US320573A - Car-brake - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

W. H. MASON.

UAR BRAKE.

PatehtedJune 23, 1885' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

XVILLIAM H. MASON, OFEVEBETT, ASSIGNOR TO \VILLIAM H. JOHNSON,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,573, dated June 23, 1885.

Application filed December 11, 1864. (No model.)

1'0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Mason, of Everett, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Brakes, and in the mechanism by which the same is operated, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new form of the shoe of a brake, and is especially adapted to be used on the wheels of steam and horse cars, and also to the mechanism by which the brake frame is operated.

Shoes for brake frames have long been in use, but they have been rigidly attached to their frames, and have been presented straight or spherical to the circumference of the wheel.

My invention consists in making the shoe in the shape of a wedge, and bringing there by into use the principle of awedge in its action, and also so connecting the shoe to its frame that the shoe moves automatically, as hereinafter described.

My invention also consists in an arrange ment, where the shoe is to be operatedby hand, for lockin g the brake which operates the shoet'rame, and dispensing with the use of a ratchet-whecl for the foot.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan view of my invention as applied to the wheels of a car. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same as it appears looking on the outside of the wheel. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same as it appears looking on the inside of the wheel. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section indetail of the improved shoe, showing one form of connection with its frame.

A represents the improved shoe, which is in the form of a double wedge so attached to the shoe-frame B that it can move vertically up and down.

a a are arms of the shoe A, which pass through holes or slots in the frame B and hold it in position and also allow the vertical motion. Between the shoe and the frame I preferably place the positively-fixed roll D, on which the shoe moves with little friction.

c c are rubber or other elastic cushions on the upper arm of the shoe, which cause the shoe to automatically assume its normal posi-' tion after the shoe has been in action.

0 is a rubber cushion which I preferably use to give an elastic bearing to the nuton the arm a.

E represents the flanged wheels of a cartruck.

G is the ordinary crossbar of a brake-frame, which is mortised into the upright piece B, as shown in the drawings. The hole B in the up right piece B is for a rod or iron hang, N, which connects the brake-frame with thetruckframe of the car. I do not, however, limit myself to any particular manner of connecting the brake-frame to the truck-frame, as this is no part of my invention.

In horse-ears where. the shoe would be operated by hand, I use a crank-shaft, H, passing through the bottom of the car, a solid plate of iron or other suitable material having two projections, O and 0, so situated with reference to each other that the arm 11 of the crankshaft to which the chain of an arm-lever, F, is connected, can move a little more than through the quadrant of a circle just past its center of motion, and become locked against the projection O. The arm H of the crankshaft,when looked as described, is in the position rep resented by the dotted lines at I. These two projections O O on the iron plate are so arranged with reference to each other that when the brake is off or free the arm of the crank-shaft H rests against the projection O in a position parallel to the axle of the wheel. When the brake is being put in operation on a horse-car, this arm H moves from its normal position until it is at right angles to the axle of the wheel when it is at its center of motion,and having passed this center it strikes the projection O and is firmly locked, causing the brake to come into full operation. The bent arm HI of the crank shaft is made of a length just sufficient,\\'l1en moved from its normal position past its center of motion, to actuate the arms (connecting it with the shoe frame) sufliciently to throw the wedge shoe A into operation.

A car-truck has generally two pairs of wheels, each pair of wheels requiring a brakeframe, and each wheel having a shoe-brake connected with its brake-frame.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have shown two pairs of wheels and also a practical method of putting my improved brake into opera tion. The cross-bars G of each brake-frame are connected to a lever, S, pivoted at WV by rods F F". The lever S is connected with the arm H of the crank-shaft by an arm and chain, F.

The elastic cushions c 0 can be regulated by set-screws, as shown in Fig. 4;. In place of the elastic cushions a spring or springs might be used, which would cause the shoe to assume its normal position.

I do not consider the roll D is absolutely essential to the operation of the shoe-brake, but I do find that some means to diminish the friction of the shoe in its vertical movement is a benefit.

The shoe-frame B, I preferably make of cast-iron, the shoe itself of steel, or other suitable material. The arm a supports and holds in position at the top of the frame B the wedged shoe, its normal position being sustained by means of the rubber cushions, as described. The lower end of the shoe is positioned by the arm a, which passes through an oblong slot of the frame 13 at its lower end, a vertical movement being thus allowed. The sides of the frame B also tend to position the shoe A in its vertical movement.

M is the platform of the floor of the car.

The operation of my improved brake is as follows: When the shoe A is pressed by any force against the wheel E, the friction of the shoe against the wheel causes the wedge to be crowded into the space between the wheel and the frame B. It will be seen that the wedge has an automatic action, and that it is only necessary to press the shoe against the wheel to cause the momentum of the wheel to crowd the wedge firmly in place between the wheel and the brake-frame. The momentum of the wheel itself throws the wedge into action and causes the motion of the wheel to cease, as it were, automatically. Then the pressure of the brake-frame against the wheel is removed, the shoe assumes its normal position by the action of the elastic cushions, as described.

On steam-ears my improved brake-shoe can be attached to any ordinary brakeframe and operated by any of the well-known means at present used to put the brake in action.

In Fig. 1 I have shown an improved method of operating my wedged shoe, in that I do away with the ratchet-wheel for the foot which is commonly used, and substitute in place thereof the iron plate with its projections, as shown, whereby I am enabled to lock the crank-shaft.

IVith my improved shoe I am enabled to stop a car in a much shorter space thanwith the shoe ordinarily used.

On horse-cars it is very desirable to stop the car suddenly, and I am enabled to do this by my wedge-shoe and the method I have shown for operating the same on the horsecars.

What I claim as my invention is+ 1. A wedge-shoe connected to a brake-frame by arms so that it may have a vertical movement, in combination with spring devices whereby the shoe, when pressed against a wheel, is automatically brought into action, and when the pressure is removed resumes its normal position, substantially as described.

2. The within-described mechanism for operating a shoebrake, consisting of the crankshaft .H and the lever F, in combination with a plate having projections or lugs O O thereon, whereby the brake is firmly locked and unlocked, substantially as shown and described.

3. In combination with the wedgeshoe A and its frame, the brakeoperating mechanism consisting of the levers, crank-shalt, and plate, all substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

4. A brake-shoe, A, provided with a friction-roll, D, and spring or elastic cushions c c, in combination with its frame, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

IVILLIAM H. MASON.

\Vitnesses:

M. E. PARKER, XVM. B. H. DowsE.

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