US658226A - Car-brake lever. - Google Patents

Description

No. 658,226. Patented Sept. I8, I900. J. C. WESTERFIELD &. H. S. CH|NNOCK,-]R.

CAR BRAKE LEVER.

(Applicatian filed Apr. 28, 1900.

(No Model.)

W K, m, N

m A M i WITNESSES UNITED STATES.

JOSEPH O. WESTERFIELD, OF ARLINGTON, AND HARRY SINGER GHINNOCK,

PATENT OFFICE.

JR., OF BELLEVILLE, JERSEY. I

' CAR-BRAKE LEVER.

SPECIFICATION formin part of Letters Patent No. 658,226, dated. s'eptember 18, 1900.

Application filed April 28, 1900. Serial No. 14,697. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOSEPH O. WESTER- FIELD, of Arlington, in the county of Hudson,. and HARRY SINGER CHINNOOK, Jr., of Belleville, in the county of Essex, State of New Jersey, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and Improved Oar-B rake Lever, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. I

This invention relates to improvements'in levers for setting car brakes, particularly freight-cars on which the brakes are operated from the top of the car or elsewhere.

In setting brakes hard, as is often found necessary with loaded cars, it is the usual practice to employ a hand-lever in the form of a wooden stick inserted between the spokes of the brake-wheel. This is somewhat dangerous because of the liability of the lever slipping out of its engagement with the wheel, and, further, such levers are liable to be lost or out of reach when most needed.

Itis the object of our invention, therefore, to provide a brake-lever as a permanent attachment to the brake-rod, thus avoiding the dangers and difiiculties above mentioned, and to so connect it to the rod that it may swing out of the way when not in use.

We will describe a car-brake lever embodying our invention, and then point out the novel features in the appended claim.

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

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a car, showing a device embodying our invention as applied thereto; and Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the ordinary brake-rod, extended above the roof of the car and having on its upper end the hand-wheel 2. Attached to the rod, but so as to swing in a vertical plane with relation thereto, is an operating-lever 3. As here shown, this operating-lever is pivotally connected to a collar 4, mounted to rotate on the' rod 1 and supported from moving downward thereon by means of a fixed collar 5 on the rod. These parts 4 and 5 may be easily placed on the rod by removing the brake or hand-wheel 2.

Attached to the lever 3 is a hook-shaped arm 6, adapted to engage with either one or with a succession of the wheel-spokes 7. Normally the lever 3 will hang down parallel with the rod 1, and as the said rod 1 may rotate in the collar 4 it is obvious that the brake may be set by turning the hand-wheel 2 in the usual manner. quired, however, the'lever 3 is to be swung upward to engage the arm 6 with the spoke of the hand-wheel, as indicated in the draw ings. Then by drawing or pushing upon the lever it is obvious that the brake rod may be turned. Should it be desired to give a further turn to the brake-rod, the arm 6 may be disengaged from a spoke and engaged with the next or any other one of the series of spokes As the lever 3 and the arm 6 are made in one or two pieces of iron or other suitable metal they are not easily broken, as might happen with a wooden lever, and, further, the lever embodying our invention cannot be lost, as it is permanently attached to the brake-rod, and it does not interfere with the ordinary operation of the brake rod. Fur ther, the device may be readily attached to brake-rods and brake-wheels as now constructed and connected to cars. 7 It will be noted that the end of the arm 6 projects laterally of the lever, so that there will be no danger of its slipping down out of engagement with a spoke when the lever is in operation.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pa'tent- In a car-brake mechanism, the combination with a brake-rod and a hand-wheel thereon, of a fixed collar on the rod below the wheel,

a collar mounted'loosely on the rod betweenthe fixed collar and the wheel, a lever pivotally connected to the last-named collar, and a hook-shaped arm on the lever, the end of said arm being beyond one side of the lever, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH O; WESTERFIELD. HARRY SINGER GHINNOGK, JR. Witnesses to the signature of Joseph C. Westerfield: l

WALTER CLARK, GEO. S. CLA K.

Witnesses to the signature of Harry S.

Ohinnock, Jr.: Y

J. O. RAYMONDE, MARK WINANS.

Should unusual force be re

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