Locomotive Engine Safety Truck Co. v. Erie Ry. Co.

15 F. Cas. 763, 10 Blatchf. 292, 6 Fish. Pat. Cas. 187, 1872 U.S. App. LEXIS 1370
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York
DecidedDecember 30, 1872
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 15 F. Cas. 763 (Locomotive Engine Safety Truck Co. v. Erie Ry. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Locomotive Engine Safety Truck Co. v. Erie Ry. Co., 15 F. Cas. 763, 10 Blatchf. 292, 6 Fish. Pat. Cas. 187, 1872 U.S. App. LEXIS 1370 (circtsdny 1872).

Opinion

BLATCHFORD, District Judge.

This suit is founded on letters patent granted to Alba F. Smith, February 11th, 1862, for an “improvement in trucks for locomotives.” The specification describes the invention as an “improvement in trucks for locomotive engines.” It says: “Several laterally moving trucks have been made and applied to railroad cars. My invention does not relate broadly to such laterally moving trucks, but my said invention consists in the employment, in a locomotive engine, of a truck or pilot wheels provided with pendent links, [765]*765-to allow of a lateral movement, so that tlie ■ driving wheels of the locomotive engine continue to move correctly on a curved track, in consequence of the lateral movement allowed by said pendent links, the forward part of the engine travelling as a tangent to the curve, while the axles of the drivers are parallel, or nearly so, to the radial line of ■curve. In the drawing, I have represented my improved truck itself. The mode of applying the same to any ordinary locomotive engine will be apparent to any competent mechanic, as my truck can be fitted in the place of those already constructed, or the same may be altered, to include my improvement.” The truck has four wheels, on two .axles, and a frame made in the usual manner of the frame of an ordinary locomotive truck. It has a centre cross bearing plate ■or platform, made of two thicknesses of iron plate, riveted together, and embracing the upper bars of the frame; and a bolster, made of a flanged bar, through a hole in the •centre of which the king-bolt passes. The king-bolt also goes through an elongated ■opening in the bearing plate, to allow a lateral motion to the truck beneath the bolster. At the same time, the king-bolt is .a connection, to hold the truck to the engine. The bolster takes the weight of the engine in the middle, and is itself suspended :at the ends of bars attached to the moving ends of the pendent links, which are attached by bolts, at their upper ends, to brackets on the frame. The distance between the bars, transversely of the truck, is slightly more than that between the bolts, so that the pendent links diverge slightly. The specification says: “When running upon a straight road, the engine preserves great steadiness, because, any change of position, transversely of the track, in consequence of the engine moving over the truck, •or the truck beneath the engine, is checked by the weight of the engine hanging upon the links, and, in consequence of their divergence, any side movement causes the links on the side towards which the movement occurs, to assume a more inclined position, while the other links come vertical, or nearly so. Hence, the weight of the engine :aets with a leverage upon the most inclined links,'to bring them into the same angle as the others, greatly promoting the steadiness •of the engine in running in a straight line. As the pilot or truck wheels enter a curve, .a sidewise movement is given to the truck, in consequence of the engine, and drivers continuing to travel as a tangent to the •curve of the track. This movement, and the ■slight turn of the whole truck on the king-'bolt, not only causes the truck wheels to travel correctly on- the track, with their ■ axles parallel to the radial line of the curve of track, but also elevates the outer side of the engine, preventing any tendency to run •off the track upon the outer side of the ■curve. Upon entering a straight track, the truck again assumes a central position, and, in case of irregularity in the track, or any obstruction, the truck moves laterally, without disturbing the movement of the engine. I do not claim laterally moving trucks, nor pendent links, separately considered.” This claim is: “The employment, in a locomotive engine, of a truck or pilot wheels, fitted with the pendent links, o, o, to allow of lateral motion to the engine, as specified, whereby the drivers of said engine are allowed to remain correctly on the track, in consequence of the lateral motion of the truck, allowed for by said pendent links, when running on a curve, as set forth.”

The proof shows that the defendants have used, in this district, an engine, built by them at Dunkirk, in the Northern district of this state, which has four flanged driving wheels, and contains the invention claimed in Smith’s patent. The issue is as to the novelty of the invention. In order to determine this question, it is necessary to clearly see what invention is claimed in Smith's patent.

He does not claim laterally moving trucks, that is, trucks with laterally swinging bolsters. Nor does he claim pendent links, by themselves. Laterally moving trucks, applied to railroad cars, which had at each end one of such trucks, free also to swivel around a king-bolt, which connected the ear to the truck, and passed through the centre of the swinging bolster, which was the cen-tre of the truck, were old. The specification so admits. But, Smith’s invention, as claimed, is for the use in, and the combination with, a locomotive engine, (that is, a structure having, at its rear end, not a swivelling truck, but non-swivelling driving wheels, with axles rigidly attached to the body of the engine,) of a swivelling pilot or leading truck, provided with pendent links, to allow the forward part of the engine to move laterally over the truck, when the truck and the driving wheels are not together in a straight track, whereby the forward part of the engine can move onward, in a line tangent to a curve, while the axles of the driving wheels are parallel, or nearly so. to the radial line of the curve, and the axles of the truck wheels also become parallel to the radial line of the curve, because the truck is made to swivel around the king-bolt, by the action of the rails on the flanges of the truck wheels.

In going around a curve with a locomotive engine, the axles of the two pairs of driving wheels tend to assume a parallelism to that radius of the curve which is equidistant between the two axles. If the pilot truck has no lateral swing to its bolster, but merely swivels on the king-bolt, the tendency of the action of the truck wheels, on a curve, is to force the king-bolt into a position over the centre of the track. That action is resisted by the body of the engine, and. to accomplish it, the driving wheels must be [766]*766twisted out of tlieir proper position, and must slip and grind on the rails. The reason of this is, that a line drawn longitudinally through the centre of the engine, at right angles to that radius of the curve which is equidistant between the two axles of its driving wheels, will not strike the king-bolt at the centre of the track, unless the driving wheels are so caused to slip. Hence, it was customary, with a pilot truck which only swivelled, and had no lateral swing to its bolster, to make the front driving wheels without flanges, so that they might slide sidewise. But, the antagonism is reconciled, by allowing the king-bolt and the forward end of the engine to move laterally. so as to keep in a line substantially at right angles to the axles of the driving wheels, and outside of the centre of the track, the king-bolt being no longer controlled, in its position, by the truck, and there being no twisting of the driving wheels out of position.

Another feature, developed in the use of the pendent links, is pointed out in the specification.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 F. Cas. 763, 10 Blatchf. 292, 6 Fish. Pat. Cas. 187, 1872 U.S. App. LEXIS 1370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/locomotive-engine-safety-truck-co-v-erie-ry-co-circtsdny-1872.