US3293936A

US3293936A - Pump handle hand brake for piggyback cars and the like

Info

Publication number: US3293936A
Application number: US402030A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ethel E Wilson; Patricia E Wilson; Clive J Wilson; Arthur L Zuiker
Original assignee: Universal Railway Devices Co
Current assignee: Universal Railway Devices Co
Priority date: 1964-10-06
Filing date: 1964-10-06
Publication date: 1966-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 1983-12-27

Description

Dec. 27, 1966 J. WILSON EITAL 3,

PUMP HANDLE HAND BRAKE FOR PIGGYBACK CARS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 6, 1964 s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENIORS JACK WILSON (DECEASED) ETHEL E. WILSON BY {PATRICIA E. WILSON Hi5 HEIRS CLIVE a. WILSON ARTHUR L. ZU/KER fig czgiys.

Dec. 27, 1966 J. WILSON ETAL 3,293,936

PUMP HANDLE HAND BRAKE FOR PIGGYBAGK CARS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 6, 1964 Sheets-Sheet 2 J24 J22 J54 J60 J if? J69 J55 .764 E 5;/ J68 1154 X 254 J56 J86 J92'- jg J66 250 33.. 72 J J 177.4 7 AM JGZ i736 N 9 "4 I I. 256 HO J /J INVENTORS JACK WILSON [DECEA s50) ETHEL E. WILSON BY HIS HEIRS 49 ARTHUR L.. ZU/KER WM wflzlmw Dec. 27, 1966 J. WILSON ETAL 3,293,936

PUMP HANDLE HAND BRAKE FOR PIGGYBACK CARS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 300 nv VENTORS JACK WILSON (DECEASED) ETHEL E. WILSON BYZPATRICIA E. WILSON HIS HEIRS CLIVE d. WILSON ARTHUR L. ZUJKER a iqs Dec. 27, 1966 J. WILSON ETAL 3, 9

PUMP HANDLE HAND BRAKE FOR PIGGYBACK CARS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

7a a f j 13 i g j. J14 104 l J12 l I f IN VENTORS JACK WILSON(DECEA$ED) ETHEL E WILSON BYZIPATRICIA 5 WILSON ms HEIRS CLIVE d. WILSON ARTHUR ZU/KER @WM, 134% y 7%: a

Dec. 27, 1966 J. WILSON ETAL 3,

PUMP HANDLE HAND BRAKE FOR PIGGYBACK CARS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTORS JACK WILSON (ores/asap) ETHEL E WILSON BY PATRICIA E. WILSON HIS HEIRS CLIVE d. WILSON ARTHUR 4.. ZUI KER 9 7 54m 9 7M: g/

United States Patent Ofifice 3,293,935 Patented Dec. 27, 1966 PUMP HANDLE HAND BRAKE FGR PEGGY- BACK CARS AND THE LEKE .laclr Wilson, deceased, late of Chicago, lll., hy Ethel E.

Wilson, (Ihicago, llL, Patricia E. Wilson, Pittsburgh, P2., and Clive J. Wilson, Homewood, lll., heirs, and Arthur L. Zuiirer, Rivertlale, lll., assignors to Universal Railway Devices Company, Qhicago, HEL, a cnrporatiou of Delaware Filed Oct. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 492,936

7 Claims. (Cl. 74-505) This invention relates to a hand brake for piggyback cars and the like, and more particularly, to a hand brake type actuating mechanism that is especially arranged for application to cars of the piggyback type.

Hand brakes of the type to which the invention generally relates have a brake operating mechanism or control arranged in accordance with Camp et al. Patent 2,318,569, and where a pump handle actuating arrangement is employed in connection with such hand brakes for turning the brake winding shaft, a pump handle is substituted for the vertical hand wheel shown in said patent.

Hand brakes of this type using the pump handle type actuating arrangement were originally designed for, and have customarily been employed primarily for, end of car applications. However, piggyback type or TOFC cars, which have come into wide use in recent years, require that the hand brake be applied to the side of the car, and experience has shown that side of car hand brake applications presents some new problems that require special consideration.

For one thing, car widths are limited to specific dimensions by AAR regulations, which means that all equipment carried at the sides of the car must be mounted so as to be within established clearance lines at the sides of car; in the case of piggyback cars, such equipment must also have adequate clearance inwardly of the sides of the car to accommodate trailer movement. The recent trend toward wider trailers has made these limitations quite critical.

Thus, side of car hand brake applications have to be carefully distinguished from end of car applications, where hand brakes of the general type under consideration have heretofore had relatively large transverse dimensions, as this facilitates design and the clearances being dealt with at the end of the car are much less severe.

Nevertheless, heretofore hand brakes specially arranged for side of car application have not been available, and it has been the practice to employ end of car type hand brake arrangements for side of car applications. Experience has shown that side of car applications involve new factors that render end of car type hand brake designs unsatisfactory.

For instance, humping of cars, and the longitudinal impact forces acting on the cars in transit, have caused undue free swinging movement of the pump handle, which has resulted in breakage of the handle stop lugs that are supposed to protect the operator againstbeing hit by the brake handle in the event the brakes are released with the handle engaged with the brake control mechanism. This free swinging motion is not critical in end of car applications, as sidewise movement of cars during transit is usually nominal.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a hand brake arrangement that is specifically arranged to satisfy the special requirements of side of cars applications.

Another principal object of this invention is to provide a hand brake arrangement that not only facilitates the meeting of the stringent AAR clearance requirements, but also consistently performs satisfactorily and is free of any operational situations that may endanger operator safety.

Still other objects of this invention are to provide a hand brake arrangement that has a transverse dimension on the order of one-half that of hand brake arrangements heretofore proposed, to provide a pump handle type hand brake arrangement in which the pump handle operates in the plane of the hand brake housing, and to provide a hand brake arrangement that is inexpensive of manufacture, convenient in use, and readily adapted for application to cars of the piggyback type as well as to railroad cars in general.

Other objects, uses, and advantages will be obvious or become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the application drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view of a specific embodiment of the invention, with parts being broken away to show other parts;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in FIGURE 1, taken from the left hand side of the showing of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the device shown in FIGURE 1, taken substantially along line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 1, but showing the hand brake as applied to a special piggyback car stanchion for use in connection with the brake system of the car;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view substantially along line 55 of FIGURE 4, also showing the AAR clearance line as it is applicable to the hand brake installation illustrated in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmental view on an enlarged scale of the pump handle ratchet mechanism that is associated with the hand brake of this invention.

However, it is to be distinctly understood that the specific drawing illustrations provided are supplied primarily to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, and that the invention may take other specific embodiments.

General description Reference numeral 8 of FIGURES 4 and 5 generally indicates a hand brake arrangement provided in accordance with this invention which includes a novel pump hand type handle brake 9 including a brake operating mechanism 10 (see FIGURES l3) contained in a housing 11 that is mounted on a novel stanchion structure 11A (FIGURES 4 and 5) at the side of a piggyback car 7.

'lhe housing 11 is in two sections comprising a front caslng 12 and a back section or plate 13, and the brake operating mechanism It) includes elements of the type specifically described in said Patent 2,318,569 such as brake drum 32 and its gear 33, ratchet wheel 52 and the pinion 46 that is fixed with respect thereto and engages gear 33, holding pawl 56, holding pawl stop 62, pawl actuating shaft 68 and its pawl engaging finger 69, release handle 78 and its shaft 77, and the projection '76 that is rigidly mounted on the shaft 77, all of which are described with particularity in said Patent 2,318,569 (like reference numerals indicating corresponding parts).

In accordance with the present invention, the winding shaft 47 that is described in said Patent 2,318,569 (to which the vertical hand wheel shown in that patent is at ached) is eliminated and the ratchet wheel 52 and its actuating pinion 46 are fixed to a short shaft member that is journalled and is positioned entirely within upper portion 162 of the housing. The brake drum 32 is actuated by the hereindisclosed pump handle device 104 positioned at one side of the housing ill and operating within the plane of this housing to actuate brake drum 33 through a ratchet device 106 (see FIGURE 6), an associated pinion 108, and an intermedite gear 118 which meshes with the brake drum gear 33.

The pump handle device 104 includes a novel operating lever or handle 112 pivotally secured to a pump handle housing or hood 114 that is journalled over ratchet device 106.

The arrangement is such that when the brake operating mechanism 10 is assembled in its housing 11 on stanchion 11A, the entire housing 11 (and the brake operating mechanism 10 contained therein) lies between the AAR clearance line 120 (see FIGURE and the inner edge 122 of stanchion 11A to permit the car 8 to have a deck of maximum width transversely of the car for accepting the wider trailers that are now being used in piggyback traffic.

Specific description The back section or plate 13 of the housing 11 has a shape in plan following the general outline shown in FIGURE 1 and is provided with an upstanding rim '120 about its edge that is intended to be engaged by shoulder 122 of rim 124 of front casing 12.

The front casing 12 has the general configuration in plan shown in FIGURE 1, and its shoulder 122 is made to complement the configuration of rim 120. Front casing 12 also comprises outwardly indented portions that overlie the brake ratchet mechanism and brake drum respectively. The front casing and the back section are secured together by appropriate bolts 128 cooperating with appropriate nuts 130.

In the arrangement shown in the drawings, the brake drum 32 is journalled on shaft 132 that is received in appropriate indentations 134 and 136 that are formed in the back section and front casing respectively. Drum 32 is provided with a pin 138 received in the drum for securing the end link of the brake chain 140 to the drum (pin 138 being held in place by appropriate cotter pin or the like device at 142). Back section 113 is formed with an appropriate opening 144 to permit removal of the pin 138 when desired.

The shaft 100 which fixedly carries the ratchet wheel 52 and pinion 46 is journalled in the housing 11 in any appropriate manner, such as by being received in housing indentations similar to those for journalling shaft 132, and the holding pawl 56, holding pawl stop 62, pawl actuating shaft 68, together with its finger 69, release handle 78, together with its shaft 77, and the remaining structural items associated with the control of ratchet wheel 52 are essentially the same as described in said Patent 2,318,569.

The pump handle device 104 generally comprises a shaft 150 journalled between the front casing 12 and back section 13 substantially in the manner indicated in FIG- URE 3 wherein shaft 150 is shown mounted in bearing 152 of the back section 13, and in bearing 154 of the front casing 12. The shaft 150 is formed with an abutment shoulder 156 that prevents withdrawal of the shaft from the housing and is formed as at 158 to define pinion gear 108 (which is shown in block diagram form in FIGURE 3 for convenience of illustration).

As indicated in FIGURE 3, the shaft 150 extends outwardly and forwardly of the housing front casing 12 and it has keyed thereto a ratchet wheel 160 that is held in place by nut 162 threaded on the outwardly directed threaded end portion 164 of the shaft 150 that bears against a washer 166 which in turn bears against the ratchet wheel 160.

In the specific arrangement illustrated, the ratchet wheel 160 is formed with a polygonal central opening 168 that is received over a polygonal shoulder 169 of shaft 150 that is similar and complementary in shape.

The handle housing or hood 1-14 is generally U-shaped in section transversely of shaft 150 and comprises a front wall 170, a rear wall 172, and a U-shaped side wall 174 joins the forward and

rearward walls

170 and 172 to define a downwardly opening cover for ratchet wheel 108.

4 The housing 104 at its lower end defines opening 176 (see FIGURE 6) into which the upper end 178 of handle 112 extends.

Handle 112 comprises a normally vertically disposed hand grip portion 180, an upwardly inclined intermediate portion 182, and the aforementioned end portion 178, which is substantially parallel to hand grip portion 180 and is pivcotally connected to the lower end of the housing or hood 114 by pin 184. The housing or hood 114 thus forms a pivoting suspension member that connects handle 112 to shaft 150.

The forward wall of the housing 114 is formed with an opening 186 that receives the hub portion 188 of washer 166 while the rear wall 172 is formed with opening 190 that receives cylindrical portion 192 of the shaft 150, both for purposes of journalling the housing 170 for pivotal movement about the axial center of the shaft 150.

As indicated in FIGURE 6, the end portion 178 of the pump handle 112 is formed with a lug portion or protuberance 194 shaped to define a tooth 196 that is shaped to engage in the recesses 198 defined by the respective teeth 200 of ratchet wheel 160. The tooth 196 includes an external shoulder 202 and

adjacent faces

204 and 206 that are complementary in configuration with internal shoulder 208 and

tooth surfaces

210 and 212, respectively.

The lug portion 194 is also formed to define abutment surface 214 that engages with the inner surface 216 of handle housing wall 174, to hold the handle 112 in approximately the position shown in FIGURES 3 and 6 with respect to housing 170.

As indicated in FIGURES 1 and 6, the outer side surface 219 of lower end portion 220 of the handle housing 17 0 engages the outer surface 222 of wall 224 that defines the housing portion 128 of the housing front casing 12. The proportioning of parts preferably is such that when the handle housing 170 engages the wall 124, hand grip portion of handle 112 is disposed in a substantially vertical position, as indicated in FIGURE 1.

Also, the relationship between the handle 112 and its housing 170 is preferably such that when the abutment surface 214 contacts wall surface 216, tooth 196 is dropped sufficiently far away from ratchet wheel 160 that the ratchet wheel 160 may rotate freely without engaging the tooth 196, as indicated in the full line position of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and 5, the stanchion 11A comprises a pair of

angle members

230 and 232 fixed to the car deck 234 in any suitable manner, as by welding, with the angle members being shaped to define lower upwardly

angled portions

235 and 236, respectively, and vertically disposed

portions

238 and 240, respectively.

As indicated in FIGURE 4, the vertically disposed portion 238 of angle member 230 extends considerably above the vertically disposed portion 240 of the angle member 232. The angle member 230 defines a flange portion 242 extending longitudinally of the car and a flange portion 244 extending transversely of the car, while the angle member 232 defines a flange portion 246 extending longitudinally of the car and a flange portion 248 that extends transversely of the car.

As indicated in FIGURES l, 2 and 4, the housing front casing 12 is formed to define a pair of

ears

250 and 252 that define

bolt holes

254 and 256, respectively, for receiving appropriate bolts 259 and 260, respectively, that are employed to fasten the housing 11 to the angle member 230. Bolts 258 pass through

appropriate holes

262 and 264, respectively, that are formed in the angle member flange 244, and appropriate nuts 266 are applied to the

respective bolts

258 and 260 to hold them in place.

The housing back section or plate 13 is formed with a depending lug portion 270 that receives a bolt 272 which extends through the lug portion 270 and flange 246 of angle member 232 and receives nut 274 to secure the housing to angle member 232.

As will be noted in FIGURE 5, when the hand brake arrangement 11 is mounted in position in the manner indicated, the housing 11 and its associated pump handle ratchet assembly 104 lies between the AAR clearance line 120 and the plane of inwardly facing surfaces 122 of flange members 135 and 136 of

angle members

230 and 232, respectively.

The specific application shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 in cludes a plate member 280 fixed to the car deck between the

angle members

230 and 232 in any appropriate manner and carrying an arcuate wear plate 282 against which the brake chain 140 engages. Pulley arrangement 284 is mounted below the hand brake over which the brake chain 146 is trained in any conventional manner for attachment to the usual brake rodding.

The hand brake arrangement 8 also includes in the embodiment that is specifically illustrated a hand grip bar 290 that is affixed as by welding to angle bar 292 which is aflixed at its lower end to angle bar 232, as by having its flange portion 294 secured in place by the bolt 272 that fixes housing lug 270 in place. The upper end of angle member 292 may be secured in place by the housing bolt 130 at the upper end of the housing adjacent the pump handle housing 104.

A short ladder type support 300 is applied to the car deck adjacent the stanchion 11A, and this may take the form of. a U-shaped member 392 having its upper ends atfixed to the car deck in any suitable manner, as by Welding, and defining a lower ladder step portion 304. A second cross member 306 may be provided between the upper ends of U-shaped member 300 to form a second step.

In operation, when it is desired to apply the brakes by using the hand brake arrangement 8, the operator may stand on the ladder 300' and grasp the handle 290 with his right hand and the pump handle lever 182 with his left hand to actuate the hand brake. Actuation of the hand brake is accomplished by pulling pump handle 182 towards the operator and away from stanchion 11A, which pivots the handle about the axis of its pivotal connection to the pump handle housing 114, and swings the pump handle tooth 202 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 169. Continued movement of the pump handle upwardly swings the pump handle and the housing 114 as a unit about the axis of shaft 150 as a center, and as tooth 196 of the pump handle has become seat-ed in one of the recesses 198 of ratchet wheel 16d, ratchet wheel and its associated shaft 150, together with gear 108, rotate, to rotate intermediate gear 110 and the brake drum 32, with the ratchet wheel 52 and its associated components operating in the manner described in Patent 2,318,569.

When the brakes have been applied, the pump lever 182 is dropped to assume by gravity the position shown in FIGURE 1, wherein the pump handle tooth 1% becomes disengaged from ratchet wheel 160.

When the brakes are to be released, the release handle 78 is swung from the position shown in FIGURES l and 4 clockwise as far as it will go and this releases the hand brake in accordance with the arrangement described in said Patent 2,318,569. All of the gearing in the hand brake then rotates under the weight of the releasing brake chain and its connected parts, until the brakes are fully released.

It will therefore be seen that this invention has provided a hand brake arrangement of the pump handle type in which the pump handle operates in the plane of the brake housing. This permits the transverse dimension of the brake housing to be reduced to about half of what it has been in accordance with prior arrangements, and permits the utilization of a reliable hand braking mechanism in applications of the piggy-back car type where AAR clearance line restrictions are so critical.

Another important aspect of this arrangement lies in the relationship between the pump handle housing 114 and housing portion 128 of the housing front casing 12.

The engagement between these two components provides a solid stop for the pump handle assembly 114 that avoids injury to the operator in the event that the pump handle tooth remains engaged with the ratchet wheel upon release of the brakes. Heretofore, pump handle brakes of the prior art type discussed above have used lug type stops which have been sheared off during excessive swinging movement of the pump handle as a resuit of longitudinal impacts applied to the railroad vehicle either during humping operations or during rail transit.

The foregoing description and the drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate our invention and the invention is not to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, since those skilled in the art who have our disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a hand brake for railroad cars, of widths approximating maximum permissible clearance lines at the sides of the car, with the hand brake including a housing adapted to be mounted on the car, a brake drum and a winding sahft journalled in said housing for rotation about parallel, substantially horizontal axes and coupled together in rotational movement transmitting relation, a ratchet wheel keyed to said winding shaft, ratchet wheel holding means releasably engaging said ratchet wheel for selectively holding and releasing said ratchet wheel against and for movement in a brake releasing direction, and handle means coupled to said shaft for turning said shaft in a brake applying direction, the improvement wherein:

said handle means comprises pump handle means positioned at one side of said housing and mounted for swinging movement about a horizontal axis that substantially parallels said axes,

said handle means comprising:

a winding shaft journalled in said housing for rotational movement about the last mentioned horizontal axis,

a toothed ratchet wheel keyed to said handle means winding shaft and positioned exteriorly of said housa hood having a downwardly opening bottom portion received over said handle means ratchet wheel and journalled for swinging movement about said axis of said handle means winding shaft,

and a handle pivotally secured to said hood,

said handle including pawl means for engaging said handle means ratchet wheel when said handle is pivoted with respect thereto to rot-ate said ratchet wheels and drum in the brake applying direction.

2. The improvement set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said handle at its upper end is positioned within said hood, with the lower end of said handle depending from and outwardly of said hood bottom portion,

said handle pawl means comprising a tooth adapted to engage corresponding teeth of said handle means ratchet wheel,

said handle being proportioned to hang by gravity in the inoperative position thereof with said tooth thereof disposed out of engagement with said handle means ratchet wheel teeth.

3. The improvement set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said housing defines a chamber portion in which said drum is positioned,

said hood being positioned to engage the exterior of said chamber portion when said handle is moved a predetermined amount in the brake releasing direction to serve as a handle movement stop.

4. The improvement set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said handle engages a portion of said hood when in said inoperative position.

5. A hand brake arrangement for railroad piggyback type cars having a deck adapted to receive trailers and the like, and being of the type having widths approximating maximum permissible clearance lines at the sides of the car, said brake arrangement comprising in combination with the car:

a stanchion afiixed to one side of the car deck adjacent one end of the car and spaced inwardly of the maximum clearance line at that side of the car,

a hand brake mounted on said stanchion on the outwardly facing side thereof and including a housing secured to said stanchion,

a brake drum and a winding shaft journalled in said housing for rotation about parallel, substantially horizontal axes that extend transversely of the car deck,

said drum and shaft being coupled together in rotational movement transmitting relation,

a ratchet wheel keyed to said winding shaft,

ratchet wheel holding means releasably engaging said ratchet wheel for selectively holding and releasing said ratchet wheel against and for movement in a brake releasing direction,

handle means coupled to said shaft for turning said shaft in a brake applying direction,

said handle means comprising pump handle means positioned at the side of said housing facing said one end of the car and being mounted for swinging movement abouta horizontal axis that is spaced from and substantially parallels said axes, which movement lies in a vertical plane that includes said housing and extends longitudinally of said car,

said housing outwardly facing side being positioned in alignment with the predetermined maximum permissible clearance line at said one side of said car.

6. The arrangement set forth in claim including a foot support secured to said car at said one side thereof adjacent said stanchion and between said stanchion and said car one end,

and a vertically disposed hand grip support afiixed to said stanchion adjacent and inwardly of said handle means,

whereby an operator may stand on said fl-at support and grasp the hand support with his right hand and said pump handle means with his left hand.

7. In a hand brake for railroad cars, of widths approximating maximum permissible clearance lines at the sides of the car, with the hand brake including a housing adapted to be mounted on the car, a brake drum and a winding shaft journalled in said housing for rotation about parallel, substantially horizontal axes and coupled together in rotational movement transmitting relation, a ratchet wheel keyed to said winding shaft, ratchet wheel holding means releasably engaging said ratchet wheel for selectively holding and releasing said ratchet wheel against and for movement in a brake releasing direction, and handle means coupled to said shaft for turning said shaft in a brake applying direction, the improvement wherein:

said handle means comprises pump handle means positioned at one side of said housing and mounted for swinging movement about a horizontal axis that substantially parallels said axes, which movement lies in a plane that includes said housing,

said handle means comprising:

a toothed ratchet wheel keyed to said handle means winding shaft and positioned exteriorly of said housa suspension member journalled for swinging movement about said axis of said handle means winding shaft and depending therefrom,

and a handle pivotally secured to said suspensionmember below said handle means winding shaft,

said handle including pawl means for engaging said handle means ratchet wheel when said handie is pivoted with respect thereto to rotate said ratchet wheels and drum in the brake applying direction.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 22,190 9/1942 Van Cleave 74505 2,153,546 4/1939 Cump 74-505 2,505,946 5/1950 Dath 74--505 3,224,735 12/1965 Linde 254-167 FRED C. MATTERN, JR., Primary Examiner.

W. S. RATLIFF, Assistant Examiner,

Claims

1. IN A HAND BRAKE FOR RAILROAD CARS, OF WIDTHS APPROXIMATING MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE CLEARANCE LINES AT THE SIDES OF THE CAR, WITH THE HAND BRAKE INCLUDING A HOUSING ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON THE CAR, A BRAKE DRUM AND A WINDING SHAFT JOURNALLED IN SAID HOUSING FOR ROTATION ABOUT PARALLEL, SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXES AND COUPLED TOGETHER IN ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT TRANSMITTING RELATION, A RATCHET WHEEL KEYED TO SAID WINDING SHAFT, RATCHET WHEEL FHOLDING MEANS RELEASABLY ENGAGING SAID RATCHET WHEEL FOR SELECTIVELY HOLDING AND RELEASING SAID RATCHET WHEEL AGAINST AND FOR MOVEMENT IN A BRAKE RELEASING DIRECTION, AND HANDLE MEANS COUPLED TO SAID SHAFT FOR TURNING SAID SHAFT IN A BRAKE APPLYING DIRECTION, THE IMPROVEMENT WHEREIN: SAID HANDLE MEANS COMPRISES PUMP HANDLE MEANS POSITIONED AT ONE SIDE OF SAID HOUSING AND MOUNTED FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS THAT SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLELS SAID AXES, SAID HANDLE MEANS COMPRISING: A WINDING SHAFT JOURNALLED IN SAID HOUSING FOR ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT ABUT THE LAST MENTIONED HORIZONTAL AXIS, A TOOTHED RATCHET WHEEL KEYED TO SAID HANDLE MEANS WINDING SHAFT AND POSITIONED EXTERIORLY OF SAID HOUSING, A HOOD HAVING A DOWNWARDLY OPENING BOTTOM PORTION RECEIVED OVER SAID HANDLE MEANS RATCHET WHEEL AND JOURNALLED FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT SAID AXIS OF SAID HANDLE MEANS WINDING SHAFT, AND A HANDL PIVOTALLY SECURED TO SAID HOOD, SAID HANDLE INCLUDING PAWL MEANS FOR ENGAGING SAID HANDLE MEANS RATCHET WHEEL WHEN SAID HANDLE IS PIVOTED WITH RESPECT THEREOF TO ROTATE SAID RATCHET WHEELS IS AND DRUM IN THE BRAKE APPLYING DIRECTION.