AN IMPROVED BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES."-A communication from abroad by
Aaron Higley, Joseph Benjamin Birdsell, and Varium Ogilva Birdsell,
all of South Bend, Indiana, United States of America.
Sealed the 29th January 1867, and dated the 7th November 1866.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Haseltine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 7th November 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HASELTINE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED BRAKE
FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated
to me from abroad by Aaron Higley, Joseph Benjamin Birdsell, and Varium
Ogilva Birdsell, all of South Bend, Indiana, United States of America.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby declare
that the following Complete. Specification under my hand and seal fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figure 1
is a plan of the brake applied to a carriage; Figure 2 a side elevation;
'Figure 3 an end elevation; Figures 4 and 5 views of detached portions that
will be referred to hereafter. Like letters of reference refer to like parts in
the several Figures.
In describing the device of the breaking operation at one end it is substan-
tially the same as the other, being constructed and operated exactly alike. When
the carriage is going in the direction indicated by the arrow the windlass G¹
is used operating the breaking device at the opposite end B¹, and when going
in the other direction the windlass G³ is used which operates the apparatus
at the end B².
In the Drawings A- represents the frame, A¹ the pedestals in which the
shufts a of the wheels B have their bearings, C is a framework connected
to the shaft of the wheels, and to which some of the apparatus for breaking
the carriage is connected, this frame being held in place on the shaft by
means of the collars a¹. On the shaft a and near the centre is a friction clutch
coupling, D, D', being the shell, and D³ the cone. To the side of the shell
is fastened the ratchet wheel b, the shell and ratchet being permanently
attached to the shaft a, and turning with it while the cone D³ and pulleys
on each side are loose, the clutch pulleys E, E¹, turning in the opposite direction
from the wheels and shell when in operation; I is a dog pivotted to the
pulley E, and one end of which catches in the ratchet b; E is a pulley close
to the ratchet on the shaft a, on which the chain c is wound, a pulley E¹
next to this from which the chain d¹ is unwound as the spring d takes up
the slack, which will be referred to in describing the operation; F is a pulley
forming part of the cone which takes up the chain e; F¹ is a lever pivotted to
the frame at i, and is connected to the clutch lever G by means of the link f,
the end of the lever G being pivotted at to the frame, the end clutching
round the groove b¹ in the cone, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, Figure 4 being
a side view with the shaft and wheel cut away. From the end of the lever F¹
extends a rope or chain 9 to the shaft f¹ of the windlass G¹ which is turned
in breaking the carriage; H is a bar that rests or has its bearings in the ends
of the fiame C; round this bar is coiled the spring H³, at the end of which is
a swivel I¹ to which the chains c, e, are connected that wind round the pulleys
as stated, being operated as follows:-When it is desired to stop the carriage

page_text: the windlass G¹ is turned, winding the chain g around the shaft f, which pulls
the lever F¹ back, thus drawing the end of the clutch lever to which the link f
is connected close to the frame C; the other end of the lever being pivotted
to the frame as stated forces the clutch along, and this, hitting against the
pulley F forces the cone D into the shell D¹ so tightly, and creating so much
friction that when the wheels are turning the cone and pulley F of the said
cone turns with them. If the cone was not held so firmly in the shell it would
not turn at all, but as it turns with the wheel the chain c connected to the
other side of said swivel will be taken up by the pulley E, thus contracting
the spring H. If the pulley E did not turn when the spring H' is contracted
the chains c would be very slack. To prevent this a spring d is connected
to the side of the frame, a chain d¹ passing round the pulley E¹ being attached
to the end of the spring d. As the spring H¹ is contracted the spring & will
contract, unwinding the chain & from the pulley E¹, thus turning the
pulleys E, E, in the opposite direction from the wheels, and the slack of the
chain c will be wound round the pulley E; thus the spring d takes up the
slack by contracting, and the end of the dog I will catch in the ratchet 6 by
the action of the spring n under the other end of the dog, the windlass being
held from turning by the ordinary means; thus the wheels are stopped not
being able to turn in the least, and a portion of the force expended in breaking
them is held in reserve so as to be employed in starting the carriage after
it is stopped. When the windlass is allowed to turn the spring H' expands
in the direction that the carriage is going, and the clutch lever will be forced
back from the frame by means of a spring m in said frame, this lever
being forced back the clutch will move the cone out of the shell again, and
the spring H¹ expanding the chains connected to the swivel and pulleys will.
move back with it, thus turning the pulleys on the shaft, and the dog being
pivotted to the pulley E and catching in the ratchet 6 of the shell when the
pulleys turn the dog will aid. in turning the wheels, thus the carriages can
be started very easily. In winding up the chains the resistance of the spring
as it is contracted tends to stop the wheels, and in this way the breaking of
the carriage is accomplished.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, and shown how the same may be conveniently
and advantageously carried into practice, I do not confine myself to the exact
details described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings;
but I claim,
First, a railway carriage brake so constructed and arranged that the
power or force expended in stopping the carriage or train is held in reserve

page_text: for the purpose of being employed in re-starting the same, substantially as set
forth.
Second, the combination of friction clutch D, pulley F, and clutch lever G,
the dog I, ratchet wheel b, and pulleys E, E¹, as and for the purpose set forth.
Third, the spring H', swivel I', and chains c, e, in combination with the
chains d', and spring d, as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourth, the clutch pulleys E, E, friction clutch D. in combination with
the ratchet wheel b, and pulley F, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Haseltine, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
HENRY WILLIAM GILBY,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London, W.C.
GEORGE HASELTINE. (L.s.)