US1227961A - Slack-adjuster. - Google Patents

Description

w. .H. SAUVAGE.- SLACK ADJUSTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25 I916.

Patented May 29, 1917.

1&975961 JJJ Mame/44 UNTTED %TATE% PATENT @FFTCE.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GOULD COUPLER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OI NEW YORK.

SLACK-ADJUSTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 191?.

Application filed January 25, 1916. Serial No. 74,197.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, citizen of the United States, and resident of Flushing, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack-Adjusters,

' which the folowing is a specification.

This invention relates to slack adjusters and more particularly to automatic slack adjusters for the brake rigging of railway trucks.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple and practical slack adjuster mechanism adapted for use on trucks of standard make which will be reliable and efficient in use and operation. A further object is to provide a slack adjuster of the above mentioned type having few parts which will be cheap to manufacture and install. A further object is to provide an automatic slack adjuster adapted to permit uniform piston travel and proper brake shoe clearance under all conditions.

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and in part indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of this invention.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of parts and in the unique relations of the members and in the. relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as more completely outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying features thereof that they may embody the same by the numerous modifications in structure and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as a part of this disclosure, and in such drawings, like characters of reference denotecorresponding parts throughout all the views, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway truck together with its brake rigging in applied position showing suflicient parts of both to fully understand the present invention, certain parts also shown in section or broken away for the sake of clearance.

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views of certain parts of the slack adjuster mechanism.

Fig. 1 is a detail sectional view showing tha lost motion connection of the adjusting ro Referring now to the drawing in detail and more particularly to Fig. 1, 5 denotes a truck bolster to one side of which is pivotally supported a dead lever hanger 6 carrying a depending dead lever 7. The lower end of this lever is pivotally connected with a brake beam strut 8 at the point 10. At the opposite side of the bolster is positioned a live lever 11 the upper end of which is con nected at the point 12 with a pull rod 13 eX- tending back over the top of the bolster to the brake actuating mechanism. The lower end of the live lever 11 has pivotally connected therewith at the point 14 a brake beam strut 9 similar to the strut 8. Both of these struts have associated therewith the usual brake beams carrying brake shoes, that is of course if the truck is of the beam type.

A temporary take up and holding mechanism or adjusting mechanismis preferably interposed between the brake beam struts for the purpose of taking up and registering the excess travel due to wear of the parts. This mechanism comprises supports 15' on the under side of the brake beams, and a pair of relatively flat L-shaped links 16 and 17 provided at their upper ends 18 and 19 with elongated lost motion slots 20 where they are pivoted loosely to said supports 15 for maintaining predetermined brake shoe clearance and permitting slight angular movement.

The lower ends of these links are provided with registering slots 21 through which a friction clamp device 22, Fig. 3, is adapted to pass. This friction clamp device will permit relative sliding movement of the links with respect to each other in both clirections if occasion demands yet normally the relative sliding movement takes place in one direction only as when the excess travel of the rigging occurs. This friction clamp device may be of any desired type but a device comprising a bolt 22 with washers 24L engaging the outer surfaces of the links and held in yielding engagement therewith by means of a volute spring 25 suitably supported at its opposite side against the bolt head 26 as shown will be found to give very efficient results.

Connecting the lever fulcrums is a permanent take up and holding device which in the present case comprises two telescopic members 30 and 31, the latter of which is preferably in the form of a hollow casting provided with a housing 32 containing one or more dogs 33 held in canted position by means of spring 34. These dogs are so positioned and arranged as to permit expansion of the telescopic push rod but positively prevent an inward movement thereof when the brakes are applied. This permanent take u 3 and holding device is preferably locatec above the spring plank 35 and between the springs, not shown, interposed between the plank and the bolster.

Suitable return spring mechanism is preferably associated with the live lever substantially as shown in order to return the parts to full normal position. As herein shown a spring 36 may be coiled about the pull rod 13 abutting a stop 29 on the bolster and react against the upper end of the live lever to return the parts to normal position when the braking power is released.

This device operates substantially as follows: An application of the braking power will cause a movement of the pull rod 13 and upper end of the live lever 11 toward the left which movement will carry the brake shoe associated with the live and dead levers into proper and eiiicient engagement with the peripheries of the respective wheels. If excess travel takes place, there will be a relative slipping of the friction clamp 22 with respect to the links 16 and 17 thereby permitting the brake beam struts to separate still farther or a distance greater than that allowed by the predetermined brake shoe clearance slots at the ends 18 and 19 of the links. On release of the braking power the release spring 36 will first act to carry the-shoes out of engagement with the wheels by reason of the lost motion con- 1 nections with the supports 15 after which further relative movement of the lower ends of the levers istemporarily prevented. The points 10 and 14 then act as fulcrums about which the live and dead levers will turn to cause the permanent take up and holding device to expand as the rod 30 slides freely through the holding dog 33.

This operation is repeated from time to time as wear of the parts takes place and as the points of connection between the levers and their respective struts gradually separate, the upper end of the live lever will c011- tinue to move in a uniform path of travel thus insuring constant and uniform piston action. l/Vhen it is necessary to replace the worn brake shoes, the holding dogs are released preferably by means of an unlocking handle 37 which is provided with intervening connections (not shown) extending to the side of the truck, to move the dogs to vertical position. Then by inserting a bar bet-ween the brake shoes and peripheries of the wheels, the rigging may be forced back to its origlnalposition, and new shoes substituted,

then an application of the brakes will bring the parts to a properly adjusted position without further manipulation.

It is thus seen that the present invention is particularly adapted for that type of brakes in which the brake shoes or beams are supported at the lower ends of the live and dead levers. The mechanism is simple and practical in construction and comprises relatively few parts which may be easily and quickly substituted for the corresponding parts now in operation or applied to the brake rigging where no corresponding parts exist. in fact, the invention is believed to accomplish, among others, all of the numerous objects and advantages herein set forth.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowl-' edge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constituteessential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects ofthis invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a slack adjuster, in combination, live and dead levers, permanent take up and holding means connecting the central parts of said levers, brake beams supporting said levers and temporary take up and holding devices connecting said brake beams comprising a pair of links one of which has a lost motion connection at its point of support to insure brake shoe clearance and a yielding friction clamp connecting said links adapted to permit relative movement of the links to temporarily take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging.

2. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a permanent take up and holding device connecting said levers near their central parts, and temporary take up and holding devices connecting said levers near their lower ends, said temporary take up and holding device comprising a pair of links having a yielding frictional rod connecting their central parts, brake beam struts carried at their lower parts, and adjusting mechanism connecting said struts, said adjusting mechanism comprising a pair of relatively flat links having registering slots in their adjacent ends, and a friction device passing through said slots.

5. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a telscopic push rod connecting their central parts, brake beam struts carried at their lower parts, and adjusting mechanism connecting said struts, said adjusting mechanism comprising a pair of relatively flat links having registering slots in their adjacent ends, and a bolt pass ing through said slots carrying friction members held in yielding engagement with. the outer sides of said links.

6. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever at one side thereof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live lever, a dead lever pivotally supported at the opposite side of said bolster, an extensible push rod connecting the central portions of said levers, and an adjusting device connecting the lower ends of said levers.

7. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever at one side thereof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live lever, a dead lever pivotally supported at the opposite side of said bolster, an extensible push rod connecting the central portions of said levers, brake beam struts at the lower ends of said levers, links pivotally mounted on said struts and having a frictional connection with each other adapted to temporarily take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging.

8. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever at one side thereof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live lever, a dead lever pivotally supported at the opposite side of said bolster, an extensible push rod connecting the central portions of said levers, brake beam struts at the lower ends of said levers, a pair of relatively fiat L-shaped links loosely connected respectively at their upper ends with said struts, a lost motion device associated with one of the points of connection, and yielding friction device engaging the links adjacent a point of contact.

9. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster, a live lever at one side therof, an actuating mechanism connected with said live lever passing across said bolster, a dead lever pivotally supported at the op osite side of said bolster, an extensible pus rod connecting the central portions of said levers, brake beam struts at the lower ends of said levers, a pair of relatively flat L-shaped links connected respectively at their upper ends with said struts, said links having registering elongated slots, a bolt passing through said slots and friction means associated with said bolt near the sides of said links adapted normally to permit relatively sliding movement in one direction only.

10. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, actuating mechanism connected with the upper end of the live lever, a two part telescopic push rod connecting the central parts of said levers, permanent take up and holding means operating between the effective ends of the two members of said push bar adapted to permanently take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging due to wear of the parts, and yielding friction adjusting means connecting the lower ends of said levers.

11. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a car bolster, a dead lever supported from said car bolster, actuating mechanism connected with the upper end of the live lever, a two part push rod connecting the central parts of said levers, permanent take up and holding means operating between the effective ends of the two members of said push bar adapted to permanently take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging due to wear of the parts, struts at the lower ends of said levers, and adjusting means connecting said struts having lost motion connections therewith adapted to permit predetermined brake shoe clearance.

12. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a car bolster, a dead lever supported from said car bolster, actuating mechanism connected with the upper end of the live lever, a two part push rod connecting the central parts of said levers, permanent take up and holding means operating between the effective ends of the two parts of said push rod adapted to perms, nently take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging, struts at the lower ends of. said levers, and adjusting means connecting said struts having lost motion connec tions therewith adapted to permit predetermined brake shoe clearance, and a yielding friction clamp device associated with said adjusting device adapted to permit relative movement of the links.

13. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck having a bolster, a dead lever pivotally supported from its upper end from said bolster, a brake beam pivotally connected with the dead lever at its lower end, a live lever connected at its upper end with an actuating member leading from the bolster to the power cylinder, a brake beam pivotally connected to the live lever at its lower end, a two-part extensible push rod connecting said levers near their central parts, permanent take up and holding means acting between the eflective ends of said two-part rod and a temporary take up end of the live lever a stop on said truck frame through which said pull rod passes a return spring acting between said stop and the live lever adapted to aid in restoring the parts to normal position on release 01 the brakes, a permanent take up and holding mechanism, and a temporary take up and holding mechanism positioned substantially parallel with each other positioned at opposite sides of the spring plank of the truck frame.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 16th day of December A. D. 1915.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

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