USRE4879E - Improvement in steam and air brakes - Google Patents

Description

i '2 sheets sh' m 1, JOHNWQ GARDNER. lmprov'emen t in- 'Steam and-Air Brakes.

Reissued A ril23,1872. 1N0.4,879. P i

n V675 Z012.

' 2 Sheets- Sheet 2.,

- JOHN W. GARDNER.

improvement in Steam and AH Brakes.

N 4,379, Reissued'April23,1872

I combination with an air or steam brake, for

UNITED STATES PA ENT" 'OFFICE;

v JOHN GARbNER OF CLEVELANDPOHIO.

lMPROVEMENT m STEA-M AND AI sa xgs.

Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 122,884, dated January 23, 1872 ;,'1' B'Bde No; 4,879, dated v i April 3, I872.

- SPEGIFICATION. To whom "it may concern: Y 1

Be it known that I, JOHN W. GARDNEB, of Cleveland, county of (Du'yahoga and State of Ohio, have in vented'a new anduseful Improvement in" Air and Steam Brakes for'Railroad- Cars, of which'the following is a full, clear, and exact description:

My invention, first, is a combined air and steam brake, using either compressed air or steam, both to set and to force off railroad-car brakes; second, a four-way cock, in

.chan gin g the air or steam current, so that when either of these elements enters into oneend of. a common steam-cylinder and piston beneath each car the brakes will be setto th e wheeis", but when they enter into the other end of such cylinder the brakes. will be instantly forced oil from the-wheels. 4 My invention is an improvement upon the. steam and compressed-air brakes a long time since invented in England, and which, within the, past few'years, have been introduced into publiciuse in the United States.

In the steam-brake referred to as of foreign invention, theengineer turns a stop-cock, whereby steam from the boiler of the loc0mo-, tiveis conveyed through pipes the whole length of the train, connection being made between the cars by means of flexible pipe or tubing. The steam passes throfugh branches from the main pipe into common steam-cylinders placed under every car, which have air-ti ght pistons. T he outer endsof the piston-rods are securely fastenedto brakelevers, so' that when steam enters into the cylinders-and forces forward the piston-rods, the brake-levers instantly ap 'ply brake-shoes to the car-wheels. Whenthe engineer desires to start his trainhe reverses the position of the stop-cock, thereby permitting the steam in the cylinders .to return to the locomotive, where it escapes into the natural atmosphere. As the steam-pressure decreases in the cylinders, owing both to its condensation-and escape, and bytheaid of springs at each brake, the brake-shoes are grad ual'iyreleas'ed from' the wheels. It.isfa1soan old deviceto keep up. a -curren'trof steam'all'iaronnd the train, so-that cold weather -iwillifnot inten fera -with thauworkinghofi narrates; and

v an expiredAmerieanpatent-thereisdesc'rihed r a valve to be inserted into thfe -fiexlble pipe between the cars, so that ifi:they -becom'e-dctached through such disaster-as, for instance,

the precipitationof one eari upoh another, or

of a portion :of the traih tlirimgli afjbroken trestle or down an embanknin t',"the act of disruption thereupon P oc urring-win, closthe valve, and thus preyent'j the releasing off'tli'e brakes if they were set previous" to the-wreck; ing of the cars. i

- in tbecompressed airi'brake referred tons of foreign invention, an aippuin p;

erated by an eccentric o'ntiie the'd'rivewheel of the locomotive,-p' ps agrt'intffired ervoir where it is helduuneaeonipressien -tne quantity of;air in'the reservoirbeing indicat ed by a pressurega'ge'in thje was below motive.- The enginee'r, by 'means ot tlie =vices' above describeih in connectionwith the;

steam-brake, and precise in -iglie same dia'n neras the steam-brake' is'rjoperateflitops-the train by applying compressed air-fiothe brakes through the medium ot tliecylihfiersand-pis tons; and in order to releasethe'brakes from thewheels he reversesthe'posi-tioiiotthe'stop cook, which permits the a'i'r toreturnto "the locomotive, where it' escapes the'natnral atmospher It will'thns-be seenth'at mean'siorx-prodncingthe above-detailed resultflli'e' setting of the brakes)(lifler oi i'|y-in the emphzynmit I in one case of steam, and-in theola'lier case-(if compressed air; and, with the exceptiol'i of the air pumpand resryoit-{swlibn com-pressed air .is employed, thetivo device's'aee'ali keinthisc respect, that theyboth usethesame general mr'pehinery, and are, to'-*al1appearai|ce;of-the same general constrnctioni Great' earel-lia's been taken in these reissned -Eet'tersPat-ent to detail at considerable length the state orthe art in airand-steam-ear-brakes betbrethevwere introduced into com men- 1i s'e-==ii 1-'the Uiri't'ed States. v

Referring to the drawingan nexed to.and forminga part of this 5 specification, Fi gfflile f represents a plan viewyF-igni'if, alsctionnl elevationthrough' the HQQTWY Fig: I Fig; HI,

an elevation ot" the fo'nr-'way cock and cylin- F-i-g? LV,5a sectional elevation ofanc and ]ii g. V; a. longitudinal section of-valves,

boiler; h I i The features olithisiuvention, or .the im-;' provement upon "the compressed-air and steam brakes in common useflfor many'years, will stem.

A represents the foot-board of the locomo tive; B, the reservoir for holding compressed air; G, thefour-way cock; and D, a common cylinder and piston, intowhich islet eitherv steam or compressed air, both to set and to force 011' the car-brakes. The cylinder is placed under the tender and cars of the entire" outward, and thus applies power to the brakelevers H H, which set the brake-shoeslto the car-wheels; but when steam is used, thegeneral machinerybeing the same, of course, as

will be'obvious to any machinist, there is a connection-pipe between the four-way cock and the boiler, (not shown;) and, as steam may be preferable in some instances, this apparatus is so constructed that steam may be used at pleasure by simply disconnecting the pipe E from the reservoir and connecting it to the now be fully set forth; Supposing that the brakes have been set and are in that position when the engineer desires to start his n-ain, he turns the four-wa cockja one-quarter turn in a reverse direction to the way in which he turned it when he set the brakes. vThe air or steam which then flowed through the pipe F and into the front end of the cylinder now passes through the four-way cock-and flows through the pipe I, which enters the rear end of the cylinder D (under each car) opposite the pipe F. The same amount 'of power-which almost instantly set the brakes now; instantly iorces'them oil", and consequently expels the air or steam in the pipe, F. and cylinder D, through the four way' 000k. and exhaust-pipe K, into the natural atmosphere. I

It here becomes necessary to describe the fonrway cock 0; reference, thereforais made.

in this connection to Figs. IV and V. In dimensions it is large enough tocover the diamctersoi the largestpipe used to conduct the air or steam from the reserroiror boiler to the cylinder under the cars, which,obviously; will depend on the length of the train and the uses to which the cars are applied for passengertrains a three-quarter-inch ordinary gas-pipe will probably be sullicient, but for heavy trains it might bedesirabletouse an inch-aml-a-qnarter pipe, It be seen in Fig. V that four pipes are to. the. four-waycockthe showing fonrdifl'erent outlets andithe valve;

pipe-E, leading from the reservoir oi boiler, thetwo pipes F and I, connecting the'four-way cock with the cylinders, and the'exhaust-pipe K. By turning the handle a of the plug. or valve 1) from the position shown in Fig. 1, (in

"direction of the arrow 1,) the opening 0 of the plug will'lnake a connection between the pipes E and 1*, and the openingd on the valve-stem will make. another connection between the pipes I and'K. The brakes are now set. But by turning the handle a in the reverse direction, as shown by the arrow 2, the opening 0 in the stem will make a connection between the pipes E and I, while the opening 6 will make another connection between the pipes Faud K. v

This will instantly force 91f the brakes}, In the common form of steam and compressedair brakes, such as have been herein described,

the brakes cannot be let off instantly. In a train'of ten cars, for example, where the brakes are set, there is an estimated pressure upon ;thein offrom twenty to forty pounds per square inch. It is certain that the pressure is suflicieutly great, if applied suddenly, to slide the wheels. To relieve'the brakes of this pressure there-is required, by the old, construction of air and steam brakes, not less than two minutes-1 often three and fourminn tes-i'or the steam or air to discharge itself into the natural 'atmosphere through the exhaust-pipe K, for' it has Y to return through a common gas-pipe over four hundred feet, propelled only by its elasticity and the assistance of springs upon the brakes or pistons. If atrain be running on short time for meeting-points, the saving of one or two minutesat astation (or an accidental stop page) might enable the engineer-to make his destination and pass an approachin'gjtrain; but theloss of three minutes during the whole run to the meeting-pointmight compelhim to delay his train an hour, the approaching train having the right of way, if on a single track, where the next sidetrack isr ahead a lon g. distance. It is,- therefore, clearly apparent that a large amount of time'can be saved by the use of this invention; In cases of obg struction on the track, .by this apparatus'a train-of cars can be stopped almost; instantly, for it is entitelynnder control of the engineer.

But in danger of coilision whma it isnot only 1 necessary to stop the train, bummy to backit'out otf dangenso as to saveth e great Q 7 destruction both-of life and propertygthe great and paramount utility of 1 this invention must be apparent to allfair and reflecting minds. It is economical in construction, and,-pwing to. l its simplicity, none of its parts bell] subject to unduestrain or-wear, it may be ca led void of all complication. It should here be observed that the ordinary hand-brakesare also erectedupon the cars as additional security. In addition to what has already been said, it may be well observed-that, if it be necessary to start a train froma stand-still while the brakes are partly on the wheels, or before the air or steam has escaped sufficiently to release the brakes from the wheels, a greater strain will be required from the locomotive, as. it must overcome the additional resistance of the brakes. Thiswould require a greater consumption of steam, and consequently a greater amountof fuel to generate it, for the additional service demanded from the locomotive; and, it should not be overlooked that, by the use'o't' this invention, there must result a great decrease in the wear and tear of machinery, as a cast-iron brake-shoe, rubbing upon a castiron car-wheel, would tend greatly to injure its tread and flange.

- l distinctly disclaim the setting of carbrakes by the use either of steam or compressed air, for all the devices herein described for that purpose are old and the property of the public, being fully set forth in m'any-expired English patents and other foreign publicntions; but' What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- air or steam to force off oar-brakes, substautially as above set forth.

2. The combination of the four-way cock 0, the pipes E, F.- I, and K, and the cylinder D,

so as to enable oar-brakes instantly to be set to and to be forced ofi from car-wheels by the use of either compressed air or steam.

3. The four-way cook 0, as herein described, for changing the air or steam current to either end of the cylinder D, for the purpose of set-' ting and forcing ofi car-brakes.

" In witness whereof 1 hereto subscribe my name to the foregoing specification at Cleveland, Ohio, this 2d day of April, 1872, in the attesting witnesses.

JOHN W. GARDNER Three witnesses:

JNO. Tnoms, W. H. RILEY, JEFFERSON FISHER.

presence of three

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