Improvements in or relating to the Brakes of Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Brakes of 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:
This invention relates more particularly to the hand levers and mechanism
of the brakes of railway wagons, but which may also be used in combination
with other systems such as the Westinghouse, vacuum, and the like.
The object is to simplify the mechanism by which the brake can be applied,
or taken off, from either side of the vehicle.
In carrying the invention into practice, I use a rocking shaft carried in
bearings and extending across the wagon frame to which it is affixed; it is
provided with short arms and connecting rods to the usual brake shaft which
operates the brakes.
Upon each end of the first mentioned shaft I fix the hand levers, the free
ends by which they are worked passing through a guide bracket, each bracket
having a rack (the teeth of which are undercut) upon its inner side or next
the wagon frame.
Each hand lever is provided with a tooth or catch piece to engage with the
rack.
The levers are so shaped or curved that they will move up and down in the
bracket without engaging with the rack, until they are sprung into the teeth
of rack by the application of force applied laterally.
To apply the brake from either side of the vehicle all that is necessary is to
press down the lever and spring its catch under one of the undercut teeth of
the rack, and to release this engaged lever and take off the brake, from the
other side of the vehicle, all that is necessary is to press down the lever, which
turns the shaft and lowers the opposite lever until its catch is free, when its.
resiliency and curved form cause it to clear the rack; the reverse or upward
movement of the lever then withdraws the brake from the wheels.
To use a Westinghouse or a vacuum brake with this system of lever, they are
arranged to act directly upon the brake shaft, and I elongate the pin-holes in
the connecting rods before mentioned which therefore permit the said shaft
to be turned and apply the brakes without interfering with the hand lever, as
described in my former Patent No. 407298.
Instead of utilising the elasticity of the hand lever to spring it out of the
rack, I may construct the lever with a hinge or like joint, and use a spring to
force it from the rack.
.

page_text: improvements in or relating to the Dra
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 has to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
-
My invention relates more particularly to the hand levers and their associated
mechanism for operating the brakes of railway carriages by which term I
include all railway vehicles.
The object is to simplify such mechanism and to enable the brake power to
be applied or removed from either side, or to be applied on one side and
released from the other side.
The annexed drawings illustrate how my invention is applied to a railway
wagon for example.
Fig. 1, is a plan of part of the framework of a railway wagon, showing the
hand levers and the associated brake mechanism.
Fig. 2, an elevation of same.
Fig. 3, an enlarged side elevation of one of the lever guards with its rack,
and section of the hand lever and its catch piece.
In carrying out my invention, I use a rocking shaft w, held in bearings b,
fixed to the wagon frame c, and upon the projecting ends of the said shaft
secure the hand levers d¹ and , and preferably one or more counterbalance
weights e, or their equivalents.
also use a second rocking shaft f, supported centrally. between the two
wheels g1 and 2, upon bearings h, and connect it with the first shaft a, by
means of a rod i, and arms j, of different lengths, by which arrangement.
gain power and am enabled to use shorter hand levers with advantage.
I
Upon this central shaft f, is fixed a double arm k, the ends of which extend
which
in opposite directions, and to each end is attached a thrust bar and 12,
are pin jointed to the brake blocks m¹ and m², suspended by the links ¹ and n³,
from the wagon frame c.
:
It will therefore be seen that when either of the hand levers or d², is
pressed down, the brake blocks will be forced against the wheels, and when
raised the blocks will be withdrawn.
The special object of my invention is to enable the attendant to apply the
brakes or to withdraw them from either side of the vehicle, or to apply them
from one side and release them from the other, and this is accomplished in the
following manner.
Within the lever guards 1 and 2, is a rack r with undercut teeth shown
in Fig. 3, and upon each lever is a projection or catch piece q, which is shaped
to fit into the space between each tooth of the rack, while sufficient space is
provided to allow the lever to pass freely up and down between the rack and
the plain side of the guard.
!
I make the hand levers of such configuration and material as to impart lateral
elasticity, so that when free from the rack it bears against the flat face or side
of the guard, lateral force being required to place the catch piece q, within the
teeth of the rack r, but I may if preferred use an auxiliary spring so applied
as to force the lever away from the rack.
To apply the brake the attendant has merely to press down the hand lever
on either side of the vehicle and cause its catch piece to engage with the rack;
and to release this engaged lever (in order to take off the brake) from the other

page_text: side of the vehicle, he must press down the lever on such opposite side, which
turning the shaft a, lowers the engaged lever until its catch piece is free to
escape, then the lever by its resiliency recovers its normal position against the
smooth side of the guard and moves upwards by the action of the counter-
balance weight, or its equivalent, the brake being withdrawn at the same
time.
The racks r, shown in Fig. 3, upon the inside face of the guard, may be
reversed to the opposite side and the same result attained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish to point
out that the parts marked i, h, f, b, m¹, m³, n' and n², are old, but I declare that
what I claim is:-
1 An arrangement of mechanism for operating the brakes of railway vehicles,
so constructed that to apply and retain the brake in action, the hand lever on
either side of the vehicle must be forced downwards and then laterally into one
of the undercut teeth of a rack; from which it will automatically release
itself by its own resilient reaction when lowered opposite the entrance under
the rack tooth by pressing down the hand lever on the opposite side of the
vehicle, substantially as herein before described and set forth.
2-In mechanism for operating hand brakes of railway vehicles, the elastic
hand levers d and d, rigidly fixed to a rocking shaft a, connected with the
brakes m¹ and m², their free ends capable of being forced downwards and sprung
sideways under the teeth of a vertical rack r, and also of automatically releasing
themselves from the rack by their elastic reaction when brought opposite to
the mouth of the retaining tooth, as herein before described and shown.
Dated the 25th day of September 1899.
ROBT. F. DRURY, C.P.A.,
Applicant's Agent.