Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Railroad and Street Cars.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Railroad and Street Cars.
I, CLARENCE WILSON CARTER, of No. 3021 First Avenue South, Minneapolis,
County of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, United States of America, Dentist, do
hereby declare the nature of my 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 a brake apparatus for railroad or street cars, and the
object of the invention is to provide a brake in which there shall be less slack chain
in consequence of which the brakes may be more quickly applied or released; and
a further and more important object is to provide a brake apparatus which will be
additionally and strongly operated by the movement of the cars, and further, one in
which the force applied will increase in proportion to the weight with which the
car is loaded.
This invention consists in general in the constructions and combinations all as
hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims, and will be more
readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of
this Specification, and in which ;-
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a car provided with brake apparatus
embodying this invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof with the car body removed.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a truck and showing a modified form of my
apparatus.
Fig. 4 is a similar view showing still another modification.
In the drawings I have shown a simple form of car-truck, but it will be under-
stood that this invention is applicable to any of the car-trucks which are employed
on passenger or freight cars, or on street-cars. The brake-shoes and brake-beams
may also be of any desired construction. As shown, I connect the brake-shoes of
each truck by a strong connecting rod 2 secured thereto in any suitable manner, as
by means of eye-bolts 3 which preferably extend upward through the brake-beams
and furnish the eye-fastenings 4 for the ends of the brake-chains. The rod 2 is of
such length as to permit the brake-shoes to stand a slight distance away from the
peripheries of the wheels 5, and the brake-beams are normally supported by the
usual hangers 6 depending from the sills 7 of the car body.
The action of the device may be explained as follows:-Both pairs of brake-
shoes being supported out of contact with the wheels, the raising of one pair into
contact with the adjacent wheels will act through the connecting rod 2 to pull the
other pair of shoes in under the other wheels and into a very strong frictional
engagement therewith; an engagement which automatically increases as the first
shoes more strongly grip their inwardly revolving wheels.
From the above it might be presumed that the action after the manual setting of
the brake would be automatic to such an extent as to cause the raised shoes to so
tightly engage their wheels as to lock and be drawn up past the center. But this
is clearly not the case, for the action of the wheels upon the second or depressed
shoes is to wedge away the shoes, resulting in a back pull through the rod 2 upon
the raised shoes, which pull effectually prevents the shoes from passing up beyond
the centers of their wheels, and in so doing always holds them in position to drop of
their own weight when the brake chain is slackened.
The brakes are automatic only to the extent that the frictional engagement
between the raised shoes and their wheels, which in addition to the original force
applied to raise them, acts to draw the depressed shoes against their wheels. For

page_text: thus lifting either pair of the shoes I may employ various forms of take-ups, several
of which I have illustrated. Of these I prefer the construction shown in Figs. 1
and 2, wherein a single loop of chain is employed for each truck, the ends 9 and 10
of the loop being secured upon opposite brake-beams and the intermediate parts
being carried upward over the fixed sheaves 11 and 12, the boxes of which are
firmly secured upon the bottom of the car. The loop is embraced by a third
sheave 13 from which a link 14 extends to the transverse lever 15 pivoted at 16
to the car.
From the opposite end of this lever a chain or rod 17 extends to
the end of the brake-shaft or stem 18, ordinarily, or it is obvious that an
air brake device may be connected with the lever 15. When the lever 15 is
drawn forward the brake-chain loop will be drawn up immediately setting the
brake-shoes upon the wheels after which the action of the brake will be, to the
extent explained, automatic. As an additional support for the downwardly
drawn shoe I may provide a block 20 upon the brake chain before each of the
sheaves 11 and 12, and so placed that it will engage with the sheave when
the lower end of the chain is drawn down to the limit. The brake-chain from the
opposite truck is connected with the lever 15 in a similar manner.
In place of the above construction I may employ that shown in Fig. 3 where
short chains 21 and 22 extend from the brake-beams over the sheaves 11 and 12
and are provided upon their upper and inner ends with the sheaves or pulleys 23
and 24 respectively. These sheaves are connected by a chain 25 having its upper
end secured to the car body or extending back to a similar chain of the truck
beneath the other end of the car body. This chain passes around the sheaves
and has its opposite end connected with the vertical brake-shaft or stem 18, upon
turning which the sheaves are drawn together to lift and set the shoes.
Figs. 1 and 3 I have shown the rod 2 made in two sections, the approaching
ends of which are oppositely threaded to receive a turn-buckle 27 by which the
length of the connecting rod 2 may be adjusted. This device may be applied to
the constructions shown in the other figures.
In
In Fig. 4 the arrangement of the take-up is further modified. The short
chains 28 and 29 from the brake-shoes extending around the sheaves 30 and 31
which are connected by a link 32. The end of the chain 29 may be secured to the
car body or connected with the similar chain of the other truck. The forward
chain 29 has its end connected with the brake-stem 18. In this case as in the others
I may provide the limiting blocks 20.
The advantages derived from either of these constructions are due primarily to
the connection of opposite brake-shoes by the rod 2, which limits the movement of
the brake-shoes with respect to the wheels, thereby making necessary only a small
amount of slack chain which may be very readily and quickly taken up through
the multiplying sheaves as shown. A further advantage is derived from the disposal
of the levers which are ordinarily employed beneath the car, one only being used
in my device. It is obvious further that when the car is forced down by a heavy
load the brake shoes will be dropped a corresponding distance owing to the fact
that they are connected to the body of the car by the hangers 6, which drop
results in permitting the pair of shoes to raise a somewhat greater height upon
their wheels when set thereon, thereby increasing the arc through which the
pressure is exerted upon the wheels and consequently increasing the power of the
brake.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination, with the truck, of the brake-shoes to engage the wheels
thereof, the shoes of wheels in opposite pairs being relatively fixed, and means for
moving the shoe or shoes of one pair of wheels into engagement therewith and
thereby setting the opposite shoe or shoes, substantially as described.

page_text: means for normally supporting said shoes, means for moving the shoes into engage-
ment with the wheels, said shoes being relatively fixed to maintain a constant
distance between them, substantially as described.
3. The combination, with the truck, of brake-shoes, the shoes of opposite wheels
being arranged and normally supported in a plane substantially parallel with the
truck base, means for moving said shoes into engagement with the wheels, and a
connection between the shoes of opposite wheels adapted to maintain a constant
distance between said shoes, all substantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. The combination, with the truck, of the brake-shoes and beams belonging
thereto, with the rod 2 connecting said brake-beams, and means for moving one
pair of said shoes into contact with the wheels whereby the other pair of brake-
shoes is drawn into engagement with the wheels adjacent thereto, substantially as
described.
5. The combination, with the car-truck and the wheels thereof, of the brake-beamis
and brake-shoes to engage said wheels, hangers for said brake-beams, a rod 2
adjustably connecting said brake-beans, and extending beneath the axles of the
truck, and means for moving either one of the beams and its shoes whereby the
the other shoes are set, substantially as described.
6. The combination, with the wheels and the axles, of means for mounting the
car thereon, the brake-beams and brake-shoes arranged thereon to engage said
wheels, a rod extending beneath the axles and connecting said brake-beams, fixed
sheaves or pulleys 11 and 12, chains passing from said beam over said sheaves, and
a manual take-up connected with the upper ends of said chains, substantially as
described.
7. The combination, with the wheels and their axles, of the frame arranged
thereon, the car body secured upon said frame, springs being interposed, the brake-
beams and brake-shoes to engage said wheels, hangers extending beneath the axles and
connecting said beams, and means for raising either of said brake-beams and its
shoes, substantially as described.
8. The combination, with the car-body, of the wheeled truck whereon the said
body is mounted, the brake-beams and brake-shoes to engage the wheels thereof, a
rod 2 connecting said brake-shoes hangers for said beams, sheaves 11 and 12 fixed
upon the car-body, a chain loop having its sides extending over said sheaves and
its ends extending to and secured upon opposite brake-beams, a sleave 13 engaging
the end of said loop, and means for drawing out said sheave to raise said shoes,
substantially as described.
9. The combination, with the car-body, of the wheeled truck whereon the same
is arranged, the brake-beams and brake-shoes to engage the wheels of said truck,
an adjustable connecting rod 2 extending between said brake-beams, hangers for
said beams, fixed sheaves 11 and 12, a chain loop extending over said sheaves and
having its ends secured upon said beams, stops 20 pivoted on said chain before said
sheaves, and means engaging with the end of the loop whereby the same is drawn
out, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 23rd day of October 1802
J. E. EVANS-JACKSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.