Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Lorries and other Vehicles.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 7th July, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 4th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 8th Apr., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Lorries and other Vehicles.
I, WILLIAM BROUGH BERREY, of Rainford Mill Rainford near St. Helens in
the County of Lancaster, Miller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object an arrangement of brake whereby the backing
of the horse shall itself put on the brake.
The invention consists in connecting the shafts or some portion of the harness
with the brake in such manner that whenever the horse backs on the shafts the first
effect is to put on the brake, unless a stop is especially inserted or thrown down to
avoid this action, or the converse can be adopted and the brake apparatus only
applied when a given stop or connection is in position. The effect can be adopted
in a variety of ways.
The shafts can be connected direct to the brake, or they can
be attached to the ends of levers which are also connected by links or otherwise to
the brakes.
Deted the 6th dox of Tuly 1900
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Lorries and other Vehicles.
I, WILLIAM BROUGH BERKEY of Rainford Mill, Rainford near St. Helens in
the County of Lancaster, Miller & 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 :-
This invention relates to brake apparatus for lorries, and other vehicles.
By this invention (when applied to horse vehicles) the shafts or some portion of
the harness are connected with the brake in such manner that whenever the horse
backs on the shafts, the first effect is to put on the brake unless a stop is
especially inserted or thrown down to avoid this action, or the converse can be
adopted and the brake apparatus only applied when a given stop or connection is
in position. The effect can be produced in a variety of ways. The shafts can be
connected direct to the brake or they can be attached to the ends of levers which
are also connected by links or otherwise to the brakes.
On the accompanying drawing is depicted a convenient way in which the invention
can be applied to a lorry, in which,
Figure 1 is an elevation, and
Figure 2 a plan of the same.
In these,
A, are the shafts having lugs or studs a attached thereto in the usual manner
and B the lorry, also provided with the ordinary studs or lugs b. Links C form
the connection between these lugs. A cross bar e passes through the lugs a attached
to the shafts and also through the lower end of the aforesaid links, and carries
(preferably at each outer end) one end of a link D, the other end of which is pivoted
to an arm d of a second cross bar E which carries the brake blocks e.
bar E is shown in the drawings supported by the ordinary spring shackles or links F,
but it will be evident that it can be supported in a variety of ways.
If necessary
the cross bar E could be dispensed with and the links D attached directly to the
The cross

page_text: brake block e, the latter being suspended from the lorry in any convenient manner.
G are brackets bolted or otherwise secured to the lorry and formed with a large
hole or slot G¹ to receive the cross bar c and by means of which any movement of
the latter can be prevented for purposes hereinafter described. It will be evident
from the above description that, if a horse harnessed to the shafts A backs, the
cross bar c and the links D mounted thereon will be moved backward, thereby
forcing the brake blocks e against the wheels of the lorry. Now to make it
possible to back the lorry without applying the brake, pins may be inserted in
holes g in the brackets G, or, as shown in the drawings, blocks H of any suitable
material may be fixed to a rod h (preferably square) which is supported in guides
and provided with handle h². On pushing the rod h, the blocks H: will enter the
holes G¹ in the brackets G and fill up the same, thereby preventing any
backward movement of the parts hereinbefore described and consequently the.
application of the brake. The blocks H and guides are not shown in Figure 1
for the sake of clearness.
I have described one way in which my invention may be carried into effect, but
it is obvious that once given the general idea, it may be applied to carts, cabs, bath
chairs, perambulators, steam tramcars, land rollers and vehicles of every description
and will be found particularly useful when going down an incline. The exact
method of carrying out the invention will depend very much on the form of vehicle.
to which it is applied, the principal idea being that of connecting the brake blocks.
with the shafts, harness, drawlinks or other part, by which the vehicle is propelled
in such a manner that a backward movement will put on the brakes and a forward
movement will take off the same. The brake may be applied to only one wheel if
desired, or, by means of connecting rods, to the four wheels. An important feature
of this invention is the application of brake blocks to the front wheels of a four
wheeled vehicle such an application (so far as I am aware) having never before
been employed.
When the invention is applied to steam tramcars, the backward movement of
the engine will put on the brakes; when applied to bath chairs the backward
movement of the chair-man would put them on, and when adapted for perambulators,
bassinettes or other carriages in which the propelling power is in the rear, the
ceasing of the attendant to propel the carriage or his pulling the same back will
apply the brake. The brake block e is in such case operated by ceasing to push
the vehicle by the handle; or the rod D is operated by a pivoted hand lever
located near the handle of the carriage. The grasping and pulling together of
this pivoted hand lever and handle of the carriage when propelling the carriage
pulls off the brake block e, but when the carriage is ceased being propelled, the
attendant releases his hold of the hand lever and handle and the block is auto-
matically applied to the wheel by means of the spring. When therefore the
attendant leaves the perambulator, the brake is instantly applied, and the pressure
of the spring is great enough to keep the perambulator stationary. It can thus
safely be left on sloping ground or in a high wind as the brake prevents the carriage
from moving away.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The improved brake apparatus for lorries, cabs and other vehicles arranged
substantially as described, whereby the brake blocks are connected with the shafts,
couplings, handles or other part by which the vehicle is propelled, and a backward
movement of the latter will instantly apply the brake or brakes and a forward
movement release them.
2. In combination with a brake apparatus such as described in Claim 1, an
adjustable stop so arranged that when the stop is in action on the backing of the
horse the brake is not applied.

page_text: 3. The improved brake apparatus for bassinettes, perambulators or other like
vehicles propelled from the rear, arranged substantially as described, whereby the
brake is instantly applied when the attendant ceases to propel the carriage or looses
his grasp of the handle.
Dated this 24th day of March 1893
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, and London, Patent Agents.