Year: 1886

page_text: We THOMAS Cox, Senior, Blacksmith and THOMAS Cox, Junior, Machinist, both
of Gloster, in the County of Lewis and Clark, and Territory of Montana, United
States of America, 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 the construction of a car starter and brake wherein the
mechanisms employed to start and stop the car are controlled by a single manipulating
lever.
The main objects of the invention are to entirely dispense with the use of springs
and to so arrange the parts that the starting mechanism may be employed time after
time in quick succession should the load upon the car be excessively heavy; but
although these are the main objects of the invention, many other objects are aimed at
and secured through the medium of the novel constructions and combinations illus-
trated in the drawings, which constructions will be hereinafter described and specifically
pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all
the figures.
Figure 1 is an inverted plan view of a portion of a car provided with our improved
form of car starter and brake.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the same, taken on line - of Figure 1, the
main lever in this case, however, being slightly different in construction from the lever
illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an end view of the car representing in full lines the position of the car
starting attachment when such attachment is in operation is shewn; and in dotted
lines the normal position of the starting attachment is shewn, upon the right the
normal position of the braking mechanism is illustrated.
Figure 4 is a similar view representing the normal position of the car starting
attachment in full lines upon the left, while upon the right the car braking mechanism
is illustrated in the position it assumes when the brakes are being applied.

page_text: Referring now to the general construction illustrated in the drawings, 10 is the car
floor, 11 the forward platform, 12 the main axle, and 13 the car wheels.
Upon the axle 12 is keyed a toothed wheel 14, and just above the axle is fixed a
downwardly extending bracket 15, serving as the pivotal support for the main operating
lever 16 and for a beam lever 17, the lever 16 being connected to the bracket by means
of a pin or bolt 18, while the beam lever rocks upon a pin 19, this arrangement being
best shewn in Figure 2. The levers 16 and 17 are connected by links 20 that are
arranged as close as possible upon either side of the fulcrum of the lever 17 as shewn,
this close adjustment of the centre requiring links of unequal length, such as those
illustrated. Clutches 21 and 22 are pivoted to either end of the lever 17, the clutch 21
being connected through the medium of a link 23 with a rocker 24 pivoted to the
lever 16, while the clutch 22 is connected by a link 25 with a sliding block 26
mounted upon the inner or rear end of the lever 16.
A connecting rod 27 extends from the upper end of the rocker 24 forward to a bell-
crank lever 28, which lever is pivoted to the forward end of the lever 16, the rod 27
being connected to its nearly vertical arm 29, while its arm 30 extends forward in a
plane just above that occupied by the forward end of the lever 16. A weight 31 is
secured to an extension on the lever 28 and holds the parts in the position shewn in
Figure 2.
The block 26, which as before stated, slides upon the rear end of the lever 16, is
connected with the rocker 24 by means of a link or rod 32, the end of which is threaded
to engage with lock nuts 33 arranged on either side of a flange 34 formed upon the
block 26. The forward ends of the lever 16 and of the arm 30 are in the path of a
latch piece 36, said latch piece being pivoted to the end of a lever 37 that is pivotally
mounted in a frame 38 at the point 2, at right angles to lever 16.
The latch tooth 36 is provided with an outwardly extending arm 39 which is
guided in a vertical bracket 40. The upper face of the latch 36 is curved from the
point backward toward the centre of the platform of the car, as shewn at 3, and upon
the lower end of the latch there is a stop 4 which bears against the under edge of the
lever 37, said lever carrying a weight 41 which holds the parts in the position shewn
on the left in Figure 4.
In the frame 38 there is mounted a shaft 43 which carries two levers 44 and 45, the
adjacent ends of the levers being forked and formed with apertures through which the
shaft 43 passes. The forked ends of the levers 44 and 45 are formed with upwardly
extending projections 5 and 6 respectively, thus forming shoulders against which the
sides of a lever 47, that is mounted between the forks and upon the shaft 43, may be
brought to bear. The other end of the lever 44 is connected with the lever 37 by
means of a link 48. As has been above stated, the normal position of the car starting
attachment is shewn on the left in Figure 4, that is, the weight 41 has been allowed
to elevate the latch 36 to a position above the extending ends of the levers 16 and 28.
When the parts are in this position and the lever 47 is thrown in the direction of
arrow No. 1, Figure 3 the lower side face of this lever will abut against the projec-
tion 5 of the lever 44 and carry it to the position shown in full lines in Figure 3, thus
moving down the unweighted end of the lever 37, the first effect of which motion is to
rock the bell-crank lever 28, thus advancing the connecting rod 27 in the direction of
the arrow shewn in Figure 2, and from the construction described it will be seen that
this movement of the rod will throw the clutches 21 and 22 into engagement with the
toothed wheel 14, and as the motion of the lever 47 is continued the lever 16 will be
carried downward, thus rocking the beam 17 and starting the car wheels forward as
will be readily understood from the construction illustrated.
Just before the parts reach the position shewn in full lines in Figure 3 the extending
end 39 of the latch 36 will have reached its lower limit in the bracket 40, and any
continued movement of the lever 47 will cause the latch to free itself from engagement
with the levers 16 and 25, which levers on being released will be returned to the
position shown in figure 2, by the action of a pair of weighted levers 50 mounted on
a bracket 51, said levers carrying a roller 52 which bears against the under side of the
lever 16, the upward motion of the forward ends of the levers being arrested by

page_text: brackets 54 arranged in line with a pin 55 carried by the lever 16. After the lever 16
has returned to the position shown in figure 2, the lever 47 may be returned to the
vertical position, and being so returned the weight 41 will carry the lever 37 to the
position shown in figure 4, the upward curved edge of the latch 36 striking against the
under edge of the lever 16 and being forced backward so as to pass beyond the levers,
when the weight of the arm 39 will return the latch to the position shown in figure 4,
and the operation repeated if necessary to impart more forward rotary motion to the
wheels of the car.
In order that the length of the rod 27 may be adjusted as required, we provide a
turn buckle 56, which may be located at any convenient point along the line of the rod.
The braking mechanism used in connection with the starting mechanism hereinbefore
described consists of a rock shaft 60 that is mounted in bearings secured to and beneath
the flooring of the car, upon this rock shaft are keyed brake arms 61 carrying upon
their ends boxes 62, in which are placed the brake shoes 63 adjusted to the required
position by set screws 64 passing through threaded holes in the boxes and locked with
nuts 65, by this means as the shoes are worn they may be advanced toward the peri-
pheries of the wheels. The forwardly extending lever 67 which is rigid on the shaft 60
and braced by a diagonal bat 66, is coupled to the end of the lever 45 by the shackles 68,
so that as the lever 47 is thrown in the direction of arrow number 2 figure 3, to the
dotted position shown, the forward end of the lever 67 will be depressed and the
shaft 60 will be slightly rocked, carrying the brake shoes against the peripheries of
the wheels, thus stopping the car. But in order that the brakes may be applied to the
rear, as well as to the forward edge of the wheel, we provide rearwardly extending
arms 70 which carry loops 71 in which are received the outer ends of arms 72 secured
to a second rock shaft 73 having keyed upon it downwardly extending arms 74 carrying
brake boxes 62 arranged as herein before described, so that as the shaft 60 is rocked
the rear end of the lever 70 will be raised, carrying with it the arm 72 and throwing
the rear brake shoes against the peripheries of the wheels.
When the lever 47 is returned to the vertical position, a weight 80 which is carried
by an arm 81 rigidly secured to the shaft 60 will throw the parts into the position
shown in figure 2, and upon the right in figure 3.
In figure 1 the lever 16 is represented as being provided with two side braces or
strengthening bars 85 in order that the strength of the lever may be increased without
materially adding to the weight of the attachment.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:-
1. In a car starting mechanism, the combination with a toothed wheel arranged to
he rigidly connected to the axle, of clutches arranged to be thrown into engagement
with the wheel, and a mechanism substantially as described whereby after the clutches
have been thrown into engagement with the wheel, one of them will be elevated and
the other depressed, substantially as described.
2. In a car starting mechanism the combination with a toothed wheel carried by the
axle of a beam lever carrying clutches, a mechanism substantially as described for
throwing the clutches into engagement with the toothed wheel, a lever 16, links 20
connecting the lever 16 and the beam lever, and a mechanism substantially as described
whereby the forward end of the lever 16 may be depressed, as and for the purpose
stated.
3. The combination with a shaft or axle carrying a toothed wheel, of a beam lever
carrying clutches, a main lever carrying a rocker and a sliding block that are con-
nected by links with the clutches, connecting rods extending from the sliding block to
the rocker and from the rocker to a bell-crank lever that is pivoted to the main lever,
links connecting the main lever and the beam lever, and an operating mechanism,
substantially as described.
4. In a car starting mechanism the combination of the following elements: toothed
wheel carried by the axle, clutches 21, 22, carried by a beam lever 17, links connecting
said beam lever with a main lever 16, a mechanism for throwing the clutches into

page_text: engagement with the toothed wheel, and an operating mechanism consisting of a
lever 47 mounted on a shaft 43, an arm 44 also mounted on said shaft and formed
with a shoulder 5, a lever 37 carrying a weight 41 connected to the arm 44 by a link 48,
a latch 36 formed with a curved face 3 and provided with an arm 39, and a stop 4, all
substantially as described and for the purpose stated.
5. In a car starting mechanism the combination with a toothed wheel carried by the
axle, of a beam lever carrying clutches 21 and 22, a link 23 connecting the clutch 21
with a rocker 24, said rocker, a connecting-rod 27, bell-crank lever 28, link 25, sliding
box 26, and a rod 32 extending from the box to the rocker 24, a lever 16 connecting
links 20, extending from the main lever to the beam lever 17, a manipulating lever 47
mounted on a shaft 43, an arm 44 mounted on said shaft and formed with a shoulder 5,
a lever 37 provided with a weight 41, connecting link 48, latch 36 formed with a
stop 4 and an inclined face 3 and having an arm 39, said latch being arranged to
engage with the extending ends of the levers 28 & 16, substantially as described.
6. The combination with a lever 47 of an arm 45 formed with a shoulder 6, a rock
shaft 60, a lever 67 connected to the arm 45, and a braking attachment carried by the
rock shaft, substantially as described.
7. In a car braking mechanism the combination with a lever 47 of an arm 45 formed
with a shoulder 6 a lever 67 rigidly connected to a rock shaft 60, arms 61 carrying
brake boxes 62, brake shoes 63 mounted in said boxes, arms 70 extending to the rear
from the rock shaft 60 and rigidly connected thereto, a rock shaft 73 provided with
arm 72, which overlap the arms 70, arms 74 extending downward from the rock
shaft 73 carrying brake shoes, substantially as described.
8. The combination with a rock shaft, of an arm 61 carrying a brake box 62, a brake
shoe 63, adjustably mounted in said box, and an operating mechanism, substantially as
described.