Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Vehicles, such as Railway Wagons.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Mar., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 12th Dec.. 1896-4ccepted, 30th Jan., 1897
Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Vehicles, such as Railway
Wagons.
LEWIS RICHARD THOMAS of Eastcourt Lodge, New Swindon in the County
of Wiltshire, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has reference to brake apparatus for such vehicles as railway
wagons of the kind in which the brake block or blocks is, or are, moved into the
or "off" positions as required from either side of the wagon.
1. In place of the present long hand lever fixed to the rocking shaft, of the
usual brake apparatus, I key, or weld on to the recking shaft, a crank or short
lever from which a rod is carried to, and .counected with the lever of a toothed
quadrant. The lever and toothed quadrant being moved on its pivot or fulcrum
by a screw thread or worm which is keyed on or forged solid with a shaft, and
fixed so as to gear into the teeth of the quadrant. The shaft with its worm and
the handle or hand wheel at each erd is arranged across the vehicle.
The revolution of the handle by the operator revolves the worm shaft with the
worm, thus moving the quadrant and its lever and giving motion to the connecting
rod for moving or putting the brakes in the "on" or "off" position. A larger
tooth is made at one end of the tooth .quadrant so as to prevent the worm from
overrunning the tooth quadrant when releasing the brake.
2. Instead however of employing the worm on the shaft, across the vehicle,
I may cut a thread on the shaft, passing the shaft through a nut pivoted in one
end of a double arm crank, the other arm of the crank is .connected to the rod
connected with the crank on the rocking shaft of the usual brake apparatus.
A coliar may be provided on one portion of the screwed part of shaft so as to
prevent the nut being run out of the thread when the brake is released.
3. In cases where the brake rods, which connect the brake block hangers and
their blocks, are arranged as.toggles, to be spread apart or drawn together by the
movement of a rod connected to the toggles from the crank or short lever on a
rocking shaft, the rocking shaft being rocked by a long hand lever fixed thereto,
I remove the long hand lever and the crank or short lever, and key or weld on to
the rocking shaft a double arm crank or short lever. To one end of this double
crank is connected the existing connecting rod for operating the .toggles, to the
other end is connected the rod leading to the toothed quadraut lever or double arm
crank to be moved by the screw thread or worm on the shaft which is fixed across
the vehicle, or the screwed thread on the shaft.passing. through the nut which is
pivoted on the end of the double arm crank.
Any convenient-arrangement may be adopted, so. as .to.enable the.invention to
be-applied.to.the existing brakes on vehicles.
Dated this 19th day of March 1896
LEWIS RICHARD THOMAS.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Vehicles, such as Railway
Wagons.
LEWIS RICHARD THOMAS of Eastcourt Lodge, New Swindon in the County
of Wiltshire, 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 has reference to brake apparatus of such vehicles as railway
wagons of the kind in which the brake block or blocks is, or are, moved into the
"on" or "off" positions as required from either side of the wagon.
In the accompanying drawings,
Sheet 1 Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a part of a railway wagon, fitted with
brake apparatus according to this invention,
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the wagon fitted with the brake apparatus, and
Fig. 3 is a plan.
One type of the usual brake apparatus consists of a brake block a, hung by a
link b, from one of the cross bearers of the vehicle, on the back of the block i
the snug c, to which is secured the rod or rods d, by a pin, the other end of the
rod or rods is connected by a pin to one end of the arm or arms e on the rocking
shaft ; on this shaft is fixed usually by keying or welding a long hand lever for
applying the brake.
Now according to my invention I dispense with the usual long hand lever on the
rocking shaft f, and in its place I key or weld a crank or short lever g, to which
is connected by a pin, a rod h carried to and connected by a pin to the lever of a
toothed quadrant i, the quadrant i being pivoted to a bracket j fixed on the frame
of the vehicle, a worm k is keyed on to or forged solid with the transverse shaft /
so that the worm gears into the teeth of the quadrant on the lever i; a hand
lever or hand wheel m is keyed on each end of the shaft l.
The lever on the toothed quadrant is arranged to serve as a larger tooth for
preventing the worm from being wound out from the quadrant, in case the brake
blocks should be considerably worn and the rods not having been taken up and
reset; a larger tooth is also made on the quadrant at i to prevent the worm from
being wound out of the quadrant when releasing the brake, see Fig. 19 Sheet 2.
On the revolution of the handle by the operator, from either side of the vehicle,
the worm shaft is revolved with the worn, thus moving the quadrant and its lever
and giving motion to the connecting rod for moving or putting the brakes in the
or "off" positions.
"on
The same letters of reference are used in each figure for similar parts of the
rigging in the usual brake apparatus, also for showing the application of my
invention.
Figure 4 Sheet 1 & Figure 7 Sheet 2 are side elevations of a part of a railway
wagon showing the application of the brake apparatus. Figure 5 Sheet 1 and
Figure 8 Sheet 2 are end elevations of the wagon, and Figure 6 Sheet 1 and
Figure 9 Sheet 2 are plans in which the usual brake apparatus is arranged with a
toggled joint to be spread apart or drawn together by the movement of a rod
connected to the toggles from the crank or short lever on a rocking shaft, in
which a' is a brake block hung by a link from one of the cross bearers of the
vehicle, on the back of the block is the snug c¹ to which is secured the rod or
rods d by a pin, the other end of the rod or rods being connected together with
the rod o by a pin, one end of the rod o being connected to the arm or crank pon
the rocking shaft q. In applying my invention as previously described it will be

page_text: seen that on the revolving of the shaft by the handle or wheel from either side of
the vehicle motion is given to the rod h to place the blocks in the "on" or "off".
positions.
Instead however of using a worn on the transverse shaft geared into a toothed
quadrant I may use the arrangement shewn in Figures 10 to 18 Sheets 2 & 3.
where a thread r is cut on the shaft the shaft being passed through a nut s
pivoted in one end of a double arın crauk t, the other end of the crank t is
connected to rod h which is also connected with the crank on the rocking shaft f,
S that on the revolution of the handle by the operator from either side of the
vehicle the screwed shaft is revolved moving the double arm crank and giving
motion to the connecting rod for moving or putting the brakes into the "on"
"off" positions.
"
or
The collars w & w as shown in Figure 20 may be provided on the ends of the
screwed part of the shaft, so as to prevent the nut being run out of the thread.
when the brake is released, or when the blocks are considerably worn and the rods.
have not been taken up and reset.
In constructing and attaching to the frame of the wagon the bracket ; which
carries the vertical pin on which the bell crank quadrant lever i, Figure 19 Sheet 2
is pivoted, care must be taken to avoid rigidity as a slight spring or yielding
allowed in the bracket and the portion of the frame to which it is attached has the
effect of assisting the locking action between the worm and the toothed quadrant,
and thus assists in preventing the brakes from working off when running down.
inclines or in other cases when it is necessary for the brake to remain on.
It is obvious, that without departing from the nature of the invention, the
arrangement could be applied to the various forms of brake apparatus usually used
on railway vehicles, other than those shewn in the drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare what I
claim is :-
a
1. In brake apparatus for railway wagons the combination of a handle or hand
wheel at each end of a shaft arranged across the vehicle so that the worm on the
shaft gears into the teeth of a tangent lever for exerting pull or push on the rod
connected to one end of the tangent lever, and to a crank keyed or welded on the
rocking shaft to enable the brake blocks of the ordinary brake apparatus to be.
put in the "on" or "off" positions by the revolving of the shaft, by the operator,
from either side of the vehicle substantially as herein described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
2. In brake apparatus for railway wagons the combination, as stated in Claim 1,.
of a handle or hand wheel at each end of a screwed shaft arranged across the
vehicle so that the screwed portion of the shaft passes through a nut on one end
of a double arm lever or bell crank for exerting a pull or push, on the rod.
connected to one end of the double arm lever or bell crank, and to a crank keyed
or welded on the rocking shaft to enable the brake blocks of the ordinary brake
apparatus to be put in the "on" or "off" positions by the revolving of the shaft.
by the operator, from either side of the vehicle, substantially as herein described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Eleventh day of December 1896
LEWIS RICHARD THOMAS.