provements in or relating to Brake Apparatus for Road and other Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 11th June, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 9th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 2nd June, 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in or relating to Brake Apparatus for Road and
other Vehicles.
We, LÉON REMONDY, of 16, Rue du Piogrès, Vincennes, and PAUL HALLOT,
of 47, Rue de Sené, Vannes, both in the Republic of France, Lieutenants of
Artillery, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows-
The object of this invention is to provide means for automatically applying
brakes to road, railway and other vehicles, and its leading idea is, to utilise for
this purpose the momentum of the vehicle itself, and also the working of the
coupling devices or draw gear in such manner as to enable the brake to be
applied with gradually increasing force, proportionate to the momentum of the
vehicle
According to one arrangement a cord or cable hereinafter termed a brake-
cable, is attached to a fixed point of the vehicle, and to the end of a draw-rod,
either direct, or perhaps more often, through the medium of a swing-bai oi
lever, which serves to balance the brake action exercised upon the hubs of the
two wheels simultaneously This brake-cable is passed through or over two
pulley blocks or sheaves, one of which, is connected by any suitable power-
transmitting devices to an operating lever, placed within the driver's reach,
while the other is connected to the brake rod
A suitable spring of any desired type bears against a stationary portion of
the vehicle and tends to move the draw-rod in the direction required for bring-
ing the brake into the operative position
The diaw-rod is moieover connected
to the vehicle-propelling medium by a cord or cable and it is this rod which
sustains the entire tractive strain or "pull which it transmits to the vehicle
through the medium of the before mentioned compressible spring So long as
the power to propel or draw the vehicle exceeds the power necessary to compless
the spring, the brake remains open or pff, but the moment that, in con-
sequence of the momentum of the vehicle, the speed of the latter exceeds that
of the drawing or propelling medium (whether the latter be an animal, or suit-
able motor mechanism), the cable becomes loose and the sping is released and
moves the brake automatically into operative position, to an extent just sufficient
to restore the equilibrium which had been destroved, which action gradually
ceases of its own accord, the moment the equilibrium is restored, while a spring
serves to return the brake-shoe to its normal inoperative position By means of
a lever for which might be substituted a pedal or other suitable operating
device, capable of being retained in any desired position of adjustment by a
spring controlled rack the brake-cable may be tightened more or less, and thus the
power of the brake varied, no matter whether the brake be applied automatically or
controlled by the conductor
In the case of vehicles provided with a pivotted fore-carriage, the cable which
connects the draw-rod to the vehicle-drawing or propelling medium, engages
with guiding devices arranged axially in relation to the fore-carriage pivot,

page_text: whereby the tractive strain or "pull" is in its entirety transmitted to the paits
of the brake-device
The automatic brake may readily be applied to carnages provided with
ordinary brake-shoes and actuating screws, to which end it is only necessary to
supplement the existing brake-shoes, say, by the addition of a brake-cable con-
nected to the said brake-shoes, and further to make provision in the operating
gear of such brahes, for a certain amount of "play" to allow the compressible
spring to come into operation. This result may be attained in a simple manner
by interposing between the brake-operating rod and lever a flexible connection,
such for example, as a chain, a spring being provided for drawing the brake-
shoe back Or the boss of the brake-shoe lever o arm may be loose upon the
driving shaft and be independently moveable thereon to an extent limited by a
pin secured in the shaft and engaging with a slot in the said boss In either
case the before described spring will tend to bring the brake into the operative
position, but will be opposed by the draw-rod, the driver being always at liberty
to operate the brake whenever he chooses, whilst retaining his usual control over
the ordinary brake operating devices as an additional incans of checking the
motion of the vehicle
In another arrangement the spring is in the form of a blade-spring and
tends to render the parts of the automatically operating mechanism independant
of the brake-devices proper and the brake 18 controlled by means of a cable which
18 operated from a pivotted pedal level, the blade-spring being placed under the
shorter arm of the said lever and tending as it always does to bring the brake
into the operative position The cable which connects the spring to the traces
18 guided by suitable pulleya one of which is mounted in a doubly-pivotted or
universally-jointed housing and connected to the end of a lever-arm keyed on
to a shaft whereon the coupling or lever-arms nie secured, which latter are con-
nected to the traces by suitable ties--such as the T-chains for example or where
mechanical drawing-appliances are employed, by any flexible connection
The
In the operation of this arrangement the moment the trace which transmits
the "pull" is released, the spring begins to operate the automatic brake
brake in all cases remains under the driver's control, and even while the vehicle
18 in full motion he need only depress the longer pedal-arm to bing the brake
into its operative position There may be fitted, to each end of the pedal lever,
spring-controlled racks or similar devices, enabling the pedal to be retained in
any desired position; thus automatic action may, if prefered, be limited more
or less, or altogether dispensed with, or a brake-action of a pre-determined force
might be maintained.
In applying our automatic brake-controlling device to trains of carriages, or
to vehicles provided with two bogies connected by a coupling-pin or bolt or
pintle we utilize the "play" necessarily existing between two adjoining vehicles,
or bogies, for bringing the brake of either constituent part of the train into
operation whenever the speed of such part of the train exceeds that of the part
immediately preceding
In one of these last mentioned arrangements the brake-controlling spring is
balanced by the cable fastened to the coupling pin. Whenever the rear vehicle
tends to overtake or approach nearer to the immediately preceding vehicle the
distance between the spring and the pin is reduced and the cable thereby relieved
from tension, the brake being as before described brought into the operative
position
In another of these arrangements the brake is supposed to be brought into
the operative position by forcing back the rigid draw-bar. The spring, how-
ever, here tends to prevent the brake from being operated, as it resists the recoil
of the draw-bar so that such draw-bar abuts against the coupling pin, and as this
pin has a tendency to move nearer to the spring, at repels the draw-bar and
moves the brake into the operative position
In another arrangement as applied to a train of vehicles intended to travel

page_text: either on a 10ad or on lails, rigid bars serve for supporting buffers and actuate
a lever at two points symmetrical to the axis of oscillation of the said level
One end of the said lever controls the biake, while the other is operated on by
the spring
It will be understood that instead of acting by compression and being ngid,
the diaw-bars or rods may be replaced by cables operating by tension, in which
case the fire end of either of the cables, as required, would be fastened to the
frame of the pieceding carriage, and the spring operates by expansion and he-
comes an automatic biake-controlling spring
This last-mentioned arrangement enables the brakes to be applied simul-
taneously and gradually to all the cannages of a train in motion by simply
retarding or stopping the motion of the motor-engine. It is only necessary to
fasten the cable of one carriage to the coresponding cable of the preceding
cariage; one continuous cable will then be obtained, which may easily be kept
stretched to an unvarving degree of tension after coupling the carriages together
so as to leave them no play, by means of any suitable compensating mechanism
This cable should be connected, through the medium of a rack, say, to the piston
of a compressed-an chamber, so that the engine-diver may increase or deciease
the tension of the cable at will, and thus, by means of a suitable brake-ari ange-
ment, have the speed of the train under his contiol Should any of the caulages
become uncoupled, or should the cable become loose as an effect of inertia, the
springs would then instantaneously apply all the biakes In order that the
biakes may operate automatically also while the engine is driving the train back-
wards, it will be sufficient, by means of a transmission lever, to connect the
bufters of the traction motor to the extremity of the cable and so to operate on
the buffers that, while the carriages are being duiven back, they shall only be
compressed to the extent necessary to impart to the cable the requisite degree of
tension in order to effect the release of the brakes, such bakes assuming their
operative position the moment the carriages cease to be driven back.
Where the brakes are not to act automatically on the road, the "play" allowed
for in the coupling or diaw-gear between the tender and traction motor should
be dispensed with, the engine-diver, by means of his controlling devices making
provision for the preparatory release of the brakes Thus the biakes will no
longer act with a reducible force, and their action will be automatic only in
case of the train connection being broken
For the purpose of controlling the brake, the retaining or checking action of
the diaw-gear may alone be made serviceable, if desued, in conjunction with
the expansive action of a spring which constantly tends to move the biake out
of the operative position. This arrangement may differ according as the carriage
18 provided with shafts or with a pole
Where the carnage is provided with shafts a strap fastened to the harness on
cach side of the hoise actuates the shorter aim of a lever pivoted to the colle-
sponding shaft of the cannage. The other end of the lever engages the brake-
operating mechanism which the spring maintains in its inoperative position
Where the vehicle is constructed with a pole the brake is controlled by the
action of a cable extending along the pole and secured to one of the pole-chaine
A guide-pulley secured to the end of the pole, or any other similar airangement,
ensures the termination of the horse's backing movement to the brake-operating
cable, while the sping serves to keep the brake normally inoperative
Inasmuch as our invention deals with the means to be employed in operating
oi controlling biake-devices through any available iesilient foice, which may be
supplied by a sping, counterpoised weights, or by any equivalent mechanism it
will readily be understood that it may be carried out in many different ways
without departing from the spuit of the said invention
For example we may utilize the weight of a rearwardly operating lever
adapted to come into contact with the rails or 10ad over which the vehicle travels
for automatically moving the bake into the operative position The cable con-

page_text: nected to the traction devices will keep the said lever in the raised position and
will not allow it to descend until a stoppage takes place, thereby ensuring the
automatic operation of the brake in the direction of motion, and an automatic
brake-action of the level in the rearward direction
For vehicles adapted to travel in both directions, including trains, whether
moving on rails or on the 1oad-we may employ two cables winding in opposite
directions, being both placed under the control of the same swing-bar and acting
upon the same point of the shafting of the biake, one of the cables remaining
inoperative, while the other operates in the direction of 1otation of the engaging
01 feeding dise
In respects other than those previously set forth, the before described apparatus
may be varied without departing from the spirit of our invention
Dated this 11th day of June 1898
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC, Agents.
Improvements in or relating to Brake Apparatus for Road and
other Vehicles.
I, LEON REMONDY, of 16, Rue du Progrès, Vincennes, and PAUL HALLOT,
of 47, Rue de Sené, Vannes, both in the Republic of Fiance, Lieutenants of
Artillery, 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
The object of this invention is to provide means for automatically applying
bakes to road, railway and other vehicles, and its leading idea is to utilise, for
this purpose the momentum of the vehicle itself, and also the working of the
coupling devices or draw-gear, in such manner as to enable the brake to be
applied with gradually increasing force, proportionate to the momentum of the
vehicle
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying
diawings, in which
Figure 118 a diagram of one arangement embodying our invention
Figure 2 is a plan showing certain details for use in connection with such
allangement
Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the ready manner in which the principle of our
invention may be applied to existing brake apparatus
Figure 5 represents a modified arrangement wherein the parts which iender the
brake-action automatic, are made independent
Figures 6 and 7 exemplify the application of the principle of our invention to
vehicles having two under frames on an underfiame and bogie oi folecarriage
connected together by pin and link connection and
Figure 8 iepresents a device for applying the brake automatically in either
duection
Figure 1 represents our invention as applied to a carriage provided with a
brake of any suitable construction (whether compusing a coid, a brake-shoe
bake band, or other devices)
a
In this arrangement a cord or cable 1 hereinafter termed a brake-cable 18
attached at 2 to a fixed point of the vehicle and at 3 to the end of a draw rod 4,
either duect, o-perhaps more often-through the medium of a swing-bai or
level 41 which serves to balance the brake action exercised upon the hubs of

page_text: the two wheels simultaneously. This brake-cable is passed through or over
two pulley blocks or sheaves 5 and 6, one of which 5 18 connected by any suit-
able power transmitting devices to an operating lever 10, placed within the
drivers reach, while the other 6 18 connected to the brake rod and brake 8*
in
A suitable spring 8 of any desired type bears against a stationary portion of
the vehicle and tends to move the draw-rod 4 in the direction required for
bringing the brake 8 into the operative position The diaw-rod 4 is moreover
connected to the vehicle propelling medium by a cord or cable 4" and it is this
10d which sustains the entire tractive strain oi $5
'pull" which it transmits to the
vehicle through the medium of the before mentioned compressible sping 8
So long as the power to propel or draw the vehicle exceeds the power necessary
to compress the spring 8, the brake remains open or off; but the moment that,
consequence of the momentum of the vehicle, the speed of the latter exceeds
that of the drawing or propelling medium (whether the latter be an animal or
suitable motor mechanism) the cable 4" becomes loose, and the spring 8 is released
and moves the brake automatically into operative position, to an extent just
sufficient to restore the equilibrium which had been destroyed; which action
gradually ceases of its own accord, the moment the equilibrium is restored, while
a spring 9 serves to return the brake-shoe to its normal inoperative position By
means of the lever 10-for which might be substituted a pedal or other suitable
operating device, capable of being retained in any desired position of adjust-
ment by a spring controlled rack, 11-the brake cable 1 may be tightened moi n
or less, and thus the power of the brake varied, no matter whether the brake be
applied automatically or controlled by the conductor
In the case of vehicles provided with a pivotted fore-carriage, the cable 4*,
which connects the draw-rod 4 to the vehicle drawing or propelling medium,
engages with guiding olleis o devices 7 (Figure 2) arranged axially in
relation to the fore-cairage pivot, whereby the tractive strain 01 pull" is in
its entirety transmitted to the parts of the brake-device
"
The automatic brake may readily be applied to carriages provided with
ordinary biake-shoes and actuating sciews to which end it 18 only necessary to
supplement the existing brake-shoes, say, by the addition of a brake-cable con-
nected to the said brake-shoes, and further to make provision in the operating
gear of such brakes, for a certain amount of " play" to allow the compressible
spring 8 to come into operation This result may be attained in a simple
manner (as shown in Figure 3) by interposing between the brake operating
rod 12 and lever 13 a flexible connection, such, for example, as a chain 14, a
spring 9 being provided for drawing the brake-shoe 8* back Or (as illustrated
in Figure 4) the boss 15 of the brake-shoe lever or arm may be loose upon the
shaft 16 and be independently moveable thereon to an extent limited by_a
pin 17 secured in the shaft 16 and engaging with a slot in the said boss 15. In
either case the spring 8 will tend to bring the brake 8 into the operative
position, but will he opposed by the draw-rod 4, the driver being always at
liberty to operate the brake whenever he chooses, whilst retaining his usual
control over the ordinary brake operating devices as an additional means of
checking the motion of the vehicle
In the arrangement shewn in Figure 5 the spring 8 is in the form of a blade
spring and tends to render the parts of the automatically operating mechanism
independent of the brake-devices proper and the brake is controlled by means
of a cable 19 which is operated from a pedal lever 20 capable of rocking on a
pivot 21, the blade-spring 8 being situated under the shorter arm of the said lever
and tending as it always does to bring the biake into the operative position
The cable 4 which connects the spring 8 to the traces 18 is guided by suitable
pulleys of which the pulley 22 is mounted in a doubly pivotted or universally-
jointed housing, and connected to the end of a lever arm 23 keved on a shaft 24
whereon are secured the coupling or lever arms 25, which in the case of horse-
traction are connected to the traces 18 by suitable ties-such for example as

page_text: the chains 20-01 in the case of mechanical traction the lever arms 25 are
attached to the motor mechanism by any suitable flexible connection.
In the operation of this arrangement the moment the trace 18 which transmits
the "pull,"
18 released, the spring 8 begins to operate the automatic brake The
brake in all cases remains under the driver's control, and even while the vehicle
18 travelling at the maximum speed he need only depress the longer pedal-arm
to bing the brake into its operative position
There may be fitted, to each end
of the pedal level 20, spring-controlled racks or similar devices 27, 28, enabling
the pedal to be retained in any desired position; thus automatic action may, if
preferred, be limited more or less, or altogether dispensed with, or a biake-
action of a pre-determined force may be maintained
In applying our automatic brake-controlling device to vehicles provided with
two frames or bogies, or to two vehicles connected by a coupling-pin or bolt and
ng such for example as those need for connecting the limber waggons and gun
cariages of field artillery, we utilize the "play" existing between the said
fiames bogies or vehicles for bringing the biakes appertaining respectively to
these fiamies, bogies or vehicles, auto operation whenever the speed of the year
frame bogie or vehicle exceeds that of the front one
Figures 6 and 7 show examples of the manner in which this part of the
invention is carried into practical effect
In the arrangement shewn in Figure 6 the brake-controlling spring 8 18
balanced by the cable 4 fastened to the coupling pin 29
Whenever the real
fiame bogie or vehicle tends to overtake, or approach nearer to the front frame
hogies or vehicle the distance between the spring 8 and the pin 29 is reduced as
shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 6 wherein the pin in its relatively changed
position is marked 29', the cable 4 being thereby relieved from tension and the
bake being consequently brought into the operative position
In the arrangement shewn in Figure 7 the brake is supposed to be brought
into the operative position by forcing back the 11gid diaw-bar 4 The spring 8,
however, here tends to prevent the brake from being operated as it resists the
recoil of the draw-bar 4 so that such diaw-bai abuts against the coupling
pin 29, and as this pin has a tendency to take up the position shown in dotted
lines at 291, it repels the draw-bar 4 and moves the brake into the operative
position.
Inasmuch as out invention deals with the means to be employed in operating
or controlling biake-devices through any available resilient force, which may be
supplied for example by a spring such as 8, by counterpoise weights, or by any
equivalent mechanism, it will readily be understood that it may be carried out
in many different ways without departing from the spirit of the said invention
As shewn in Figure 8 for example, we may utilize the weight of a rearwardly
operating lever 30 adapted to come into contact with the tails or 10ad over
which the vehicle travels for automatically moving the brake 8 into the operative
position The cable connected to the traction devices will keep the said lever
in the raised position and will not allow it to descend until a stoppage takes
place, thereby ensuing the automatic operation of the brake in the direction
of motion, and an automatic brake-action of the lever in the rearward direction.
In respects other than those previously set forth the before described apparatus
may be varied without departing from the spint of our invention
Having nowy particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same 18 to be performed we declare that
what we claim is
-
1 The automatic operation or control of the brake-device of a vehicle by
means of an elastic force which is constantly balanced while the speed of the
vehicle does not exceed that of the medium of traction (e the horse or engine),
this force being liberated by the momentum of the vehicle itself or by the "play"
of the couplings on diaw-gear, so as to cause the brake or bakes to operate
"

page_text: "
gradually and with a force proportionate to the momentum of the vehicle, the
operation of the brake device being also under the diver's control substantially
as hereinabove described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2 Apparatus for automatically operating or controlling the biake-devices of a
vehicle consisting of a cord, cable or equivalent I connected at its free end 3 to
a rod 4 on which a spring 8 acts so as to tend to move the brake into its operative
position, a cable or equivalent 4", connected to the traction medium serving to
balance the action of the spring 8, and the tension given to the cable
equivalent being controllable by the driver by means of pullies 5 and 6, and a
lever 10 all substantially as hereinabove described and illustrated in Figure 1
of the accompanying drawings
1
от
3. Apparatus for automatically operating or controlling a screw or equivalently
actuated brake or biakes of a vehicle, consisting of a cord or equivalent brake
connected to the brake-shoes, such cord-brake being controlled automatically
and operating the brake-shoes in the manner claimed in the 2nd Claim, play
being provided for in the usual biake operating devices either by means of a
chain 14 (as in Figure 3) or by a pin and slot connection (as in Figure 4) sub-
stantially as hereinabove described and illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the
accompanying drawings
4. Apparatus for automatically controlling the brake devices of a vehicle, con-
sisting of a friction or equivalent cable the free end of which 18 connected to
the shorter arm of a pedal-lever, which a spring constantly tends to move so
as to cause the brake to assume its operative position, a cable or equivalent 4",
connected to the traction-medium serving to balance or counteract the action of
the said spring, the diver being at liberty either to operate the brake by depress-
ing the longer arm of the pedal-lever or to oppose the automatic action of the brake
by depressing the shortet arm of the said pedal-lever, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in Figure 5 of the accompanying diawings.
5. Apparatus for automatically operating or controlling the brake-devices of
two coupled vehicles or a vehicle having two pivotally-connected under-fiames or
an under-frame and bogie on fore-carnage, consisting of a cable 4° adapted to
balance or counteract a spring serving to bring the brake-devices into operation,
and connected to the forward vehicle, bogie or foie-carriage, so as to cause the
brake to operate the moment the speed of the rear vehicle or fame increases in
elation to that of the forward vehicle bogie or fore-carriage, by utilizing the
play" existing between the two coupled vehicles or parts, substantially as
hereinabove described and illustrated in Figure 6 of the accompanying diawings
6 Apparatus for automatically operating or controlling the brake-devices of
two coupled vehicles or a vehicle having two pivotally connected under-frames
or an under frame and bogie or fore-carriage, whereby the brake is caused to
operate by the action of a rigid rod 4 against the forward vehicle, bogie or fore-
carriage, by utilizing the "play" existing between the two coupled vehicles or
parts, substantially as hereinabove described and illustrated in Figure 7 of the
accompanying drawings
"
7. Apparatus for automatically operating or controlling the brake device of a
road or other vehicle consisting of a cord-brake operated by the weight of a
brake-lever such as 30 connected by suitable cords or cables, to the traction
medium, which keeps it in a raised and inoperative position whenever the "pull'
is sufficient, and to an operating device whereby the driver 18 enabled either to
sub-
actuate the brake or to oppose the automatic action of the said brake,
stantially as hereinabove described and illustrated in Figure 8 of the accom-
panying drawings.
thin Oth day of Hoh 1900
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W C., Agents.