Improvements in and relating to Railway Brake Apparatus
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 26th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 31st Dec., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Railway Brake Apparatus
We, JOSEPH DOYEN, and ULDARIQUE MARGA, both of 24 Rue de l'Eveque,
Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows :--
Our invention relates to railway brake apparatus.
The improved apparatus constructed according to the said invention has for its
object to provide for regulating or proportioning at each moment of the braking
action the retarding effect produced by the pressure of the block upon the tyre.
It can be applied both to hand brakes and to continuous brakes, whether the
latter are actuated by compressed air, rarefied air or whether electricity or any
other agency is employed for distributing the retarding force under the vehicles
of a train. This apparatus is designed to enable the pressure of the block upon
the wheel to be raised to the admissible maximum at any moment during the
braking action without allowing the wheel to be stopped, irrespective of the
state of the rail, the velocity of the train, and the weight carried by the vehicle
so that by means of our apparatus the retarding force caused by the adhesion
of the tyre upon the rail may be completely utilized at each moment during
the braking action. It comprises a centrifugal governor to which is imparted by
any transmitting device a velocity proportional to the rotary velocity of the axle
with which it is connected.
-
The arrangement of this centrifugal governor is such that when the axle turns
just at the maximum velocity assigned to it the weights will approach the rotary
axis of the governor.
In this movement the weights carry away a device which in the case of a hand
brake will give to the brakeman an optic or acoustic signal, in the case of a com-
pressed air brake, will act upon a valve to let the air escape from the brake
cylinder; in the case of a brake actuated by rarefied air, will operate a valve to
allow air to enter the brake cylinder; and in the case of an electric brake, will act
upon the resistance in the circuit.
A very simple and practical arrangement is obtained by mounting the centrifugal
governor directly upon the axle of the vehicle.
The governor is fixed upon the axle by means of a thick collar which carries
the pivots upon which the weights turn on being moved away from the axle by the
centrifugal force.
When these weights recede from the axle they cause secondary pivots to move
to one side, say to the right, and to carry away in this direction a disc surrounding
the axle with which they are connected by links.
On the other hand this disc constantly tends to move to the left under the action
of the plate springs the tension of which is regulated by adjusting screws fixed in
the aforesaid collar.
If the velocity of the rotation of the weights is such that the centrifugal force
s brought to bear upon the tension of springs the disc will be moved to the right,
whilst in the contrary case the disc pushed back by the springs will be moved to
the left.
It is sufficient to properly determine the mass of the weights and the position
of their centre of gravity relatively to the axle and the principal pivots and on the
other hand the tension of the springs and the distance between the principal and
econdary pivots in order to make sure that at the desired and predetermined.
velocity of rotation of the axle the disc will pass from the position on the right to

page_text: that on the left hand side. This movement of the disc is utilized in the hand
brake for apprizing the brakeman that the wheels of the vehicle are on the point
of being prevented from turning and that he has to diminish the force exerted upon
the blocks. The same movement will in continuous brakes enable the force to be
acted upon by which the blocks are applied against the tyre in order to diminish
the intensity of the same as soon as the minimum velocity desired for the wheel is
reached.
We provide rocking levers and connecting rods designed to obviate the pertur-
bations which owing to the shocks and the velocity of the movement of the train,
may be caused in the movement of the weights. By this means the weights are
compelled to remain always in practically symmetric positions relatively to centre
line of the axle.
We will hereinafter describe the application of our invention to compressed air
brakes, from which it will be perceived that our apparatus can with equal facility
be adapted to brakes using rarefied air and to any other continuous brake.
It may be observed that the above-mentioned disc will occupy the position on
the left hand side when the wheel has reached the minimum velocity, whilst it
will occupy the position on the right hand side when the velocity of the wheel
augments.
In the latter position the disc is at a short distance from one extremity of a
double armed lever whilst in the former position it causes this extremity to move
back so that the said lever will turn upon its fulcrum and the other extremity of
the lever will be moved to the right. As this extremity is connected to one arm
of a bell-crank lever by means of a metallic cable the result is that the second arm
of the bell-crank lever is lowered when the velocity of the wheel reaches the
minimum limit, and is raised again under the action of a spring as soon as the
velocity of the wheel exceeds this limit.
Our improved apparatus comprises a regulating device one extremity of which is
connected to the brake cylinders and the other extremity to the air distributor, for
instance the triple valve of the Westinghouse brake.
When the second arm of the above-mentioned bell-crank lever is lowered it
carries downwards a rocking lever connecting a large piston with a small cylinder
which carries a slide valve provided in the casing of the said regulating device.
Now if the brake cylinder is not filled with compressed air the large piston will
move downwards in its cylinder, the rocking lever turning upon a point at the
extremity attached to the rod of the small piston and held in a fixed position by a
spring. The communication between the air distributor and the brake cylinder
remains free, irrespective of the velocity of the wheel, the brakes may therefore be
tried without inconvenience before the train is set in motion..
If the brake cylinder is filled with compressed air, the cylinder enclosing the
large piston is likewise filled therewith because it communicates with the air pipe.
In this case the small piston and the slide valve are lowered the latter interrupting
all communication between the two extremities of the regulating device. The
large piston, whose surface is nine times greater than that of the small piston is
held at the top of its cylinder by a considerable pressure and the small piston and
the slide valve will be lowered against the resistance of the aforesaid spring.
Suppose a train moves at one hundred kilometres an hour and axles carry our
apparatus adjusted for instance so as to operate when the wheel makes only twenty
turns per minute. It is known how very prejudicial the stoppage of the wheels is
to the rapidity of the stoppage of the train. Now for obviating the stoppage of
the wheels the blocks have heretofore been applied to the tyre only with a pressure
equal to about sixty per cent. of the pressure of the wheel upon the rail whereas at
the commencement of the braking action it is necessary for braking properly as the
experiments of Galton Douglas has proved, to use a force of more than two
hundred per cent. of this pressure. It will thus be seen that with the apparatus
hitherto used trains are not nearly stopped in the shortest time possible whatever
may be the rapidity of action of the brakes employed. Our apparatus enables this

page_text: per
force of two hundred cent, and even exceeded if desired to be exerted without
any liability of the wheels to stop.
Take again a train moving at one hundred kilometres. The driver applies the
brake with all the energy at his disposal, that is to say the pressure upon the tyre
is two or three times higher than the pressure of the wheels upon the rail the wheel
rapidly loses its velocity of rotation. As soon as it turns only twenty times round
per minute, the point constituting the fulcrum of the lever which unites the large
and small pistons is lowered and moves down the small piston and the slide valve
so that the latter will shut off the communication between the two extremities of
the regulating device. At this moment an arm which descends at the same time
as the extremity of the said lever opens a small valve and the compressed air from
the brake cylinder opens a second valve and passes through the aforesaid small
valve into the atmosphere, causing the pressure in the brake cylinder and also the
pressure exerted upon the blocks to be decreased. The wheel instead of sliding
acquires a fresh velocity owing to the adhesion with the rail. The point forming
the fulcrum of the above mentioned lever then rises, the small valve is closed again,
the slide valve being carried upwards, establishes the communication between the
two extremities of the regulating device, and the compressed air kept in an
auxiliary reservoir again brakes the wheel with energy. These operations are
repeated until the train is completely stopped.
The above-mentioned second valve which is held upon its seat by the spring has
for its object to maintain in the brake cylinder a certain pressure necessary for
example for keeping a train at a standstill upon an inclined part of the line, or for
completing the stoppage of the train when its movement is reduced to such an
extent that the wheels cease to move again at a higher velocity than twenty turns
a minute, and that consequently the small valve is always kept open.
The slide valve is connected to the rod of the small piston by a fork, it can
therefore rise from its seat for permitting the air to pass from one extremity of the
regulating device to the other so that the brakes may be relaxed at any time.
In
In practice the arrangement of the centrifugal governor may be variously
modified without departing from the nature of our invention, we therefore do not
limit ourselves to the above-described arrangement which we have described
merely by way of example. It is well known that heavy masses fixed to the axle
of a vehicle must as far as practicable be connected thereto by elastic means.
practice the weights of the governor may have the form of balls which are
connected to their pivots by spring strips. For diminishing their weight these
balls may be four in number and the links connecting them with the disc may also
consist of spring strips.
Dated this 8th day of January 1899
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Railway Brake Apparatus.
We, JOSEPH DOYEN, Engineer and ULDARIQUE MARGA, Lieutenant both
of 24 Rue de l'Eveque, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, 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 :-
Our invention has for its object the provision of means for controlling the brakes
of a railway train either automatically or otherwise, according to the nature of the
brake mechanism employed, so that a maximum brake power can be applied to the
wheels at any time without actually locking said wheels against rotation.
It has been shown by the experiments of Galton Douglas that in order to rapidly
stop a train moving at a high speed a sufficient pressure must be applied to the

page_text: wheels to stop their rotation, and said experiments have demonstrated that this
pressure must be greater than twice the pressure exerted by the wheels on the
rails. The danger and injurious effects resulting from the application of such a
pressure to rapidly revolving wheels are also well known, so that in practice the
pressure applied to the wheels through the brakes does not exceed 60% of
the pressure exerted by said wheels on the rails.
Our invention is designed to so control the brake power that a maximum pressure
may be applied to the wheels without actually stopping their rotation until the
speed of revolution has been sufficiently reduced to permit such stoppage without
danger, or injury to the wheels and track.
To this end our said invention consists essentially in the combination with a
brake controlling or signalling device and a wheel axle, of a centrifugal governor
on said axle operating to control the brake mechanism so as to automatically
reduce the maximum pressure applied to the wheels, and to re-apply the same
until the speed of rotation of the wheels has been sufficiently reduced to stop their
revolution without danger or injury to the wheels and track, or to operate a signal,
visible or audible, to the brakeman, so that he may so operate the brakes as to
reduce the pressure thereof on the wheels, and re-apply the same as may be
required in stopping a moving train. Our invention further consists in details of
construction and in combinations of co-operative elements as will now be fully
described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which we have
illustrated our invention in its application to air brakes.
Figure 1 is a sectional end elevation of the governor on the wheel axle.
Figure 2 is a section taken on the line, X, X of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a detail plan view of the connections between the actuating or
controlling disc and the centrifugal governor.
Figure 4 is a top plan view of the pressure regulating devices interposed in the
main compressed air pipe leading to the brake cylinder.
Figure 5 is a section thereof taken on the line Y, Y of Figure 6.
Figure 6 is a section, partly in clevation, taken on line ', ' of Figure 4.
Figure 7 is a section taken on line z, z, of Figure 6 and
Figure 8 is a section taken on line Z, Z' of Figure 6 of the valve rod and slide
valve.
Similar letters indicate like parts wherever such may occur in the described
figures of drawings.
Referring more particularly to Figures 1 to 3. A³, indicates the wheel axle
to which is secured a sleeve, G', which we have shown in Figure 1 as constructed
in two parts bolted together, each half of the sleeve being provided with suitable
bolt flanges, g'.
Each half of the sleeve, G¹, is also provided with two bearings, L', in each of
which is pivoted an arm, L2, carrying a weight, J. The outer or free end of the
weight arm L³, has a pin that extends into a longitudinal slot formed in a guide
arm, H', pivoted at, N¹, to an arm, F', secured to a disc or collar I', on the wheel
axle, A on which latter said disc or collar is free to move longitudinally, said
arm, F, being pivoted to the weight arin L, at a point k, between the weight, J',
and pivot bearing, L'. The disc or collar, I, is, as will be readily understood,
connected to all the weight arms, L³, as described, so as to insure a steady motion
of said disc on the wheel axle and to limit the movements of the said arms, L',
towards and from said axle.
The sleeve, G', is further provided with two lugs or ears, g³, diametrically
opposite each other, in each of which is secured a rod, R', whose opposite end is
secured to the collar, 1'. A coiled spring, P1, on the rod, R', has bearing on the
collar, I, and on an adjusting nut, R2, and tends to hold said collar in a position of
rest, as shewn in full lines in Figure 2, but it will readily be seen that whenever
the speed of rotation of the axle, A³, is such as to cause the weight arms to move
away from the said axle under the centrifugal force and that whenever this latter
force is sufficient to overcome the teusion of the springs, P¹, the collar, I', will

page_text: approach the sleeve, G¹, and that as soon as the speed of rotation again decreases
the said springs, P', will return the collar, I', into its position of rest. Through
the medium of this collar, I', the brakes are controlled either automatically or
through the brakeman by signal operated by the collar indicating to the brakeman
5 that he may use the brakes.
A two-armed lever, B', is pivoted at A', to a suitable bracket, b, secured to the
car body; the shorter arm of said lever carries a roller, r, in the path of the
collar, I, the longer arm of said lever has a screw-threaded opening in which works
an eye bolt, El, to the eye of which is secured one end of a rope, rod, or wire, O'.
that may operate a signal, or, in the application under consideration a valve-
actuating device presently to be described.
of revolution of the wheel axle, A³, is such as to maintain the collar, I', in the
It is evident that so long as the speed
position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, there will be no contact between said
collar and the roller arm of lever, B', but as soon as the speed of rotation
decreases sufficiently to allow the springs, P, to act, the collar, I', will be moved
towards and in contact with the roller arm of lever, B', thereby drawing the longer
arın towards the right to operate a signal or actuate the valve controlling device,
as the case may be.
Referring now to Figures 4 to 8 inclusive, C', is a valve casing whose end, c, is
connected with the brake cylinder or the compressed air supply pipe leading thereto,
while the end, c', is connected with the compressed air distributor, as for instance
the Westinghouse three-way valve or the pipe leading to said valve. The casing, C¹
has two piston cylinders, C, C³, and a valve chamber, C, having two ports opening
respectively into the compressed air duct, c², and into the atmosphere, said ports being
controlled by spring-actuated valves, M, and N, respectively. The piston, H³, in
cylinder, C, is pivotally connected to one end of a lever, F. and the piston, j, in
cylinder, C, is similarly connected with the other end of said lever which has its
fulcrun on a more or less conical bearing, e, formed in the fork of an angle lever, L,
fulcrumed at B, to a post secured to the valve casing, C, see Figure 7.
vertical arm of the lever, L, has an eye, A, connected by the rope, rod, or wire, O¹,
hereinbefore referred to, with the eye bolt, E', of lever, B', while the horizontal
arm of said lever, L, has a bearing upon a piston P, working in a suitable cylinder
also secured to the valve casing, said piston under the action of a spring D
operating to return the lever to a normal position whenever moved out of it.
The
The piston cylinder, C2, is in communication with the compressed air duct, c³, of
the valve casing through a passage h³, and the piston, j, working in cylinder, C',
has its lower end connected with the steni, k', of a slide valve, K, adapted to close
he port or passage, p', between the inlet c', and duct, c³, of casing, C₁, see Figures 5
and 6, a spring, O, secured to the back of the valve and having a bearing on 'the
lug, c, secured in the end of the valve casing tends to hold the slide valve K' to
ts seat. By an inspection of Figures 6 and 8, it will be seen that the valve
tem, k', is not rigidly connected with the piston, j, but in such manner as to compel
he valve to move with the piston, and allowing said valve to move in a direction
t right angles to the motion of said piston. To this end the valve stem, k³,
orked, the forked end embracing or straddling a throat or reduced portion, jỊ
ormed on the piston. and indicate suitable packings respectively interposed
etween the piston cylinders, C2, C3, and their covers, a similar packing v³,
eing interposed between the end of the casing, C, and the plug c³, for obvious
rposes.
The operation of the described devices is as follows:
19
Supposing the collar, I', of the governor to act upon the lever, B', by moving
om the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, to the position shown in full
es in said figure when the car wheels make about twenty revolutions per minute.
is obvious that whatever may be the speed of rotation of the wheels above twenty
volutions per minute, the collar, I', will be held out of action by the centrifugal
ce of the governor. If, now, the brakes are applied under an air pressure
fficient to lock the wheels against rotation in a very short time, before an actual

page_text: locking or stoppage of the wheels can take place their speed must necessarily be
decreased, and as soon as the decrease reaches twenty revolutions or thereabouts
per minute, the actuating collar, I, will act upon lever, B¹, and the latter through
the connection, O', on lever, L, drawing the longer arm of the latter lever towards
the right and depressing its shorter arm against the stress of the spring, D, of
piston, P, on which said lever has bearing, the air pressure in c³, at the same time
lifting the valve, M, off its seat against the stress of its spring X. Inasmuch as
the pressure in piston cylinder, C³, is the same as in the brake cylinder, the
piston H will be held up by this pressure and will serve as a fulcrum for the time
being for the lever, F2, so that the opposite end of said lever with the piston, j, and
valve, K', will be caused to move downward against the stress of the spring, L³, of
said piston under the action of lever, L, thereby closing the inlet port, pl, of air
duct, c, and cutting off the supply of air. As the piston, j, descends, an arm, p³,
on the piston rod impinges upon the stem of valve N, which stem, as shown in
Figure 6 extends through the cover of the valve casing, C¹, whereby said valve is
moved off its seat against the stress of its spring, y, allowing the compressed air to
escape, thereby reducing the pressure in the brake cylinder, and correspondingly
the pressure exerted by the brakes on the wheels. This continues until the train
is stopped, or should it have sufficient momentum, until the wheels again revolve,
at a sufficient speed to cause the governor to withdraw the actuating collar, l',
from contact with lever, H', when all the parts will at once return into their normal
position, Figure 6, and compressed air will again be supplied to the brake cylinder
to again set the brakes. When a train moves at a very high speed, these operations
are or may be repeated until the train is stopped. In view of the fact that a
maximum power, namely, a power sufficient to lock the wheels against rotation in
a very short time, can be applied to the wheels without actually locking the same,
and in view of the fact that these operations take place in an exceedingly short
time, we claim that we can stop a train at whatever speed it may be travelling in a
much shorter time than can be done at present.
When there is no pressure in the air conduit, c², and the wheel axle revolves
at a minimum speed or is at rest, the lever, L. of course holds the lever, F, in its
depressed position, but instead of depressing the piston, j, the piston, H³, will be
depressed, owing to the fact that said piston is relieved of all pressure and owing
to the power exerted by the spring, L. on the opposite end of lever, F', the rod of
piston,, serving as a fulcrum for the latter lever for the time being, and the
piston, H2, and spring, L³, as a counterbalance for the piston, j, so that the devices
are at all times in proper position for the application of the brakes, the efficiency of
which can therefore be applied or tested at any time, whether the train is in motion
or at rest.
When the described governor is applied to trains devoid of air brakes the
lever, L, may be caused to operate a signal, audible or visible, to the brakeman, so
that he may case his brakes and again set them when the speed of the train
increases under momentum, these operations being also repeated until the train is
stopped.
In practice the weight arms, L, and the arms, F¹, connecting said weight arms
to the collar, I', are made of spring metal, to give them sufficient elasticity to
withstand the vibration to which the weighted parts are subjected during the
rotation of the wheel axle.
It is hardly necessary to state that our invention may also be applied to that
class of brakes set by the rarefaction of the air in the brake cylinders, i.e., to
vacuum brakes, by a proper arrangement of the valves, M, and N, so as to admit
air to the conduits for the purpose of destroying the vacuum, also that our said
invention may be applied to electric brakes, the lever, B, of the governor, or said
lever and the lever, L, being made to control a resistance in the electric circuit,
as will be readily understood by those conversant with these brake systems.
Finally, by a proper adjustment of the weight applied to the arms, L, and by
proper adjustment of the amplitude of motion of said arms, and consequently of the

page_text: Conat,
, and by a proper adjustment of the tension of the springs, x, y, D, L',
and P, respectively, the operation of the governing and controlling devices can be
timed to any desired minimum speed of rotation of the wheel axles.
In the operation of the governor when the air is exhausted from the conduit in
5 rear of the connection, c', and the slide valve, K', is on its seat closing the port, p¹,
the pressure of the compressed air in conduit, c³, will force the valve off its seat,
thus exhausting the air from the brake cylinder.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination with a car wheel axle, and a centrifugal governor thereon,
of a power transmitting device, as a lever, controlled by the governor and actuated
by a minimal centrifugal force or when said force is nil, for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination with a car wheel axle and a centrifugal governor thereon,
of a power transmitting device as a lever and an intermediate actuating device for
said lever, said actuating device being connected with the governor to rock the
lever under a minimal centrifugal force or when said force is nil, for the purpose
set forth.
3. The combination with a car wheel axle, a centrifugal governor thereon and a
power transmitting device, as a lever, of an intermediate actuating device for
actuating the lever by impact, said actuating device being connected with and
moved away from the lever by the centrifugal action of the governor, and a
resistance antagonizing said movement of the actuating device, for the purpose set
forth.
4. The combination with a car wheel axle, a centrifugal governor thereon and a
power transmitting device as a lever, of an intermediate actuating device for
actuating the lever by impact, said actuating device being connected with and
moved away from the lever by the centrifugal action of the governor, a resilient
resistance, as a spring or springs opposing said movement of the actuating device,
and means for adjusting the tension of the spring or springs, for the purpose set
forth.
5. The combination with a power transmitting device as the lever, B¹, and a
wheel axle, of the centrifugal governor consisting of the sleeve, G', and the weight
arms, L, and an intermediate actuating device as the collar, I', loose ou said wheel
axle and adapted to rock the lever by impact, the arms, F', pivotally connected
with said collar and with the weight arms L, and a yielding resistance opposing
the movement of the collar, I', in one direction and impelling the same in a reverse
direction, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
6. The combination with a power transmitting device as the lever, B', and a
wheel axle of the centrifugal governor consisting of the sleeve, G', and the weight
arms, L2, and an intermediate actuating device as the collar, I', loose on said wheel
xle and adapted to rock the lever by impact, the arms F1, pivotally connected
with said collar and with the weight arms, L2, a yielding resistance opposing the
movement of the collar, I, in one direction and impelling the same in a reverse
lirection, and means for limiting the movement of the weight arms, substantially as
nd for the purpose set forth.
7. Means for automatically controlling the air brakes of railway trains, com-
rising a cut off valve and an exhaust valve interposed in the air conduit leading
o the brake cylinder, a centrifugal governor on one of the wheel axles and a valve
ctuating mechanism for actuating the cut off and exhaust valves, controlled by the
overnor and set in motion by a minimal centrifugal force or when said force is nil,
or the purpose set forth.
8. Means for automatically controlling the air brakes of railway trains, com-
rising a cut off valve and an exhaust valve interposed in the air conduit leading to
he brake cylinder, a centrifugal governor on one of the wheel axles, a valve
ctuating mechanism for actuating the cut off and exhaust valves, controlled by the

page_text: governor and set in motion by a minimal centrifugal force, or when said force is
nil, and a counter-balance for the cut off valve influenced by the pressure in the air
conduit and operating to prevent said cut off valve from closing the air supply
conduit when the centrifugal force is nil and there is no air under pressure in the
said conduit, for the purpose set forth.
9. Means for automatically controlling the air brakes of railway trains, com-
prising a cut off valve and an exhaust valve interposed in the air conduit leading to
the brake cylinder, a valve influenced by the pressure in said conduit and controlling
a port leading to the exhaust valve chamber, a lever for actuating the cut off and
exhaust valves and means, as springs for returning said parts into their normal
positions when moved out of it, in combination with a centrifugal governor, a power
transmitting device, as a lever set in motion by a minimal centrifugal force of the
governor or when said force is nil, and intermediate connections between said lever
and the valve actuating lever, for the purpose set forth.
10. The combination of the lever, B', the spring actuated lever, L, connected
therewith, and the lever, F³, operated by said lever, L, with the piston, H2, and the
spring actuated piston, j, respectively connected to opposite ends of lever, F2, the
air conduit, c, having port, pl, the cylinder, C, of piston, H³, communicating with
said air conduit, the valve chamber, C³, and the spring actuated valves, M, and N,
said parts being arranged for operation substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.