CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO AND EMPLOYED IN CONNECTION WITH RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WORSDELL, Junior, late of Stratford, in the County of Essex, but now of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Railway Carriage Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of October, in the ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Worsdell, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Thomas Worsdell, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Thomas Worsdell, my executors,
administrators, 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 men-
tioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO AND EMPLOYED IN
CONNECTION WITH RAILWAY CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso obliging me, the said Thomas Worsdell, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Worsdell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists, in the first place, in an improved construction of
apparatus to be applied to railway carriages, for protecting the passengers from
injury in case of collision; and, secondly, in an improved construction of jack
for lifting heavy bodies, and particularly railway carriages and engines.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings my improved apparatus for pro-
tecting passengers is shewn as applied to a railway carriage. It consists of a
padded shield placed across the front end of the carriage, and so mounted that
in case of a collision it shall fly up and cover the glass in the front part of the
carriage. Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a carriage, shewing also the padded
shield and apparatus belonging thereto; Fig. 2 is a cross section taken in the
line 1...2, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of part of the framing of the
carriage, shewing the connection of the buffers with the apparatus for raising
the shield. a is a horizontal bar placed under the carriage, and having forked
ends which embrace the rods b, b, of the buffers. In the middle of this bar is
a slot or opening to allow the rod c to pass through it, which rod is intended
to connect the carriage with its next adjoining. Immediately below the slot
on the under surface of the bar a, a rack d is provided. e is a vertical sliding
rod, forked at its upper end, and shewn detached at Fig. 4. f is a pivot which
projects from the framing of the carriage, and is intended to carry the arms g, g.
The other end of these arms g is provided with a pin, which slides in hori-
zontal slots in the bottom of the frame of the shield h. i, i, are vertical rods
to guide the shield in its upward and downward course. The lower end of
the sliding rod e is furnished with a rack k, and immediately above the rack a
slot or opening is made in the rod through which the connecting rod c passes.
is a quadrant rack mounted in suitable bearings on the framing of the
carriage, and is so placed that its teeth shall be in gear with both the racks
d and k. In a slot in each of the buffer rods b, b, a cottar is driven, the ends of
which, projecting out from the periphery of the rol, will, when the buffers are

page_text: driven in with more than ordinary violence, come in contact with the ends of
the horizontal bar a. The operation of the apparatus for raising the shield is
as follows: Suppose (as will be the case in a collision) the buffers to be forced
in, as shewn by dots at Fig. 3, the cottars in the buffer rods will come against
the ends of the bar a, and drive it back. This action will cause the quadrant
rack, which is in gear with the rack d on the bar a, to raise the rod e by means
of the rack on its lower end. The sudden rising of the rod e to the distance
allowed by the strength of the slot in that rod will cause the arms g, g, to start
up, and force the shield upwards, so that it shall cover the glass in the front
of the carriage, and thus interpose a soft padding for the protection of the
passengers.
The second part of my Invention (viz.), an improved construction of jack
for moving heavy bodies, is shewn in Sheet II. as employed in connection with a
railway carriage. Fig. 1 is a side view of the jack, holding a carriage in suspen-
sion; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan taken in line 1...2, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an
end view of the same. a is a quadrant or rocking piece of cast or wrought
iron, having in its upper part a seat or bearing to receive the pivots projecting
from a wrought-iron ring b. The lower edge of the quadrant a is the segment
of a circle, with a few inches of flat surface at each end of the arc; and it is
provided with teeth, the better to take hold of the plate or shoe a*, over which
it will travel when intended to move the carriage laterally. On each end of
the quadrant sockets are made to receive the end of levers for moving the jack
forward. The sides of these sockets incline inwards for the purpose of allowing
the levers to be placed at an angle, if thought convenient, in using the jack.
c is a lifting screw, which passes through the ring b, and also through a ratchet
wheel d, which is placed immediately above the ring b, and has a worm cut on
its interior, to take into the thread of the screw c. To the upper end of this
screw a table e is attached, for supporting the carriage or other heavy body to
be lifted, and to the lower end of the screw a disc is attached, of a diameter
sufficiently large to prevent the ring b from dropping away from the screw
when lifted off the quadrant a. The ratchet wheel dis embraced by the forked
arms f, which terminate in a pin g. h is a piece of metal which slides on the
pin g, and carries a click or pawle i for working the ratchet wheel; - it is also
provided with a socket to receive the end of a lever (see the detached sectional
view, Fig. 4) for working the click and ratchet wheel. A vertical slot is made
through the sliding piece h and the pin g, to receive a key, by means of which
the sliding piece is kept firm in its place. k is a spring for keeping the click
or pawle in contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Supposing a carriage

page_text: is to be lifted on to the rails A, A, of a railway, as shewn at Fig. 1, the jack is
placed under the cross head of the carriage, and a small bar of iron attached
to the table e is laid thereon, in order to incline the screw c a little out of the
perpendicular in the direction in which the carriage is intended to be moved,
to prevent the screw being strained. A lever is then applied to the socket of
the sliding piece h, to work round the ratchet wheel, by means of which the
screw c is elevated until the table of that screw raises up the carriage to the
required height. The lever is then removed, and placed in a socket of the
quadrant, as shewn at 1, Fig. 1; and its upper end being depressed, the
quadrant will move forward to the position shewn by the red lines, when
the carriage wheels will be immediately over the rails. The screw c is now
depressed, by knocking out the key in the sliding piece h, and turning it over,
for the click or pawle to act upon the other side of the ratchet wheel, when,
the key being replaced, and the lever again applied, the screw may be depressed
until the wheels rest upon the rails. As sockets are provided on each side of
the quadrant, two or more levers may be used, and thus the operation of trans-
ferring the carriage from one spot to another will be readily effected. When
the jack is not in use, the screw with its ratchet wheel may be lifted off the
quadrant, and the apparatus may be packed away in a small compass for
transmission to another place, where it may be required to be employed.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim, under the above in part
recited Letters Patent,―
First, the improved construction of apparatus as above described, with
reference to Sheet I. of the Drawings, for raising a shield to project the
passengers in railway carriages, which apparatus is brought into action when
the buffers are driven up with violence.
And with respect to the second head of my Invention, I claim the applica-
tion of the quadrant or segmental rocking piece to a lifting jack, as above
explained, with reference to Sheet II., whereby I am enabled to communicate
a forward or backward movement to the jack when sustaining or carrying a
load.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Worsdell, Junior, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
THOMAS (L.S.) WORSDELL, Jun'.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-second day of
April, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Thomas Worsdell came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
written.
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Twenty-third day of April, in the year above written.
Inrolled the same Twenty-third day of April, in the year above written.