AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BREAK
Year: 1854

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Henry Compton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
June 1854.
I, CHARLES HENRY COMPTON, of Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED RAILWAY BREAK" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a self-acting or self-adjusting break for railway car-
riages. The said break is self-acting by the pressure of the buffers against each
other, and by the motion of the tug or drawing rods, by which the carriages are
connected and drawn forward. The break blocks, rods, and cranks are similar
to those at present in use, and to which the other parts of the break of this
Invention can be applied. On the shaft of the break block cranks a lever is
be fixed. The end of this lever is attached by a connecting rod to a socket
rod, both forming a continuation of the buffer rod. In the connecting rod there
is a groove, which receives a strong spring bolt in the carriage frame. In the
spring bolt there is also a groove, and immediately behind the groove in the
connecting rod a collar is fixed. In this collar there is a spring catch, which
slips into the groove in the spring bolt when the same is drawn back, and holds
it from entering the groove in the connecting rod, and allows the same to be
acted upon by the buffer rod. The strong spring bolt is drawn back by a lever
and rod, attached to the tug or drawing rod of the carriage. The main rod of

page_text: the buffer is continued from its shoulder, which presses against the spring,
(spiral or indian-rubber,) through the spring, and the end works into a socket
in the socket rod. This socket rod is formed with a shoulder, which presses
against the spring and divides it into two parts. The shaft of the socket rod
passes through a portion of the spring, and works in a socket in the cross frame
of the carriage. When pressure is applied to the buffers, the motion of the
buffer rods applies the break in stopping the train, and the motion of the tug or
drawing rod realeases the break in starting the train. When the train is brought
to a state of rest, the reaction or expansion of the buffer spring and drawing
rod spring causes the connecting rod to move forward; the spring bolt is at the
same time realeased, and shoots into the groove in the connecting rod. The
motion of the socket rod is thus locked, the break is released, and the pressure
on the buffer does not apply the break when backing the carriage; the instant
the tug or drawing rod is pulled it realeases the spring bolt, and the parts are in
that order that causes the pressure on the buffers to act on the break. When
the carriage is at rest, the natural position of the different parts is recovered, so
that the pulling of the tug rod adjusts the bolts, so as to make the break ready
to be applied as soon as pressure is applied to the buffers as the train is
stopped; and in case it is necessary to back the carriages, this can be dono
without applying the break, the connecting rod being locked by the spring bolt.
By dividing the spring by the collar at the end of the socket rod, when this
part of the spring is locked, (as in the case of backing,) still the main rod of
the buffer acts upon the fore part of the spring in the usual way.