Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Nov., 1887
Specification Accepted, 23rd Dec., 1887
A communication from EDWARD DYER DOUGHERTY, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
M.I.M.E. 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 relates to improvements in brakes for railway train and other cars
and the objects are
1stly. To construct a brake that can be readily attached to any car and which will
be self-locking, that is-the wearing face of the shoe when once applied to the rim or
tread of the wheel will remain in contact therewith until removed by the reversal of
the operating lever or other actuating device.
2ndly. To so construct the brake apparatus that loss of material through wear may
be compensated for by adjustment of the wearing parts which when completely worn
out can be readily removed.
The brake mechanism is so arranged that the shoes may be applied in the first
instance to one pair of wheels, and also, by an extension or continuation of the first
motion of the brake lever or other actuating device applied to a second pair of wheels
if desirable.
In the drawings making part of this specification Figure 1 represents a side
elevation of the brake apparatus in position on a car.
Figure 2 is a plan with car floor removed showing the apparatus for one side of the
car the other side being similar.
In Figure 3 are shown details in side and front elevations and underneath plan of
the shoe-holder.
Figure 4 is a detail of brake shoe and of cam for applying same.
A are the side timbers of the car to which are bolted the axle-box pedestals B and
to these pedestals on each side of the car, is bolted a rail or bar C. D D represent
the shoe-holders (shown in detail in Figure 3) which are perforated transversely to
receive pivots d by means of which they are connected to links D' which are hinged
to brackets D' carried by the cross-bars A¹ of the car-frame the brackets D' being so

page_text: situated that when the shoe holders hang vertically therefrom the shoes D³ will be
clear of the wheels. The shoe holder consists of a metal body concave on one side
and convex on the other and having an enlargement d¹ and also a projecting boss d
on the convex side. In the enlargement d' is formed a dovetailed groove in which fits
the tail of a wearing-block E formed of any suitable material. Fixed to the block E
is a screw-threaded shank e which passes freely through the boss d' and is secured by
nuts e¹ bearing against both sides of the same.
The shoes D³ are attached to the holders D by bolts or other suitable means.
Shouldered fulcrum bolts c (Figure 1) are fixed in the rails C upon which are
mounted cams or eccentrics F having extensions or arms F¹ by means of which the
eccentrics may be turned with great advantage as regards leverage. On referring to
Figure 1 it will be seen that the positions of the eccentrics and their fulcrums are
not like the reason being that whilst the operating arms F¹ when working in
conjunction move in the same direction the power of the cams is exerted in
opposite directions in consequence of the whole of the brake machinery being situated
between the two pairs of wheels A2 and A³ termed respectively the front and back
wheels. The upper ends of the two pairs of arms or levers F¹ are connected by the
rods H and yokes H' the two parts forming a connecting rod adjustable in length by
means of the nuts h. The end of the rod H moves freely through the nut h¹ at the
end of the yoke but its motion in this direction is resisted by a helical spring J which
bears at one end against the nut h¹ and at the other against lock nuts h³ screwed onto
the rod H. These rods H are connected by means of a bar K to the centre of which
is jointed one end of the draw bar L connected at the other end to the bottom of the
brake lever M.
By moving the brake lever M in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1
the forward brakes are brought to bear on the front wheels A2 first and the back ones
are free owing to the arms F1 which operate the hind brakes being so adjusted to the
rods H as to come last into operation. By putting more tension on the draw bar it
will compress the spring J until the hinder eccentrics bear against the shoes. The
amount of pressure on the front eccentrics is determined by the spring J. When all
the eccentrics are bearing against the shoes the back pair being rigidly attached to
the equalizing bar K can have a definite amount of pressure exerted on them but the
pressure on the forward pair is limited to whatever pressure the spring J is capable of
resisting.
Figure 4 shows a method of constructing the brake cam of eccentric which causes
it when fully applied to remain in that position until removed by the brake lever.
The portion of the cam from f to f¹ is eccentric to the fulcrum c but the remainder
from f¹ to f is circular having the fulcrum c for a centre. When the full pressure
of the cam has been applied and the point is situated above the line which passes
through the fulcrum c and is perpendicular to the wearing block E the reaction of the
brake is exerted in a direction which is normal to the tangent plane at the point of
contact with the cam F and the power thus exerted has no tendency to move the cam
in either one way or the other.
It will be evident that by an extension of the draw bar L and its adaptation to
connect a series of brakes on several cars sufficient draft force applied to this bar
will simultaneously apply the brakes to these connected cars and thus check a train
of cars with the same facility and promptitude that will be effected in a single car.
Although in the drawing the brake apparatus is shown as applied to a street railway
car from the foregoing description it is apparent that the device may be employed
with advantage on freight or passenger cars coupled together in trains on a railroad
and that various means of applying power to move the brake apparatus may be
utilized.
•
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the same
is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a brake such as described the combination with the shoe or holder D of a

page_text: wearing block such as E and means for positively adjusting the same substantially as
described.
2. In a brake such as described the combination with the shoe or holder D of a
dovetailed wedge or wearing block such as E having an extension or bolte which passes
through a boss d2 and is capable of adjustment by means of nuts e¹ substantially as
shown and described.
3. In a car brake the combination with hanging shoes such as D of eccentrics or
cams F having lever arms F1 operated by means of rods H jointed to an equalizing
bar so connected to draw bar L in manner substantially as described.
4. In a car brake the combination with two, or two pairs, of hanging shoes or
holders D for application to both front and rear wheels of coupling rods H, yokes
such as H¹ and springs J connecting the lever arms F¹ for regulating the application
of the brake shoes D³ substantially as described.
5. Brake mechanism such as herein described by means of which the brake shoes
can be applied in the first instance through the intervention of springs to one pair of
wheels and subsequently to the other pair of wheels in a positive manner substantially
as described.
6. A brake in which the pressure is applied to the brake shoes by one or more cams
and levers the pressure being regulated or modified by the intervention of one or
more springs substantially as described.