Improvements in Automatic Starting and Braking Apparatus for Cars or Carriages.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar
1888
Specification Accepted, 6th Apr., 1888
Improvements in Automatic Starting and Braking Apparatus for
Cars or Carriages.
A communication to me from abroad by ADOLPH FEENEL, of Breslau, in the Empire
of Germany.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co. Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
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, and accompanying drawings (that is to say) :-
:-
This invention relates to improvements in automatic car-starting and braking
apparatus,
which may
be advantageously applied to cars carriages and vehicles of any
kind.
In order to better explain the invention, reference is made to the accompanying
drawings, in which :
Figure 2, sheet I, represents the invention as applied to a one-horse carriage, and
Figure 3, sheet II, represents the same as applied to a two horse carriage.
Figure 1, and Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, sheets I and II are detail views and
sections to better explain the invention, and
Figures 10 to 15, sheet III show details of the construction.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved starting and brake apparatus, applied
to a one-horse carriage.
Figure 2 is a plan corresponding to Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a plan of the starting and brake-apparatus applied to a two horse
carriage.
Figure 4 is an end view corresponding to Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of a wheel with the improved starting device.
Figure 6 is an end view to figure 5.
Figure 7 is a plan to figure 5.
Figure 8 is a cross section through the rim of the wheel.
Figure 9 is a front view of the guide rods m, n.

page_text: Figure 1 is a side elevation O Weer
starting device.
Figure 10 is a front view of the lever u.
With the improved Diane and
TUTIVE
Figure 11 is a plan, a side elevation and sectional view, respectively, of the pole
fastening and cross piece.
Figure 12 is a plan and side elevation respectively of the rods with fork t engaging
with the crossbar c.
Figure 13 is a plan and side-elevation, respectively, of the link joint between the
cross bar c and draught-bar a.
Figure 14 is a front and side elevation and plan respectively of the arm v which
forms the fulcrum of the brake lever u, and
Figure 15 is a side elevation and plan, respectively, of the arm / mounted on the
axis g, to which arm the drawing rod is attached.
I will now proceed to describe, first, the car-starting apparatus. The draught-
bars a are hinged, with one end as at 6, to the crossbar c, at the other end they are
coupled by the connecting crosspiece d to the draught bars a, the latter draught bars
are jointed by links e to the drawing rods farranged at both sides of the wheels.
The joints of the draught bars a, a¹ and of the rods faro arranged to allow only of such
motion as brings them into a straight line.
At the opposite end the said ros fare pivoted to the arms & mounted on the axis g
of the wheels, as shown in Figure 5. The draught bars a carry at their free ends a
cross bar forming books at both sides of the riin.
The rim of the wheels is provided all around with bolts passing through the rim
and projecting at both sides as shown in Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8. The said bolts are
secured within the rim by clamps, which catch into a central hole of the bolt by a stud,
as shown in Figure 8.
Each of the two rods fat the sides of the wheel carries an arc-shaped rod b, sliding
between vertical guide bars mn secured by set screws, Figure 9. This arrange-
ment serves to adjust the rods fin such a position that on starting the car, that part of
the rods nearest to the axis is lifted only after the links e have sufficiently stretched
to make the hooks engage with the bolts i and further to prevent the joints of the rods f
from being deflected down when the draught bars descend, which would cause the
hooks to slide freely over part of the bolts. The arc-shaped rods b have stops at their
ends.
At both sides of the wheel and secured to the axis g a spiral spring o is arranged,
the free end of which is connected by a chain p to the link-rod e the said chain passing
through a sleeve at the link joint of the rods and being secured to the end of the
link e.
The starting apparatus is operated by a device arranged to slide upon the carriage
poles. The said poles are arranged within sliding sleeves B B, having a slot at their
end, on the underside, within which slot works a stud secured in the pole. The said
sleeves B B are solid at their ends and surrounded by a socket or collar to which the
cross bar c is loosely secured. The said crossbar is arranged to slide on the socket by
means of a bolt and hoop; the object of this arrangement being to provide sufficient
play in case the hooks should fail to engage simultaneously with the pins of both
wheels, and that the sleeves B B, accordingly, should not simultaneously slide upon
the poles. By providing such play the sleeves are allowed to slide on the poles even
in the case referred to and jamming between the sleeves and poles is prevented. The
free ends of the pole sleeves are connected by a rod which serves to prevent the shaft
bars from turning inside when the carriage is stopped as such bending of the shaft
bars would be prejudicial to the free sliding motion of the sleeves on the poles.
To the crossbar c the splinter-bar is secured to which the horse is harnessed.
On starting the car, the traction will cause the pole-sleeves to slide forward on the
poles and at the same time the strain will work on the two draught bars a a after which
the two hooks of the har k will be lifted, together with the links e of the rods f. The
said hooks will then engage with the bolts i and owing to the resistance there
encountered, the rods a¹ and links e will take the position indicated by dotted lines in

page_text: Figure 5. It will be obvious that as the traction begins to take effect upon the circum-
ference of the wheels, the starting of the car or carriage will be greatly facilitated.
When the hooks engaged with the pins e have reached the apex of the wheel, the
traction will begin to work upon the axis of the wheels, as the sleeves B B of the
poles have at that moment with their solid end, reached the stud in the poles and draw
the said poles forward.
At the same time the springs o which have been wound up during the lifting motion
of the rods f, draw the hooks know disengaged from the bolts i, back and the rods f
down into the normal position as shewn in Figure 5, the rods a¹ and hooks being
carried along by said rods f
When the carriage is braked or stopped in its course, the poles will again slide
forward into their sleeves and the receding cross bar e forces the draught bars a a¹ back
into their original position, the extent of which rearward and downward motion is
limited by the stops secured to the arch-shaped rods in bearing against the guide
bars n.
The said stops are so adjusted that the draught bars a with crossbar c may in their
utnost rearward position be lifted as much beyond the height of the wheels, that in
moving downhill the said bars are prevented from bearing upon the wheels.
The automatic brake mechanism combined with the starting device above described
will act at the moment, when the traction-device has been forced back into its
original normal position.
The brake is illustrated independent of the starting device in Figure 10.
The two brake blocks D D are carried each by a vertical spring-lever both
spring levers being connected by a horizontal crossbar secured to the slide bars s s.
The said slide bars are forked at one end as at t and at the other end they are
hinged to a lever u the lower end of which is carried by an arm secured to the
axle g.
At some distance above the said arm the rod w of the brake block D is
hinged to the said lever u.
When the carriage is being stopped in its motion, the poles enter more deeply into
their sleeves, whereby the cross bar c recedes towards the carriage and enters into the
forks t of the slide-bars & s. The said crossbar c acting against said slide-bars s s
forces them back whereby the position of the levers u is so changed as to apply the
brake-blocks Dagainst the wheel, by means of the rods w thus braking the wheels.
The levers q which carry the brake blocks D form strong springs at their upper ends,
the said springs serving to take the brake-blocks off the wheels as soon as the carriage
has again been started and the crossbar c has released the fork of the slide bars ss.
In case of applying the said braking-apparatus to a carriage without the simultaneous
use of the car starting device, the fork t of the slide-bars may be omitted and the
said slide-bars hinged to the crossbar c. In such case the stud of the poles, working
in the slot of the sleeve may be located so much back, that the sliding motion of the
sleeve on the pole is limited to such extent, as will correspond with the distance
between the brake blocks and the wheels.
In a two horse carriage or vehicle the only modification of the starting and braking
apparatus consists mainly in the use of one pole only, and, accordingly, one sleeve B
only will be necessary, the other parts remaining essentially the same as described and
shewn in Figure 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
An automatic car-starting and braking apparatus applicable to cars, carriages and
vehicles of any kind consisting of
1. The car-starting or traction apparatus in which the position of the draught
bars a afande, hinged to each other, is by the traction acting on the said mechanism
so modified as to make the hooks k of the links e engage with bolts i projecting
from the rim of the wheel, and carry the wheel round till the said hooks, at the apex
of the wheel, disengage from the said bolts and are drawn down by chains p connected

page_text: to springs o secured to the axis g, to the normal position as shewn in Figures 1
and 5, at the moment when the traction begins to act on the axis of the wheels.
2. The braking apparatus, in which the brake blocks D, D, carried by spring
levers
79 are applied to the wheels, while stopping the carriage, by the crossbar c
working against slide bars ss connected to the lever u and brake rod w, the release
of the brake being effected on starting the carriage, through the springs a, Figure 10,
or y Figures 1 and 2, while the crossbar e recedes from the slide bars's s.
3. The traction apparatus common to both starting and brake mechanism, the said
traction apparatus consisting of the sleeves B B sliding on the poles and connected
to the cross bar c by bolt and hoop to afford play, the said cross bar following the
forward and backward motion of the sleeves on the poles and controlling both
the starting and the braking apparatus, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
Tit
ليم
1
1 1000
EDWARDS & Co.,
Agents for the Inventor.