Improvements in the Fluid Pressure Railway Brake known as the "Westinghouse Brake."
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Oct., 1887
Specification Accepted, 11th Nov., 1887
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Fluid Pressure Railway Brake known as the
"Westinghouse Brake."
I GEORGE MASSEY of Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
In working the continuous automatic fluid pressure railway brake known as the
"Westinghouse brake" the air or fluid pressure in the "small" or carriage reservoirs
having been or allowed to become exhausted or partially exhausted either by repeated
applications of the brakes by negligence or by other causes and the brakes being
applied or being sought to be applied it is likely that the pressure required to keep
the brakes applied for any length of time is not available without re-charging such
"small
or carriage reservoirs and this re-charging cannot be effected while the
brakes be " on or if they be "on" without releasing them. My invention then has
been specially devised to avoid or obviate this said necessity of having to release the
brakes in order to charge the "small" or carriage reservoirs and so as to enable these
reservoirs to be re-charged while the brakes are on the wheels.
21
"
These improvements in the fluid pressure railway brake known as the Westinghouse
Brake consist essentially in the combination and arrangement with the main reservoir
on the engine and tender and the "sınall" or carriage reservoir of a supplemental
pipe for supplying when necessary the air or fluid pressure from said main reservoir
to the "small" reservoirs. This supplemental supply pipe is provided with the
necessary couplings between the vehicles with a back pressure valve or valves between
the main reservoir and small reservoirs and with a controlling valve or cock.
But in order that this invention may be clearly understood I will now describe the
same with reference to the drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the end
of carriages or other vehicles showing the "Westinghouse brake" main pipe and my
supplemental supply pipe and Figure 2 a diagramatic plan of the arrangement of my
pipe with a Westinghouse brake.
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A is the main reservoir-B the main air pipe-C the "small or vehicle reservoir
and D the brake cylinder-B¹ is drivers valve-B' and B' are stop cocks and couplings

page_text: respectively provided on each vehicle-C is branch to small reservoir-C² "triple
valve "Dis branch from reservoir C to cylinder D-all the foregoing are parts of
the Westinghouse brake as is well understood-E is my supplemental supply pipe-
E stop cock or valve-E² loaded valve-E³ pressure guage E and E' couplings and
stop cocks between vehicles-E is branch to small reservoir and E' is back pressure
valve in such branch.
"
"
The action of the Westinghouse brake is so well understood that I need not here
refer to it Should at any time however it be found when the brakes are on or
about to be applied that is when communication is open or about to be opened from
reservoir through triple valve (2 and pipe D¹ to brake cylinder D and the main
pipe B is open to the atmosphere that the pressure in the reservoir C is not enough to
keep the brakes applied as long as desired then cock E' is used to open communication
through loaded valve E2 and back pressure valves E7 to the "small" reservoirs C-
This enables the brake to be kept applied as long as any pressure may be supplied
from the main reservoir but it may be found desirable to open cock E₁ after the train
is quite coupled up and to keep it open.
I may use any construction of stop cock E' of couplings E' and stop cocks E the
loaded valve E2 is so adjusted that the pressure of the main reservoir A always exceeds
that in reservoir by say ten pounds per square inch so that the triple valve may not
be kept in equilibrium when it is desired that the piston therein should move that is
at the time the brakes are being released I use one of such loaded valves on the engine
or tender but one of them might be placed in each branch pipe E. The back pressure
valve is as well understood to prevent any escape of pressure from reservoir C in the
event of any rupture of pipe E or its couplings.
It will be seen that I place the supplemental pipe and the main pipe one above the
other so that the pipes will come into juxta-position no matter which ends of two
vehicles meet.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I would have it understood that I do
not claim to have invented any part of the Westinghouse brake nor do I confine
myself to the precise kinds of couplings and cocks shewn and described but what I
believe to be new and therefore claim as improvement in the fluid pressure railway
brake known as the Westinghouse brake is :-
First The combination and arrangement with the main reservoir and the "small"
or carriage reservoirs of a supplemental supply pipe with couplings and branches
connecting the main reservoir or pressure supply with each of the small reservoirs
substantially as herein described and explained.
Second The combination and arrangement with a supplemental supply pipe
connecting the main and small reservoirs of a Westinghouse brake of a loaded valve
and back pressure valves substantially as herein described and explained.
Dated at Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales this Thirtieth day of August
One thousand eight hundred and eighty seven.