Improvements in Brake Blocks for Railway Rolling Stock and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Dec.,. 1897
Complete Specification Left, 17th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 3rd Dec.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Brake Blocks for Railway Rolling Stock and
the like.
I, FREDERICK GANDY, of Staveley Iron Works, near Chesterfield, in the County
of Derby, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows: -
My invention relates to improvements in brake blocks particularly applicable
for railway rolling stock and also to tramcars and the like, and the chief objects
of my improvements are to preserve the wheel tyre in true form and to prolong
the life of the wheel before it is necessary to true it up in a lathe, and also to
lengthen the duration of the brake block.
My improved brake block is formed with soft metallic frictional surfaces
separated by pieces of hard steel or other suitable metal which are preferably
of dovetail shape in transverse section; these pieces of hard metal are laid in a
special mould and the brake block is cast round them so that the block when
cast has its cast metal face flush or level with the face of the pieces of steel or
their equivalents, so as to form brake surfaces composed of alternately soft and
hard metal.
I propose to shape the brake surface of the block so that it acts chiefly upon
that surface of the wheel tyre which does not rest normally on the rail and I
also employ the hard pieces on that part of the block which acts upon the flange
of the tyre.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
Agents for Applicant.
Improvements in Brake Blocks for Railway Rolling Stock and
the like,
I, FREDERICK GANDY, of Staveley Iron Works, near Chesterfield, in the County
of Derby, Engineer, 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:-
My invention relates to improvements in brake blocks particularly applicable
for railway rolling stock and also to tramcars and the like, and the chief objects
of my improvements are to preserve the wheel tyre in true form and to prolong
the life of the wheel before it is necessary to true it up in a lathe, and also to
lengthen the duration of the brake block.
-My improved brake block is formed with soft metallic frictional surfaces

page_text: separated by pieces of hard steel or other suitable metal which are preferably
of dovetail shape in transverse section; these pieces of hard metal are laid in a
special mould and the brake block is cast round them so that the block when
cast has its cast metal face flush or level with the face of the pieces of steel or
their equivalents, so as to form brake surfaces composed of alternately soft and
hard metal.
I propose to shape the brake surface of the block so that it acts chiefly upon
that surface of the wheel tyre which does not rest normally on the rail and I
also employ the hard pieces on that part of the block which acts upon the flange
of the tyre.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings-
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the inside of a brake block made according to my
invention and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken through Fig. 1. Fig. 3
is a sectional view showing part of a railway wheel tyre and the brake block.
In the drawings, a designates a cast iron brake block, b hard steel pieces
or their equivalents cast in the brake block, c part of a railway wheel tyre
and d part of a locomotive frame.
The brake block is formed with soft metallic frictional surfaces separated by
the pieces 6 of hard steel or their equivalents which I prefer to make of dovetail
shape in transverse section; these pieces of hard steel or their equivalents b are
laid in a special mould and the brake block a is cast round them so that the
block when cast has its cast metal face flush or level with the face of the pieces
of steel or their equivalents, so as to form brake surfaces composed alternately
of soft metal and hard steel or its equivalent.
By referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the steel or other hard pieces in
that part of the brake block which comes against the tread of the wheel are
tapered toward the wheel flange and the hard pieces are so placed that where the
wheel bears the hardest and wears the most on the rails, that is to say near to
its flange there is no steel in the block to wear the tyre. The steel or equivalent
hard pieces are so shaped and placed in the brake block that they act against
the tread of the wheel tyre gradually from a point not far from the wheel flange
and to the full or greatest extent where the tyre does not come in contact with
the rail.
I propose also to employ hard pieces of steel b in the brake block as shown in
the drawings to act upon the flange of the wheel; my improved brake block is
designed to act also as a wheel dressing device to maintain the tyre of the wheel
of its original form.
Although I have only shown a brake applicable to flanged wheels it is obvious
that my improved brake block could be applied to wheels without flanges, which
run on rails.
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:
1. A brake block for railway rolling stock, tramcars, and the like, into which
hard steel or other suitable pieces are cast substantially as and for the purposes
described.
2. A brake block for railway rolling stock, tramcars and the like, cast with
hard metal or other suitable pieces arranged to act as a brake and a wheel
dressing device when applied to the tread of a wheel substantially as and for
the purposes described.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
Agents for Applicant, 17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.