US478003A

US478003A - Car-brake

Info

Publication number: US478003A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1892-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 1909-06-28

Description

(No Model.)

W. F1 GIBBS.

GAR BRAKE.

- Patented Jne 28, 1892.,

`- TNVE/v of? BY A ATTORNEYS.

UNITE 'raras WILLIAM F. GIBBS, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,003, dated June 28, 189,2. Application filed March 10, 1892. Serial No. 424,418. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it. known that I, WILLIAM F. GIBBs, of Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of N ew York, have invented a new and Improved Car-Brake, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in car-brakes, and especially to street-car brakes. Y In electric street-cars there is but little unoccupied space beneath the cars, and it is desirable to have a brake mechanism which will have the necessary power and which will occupy but little space.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple form of brake mechanism which will meet this requirement and which may also be adjusted so that the brake-shoes shall be simultaneously and with equal force applied to boththe front and rear wheels of a car.

T0 this end my invention consists in certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken vertical section on the line 1 1 in Fig. 2, showing the application of the brakes and brake mechanism to a car and to the car-wheels. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the crank-arm and its connections for operating the brakes.

In the drawings, 10 represents the bottom of the car, 11 its wheels, and 12 the brakeshoes, which are of the usual kind and which are suspended from the car-bottom by means of rods 13 or from the trucks in the usual way, the shoes being held so'as to be pressed against the faces of the wheels.

A squared rod 14 extends transversely beneath the car and about midway between the front and rear wheels 11, the rod having cylindrical ends which are journaled in supports 15, attached to the car-bottom, although the rod may be supported in any convenient way. The rod is provided with a central crank-arm 16, which is normally held by a spring 16a, so as to throw the brakes out of engagement with the wheels, and this crank-arm has a segmental free end 17, which is recessed, as shown at 18,

and which is adapted to be secured to a chain 19, which chain connects with a crank or its equivalent for operating the brakes in the usual manner. Fixedto the rod 14 near the ends are disks 20, and each disk is pivotally connected with a pairof arms 21,'these arms being secured to the disk on opposite sides of the rod 14 and made to extend in opposite directions. The outer ends of the arms 2l are pivoted to the upper ends of similar and oppositelyarranged levers 22,. which are arranged in a nearly-vertical position beneath the car and are fulcrumed on journaled pins 23, the levers being thickened opposite the pins to give them the necessary strength, and the pins of the two levers are connected by straps 24, so that the levers may have a rigid fulcrum and be able to move in unison.

The journal-pins 23 are held to move in curved slots 25, which are produced Vin the side pieces 26 of a fender 27, this fender and side pieces being'similar to that on the most common form of electric carsg-butwhere a similar support is not found on the cars the pins may be held to move in any suitable bearing, or the brake will work successfully even though the pins are not supported by bearings. The lower ends of the levers 22 are pivotally connected with rods 28, each lever being connected to a rod independently and the rods being made to extend backward and forward, so as to connect with the brake-shoes of the front and rear wheels. The rod 28 of the forward lever extends backward and the rod of the rearlever forward, as shown in Fig. 1.

The rods 28 are each connected to a turnbuckle or nut 29, and these connect with hooks 30, which are secured to the backs of the brakeshoe 12. The arrangement of levers above described is produced ou each side of the car, as shown in Fig. 2, and it will be seen that the entire mechanism Will occupy but little space. It is only necessary to move the crank- Y arm 16 by means of the chains 19 to apply the brake, as this movement will'turn the rod 14 and the disks 20, which movement of the disks will move the arms 21in the opposite directions, thus pushing the upper ends of the levers 22 apart, and when these upper ends arel pushed apart the lower ends will be moved IOO , and forcing the brake-shoes toward each other, thus actuating the rods 2R firmly upon the wheels ll. 4

It will be seen that if the brake-shoes are irregular the lost motion thus produced may be compensated for by simply turning one of the nuts 29, and the mechanism may thus be quickly and easily adjusted, so that the shoes will always bear evenly upon both the front y and rear wheels.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters y Patentl. The combination, with the brake-shoes suspended from the car and adapted to engage the wheels, of levers arranged betweenthe front and rear wheels and having connected fulcrums, adjustable rods connecting the lower ends of the levers with the brake-shoes, a crank-shaft journaled beneath the car-bot- I tom and provided with disks, and oppositelyextending arms secured to opposite sides of the disks and also to the free ends of the levers, substantially as described.

2. A car-brake comprising brake-shoes suspended from the car-bottom adjacent to the wheels, levers arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the car and between the front and rear wheels, said levers having movable and connected fulcrums, rods connecting the lower ends of the levers with the brake-shoes, and a crank mechanism for operating the levers, substantially as described.

3. A car-brake comprising brake-shoes suspended adjacent to the wheels, levers arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the car between the front and rear wheels, pins forming the Vfulcrums of the levers and held to slide in bearings, straps connecting the pins of each pair of levers, adjustable rods connecting the lower ends of the levers with the brake-shoes,

' and a crank mechanism for operating the le-