IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO RAILWAY BRAKES
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd July 1877. A communication
from abroad by Samuel Milligan, West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, En-
gineer.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings,. London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO RAILWAY
BRAKES." [A communication from abroad by Samuel Milligan, West Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia, Engineer.]
This Invention is designed for the purpose of providing simple, speedy, and
efficient means for applying brakes to railway rolling stock. The object sought to
be attained is to brake the wheels as quickly as possible with the minimum amount
of wear and tear to the rolling stock, and by preference to brake all the wheels of
the different vehicles forming the train simultaneously. This I accomplish by making
every vehicle apply its own brake, and by connecting the brakes all together so as
to enable them to be thrown in or out of gear by the motion of one lever. The
effect of this motion is to allow the brake apparatus to fall into gear, and then the
vehicles themselves force the brake blocks against the wheels with a pressure which
increases with their onward movement until the wheels brake, when the pressure
remains stationary. To this extent, therefore, my apparatus may be said to be
automatic in its action.
The mechanical contrivances by which I effect this result comprise a screw or
worm on one of the axles of the vehicle; in the groove of this screw there travels
one end of a lever having its opposite end connected to a crank that operates a
cross bar or double crank, to which the ends of the two rods that carry the brake
blocks are attached. When the brake is in work the revolution of the axle carries
the one end of the lever along the spiral groove, thus forcing its other end to
operate the jointed brake rods, and throw the brakes on both wheels at the same
time with a pressure increasing with the onward movement of the train until in a
very short time the revolution of the wheels will be altogether stopped. By these
means the whole weight of each vehicle is brought into play as a force for operating
its own brake. To throw the said brakes out of gear it is needful only to lift that
end of the lever which travels in the groove of the screw. This adjustment I
accomplish by means of a series of rods operated by a lever, either from the engine

page_text: or guard's van, which lever only requires to have its action reversed in order to
allow the brake lever to fall into gear again. These series of rods for the several
carriages I connect by rods or other suitable mechanism terminating in a hand lever
at either end of the train so as to make them continuous and permit their all being
worked simultaneously. A.spring prevents the jumping of each brake lever from
its groove.
Now, as railway engines, carriages, and waggons, are sometimes required to travel
to and fro without being reversed, I provide a second worin and lever on the other-
wise plain axle of the wheels to enable the brakes to be thrown on when the car-
riages or vehicles are travelling in one direction, although, if the vehicles were
turned round when reaching the end of a journey, there would be no need for this
second worm and lever. When two levers are used the second one is lifted out of
gear, and its end suspended in a link or bracket until the carriage travels in the
opposite direction.
The worms may be made of any suitable metal and applied in various ways; for
instance, if applied to the axles of railway rolling stock already in existence, they
might be cast in brass in two halves, lengthwise, and fastened to the axle by means
of set screws, care being taken that the socket or seat in the axle for the reception
of the set screws should be so shallow as to make no practical difference in the
strength of such axle; or a bar of iron of the size of the screw thread could be
heated the necessary heat, and then wound round the axle to form the thread and
be allowed to shrink itself on; or the brass screw might be cast on the axle.
In making new axles the aforesaid screw might be applied by making part of the
axle thicker than the other parts to allow the grooves of the screw to be cut
without interfering with the norinal strength of the axle; or such screw might be
shrunk in ás in the case of the old axles.
It will be observed that according to this Invention the brake may be continuous
or not, as preferred, and that by a very simple arrangement of machinery a new
principle is brought into play in the braking of railway trains, namely, making the
onward movement and weight of the train act as the motive force in putting on the
brakes to stay its progress.