Improvements in Hand Brakes for Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in Hand Brakes for Railway Vehicles.
I, WILLIAM SAMUEL LAYCOCK, of Victoria Street Works, City of Sheffield,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
:-
My invention has for its object to improve the mechanism of hand brakes
such as are used upon railway vehicles and more particularly upon railway
wagons, whereby the brake may be applied or released from either side inde-
pendently by hand levers attached to the brake gear, and situated one on either
side of the wagon.
I propose to construct the transverse shaft (to the ends of which the brake
levers are secured, and by means of which pressure is imparted through the
push rods to the brake blocks) in two lengths with a flexible joint or connection
in the centre, so constructed that the shaft may be moved horizontally out of
line without interrupting any rotary motion applied to the shaft.
It will be seen therefore that if the centre of the shaft be moved horizontally
either backwards or forwards the free ends of the brake levers will be moved
either towards or from the sides of the wagon.
Preferably I arranged that both the hand levers shall be automatically moved
towards the wagon sides by means of the action of a spring (or more than one if
necessary) applied at the centre of the transverse shaft near the flexible joint, in
such a manner as to cause this action to take place, and any movement of one
hand lever is transmitted simultaneously to the other.
The hand levers work within a guard loop provided with a rack, and above the
rack I propose to have the usual retaining recess to retain the hand lever when
the brakes are off.
To apply the brake the hand lever on either side must be raised out of the
rotaining notch or recess then drawn from the wagon side, or towards the
operator, and pressed down the face of the rack until there is sufficient pressure
on the brake, it is then engaged in one of the teeth of the rack; the other levor
acting simultaneously and correspondingly.
The action of the spring at the flexible centre or joint of the transverse shaft
tends to retain both levers in the racks until they are liberated by releasing
either one or the other and raising it into the notch or retainer.
I propose to impart the necessary motion to the transverse shaft by long
hand levers connected directly therewith, or by using an intermediate counter-
shaft with shorter levers, and constructed with a flexible joint or connection in
the centre, and acting in the manner as before described, the motion being
transmitted to the brake blocks by means of a suitable pull-rod and levers work-
ing on a short shaft carrying the levers which actuate the brake-block push rods.
I also propose to connect with my said brake mechanism (on such vehicles as
may require it) the automatic Westinghouse brake, the vacuum brake, or other
power brake, by means of a slotted link, to the shaft actuating the brake blocks

page_text: and by means of a slotted pull-rod to put the hand levers out of operation when
such power brakes are to be used.
Data L. 19th at NL 1000
ROBT. F. DRURY, C.P.A.,
Agent for Applicant,
Bank Buildings, George Street, Sheffield.
Improvements in Hand Brakes for Hailway Vebicles.
I, WILLIAM SAMUEL LAYCOCK, of Victoria Street Works, City of Sheffield,
Manufacturer, 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 has for its object to improve the mechanism of hand brakes,
such as are used upon railway wagons or other like vehicles, whereby the brake
blocks may be applied or released from either side of the vehicle, by hand levers
attached to the brake gear and situated on both sides of the wagon.
The annexed drawings illustrate my invention.
Fig. 1, being a side elevation of a railway wagon fitted with my improved
brake mechanism.
Fig. 2, is a plan of the wagon framework only, to exhibit the brake mech-
anism.
Fig. 3, two views of the junction of the divided shaft A.
In carrying out my invention as illustrated I construct a transverse shaft A,
to the outer ends of which I secure the hand levers B and B, and connect it
by a rod C to the arm D on the short central shaft E, which operates the push
rods F, as will be well understood.
The transverse shaft A, is made in two lengths which are connected in the
centre by a joint J, constructed in such a manner that the two parts may be
moved out of line with each other horizontally without thereby interfering with
its partial rotation.
It will therefore be seen that if the centre or joint of the said shaft is moved
horizontally in either direction, the free ends of both the hand levers will be
moved either towards or from the sides of the wagon as the case may be, and by
the application of a spring, or more than one if desirable, to the joint J, and
held within the bearing J, the hand levers are moved towards the wagon sides
so that they will engage with one or other of the teeth of the racks R, which
are connected with the guard loop, and above which is the usual retaining recess
for the lever when the brakes are off.
By the above arrangement any movement given to one hand lever is simul-
taneously imparted to the other levor, thus to apply the brakes, the hand lever
on either side must be moved from the retaining recess, pressed down until
sufficient pressure is put upon the brakes, and then engaged in the rack; the
other hand lever will have acted in a corresponding manner and simultaneously.
The action of the spring upon the joint J, where the shaft A, is pivotally
connected, retains both the hand lovers in their respective racks, until one of
them is liberated by hand, which action at once liberates the one on the opposite
side of the wagon, and releases the brakes.
When the levers are raised and placed in the recess above the rack, the ten-
dency of the spring action is to retain them there.
Although I have shown the hand levers as fixed upon a first shaft and operat-

page_text: ing the centre shaft which carries the push rods, may dispense with the first
shaft, and by using longer hand levers connect them directly to a central shaft
made in two parts and operated in the manner as the before described first shaft.
This arrangement of brake mechanism may be readily connected with the
"Westinghouse or other automatic air-brake system; in which case the rod C
would be slotted to permit it to be moved by the air brake connection without
affecting the hand levers as will be well understood by engineers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim in:-
-
1-The combination with the hand levers of a railway wagon brake system,
of a two part shaft A, the parts thereof coupled together in such a manner that
they can be moved out of a straight line without impeding their partial revolu-
tion for the purpose specified, as hereinbefore described and shown.
2 The combination and arrangement of the several parts constituting the
hand brake mechanism for applying or removing the brakes from the wheels
of a railway wagon from either side of the vehicle as herein before described and
set forth.
Dated the 24th dow of Anquet 1900