Improvements in Car Brakes.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan.,
1895
Improvements in Car Brakes.
A communication from GEORGE H. KINTER, Physician, of 32, Arlington Place,
and GEORGE D. TELLER, Gentleman, of 41, Ketchum Place, both in the City
of Buffalo, County of Erie, State of New York, United States of America.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, 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 improvements in car brakes. The object of the
invention is to provide a simple, cheap and reliable brake mechanism for railway
cars, suitable for making either ordinary or emergency stops, and also to provide
a safety device whereby the improved brake may be automatically applied to any
car becoming accidentally separated from a train.
This invention consists in providing brake drums mounted upon and rigidly
connected to the car axles, contractile brake-shoes suspended from the car frames
or trucks and embracing the brake drums, and chains extending lengthwise of the
cars, each chain having a loop around the brake shoes of the drums to which it is
applied. The brake drums are preferably arranged inside of and close to the car
wheels allowing a drum to each wheel, so as to prevent torsional strain in the axle.
Connections are provided between the main chains which encircle the brake shoes
Means
and an operating device or devices upon one or both platforms of the car.
are also provided for locking the brakes upon the drums and for operating the
braking and locking devices automatically should a train of cars part accidentally,
as by the breaking of a coupling.
For a fuller description of the nature and operation of this invention, reference
is had to the accompanying drawing, which forins a part of this Specification, and
in which
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a car equipped with the improved
brake.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a pair of brake shoes detached.
Fig. 2 shows a different arrangement of the brake shoes.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the under frame of a car; the body and floor being
removed.
Fig. 4 is a section through one of the brake drums and wheels, and
Fig. 5 shows the contiguous ends of two cars coupled together.
Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the body of a tram car and 2 the frame-
work beneath the car. Suitably journalled in the frame-work are the axles 3 upon
which are the usual wheels 4, and also brake drums 5 which, as shown, are cast
integral with the wheels. These drums however may be separate from the wheels,
in which case they are rigidly connected to the axles in some suitable manner.
Contractile brake shoes 6, partially encircling the drums, are hinged or jointed
together, and suspended from the car truck or frame. As illustrated in Fig. 1 the
shoes are connected together by a hinge 7 and suspended from the car frame by
spiral springs 8, said springs being arranged to draw the shoes apart and away
from the brake drum, as well as to sustain the weight of the shoes. In Fig. 24
the shoes 6 are hinged together at their upper extremities by a pin 7° and suspended
by a single spiral spring 8. The shoes are normally forced apart at their lower
euds by a spiral spring 9 having its ends in sockets 10 in the shoes.
Do31

page_text: Main chains 11 extend lengthwise of the car and are attached to the car frame
at each end by hooks or suitable fastenings 12. As illustrated, there is one of
these chains upon each side of the car and in line with the brake drums, and each
chain has loops which encircle the brake shoes of the drums over which it extends.
The chains are independent of the brake shoes and in the operation of the brakes
they may slip upon the shoes. Furthermore, the shoes being free from the chains
always return to their normal positions, when the tension of the chains is relaxed,
by virtue of the springs 8 or 8 which sustain the shoes.
The brakes are applied by drawing upon the main chains at either end thereof,
and they may therefore be applied from either platform, although we have for
convenience only shown a brake lever upon one platform. To the main chain 11
are connected operating chains 13, which latter chains are connected to winding
drums 14 upon a shaft 15 extending across the frame beneath the car platform.
To these winding drums are also connected safety chains 16, which, for convenience
may be continuations of the chains 13, set screws 17 being used to connect the
chains to the drums. An operating lever 18 is rigidly connected to the shaft 15
and a toothed sector 19 and pawl 20 is provided for locking the lever.
The
vertical shafts with ratchet wheels and bevel gears, now commonly used on
vestibuled cars, may be substituted for the lever and sector, if desired.
Connecting chains 21 are provided for connecting the main chains of one car
to those of the adjacent cars. For convenience in coupling, these chains are
preferably connected to single chains 22 at the ends of the cars, the chains 22
being provided with suitable hooks or couplings at their extremities.
When cars are coupled together one or both safety chains at the end of each car
are connected with the adjacent car, and their respective connecting chains are also
coupled together. When the brake lever is drawn back, the operating chains 13
draw the main chains and tighten the loops about the brake shoes, thus contracting
the shoes upon the brake drums and applying the brakes. The brakes next to the
operating lever take effect first. Immediately when they come in contact with the
drum they rotate slightly with the drum and aid in tightening the loops upon
the brake shoes next in the rear. This operation very materially assists the
brakeman in putting on the brakes and very largely reduces the labor incident
thereto. It is found that the brakes can be applied instantly, when haste is
necessary, and that the retarding force of the brakes can be utilized in any degree
required. The connecting chains transmit the movement from the main chains of
one car to those of the adjacent car and in this manner the brakes may be applied
from one end of a train to the other very quickly, the power required to set each
brake being transmitted partly from the lever and partly from the brake ahead,
which has been previously set.
Should the couplings break between two cars, the safety chains, before breaking,
will rotate the drums 14 and set the brakes upon the detached cars. The lever 18
will at the same time be thrown back and automatically locked so that the brakes will
remain applied and the cars be quickly stopped, thus preventing collision with the
forward part of the train. The safety chains are preferably made lighter than
the operating chains 13 so that they will break before sufficient strain is put upon
the operating chains to break the latter. For a similar reason the connecting
chains are made slightly lighter than the main chains.
In case
While these improvements are shown applied to a tram car, it will be evident that
they are equally applicable to other cars, either with or without trucks.
trucks are used the brake shoes would naturally be suspended from the truck
frames instead of from the car body. In the claims, the words "car frame" will
be used as a term including either the main frame or the truck frame of a car.
It will be evident that various changes in the details of the construction of this
invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. Thus, for
instance, wire ropes or other cables may be used instead of chains, although the
latter are preferred, as slack or wear in any of the parts may be readily taken up
by unhooking the chains and connecting to other links.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, and in what
manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is ;-
1. In a car brake, the combination with an axle and a brake drum upon said
axle, of contractile brake shoes suspended from the car frame and arranged around
the drum, and a chain or cable, independent of the brake shoes, extending
lengthwise of the car and having a loop or convolution surrounding said brake
shoes, substantially as described.
2. In a car brake, the combination with a plurality of axles provided with brake
drums, of brake shoes suspended from the car frame and arranged around the
drums, and a chain or cable, independent of the brake shoes, extending lengthwise
of the car and having loops or convolutions surrounding the brake shoes,
substantially as described.
3. In a car brake, the combination with a plurality of axles provided with brake
drums, of brake shoes arranged around the drums and suspended from the car
frame by yielding connections, and a chain or cable extending lengthwise of the
car and having loops or convolutions surrounding the brake shoes, substantially as
described.
4. In a car brake, the combination with an axle and a brake drum upon said
axle, of brake shoes surrounding the drum, a chain or cable extending lengthwise
of the car and having a loop around the brake shoes, a winding-drum to which the
chain is connected, a locking device for the winding-drum, and an extension of the
chain from the winding-drum adapted to be connected to an adjoining car, whereby
the brake is automatically set and the winding-drum locked when the cars become
separated, substantially as described.
5. In a car brake, the combination with a plurality of axles provided with brake
drums, of brake shoes suspended from the car and arranged around the drums, a
main chain or cable extending lengthwise of the car and having loops or convolutions
surrounding the brake shoes, operating chains and winding-drums therefor for
operating the brakes, and connecting chains for uniting the main chains of adjacent
cars, substantially as described.
Dated this 4th day of December 1894.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.