US1369534A - Hand-brake - Google Patents

Description

1. F. OCONNUR.

HAND BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED IIIAII` I, I9I9.

Patented Feb.22,1921.

W1 TNESSES.-

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.,

JonN r. ocoNNoR, oF CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, AssIGNon To WILLIAM H. MINER, orV cHAzY, NEW YORK.

.Application led March 1, 1919. Serial No.1279,942.

Y To all whom it may concern:

periencedin applying the hand brakes while the carsare being switched in the freight yards. As is well known, the cars are shunted on the various spur tracks and it is the brakemans duty to operate the hand brakes inV such manner as to vproperly spot the car, or in other words, bring it to rest at the proper point. With the ordinary style of hand brake, the brakeman tightens the brake to Vwhat he believes to be the necessary degree and Vit Yis often found that the brakes have been too rigidly applied thus causing the cars to be stopped prior to their reaching the intended pointor spot. The ordinary brake does not provide any means for releasing gradually the brake so that the brakeman may ease off the brake when he finds that the car is being brought to rest too rapidly.

The object of my invention is to provide in a simple device which may be usedA in conjunction with Lthe ordinary vertical staff types of hand brakes for freight carsV means whereby the brakeman vcan graduatethe release of the brakes with a mi-nimum of effort. In'the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a art elevational view, part verticalsection, o a portion of an Y end wall of'a car and the vertical brake staf showing my improvements in connection therewith; Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 is also indicated the usual footcontrolled locking pawl employed with brake staffs of the vertical type. Fig. 3 is a horizontal, sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a hori- Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

zontal, sectional View taken substantially on the line 4`4 of Fig. 1. Y

In said drawing, 10 denotes a steel end wall of a car, 11 a vertical brake staff, 12 the usual platformfupon which the brakeman stands, 13 arratchet wheel rigid with the stall" 11, and 14 a locking dogl coperable with the ratchet wheel 13 and adapted to be controlledvby the brakemans foot in the usual and well known manner.

In carrying out my improvements, I preferably employ the usual hand wheel 15 at the top of the brake staff for rotating the sta' 1n the ordinary manner inasmuch as the brakemen are accustomed to this method of operation., A short distanceibelowthe hand wheel and where itj may be attached to the wall of the car, I provide-a housing consisting of a lower shelf 16 and an upper cap 17, both parts being riveted or otherwise suitably rigidly secured to the wall. The two elements 16 and 17 provide a chamber 18 shown in Figs. 1 and 4. On the staff 11 within the chamber 18, I provide a cast wheel A loosely rotatably mounted on the upper end of the round portion of the staff. Said wheel to coperate two teeth 20-20 of an escapement pawl lever 21 mounted on a pivot pin 22 preferably formed integral with the member 16. Said lever 21 has ahandle 23'adapting it for manual operation,and the opening 24 of the lever 21 within which extends the pivot pin 22 is somewhat enlarged to permit tilting of the lever 21 to the dotted position shown in Fig. 1 and for the purpose hereinafter described. The lever 21 and ratchet teeth 19 act in the manner of an yordinary escapement ratchet mechanism, the teeth 20 of the escapement4 lever being properly vspaced for this purpose as willr be understood. On its upper face, the casting -A is provided withv ratchet teeth indicated at 25. Coperable with the ratchet teeth 25 are corresponding ratchet teeth 26 on the under face of a cast bushing 27 vertically slidably mounted on the squared section 111 of the staff. The weight of the cast sleeve 27 will be sufficient to normally hold it in engage- .fini

ment with the ratchet teeth 25 of the casting A so that, in effect, the ratchet teeth 26 and 25 form a clutch. As evident from an inspection of Fig. 1, the members 16 and 17 forming the housing provide suitable bearings for the staff 11 and the casting 27, and the latter is permitted` a vertical movement within the chamber 18 suilicient to permit the teeth 26 thereof to clear the teeth 25 of the casting A.

The operation is as follows: The brakeman applies the brake in the usual manner, that is, by rotating vthe hand wheel ina clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4. During this movement, the' casting 27 can ride freely over the casting Ainasmuch as the teeth 25 and 26 are so arranged as to permit this. When` the brake has been applied suiliciently, the brakeman will kick in the locking dog 14:v in the usual manner. ,After this is done, if the brakeman perceives that it is necessary to release the brakes slightly, hev does so by kicking out the locking dog 14 and controlling the oscillation in a horizontal plane of the escapement lever 21.V 'By oscillating the lever 21 the staff 11 can be released in a counterclockwise direction one tooth 19 at atime and this is accomplished because of the clutch engagement effected between the ratchet teeth 25 Vand 26. If the brakeman desires to release the brakes entirely, he depresses the handle 23 of the escapement lever 21 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, during which action the inner end of the lever 21 engages the under side of the castingl27 and lifts it to the dotted position showin iu Fig. 1 until it is out of engagement with the ratchet teeth'25. When this has been done, it is evident'that the staff 11 is free to rotate in an unwinding direction.

' The arrangement which I have provided is not only relativelyV inexpensive but may be easily applied to vertical brake staffs of the most common form of hand brakes now employed on freight cars and gives the brakeman greater control over the setting of the brakes than has heretofore been possible. It will also be noted that during the application of the brakes, the brakeman is not'required to give attention'to any more parts than he does with the present form of brakes and my improved escapement mechanism requires manipulation only durthe graduated 4release action. y claim: y

i 1. In a brake of the character described, kthe combination with an' element having means associated therewith for directly effecting rotation thereof to tighten a flexible connection, of a ratchet wheel looselyro-V tatably mounted on said element, apawl lever coperable withv said 'ratchet wheel; a second member non-rotatably mounted on Said element but adapted for movement lengthwise thereof, said member and ratchet wheel having cooperating clutch-engaging faces, said lever being movable to an abnormal position to engage said member to shift the latter lengthwise of said element and thereby disengage the clutch faces of the member and ratchetrwheel.'

2. Ina brake of the character described, the combination with an element adapted to bepjrotated to effect the winding of a flexible connection; of a ratchet wheel loosel rotatably mounted with respect to sai ele lment; an .escapement pawl lever pivotally mounted and coperable with said ratchet wheel, said pawl lever havingtwo spaced teeth arranged to alternately engage with teeth of the ratchet wheel; and clutch mechanism interposed between said ratchet wheel and said rotatable element whereby said escapement pawl lever ma beeinployed to `control the rotation o vsaid ele- `ment in an unwinding direction, step kr by Ste .I v J j Iii In a brake of the character described, the combination with a vertical brake stai' and means for manually rotating 'the same, `of a ratchet wheel'loosely mounted on said staff, an escapement pawl lever coperable with said ratchet wheel, aV second` member nonrotatably mounted on said staff but adapted for longitudinal movement thereon, said member and vratchet wheel having clutch operating means, said escapement lever being movable to an abnormal position and adapted to disengage said clutch means.

4. In a brake of the character described, the combination with a brake staff having means for manually rotating the same, of a castingv loosely rotatably mounted ron said staff, said casting being-.provided with pe"- ripheral teethand ratchet teeth on one of theA faces thereof, an escapement pawl lever cooperable with said peripheral teeth of the casting, and a second casting non-rotatably mounted on the staff but adapted for longitudinal'movementthereom said casting having ratchet teeth coperable with theratchet `teeth on the face of the viirst mentioned casting, -said escapement lever being movable to a position to disengage the ratchet teeth `of said two castings.

5. In a brake ofthe characterzdescribed, i

the combination .with a verticali-brake staff having a hand wheel at the ktop thereof for rotatingithe same, a 'housing through which the staff extends, said housing being adapted to be secured to an adjacent wall of the car, said staff having a-circularsection and 4a non-circular section within the housing, `a casting loosely mounted on the circular section of the staff and provided withrperipheral teeth 'and vface ratchet teeth, `a second casting longitudinally slidably but non- `rotatably mounted on the square sectionrofl the staif withm the housing and provided with ratchet teeth oop'erable with the ratchet teeth of the rst named casting, andl an escapement pawl lever'ooperable with the peripheral teeth of the irst nmed Casting, said paWl lever being adapted for pvotal movement in atV horizontal plane and also in a vertical plane, movement of the es'eapement, lever n a vertical plane being adapted to effect' disengagement of the ratchet teeth of said two castings. f "In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of Feb. 1919.

t JOHN F. OCONNOR.

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