Automatic emergency brake
OwnerJacques Dufresneinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved brake for winches. The brake has a main brake and an emergency brake. Both brakes are solenoid operated and brake when the power is turned off or fails. Means are provided for slightly delaying the operation of the emergency brake compared to the main brake so that the braking force is applied in stages in an emergency. The brakes are mechanically linked together so that either of the main or emergency solenoids operate both brakes if one of the solenoids fails.
Claims11
An improved brake for a rotatable member mounted on a frame, comprising:
- first and second support means mounted on the frame on both sides of the rotatable member, each support means carrying a brake and including means for pivotably attaching one of its ends to the frame, means for loosely attaching its other end to the frame, and means for mounting the brake on it intermediate its ends;
- means on each support means for moving it relative to the frame to brake the rotatable member, said moving means comprising first and second brake frames pivotably connected to the support means at the loosely attached ends thereof, spring means positioned between the brake frames and the support means for moving them apart to brake, and means for normally retaining the brake frames and support means together, against the force of the spring means, in a non-braking position;
- and
- means for mechanically connecting the two support means together through the brake frames so that both of the brakes be operated by movement of only one of the support means if one of the moving means has failed.
An improved brake for a member to be braked comprising a first main brake, a second emergency brake, first means for actuating the first brake to apply a braking force to the member, second means for actuating the second brake to apply a braking force to the member in an emergency situation, and means for delaying operation of the second means relative to the first means to apply the first and second braking forces in sequence in the emergency, said delaying means being an undervoltage relay in the output from a generator, said second actuating means comprising a flywheel rotated by a motor, and a generator operated by the flywheel for a limited time when power fails.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.