An Improved Railway-car Brake
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Jan., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 30th Oct., 1891-Accepted. 5th Dec., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Railway-car Brake,
1. WILLIAM HENRY MUNNS, of Victoria Chambers, 55 and 56 Chancery Lane,
in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication to me from abroad by John Zimmermann, Jr., of
West Troy, New York, U.S.A., Inventor) to be as follows:
car.
This invention has reference to a new and improved railway-car brake which
will permit of the brake being more expeditiously and firmly applied than hereto-
fore. By this invention the car is provided midway its length with a rocking-shaft
of convenient length, and which is journalled in bearings secured to the floor of the
Two eccentrics are keyed to this shaft in opposite directions, and the straps
thereof are provided with connecting rods whose opposite ends are connected to the
brake-beams, there being one brake-beam for each pair of wheels. The ends of
the brake-beams are provided with shoes adapted to engage the peripheries of the
When the rocking-shaft is rocked by means of a connecting-rod and lever
the eccentrics draw the brake-beams and brakes tightly against the wheels.
connecting-rod may be operated, if desired, by suitable levers in combination with
a hand-wheel; or in any other desired and convenient manner.
wheels.
ند
ليمي
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1001
The
. W. H. MUNNS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Railway-car Brake.
1, WILLIAM HENRY MUNNS, of 106, 107, and 108 Victoria Chambers,
Chancery Lane, in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention (a communication to me from abroad by John Zimmer-
mann, Jr., of West Troy, New York, U.S.A., Inventor) 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 car-brakes; and the object of the
invention is to provide a simple, effective, and reliable mechanism for checking the
movement of railway-cars. This object we attain by the mechanism illustrated
in the accompanying drawings, which are herein referred to and form part of this
Specification, and in which-
Figure 1 is, a longitudinal section of the lower part of a street-car, on the
line X X of Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the same.
Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of a modified form of our invention as adapted
for applying the brakes at diametrically opposite sides of the same pair of wheels;
and
Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of another modified form of our invention.
As represented in the drawings, A designates the bottom of a railway-car;
B, the wheels and axles for same; C, the brake-beams suspended from the
bottom of the car by means of links D, and E brake-shoes attached to said brake-
beams and fitted to be moved into contact with the periphery of the car-wheels.
All of said, parts being 'old and of a well-known construction, constitute no part of
this invention:
F is a rocker-shaft journalled in hangers G, secured to the bottom of the car
and provided with-arms H, which are located near the opposite ends of said shafts

page_text: one of said arms projecting from the upper side of said shaft in a radial line, and
the other projecting in like manner from the lower side of the shaft F. Between
the arms H there is a pair of eccentrics I, secured to the shaft F, and so arranged
that the throw of one eccentric will be in a reversed direction in respect to the
other. Said eccentrics are provided with the usual eccentric hooks, and each of.
the latter is provided with an eccentric-rod J, which is preferably provided with a
right-and-left nut K, for the purpose of adjusting the length of each of said rods
with exactness. Said eccentric-rods lead in opposite directions-one leading
toward the forward end of the car and the other toward the rearward end-and
each is connected by a joint-piece L to the particular brake-beam C to which it is
appropriated. At each end of the car there is a vertical shaft M, provided with a
lever, hand-wheel, or other suitable appliance for imparting a rotary motion to said
shaft, and to the lower end of said shaft an arm N is secured. Each of the latter
has a rod O jointed thereto, and the opposite end of said rod is jointed to the rock-
shaft arm H, to which it is especially appropriated.
The invention operates in the following manner: When the brake-shoes E are
drawn back from the periphery of the wheels, as shown in Fig. 1, the brake can be
applied by partially rotating the shaft M at either end of the car. Thereby the
rock-shaft will receive a partial rotation, which will move the eccentrics I, so as
to draw the brake-beams C toward the wheels B, thereby bringing the brake-
shoes E into frictional contact with the periphery of the wheels, and thereby
preventing the latter from rotating. This prevention will continue during the
time that the brake-shoes remain in contact with the periphery of the wheels, and
it can only be terminated by turning one of the shafts M in a reverse direction. In
this respect the brake operates differently from those commonly used, which are
provided with ratchet-wheels and pawls for holding the operating-shafts while the
brake-shoes are in frictional contact with the wheels, and in which a releasement of
the pawl from the teeth of the ratchet-wheel effects the removal of the brake-shoes
from the wheels.
In the modification of the invention shown in Fig. 3, in which the eccentric-
rods are not connected directly to the brake-beams, and which is especially
designed for use in electric or other cars where it is preferred to apply the brake-
shoes to opposite sides of the periphery of each wheel, a horizontal lever P is
suspended from the bottom of the car over each of the axles, said lever being
arranged transversely to the centre line of the car. The eccentric-rod J
appropriated to operating said lever is connected, as at I, to one extremity of said
lever, and two links Q are jointed to said lever, so as to extend laterally from
opposite sides thereof. The point of connection of one of said links to said lever is
at the extremity that is opposite to the one to. which the eccentric-rod J is con-
nected, and the other link is connected to said lever at a point that is intermediate
between the connection of said eccentric-rod and the first-named link. The latter
and the eccentric-rod lead from the same side of said lever, but the other link
leads from the opposite side, as shown in the drawings. Two brake-beams C are
employed one diametrically opposite to the other in respect to the wheels on
which the brake mechanism is to operate-and each is provided with brake-shoes E.
The rocker-shaft F and the appurtenances thereto belonging are substantially the
same as the like parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and they operate in a like manner.
On applying a strain to the lever P by means of the eccentric connected
thereto, said lever will be moved to draw the two brake-beams C toward the
wheels, the pivots of the links Q in said lever operating as fulcrums for said
lever, and thereby the wheels will be immovably clamped between the brake-
shoes E.
In the modification shown in Fig. 4, which is designed for use on passenger-
cars and freight-cars which are provided with independent trucks at each end,
the brake-shoes E are fitted to bear against the periphery of the truck-wheels, a
pair of said shoes bearing at one side of the periphery of one pair of the wheels of
a truck, and the other pair of the shoes bearing at the opposite side of the

page_text: periphery of the other wheels. In this modification the lever P is preferably
fulcrumed to a hanger S, secured to the bottom of the under side of the car, and
thereby a fixed fulcrum is obtained, so that in case the brake-shoes for one pair of
the wheels become inoperative those for the other pair of wheels will be serviceable
for the purpose of arresting the motion of the car; but, when preferred in this
modification, the lever P may be suspended from the bottom of the car, as in the
other modification; but in such cases said lever should be located immediately
between the two axles instead of directly over either.
my
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a car-brake, the combination of brake-beams provided with brake-shoes, a
rocker-shaft provided with a pair of eccentrics whose centres are arranged at
opposite sides of said shaft, said eccentrics being connected to said brake-beams so
as to move the latter relatively in opposite directions, and mechanism whereby a
rocking motion can be imparted to said shaft from opposite ends of a car, as and for
the purpose specified.
2. In a car-brake, the combination of brake-beams provided with brake-shoes, a
rocker-shaft provided with a pair of eccentrics whose centres are arranged at
opposite sides of said shaft, horizontal levers arranged adjacently to said brake-
beams and connected to said eccentrics and brake-beams, so as to move the latter
relatively in opposite directions, and mechanism whereby a rocking motion can be
imparted to said shaft from opposite ends of the car, as and for the purpose
specified.
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