Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Vehicles, such as Railway Wagons.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 25th June, 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1835
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Vehicles, such as Railway
Wagons.
I, ALEXANDER SPENCER, of 77 Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to improvements in brake apparatus for vehicles
such as railway wagons, of the kind in which the brake block or blocks is or are
operated by one or other of two hand levers arranged at the respective sides of the
vehicle and euch capable of moving in a vertical or approximately vertical
direction, and it has for object to enable the said brake block or blocks to be
operated from either side of the vehicle at will by a right handed movement of the
lever at that side independently of the lever at the opposite side.
For this purpose in brake apparatus according to this invention the brake block
or blocks is or are operated from one or other, or both, of two transverse rock
shafts that are geared or otherwise connected together and each of which has
freely mounted upon its outer end a right handed lever that is adapted when moved
downward, to engage and partly rotate its shaft and apply the brake, and when
moved in the opposite direction, to release the shaft and permit the brake block or
blocks to move into the "Off" position by gravity, assisted it may be by a spring,
the arrangement being such that the brake block or blocks can be worked by
either hand lever at will without being interfered with by or affecting the other
hand lever.
In an arrangement for this purpose, each hand lever is mounted to turn upon an
eccentrically arranged. journal forming the outer end of the rock shaft and is
provided with a shoulder or abutment adapted, when the lever is depressed, to come
in contact with a shoulder or abutment on the rock shaft, and with a curved
extension the inner surface of which is concentric with and partly surrounds the
unreduced or non-eccentric portion of the shaft. The inner ends of the rock shafts,
which may be carried by plates secured to longitudinal members of the underframe
of the wagon, are provided with removable pinions or cams adapted to gear or work
together so that partial rotation of either shaft will cause a partial but reverso
rotation of the other shaft. The brake blocks are operated from a lever on one or
on each shaft according as there are brake blocks on one or each side of the
vehicle. At each side of the vehicle is a supporting device such as a plate metal
hook or bracket for carrying the free end of the corresponding hand lever when in
its inoperative position, and also a holding down device consisting of a plate or
strap provided with means such as holes and a pin, or teeth, whereby the hand
lever when depressed can be fixed in the depressed attitude to hold the brake blocks
in the "On" position as well understood.
DL: L
1002

page_text: Improvements in Brake Apparatus for Vehicles, such as Railway
Wagons.
1, ALEXANDER SPENCER, of 77 Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, 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 has reference to improvements in brake-apparatus for vehicles
such as railway wagons, of the kind in which the brake-blook or blocks is or are
operated by one or other of two hand levers arranged at the respective sides of the
vehicle and each capable of moving in a vertical or approximately vertical
direction, and it has for object to enable the said brake-block or blocks to be
operated from either side of the vehicle at will by a right handed movement of the
lever at that side independently of the lever at the opposite side.
For this purpose in brake-apparatus according to this invention, the brake-block
or blocks is or are operated from one or other, or both, of two transverse rock
shafts that are geared or otherwise connected together and cach of which has
freely mounted upon its outer end a right handed lever that is adapted when
moved downward, to engage and partly rotate its shaft and apply the brake, aid
when moved in the opposite direction, to release the shaft and permit the brake-
block or blocks to move into the "Off" position by gravity, assisted it may be by
a spring, the arrangement being such that the brake-block or blocks can be worked
by either hand-lever at will without being interfered with by or affecting the other
hand-lever.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the underframe of a railway wagon provided
with an arrangement of brake apparatus constructed according to this invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the under frame with the connected rock-shafts and their
hand-levers;
Figs. 3 & 4 are respectively plan and end views showing to a larger scale, the
outer end of one of the rock shafts; and
Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively plan and side-views, also to a larger scale, showing
the formation of the journal end of a hand-lever for engagement with the outer end
of the shaft shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
Fig. 7 is an end view showing the journal end of the hand-lever on the opposite
side of the vehicle to that shown in Fig. 6, together with part of its rock-shaft.
1 are brake-blocks suspended by links 2 and moved to and from the wheels 3 by
links 4 pivoted to the ends of a lever 5 that is fast on a rock shaft 6 journalled in
vee-shaped bearing, plates. 7, all as well understood.
6 is a second rock-shalt arranged parallel to the first one, and carried in a
similar manner to it.
The inner ends of the two shafts are geared together by toothed pinious 8, or it
may be by toothed segments, or by cams, so that partial rotation of either shaft
will cause a partial but reverse rotation of the other shaft. The outer end of each
shaft is formed with an eccentrically arranged journal 6* (Figs. 3 & 4) upon which
is mounted a right-handed lever 9 that is formed or provided with a shoulder or
abutment 9ª adapted, when the said lever is depressed, to come in contact with a
shoulder or abutment 6 on the rock-shaft. The hand-lever may also be formed or
provided, as shown, with a curved extension 9,. the inner surface of which partly
surrounds the unreduced or non-eccentric portion 6° of the shaft remaining after
cutting away a portion of the shaft to form the shoulder or abutment 6º.
By this arrangement, when either hand-lever 9 is depressed to apply the brakes,
its shoulder or abutment 9* will come against the shoulder or abutment 6 on the

page_text: corresponding rock-shaft and partly rotate this shaft and also the other shaft, the
unreduced or non-eccentric portion 6° of the outer end of which will then turn idly
away from the shoulder or abutment 9" of its corresponding hand-lever, as indicated
in Fig. 7, where the arrow shows the direction of turning of the shaft. Thus it
will be readily understood that the brake blocks 1 can be worked from either side
of the vehicle at will, by a right-handed movement of the lever 9 at that side
When the
independently of the lever at the opposite side of the vehicle.
depressed band-lever is raised to its normal position, it will release the connected
shafts and permit the brake-blocks to move into the off position by gravity. The
lever 5 may be fixed on either of the rock-shafts, or there may be such a lever on
each rock shaft, according as there are brake blocks on one or on both sides of the
vehicle.
At each side of the vehicle is a supporting device such as a plate-metal hook or
bracket 10, for carrying the free end of the corresponding hand-lever 9, when in its
raised and inoperative position, and also a holding down device consisting of a
plate or strap 11 provided with means, such as holes 12, and a pin, or teeth,
whereby the hand-lever, when depressed, can be fixed in the depressed attitude to
hold the brake-block in the "On" position, as well understood.
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. Brake apparatus for vehicles such as railway wagons wherein the brake-block
or blocks is or are operated from one or other, or both, of two transverse rock-
shafts that are connected together in such a way that partial rotation of either will
cause partial but reverse rotation of the other and each of which has freely mounted
upon its outer end a right handed lever that is adapted, when moved downward, to
engage and partly rotate its shaft and apply the brake, and when moved in the
opposite direction, to release the shaft and permit the brake to be taken off, the
arrangement being such that the brake block or blocks can be worked by either
hand-lever at will without being interfered with by or affecting the other hand-
lever as set forth.
2. Brake apparatus for vehicles such as railway wagons, constructed, arranged
and operating substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 22nd day of June 1895.
ALEXANDER
ENCER.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.