Improvements in Apparatus for Actuating the Brakes of Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 12th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 15th Oct.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Actuating the Brakes of Railway
Vehicles.
I, ANDRE KHOLODKOWSKY, of 7, Rue Koladesky Kischinew Russia Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus for effecting the automatic operation of the
brakes of a train in the case of derailment or an accident of any kind happening
to the rolling-stock.
It has for object the production of an apparatus of easy regulation that will
register or record, so to speak, simultaneously the abnormal movements of the
axles of a vehicle and the abnormal displacements of the body of the vehicle.
According thereto there is secured to the collar of one or more of the springs of
a vehicle, a bent bar furnished with abutments that participate in the movements
of the spring, and between these abutments there is arranged a valve that
participates in the movements of the body of the vehicle, the arrangement being
such that any abnormal displacement, either of the axle or of the body of the
vehicle will result in effecting the automatic opening of the valve and consequently
the automatic operation of the brakes of the train.
One example of apparatus according to this invention comprises a bent bar fixed
by means of a support or bracket to the collar of one of the springs of the
vehicle; the bar may be screw-threaded and secured to the support or bracket by
means of nuts, so as to be adjustable therein. This bar has two horizontal arms
which project in opposite directions from its ends and in which are mounted, so
as to be regulable, bolts or studs carrying at their ends that are turned towards
each other, plates or impact-pieces.
Between those plates there is mounted, on an axle carried by a support or
bracket fixed to the frame of the vehicle, a lever carrying at its ends plates
This lever, which can oscillate on its
corresponding to the plate of the bent bar.
axle, controls, by a toothed or corrugated cam or eccentric portion with which
it is furnished, the opening of a valve whose casing is fixed on the prolongation of
the said axle and is connected by a pipe with the main pipe or passage for
controlling the brakes.
When in its normal position, the said lever is midway between the two plates
of the bent bar. As long as the lever occupies its normal position the valve will
be kept closed. On the contrary, in the case of an abnormal compression of the
spring or of an abnormal movement of the body of the vehicle, one of the plates
of the lever will strike against the corresponding plate of the bent bar; from this
will result an angular displacement of the lever and consequently the opening of the
valve under the action of the said toothed cam or eccentric portion, which will
afterwards keep the valve open; likewise in the case of a tyre-rupture, a derail-
ment, etc., the other plate of the lever will strike against the corresponding plato
of the bent bar, which will again bring about an angular displacement of the lever

page_text: in the same sense as before and consequently the opening of the valve. It will
therefore be seen that the apparatus will operate with certainty in all cases and
that if the regulation be sufficiently exact the apparatus will be capable of register-
ing or recording every compression or extension of the springs exceeding a given
limit.
Apparatus of the kind described may be applied in general to all the axles of a
vehicle although good results are obtained when, in the case of a vehicle having
three axles only the middle axle is provided with such an apparatus, or, in the case
of a vehicle with two axles, when one such apparatus is placed at one end of one
of the axles and another is placed at the opposite end of the other axle.
Instead of employing the lever and the valve as hereinbefore described, the pipe
leading to the main brake pipe or passage might be prolonged and have secured to its
outer end a pipe of suitable form and having its ends, which would be arranged
opposite to the bolts or studs of the bent bar (which in this case might have its
arms projecting in the same direction), closed by discs of glass, one or both of
which would, in case of abnormal movement be broken by one or both of the
bolts or studs, whereby air would be allowed to enter or escape from the branch
pipe and the automatic operation of the brakes would consequently ensue.
Dated this 20th day of November 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Actuating the Brakes of Railway
Vehicles.
I, ANDRE KHOLODKOWSKY of 7, Rue Koladesky, Kischinew, Russia, Engineer,
do hereby declare ne 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 apparatus for effecting the automatic operation of the
brakes of a train in the case of derailment or an accident of any kind happening
to the rolling-stock. It has for object the production of an apparatus of easy
regulation that will register or record, so to speak, simultaneously the abnormal
movements of the axles of a vehicle and the abnormal displacements of the body
of the vehicle.
According thereto there is secured to the collar of one or more of the springs
of a vehicle, a bent bar furnished with abutments that participate in the move-
ments of the spring, and between these abutments there is arranged a valve that
participates in the movements of the body of the vehicle, the arrangement being
such that any abnormal displacement, either of the axle or of the body of the
vehicle, will result in effecting the automatic opening of the valve and con-
sequently the automatic operation of the brakes of the train.
In the accompanying drawings is represented by way of example a vehicle-axle
furnished with apparatus in accordance with this invention, Figs. 1 and 2 showing
respectively a front elevation and an end view thereof, Fig. 3 a separate view of
the arrangement for controlling the valve, Fig. 4 separate views of the lever
furnished with abutments and Fig. 5 a detail-view of a modification of the valve.
This arrangement comprises a bent bar A fixed by means of a support or
bracket a to the collar of one of the springs of the vehicle; the bar is secured

page_text: to the support or bracket by means of nuts, so as to be adjustable therein. This
bar A has two horizontal arms A', A2 which project in opposite directions from
its ends and in which are mounted, so as to be regulable, bolts or studs B carrying
at their ends that are turned towards each other, plates or impact-pieces b, bl.
Between these plates b, b1 there is mounted, on an axle g carried by a support
or bracket fixed to the frame of the vehicle, a lever 1 carrying at its ends
plates d, d, corresponding to the plate b, b¹ of the bent bar A. This lever D which
can oscillate on its axle g, controls, by a toothed or corrugated cam or eccentric
portion E (Fig. 3) with which it is furnished, the opening of a valve C whose
casing is fixed on the prolongation of the said axle g and is connected by a
pipe c (Fig. 2) with the main pipe or passage for controlling the brakes.
When in its normal position, the said lever D is midway between the two
plates 6, 6 of the bent bar A. As long as the lever D occupies its normal position
the valve C will be kept closed. But, in the case of an abnormal compression of
the vehicle spring or of an abnormal movement of the body of the vehicle, the
plate of the lever will strike against the corresponding plate b¹ of the bent
bar B; from this will result an angular displacement of the lever 1) and conse-
quently the opening of the valve C under the action of the said toothed cam or
eccentric portion, which will afterwards keep the valve C open; likewise in the case
of a tyre-rupture, a derailment, etc., the other plate d of the lever will strike
against the corresponding plate of the bent bar, which will again bring about an
angular displacement of the lever D in the same sense as before and consequently
the opening of the valve C. It will therefore be seen that the apparatus will
operate with certainty in all cases and that if the regulation be sufficiently exact
the apparatus will be capable of registering or recording every compression or
extension of the springs exceeding a given limit.
Apparatus of the kind described may be applied in general to all the axles of a
vehicle although good results are obtained when, in the case of a vehicle having
three axles, only the middle axle is provided with such an apparatus, or, in the
case of a vehicle with two axles, when one such apparatus is placed at one end
of one of the axles and another is placed at the opposite end of the other axle.
Instead of employing the lever D and the valve C as herein before described, the
pipe cleading to the main brake pipe or passage might be prolonged and have
secured to its outer end a pipe of suitable form (see Fig. 5) and having its ends,
which would be arranged opposite to the bolts or studs of the bent bar A (which
in this case might have its arms projecting in the same direction), closed by discs
of glass, one or both of which would, in case of abnormal movement be broken by
one or both of the bolts or studs whereby air would be allowed to enter or escape
from the branch-pipe c and the automatic operation of the brakes would conse-
quently ensue.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. For automatically effecting the operation of the brakes of railway-vehicles
in case of accident, the application to the collar of one or more of the springs of
a vehicle of a bar or projection that participates in the movements of the springs
and is furnished with regulable impact-pieces, and the interposition between these
impact-pieces of a lever D pivotally mounted on an axle g rigidly connected with
the body of the vehicle, the said lever being adapted to actuate a valve that
controls the brakes and is arranged on the said axle at one side of the said lever,
the arrangement being such that in case of abnormal movement of the springs or
of the body of the vehicle, one of the impact-pieces will cause an angular displace-
ment of the movable lever on the axle g and thereby open the valve which controls
the brakes.
2. A modification of the arrangement set forth in the preceding claim in which
there is used in lieu of the movable lever and the valve a tube of suitable form,

page_text: having opposite to the impact-pieces openings that are closed by glass discs capable
of being broken under the shock of the said impact-pieces.
3. Apparatus for automatically operating the brakes of vehicles in case of
accident to the rolling stock, constructed arranged and operating substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to and shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive;
or modified according to Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 12th day of September 1898.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.