Improved Brake for Furniture Vans, Carriages, and other Vehicles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 35th Jan., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Brake for Furniture Vans, Carriages, and other Vehicles.
I, MAX WALDEMAR RUDZKO, of 43 Kommandant-strasse, Berlin, in the
Kingdom of Prussia and Empire of Germany, Merchant, do hereby declare the
nature of my said 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 an improved brake for furniture vans, carriages, and
other like vehicles whereby such vehicles when in motion may be effectually retarded
and the wheels instantly locked by the driver.
This improved brake consists essentially of two blocks or cheeks operating
laterally upon the wheels of the vehicle and actuated by peculiar mechanisin.
On the accompanying drawing
Fig. 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 1 a plan view of a furniture van with my
improved brake shewn applied thereto.
Figs. 2 to 7 are detail views of the mechanism of my improved brake.
In accordance with my invention a cylinder A is arranged beneath the body of
the van capable of turning in bearings A' depending from the van in front of the
rear wheels. This cylinder A is furnished with oblique or diagonal slots a. a. in
front of each of the rear wheels of the van through which pins c. c. of the cheeks
or blocks C. C. pass which are arranged on each side of the rear wheels and enter
the cylinder. The lateral surfaces of the blocks C are roughened and it is also
preferable to furnish the lateral surfaces of the wheels with raised or corrugated
parts as illustrated in Fig. 7.
The pins c of the cheeks or blocks C are rigidly connected within the cylinder
by means of sliding rods D in such a manner that the outer cheeks or blocks of the
right hand wheel are connected with the inner cheeks or blocks of the left hand.
wheel and the inner cheeks or blocks of the right hand wheel are connected with
the outer cheeks or block of the left hand wheel (see Fig. 5). In this way it will
be seen that when the outer checks or blocks are pressed against the outer surfaces
of the two wheels the cheeks or blocks are the same time moved outwardly
i.e. against the inner sides of the wheels and hence each clamp which is formed by the
two cheeks or blocks surrounding the rim of the wheel is closed when applied to the
latter and firmly locks it.
The motion of the cheeks or blocks is caused by the rotation of the cylinder A
which is caused to rotate by means of the projection connected by a draw rod H
to the brake lever H¹ operated by the driver of the van.
Assuming now that the checks or blocks were prevented turning by some means
or other the oblique slots a would slide against the pins c of the cheeks or blocks C
and bring the latter together in the manner described so that each pair of cheeks C
would be firmly pressed against the sides of the wheels placed between..
To facilitate the motion of the sliding rods D and to prevent at the same time
the cheeks or blocks C from being carried away by the rotation of the cylinder A.
the said rods Dare arranged between flanged rollers d (see Figs. 5 to 6) within the
guiding block I placed in the cylinder A provided with a projection or tongue
extending outwards through a slot i which is rather larger than the tongue so as to
enable the cylinder to turn as required.
The guiding block is firmly fixed to the tongue to prevent the pins of the cheeks
or blocks from breaking by means of a contrivance which yields when the limit of
rigidity of the pins is exceeded.
This contrivance may be actuated by a spring or as shown in the drawing by
means of compressed air. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3 the tongue of the guide block I
is connected by a chain E to the piston e which is air tight and moves in the

page_text: cylinder F. The latter is filled with air and firmly secured to the underside of the
van. When the brake lever is pulled the checks or blocks C are prevented from
taking part in the rotary motion of the cylinder and hence they firmly clasp the
wheels between them.
If the momentum of the van was so great that the pins were in danger of being
broken the power holding the guide block I would be overcome and the piston e
would be moved forward in the cylinder with the following revolution of the guide
block the wheels being only able to turn until the power was exhausted by the air
becoming more and more compressed or by the spring being subjected to a gradually
increasing contraction.
When the brake lever H is pushed back again the cylinder A is thereby turned
in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrows and the cheeks or blocks C
are pushed outwardly by the oblique or diagonal slots a thence separated one from
the other so that the rear wheels of the van can now roll unimpeded.
In order to be able to slacken or retard the speed of the vehicle in the ordinary
manner a shoe G is fitted between the oblique slots a of each wheel and in close
proximity to the periphery of the wheel, this shoe being so arranged that it presses
against such periphery when the cylinder turns in the direction indicated by the
arrow thus acting as a brake of ordinary construction.
In this motion of the cylinder the piston e offers no resistance to the rotation of
the guiding block I but the latter turns therewith until the brake shoe comes to
bear against the periphery of the wheel.
This improved brake is equally applicable to carriages and other vehicles as
. aforesaid.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1st. The improved construction and arrangement of brake and brake actuating
mechanism for furniture vans, carriages and other vehicles, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated on the accompanying drawing.
2nd. A. brake characterised by a cylinder with oblique slots and roughened
cheeks or blocks with pins entering such slots causing such cheeks or blocks to act
laterally on the wheels of the vehicle for the purpose of locking the wheels all
mounted and operating substantially as herein before described and illustrated on the
accompanying drawing.
3rd. In my improved brake the employment of sliding rods and guide rollers
and block enclosed within the cylinder and mounted and operating substantially as
and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated on the accompanying
drawing.
.
4th. In my improved brake the employment of a shoe or block affixed to the
cylinder aforesaid for retarding the speed of the van or other vehicle to which it is
applied substantially as herein before described and illustrated on the accompanying
drawing.
5th. In my improved brake the employment of a cylinder filled with compressed
air and fitted with a piston connected with the guide block of the operating cylinder
aforesaid substantially as and for the purposes herein before described and illustrated
on the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 11th day of December 1801
JOHN G. WILSON,
Agent for the Applicant.