Railway car truck mounted brake assembly with multiple piston air cylinder

Braking apparatus for a railway vehicle having a truck with a bolster supported by four wheels, said braking apparatus comprising:

• a cylinder and piston assembly comprising a fluid receiving cylinder and at least two pairs of pistons in said cylinder movable within said cylinder by fluid under pressure above atmospheric pressure supplied to said cylinder at a point on said cylinder intermediate each pair of said pistons and at points intermediate said pistons, said fluid causing one of said two pairs of pistons at one side of said point to move in a first direction and the other of said two pairs of pistons at the other side of said point to move in a second, opposite direction;
• a first piston rod connected to said one of said two pairs of pistons at one side of said point and a second piston rod connected to said other of said two pairs of pistons at the other side of said point;
• four brake shoe heads, each with a brake shoe adjacent and engageable, respectively, with one of said four wheels;
• a first end extension member connected to one end of said cylinder and connected to a first one of said brake shoe heads;
• a second end extension member connected to the opposite end of said cylinder and connected to a second one of said brake shoe heads;
• a first lever pivotally connected to said first piston rod and pivotable on a pivot axis on said first end extension member;
• a second lever pivotally connected to said second piston rod and pivotable on a pivot axis on said second end extension member;
• first interconnecting means interconnecting said first lever at a point spaced from its pivot axis on said first end extension member with a third one of said brake shoe heads;
• second interconnecting means interconnecting said second lever at a point spaced from its pivot axis on said second end extension member with a fourth one of said brake shoe heads;
• and
• third interconnecting means interconnecting and supporting said third one of said brake shoe heads and said fourth one of said brake shoe heads
• whereby the supply of fluid under pressure above atmospheric pressure to said point and said points on said cylinder moves each said piston rod outwardly of said cylinder in opposite directions and moves each said brake shoe head and its brake shoe toward the wheel adjacent thereto and applies braking force to the adjacent wheel.

Braking apparatus for a vehicle having at least four wheels and at least four brake shoes respectively engageable with said four wheels and for moving said brake shoes into engagement with said wheels, said braking apparatus comprising:

• a cylinder and piston assembly comprising a fluid receiving cylinder and a plurality of pistons in said cylinder movable within said cylinder by fluid under pressure above atmospheric pressure supplied to said cylinder at a point intermediate a pair of said pistons, said fluid causing a piston at one side of said point to move in a first direction and a piston at the other side of said point to move in a second, opposite direction;
• a first piston rod connected to said piston at one side of said point and a second piston rod connected to said piston at the other side of said point;
• first interconnecting means, including first lever means, for interconnecting said first piston rod with a first one of said brake shoes and moving said first one of said brake shoes into engagement with a first one of said wheels;
• second interconnecting means, including second lever means, for interconnecting said second piston rod with a second one of said brake shoes and moving said second one of said brake shoes into engagement with a second one of said wheels;
• third interconnecting means, including a first slack adjuster, interconnecting said first lever means and a third one of said brake shoes for moving said third one of said brake shoes into engagement with a third one of said wheels;
• fourth interconnecting means, including a second slack adjuster, interconnecting said second lever means and a fourth one of said brake shoes for moving said fourth one of said brake shoes into engagement with a fourth one of said wheels;
• and
• fifth interconnecting means interconnecting said third one of said brake shoes and said fourth one of said brake shoes for supporting said third one and said fourth one of said brake shoes as said third one and fourth one of said brake shoes move, respectively, toward said third wheel and said fourth wheel with movement of said first slack adjuster and said second slack adjuster.

Braking apparatus for a railway car with at least one truck for supporting said vehicle, said truck having a bolster supported by four wheels, a first one of said wheels being at a first end and at a first side of said bolster, a second one of said wheels being at the second, opposite end and at said first side of said bolster, a third one of said wheels being at said first end and at a second, opposite side of said bolster and a fourth one of said wheels being at said second end and at said second side of said bolster, said braking apparatus comprising:

• a cylinder and piston assembly disposed at said first side of said bolster intermediate said first end and said second end of said bolster and comprising a fluid receiving cylinder and a plurality of pistons in said cylinder movable within said cylinder by fluid under pressure above atmospheric pressure supplied to said cylinder at a point intermediate a pair of said pistons, said fluid causing a piston at one said of said point to move in a first direction and a piston at the other side of said point to move in a second, opposite direction;
• a first piston rod connected to said piston at one side of said point and being movable from said cylinder toward said first end of said bolster and said second piston rod and a second piston rod connected to said piston at the other side of said point and being movable from said cylinder toward said second end of said bolster;
• first interconnecting means, including first lever means, for interconnecting said first piston rod with a first one of said brake shoes and moving said first one of said brake shoes into engagement with a first one of said wheels;
• and
• second interconnecting means, including second lever means, for interconnecting said second piston rod with a second one of said brake shoes and moving said second one of said brake shoes into engagement with a second one of said wheels.

Braking apparatus for a vehicle having a plurality of wheels and a plurality of brake shoes and for moving said brake shoes into engagement with said wheels, said braking apparatus comprising:

• a cylinder and piston assembly comprising a fluid receiving cylinder and a plurality of pistons in said cylinder movable within said cylinder by fluid under pressure above atmospheric pressure supplied to said cylinder at a point intermediate a pair of said pistons, said fluid causing a piston at one side of said point to move in a first direction and a piston at the other side of said point to move in a second, opposite direction;
• a first piston rod connected to said piston at one side of said point and a second piston rod connected to said piston at the other side of said point;
• first interconnecting means, including first lever means, for interconnecting said first piston rod with a first one of said brake shoes and moving said first one of said brake shoes into engagement with a first one of said wheels;
• second interconnecting means, including second lever means, for interconnecting said second piston rod with a second one of said brake shoes and moving said second one of said brake shoes into engagement with a second one of said wheels;
• a pivotable third lever means and a pivotable fourth lever means, each manually pivotable,
• and first lever base plate means connected to said first lever means and second lever means base plate connected to said second lever means for pivoting said second lever means, said third lever means and said first lever base plate means having interengageable projections which permit said first lever means to pivot without pivoting of said third lever means but which cause said first lever base plate means to pivot when said third lever means is pivoted and said fourth lever means and said second lever base plate means having interengageable projections which permit said second lever means to pivot without pivoting of said fourth lever means but which cause said second lever base plate means to pivot when said fourth lever means is pivoted.