CERTAIN IMPROVED MEANS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS TO CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS AND COMMON ROADS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
SAMUEL RAYNER, of Ripley, near Alfreton, in the County of Derby, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of March, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Sanel Rayner, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and
authority; that I, the said Henry Samuel Rayner, my exors, adññiors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Samuel Rayner, my exors,
adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend within England, Wales, and tho
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED MEANS OF
PREVENTING ACCIDENTS TO CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS AND COMMON ROADS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Henry
Samuel Rayner, shall cause a particular description of the nature of said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
my
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Samuel Rayner, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention

page_text: consists in protecting carriages on railways and common roads from such
accidents as arise from collisions with other carriages or solid bodies, and this
by means of a buffing apparatus attached to one or more or to each of such
carriages, or placed in suitable situations in relation to them, which apparatus
depends for its action on the elastic properties of air and water, and opposes a
resisting power proportional to the weight and velocity. of any body acting
upon or striking against it. And the manner in which the said Invention is
performed is represented in the Drawings hereto annexed, reference being
thereunto had, and in the following description theroof:-
Figure 1 is an external view, and Figure 2 a longitudinal and vertical
section of the said apparatus. B, B, is an iron casing of cylindrical or other
more convenient form, which is firmly attached to the bed of the carriage, and
is made in two lengths bolted together end to end; at its inner end the cylinder
is closed, and at the outer open. A, A, is a smaller iron cylinder in one piece,
that slides freely within B, resting on t, t, which are guide collars of brass,
and are serowed to the inside of 3, for which friction rollers or wheels may be
substituted, as shewn in Figure 9; at R', R. The inner half C, C, of the
small cylinder A is parted off from the outer one by a diaphragm D. E, E, is
a stationary piston fitted to the inner end of the division C, C, of the cylinder A,
the rod of which passes through a cover R, and stuffing box II, II, and is
strongly bolted and fixed to the close end of the cylinder B by the nut f, which
is countersunk in the end of B, as shewn in the Drawing. The division C of
the cylinder A, which is enclosed at one end by the diaphragm d, and at the
other by the piston E, is kept filled witli water, which is admitted into the
chamber by means of a pipe a, Figure 1, furnished with a stop-cock S, or in
the same way through the hollow piston rod, as shown in Figure 10. The
euter half 0, 0, of the cylinder A is filled up with wood, and the 'inmost
half
g. 9, of the cylinder B, is occupied with air: The division 0, 0, is covered
in at its outer or front end by a metal plate i, which has a covering of stuffed
leather k. In practice, the piston E being fixed and stationary, it is necessary
that the cylinder A, A, with its water chamber C, C, should move forward
upon it, and this is effected by having a number of holes s, s, in the piston,
which may be numerically increased or diminished, as well as varied in size,
as shewn separately in the plan, Figure 3, through which the water in C
passes as the cylinder A is pushed forward from behind. Supposing this
buffing apparatus to be struck on the end by any body coming against it, the
effect is to push inwards the cylinder A when the two elastic forces, namely,
the water in C and air in g, come immediately into play to reduce, moderate,
sof.en, and neutralise the shock. The water in g resists with a force graduated

page_text: by the velocity with which it can pass through the holes s, s, in the piston from
one side to the other, the water still remaining in the water chamber, in which
it is intended always to remain, every means of escape being provided against.
The amount of resistance manifestly depends on the number and size of theśc
holes. The air again in g resists with a force proportionate to its compression
by the advance of the cylinder A, and its top R, against which plate R, tlic
resisting action of the atmosphere contained in g directs itself. The advance
of the cylinder A, A, is therefore resisted by the hydraulic action of the fluid
contents of C, C, on the piston E, E, and plate D, and also by the direct
action of the atmosphere on R. The combined resistance from the two forcés
does not attain its maximum till that extreme point is reached, when all the
water has been forced through the piston from one side to the otlier, and thie
piston is in close contact with the diaphragm D, which is a result that could
scarcely ever arise until the moving carriages had been brought to a state of
rest. Figure 4 represents a sectional form of my buffing apparatus applicable
to carriages of light construction; the piston is here moveable, the water and
air chamber is stationary and fixed to the carriage. A, A, is the water and air
chamber, the shape of which may be varied. P is the piston, and K the outer
end, which comes in contact with the projecting end of the buffer in the next
carriage, and urges P through A, A, resisted by the opposing forces of water
and air. Figure 4 represents an external view of a bufling apparatus of
Fig. 1 description, applied at the extreme end of any station or other point of
a railway where carriages or trains are required to stop; the part that projects
is the outer end of the smaller cylinder A, the remaining parts are enclosed in
the masonry M, M. This apparatus is capable of adaptation to the foot of
inclined planes, as a stationary buffer of any power required. In this particular
situation, or as an ordinary "station ",buffer, the cylinder A may be prolonged
to ten or twenty feet, its contractile power existing in like amount,. forming an
invaluable protection, at railway stations.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 represent a modification of the apparatus suitable for
locomotive engines. Figure 5 is an external side view of it. Figure 6 a
section, and Figure 7 a front a front view. The construction and action of
this apparatus are in all respects similar to that represented and described in
Figures 1 and 2, except that the air chamber g, g, is made of an L shape, and
thus occupies less room lengthways, and is also partially filled with water,
which in case of collision is raised or forced into the upper part P; this is
designed to counteract the superior momentum of the locomotive engine.
Figure 8 is an external side elevation, and Figure'9 a a cross sectional plan of an
apparatus on the same principle, attached to an independent buffer carriage,

page_text: which may be used or fitted in its upper parts as a luggage van, and to run
between the tender and passenger carriages of a railway train. In this case it
is proposed to have two buffers at each end of the carriage. The inner ends
of each pair of buffers meet, as shown at f, f, and thus effectually support one
another. The other cylinders B, D, are firmly secured to the frame of the
carriage by the iron brace picces o, o, and bolts », r, passed through them, and
made fast by nuts. Fig 9 a, 9 b, are varied forms of the cylinder A, A, Fig. 1
& 2. It is intended in the case of railway trains that the back buffer of cach
carriage should be coupled by any convenient means with the front buffer of
that immediately behind, so that they may draw each other out, and thus be
always ready for action at any moment of collision. The method of filling the
water chamber must be adapted to the peculiar application of the buffer in
Figure 8; the water is supplied through an upright tube, as shown fully in
Figure 10; this has the effect of keeping the buffer distended by the pressure
outward of the fluid. In Figure 10, P is the piston; C, the water channel;
T, the upright tube, adjusted to any required height; R is a cock fitted to the
. lower part of the tube.
And having described my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, I declare that what I claim as my Invention is the improved
buffing apparatus for preventing accidents to carriages on railways and common
roads, as before described, and under any modifications thereof, which are
either before pointed out, or of which it may be susceptible.
And I claim generally the hydro-pneumatic buffer, and the described
method by which it is applied on any variation of its construction or applica-
tion whatever.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Samuel Rayner, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
HENRY SAMU
Signod, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Henry Samuel Rayner, (the several
erasures and interlineations appearing in the
body and in the margin of the within-written
Specification, and opposite to which I have set
the initials of my name, having been first made
and observed) in the presence of

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid Henry Samuel Rayner came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
Enrolled the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.