Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Railways and Tramways.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by BOLESLAV MALECKI, of 45, Königgratzer Strasse,
Berlin, in the German Empire.]
Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Railways and Tramways.
I, CHARLES FAIRHOLME of No. 18 St. Dunstan's Hill in the City of London
Captain in the Royal Navy, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in.
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:—
This invention relates to an arrangement of brake apparatus in which brake
blocks are pivotted to pendulous suspension rods or hangers and are so connected by
levers and rods, that on the application of the blocks to the running wheels, these are
Caused by the frictional contact to carry the blocks along with them a certain distance,
whereby the pressure of the blocks against the wheels is automatically increased, such
action being communicated from the one block to the others by the before mentioned
lever and rod connections.
I will proceed to describe the invention with reference to the accompanying
drawing, in which
Fig. 1 shews a side elevation of the underframing of a railway or tramway vehicle-
with the brake apparatus attached.
Fig. 2 shews an enlarged view of one wheel with its brake apparatus.
Fig. 3 is an end view of the left band side brake gear.
Fig. 4 an end view of the right hand side gear and
Fig. 5 a sectional plan.
The brake blocks K' K² K³ K' are pivotted to pivotted hangers E' E' E' E' whica
have their lower parts beyond the pivots of the blocks bent outwards somewhat.
To the end of the hanger E' is pivotted at a' a double ended lever A', whose upper
end is connected by a rod D to a bell crank lever C loaded with a weight G, and con--
nected to a rod worked by hand or other power for raising the lever and weight so as
to bring the brake apparatus out of gear. The hangers E' and E' are pivotted to fixed
points on the under framing but the hangers E2 E³ are pivotted to bell crank
levers H H which are pivotted to the framing, and thus these rods together with
their brake blocks are capable of moving up and down to a certain extent.
The lower end of lever A' is connected by a rod F' to the lower end of hanger E³,
and the lower end of lever A2, pivotted at a² to E' is connected by rod F2 to
the lower end of hanger E2. The upper end of A' is connected by rod B2 to
the pivot of K3 and a corresponding point of A' is connected by a rod B to the
pivot of K'.
If now the lever C be pulled downward by the weight G for applying the brakes,.
the rod D will pull the upper end of lever A¹ over to the left; by this movement the
rod B will be made to pull block K' in contact with the wheel, and the fulcrum thus
afforded to A will also cause hanger E' to bring block K' against the wheel. On the
application of block K' the frictional contact with the wheel will cause this together
with its hanger to move either upward or downward, according to the direction in
which the wheel is revolving. By this motion of K² a pull will be exerted on rod F³,
causing this to pull lever A³ so as to apply block K³ through rod_B³ and then also, by
the fulcrum afforded by K³, to cause hanger E' to apply block K. On the applica-
tion of K³ the frictional contact with the wheel will cause it to be carried either
upward or downward; this motion will cause rod F¹ to pull lever A' over still further,.
thereby applying block K' with still greater force, and also pulling block K' on still
tighter by rod B.
The resulting increased vertical movement of K' will again react on A' K³ and K*
and thus the mutual reaction of the parts will be repeated until the maximum brake
power has been attained.

page_text: By connecting the bell crank levers H' I² by a rod Z the one brake block and its
hanger will be balanced by the other one, thus dispensing with levers and balance
weight, and a further reaction between these parts will also take place tending to
increase the efficacy and uniformity of the brake action.
On raising lever C and weight G, lever A¹ is moved back to the right hand, thereby
bringing all the brake blocks out of contact again.
The above described brake apparatus for the wheels on one side of the vehicle is
independent of the apparatus for the wheels on the other side, and both sets may
either be independently put in and out of action, or they may be worked
simultaneously by one and the same hand or other gear.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. Brake apparatus for railway and tramway vehicles wherein the brake gear for
the wheels on the one side is rendered independent of that on the other side by
connecting the one brake block (K' and K') of each wheel to a pivotted hanger (E
and E) to which is also pivotted a double ended lever (A' and A²) actuated by the
hand or other power and connected by rods B1 B2 and F F2 to vertically moveable
brake blocks K and K³ substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
2. In brake apparatus such as is referred to in the preceding claim, the suspension
of the hangers E E from fixed points of the underframing, while the hangers E2 E
are suspended from vertically moveable points, in combination with levers A' and A'
pivotted at a and a to the hangers E' and E', rods F' and F2 connecting respec-
tively A¹ with E3 and A2 with E² and rods B₁ B2, connecting respectively AP with E³,
and A2 with E³, so that by a pull exerted upon A all four blocks are applied to the
wheels, the degree of such application being gradually increased by the reciprocal
action of the parts due to the vertical motion of the brake blocks K2 and K³,
substantially as described.
3. In brake apparatus such as is referred to in the preceding claims, the suspension
of the hangers E² and E3 from bell crank levers H!. H connected by a rod Z
whereby the one block and hanger is made to balance the other block and hanger, so
as to avoid the use of counterweights and levers and effect a more uniform distribution
of the brake power, substantially as described.
Dated this 18th day of June 1890.
ABEL & IMKAY,
Agents for the Applicant.