AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE
Year: 1853

page_text: I, JOSEPH ALEXIS, of Avignon, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED RAILWAY BRAKE" to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object a more simple, efficient, and certain mode
of stopping railway trains when in motion than the means hitherto em-
ployed for that purpose, and consists in effecting this object in the following
manner :-
Firstly, by causing the momentum of the train when suddenly checked to
operate upon certain parts, by which the wheels of the several carriages will
be locked, or prevented from turning round.
Secondly, in the use and application to a railway tender of a cylinder into
which steam may be admitted, which operating upon a piston thereby enables
the engine driver or other person on the engine to operate upon the brake
blocks, and thereby to have the entire train under his control at all times
independently of the guard of the train, who has likewise control over the
train and the power of operating upon the brake blocks independently of the
engine driver. And an important feature in this Invention consists in ren-
dering the connecting together of the mechanism attached to each carriage
self adjusting, so as to insure & render unerring the transmission of motion

page_text: to the break blocks throughout the entire train, by dispensing with the necessity
for any manual adjustment of the parts attached to each carriage.
The nature of this Invention will, however, be better understood by reference
to the mechanical arrangements employed for effecting the objects thereof as
follows, that is to say :-
To the axle guards of the wheels of each carriage composing a train, pieces
of metal are securely fixed, to the lower part whereof anti-friction rollers are
connected, for supporting longitudinal sliding bars of metal which extend along
the whole length of the sides of each carriage, and placed on the outer side of
the wheels thereof. The ends of said bars of metal are supported by and slide
through plates securely fixed to the end timbers of the under framing of the
carriage; and upon the extreme ends of such said sliding bars of metal buffer
heads are securely fixed, so that when the several carriages composing a train
are coupled together, the sliding bars of cach carriage are brought into contact
with each other; and, finally, the whole of the bars thus connected together
are operated upon in the manner hereafter stated by the buffer heads of two
other short sliding bars which are attached to the luggage van of a train.
And it is indispensable to the proper working of this Juvention that such luggage
van should at all times be placed next to the tender of the locomotive engine,
and in front of the train. The short sliding bars lastly above mentioned are
operated upon in the following manner and by the following mechanical
arrangements:-When the brake is required to be out of action, the said short
sliding bars are drawn back by. means of certain levers and tension rods
connected therewith, and also to the under framing of the before-mentioned
luggage van, to which is also securely fixed a powerful steel spring which is
connected to the said short sliding bars for forcing them outwards. The mode of
arranging and actuating the brake blocks is as follows:-To each of the before-
mentioned longitudinal sliding bars, and at suitable parts thereof, steel springs
are attached, to the ends whereof brake blocks are connected. One side of
each of these blocks is of the same curvature as the tires of the wheels, and
the other sides thereof slide upon inclined surfaces, fixed to or formed upon
said longitudinal sliding bars, the intention of such said inclined surfaces being
to impart horizontal movement to said brakes through the agency of certain
other inclined surfaces formed upon strong plates of metal securely fixed to
the end framings of each carriage, by which said brake blocks have vertical
and horizontal movement imparted thereto simultaneously, so as to "scotch'
the wheels, by thus forcing the brake blocks between the tires thereof and the
rails upon which they move, and thereby to cause friction thereon. It should
be observed that the several carriages are furnished with spring buffers of the
"

page_text: ordinary construction, and there are also powerful springs placed under each
carriage for throwing the brakes out of action. The stopping of the train is
effected in the following manner :-Suppose the train to be in motion, and the
short sliding bars of the luggage van to be held back and out of contact with
the sliding bars of the other carriages, by which all the brake blocks will be
out of action. In order to bring them into action, the guard or engine driver
releases the catch which holds back the short sliding bars and the spring-
exerting pressure thereon forces them suddenly outwards and against the
buffer heads of the sliding bars of the next and adjoining carriage, and in like
manner this motion will be transmitted throughout the entire train, and said
bars will be held in that position by bolts or catches; the effect of this will be
to bring the brake blocks into contact with the surface of the rails, and thereby
to retard the speed of the train; at the same time the momentum of the train
not being checked will continue to move forward and slide upon the long brake
bars, the short ones being fixed as before stated. The effect of this movement
will be to bring one of each of the upper inclined surfaces into contact with
the upper part of one or other of the brake blocks (according to the direction
in which the train is moving), and thereby force the brake blocks downwards,
and effect the scotching or locking of the wheels and the stopping of the train,
which by this Invention can be accomplished in considerably less time with
more certainty and less risk than by the modes hitherto employed for that
purpose.