Improvements in and connected with Brake Mechanism for Motor and other Cars and Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Nov., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 27th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 27th Nov., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Brake Mechanism for Motor
and other Cars and Vehicles.
We, EUGENIO PELLAS, of Broad Street Avenue, in the City of London, Gentleman,
and SALVATORE FOSSATI, of 6, Blue Cross Street, Leicester Square, in the County of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in and connected with brake mechanism
for motor or self-propelled and other vehicles for common roads and has for its object
to provide automatic means whereby, when the vehicle comes in contact with any
obstacle, the brake is automatically applied to the wheels and is maintained in
contact with the said wheels until released therefrom by the driver or attendant.
According to our invention we provide the front of the vehicle with a projecting or
buffer portion free to move when it comes in contact with an obstacle and we connect
this movable portion with the brake block or band by suitable means so that when
the said buffer portion of the vehicle meets with a predetermined resistance the
brake is applied and we also provide means whereby the brake when applied is
maintained in contact with the wheel until released therefrom.
A suitable arrangement for carrying out our invention consists of a rod connected
to the buffer portion of the vehicle and normally held in its outermost position by a
spring and so arranged that when pushed inwards its inner end strikes against a link
pivoted at one end to the frame of the vehicle and at the other to two levers one of
which is pivoted to the brake block and the other to a hand lever which engages
with a notched sector. By this construction when the front buffer portion of the
vehicle is pushed inwards the pivoted link forces the brake block against the wheel
and also rotates the hand lever so that it engages with one of the notches in the
sector and thereby prevents the brake block from leaving the wheel. The brake will
be applied also when an obstacle collides with the sides of the buffer portion of the
vehicle.
Or we may provide, in connection with the brake block, a spring adapted to force
the brake block against the wheel or apply the brake band with the necessary
pressure but which is normally held in compression by a suitable catch adapted to be
released when the buffer portion of the vehicle meets with an obstacle.
In practice we find it advantageous to provide the front portion of the vehicle with
a projecting guard near the surface of the ground and so arranged that, should the
vehicle collide with a person, the said person instead of being run over by the vehicle
would be slid on to the said guard and we also provide our buffer arrangement with
ropes both inside, outside and underneath the same so that even should a person be
knocked down by the vehicle he can clutch one of the ropes and so by his weight
apply the brake to the vehicle.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Brake Mechanism for Motor
and other Cars and Vehicles.
We, EUGENIO PELLAS, of Broad Street Avenue, in the City of London, Gentleman,
and SALVATORE FOSSATI, of 6, Blue Cross Street, Leicester Square, in the County 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 relates to improvements in and connected with brake mechanism
for motor or self-propelled and other vehicles for common roads and has for its object
to provide means whereby, when the vehicle comes in contact with any obstacle,
the brake is automatically applied to the wheels and is maintained in contact with
the said wheels until released therefrom by the driver or attendant.
According to our invention we provide the front of the vehicle with a projecting
or buffer portion free to move when it comes in contact with an obstacle and we
connect this movable portion with the brake-block or band by suitable means so that
when the said buffer portion of the vehicle meets with a predetermined resistance
the brake is applied and we also provide means whereby the brake, when applied, is
maintained in contact with the wheel until released therefrom.
In a suitable arrangement for carrying out our invention we connect the brake-
blocks to a rocking-shaft having a hand lever, connected to it by a ball or other joint
and provided with a spring which normally tends to apply the brake-blocks to the
wheels of the car but which can be caused to engage with a notched sector so as to
hold the brake-blocks out of contact with the said wheels. To disengage the hand
lever from the sector when the buffer portion of the car strikes an obstacle we pivot
two rods to the said buffer portion the said rods passing through guides secured to
the front axle of the car and being adapted, when the said buffer portion is pressed
inwards on meeting with a predetermined resistance, to strike with their inner ends
against two links or arms pivoted to the frame-work of the car and one of which is
provided with a fork which engages with an extension of the hand lever so as to dis-
engage it from the notched sector when the said link is turned on its pivot.
In practice we find it advantageous to provide at the bottom of the buffer or pro-
jecting portion of the car a cross-bar having rearwardly projecting rods passing
through guides on the front axle of the car, the said rods being adapted to operate
the brake mechanism in the manner herein before described should the car come in
contact with a person or obstacle too low to be struck by the buffer portion.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe it by reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through a motor car having brake
mechanism constructed according to our invention; and,
Figure 2 is a plan thereof.
a is the body of the car (only the front part of which is shewn in the drawing),
b, b are the front wheels of the car, the said wheels being mounted upon the
axle c and d, d are the rear wheels of the car, the said wheels being mounted upon
the axle e.
The buffer which we arrange in front of the steering wheels of the car consists of the
two lateral plates f, f having a curved ero-s piece g in which is mounted a pneumatic
cushion consisting of an inner or air chamber h surrounded by a layer i of cotton or
other suitable substance, the said cotton or other layer being enclosed in a protective
covering preferably of leather, which is secured to the cross piece g as clearly
shewn in Figure 1.

page_text: j,j are the rods pivoted hy knuckle-joints k, kto the cross-piece g and passing
through guides l, I fixed to the front axle c. The holes through these guides L, are
made somewhat oval or flattened in cross section, that is to say, are inade longer in
width than they are in height so that the rods j, j can move laterally therein. The
buffer portion is supported on the car by the movable rods j and the fixed guides l.
m, m are the brake-blocks which are suspended in the ordinary manner from the
carriage body, the said blocks being secured together by a cross-bar na connected by
a rod o to an arm p rigidly secured to the rocking-shaft q which is rotatably
mounted underneath the carriage body as shewn. is the hand lever which is
connected by a knuckle joint r¹ to the rocking-shaft 7 so that it can move relatively
to the latter in a plane passing through the axis of the said shaft, and a is the spring
connected to the body of the car and to the said hand lever r so as to normally tend
to force the brake-blocks m, m into contact with the rear wheels d, d of the car. t is
the notched sector with which the hand lever can be engaged so as to hold the
brake-blocks m out of contact with the said rear wheels. In the drawings the
lever is shewn in engagement with the sector and the brake-blocks out of contact
with the wheels. w, v are the links or arms pivoted at u', v respectively to the body
of the carriage and connected together at their inner ends by a pin passing through
holes therein, one of which holes is elongated so as to allow the said arms to move
on their pivots. 2 is the fork with which the arm is provided, the said fork
engaging with the downwardly extending arm of the hand lever.
With this construction it will be obvious that, the parts of the mechanism being in
the position indicated in full lines in the drawings, the buffer on meeting with an
obstruction will cause the rods j, j to slide inwards in the guides 1, until they
strike the arms u, v and cause them to take the position indicated in dotted lines in
Figure 2. The movement of the army and of the fork v² around the pivot v will
disengage the lever by means of the downwardly extending arm 2 from the notched
sector t so that the said lever is then pulled forwards by the spring a thus forcing the
brake-blocks, through the medium of the shaft g, (which is rotated by the movement.
of the lever ) arm p and rod o, against the rear wheels d, d of the car. On the
obstruction being reinoved the buffer will reassume its normal position under the
action of its own weight, but the brake-blocks will remain in their operative position
until the lever is pulled back by hand into engagement with the noteled sector t.
w is the cross-bar fitted in inclined slots w³, w in the lateral plates f, f of the buffer
portion of the car and az, are the rods connected to the said cross-bar w and extend-
ing backwards into proximity with the arms u, v. These rods x, x are supported in
guides y, y on the axle c of the front or steering wheels b, b of the car as shewn clearly
in Figure 1. With this arrangement it will he obvious that should the cross-bar wo
strike an object too short to be struck by the buffer the rods a, a will be pushed
upwards in the guides and strike the arms u, v so as to apply the brake mechanism
in the manner above described.
2, z are projecting blocks upon the cross-piece g connecting the lateral plates f, f
of the buffer, the blocks being adapted to brake the front wheels b, b of the car
should the car strike an immovable obstacle, such as a wall, the said blocks being,
however, arranged at such a distance from the wheels b, b that they are only applied
in exceptional cases, that is to say, when the object struck is immovable.
In a slightly different construction of our invention the rods connected to the
buffer portion of the vehicle are norinally held in their outermost position by a spring
and are so arranged that when pushed inwards when the buffer strikes an obstacle
they strike against a link pivoted at one end to the frame of the vehicle and at the
other end to two levers, one of which is pivoted to the brake-blocks and other to a
hand lever which engages with a notched sector. In this arrangement, therefore,
when the buffer portion is pushed inwards the pivoted links force the brake-block
against the wheel and also rotate the hand lever so that it engages with one of the
notches in the sector and prevents the brake-blocks from leaving the wheel.
It will be obvious that with our construction of buffer apparatus the brake will be
applied also when the sides of the said buffer portion collide with an obstacle, it not

page_text: being necessary that both rods j, j be pressed into contact with the links u, v as
either of the rods j alone can operate the lever r by striking the link against which
it operates.
The front portion of the vehicle may be provided with a projecting guard near the
surface of the ground and so arranged that, should the vehicle collide with a person,
the said person instead of being run over by the vehicle would be slid on to the said
guard, and we can also provide our buffer arrangement with ropes both inside, out-
side and underneath the same, so that even should a person be knocked down by the
vehicle he can clutch one of the ropes and so by his weight apply the brake to the
vehicle.
It will be obvious that the rods j, j can be arranged to operate a switch for stopping
the motor in addition to applying the brake.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In motor and other cars and vehicles for common roads, the employment of a
movable buffer portion in the front thereof, the said buffer being connected with the
brake mechanism by suitable intermediate gear so that when it strikes an obstacle
the brake is automatically applied, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The combination with motor and other cars and vehicles for common roads, of
automatic brake mechanism comprising a movable portion fitted to the front of the
car or the like and having rods movable in guides, and arms pivoted to the frame of
the vehicle, one of which arms has a fork engaging with an arm of a hand lever
mounted upon a rocking shaft which controls the brake-blocks normally held out of
contact with the wheels against the action of a spring by a notched sector with which
the hand lever engages, substantially as described and illustrated.
3. The combination with buffer mechanism of the kind described in Claim 2 of a
cross-bar having rearwardly projecting rods working in guides adapted to operate the
brake mechanism, substantially as described and illustrated.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved brake
mechanism for motor and other vehicles for common roads, hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 17th day of August 1807
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.