US101280A - Improvement in railway car-brakes - Google Patents

Description

t nu e h H m 8 h S. 2 B R D" O D & E R v E F E L ailway Car Brake;

Patented March 29, 1870.

Jizvenz-oz" llllll I 1 NM N N. PETERS, Pholo-Lhhognphsr, Wuhin m. D. c.

. 2,Sheets-She et 2. LEFEVRE 8L DORRE.

waited swa gated dhyiflirr.

Letters Patent N 101,280, dated March 29, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY CAR-BRAKES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DESIRE PARFAIT Liirnvnn and LOUIS PHILLIPE Donna, in the Empire of France, civil en gineors, have invented new and useful Improvements in Self-acting Railway-Brakes; andwe do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which 'will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this-specification,

Our invention refers to a new or improved system of self-acting railway-brake operated by'the bufl'crs.

In order to make the invention better understood, we have represented the same in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 shows,'in vertical elevation, alongitudinal section of a carriage-frame, whereto our invention is applied.

Figure 2 shows, in vertical elevation, a transverse section of the same, through the line A B.

Figure 3 shows a plan of the same; and

In these figures the same letters of reference indicate the like parts, the full lines showing the apparatus. set up for operation, and the dotted lines showing the same apparatus at rest.

One of the carriage-axles has a movable cylindrical collar, a, formed with a check, a.

This collar is connected by two rods, 1) b, to the ends of the centrifugal-action arms 0 c, which arms are jointed to the opposite ends ofthe lugs c on the axle, near one of thewheels.

The arms 0 are provided with suit-able counterweights.

At the outer part oi the check or collar 0,, on the sleeve 11, and close thereto, is a vertical piece, f f, formed with a horizontal knee at its upper part.

The piece f f is suspended on one side from the traction-rod by the arm g, and on the other part from the frame by the arm h.

The traction-rod -n is provided with a bent finger, g, which is brought iii-contact with a stop on the car frame when the car is in motion, and the centrifugal arms are extended, as shown in fig. 2, or instead of this bent finger, the arm 9 may be elbowed at its up per end, forming an extension which is to meet, on its being lowered by the balls, the hook part of a stop,

z, hanging from the frame.

The arms 0 c of the balls are extended so as to receive the articulated portion of rods (1, the other ends of which are elbowed, and have eyes through which the rods b are strung, and serve to confine spiral, springs, which are compressed between the elbows on the rods cl and the ends of the rods 1), which last are jointed o the arms 0.

When the car is not running or the speed is slow,

the action of the two springs is to depress the arms 0 0 down on the axle which moves the arm 9 to the oblique position shown by dottedliues 1 by the fork f bearing on the collar cheek.

When the train is progressing, the balls will rccede from the axle, carrying along the sleeve a, and the vertical fork f follows this motion until arrested by the bent linger g or by the cont-act bet-ween the elbowed arm of rod 5 and the stationary hook The arm by its pivoting action, also carries along the slicathj, through which passes freely the tractionrod n. This sheath, which the arm 9 is keyed to,

loans at one end against the cross-barjof the frame,

and has at the opposite end a winged heath-Io 1:, tirnry secured on said sheath. The head 7.? k is therefore, in connection with the cLmt-rifngal regulator, and its angular motions regulated by it.

When the speed is slow the wings of the head are opposite to the two corresponding wings, II, which arev keyed onto the traction-rod.

When the train is in progress, and the speed has reached a degree greater than required, the hcadk, by being turned by the centrifugal apparatus, will unmask the wings I, which will admit the traction-rod to be forced back by the action of the buffers p p be neat-h the vehicle, thus bringing the brake apparatus into action.

This apparatus, the form or shape of which may vary indefinitely, consists (in the application shown) of a lever, q, acted upon by the striking spring 0, which is keyed to the traction-rod a, said lever oscillating (under the receding action of this springlronud a horizontal shaft, g, which actuates the tightening rods 0 'r 'r r and the brake-blocks s s s s, and thereby the whole of the force on the buffers may be applied to the brake-shoes S S, except what is counteracted by the resistance of the return apparatus, which last is ar ranged as follows:

To the ends of the traction-spring O, opposite to the spring 0, are jointed the horizontal rods tt, which are themselves articulated to the horizontal levers n a, pivoted round the stationary points a; x.

The levers a a touch, with or without pressure, the back part of the spring 0, or any point on the traction-rod n, in such a manner as never to materially impede the motion of the tightening-lever q.

The connecting-rods v 4: may be, when desired, terminated by a slide, or the levers a a may be so disposed as to utilize all or part of the pressure borne by the spring 0. I

The wings I are so located as not to hinder the lengthening of the traction-rod which is free beneath the frame to move in the direction of the drawing force. The spring 0 is permitted to move its whole extent (being flattened or depressed) in either direo ,ance to the recoil of spring 0 and'to the play of the operation through the medium of the levers n and tion. The head It and the distance which separates it from the wings lare so calculated as to allow the traction-rod, when in operation, a sufiicient recoil, and to preyent any weanof the brake-blocks, and to secure the eiiiciency of the brake, whatever may be the wear thereof.

The pivots of the levers u a and the spring 0' are so disposed and proportioned as, first, to oppose to the initial recoil of the spring 0 a sutiicicnt resistance for all conditions, on the line chiefly for descents; secondly, to regulate at will such resistance, when desired, by the tension of the couplings and the spring 0'; thirdly, to present, when in operation, no resistbrakes; in other words, to utilize wholly the push of the butters by one end at least of the vehicle.

Our brake is operated by the pressureof the butters at the will of the engineer, or any official appointed therefor. But'it is necessary that, previous to his action, the speed of the train may reach acertain pitch or a given limit.

At rest, the regulator is laid down on the axle, the head It opposing the motion ofthe wings I.

Supposing that in the position of rest or at a speed inferior to the limit determined, a recoil motion is imparted to the carriage, then the spring 0 yields, and the traction-rod n is forced back; but its wings I come against the head, and the blocks 3 are brought near to the wheels, but not so near that any pressure will be exerted on the wheels, and the carriage is still free to recede.

\Vhen the train is in progress, as soon as the limit of speed is reached, the halls are sufliciently apart for the fork f to cause the. wings I to be unmasked by" the head 7;. Thiswe call the gearing or throwing in position. At this time the bent finger g arrives against its stop, or the elbowed portion of the rod 9 meets the hook s, which limits the action of the centrifugal apparatus. The latter, therefore, remains suspended, and all contact or friction is suppressed between' the fork and the sleeve or collar. Then a resistance, proceeding fronr'the head-brake, is produced on all the buffers, and the traction-rod n, actuated by the recoil of the buffer-rods p and of the spiiugO, is free to move back beneath the carriage, the wings I passing by those of the head It, so that the lever it will receive the force on the bnlferaaodzmply it to the brakeblocks ss. Thus the pressure of the bufi'ers will be entirely utilized for the tightening of the blocks on the wheels, whatever may be the wear of the wheels and blocks.

The tightening being effected, the apparatus draws back to its position, by virtue of the action of the opposite spring 0, which is placed under tension by this rods t, and which tends to'resume its initial position as soon as the pressure of the brakes has subsided. This drawback is effected progressively and without any jar, though itis,'.ho\vever, energetic and efiective, whatever may be the condition of the brake. In fact, in arranging the arms of the levers u in the proportion of two to one, the intensity of the pressure exerted when the reaction is taking place by these levers on the traction-rod of the brake, may be equal to half of the flattening force of the spring 0'.

Should the train stop without the brakes being acted upon,the-apparatus will be itself thrown out by the slackening effect on the centrifugal apparatus, so

that there is no need of having the brakes thrown off by an attendant, which is very important, principally for manoeuvering a train. It will also permit an englue to be attached to the rear of a traih in ascending steep inclines. 7

Our brake may be applied to any hand-brake, and act on the blocks in any other manner than by the levers described.

\Ve propose to apply our throwing-in device to the two ends of a carriage, should it be deemed desirable.

It is evident that a different arrangement of substantially the same devices may be provided to effect the throwingiu, without departing from the spirit of our invention.

The advantages of our system of brake may be summed up as follows:

First, integral utilization of the bufl'er pressure.

Second, secure and regular working, without any jar or reactions.

Third, suppression of blocka'egulating apparatus.

Fourth, ready climbing of the ascents with the engine at the heel of the train. 4

Fifth, ready niamnuvering at the station.

Sixth, good service insured on steep descents.

\Ve will observe, lastly, that- First, the apparatus-bearing car is quite independcut, that is to say, it can enter the composition of any train of any company who would not have adopted the same. In like manner, companies who would have adopted it will be able to introduce in their trains carriages unprovided with the brake; and I Secondly, our invention may be very properly and advantageously applied to the so-called American carriages, which are provided with two swiveling trucks and four axles, by considering each truck as a special car, aml fitting the gearirig-apparatus.to only one of the four axles, to thus utilize its action tirom one frame to the other.

Having thus described our invention,

\Ve claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of a centrifugal governor, substantially such as herein described, with a tractionrod and brake-operating apparatus, when arranged to prevent or permit the action of the brake-operating devices, substantiallyin the manner specified.

2. A set of levers, j, g, and h, the wings I, and a winged head, 7:, or their equivalents, arranged in combination with the centrifugal governor and the traction-rod, so as to constitute an apparatus whereby the force of the weights may be utilized to cause the action of the brake-blocks only when the speed exceeds the limit required, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the spring 0', the connect-- ing-rods It t, and the levers a u, with the spring 0, when arranged to relieve the brake, to offer resistance to the action of the spring 0 on the brakes, and to suppress the said resistance, when required, a substantially specified.

D. LEFEVRE. Donna. Witnesses:

A. Goren, F. OLCOT'I.

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