IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING RAILWAY BRAKES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Baptiste Antoine Monnier, of Nemours (Seine-
et-Marne), France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACTUATING
RAILWAY BRAKES."
Sealed the 12th May 1859, and dated the 4th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Baptiste Antoine
Monnier at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th December 1858.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE ANTOINE MONNIER, of Nemours (Seine-et-Marne),
France, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ACTUATING RAILWAY BRAKES," to be as follows:-
According to this Invention the apparatus for actuating the brakes is
arranged so that the rotation of the wheels shall, when required, put on the
brakes, and also so that the rotation of the wheels shall, if there is more than
one brake carriage in the train, transmit the motion to all the brakes. For
this purpose, on the axis of one of the wheels of the tender, or of one of the
carriages, there is fixed an eccentric, which gives a to-and-fro motion to a rod
in which there is a U-formed bend; on the end of this rod there is a weight,
which constantly tends to make the rod fall, but the rod is ordinarily held up
by a chain which is attached to a lever, similar to an ordinary brake lever.
Below the bend in this rod there is a crank on an axis which turns in bearings
on bars (one of which is on each side of the tender or carriage) which are

page_text: supported by the axle boxes of the tender or carriage; on each end of this
axis there are three short arms, to which rods are jointed, on the ends of
which are wooden shoes or blocks. When it is required to put on the brakes,
the brake lever is moved so as to slacken the chain and allow the lever having
the U-formed bend to descend. The U-formed bend then embraces the crank
on the axis, on which are fixed the arms carrying the wooden shoes or blocks,
and since a to-and-fro motion is given to the rod by the excentric this axis is
caused to make a partial rotation which causes the wooden shoes or blocks to
be pressed against the tyres of the wheels and also against the rails, so as to
form a skid, by which means the wheels are prevented from rotating. A
wooden shoe or block is placed both in front and behind the wheel which
carries the excentric, so as to stop this wheel from rotating when the brake
is applied, both when the train is being moved forwards or when it is being
backed. On each of the carriages on which brakes are placed there is an
apparatus similar to that above described, except that the chain holding up
the lever with the U-formed bend is actuated in a different manner.
On the centre of the axis to which the rods carrying the wooden shoes or
blocks are attached, there is a quick-threaded screw which gives motion to a
nut, on one face of which there is a toothed rack which drives a pinion mounted
on an axis, which runs longitudinally of the tender or carriage. On the end of
this axis there is a plate, having on one side of the axis a pin or projection,
and on the other side an oval slot. On each of the carriages a similar axis
is mounted, having similar plates fixed on each of its ends, so that when the
carriages are put together, the pin on one plate enters the slot in another
plate, and so forms a continuous axis throughout the train. In each of the
carriages having brakes, the chain which supports the rod having the U-formed
bend is fixed to the axis which runs through the train, and in such a manner
that when this axis is caused to make a partial revolution, the chains will be
slackened, and the rods having U-formed bends allowed to fall, and so actuate
instantaneously all the brakes in a train. When the rods having U-formed
bends are again raised by moving the brake lever, the shoes or blocks are
brought back to their former position by means of springs. Sand may be
allowed to fall from boxes on to the rails in front of the wheels, when required,
so as to increase the adhesion of the wooden shoes or blocks to the rails.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Baptiste Antoine Monnier in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 31st May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
BAPTISTE ANTOINE MONNIER, of Nemours (Seine-et-Marne), France, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jean Baptiste Antoine Monnier, Her special licence that I,
the said Jean Baptiste Antoine Monnier, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jean Baptiste Antoine Monnier, my
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 ACTUATING RAILWAY
BRAKES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jean Baptiste
Antoine Monnier, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describ>
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 Jean Baptiste Antoine Monnier, 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:-
According to this Invention the apparatus for actuating the brakes is
arranged so that the rotation of the wheels shall, when required, put on the.
brakes, and also so that the rotation of the wheels shall, if there is more than
one brake carriage in the train, transmit the motion to all the brakes. For-
this purpose, on the axis of one of the wheels of the tender or of one of the
carriages, there is fixed an excentric which gives a to-and-fro motion to a rod,.
in which there is a U-formed bend; on the end of this rod there; is a weight-
which constantly tends to make the rod fall, but the rod is ordinarily held up
by a chain which is attached to a lever similar to an ordinary brake lever;

page_text: below the bend in this rod there is a crank on an axis which turns in bearings
on bars (one of which is on each side of the tender or carriage) which are
supported by the axle boxes of the tender or carriage; on each end of this
axis there are three short arms to which rods are jointed, on the ends of
which are wooden shoes or blocks. When it is required to put on the brakes
the brake lever is moved so as to slacken the chain and allow the lever having
the U-formed bend to descend; the U-formed bend then embraces the crank
on the axis, on which are fixed the arms carrying the wooden shoes or blocks;
and since a to-and-fro motion is given to the rod by the excentric, this axis is
caused to make a partial rotation which causes the wooden shoes or blocks to
be pressed against the tyres of the wheels, and also against the rails, so as to
form a skid, by which means the wheels are prevented from rotating. A
wooden shoe or block is placed both in front and behind the wheel which
carries the excentric so as to stop this wheel from rotating when the brake is
applied both when the train is being moved forwards or when it is being
backed.
On each of the carriages on which brakes are placed, there is an apparatus
similar to that above described, except that the chain holding up the lever
with the U-formed bend is actuated in a different manner. On the centre of
the axis to which the rods carrying the wooden shoes or blocks are attached
there is a quick-threaded screw which gives motion to a nut, on one face of
which there is a toothed rack which drives a pinion mounted on an axis
which runs longitudinally of the tender or carriage; on the end of this axis
there is a plate having on one side of the axis a pin or projection, & on the
other side an oval slot. On each of the carriages a similar axis is mounted,
having similar plates fixed on each of its ends, so that when the carriages are
put together the pin on one plate enters the slot in another plate and so forms
a continuous axis throughout the train.
In each of the carriages having brakes the chain which supports the rod
having the U-formed bend is fixed to the axis which runs through the train,
and in such a manner that when this axis is caused to make a partial revolution
the chains will be slackened, and the rods having U-formed bends allowed to
fall, and so actuate instantaneously all the brakes in a train. When the rods
having U-formed bends are again raised by moving the brake lever, the shoes
or blocks are brought back to their former position by means of springs.
Sand may be allowed to fall from boxes on to the rails in front of the
wheels when required, so as to increase the adhesion of the wooden shoes or
blocks to the rails.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and

page_text: Figure 1 shows a side view, and Figure 2 a plan partly in section of a
tender, having brake apparatus constructed according to my Invention applied.
thereto. A is a lever attached to one end of a connecting rod a; to the other
end of this rod a chain B is attached, the other end of the chain being.
attached to the rod C, in which there is a U-formed bend, and to which a to-
and-fro motion is given, when the train is in motion, by means of the ex-
centric D on the front axle of the tender; this rod is held up when the train
is proceeding, in the position shewn in the Drawing, by means of the weight
on the end of the lever A; but when the rod C is allowed to fall by moving
the lever A, the U-formed bend in the rod C embraces the pin of the crank G
on the axis K, and so causes this axis to rotate. In place of the rod C being
held up by the chain B and lever A, it may be held up by the connecting
rod B', and brake handle A', as is also shewn in the Drawing, or it may be.
otherwise actuated. The axis K is supported by bars E, E, one on each side
of the tender, which bars are supported as shewn in the Drawing from the
axle boxes of the tender. On each end of this axis there are three short
arms i, i, each of which is jointed to one end of a rod I, the other end of this.
rod being jointed to a rod h, to each end of which is attached a wooden shoe.
or block H. Each of the rods I is formed with a right and left-handed
screw as shown, so that its length may be regulated. One of the wooden
blocks on each side of the tender is placed in front of the wheel, on the axle
of which is the excentric D and the other behind this wheel, so that when the.
brake is applied this wheel is stopped from rotating both when the train is.
moving forwards, and when it is moving backwards. Each of the wooden
blocks is kept in position by being jointed to one end of a rod F, the other end.
of which turns on a centre at e placed above each of the axle boxes, and by
being jointed to a guide f which works in a slot in the bar E. The rods h, h,
which carry the wooden shoes H are attached to rods Q, which are jointed to
the ends of the springs p placed transversely across the under side of the
tender, so that the springs p constantly tend to keep the wooden shoes H.off.
the tyres of the wheels. On the centre of the axis K. there is a quick-threaded.
screw; on this screw there is a nut L, on the under side of which is a rack
which works in a pinion M on the axis m; this axis is for the purpose of.
actuating the brakes on the other carriages of the train to which brakes are.
applied; the axis m is carried by bars O, the nearest one of which to the.

page_text: pinion M is attached to the bars E at the sides of the tender, and carries a
cylindrical rod which works through a hole o in the nut L, and so prevents
the nut from rotating. On the end of the axis m there is a plate N, on one
side of which there is a projecting pin, and on the other an oval slot. Each
carriage is fitted with a similar axis m fitted with plates N, so that when a
number of carriages are put together, the projecting pin of one of the plates N
on one carriage enters the slot of another plate on another carriage, and by
this means a continuous axis is formed throughout the train.
Similar brake apparatus to that above described is applied to each of the
carriages to which it is desired to apply brakes, except that the chain B which
holds up the rod C to which a to-and-fro motion is communicated by the
excentric, in place of being attached to a lever A is attached to the axis m,
which runs throughout the train in such manner, that when this axis is caused
to make a partial revolution the chain will be slackened and the rod C allowed
to fall; and by this means all the brakes in the train will be actuated simul-
taneously. By this means when it is desired to put on the brakes, the lever A
on the tender is moved so as to slacken the chain B, and allow the rod C to
fall when the U-shaped bend formed in it embraces the pin of the crank G on
the axis K, and causes this axis partially to rotate, and so forces the wooden
blocks H against the wheels of the tender, and against the rails, the under
surface of the wooden blocks which press against the rails, and the curved
surface which presses against the tyres of the wheels, are, by preference,
coated with caoutchouc, either vulcanized or not. By this means the wheels
are prevented from rotating, and the tender slides along the rails upon the
blocks or skids H; at the same time the rotation of the axis K causes the
nut L to move sideways, when the rack upon the under side of it causes the
pinion M, and in consequence the axis m which passes throughout the train,
partially to rotate; this slackens the chains B in the other carriages to
which brake apparatus is applied, and allows the rods C in these carriages
to fall, when the U-shaped bends in these rods embrace the pins of the
cranks G and so cause the axis K partially to rotate, and so force the wooden
blocks against the wheels and against the rails. When it is desired
to take off the brakes, the lever A is moved so as to lift the rod C on the
tender so that the U-shaped bend in it no longer embraces the pin of the
crank G; the pins p then raise the blocks H off the rails and off the tyres
of the wheels, and at the same time cause the axis K to revolve in the oppo-
site direction to which it was caused to revolve by the excentric D, and so
causes the nut L to move in the opposite direction to that in which it was
before moved, and in consequence the axis m will also be caused to rotate in

page_text: the contrary direction, and tighten up the chains B on all the carriages to
which brakes are applied; the springs p will then raise the blocks H on these
carriages off the rails and off the tyres of the wheels. The brake apparatus
will then be in a position for the brakes to be again applied when desired.
In front of the tender there is a box R in which a mixture of sand and saw-
dust is placed from the centre of the bottom of which two flexible pipes r, r,
pass, the ends of which are connected to the foremost blocks H, H; the
passage from the box R to the pipes r is stopped by a ball S to which a
handle T is affixed; but when it is desired to allow the mixture of sand and
sawdust to fall on to the rails, the ball S is lifted to allow the mixture to pass
through the pipes.", ".
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would remark that although I prefer to apply a box
containing a mixture of sand and sawdust to the front of the tender, I make
no claim thereto; but what I claim, is, the combination of apparatus herein
described for actuating railway brakes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Baptiste Antoine Monnier, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
MUNNILK ANT.
(L.S.)