposite end. In order
to place the rails in as perpendicular position as may be, and at the same time
parallel to one another, I make use of a movable square, shewn at Figure 8.
This instrument consists of two arms a, a, supported by cross pieces b, and
jointed at their lower part k. In the pieces b, b, I fix arms c, which are free
to oscillate around a fixed point d, and have formed at each of their extremities
a groove, into which the axis or roller e takes. Between these two arms a, a,
a cross bar fis placed, arranged with these arms in such manner that the
line h, which carries a weight g, and is fixed to the central roller, may be
constantly perpendicular, whatever may be the difference in the height of the
arms a, a. By means of this instrument the position the rails ought to occupy
can be easily ascertained. The wheels represented at Figures 2 and 3 would run
on the ordinary rails, but I fix an auxiliary wheel b' held by the support c¹
in order to guide it over the inequalities of the ground; this support c¹ slides
in an envelope or guided fitted with a helical spring e', which acts on the
support in order to cause the wheel to continually press on the rail f¹, and
to prevent the groove or flanges formed on the edges of the wheel from getting
off the rail. By this arrangement the ordinary wheels can be employed, and
friction will be found to be considerably diminished.
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,-
First, the construction of waggons or carriages in such manner that the
wheels of the same shall be able to pass over any inequalities in the ground
or round a curve without departing from its vertical position, as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the employment of rails with an upright tongue and with a bottom
having sloping sides, such rails being for waggons or other carriages to travel
on, together with the manner of attaching or linking the same together and
fixing them to the ground, all as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Third, the employment of an instrument provided with a plumb weight to
indicate the gauge of the way and the position of the rails, as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Fourth, the employment of a single line of rail in the middle of the rail
or tramway in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Ernest Aimont, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, je.,
Civil Engineer,
No. 23, Boulevd. de Strasbourg,
à Paris.
P. E. AIMONT. (L.S.)