Improvements in Brake Mechanism for use on Cycles, Horseless Carriages, and other Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Brake Mechanism for use on Cycles, Horseless
Carriages, and other Vehicles.
We, JOHN EDWARD HUSSEY, of 206, Wells Road, Accountant, and ARTHUR
ISAAC SUMMERS, of Bradley House, Brecknock Road, Engineer, both in
Totterdown, Bristol, in the County of Gloucester, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:--
Our invention relates to brakes for cycles, auto-cars, or horseless carriages and
other vehicles.
In constructing a brake according to our invention we fix adjacent to the
driving wheel a dished disc, that is to say, a disc having a flange projecting from
one face, and on the wheel we arrange a disc working inside the flange on the
dish and having in its periphery a series of brake blocks designed to be pushed out
in order to bring them in contact with the said flange to exert a braking action,
for instance, by means of a cam arranged in conjunction with the said blocks and
adapted to receive a slight rotation relatively with the disc in order to cause the
projection of the said blocks. Any suitable means may be employed for producing
this independent rotation, for instance, a lever may be arranged on the handle bar
and provided with suitable connections. We find it advantageous, however, to
provide that when our improved brake is applied to a bicycle the act of back
pedalling should apply the brake: for this purpose we construct the driving wheel
with a double hub, that is to say, with a hub composed of two tubes, one of which
fits accurately within the other.
The wheel proper is built up upon the outer tube which is provided with suit-
able flanges and carries the disc herein before described having the brake blocks;
the inner tube is capable of a slight rotation independently of the outer tube
(lugs on one tube working in cavities in the other tube) and carries on one end the
usual sprocket or chain wheel and on the other end the cam for projecting the
brake blocks. So long as the machine is running under normal conditions no
relative movement will take place between the two tubes so that the cam will not
project the brake blocks. When, however, owing to back pedalling the retarda-
tion of the inner tube takes place, the outer tube with the wheel, owing to the
momentum, moves relatively with the inner tube sufficiently to cause the cam to
project the brake blocks into contact with the flange of the dished disc.
Dated thin oath 1
ATA

page_text: Improvements in Brake Mechanism for use on Cycles, Horseless
Carriages, and other Vehicles.
We, JonN EDWARD HUSSEY, of 206, Wells Road, Accountant, and ARTHUR
ISAAC SUMMERS, of Bradley House, Brecknock Road, Engineer, both in
Totterdown, Bristol, in the County of Gloucester, 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:-
Our invention relates to brakes for cycles, auto-cars or horseless carriages and
other vehicles.
In constructing a brake according to our invention we fix adjacent to the
driving wheel a dished disc, that is to say, a disc having a flange projecting from
one face (the said dished disc being hereinafter referred to as the fixed disc) and
on the wheel we arrange a disc working inside the flange on the fixed disc and
having in its periphery a series of brake blocks designed to be pushed out in order
to bring them in contact with the said flange to exact a braking action, for
instance, by means of a cam arranged in conjunction with the said blocks, and
adapted to receive a slight rotation relatively with the disc in order to cause the
projection of the said blocks. Any suitable means may be, employed for pro-
ducing this independent rotation, for instance, a lever may be arranged on the
handle bar and provided with suitable connections. We find it advantageous
however, to provide that when our improved brake is applied to a bicycle the act
of back pedalling should apply the brake; for this purpose we construct the
driving wheel with a double hub, that is to say, with a hub composed of two
tubes, one of which fits accurately within the other.
The wheel proper is built up upon the outer tube which is provided with suitable
flanges and carries the disc herein before described having the brake blocks; the.
inner tube is capable of a slight rotation independently of the outer tube (lugs on
one tube working in cavities in the other tube) and carries on one end the usual
sprocket or chain wheel and on the other end the cam for projecting the brake
blocks. So long as the machine is running under normal conditions no relative
movement will take place between the two tubes so that the cam will not project
the brake blocks. When however, owing to back pedalling the retardation of the
inner tube takes place, the outer tube with the wheel, owing to the momentum,
moves relatively with the inner tube sufficiently to cause the cam to project the
brake blocks into contact with the flange of the fixed disc.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the arrangement of our brake in con-
nection with the fork ends of a bicycle; and,
Figure 2 is a section through the brake and the wheel hub and axle on the
line 2-2 Figure 1:
Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 Figure 2 looking in the direction of the
arrow:
Figure 4 is a face view of the disc upon which the brake blocks work:
Figure 5 is an elevation of one of the said brake blocks; and,
Figure 6 is an elevation of a portion of the cam for operating the said blocks;
Figure 7 is a sectional view illustrating a modification; and,
Figure 8 is a section on the line 8-8 Figure 7.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the fixed axle secured in the fork ends b, b and c, d are the two tubes of the
wheel hub, the former of which runs on ball bearings on the axle a whilst the

page_text: latter is fitted on to the exterior of the tube c and is capable of a slight rotation
relatively therewith.
e is the chain wheel which is fixed upon one end of the. inner tube c and ƒ is
the cam which, as shown, is formed upon the other end of the said tube. g.is the
5 fixed disc having a flange h and provided with lugs g', g' which embrace one of
the bottom stays g² so as to render the disc immovable. i is the disc having a
series of brake blocks j sliding upon it.
As shown the disc i is arranged to serve as one of the spoke flanges of the wheel
the letter indicating the other spoke flange, but if desired the disc i may be
O quite independent of the spoke flange in which case two spoke flanges, such as k,
would be employed. In either case, however, the said disc i must be upon or fixed
to the outer tube d of the hub.
6.
The brake blocks j, one of which is shown detached in Figure 5, are each
adapted to move between two pairs of guide lugs l, l, m, m formed upon the face
of the disc i and each, of the said blocks is. formed with a surface n against which
a cam surface o on the cam f will bear in a manner clearly illustrated' in
Figures 2 and 3.
The cam has as many cam surfaces o as there are brake blocks and each of
these surfaces is eccentric to the axis of the cam to such an extent that when one
end of each cam is beneath its brake block the latter will be out of contact with
the flange h of the fixed disc g whilst when the other end is more or less beneath
the block the latter will be pressed against the flange h with more or less pressure.
The motion of the inner tube c, derived from the driving chain on the sprocket
wheel e, is communicated to the outer tube d and the wheel through the medium
of two lugs P, on the tube c bearing against other lugs q, q in the disc i, the
recesses or cavities r, r between the lugs g, q permitting of the independent motion
of the disc i relatively with the said lugs p, p.
.
With the arrangement hereinbefore described it will be understood that when
the chain wheel e is being driven, the lugs p will be in contact with the lugs q, I
and cause the rotation of the wheel. When, however, owing to back pedalling by
the rider the rotation of the chain wheel e with the tube c is more or less retarded
the momentum of the machine will cause the driving wheel with the disc i to move
so that the said disc moves forward relatively with the tube and thereby brings
the brake blocks more or less into contact with the high portions of the cam
surfaces o whereby the said brake blocks are pressed into contact with the flange h,
so retarding the motion of the machine.
Immediately the rider again commences to drive, the tube c is rotated indepen-
dently of the wheel until the lugs again. come into contact with the lugs q, q, the
cam f being at the same time moved to allow of the brake blocks being drawn
away from the flange h. This latter movement of the brake blocks is effected by
cam slots s, s having the same amount of eccentricity relatively with the axis of
the cam as the adjacent surfaces o, o. These slots s, s act upon pins t, t fixed to
the brake blocks and serve to positively draw the brake blocks back, away from the
Hange h, when the driving recommences. The said grooves and pins also serve
for preventing the blocks from moving into contact with the flange h under
centrifugal action during the running of the machine.
The brake blocks n, n are provided with removable friction surfaces n made of
eather or other suitable material so that when they are worn they may be
replaced.
The construction shewn in Figures 1 to 6 and in which the cam f is formed
ntegral with the inner tube c necessitates, in assembling the parts, passing the
crew-threaded end of the tube e through the tube d and as this screw-threaded
nd must be of considerable diameter in order to afford a firm connection between
he sprocket wheel e and the said tube it follows that the tube d must also be of
onsiderable diameter. In order to reduce this diameter we advantageously adopt
he construction shewn in Figures 7 and 8. In these figures the cam f is
epresented as being attached to the tube c by means of screw threads as shewn

page_text: at, u the said tube c being made of considerably smaller diameter than the screw-
threaded end of the said tube upon which the sprocket wheel e is mounted, the
outer tube d being of smaller diameter to receive and fit the tube c.
Also with
this arrangement the lugs p and q instead of being arranged adjacent to the
disc i are arranged between one end of the tube d and the sprocket wheel e so as
to still further lighten the appearance of the parts.
In order that the brake may not be applied too readily owing to the retardation
of the tube d relatively with the tube c we provide for clamping the tube d more
or less upon the said tube c so as to prevent the too free movement of the latter
relatively with the former, for instance, the tube d may have a slot or saw cut
formed in it with lugs on each side of it as indicated at v, v, Figure 8, so that by
tightening a screw passing through the said lugs the desired gripping action will
be obtained.
When our invention is used in conjunction with a motor car the retardation of the
tube c may be effected by means of a small brake applied to the driving pinion on
the motor shaft when the said pinion is disconnected from the said shaft by the
clutch mechanism, the said brake being operated, for instance, by means of a
lever in conjunction with the steering handles of the motor car. In cases, how-
ever, where the driving wheel on the motor shaft is considerably smaller than the
driven wheel on the wheel axle the resistance which the said driving wheel offers
to rotation, when the car is running by momentum, will be sufficient to effect the
desired retardation.
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. A brake mechanism for cycles, horseless carriages and other vehicles wherein
the hub of the driving wheel carries a series of brake blocks adapted to be pro-
jected radially into contact with a fixed brake surface arranged concentrically
with the said disc, and wherein the said hub is provided with an inner tube
carrying the driving pinion and a cam operating in conjunction with the said
brake blocks and adapted to effect the movement of the same, the said inner tube
normally communicating its motion to the said hub but being capable of being
retarded slightly in its rotation relatively with the hub for the purpose of moving
the cam relatively with the brake blocks, substantially; as, and for the purpose,
described.
2. A brake for cycles, horseless carriages and the like comprising a disc carrying
a series of radially moving brake blocks, a concentric friction surface against
which the said brake blocks are adapted to bear and a cam adapted to rotate with
the said disc but to have a slight movement relatively with the same to permit of
pressing the brake blocks into contact with the friction surface, substantially as
described.
3. The manufacture and use of brake mechanism for cycles, horseless carriages
and other vehicles consisting of the parts constructed and combined substantially
in the manner herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings and operating as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Dead thin 40th don
1. 1907
And thin 904L
day of July
1007
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.