Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Armstrong at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th March 1883.
JOSEPH ARMSTRONG of 30 Wellington Street New Swindon in the County of
Wiltshire Engineer RAILWAY BRAKES AND SPRINGS
It
In Automatic Vacuum (so called) and automatic air pressure brakes the main
pipes are usually exhausted or charged (as the case may be) when the brake is
off, and the air let in or out (as the case may be) to apply the brakes-In a
convenient part of the engine or tender I arrange a steam piston and cylinder or
their equivalents opposed by a vacuum cylinder and piston, the two pistons being
on the same piston rod or if necessary working indirectly-The steam piston I place
in direct communication with the stean or water in the Locomotive boiler and the
vacumn piston in direct communication with the main pipe-When the vacuum is
destroyed in the main pipe, the steam overcomes the oppostion of the vacuum
piston and thus applies the brake, when the vacuum is formed in the main pipe
the vacuum piston overcomes the steam piston and thus takes off the brakes.
will thus be seen that the engine and tender brakes can be applied proportionately
with those of the train, or if it is desired that the brake on the engine and
tender be not applied until the vacuum in the main pipe is reduced considerably,
the areas of the steam and vacuum pistons can be proportionately altered-The
brakes are taken off by the creation of a vacuum in the main pipe by an ejector,
pump, or other contrivance in a similar manner to that of the carriages-In'
compressed air brakes such as Westinghouse's or Wenger's, or Steel and MoInne's,
I replace the vacuum cylinder aforesaid by a compressed air cylinder and attach it
to the main pipe, and the aforesaid steam cylinder will be in direct communication
with the boiler as in the vacuum arrangement
If it is desired that the engine and tender brakes should be essentially vacuum
brakes, I place in any convenient position a cylinder and piston or their equivalents,
so arranged that the pump or small ejector, or their equivalents, is always in direct
communication with one side of the piston, and the other side of the piston
always in direct communication with the main pipe, a valve intervenes between
the one side of the piston and the other, which is worked by a piston, diaphragm,
or their equivalent, one side of which is always in direct communication with the
atmosphere, the other side being in communication with the main pipe,

page_text: I load the valve with a weight or spring which can be adjusted at will-When
a vacuum is formed by the Ejector or by other means in the main pipe, to a
degree sufficient to lift the loaded valve, the pump or small ejector is then placed
in communication with the main pipe, but when the vacuum is destroyed low
enough to allow the valve to close, the pump or ejector is only in communication
with one side of the piston, and the brake is then applied.
This entirely does away with the necessity for a reservoir of rarefied air which
is generally used and the valve can be so weighted that the brake on the engine
and tender is not applied until there has been a considerable diminution in the
degree of vacuum in the main pipe-A somewhat similar valve to this may also be
placed on the steam and vacuum or air cylinder before described, to act as a
reducing pressure valve so that the pressure on the steam piston can be assimilated
to that of the air or vacuum, I sometime arrange one cylinder to be situated either
on the engine or tender to supply brake power for both the tender and engine, I
arrange a shaft at the back of the engine and a shaft at the front of the tender,
a lever is fixed to the centre of each shaft; if the brake cylinder is fixed on the
engine I prefer to place it underneath the foot plate, and attach a bell crank to the
moving part (which may be either the cylinder or piston) this bell crank will form
a floating lever between the engine and tender.
One end of the bell crank is attached through a push rod to the lever on the
tender brake shaft, the other joint of the bell crank to the lever on the engine
brake shaft direct-When the piston or cylinder moves the two levers will then
force the brake blocks to the wheels in the ordinary way, a slot can be made in
the push rod to allow the working of the tender or engine hand brake-When
pumps are used for pumping in or out the air used for compressed or vacuum
brakes it is sometimes necessary that a high degree of vacuum or high pressure
should not be used, a loaded valve is sometimes placed on the main pipe so that
the air flows in and reduces the degree of vacuum or the pressure, but as this air
flows through the pump it entails unnecessary work on it-In double acting
pumps I lead a pipe from the top of the suction valve at one end of the pump to
the top of the suction valve at the other end of the pump, in this pipe I place a
valve or cock, which is worked by a diaphragm, or their equivalents, loaded to the
degree of vacuum or pressure requisite, when this is attained the atmospheric
pressure overcomes the opposition of the weight or spring and the valve is opened,
putting one end of the pump cylinder in communication with the other end...
For slip trains I arrange a valve or cock in the hose coupling of the automatic
brake pipe, and another one on the main pipe, both of which are under the mani-
pulation of the slip guard or guards and so constructed that the continuous brake
pipe is open throughout until the slip guard wishes to disconnect his portion of
the train, he then closes the valve in the coupling of the front portion of his train
and that in the main pipe, he is then enabled to pull the slip hook, lever, .cord or
their equivalents and so detach his train, but until he has closed both valves he
will be unable to move the slip lever, for I arrange a detent worked by a
diaphragm, piston or their equivalents which holds the slip lever or its equivalent
rigidly For short coupled or slip trains or on any trains where it is required to
take the brake off quickly, I arrange a valve box, and valves close to the brake
cylinder or their equivalents of any railway vehicle, this valve or valves I work
with a diaphragm, piston or their equivalents on to one side of the diaphragm the
main pipe is directly connected, and to the other side an auxilliary continuous pipe,
when the pressure or vacuum (so called) is greater on the one side than the other,
the valve or valves lift and the main pipe is shut off from direct communication
with any part of the cylinder, but when the vacuum or pressure is greater on the
other side of the diaphragm, piston, or their, equivalents the valve opens and the
main pipe is thus put in communication with the cylinder. The auxilliary pipe
may be rarefied or charged by a reservoir I fix on the Guard's compartment or on
the engine This enables the Engine man or guard through a cock he has in the
van or on the engine to regulate and put on and take off the brakes with rapidity,

page_text: for I arrange sometimes the valves on the carriages so that when moved one way
one side of the piston or pistons is put in communication with the other and the
brake is thus taken off, and when the valve is moved in the reverse direction the
brake is applied-I arrange also that the reservoir of rarefied or compressed air or
other fluid situated on the engine or van, is put in direct communication with the
brake cylinders so as to prevent too great an expansion of the power stored up in
the brake cylinders through the too numerous applications of the brake, or through
leaks or other causes-Sometimes I place along from one end of the train to the
other an electric wire, which is in communication with an electro magnet or
magnets on each carriage-Under the Guards compartment or under ench carriage
if necessary-I place a voltaic battery or accumulator battery, or dynamo
electric machines or any source of electricity which can be put in communication
with the wire running along the train, so that the electro-magnets on the
carriages attract the valve or valves that govern the brake cylinders-In
ordinary automatic brake cylinders it is sometimes desirable to rapidly assimilate
the pressure on each side of the pistons so as to take off the brakes quickly-
I arrange in any convenient position in the brake cylinders a check valve which
ordinarily seals what may be called the reservoir part of an automatic brake
cylinder, the valve I arrange to lift with a diaphram, piston or its equivalent
when the vacuum (so called) or pressure is created quickly by the ejector or pump
or other fluid motor, but when the fluid is let in or drawn out slowly the valve is
not moved I arrange this by having a spindle working through a chamber con-
nected to a diaphragm or its equivalent, this spindle is hollow, and the fluid can be
let in or out readily from that side of the diaphragm, but the other side of the
diaphragm is only in communication with the main pipe through the fine annular
space around the spindle-In order that the brake power may be better regulated
throughout the train, I arrange on the engine or tender of trains working fluid
pressure brakes an automatic valve so constructed that the degree of brake block
pressure is dependent on the speed I place a small governor which controls a valve
on the main pipe, so arranged that the difference between the pressure or vacuum
(as the case may be) in the main pipe when the brake was applied, is adjusted by
the governor to the required brake block pressure I sometimes use three degrees
of this pressure which may be under the control of the driver and called "dry rail"
"medium rail" "and greasy rail" It is known that the best result is obtained
when the friction between the wheel and the brake block is nearly that of the
wheel and the rail, I sometimes use on trains that are generally of one capacity a
release hole on the engine so that when the brake is applied fully by the driver
the air flows in or out through this hole, and reduces the power on the brake
block's to that necessary, this release hole can be varied in size by the driver, or by
a diaphragm or piston and cylinder, or their equivalents, or by differential pistons
and cylinders working a valve, so that the regulating piston and cylinder on.the
engine is inversely proportioned to that of the train. The amount of air to be let
in or out (as the case may be) I place under the control of the driver to arrange
according to the state of the rails-On trains that are fitted with fluid pressure
brakes, I arrange in any convenient position between the bodies and the wheels of
Kailway vehicles, cylinders and pistons which are charged with compressed air, or
the fluid that works any continuous brakes, I take the fluid through a branch from
the main pipe (of such brakes as those of Westinghouse's or Wenger's or Steel and
McInne's and run it through a check valve into a reservoir, which will be con-
stantly charged with this fluid, any leakage will be made good by the fluid being
pumped into the pipes to put off or on the brakes, the fluid I then lead from the
reservoir through a reducing pressure valve which is regulated to suit the weight
to be carried) to the air cylinders, a check valve is sometimes necessarily situated
between the cylinders and pistons, diaphragms, or their equivalents to prevent
excessive straining of the reducing pressure valve. The fluid will when sufficient
pressure has been attained, act as an elastic medium between the bodies of the
vehicles and the wheels-Instead of cylinders and pistons I sometimes use a cup or

page_text: başin the contained air being sealed by an impenetrable fluid such as treacle, I
sometimes use an india rubber sack or bellows or concertina or any vessel that will
hold the fluid when it is acting as an elastic medium-I sometimes use a valve
situated near the elastic fluid so arranged that any excessive amount of pressure is
taken to the other side of the piston, diaphragm, cup, bellows or their equivalent,
in order that the compression induced by the movement of the springs or the body
is compensated, and the shocks are absorbed by friction, a separate valve being
provided for the release of the escaping fluid
I sometimes arrange a piston and cylinder passing over a port or ports after the
manner of Husband's power hammer, I sometimes make the pistons and cylinders
of differential areas, in order to allow for the upward shocks varying in power
with the downward shocks. I sometimes use a separate pipe, carried along the
train in order to supply the cylinders or their equivalents with compressed air or
other fluid.
I sometimes utilize the movement of the body or frame or the wheels of vehicles,
to pump the air or fluid that acts as the elastic medium to the required pressure,
and I occasionally absorb the vibrations and shocks by passing the air or fluid
through a series of small holes.