US395414A - Street-car brake - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. H. WRIGHT.

STREET GAE BEA'KE. l N0. 395,414. Patented Jan. l, 1889.

Urn STATES PATEN reich.

JOHN ll. WTRIGHT, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

STREET-CAR BRAKE.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,414, dated January 1, 1889.

Application filed October 25, 1888.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known thai-.1, JOHN I-I. WRIGHT, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fain field and State of Connecticut, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Streetllar Brakes; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrip-V tion of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invent-ion relates to an improvement in brakes for street-ears, the object being to provide such brakes with adjustable handles and relief-clutches of simple and durable construction, and securing a facility in the braking of a car not before attained.

lith these ends in view my invent-ion consists in a brake-handle having a coupling-pin and an operatingiever therefor, in combination with a brake-post having a collar provided in its periphery with retaining-points to receive the said pin.

My invention further consists in the combination, with the brake-post, of a chain-ban rel mounted so as to turn thereupon, and a clutch-head feathered upon the post and adapted to be coupled with and uncoupled from the said barrel.

My invention further consists in a stirrupshaped brace for the lower end of the post; .in guards for my improved relief-clutch mechanism, and in certain other details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the aeeompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in front elevation and partly in vertical section, of a brake embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the plat-form with the lnalte-'post in section and the oper;ding-lever in brolieulines. liig. fl is an enlarged brolten view of the brakehandle in transverse section on the line a l) of Fig. l. Fig. i is an enlarged detached perspective view of the loelcing-pin- Fig. 5 is asimilar plan view of the locking-collar. Fig. (i is a similar view of the retainingeplate. Fig. 7 is an enlarged broken view in vertical section of the relief-clutch mechanism. Fig. S is a detached view in elevation of the clutch-head an d chain-barrel. Fig. il is a de- Serial No. 289,122. (No model.)

tached face view of the clutch-head, and Fig. .10 is a similar view of the upper end of the barrel.

As herein shown, the brake-handle A is of ordinary form in its general outline, and provided at its lower end with a vertical bore, B, a circular chamber, C, located below such bore, and with a straight-walled slot, D, leading radially out of such chamber and through the adjacent inner edge of the handle, the lower end whereof is faced down, as at E, to

receive the retaining-plate l?, as will be hereinafter described.

A iiat horizontal pin, G, having squared edges and located in the slot D, is provided at its outer end with a neck, ll, receiving the forked end of a hand-levenl, secured by a pivot, J, to the under side of the handle. A spring, K, secured to the handle, and interposed between the same and the manual or longer end of the lever, holds the same normally in position to be operated for withr drawing the inner end of the pin from the chamber C aforesaid, into which it normally projects. The brake-post L is reduced at its upper end to form a spindle, M, which enters the bore B in the handle, and is provided with a fixed collar, N, located at the base of the spindle, and having eqnidistant transverse slots O, forming retaining-pointsI each of which is adapted to receive the inner end of the iiat pin, and so rigidly couple the handle with .the post.

The retainingplate F, before referred to,is secured by screws to the lower end of the handle and cut away at its inner end to tit around the post at a point under the collar, which, being of greater diameter than the pest, offsets from the same and virtually forms a shoulder, which coaets with the plate in holding the handleupon the post. Under the construction described the handle may readily be shifted in its relation to the post and rigidly coupled therewith in another relation. by simn ply using the fin gers to operate the han d-lever in retraeting the pin from the collar, after which the handle is turned to the right position and the lever released to permit the pin to re-engage with the collar.

The relief-clutch consists, in part, of a clutch-head, l?, secured by a feather, Q, to the IOO lower end of the post, encircled at its upper end by a groove, R, and provided upon its lower face with two corresponding lugs, S, located side by side, and with a wider lug/17,10- cated directly opposite them. These lugs are adapted to iit in corresponding slots U U and V formed in the upper edge of the barrel lV, upon which the brake-chain. X is woundsuch barrel being provided with a chamber, Y, at its upper end, and with a longitudinal bore, Z, which extends through it. 'lhe lower end of the post is reduced to form a spindle, A', over which the barrelis sleeved,.the chamber in its upper end receiving the lower end of the post in its full size. A fork, B', entering the groove R in the clutch-head l), formed at one end of an operating-lever, C', fulcrumed in the platform D' of the car on a pivot, E', and engaged at its outer end by the spindle F' of a foot-button, G', vertically mounted in the said platform in convenient position for operation by the driver. A spring, H', secured to the underside of the platform, engages with the outer end of the operatinglever, and has the twofold function of normally maintaining the coupling between the elutclrhead and the barrel and of sustaining the foot-button in position of constant readiness for operation. rlhe lower end of the barrel is supported upon the offsetting-Macketl' of a stirrup, the upper ends whereof are secured to the platform of the car, the said step being provided with an opening, li', for the spindle A', which passes through it. rlhe post is secured against vertical displacement by a Cotter-pin, L', passed through the lower end of the spindle at a pointbelow the bracket aforesaid. The stirrup braces the lower end of the post against the strain of the brakechain, tending to bend it baek. A collar, M', secured to the clutch-head, is adapted to inclose the lower end thcafeof and the upper end of the barrel, and forms a guard against the entrance of any foreign matterinto the clutch. A guard, N', secured to the forward edge of the platform, incloses the upper end of the clutch-head and prevents the access of for eign. mattei' thereto. A ratchet-wheel, O', rigidly secu'red to the post, rests upon a bearingplate, l", secured to the platform, and having an opening, Q', through which the post passes. A double-ended pawl, R', pivotcd to this plate, is engaged with the ratchet by the driver, who operates it with his foot in the ordinary manner.

ln operating the brakes of a car the brakehandle is often brought to a stop in a position in which it is either in the way or difficult to manipulate it from, or both. My invention surmounts this difficulty by enabling the driver to uncouple it from the brakepost, shift it with reference thereto and re couple it therewith, and all without moving his hand from it and by swinging it with his hand and manipulating the hand-lever with his ngers.

It is often difficult and inconvenient, es-

peeially when the front platform is crowded, to take off or relieve the brakes for starting up the car. The ordinary way to do this is to disengage the foot-pawl from the ratchetwheel, whereby the brake-post is freeto revolve and permit the chain to unwind lfrom the barrel; but this involves the sweeping of the handle around with the post, and that takes room. Ny invention provides a convenient mode of relieving the brakes by uncoupling the barrel from the post. This .is done by the driver, who puts his foot on the foot-button and so lifts the clutch-head away from the upper end of the chain-barrel, which then rotates on the post and permits the chain to unwind while the post remains stationary. lVhen the chain has unwound, the driver sweeps the handle around, and as soon as it is brought back tothe position it was in when the brakes were relieved the clutch-head is re-engaged with the barrel by t-he spring provided for this purpose. lt will be noted that the barrel and head are not recoupled until the handle is in its right place again. This results from the construction of the head and barrel, so that they will couple at only one point in the circle of their rotation, and the object of this is to avoid the trouble of constantly resettin the handle, as would be necessary if it were not for bringing it back to the place where it was left when the brakes were on. The functions of the stirrup and the guardhave, itis thought, been sufficiently described already.

lt is apparent that my adjustable brakehandle and relief-clutch maybe used independent] y, if desired; or, in other words, that either or both of these features may be applied to the braking mechanism of a car.

I would have it understood that l do not limit myself to the construction shown and described, but hold myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

llavin fully described my inven tion ,what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. ln a brake mechanism, the combination, with a handle having a horizontal couplingpin and an independent hand-lever for operating the same, of a post carrying the handle, which is swiveled upon its upper end, and having a fixed collar provided in its periphery with retaining-points to receive the pin, which is radially moved toward and away from its periphery by the said hand-haver, substantially as set forth.

2. ln a brake mechan ism, the combination, with a handle havin g a flat square-edged couplin g-pin and a spring-actuated hand-lever for operating the same, of a post carrying the handle and having a iixed collar provided in its periphery with a series of transverse slots corresponding in shape to the end conformation of the said pin, substantially as set forth.

3. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a handle having a eoupling-pin and a IOO IIO

hand-lever for operating the same, of a post carrying the handle and having' a fixed collar provided with retaining-points to lreceive the pin, and a retaining-plate secured to the handle and holding the same upon the post, substantially as set forth.

4. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a post, of a chain-barrel sleeved over the post, so as to rotate freely thereupon when released for unwinding the chain, a clutch-head feathered upon the post close to the said barrel, so as to be directly engaged therewith to lock the barrel for winding the chain and to be disengaged therefrom to release the barrel for unwindin the chain, substantially/f as set forth. v

5. ln a brake mechanisimthe conlbination, with a post, of a chain-barrel sleeved over the same, a clutch-head feathered on the post and adapted to be normally coupled with the head, the face of the head and the upper end of the barrel being' constructed to couple when brought into one specific rela-tion and in. no other, whereby the handle returns to its .right position after using the relief-clutch, substantially as set forth.

li. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a post, of a eliain-bz'trrel sleeved over the same, a clutch-head feathered on the post and adapted to be normally coupled with the barrel-head, and lever meehan i sm connected with such head and arranged to be operated by the driver with his foot, substantially as set forth.

7. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a brake-post, of a handle located at the upper end thereof, a stirrup-shaped brace secured to the car and provided with an offsetting bracket through which the lower end of the post passes, a chaiirbarrel sleeved over the post, so as to rotate freely thereupon when released and resting upon the said bracket, and means for locking the barrel to the post and releasingit therefrom,substantially as set forth.

8. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a brake-post, of a handle located at the upper end thereof, a chain-barrel sleeved over its lower end, a clutch-head feathered upon the post and adapted to be normally coupled with the barrel, lever-connections with the said head for operating it to relieve the barrel, and guards inclosin g such mechanisms from the dirt, substantially as set forth.

9. In a brake mechanism, the combination, with a brake-handle, of a post provided at its upper end with an offsetting shoulder and a retaining-plate secured to the handle and cut away to iit around the post, with the shoulder of which it engages to couple the post and handle together, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN Il. lYRlGl-IT.

lVitnesses: SAMUEL Il. Manor, JOHN PALMER.

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