US1152391A - Brake-head. - Google Patents

Description

W. L. BUYER. BRAKE HEAD. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1913.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

- In vm tor: 75 n W Atty bv we ilo WARREN L. BOYER, 0F KINGSTON,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BEMIS CAR TRUCK COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

BRAKE-HEAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. '7, 1915.

Application filed September 29, 1913. Serial No. 792,322.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN L. BoYER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Kingston, in the county of Ulster and State of New York have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake-Heads, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in brake heads, that is, to a device designed to support a brake shoe in proper relation to the tread or periphery of the wheel of a railway car or similar vehicle. In the manufacture of brake shoes and brake heads, it Was formerly the custom to construct these two parts or elements in one piece, or in the form of a single casting, the result being that when the body of the shoe had been partially worn away in service, the remaining part of the casting, including the brake head, was scrapped, entailing a considerable loss. In the last few years, however, it has been the custom to make the head and shoe of separate parts, the head being secured to the brake beam, and the shoe in turn secured to the brake head, so that in the scrapping of the worn shoe the brake head is preserved for further use, excepting in such instances where the head is worn and injured by coming into contact with the tread of the wheel, due to the faulty brake rigging and the resultant uneven wear of the shoe. In those instances where the wearing face of the shoe is not held parallel to the tread of the Wheel, one end of the shoe is rapidly worn away, the result, in many instances, being that this wear extends into the corresponding end of the brake head, causing injury both to the head and the Wheel with which it comes in contact. In order to obtain the best results, therefore, and to avoid, as far as possible, injury to the wheel, and to secure the highest elliciency in the brake head, it is essential that the latter be made or cast from a ,metal which will withstand the great strains imposed upon it, especially when applied to the heavy and fast running trains of the present day, and, secondly, to construct it of a metal WlllCll, should it come in contact with the tread of the wheel, will not cut or injure the same. It has been found that the use of common gray iron is impractical, owing to the fact that, in order to secure sulficicnt strength in a cast iron brake head to resist fracture, the head would have to be made entirely too large, as cast iron is not tough and is liable to be cracked or broken in service. Carbon steel has been employed in the casting of these brake heads, but it has been found that when it happens to come incontact with the wheel it so cuts, scores and injures the tread as to necessitate the frequentdressing of the latter. It has also been attempted to employ malleable iron in the construction of a brake head, and while preferable under ordinary circumstances to carbon steel, this metal has been found objectionable by reason bent, twisted or distorted, especially when heated by its contact with the shoe, or with the tread of the wheel, when the shoe is unevenly worn away as above explained.

From frequent experiments, I have found that a brake head cast or otherwise formed from manganese steel overcomes all the ob jections heretofore urged against the use o other metals, in that it is suffieiently tough and strong to be capable of withstanding the high stresses and strains imposed upon it without the necessity of employing a large amount of metal in the construction thereof, and therefore largely avoids any danger of cracking and falling apart when in use. Furthermore, when it becomes highly heated, due to the frictional contact with the tread of the wheel, it does not bend ,or distort, but rapidly disintegrates, while at the same time retaining its toughness, thereby avoiding any and all danger of scoring or injuring the wheel.

My invention therefore consists in a brake head, cast, or otherwise formed from manganese steel, without reference to its particular type or pattern, that which I have shown in the drawing being such as is ordinarilyemployed to support a brake shoe in proper relation to the wheel. This head is produced by well known processes, common in foundry practice, and is illustrated as having a 10 igitudinally 'curved surface 2, adapted to contact with the back of the shoe to be supported thereby, which curved surface is interrupted by a recess 3, into which the key lug of the shoe (not shown) extends. As is usual, a shoe is secured to the head by a key or other fastening member, extending longitudinally of the head between the two rearwardly extending sides 4. thereof, the key passing through an opening in the key of its liability to become lug of the shoe and through an opening 6 provided for it in the head. The rearwardly extending sides 4 are connected by a transverse wall shown at 7 to thereby provide a bracket 8 whereby the head may be secured to a-brake beam, or equivalent support, the above-mentioned parts of the head, with the other features thereof necessary or desirable to produce a ractical brake head, being preferably ma e intlie form of a single casting.

As I have before stated, my invention is not in any wa restricted to the particular construction, orm or structural details of the head, as such are in no way involved therein, the gist of the invention lying in the employment of a particular metal whereby to produce certain new results, in accordance with the particular use to which the device is put. Nor is my invention to be restricted to'any particular composition of manganese steel, as such may vary within the limits of what is well known and termed by inetal-. 'lurgists as manganese steel, and wherein relative proportions of iron, manganese, carbon, and the other constituentsof the steel, may be varied, altered or changed within certain well known limits. On the other hand, it is intended that my claims shall include and cover a brake head made of any and all metals, regardless of the constituents thereof, and which can be properly included within the term manganese steel as defined by metallurgists and those skilled in the art.

, Having fully-described and explained my invention, I-claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A brake head adapted to support a brake shoe and formed of manganese steel, which, when cold, and subjected to nornial conditions, is hard and strong, and which, under abnormal conditions and when contacting with a car wheel, rapidly softens and disintegrates under the frictional heat so generated.

2. A brake head adapted to support a brake shoe for contact with car Wheels and made of a metal possessing the properties, that when cold it is relatively harder than the wheel tread, and which when subjected to the influence of frictional heat by contact with the car wheel, rapidly softens and disintegrates, for the protection and preventing the scoring of, the said car wheel.

Signed at New York. borough of Manhattan in the county of New York and State -of New York this 19th day of September WARREN L. BOYER.

Witnesses:

MARY B. J USTIGE, R. W. FLINT.

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