CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF MAGNETIC POWER FOR MOVING AND STOPPING CARRIAGES, FOR GIVING ADHERENCE TO WHEELS UPON RAILS, AND ALSO FOR TRANS- MITTING MOTION
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
PIERRE PAUL AMBERGER, of Paris, France, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland; bearing date at Westminster, the Third day of October,
in the fourteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto, me, Jean Pierre Paul Amberger, Her especial license, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I,. the said Jean Pierre Paul Amberger,
my exors, adñiors; and assigns, cand such others as I, the said Jean Pierre
Paul Amberger, my exors, admors, and 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 the. Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, within the
islands of Jersey, 'Guernsey, 'Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also within all Her
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF MAGNETIC POWER FOR MOVING AND STOPPING
CARRIAGES, FOR GIVING ADHERENCE TO WHEELS UPON RAILS, AND ALSO FOR TRANS-
MITTING MOTION;" in which said .Letters Patent is contained a proviso
requiring that I, the said Jean Pierre: Paul Amberger, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, shall particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be curolled in Her said Majesty's High Court

page_text: of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jean Pierre Paul Amberger, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by this present instrument in writing as follows,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures
and letters placed thereon, that is to say :—
My Invention relates, first, to certain improvements in the application of
motive power for stopping railway carriages. Figure 1 represents a locomotive
fitted with my brake and magnetizing apparatus. Number 1, electro-brake;
Number 2, method of magnetizing the wheels. Figure 2, front view of
distant magnetic attraction; Figure 3, corresponding side view; Figure 4,
curbed cases; Figure 5, side view of Number 1, Figure 1; Figures 6 and 7,
transmission of the motion; Figure 8, application of the motion. The
different effects enumerated above are obtained by the arrangement and
apparatus herein-after described, and form the object of this Patent. This
first application of magnetism is the fixing to the engine, or any other carriage
of the train, electro-magnets, or what I designate electro-brakes, and whose
two poles rest on the rails, or are kept above them. In the first case it is
sufficient to place the electro-magnetic apparatus in communication with the
electric current to produce instantly a great adhesion of the electro-brake
to the rail. The friction of the sliding which results from this state imme-
diately slackens the speed of the vehicle to which the apparatus is fastened,
and ends at last by completely stopping it. In the second case, as the
electro-brake is held at some distance from the rail, and, during the time it
is not in action, is kept raised by a lever (as in brake Number 1, Figure
Number 1), which gives the facility of lowering it on the rail at a given time,
or to keep it raised by a counterweight or spring (as in brake Number 2,
Figure 1), the effect of which is nullified by the attraction of the brake against
the rail when the magnetizing action is made to bear on it. Thus, to one
or several carriages of a train may be adapted brakes of this kind (placed in
the same galvanic range), which the engine driver has under perfect command,
and which he can work as an ordinary connecting apparatus to establish
or interrupt the galvanic motion. Besides the advantage gained by this
new arrangement over the former system of brakes, by the regularity of its
working and instantaneous effect, it moreover does away with the irregula
wear and tear of the wheels effected by ordinary brakes.
Description of the electro-brake:-Figure 1 represents two electro-brakes

page_text: Number 1 and 2, both held at a distance from the rail 'during the progress.
of the train. These brakes are composed of. rectangular masses of iron,
A, having the shape of part of a segment of a rim of a driving wheel (see
Figure 5), and are enchased in a copper covering B; which bears the con-
ducting wires of the electricity. Figure 5' represents a sectional view of
the horizontal projection of the brake Number 1 of the Figure 1. In the
arrangement Number 1 the brake is held at a distance from the rail by the
lever o to be able to turn to account its attraction on the rail, consequently.
its weight on the engine while in motion, when it does not act as break. The
case B, upon which the wire is wound, is represented in section, while in
Number 2 it is presented in a plan view. When the moment arrives to
make the brake work the lever o is let down, and the brake is lowered
on the rail; this brake has a hinge, so as to rest on the rail with ease
the whole of its length. The brake Number 2 is kept in equilibrium at: a
distance from the rail by a spring r, the tension of which is rather greater
even than the weight of the brake. As soon as the wire of the case B of
this brake is made to communicate with the electric current the brake
becomes a magnet, and is lowered on the rail by the effect of its attraction,
and it is raised from off the rail, by means of the spring or a counter-
weight, when the magnetizing ceases. If similar brakes are fixed to other
carriages of the train, the method shown in Number 2 is perfectly suitable;
the action of lowering and raising the brake being produced by the magnetizing.
itself, the engine driver is able to make them work at will without the aid
of any one.
The second part of my Invention relates to giving adherence to wheels
upon rails, also for transmitting motion. This adhesion is realized in two
different ways. The first consists in the use of electro-magnets acting at a
distance on the rails, this tending to draw down the engine to which they
are fixed to the rails. This encreased weight tells on the wheels and acts
However, on
like a weight with which the engine might have been loaded.
inclined planes there exists between the action of dead weight and magnetic
weight this remarkable difference, that the magnetic weight does not vary,
and makes its whole power bear to the advantage of the adhesion, and thus
produces an effect always useful, whether it be in the ascent or descent. The
second method consists in employing directly all the adhesion of which the
electro-magnets are capable when in contact by converting the wheels
themselves into electro-magnets. Thus, by a particular method (which is
the main object of this Patent), I succeed in magnetizing only the lower part
of the tyre of the driving wheel, so as to transform in opposite poles the
two points of contact of each pair of wheels with the rail. Each of these

page_text: points of contact becomes the centre of action of the magnetizing power
proceeding from the electric current. All the parts of the tyre which are
out of these points act at a distance from the rail, and their attractive and
magnetizing action is added to the primitive adhesion. Thus all the magnetic
power of attraction of which the lower part of the
employed directly to obtain adhesion.
tyre is susceptible is
The following is a description of the apparatus used. in each of these two
methods of applying magnetic attraction to the production of adhesion....
1st case. Distant action of the electro-magnets' on the rail. To the engine
is fixed (either on the axles or to the grease. boxes) a frame L, which 'bears
electro-magnets A (Figures 2 and 3), whose two poles. P, P¹ (Figure 3),
are brought as close as possible to the rails by means of a screw M. The
action of these magnets on the rails, as has already been described, produces
a' weight, on the engine to which they are fixed. This weight is transmitted
likewise to the wheels, producing encreased pressure of the wheels against
the rails, and causing instantaneous. adhesion! The electro-magnets-'repre-
sented by Figure 2 may vary in their shapes, their dimensions; and position on
the engine. Thus the two poles may be placed on the same rail; one!
beside the other, dividing between them .the thickness of the rail, or they
can act separately on both the rails at.once being placed across on the line.
Figure 2 represents the last-mentioned arrangement. Use is made of the
space left between the wheels and in front and behind the engine.to multiply
this apparatus or encrease its dimensions. The rectangular shape has seemed
the most suitable one to give to these electro-magnets, because it presents a
greater surface to the rail. These electro-magnets are thus rectangular masses
of soft iron A (Figure 2), wider than the rail and of a required. height
(Figure 3); the length varies according to the space to which they are con-
fined, and the greater or less irregularity. of the line: These masses of iron
are surrounded by a wire of copper isolated, C, whose development and
thickness are in proportion with the electric current to which the two ends
are connected. To facilitate the putting together of the pieces, and for the
regular laying of the wire, this latter is rolled round a case of copper B,
exactly of the shape of the magnet on which it is fixed. All the cases are
connected by the same conducting wire if, it is desired to make the same
electric current act on all the cases, or else to each case is communicated a
'special generator of electricity. These électro-magnets resemble in shape and
action the electro-brakes; and may in any given case serve to both uses at once.
It is to be remarked that the magnetic action which the electro-magnets
display at a distance on the rails: does not only determine an encrease of
adhesion by an augmentation of weight on the wheels, but it renders this.

page_text: adhesion greater by the effect of magnetizing which it devellops in the rails,
which adds to the adhesion of the wheels; consequently, whatever may be
the shape of the apparatus and its arrangement, this first application of the
magnetic power to the encrease of adhesion may be summed up.in.these two.
facts: 1°. Production of an encrease of weight on the driving wheels of an
engine by the action at a distance of electro-magnets on the rails. 2°.
Magnetizing of the rails by the action at a distance of the electro-magnets,
and consequently producing new cause for the adhesion of the wheels.
Second case. The action of the electro-magnets in contact, or driving
wheels converted into electro-magnets. To' apply the magnetic attraction
to the direct production of the adhesion of the driving wheels to the rails,-in
other words, to give to the wheels a greater degree of magnetizing power,
1st. I concentrate the magnetic power to the point of contact. of the wheel
with the rail, without interruption to all the parts of the tyre that pass
successively at this point. 2nd. I. obtain this result by an arrangement
separate from the wheel, so as to have no great difference in the construction
of the driving wheels. By this means I do not alter the dimensions now
generally adopted, and thus I render possible an immediate application of the
Invention to existing engines and railways. This purpose is. fulfilled by the
arrangement which I now proceed to describe.
Figure 4 represents an apparatus, by the aid of which the driving wheels
are converted into electro-magnets. This apparatus consists of a simple case
of copper X, Figure 1, which surrounds the lower portion of the tyre of the
driving wheel; round the same tyre is kept a sufficient space, so that. in no
case the wheel can touch the interior sides of the case X during the motion;.
that is to say, the case is quite separate from the tyre. On this case X is
rolled a wire of red copper, whose two extremeties communicate with the
electric current; in the same manner the case must always be kept sufficiently.
removed from the rail so as not to rub on the latter during oscillation. This
precaution is indispensable when the case is suspended from the.wheel plate
on the engine; but to avoid this inconvenience the case is made to follow
motion of the wheel by suspending it to the grease box, that is to say, to the
bearings of the axles...
every.
Figure 1.represents the arrangement. In the case when sand is spread on
the rails with the view of increasing the adhesion of the wheels, I use iron
filings; by this substitution I increase the surface of contact, by the help of a
substance which by its nature adheres in preference to the.magnetized wheel,
which is to a certain extent converted into a tooth wheel; metallic brushes or
others (Figure 4) fixed under the case will accumulate under the tyre the

page_text: filings escaped. In this arrangement the case is raised in front and behind
the wheel (Figure 4).
Third part of my Invention relates to the transmission of motion. Instead
of making use of gear and belts for the transmission of motion, I fix the
driving shafts, wooden barrels, or cast-iron cross-bars, which I surround with a
circle of soft iron of an appropriate thickness. I magnetize one of the two
circles in contact in the same manner as the driving wheel of an engine is
magnetized. The effect of attraction which I thus obtain is sufficient to
transmit the power without sliding. Figure 6 represents this application.
B is the case shown in section, and carries the conducting wires. The preceding
effect may be augmented by magnetizing also the two pullies, but in such a'
manner as to give to one the contrary fluid to the 'other; that is to say, the one,
P for instance, will possess the boreal fluid, and the other P¹ the austral fluid
(Figure 7, Number 1). In this arrangement I employ two cases.
Another method still more successful is represented Figure 7, Number 2;
here each of the pullies possesses the two poles disposed in such a manner
that the boreal pole of the one, P for instance, corresponds to the austral pole
of the other pulley P¹, and vice versa. To obtain this result it is necessary to
make use of four cases, fastened together two and two, and fixed on pulleys with
a groove, as represented in Figure 7, Number 2. I employ also in the case
of transmission of motion iron filings to augment the adhesion as above stated.
The new mode of transmission of motion I here propose has for advantage,
first, to work without noise; second, to expose to shocks and to irregular wear
the working parts in contact; third, to allow of the connection and dis-
connection of the parts in motion at any distance required, and by the simple
interruption of the electric current which serves to magnetize them. An
application of the magnetic adhesion, of great importance in the transmission of
motion, is that which may be made in the transmission of motion to the screw
of a steam boat.
The method I propose to make available the magnetic power to the motion
of carriages consists in transforming each carriage of a train into a motive
machine, so as to gain the advantage of the adhesion of all the wheels; to
obtain which, I couple the wheels of each carriage by connecting rods, to which
are attached electro-magnets, situated to suit the height of the rails (Figure 8).
A process of magnetizing and unmagnetizing' goes on in succession so as to
obtain an alternate attraction of these magnets on the rails, and thus the
magnets of the back of a carriage have, for instance, obtained their maximum
of distance from the rail, when those of the front of the carriage are closest to
the rail, from thence results this motion of the rods, and consequently the

page_text: rotation of the wheels. The intermittance, scarcely perceptible, which occurs in
the action of magnets by the alternate magnetizing, is made up by the rapidity
acquired. This intermittance is regulated by an alternate contact of the
conducting wires with the electric current.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I may observe in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of my Invention. But what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the application of the magnetic power to the use of brakes on railway
trains (electro-brake).
Secondly, the application and use of the same magnetic power to increase
the adhesion of the wheels to the rails of railways.
Thirdly, the application and use of iron filings to increase the surfaces of
contact, and consequently the adhesion.
Fourthly, the application of the magnetic power and its use for the trans-
mission of motion generally, as herein-before described.
Fifthly, the application and use of the said magnetic power as a motive
power, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Pierre Paul Amberger, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
Taken and acknowledged by Jean
Pierre Paul Amberger, at Paris,
in the Republic of France, this
28th day of Mars, 1851.
J. P. P. (L.s.) AMBERGER.

page_text: Auguste Loradoux, of 7,. Calthorpe Street, in the County of Middlesex,
maketh oath and saith, that he is acquainted with the manner and character
of the handwriting of Thomas Pickford, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at
Paris, in the Republic of France. And this deponent further saith, that the
signature "Thomas Pickford" set, subscribed, or written in the margin of the
Specification hereunto annexed, marked A, and dated the 28th day of March
of the present year, and purporting to be executed by Jean Pierre Paul
Amberger, of Paris, in the Republic of France; whereby it is stated that the
said Specification was acknowledged by him, the said Jean Pierre Paul
Amberger, before the said Thomas Pickford, ou the said Twenty-eighth day of
March, at Paris aforesaid, is of the proper handwriting of the said Thomas
Pickford