US41013A - Improvement in car-brakes for railroads - Google Patents

Description

VUNITED, S `TA1`ES.

PATInvT lCarien.y

WILLIAM s. MARTIN, or WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS.

uvuiaovEMElaT IN CAR-BRAKES Fon aAlLa'oADs.'

Specification forming part o t Letters To all 'whom it may concern Be 'it known that 1, WILLIAM S. 'llan'rin"` of Waukegan, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful vice is operated.

The nature of my invention consists iu anovel arrangement,` whereby the momentum ofthe cars or train operates as the power to wind. upand apply the brakes to the train; and, also, in a novel device whereby the aforesaid arrangement will 'cease to operate upon the brakes when the maximum pressure desired is obtained.

To'enable others to understand how to construct and use my invention, I will now procoed to describe the same with particularity` Ain the annexed 'drawings represents a wrought-iron shaft extending across the car4 l between the two wheels of one truck, a-s shown,

o'r near any pair of wheels of the' car, and snpported. in suitable bearings in the hangers or'pe-ndcnt swinging supports, (markedv F F,) which swinging supports are so arranged and attached-to the framework of the car or truck -as to enable the said shaft A, supported thereby, to move forward or backward, as .may be ,-desired.

B B represent two frctionwheels, which rex-'olve loosely upon the shaft A, and areso 4arranged thereon that when the said shaft is pressedforward, las hereinafter tobe described,

the circumference of the said friction wheels is `pressed agains't'the circumference of. the

car-wheels, which thus cause the said frictionwheels B B to revolve, if the cars are in motion.

To impart motion to the shaft A, I employ the following device, namely: the frictionfixed retain the springs S S in place.

Patent no. 41.013, einen .Docenti-r 2e,v was menate-a September 20, 1863. i

, clutches() C', the springs S S', and the adjustable slides or bands D D. The friction-clutches 0 Oare fixed upon the 'shaftA-so. that the said clutches revolve with the shaft, and not upon it, as do the friction-wheels B B. rlhe adjustable slidingrings D D are adjusted at anyrequired position upon the shaft A, andtixed in such desired position by means4 of setscrcws,

or any other suitable device, and being thus The said spiral springs S S', being thus confined between vthe unyieldingbands D D and the frictionclutches O- C', force said. clutches against the said friction-wheels B B,so that the revolution of the said friction-wheels iinparts a revolving or rotating motion to the shaft A Eso loiig as` the resistance to the revolution'of the shaft is less than the pressure of' the springs- S S" upu 'the clutches u u.

'lhrough'the said shaft A there is ahole, f through which hole the chain b passes, which is attached at each end to the rods c c', which extend to and -arc conuectcdwith the brake levers c e.

The object `in having the chain b pass through the shaft A, as shown, instead of'being fastened to it,-is t0 causejthe chain to so adjust itselfin and upon said shaft that the pressure uponiali the wheels of thc car will be To operate my. device herein described, I employ a lever ofv peculiar construction, (marked H in the drawings, and shown sepal'ratelyin Fig. 3.) -Thislevervis-supported upon afulcrum at h, andin its configuration is adapted to the shaft A, as shown. To'the upper end .of the said lever thelink-rods d d are attached,

which link-rods extend throughout the entire length of the train, being connected atkeach end ofthe cars ,byhooks or links, as'shown in the drawings, or by any other suitable device, each car heilig provided with the aforesaid device, and the rods d d being attached to the lipper end of eae'h lever.. By the peculiar arrange l ment and construction of the said lever H, ifthe rodd is drawn, bringing theupperen'd of the said lever towardthe left, the lowerend thereof is thrown forward toward the right, thereby pressing the shaftA forward, so as' to bring .the frietion-wheels G C' in contact with the car' wheels, as desired, and it' the rod d' is drawn.

bringing the upper en d of said lever toward the right, the lever is alsoprcssed against, the shaftA, throwing it forward, as before. At the points where the lever H is brought into .contact with lthe shaft A tlie anti -friction rollers a a' are inserted in such lever, so that the pressure'ot` the lever upoutheshaft A mayv notcounteractro-r resist t-lielrevolntion of the I shaft, as caused by the friction-wheels B 'B',

as aforesaid. The devices at eachend of said shaft A being similar, the invention may be used with only one at one end of the shaft, or

.with both,` as 'herein shown and delineated.

The above brakex is operated by means of a vsimilar device uponl the engine or tender,

whereby lthe chains attached to the rods d d' are wound up on a shaft arranged in the same manner as ,the shaftA, and provided with the friction-wheels,clutches, springs, and adjust. ableslides hereinbefore described. By moving the slides l) 1)' toward or from the clutches C C' the maximum of pressure capable of be 4Aingmade by the brakes ,is increased or decreased, respectively, and bythe peculiar consti uction of the lever Il the brakes are worked .equally well, whether the car is moving backward or forward, by drawing upon the rodsl d ord'.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

\ W'hen the -trainis in motion, and it is desired f to brake up the t1ainthe engineer applies the power? for that purpose, and the rod d or d' isdrawn, thereby bringing the .lever H aga-inst the shaft A, and forcing the frictioufwheels B y B' againstthe carwheels, thereby causing the] shaft A'toi'evolve,winding up the chain b there on, and bringing thc brakes g g g' g' against the car\\'lxeels. When the maximum pressure of the said brakes, to which the springs 'S S' were adjusted, isreached, the friction-wheels revolve 4.upon the shaft in spite ot' the pressule of the said springs, and thus the brakes maybe kept ai p at such maximum pressure withoutdanger of breaking the same, or the devices whereby they are operated; and when it is'desired to release the brakes from their pressure upon. the carwheels,'this is etlecifed by releasing the strain upon the rods attached to the upper end o." the lever il, when the wheels B B' are de-4 lsz l y A. 41.013

tached from the canwheels, and' the back action or strain will at once revolve back the shaft A and unwind the chain b, restoring the brakes to their minimum of pressure. By having the friction-wheels B B". made'fast upon the shaft A the frictionclutches, springs, and

.adjustable slides could be dispensed with;

but some device for causing the shaft A to cease its revolution when the desired maximum of pressure lis obtained would be necessary to obviate the danger fof breaking the parts, or

else the brakes .would have to be released envtirely from pressure .upon the wheels, and

could not be keptup at they maximum pressure, as they can by the employmentiof the aforesaid arrangement of thefriction-clutches, springs, and slides, with friction-wheels B' B' loose upon the shaft A. The frictionclutcl|es G C' are provided with beveled or coniform recesses, into which a similar projection upon the friction-wheels -B .'B' enters,' the object of this. arrangement being to. obtain a, greater amount of fr'ictiona-l bcaring'surface than would be presented by plain surfaces.

What l claim as my invention, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

v 1. r1 he combination ofthe shaft A, the fric- 4tion-wheels B B', the clutches C C', springs S wheels of the cars,vwhen said iiiction-wheelsl are used in combination with shaft A, the

clutches C C', the springs S S',.the slides 1) D', the. lever 1I, and the chain b, operating as and for the purposes speciliedand shown.

. AW. S. MARTIN. Witnesses:

W. E. Manus, .I'onN 1I. BLooMFiELn.

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