IMPROVEMENTS IN VAN BRAKES
Year: 1885

page_text: I HENRY PENNISTON DUNN of Hope Cottage, Datchet in the County of
Buckingham Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of said invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN VAN BRAKES to be as follows:-
"
According to my invention I construct brakes for vans or other wheeled vehicles
in the following manner.
An ordinary folding foot lever is fixed to the foot board below the driver's seat
and a chain is fastened to the shorter arm of this lever. The length of the chain
may be varied for adjustment and wear by means of a right and left handed screw
coupling. This chain goes down in front of the van and at the bottom over a
roller mounted in bearings at the bottom of the front of and underneath the floor
of the van.
The end of the chain is fastened to the longer arm of a two armed
lever. To the shorter arm of this lever is fixed the brake block; the brake block
is normally kept from contact with the wheel by means of a strong helical or other
spring one end of which is fastened to the long arm of the aforesaid brake lever
and the other end to the floor or framing of the van by means of a hook or other
suitable fastening. A similar brake may also be connected to the chain to act on.
the other hind wheel.
BREWER & JENSEN,
For the Applicant.

page_text: I, HENRY PENNISTON DUNN of Hope Cottage Datchet in the County of
Buckingham Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
According to my Invention I construct brakes for vans or other wheeled vehicles
in the following manner.
And in order that this my Invention may be more easily understood I will
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1
is a plan the dotted lines indicating the front and one side of the van. Figure 2
is a side view of the braking appliance showing the outline of the bottom and front
of the vehicle in thick lines. Figure 2 is a detail front view of the roller E
mounted in bearings El and Figure 3 is a side view of a van showing the general
arrangement of the brake and Figure 4 is an inverted plan of another modification
of the brake with the fore carriage of the van removed.
An ordinary' folding foot lever A is fixed to the footboard B below the driver's
seat and a chain C is fastened to the shorter arm of this lever. The length of the
chain C may be varied for adjustment and wear by means of a right and left
handed screw coupling D which is provided with locking fly nuts.
This chain C goes down in front of the van and at the bottom over a roller E
mounted in bearings E' at the bottom of the front of and underneath the floor of
the van. The end of the chain is fastened to the longer arm of a two armed.
lever F which is mounted in a broad metal bearing block G secured to the bottom
framework H H of the vehicle. To the shorter arm of this lever F is fixed the
brake block I; the brake block I is normally kept from contact with the wheel by
means of a strong helical or other spring K one end of which is fastened to the
long arm of the aforesaid brake lever F and the other end to the floor or framing
of the van by means of a hook or other suitable fastening L. Referring to
Figure 4 a similar brake may also be connected to the chain to act on the other
hind wheel.
In this case the lever F1 on the right hand side of the vehicle may be made a
little shorter than that on the left hand so as to secure a direct pull from the right
foot of the driver. The adjustable couplings D and D¹ are secured to the levers F
and F¹ which are mounted in the blocks G and G¹ respectively preferably at a
distance of about six inches from the ends so that the said couplings D and D¹ may
be screwed up and adjusted separately without interfering with each other. They
are hooked on to the chain C which goes over the pulley or roller E up to the foot
or other lever. As in the single brake before described the brake blocks are
normally kept from contact with the wheels by means of helical springs K and K¹
secured to the waggon at L and L¹. Instead of a folding foot lever an ordinary
foot lever may be employed or, if required, a hand lever.
The brake may with slight modifications be applied to all sorts of vehicles.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
First. A brake appliance consisting of a lever carrying the brake block which
lever is mounted in a massive bearing block said brake block being normally kept
from contact with the wheel by means of a spring or equivalent, motion being
communicated to the brake lever from the driver's seat by means of a chain
or other suitable connection provided with adjusting appliance substantially as
described.
Second. The improved braking appliances as shewn on the accompanying
drawings.
BREWER & JENSEN,
For the Applicant.