Improvements in Car Brakes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Aug., 1898-Accepted, 4th Mar., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Car Brakes.
We, JAMES HARRY KEIGHLY MCCOLLUM, Electrician, of 1001, Bathurst Street,
REMIGIUS ELMSLEY, Esquire, of 35, Adelaide Street East, and WILLIAM HENRY
BROUSE, Barrister, of Corner Wellington and Church 'Streets, all of the City of
Toronto, in the County of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment:-
Our invention relates to improvements in car brakes, and the object of our in-
vention is to devise an extremely simple device whereby the brake may be applied
to a car by the exertion of a minimum amount of power automatically exerted
or otherwise and it consists essentially of a chain connected at one end of the brake
lever passing around the axle or rotating part one or more turns and having the
other end connected to a suitable power applying device, the parts being arranged
and constructed in detail as hereinafter more particularly explained.
Fig. 1, is a plan view of a trailer car with the floor removed to exhibit the
parts involved in our invention when working automatically through the draw-
bar.
Fig. 2, is a similar view showing our invention applied by means of the ordinary
brake mast on a motor or other car.
Fig. 3 is a similar view showing portion of a railroad car with pneumatic attach-
ment designed to operate in connection with the Westinghouse or any other
suitable air brake system.
Fig. 4, is a perspective detail of the link of the brake applying chain.
Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the sleeve for the chain of the railroad car
illustrated in Figure 3.
In Figures 1, and 2, A is a brake-lever which is suitably pivoted on the stud
secured at the bottom of the car and is connected by the rods a to the cross bars a¹
to which the brake shoes A¹ are connected and which brake shoes are designed to
operate in the usual manner against the wheels A2 of the car.
B are chains connected to each end of the brake lever A and passing around
each axle Cas indicated. In Figure 1 the front chain is connected at the opposite
end to a lever D which is suitably pivoted at the bottom of the front of the car
and pivotally connected to the draw-bar E, and the rear chain is connected to a
hook e at the bottom of the car.
In Fig. 1 we preferably use a sleeve F on each axle C around which the chain
passes and we also preferably provide on each link of the chain constructed as
shown in Fig. 4, a block b in order to provide for wear in the working of the
chain. We also surround each spool with a box G with outlet branches through
which the chain passes. These branches are preferably packed with oiled waste,
if necessary, in order to prevent dust from penetrating around the chain. Outside
of the branches g connected to the chain B is a spring 61. The draw-bar E is
also provided with the usual cushion-spring. It will be seen on reference to Fig. 1,
LD: 077

page_text: that upon the motor car stopping and pressing the draw-bar E backwardly, it
will tilt the lever D) on its pivot, thereby taking in the slack in the chain B so as
to make it grip upon the spool F which is secured to the axle. As the car is
going in the direction indicated by 'the arrow it will be seen that the chain B will
be pulled in the same direction, thereby pulling on the brake lever A and the
rods a and thus 'throwing the brake shoes against the wheels of the car. When
the lever A is drawn forward at one end as herein before described, necessarily the
chain B on the opposite end of 'the lever will be slackened and as the chain is
reversely wound around the rear axle C such axle will rotate within the chain
without having any effect. When the trailer is going in the opposite direction it
will, of course, be understood, that the position of the levers will be identically
the same taking the opposite end of the car as the front end. In case that more
than one trailer is used and the car is moving in the direction indicated by the
arrow the lever D) of the rear draw bar would always be disconnected from the
chain and the levers connected by a rod 2, which acts as a compensator so that
the brake on each car will do its proportionate share of work in braking.
The spring 6 will relieve any concussion incident to this portion of our device.
In Fig. 2, we provide a swinging extension g' for each branch g of the box G
Of course it will be understood that these boxes do not revolve in any case, being
held in position by the chain. In this case the outer ends of the chain B are con-
nected to the brake mast H which may be operated in any usual manner. We also
provide on the end of the spools a ratchet wheel I with which meshes the dog I¹
pivotally connected to a lug as shown in Fig. 2, directly upon the axle C.
In Fig. 2, the sleeve F¹ is loose on the axle and is only connected to it by means
of the dog I which is secured on the end of the arm attached to or forming
part of the axle. It will thus be seen that as the car moves forwardly in the
direction indicated by the arrow it will carry with it the ratchet wheel and the
sleeve. The slack in the chain is taken up by turning the brake mast H, conse-
quently the rotation of the axle and sleeve will carry with it in the direction indi-
cated by the arrow the chain B and put on the brake as hereinbefore described..
Should the car be standing still, by turning the brake mast H the slack may be
taken up as the ratchet wheel I passes underneath the dog I¹ carrying with it of
course, the sleeve attached to it pulling upon the chain B and putting on the
brake. By providing the loose sleeve and co-acting ratchet wheel and dog it will
also be seen that the brake will be put on even when the car is being backed up.
In Fig. 3, we show one end of a railroad car. In this case we provide a boxing G¹
surrounding the portion of the axle C and provided with branches g. Inside the
boxing G we provide divided sleeves or spools F3, which are mounted on supple-
mental divided sleeves or spools 12. The sleeves 12 are securely clamped on the
shaft by the divided collars having set screws extending into each half of
the sleeves. One divided collar 22 has secured to it the dog . The outer divided
spool or sleeve F is secured together by means of divided collars f3 which break
joint with the divided sleeve and are secured to the ends of same by the bolts f*
which project upon the periphery of the collar and are located at equal distances
apart. It will be noticed that the one collar f³ with its bolts f* forms a toothed
wheel equivalent to the ratchet wheel hereinbefore referred to and designed to
be engaged by the dog equivalent to the dog or pawl hereinbefore referred to.
It will be noticed that we provide two chains B¹ reversely wound around each
spool or sleeve F and having the ends extending out through the branches g.
The inner ends are connected to a cross bar g3 which is pivotally
connected to a rod 2 connected by the extension rods 3 to the cross
bar 4 of the piston rod 5 of the air cylinder 6. The air cylinder
is connected by the pipe 7 to the auxiliary reservoir 8 which is connected
to the train line pipe 9. The auxiliary reservoir and train line pipe and valves
are arranged either precisely as in the Westinghouse system or in any other
suitable manner.
The outer ends of the chains B₁ are connected by the rods 10 and 11 to the

page_text: levers 12 and 13 respectively. The lever 13 is pivoted on a suitable bracket 14
secured at the bottom of the car and is connected with the lever 12 by the link 15.
The lever 12 is connected by a rod 16 to the brake connections at the opposite end
of the car (not shown). The lever 12 is also connected by the rod 17 to the lever 18
which is connected by the link 19 to the cross bar a of the brake shoes and by
the rod 20 to the opposite cross bar a' of the brake shoes designed to act with the
other pair of wheels of the truck.
When the car is going in the direction indicated by arrow and it is desired to
put on the brake the pressure is relieved in the train line pipe 9 in the usual
manner as in the Westinghouse system and the air from the auxiliary reservoir S
passes through the pipe 7 into the cylinder 6 forcing the piston and piston rod 5
in the direction indicated by the arrow and thereby drawing the cross rod g³ in
the same direction pulling upon the inner ends of the chain B¹ and pulling in the
slack of the chain upon the spools or sleeves F. It will thus be seen that as
the car wheel and axle rotate the outer end of the chain connected by the rod 10
to the lever 12 will be pulled upon by the winding of the chains upon the axles
and through the connections hereinbefore described pull the brake shoes A' against
the wheels of this truck and by the rod 16 through similar connections pull on the
brake shoes on the truck on the opposite end of the car (not shown). The chain
of the other spool connected to the rod 11 will of course remain stationary is it
is reversely wound to the chain connected to the rod 10.
It will thus be seen that only on one axle of the truck of a car is our device
necessary. The brake shoes may be also applied when the train is standing still,
by operating the piston as hereinbefore described.
The toothed wheel and dogs herein before referred to on each spool F2 are reversely
set so that when the chain is being wound up by the dog engaging with one so
as to hold the chain when pulled, the other dog passes over the teeth of the wheel
or collar.
It will be seen from the description of our device and its utilization as an air
brake, particularly described as to Fig. 3, that it will obviate entirely the use of
the large air pump and reservoirs now employed on locomotives and consequently
reduce the expense of the air brake system on trains to a minimum.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a car brake, the combination of the axle or rotating part connected thereto,
of the brake lever suitably connected to the brake, a power applying device and a
chain connected at one end of the lever, wound around the axle or rotating part
and connected at the other end to the power applying device as and for the purpose
specified.
2. In a car brake, the combination of the axle or rotating part connected
thereto, of the brake lever, suitably connected to the brake, a power applying
device, and a chain connected at one end of the lever, wound around the axle or
rotating part, and connected at the other end to the power applying device, and
a spring interposed between the end of the chain and the power applying device as
and for the purpose specified.
3. In a
car brake, the combination of the axle or rotating part connected
thereto, of the brake lever suitably connected to the brake, a power applying
device, and a chain connected at one end of the lever wound around the axle or
rotating part and connected at the other end to the power applying device, a spool
or sleeve located loosely on the axle around which the chain passes, a ratchet
wheel forming part of the spool and the co-acting dog secured to the axle as and
for the purpose specified.
4. In a car brake, the combination of the axle or rotating part connected
thereto, of the brake lever suitably connected to the brake, a power applying

page_text: device and a chain connected at one end of the lever wound around the axle or
rotating part and connected at the other end to the power applying device and a
boxing provided with conduit branches for each end of the chain as and for the
purpose specified.
5. In combination the brake shoes, the brake lever, the rods connecting the brake
shoes to the brake lever, the chain connected to one end of the brake lever, and
wound around the axle, the draw-bars, the power applying levers pivotally con-
nected to the draw bars and having the front lever connected to the chain and
the compensating rod connecting such levers as and for the purpose specified.
6. In combination the brake shoes and levers, a pair of sleeves located on the
axle and provided with co-acting ratchet wheels and pawls reversely set, a pair of
chains reversely wound on their respective sleeves and having the outer ends
connected to the brake levers, and an air cylinder and piston suitably operated
from the train line pipe and connected to the inner ends of the chains as and for
the purpose specified.
7. In a device of the class described, the combination of the axle, of a chain
having compressed central portions to the links and rectangular blocks cast or
otherwise formed on the central portion of the links as and for the purpose
specified.
8. In a device of the class described, in combination the axle, the inner divided
sleeve, the end divided collars clamping the sleeve to the axle, the outer divided
sleeve rotatably held on the inner divided sleeve between the collars and held
together by divided collars breaking joint with the division of the two parts of
the sleeve and secured to the ends of such parts by bolts extending through the
collars into the two halves as and for the purpose specified.
Dated the 31st day of August 1808
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicants.