New or Improved Brake Mechanism for the Travelling Wheels of Revolving Cranes and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Mar., 1898-Accepted, 4th June, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Brake Mechanism for the Travelling Wheels of
Revolving Cranes and the like.
I, WILLIAM SIMMONDS, Engine Driver, of 116, Holton Road, Barry Dock, Cardiff,
in the County of Glamorgan, 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:-
My invention has for its object new or improved mechanism for actuating
the brakes of the travelling wheels of revolving cranes and the like, which shall
enable the brakes to be applied to or released from the said travelling wheels
whenever required, and without any regard to the position in which the crane may
happen to be.
in carrying my invention into practical effect, I mount a vertical metal rod so
as to be capable of revolving in suitable bearings in the frame of the crane. The
upper end of this rod has attached to it a suitable hand lever or the like, whereby
it may be operated by the person controlling the crane, and its lower end, after
passing through the floor of the crane, has a pinion attached to the extremity
thereof. This pinion gears with a spur wheel, mounted upon the king post of
the crane, and having its lower side recessed so as to revolve upon a shoulder
formed at the base of the said post; a collar underneath the floor of the crane,
and cast with or otherwise fixed thereto, at the point where the king post
passes therethrough, bearing in a recess in the upper side of the said spur
wheel.
Gearing also with this spur wheel is a pinion attached to the top of a
vertical rod mounted so as to revolve in suitable bearings in the floor or framework
of the carriage of the crane. This last mentioned rod passes down through the
floor of the crane carriage and has its lower end screw-threaded. Upon the screw-
threaded part of this rod is mounted an internally screw-threaded block. This
block is pivotally secured in the forked end of a rod, the other end of which is
attached to a horizontal rod suitably journalled in bearings in the carriage frame.
This horizontal rod is parallel to the travelling wheel axles and is connected to the
brake blocks by means of suitable toggle levers. When the screw-threaded
vertical rod is rotated, this block is caused to either rise or fall as the case may be,
and so, through the medium of the horizontal rod and toggle levers, to apply or
release the travelling wheel brakes.
The spur wheel mounted on the king post is of such depth that the pinion carried
at the lower end of the vertical hand lever rod can pass freely over the pinion
carried at the top of the vertical rod mounted in the crane carriage, when necessary,
as the crane revolves; the first mentioned pinion being rather less than half the
depth of the spur wheel and gearing with the top part thereof, and the last men-
tioned pinion being also rather less than half the depth of the spur wheel and
gearing with the bottom half thereof. When therefore the hand lever is rotated
in the necessary direction, the pinion attached to the lower end of the hand lever
rod communicates rotary motion to the spur wheel, and this latter in turn

page_text: rotates the pinion and rod operating the brake levers and blocks as already
described.
I will now proceed to further describe my invention in connection with the
accompanying drawings in which the same letters of reference indicate like parts
in both the figures.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a crane carriage and part of the revolving crane,
having my invention attached thereto.
Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line - Fig. 1 the crane being swung
partly round.
a represents a vertical rod mounted so as to revolve in suitable bearings in the
crane frame b. This rod a has attached to its upper end a hand lever or the
like a; and its lower end, after passing through the floor of the crane, has a
pinion a attached to the extremity thereof. This pinion a² gears with the upper
part of the spur wheel c, which latter rests loosely, so as to be capable of revolving,
upon a shoulder formed at the base of the king post d; the collar e underneath
the floor of the crane bears in a recess in the upper side of the spur wheel c so
that the crane can revolve freely thereon. Gearing with the lower part of the
spur wheel c is a pinion h which is attached to the top of the vertical rod h¹
mounted so as to be capable of revolving in bearings in the floor or framework
of the crane carriage. This rod has a suitable length at its lower end screw-
threaded, and mounted so as to engage with such screw-threaded part is the
internally screw-threaded block k. This block k is pivotally secured in the forked
end of the rod 1, the pivots in the block sliding in suitable slots s in the arms
of the fork in order to allow for radial movement. The other end of the rod is
fixed to a horizontal rod r having its ends suitably journalled in bearings in the
brackets fixed to the carriage frame. This rod actuates the brake blocks m
through the medium of any well known arrangement of toggle levers such as n.
When it is required to apply or release the travelling wheel brakes, the rod a
is rotated in the necessary direction by means of the hand lever or the like a¹, thus
revolving the pinion a² which communicates rotary motion to the spur wheel c,
the latter in turn causing the pinion to rotate and raise or lower the block k,
and thus, through the medium of the fork and rod the horizontal rod r is
partly turned in the required direction and the toggle levers and brake blocks
operated.
therewith.
The spur wheel is of such depth that when the crane swings round, the
pinion can pass freely over the pinion h, both pinions remaining in gear
Fig. 2 shews the crane swung round so that the pinion a³ is vertically over
the pinion h. When the crane swings round the pinion h and spur wheel c, as
well as the brakes, remain stationary, while the rod a and pinion a revolve
freely.
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: -
(1) Revolving cranes and the like fitted with mechanism for operating their
travelling wheel brakes substantially as described.
(2) In mechanism for actuating the brakes of the travelling wheels of revolving
cranes and the like, the use of a recessed spur wheel such as c mounted upon the
king post of the crane substantially as described.
(3) In mechanism for actuating the brakes of the travelling wheels of revolving
cranes and the like, the use of a deep spur wheel gearing with two pinions of lesser
depth substantially as described.
(4) Brake mechanism for the travelling wheels of revolving cranes and the like
consisting of the combination of a recessed spur wheel such as a mounted upon the
king post of the crane, a pinion carried at the lower end of a vertical rod the upper
end of which carries a hand lever, another pinion carried at the top of a vertical

page_text: rod the lower end of which is screw-threaded and carries a block communicating
motion to a forked rod, horizontal rod, and set of toggle levers carrying the brake
blocks, operated and substantially as described.
Doted this 18th day of March 1898.
CASTLE SMITH,
"Invention " Office, Mitre Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.