Inventions & Experiments
of Nikola Tesla
US88929 A - Improvement in steam-power-brake devices
Text pending to repair
G. WESTINGHOUSE, JR
Apr 13, 1869
STEAM POWER BRAKE PATENTED APR. 13, 1869 [722 672207 W w b1, QM w /y fi iheewecr UNITED STATES PA E T OFFICE."
enoscn wnsr senonsn, JR.,OF SCHENECIADY, NEWYORK.
mrnovs arnm' m 'sraau-rownn-snaxn nnvrcns.
Specification forming part of Leemmmt'm. 88,929, dated A ia-113, 1869. p
To all whom it put concern s Be it known t at I, Grocer. Wasrmsylrov'ss, J r., of Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady and State'ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in 'Power GarJSrakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, making apart-of this" specification, in-which- .EFigure 1 shows by aside elevatiompartlyin' section, my improvement as mounted on and applied to an ordinary platform railroad-car.
.Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view as formedj hr a horizontal plane passing through thebrake cylinderijust below the bodyof the car. Fig. 3 his vertical, and Fig. 4. ice crosssection of .tlie-three-way cock by which I admit orcutoil the supply of air to the brake. Fig. 5 isan outside view, and Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sec-.-.
tion ot' my improved coupling for uniting the brake-pipes of contiguous cars.
"I'Like letters represent. like parts of each.
My invention relates to the construction of a power car-brake for railway-cars or other like :vehicles, to be operated by compressed air or other elastic compressible fluid; and the nature of it consists, first, in the use of an auxiliary engine-for compressingthe air in a reservoir, -from'whioh' it is to be conducted bysuitable pipes. and applied to operating the brakes, and :also for pumping feed-water into the boiler, either or both; second, in. the construction of a reservoir for storing up the power tobe'derived from air or other elastic fluid under. compression, such reservoir havingapipe or pipes leading to one or more brake-cylinders'on or attached to each car, witha valve or cook in each 'pipe for taming on or otf the supply of air; third, in the construction and combination of devices by which the power thus communicated to the piston of the brakecylinder may bottom it applied to operating an ordinary hand-brake, or any other known form of simple or compound brake fourth, in the construction of an improved coupling for uniting the brake-pipeot contiguous cars, so made that when coupled they shall be always open for the passage of air to the brakecylinders, but-it uncoupled, ljrhen the brakes are down, the pressure-of To enable those skilled in the art to make and use tny invention, I will'procecd to dcscribe its constructionand manner of use.
a represents aplatiorm-car, on which is mounted an auxiliary engine, a a, a fcedwater-pumpingcyliuder,c, and an air-pump, o,
and an air-reservoir, d. A-single piston-rod from the-water-tauk on the tender to. the
pnmpingcylinder c, and, by a piston working therein, water is 'fed through the pipec' to the boiler. ,Tlienir-puinp'o has the usual valves, and works on the principle of the ordinary' air-pump, and compresses the air into the reservoir d. Each of these cylinders is titted withthe valves and cooks necessary to their successful operation.
From the reservoir d an air-pipe, 1', leads down and back along. under the cars otfthe train, the communication through the pipe being opened and closed by a three-way cock,
Ii, presently to be described. At any convenient point on or under each cara brake-cylinder, m, is attached, having a piston working closely therein. A pipe, 1",.
leads from the main pipe 0' to each brake-cylindexm, openinginto it back of thepiston-r. The piston-stem m{ plays'through the opposite end of the brake-cylinder'm, and at its outer end may be bifurcated, so as .:to operate against the brake-lever n or aim-adjustable bifurcatednheadu, may be set thereon hy'a set'screw, n; 'The brake lever n and the brakes connected therewith may be. simple or compound, or of any known or desirable con-- stru'ction. As shown, they'are of the ordinary 7 style. It will be observed that, with the construction and arrangement shown, the operation of the doctor or feed-water pump, and p of the brakes, is in no way dependent on the movements ofthe locomotive. IE steam be 'up, water can be fed intothe boiler, even when the locomotive is standing, which end is a de-' si'rable one, since it sometimesis far from conthe air in the pipes will instantly close them.-
2 cases venient to run a locomotive and train forward or back merely to replenish the supply of water in the boiler, and still more so at other times to slack upa train for the same purpose. In like manner, the operation of the auxiliary engine a a may be so regulated, even with the locomotiverunning; at its highest speed, and with an occasional or even fre quent application of the brakes, that a uni t'ormly constant pressure' .of air can be preserved in the reservoir (1. This auxiliary en-. gine a a", with the pumps 0 o and reservoir d, may, and probably should be for convenience, mounted on or attached in some way to the locomotive or tender. As they are small, light, and not costly, they can be easily and cheaply applied.. If'it be desired to operate either alone, the connecting-valves of the other may be closed, and its piston work in vacuo, withoutin the least interfering with the working of the other.
The reservoir d being tilled with compressed air, whenever it is desirable to apply the brakes the cock h is turned, and the air rushes along, through the pipes i i, into the brake-cylinder m, forces its rod m against the brake-lever n, whereby the brakes s are instantaueously applied to the wheels 8, and the speedof the train at once.'chccked. Of course, the more the air is compressed in the reservoir-d, the more powerful will be its action on the brakes.
The 'cock his a three-way cockthat is, it
opens on 'three sides. When turned as; in Fig. 4, the air flows freelythrough from the reservoir d, as described. On being turned one-quarter way around, the orifice 2 comes into the tubular opening of the pipe 2', leading to the brakes, and the'orifice z coincides with the orifice in the side of the valve'seat, .so that communication is cut ofi from the reservoir d to the brakes, but opened from the brake-cylinders to the external atmosphere. The excess of air then escapes. The spiral spring as, Fig. 2, carries the piston r ofthe'brake-c'ylinder m back to the head of the brake-cylinder, and the brakes are oft. The
length of throw to be given to the brake-lever fa may sometimes vary somewhat, and hence I use the adjustable head n. The bifurcation y, whether-made in the head n or in the stem m, is of such'depth that if ithe sometimes preferred to operate the brakes by hand, the levers n will not be'drawn out of the fork-or slot of the bifurcated end and to illustrate such use I have shown the ordinary hand brakes I attached.
To provide for longitudinal motion of the ,cars independent of each other in starting or stopping, I use between each two, cars a section of air-tight flexible pipe, k, made of indiarubber, or iudia-rnbber and cloth, or other like flexible and air'tight material.
An importanti'eature of my invention con sists of 'the construction and combination of coupling-valves, which I use in theendsff of the pipe 1:, where they are jointed betweenjump from the track, and then;the books I would be disengaged, and the coupling be uncoupled from each other. Inside each conp-.--
ling f is a puppet-valve, p, having a stem,-p,'
playing through a guide or diaphragm, q, the' two stems being of such length that when the couplings-f are coupled together the stems will come together end to end, and each force back the other, so as to throw its valve p free from its seat, and make an uninterrupted communication through the pipe 1' from the reservoir ,d tothe last valve of the last car. The rear stems 1)" play through guides or diaphragms q, and keep the valves 11 more carefully cen tered, so that the forward stems p willalwaysengage each other when the cars are coupled. The guides q 9 should be open,.or have open.
ings, to admit of the passage from one pipe to r 1 the next of the compressed air. Then, when the pipes are uncoupled by the breaking of the car-coupling, or bya car leaving the track,
the compressed air having been applied to the brakes, its pressure will cause the valves p to come against their seats on the guides q, there by closing the ends of the pipe and keeping the brakes on or down. Thus the danger from. accident will be materially decreased. The stems p are made with shoulders 31, which rest against the guides q! p when the ends f are coupled and the valves are opened. Consequently the valves 1; cannot set back against the guides g to close them, nor can the compressed air, when admitted, close the valves p oreither of them. When the pipes are coupled,
the valves p must always be open. If they come uncoupled when filled with compressed air, they will-be instantly closed,'and must necessarily remain so. Hence, in the worst of disasters, the brakes will'remain down if once applied.
Instead of the puppet-valves p, other forms of valves may be used, provided they be so arranged as to operate or open each other when the pipes f are coupled together. For this purpose flap-valves with stems may be used; also, instead otfthe diaphragms for guiding the stems, wings on the stems may be substituted. In that case the wings may be so made as to slide in the cylindrical or other shaped cavity of the couplings f.
The books g operate with suflieient rigidity to catch tightly in the grooves u, and hold the .couplingsf together against any ordinaryforee exerted longitudinally to which they would be subject;; but by beveling slightly the hold ing shoulder of the grooves u, as shown, the hooks 9' would be disengaged, asin case of an accident, by any force suflicient to throw the car from the track or by the breaking of the car-coupling. In lieu of this device, however, other devices performing the same function may be substituted-that is, other means may be used to accomplish the same end, provided they be such as will hold the couplings f together against the operation of any force to which in use they are ordinarily subject, but
not such as to prevent their being automatic ally uncoupled in case of accident. At the same time all such devices should be so made that the couplings may be readily uncoupled by hand.
The particular advantages connected with the apparatus described, in addition to those above referred to, are, that the brakes are under the control of the engineer, and can be instantaneously applied at any time, and with any degree of power within the strength of the machinery employed, and the brakes can be as instantaneously loosened. They are simple in construction, cheaply made, and can be applied to and used in connection with or used without the ordinary hand-brakes. By the use of the auxiliary engine the operation of the brakes is made independent of the operation of the locomotive, so that much 'or little power can be stored up in the reservoir (1 at any time, whether the locomotive be running fast or slow, or not at all; and, if desired, all
the force of the air-pump'can be applied to the brakes over and above the force that can be stored up in the reservoir. By this mode of operating brakes in connection with the couplings described, iucase'of accident the brakes may be instantaneously applied, and kept on till the whole train, or each separate car, if the ear-couplings break, be brought to a complete stand.
What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by-Letters Patent, is-
- 1. The auxiliary engine, with connections to, and in combination with, the air-pump, airreservoir, and brake-cylinder, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
2. The auxiliary engine arranged to operate inconnection with a. railroad-locomotive, feed and water pumps, substantially in the manner hereinbefore set forth.
3. The reservoir d, with pipes 6, leading to one or more brake-cylinders on, or attached to, each car, with a valve or cock in each pipe for turning on or oif the supply of air, arranged substantial! y as. above set forth.
4. Thebrake-cylinder in, in combination with the pipe z", and piston-stein connecting with the brake'lever, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
5. The adjustable head a on the piston-stem hand.
GEO. WESTINGHOUSE, Jn. Witnesses:
A.- S. NICHOLSON, G. H. CHRISTY.
Write a comment