US860966A - Brake-beam fulcrum and method of manufacture. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED JULY 23, 1907.

B; I. DODDS. BRAKE BEAM FULGRUM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 30. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JULY 23, 1907. 6

I E. I. DOD'DS, BRAKE'BEAM PULGRUM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE.

APPLICATION IILED OUTQ30. 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5 in 6 2 2 y 1 M I \y \I/ Q 1 5 Z l 27 2 No. 860,966. AEENTED JULY 23, 1907.

- V B. I. DODDS.

BRAKE BEAM FULGRUM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 30. 1905.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

UTE STATES PATENT FFICE.

ETHAN I. DODDS, OF PULLMAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PULLMAN COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BRIDGE-BEAM .FULCRUM AND Specification of Letters Patent.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURE.

Patented July 23, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ETHAN I. DODDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pullman, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake-Beam Fulcrums and Methods of Manufacture, of which the following is a specification.

It is well known that malleable and cast iron fulcrums for brake beams are subject to defects such as sand and air holes and the like and for that reason some times break in service at the most critical moments when application of the brake shoes to the car wheels is imperative.

To overcome this difiiculty and produce a rolledmetal fulcrum which is homogeneous throughout and which is nevertheless economical to manufacture, I have devised a fulcrum and a method of producing these articles from sheet metal.

This method also includes an inexpensive manner of cutting a strip of metal so as to produce fulcrums of which the ears attached to the operating lever are of a different length from those secured to the brake beam.

in its simplest form the process consists in shearing inwardly from the opposite ends of a metal blank or sheet so as to form two tongues or strips at each end and an uncut portion at the center. Two of these diagonally opposite end tongues are then bent upwardly parallel to each other, the remaining two being bent similarly in the opposite direction. The two pairs of tongues may also be twisted relatively to one another by bending but not straining the metal to secure a desirable angular displacement, which twisting or bending operation may be performed simultaneously with or subsequently to the turning up of the parallel tongues.

The characteristic features of my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in all the views of which like reference characters refer to the same parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved brake beam fulcrum showing the'same attached to a brake beam and also to an actuating lever. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one form of my fulcrum and illustrates its application to an I-brake beam and to an operating lever; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 2 with the operating lever omitted; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modified form of. brake beam fulcrum applied to the brake beam and to the operating lever; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 4, the operating lever being omitted; Fig. 6 is a view of a blank from-which a single brake beam fulcrum, which has both pairs of lugs or attaching ears of the same length is manufactured, and Fig. 7 illustrates the manner in which a strip of rolled metal may be cut into a number of parts each of which may be bent up to form v a brake beam fulcrum in which the pairs of cars are of different lengths.

To produce by my improved method a rolled sheetmetal fulcrum with ears or tongues of equal length I slit a sheet metal plate or blank 10 inwardly from both ends, as shown in Fig. 6, so as to produce cuts or slits l1, 11, leaving the central portion of the blank uncut. This shearing or slitting operation provides two tongues 12 and 13 at one end, and 14 and 15 at the other end. The two diagonally opposite tongues or strips 13 and 14 are then bent upwardly parallel to each other, the remaining tongues '12 and 13 being bent downwardly parallel to each other. During these bending operations the bases or roots of the parallel tongues are bent as shown so as to produce the proper angular displacement or relation between the two pairs of tongues or strips whereby they correspond to the angular positions of the brake beam and operating lever. In other words the two pairs of tongues or attaching ears are twisted relatively to each other but by the term twist 1 do not imply the straining of any part of the metal, the twist being accomplished solely by bending. These bending manipulations are performed so as to leave space between the two brake-beam attaching strips for the accommodation of the oppositely extended flanges 18 onone edge of the web of the I-brake beam 16. A rivet 19 secures the ears or tongues 15 and 12 securely to the web of the brake beam, the same passing through holes ill the ears and-in the web. Lever 17 is pivoted to and between ears 13 and 14 by means of a bolt, pin or rivet 20 which passes through apertures in the ears and through a hole in the lever.

The fulcrums may be made to fit the brake beam in either one of two ways shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and 4 and 5, respectively. In the form shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the portions 21 of tongues 12 and 15 engage the edges of the brake beam flanges the full width of the tongues, this result being accomplished by causing the'opposite edges 22 and 23 of ears 15 and 12 to follow more or less closely the contours of the under sides of the flanges 24 and 25, fillets 26, and the sides of the brake beam web, thus taking up more or less metal, while the opposite edges 27 and 28 of tongues 15 and 12, respectively, do not closely follow the contours specified. As a result the tongues are properly positioned to engage the web of the brake beam and to hug the edges of its oppositely extended flanges.

The other way of forming the fulcrum and fitting it to its brake beam is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In order to dispose of the surplus metal on the opposite edges of tongues 12 and 15 so as to bring the tongues parallel and in the position indicated I may so bend the tongues on lines 29 and 30, inclined to the beam flanges, that they grip the edges of the brake beam flanges only at the edges 31 and 32 of the tongues, the

other portions of the latter members extending away from the flanges, as shown, whereby the surplus metal is cared for in the manner indicated instead of the tongues closely following the contour of the brake beam.

When it is desired to produce from a longitudinal strip of metal a number of sheet metal brake beam fulcrums of which the pairs of cars are of different lengths without waste of material the strip is sheared in the manner illustrated in Fig. 7. Thelong strip 23 is passed through a cutting machine which severe it into a number of blanks each of which has its longitudinal halves of the same length but displaced lengthwise relatively to one another to a small extentas indicated by the central blank 34 shown in Fig. 7. Each out which severs a blank from the strip consists of a number of parts of which the two transverse cuts 35 and 36 are offset somewhat, the inner ends of the cuts being united by a longitudinal cut 37 which is extended beyond the cuts 35 and 36 to the points 38 and 39. It

will be apparent that as the strip 33 is passed through wardly for attachment to the web of the brake beam,-

While the remaining diagonal strips or tongues 42 and 43 are bent in the opposite direction for attachment to the actuatiug lever. These pairs of tongues are also bent or twisted relative to one another to compensate for the different angular positions of the brake beam lever.

I claim:

1. A brake beam fulcrum made of rolled metal having a central plate portion, a pair of parallel tongues for attachment to a brake beam integral with and bent up from said plate portion in one direction, and a pair of parallel ears for attachment to an actuating lever integral with and bent up from said plate portion in the opposite direction, one longitudinal edge of each of said brakebeam ears being bent. to conform substantially to the contour of the brake-beam while the opposite longitudinal edge does not conform to the shape of the brake-beam, substantially as described.

2.. A brake beam fulcrum made of rolled metal having a center plate portion.- a pair of parallel tongues for attachopposite ends, bending two of the strips or tongues so pro- I duced in one direction and bending the two remaining strips in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

4.-The method of manufacturing a brake beam fulcrum which consists in slitting a metal sheet inwardly from its opposite ends, bending two of the diagonallyppposite strips so produced .in one direction, and bending the remaining two diagonally-opposite strips in the opposite direction;

substantially as described. I

5. The method of manufacturing a brake beam'fulcrum which. consists in shearing a rectangular metal sheet inwardly from its opposite ends, bending two of the diagonally-opposite strips or tongues so produced in one direction and bending the remaining two diagonally-opposite strips or tongues in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

6. The method of manufacturing a brake beam fulcrum which consists in shearing a metal sheet inwardly from its opposite ends, bending two of the diagonally-opposite strips or tongues so produced parallel to each other in one direction, and bending the remaining two diagonally-opposite strips or tongues parallel to each other .in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

7. The method of manufacturing a brake beam fulcrum which consists in shearing a metal sheet inwardly from its ends, bending two of the diagonally-opposite strips or tongues so produced parallel to each other in one direction, and bending the remaining two diagonally-opposite strips or tongues parallel to each other in the opposite direction, said bending operations also angulurly displacing said pairs of tongues to correspond to the angular relation of the brake-beam and operating lever, substantially as described.

8. The method of cutting a strip of metal into blanks to be used for the manufacture of brake beam fulcrums which consists in cutting a metal strip into pieces, each of which is slit inwardly from each end for a portion of its length, by a series of cuts each of which consists of two transverse portions offset longitudinally of the strip with relation to one another and a third portion joining said ottset portions and extending therebeyond in both directions, sub stantially as described.

ETHAN I. DODDS.

Witnesses FREDERICK C. Gooowm, WALTER'M. FULLY-ill.

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