US158426A - Improvement in car-brakes - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES- `PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL MADDEN, OF HARItISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF HIS RIGHT TO WILLIAM O. MCFADDEN, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT I-N CAR-BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent. No. 158,426, dated January 5, 1875; application filed October 1, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL MADDEN, of the city of Harrisburg, county of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car- Brakes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this speeication, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective representation of my car-brake mechanism, showing the position of the brake-levers thereon and other attachments. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of a cartruck having my car-brake mounted thereon.

The nature and object of.' my invention consist, irst, in dispensing with the common brake-bar on which the shoe-holders are usuall y mounted, and which are located objectionably low,and,instead thereof, I employ shoe-holders, arranged plunger-form between the springplank and bolster, and connect them by transvers stays above the lower side of the trucktimbers. Second, a peculiar retractin g-sprin g connection, by which the shoe-holding plungers are withdrawn when traction is oft' the brake-chain. Third, a peculiar form of plunger-iront, adapted for the application of the brake-shoes.

In the following description, similar letters refer to similar parts in both figures of the drawing.

A represents the shoe-supportin g plungers, which are connected in pairs by coiled springs B, swivel style, being twined tightly, at their diminished ends C, around necks formed on the ends D of said plungers. rllhe middleparts of the springs B are made, by enlarged coils of the wire, to admit the heads on the inner ends of the plungers, indicated at R, which are retainers for the connecting-spring. The plungers A are transversely connected by the parallel bars G, which are provided at their ends with the tenons H, to pass through the plunger-bodies D, and which are retained therein by the keys or skeins d. Connected with the transverse bars G are the draft-bars F, cleft at their outer ends to admit the brakelevers K, which are inserted in them in the usual manner, and their lower ends are also hitched togetherby the connecting-rod L, in the usual way. The chains N, levers K, draft-bars F, and connecting-rod L are old devices. The remaining parts in Fig. l I regard as new, and as my invention.

By my construction and arrangementIdispense with the old-fashioned clevis and straphangers, as well as the brake-bar. Instead of the latter I employ the transverse yokes or bars Gr. The old-style brake-bar is usually hung to swing beneathv the truck-timbers W V, where it is liable to be torn from its snpports, if by inadvertence or malice any obstruction is placed on the track, and where it is also a menace to life, if, by mishap, a person is prostrated between the tracks, it being the lowest part of truck apparatus.

' I therefore locate my improved shoe-supporting plunger, as shown in Fig. 2, between the bolster W and spring-plank V, in such a manner that it may ride horizontally on chairs S, on said plank V. I thus present the plungers in a line a little below the centers of the wheels, and the shoes and liners m n, now in common use, are attached by bolts to the front ends of the plungcrs, in position as shown. It is designed to use any ofthe shoes and liners now in use, but it is evident the front ends of the plungers a b may be so modified as to dispense with the liner-holder, asaliner may be directly attached to my plunger by the usual bolt. The ofce of the springs B is to connect the plungers A in such a manner that the liners may bepositively retracted from contact with the wheels P, when tension of the brake is released, to avoid desultory friction, as is now the case with the swinging brakes.

The plunger-fronts are made box-form, to correctly seat the holders nowin use, as shown in Fig. 2, a being side flanges thereon, to resist torsional or lateral strain on the holders. The transverse bars G are located to retreat wholly between the bolster W and the plank V, and the plungers A are located between the truck-sprin gs Z 5 and the lever K may be so applied as to operate the connecting-bar L, when it is inserted between the timbers W and V.

Harlin g thus fully and clearly specified the construction and nature of my invention, I

hereunto .append what I regard as new and useful, and what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, in the followingv claims:

1. 'lhe plungers A, in combination with the springs I3, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The plungers A, in combination with the transverse bars G, said plungers being connected in pairs by the springs B, for operation substantially as shown and described.

3. The brake-rigging frame A B G, in combination with the lever K, draft-jaw bar F, and connecting-rod L, all for operation substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 30th day of September, 187 4.

MICHAEL MADDEN. [L. s]

Witnesses:

THEOPHILUS WEAVER, PETER STUGKER.

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