Improvements in and relating to Hand-brakes for Railway Wagons.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd July, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 18th Apr., 1899--Accepted, 27th May, 1899
Improvements in and relating to Hand-brakes for Railway Wagons.
I, VICTOR ISIDORE FEENY, of 60, Queen Victoria Street, in the City and County
of London, Consulting and Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in brakes for railway wagons and has
reference more particularly to an invention described in the Specification to my
former Patent No. 1045 dated 4th January 1890.
By my present invention I am enabled to simplify the working parts and to
apply or release the brake from either side of the wagon without having to
remove a hand from the lever for the purpose of securing the same in the desired
position.
In carrying out my invention I dispense entirely with the hanging racks
described in the above specification and, in lieu thereof, I propose to suspend the
link or rack through which the ordinary hand lever moves, from a stud secured
to the side frame of the wagon. This link or rack is bent or curved outwardly
and is furnished with a counterweight which may be adjustable or not, as
desired. Upon the outer or concave faces of the link, I form a number of
upwardly curved slots or recesses into which a stud secured to or through the
lever automatically engages when the lever is depressed. Immediately above
the topmost of the slots the face of the link tapers outwardly terminating in a
downwardly curved recess into which the stud on the lever enters when the
brakes are taken off. In order to ensure the release of the lever when it is
desired to apply the brakes I give to the upper face of this recess an inclined
or cam shape of a suitable form to ensure the link or rack being forced inwards
by the pressure of the stud when the lever is raised for the purpose of releasing
the stud from out of the recess.
When the lever is depressed for the purpose of applying the brakes, the stud
travels over the back or curved faces of the racks on the link which owing to
its particular curvature is caused to move inwardly so long as the downward
movement of the lever is continued. Immediately this is arrested the link is
forced outwards by the action of the counterweight and the stud engaging with
its corresponding recess or slot at once automatically secures the brakes in position.
When it is desired to release the brakes the hand lever is first depressed so
as to cause the link to be moved inwards for the purpose of releasing the stud
from the particular recess into which it may have entered; as soon as this is
effected the lever is free to be raised and the brake taken off. Owing to the
concave form of the link and to the are described by the stud during the raising
of the lever, the stud will be free to lift without engaging with the rack unless
the movement is arrested.
If desired. I may arrange for the stud on the lever to abut against a projection
or stud provided upon the upper portion of the link for the purposes of preventing

page_text: or arresting the upward movement of the lever and causing the link to resume
its normal position.
Dated this Twenty-third day of July 1898.
GEDGE & FEENY,
Chartered Patent Agents, 60, Queen Victoria Street, London.
Improvements in and relating to Hand-brakes for Railway Wagons.
I, VICTOR ISIDORE FEENY, of 60, Queen Victoria Street, in the City and County
of London, Consulting and Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in brakes for railway wagons and has
reference more particularly to the invention described in the Specification to my
former Patent No. 1045 dated January 4th 1896.
By means of my present invention I am enabled to simplify the working parts
and to apply or to release the brake from either side of the wagon without having
to remove the hand from the lever for the purpose of securing the same in its
desired position.
In the following description reference is had to the accompanying sheet of
drawings illustrating my invention, on which, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a
railway wagon fitted with my brake.
66
Figure 2 is a cross section of line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are views in elevation, and on a larger scale, of the rack
holding the hand-lever in respectively its uppermost or off," and a lower or
on position.
נג
It will be seen from these drawings that according to my present invention, I
dispense entirely with the hanging racks described in the specification of my
patent previously referred to, and that, in lieu thereof, I suspend a link or rack A
through or against which the ordinary hand-lever B moves, from a stud a secured
to the sole plate of the wagon.
This link or rack A is bent or curved outwardly as shewn on the drawings
and is furnished with a counterweight C which may be adjustable or not, as
desired. In the alternative I may suspend the link or rack from a lug a on
its outer face, as shown in dotted lines, on Figure 3, so that its centre of gravity
falls beyond the point of suspension.
Upon the outer or concave face or faces of the link or rack. I form a number
of upwardly curved slots or recesses cc into which a stud D secured to or
through the lever B enters, automatically engaging with the same when the
lever B is depressed.
Immediately above the topmost of the slots c the face of the rack tapers out-
wardly terminating in a downwardly and outwardly curved recess into which
the stud D on the lever B enters when the brakes are taken off. In order to
prevent the brakes from being put on unintentionally when the wagon is "kicked
up," I give a slightly re-entrant form to the outer face d of this curved slot,
so that any impact against the wagon forces the slot into tighter engagement
with the pin and prevents the pin from being jerked out of the slot. In order
to secure the release of this lever when it is desired to apply the brakes, I give
to the upper face e of this recess can inclined or cam shape of a suitable form
to ensure the link or rack A being forced inwards by the upward pressure of the

page_text: stud when the hand lever is raised for the purpose of releasing the stud D from
out of the recess c¹.
To put the brake on, the hand-lever is slightly raised thus pushing the cam
on the upper portion of the rack backwards, and holding the rack sufficiently
far back that when the hand-lever is allowed to fall freely or is depressed, the
pin D clears the outer face of the slot and slips down over the lower teeth until
brought to rest in one or other tooth by pressure of the brake blocks.
To take the brake off, the lever is slightly pressed down and then lifted. The
curve of the rack or link is sufficient to give the pin on the hand lever a lead
over the link all the way up and so to clear the teeth; the whole operation is
effected with one hand. The pin finds its way into the slot at top by striking
the cam at the top of the link or rack, which sends the slot home in time to
engage the pin, as described.
Figure 3 illustrates the position of the stud D within the recess c¹ when the
brakes have been taken off, and Figure 4 shews the stud D in one of the recesses c.
the hand lever having been depressed and the brake-blocks applied to the wheels.
The original position of the swinging link or rack A is shewn on Figure 4 in
dotted lines.
If desired, I may arrange for the stud D on the lever B to abut against a
projection or stud provided on the upper portion of the link or rack for the
purposes of preventing or arresting the upward movement of the lever B and
causing the rack to resume its normal position.
It will be remarked that although this particular improvement is intended
principally for use in connection with the brake arrangement described in my
Patent No. 1045 of 1896 aforesaid, my present invention can be used in connec-
tion with certain other brake systems.
The swinging rack A may be a single rack or may be formed as a link or
with a strap through or within which the hand lever works.
It is only necessary to use one of these swinging links or racks on each wagon,
although as described in my previous patent, such brake can be operated from
either side of the wagon, by means of single levers, compound levers or any
other equivalent device.
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). In hand brakes for railway wagons, a curved swinging link or rack with
curved teeth, pin-retaining slots and rack-operating cam, for the respective pur-
poses and substantially as described and illustrated in the annexed drawings.
(2). In hand brakes for railway wagons, the combination with the invention
described and claimed in my Patent No. 1045 of 1896, of a curved rack A, having
curved slots c acting as teeth, curved recess or slot c', cam e, and re-entrant
face d, substantially as and for the purposes described.
Dated this Eighteenth day of April 1899.
GEDGE & FEENY,
Chartered Patent Agents, 60, Queen Victoria Street, London.