IMPROVEMENTS IN ADDADATIE BAD DEMANDY
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Humphrey Roberts, of Bedford Street,
Plymouth, Engineer, and Benjamin Crocker Cross, of Buckingham
Place, East Stonehouse, Plymouth, aforesaid, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ADDADATIE BAD DEMANDY
πα
Sealed the 22nd January 1869, and dated the 30th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Humphrey
Roberts and Benjamin Crocker Cross at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 30th July 1868.
We, THOMAS HUMPHREY ROBERTS, of Bedford Street, Plymouth,
Engineer, and BENJAMIN CROCKER CROSS, of Buckingham Place, East
Stonehouse, Plymouth, aforesaid, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS APPARATUS FOR RETARDING AND
STOPPING CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for
retarding and stopping carriages.
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to one of us, viz.
the said Thomas Humphrey Roberts, on the 9th December 1864
(No, 3066), was described the applying to the back end of the pole

page_text: of an omnibus or other carriage, or to the shafts if shafts be used, a
bar carying two friction breaks or blocks, one to each of the fore wheels,
which blocks when the horses are drawing are held away from the
wheels, but when the speed of the horse is reduced are forced against
their front edge. In this arrangement however the breaks must
necessarily be applied to the wheels if the horses are caused to "back"
to move backward the carriage.
Now according to our present Invention in place of rigidly fixing
the break blocks to the bar, we fix each break block to one end of a
short lever, the opposite end of which is pin-jointed to the bar. Stops.
are fixed to the bar to prevent the break blocks descending below the
bar, so that if the carriage is moving forwards and the break blocks
are applied to the wheels by reason of the speed of the horses being
reduced, the blocks are drawn downwards against these stops, but if
the carriage be at rest and the horses are backed, the break blocks will
by the back rotation of the wheels be lifted up away from the stops,
and thus the wheels will be left at liberty to turn freely. Stops are
also applied to prevent the break blocks from being too much raised
and also to prevent the break bar from moving too far back when
backing the carriage. We prefer that the pins on which the levers
which carry the break blocks turn should each be carried by a metal
cap or clip which is fixed to the bar by a bolt passing through the bar
and through slots in the cap or clip, the slots allowing of the position
at which the cap is fixed to the bar being varied so that the break
blocks can readily be set opposite to the front edges of the wheels. A
similar arrangement may be applied to railway carriages when the
buffer rods are arranged to actuate the breaks automatically, and thus
allow of a train so fitted with automatic breaks being driven backwards
without at the same time applying the breaks.
Another improvement consists in transmitting motion through
leverage from the pole or shafts to the break blocks in place of directly
as heretofore. If the carriage be provided with a locking fore carriage,
as is the case with an ordinary four wheel carriage, we carry back or
prolong the pole nearly to the rear of the fore carriage, and there joint
or connect it to the lower end of a swinging lever pin-jointed at its
upper end to the fore carriage; this. lever. has also pin-jointed to it
at a point intermediate of its length a rod which is also attached to the
bar carrying the break blocks, and to which the traces are attached as

page_text: heretofore. Any backward motion of the pole will thus be transmitted
to the break blocks through the swinging lever.
In the case of artillery waggons and such like carriages where a pair
of shafts placed on one side only of the carriage is employed, we
connect the rear ends of shafts by rods to the bottom edge of a bar
which passes across the carriage and is fixed at its two ends to the lower
ends of two swinging levers, and the top edge of the bar we connect by
rods with the bar which carries the break blocks, so that the backward
motion of the shafts is applied with leverage to the break blocks. We
prefer to connect the swinging bar with the break bar by a rod some-
what removed from the centres of the two bars.
In some cases where a carriage is supported on two wheels only we
carry the pins or axles of the wheels each on a lever which passes to
the centre of the carriage, and at the centre of the carriage we connect
the ends of the two levers to the rear end of the pole if. a. pole be
used, or to a projection from the shafts if shafts. be used.. If the
carriage is being drawn forwards the axles of the wheels are kept in a
line with one another, but if the speed of the horses is reduced the
axles are thereby turned at an angle to one another, so impeding their
rotation and stopping the forward movement of the carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Humphrey Roberts and Benjamin Crocker
Cross in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
HUMPHREY ROBERTS, of Bedford Street, Plymouth, Engineer, and
BENJAMIN CROCKER CROSS, of Buckingham Place, East Stonehouse,
Plymouth, aforesaid, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Humphrey Roberts and
Benjamin Crocker Cross, Her special licence that we, the said Thomas
Humphrey Roberts and Benjamin Crocker Cross, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas

page_text: Humphrey Roberts and Benjamin Crocker Cross, our executors;
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR RETARDING AND STOPPING CARRIAGES," upon the condition
(amongst others), that we, the said Thomas Humphrey Roberts and
Benjamin Crocker Cross, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their hands and seals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Humphrey Roberts, on
behalf of myself and the said Benjamin Crocker Cross, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:―
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for
retarding and stopping carriages.
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to one of us, viz., the
said Thomas Humphrey Roberts, on the 9th December 1864 (No. 3066),
was described the applying to the back end of the pole of an omnibus or
other carriage, or to the shafts if shafts be used, a bar carrying two
friction breaks or blocks, one to each of the fore wheels, which blocks
when the horses are drawing are held away from the wheels, but when the
speed of the horses is reduced are forced against their front edge. In this
arrangement however the breaks must necessarily be applied to the wheels
if the horses are caused to "back" to move backward the carriage.
Now according to our present Invention, in place of rigidly fixing the
break blocks to the bar we fix each break block to one end of a short
lever the opposite end of which is pin-jointed to the bar. Stops are fixed
to the bar to prevent the break blocks descending below the bar so that if
the carriage is moving forwards and the break blocks are applied to the
wheels by reason of the speed of the horses being reduced, the blocks are
drawn downwards against these stops, but if the carriage be at rest and

page_text: the horses are backed the break blocks will by the back rotation of the
wheels be lifted up away from the stops, and thus the wheels will be left
at liberty to turn freely. Stops are also applied to prevent the break
blocks from being too much raised, and also to prevent the break bar.
from moving too far back when backing the carriage.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed shews a plan view of a
"fore carriage" fitted with a moveable splinter bar, which also serves as
a brake bar; it carries at each of its ends a wooden break block a, but in
place of such wooden break blocks being attached directly to the
moveable splinter bar as heretofore they are carried by levers 6 pin-
jointed to the bar as above described. These levers are by preference
of iron and made in the manner shown in the detail views of the
parts, the wooden break block being attached to the end of the lever b
by a bolt c, as shewn; the pin d upon which the lever b turns is by
preference carried by a plate e, fixed by countersunk screws to the
splinter bar, the position at which the pin is fixed to the plate being
adjustable by means of a slot and binding screw.
The plate e may
be fixed to the splinter bar in such manner that the pin d may incline
downwards in the manner shewn in the detail views, Figure 3,
so that when the break block is raised by the backward rotation of
the wheel it will not rise vertically. By this means the wooden break
blocks can be made thicker at the bottom than could otherwise con-
veniently be the case. f is a bent iron fixed to the splinter bar to
prevent the break blocks descending too far.
A vertical section of this arrangement taken close to the pole of the
carriage is shewn at Figure 2. This view shows the manner in which we
prefer to connect the pole to the moveable splinter bar. When the buffer
rods of railway carriages are arranged to actuate the breaks automatically
the break blocks may be connected to the bars which carry them in a
similar manner to that above described, so as to allow of backing without
at the same time putting on the breaks.
Another improvement consists in transmitting motion through leverage
from the pole or shafts to the break blocks in place of directly as
heretofore. This may be effected in various ways. In the Drawings we
have shewn two ways in which it may be effected, but we would remark
that we do not confine ourselves to these arrangements, as other arrange-
ments might be employed for transmitting motion by leverage from the
pole or shafts to the break blocks.

page_text: In Figure 4 we have shown a fore carriage of an omnibus or similar
four-wheeled vehicle fitted with a moveable splinter bar, which is by
rods connected with two levers which are connected by a link to a bar
carrying break blocks. The splinter bar may have three pair of shafts or
other number of pairs of shafts connected to it, or it may have a pole
connected to it in a similar manner to that shown at Figure 2. a is the
splinter bar; b, the bar carrying the break blocks, which blocks are
by preference connected to it in the manner above described; c, c, are
rods passing from the splinter bar to the ends of levers d, d, which
at their opposite ends are jointed to the axle e; f is a link which at its
end is formed with a fork embracing the two levers where they cross one
another, and a pin is passed through the fork and through holes in both
levers. The opposite end of the link fis jointed to the break bar 6 as
shewn. In the arrangement shewn the break bar will only move back
about half the distance the splinter bar moves, but by placing the centres
upon which the levers turn closer together any desired amount of
leverage may be obtained according to the amount of leverage with
which it is required to apply the break blocks.
Figure 5 shows a plan view of the fore carriage of an artillery wagon
where the shafts are arranged to act through leverage upon a bar
carrying break blocks which act against the wheels, these break blocks
being by preference connected to the bar in the manner above described,
so that the carriage may be backed without applying the breaks. a is the
splinter bar fixed to the frame of the fore carriage as is usual; 6 are the
pair of shafts at one side of the bar as is also usual, but in place of such
shafts being pin-jointed to the splinter bar they are pin-jointed to rods c,
capable of sliding backwards and forwards in guides carried by the bar
and frame of the fore carriage, as shewn; the rods c at their rear ends
are connected together, and are there pin-jointed to a lever d, which at
its opposite end is by a short link connected to the axle or bed. The
lever near the centre of its length is by a link e connected with the bar
f, which carries the break blocks g. The bar f is supported by bent irons
from the under side of the side bars of the frame of the fore carriage in
such manner that it can slide backwards and forwards, so that when the
shafts slide back the break blocks on the bar f will be drawn by the
lever d against the wheels.
In some cases where a carriage is supported on two wheels only we

page_text: centre of the carriage, and at the centre of the carriage we connect the
ends of the two levers to the rear end of the pole if a pole be used, or to
a projection from the shafts if shafts be used. If the carriage is being
drawn forwards the axles of the wheels are kept in a line with one
another, but if the speed of the horses is reduced the axles are thereby
turned at an angle to one another, so impeding their rotation and
stopping the forward movement of the carriage.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Humphrey Roberts, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine.
THOMAS HUMPHREY ROBERTS. (L.8.)