Automatic coupler for railway vehicles

An automatic coupler of the Janney-type has a guide horn rigidly connected to the coupling head below the knuckle and extends forwardly and laterally with respect to the knuckle. The guide horn is shaped to have on its upper face a plurality of guide and support surfaces. A second plurality of guide and support surfaces are formed on the underside of the rigid catch jaw which is spaced horizontally from the pivotable knuckle. The guide surfaces on the guide horn and underside of the jaw engage respectively guide surfaces on the underside of the jaw and a guide horn of a similar coupler when such couplers are in the coupled position so as to prevent relative vertical displacement of the coupled coupling heads.

The present invention relates to an automatic coupler for railway vehicles 
of the Janney-type, more particularly, to such a coupler which provides 
for automatic connection of supply lines including air and electrical 
lines. 
The Janney or AAR coupler is in general use on railroads in the United 
States and Japan. Such a coupler generally comprises a coupling head 
having a rigid catch jaw and horizontally spaced from the jaw is a knuckle 
which is pivotable about a vertical axis so as to define a coupling mouth 
between the jaw and knuckle. The knuckle is pivotable through an angle of 
about 90.degree. between an outwardly extending coupling position and an 
inwardly pivoted coupled position in which position it is locked by a 
manually operable latch. 
Such couplers are not rigid since the coupling heads of successive coupled 
vehicles are capable of vertical displacement with respect to each other. 
The horizontal central axes of coupling heads on differently loaded 
vehicles will thus be spaced from each other. Further, these couplers do 
not permit automatic and simultaneous coupling of air, electrical or other 
supply lines. Such lines must be connected by hand and thus these 
automatic couplers incorporate the disadvantages of the so-called 
screw-couplers. 
It has been proposed to provide lateral funnels and cams on such Janney 
couplers in order to increase the gripping range. When the coupling heads 
of such couplers are displaced vertically or angularly and abut each other 
at the beginning of a coupling operation, the funnels and cams will 
reciprocally align the coupling heads and thus prevent a collision of 
those portions of the coupling heads which would prevent coupling 
engagement of the couplers. The provision of such funnels and cams are 
unsatisfactory in that they do not permit an automatic simultaneous 
coupling of supply lines and the width dimensions of the coupling heads 
are significantly increased because of the laterally attached funnels. The 
increase in dimension alone is a significant disadvantage in view of the 
limited space available in the vicinity of couplers on railway vehicles. 
Another known form of coupler is known as the automatic central buffer 
coupler having a coupling head with a rigid impact member and a rigid 
traction member. Such a coupler which is known as the Willison coupling is 
a rigid coupling which permits the simultaneous coupling of air and other 
supply lines. 
The rigid connection of the coupling heads is achieved by providing a guide 
horn below the thrust member and this horn engages the underside of a 
traction member of the counter-coupling head to thus prevent relative 
vertical displacement of the coupling heads after they have been coupled. 
However, such coupling heads cannot be coupled to the abovementioned 
Janney coupling heads. 
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an 
improved Janney coupler which will enable the automatic connecting of air 
and other supply lines. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a Janney 
coupler so as to achieve the result of a rigid coupler and to permit the 
automatic simultaneous coupling of air and other supply lines. 
According to one aspect of the present invention such an automatic coupler 
for railway vehicles may comprise a coupling head having a knuckle 
pivotable about a vertical axis and a rigid catch jaw spaced horizontally 
from the knuckle so as to form a coupling mouth therebetween. The knuckle 
is pivotable outwardly into a coupling position and pivotable 90.degree. 
inwardly into a coupled position in which it is locked by means of a 
latch. A guide horn is rigidly connected to the coupling head below the 
knuckle and extends outwardly and forwardly with respect to the knuckle. 
The guide horn has a plurality of guide and support surfaces thereon. A 
second plurality of guide and support surfaces are formed on the underside 
of the catch jaw. The first and second pluralities of guide and support 
surfaces engage respectively second and first pluralities of guide and 
support surfaces on a similar coupler in the coupled condition so as to 
prevent relative vertical displacement of the coupled coupling heads. 
The guide and support surfaces on the guide horn and underside of the rigid 
jaw are formed to guide into the coupled position the jaw and guide horn 
of a coupling head of a counter-coupler during the coupling operation. 
These guide and support surfaces on the guide horn and the underside of 
the jaw thus permit a definite vertical and horizontal positioning of the 
two coupling heads which have to be connected to each other. The supply 
lines are located in suitable passages below the coupling mouths and are 
automatically connecting on abutment of the coupling heads. As result, it 
is possible to eliminate manual coupling of the supply lines during 
coupling of railway vehicles.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the 
same parts throughout the various views a specific embodiment and 
modifications of the present invention will be described in detail. 
In FIG. 1, there is indicated generally at 1 a coupling head of a central 
buffer coupler constructed as a rigid coupler according to the present 
invention. The coupling head 1 has a knuckle 2 which is pivotable through 
an angle of about 90.degree. about a vertical axis and is illustrated in 
FIG. 1 in the coupled position. A rigid catch jaw 4 is spaced horizontally 
from the knuckle 2 to define a coupling mouth 3 therebetween. The knuckle 
2 and the jaw 4 thus jointly form a coupling profile employed for the 
purpose of a positive coupling of two similar central buffer couplers as 
disclosed herein. 
The central longitudinal axis of the coupling head 1 is indicated at 5 and 
a traction or draw bar only a portion of which is indicated in FIG. 1 
extends along the axis 5. Perpendicularly to the axis 5 the coupling head 
1 has a coupling plane 6 which extends transversely of the coupler and 
passes along the forward edge of the rigid jaw 4 and inner surface of the 
knuckle 2 as may be seen in FIG. 1. During a coupling operation, two 
couplers of the type disclosed herein enter into an interlocking 
connection along the coupling plane 6. 
When two coupling heads such as 1 abut against each other, the knuckle 2 is 
pivoted into its locked or coupled position as shown in FIG. 1 under the 
action of the jaw of the other coupling head. The knuckle 2 is then locked 
in its coupled position by means of a dropping latch which is not shown in 
the drawing but is known in the art. For uncoupling, the latch is lifted 
by a suitable operating rod as also known in the art to unlock the 
knuckle. When two railway vehicles are uncoupled and separated, the 
knuckles 2 of their respective coupling heads will be pivoted outwardly 
into the positions as shown by the dashed lines of FIG. 1 so that the 
coupler is ready for a coupling operation. However, if both knuckles are 
located in the coupled or locked position coupling is not possible. 
A rigid guide horn 7 is fixedly connected to the coupling head 1 below the 
knuckle 2 and projects forwardly and laterally outwardly, as can be seen 
in FIG. 1, to project beyond the knuckle 2. When viewed from about as in 
FIG. 1, the guide horn 7 has a substantially rhomboidal shape and has an 
inner vertical impact surface 10 extending in the direction of thrust and 
this surface is at an angle of about 45.degree. with respect to the 
longitudinal axis 5 of the coupler so as to define substantially equal 
angles with the longitudinal axis 5 and coupling plane 6. The impact 
surface 10 is oriented or faces toward the center of the coupler. The 
outer lateral surface of the guide horn 7 is defined by an outer vertical 
surface 13 which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis 5 of 
the coupler and extends rearwardly past the coupling plane 6. The forward 
edge of the guide horn 7 comprises a rounded surface which provides a 
transition between the inner surface 10 and outer surface 13. 
As viewed from the front or from the side of the coupler having the knuckle 
2, the upper portion of guide horn 7 is defined by two substantially 
horizontal supporting surfaces 20 and 22 that are located within the range 
of engagement of the catch jaw of a counter-coupler and extend to the 
knuckle 2 so as to engage the underside of a jaw 4 of a similar coupler 
having the same coupling profil. The rearmost supporting surface 20, as 
viewed in the direction of thrust, is followed by two steeply upwardly and 
rearwardly extending inclined guide surfaces 24 that define an acute angle 
on the coupling head. 
The guide horn 7 has a bottom substantially trapezoidal positioning surface 
26 which is disposed substantially horizontally similar to supporting 
surface 20. An inclined surface 27 rises forwardly and outwardly from the 
bottom surface 26 and a more steeply inclined surface 28 extends forwardly 
and upwardly from surface 27. 
The upper face of the guide horn 7 proceeding from the longitudinal axis of 
the coupler includes an upwardly and outwardly inclined guide surface 18 
positioned below a portion of the frontal face of the knuckle 2 and ending 
in the area of the boundary between the front and lateral surfaces of the 
knuckle 2. Extending from guide surface 18 is a steeper inclined 
substantially triangular lateral guide surface 19. Between the inner 
impact surface 10 and an edge of the guide surface 19 as well as an edge 
of guide surface 18 there is a substantially triangular guide surface 21 
which forms a transition between the inner impact surface 10 and both 
guide surfaces 18 and 19. 
One edge of the guide surface 18 ends in direction of thrust at the inner 
impact surface 10. The guide surface 19 adjoins a substantially triangular 
supporting surface 17 whose obtuse angled tip is positioned opposite the 
coupling edge to guide surface 19. The supporting surface 17 is disposed 
in a manner as pivoted forwardly and downwardly about an imaginary level 
on the coupling edge to the guide surface 19. Adjacent an edge of 
supporting surface 17 which is the forward edge as viewed in the direction 
of thrust there is an acute angle supporting surface 23 which is inclined 
forwardly and downwardly. Laterally adjacent supporting surface 23 and 
toward the outer surface of the coupler is a trapezoidal supporting 
surface 25. 
The common edge line between supporting surfaces 23 and 25 extends to a 
common centering point A which is located laterally in front of the 
knuckle 2 approximately in the center of the guide horn 7. This common 
edge line between surfaces 23 and 25 is approximately in the top center of 
the guide horn 7 and extends downwardly in a forward direction with 
respect to the direction of thrust. Below the base lines of the supporting 
surfaces 23 and 25 there are positioned more steeply inclined surfaces 12 
and 14 which provide a gradual transition to the rounded transition 
surface between the inner lateral face 10 and the outer lateral face 13. 
Proceeding rearwardly from centering point A an upwardly inclined 
trapezoidal supporting surface 29 is positioned between a rear edge as 
seen in the direction of thrust of supporting surface 20 and the edge of 
trapezoidal guide surface 25 which similarly extends from the centering 
point A. A rear edge of supporting surface 29 adjoins the only slightly 
inclined supporting surface 22 on one hand and on the other hand on a 
downwardly inclined surface 15 which forms a flank of a reshaped groove or 
recess cut into the upper surface of the guide horn 7. A supporting 
surface 16 forms another flank of the groove and is positioned rearwardly 
of the groove as seen in the direction of thrust. The surface 16 rises in 
the direction of the central axis of the guide horn and is adjacent to the 
substantially hroizontal supporting surface 22. At the outer lateral 
surface 13 of the guide horn, the groove or recess has its end widened by 
means of two triangular guide surfaces 26' and 27. The longitudinal axis 
of the groove or the intersecting edge between the trapezoidal surface 15 
and rear groove flank 16 is oriented approximately in parallel with the 
inner impact vertical surface 10. 
The edge lines between guide surfaces 18 and 19 as well as between guide 
surface 19 and supporting surface 17 as well as the line between 
supporting surface 17 and trapezoidal surface 29 all converge at a point 
located just below the knuckle 2. The guide surfaces 17, 23, 25 and 29 
also converge at the centering point A to define a substantially 
pyramid-shape. 
On the front lower portion of the coupling head 1 there is a guide wall 31 
which extends in a direction substantially parallel to the inner impact 
surface 10 and projects laterally beyond the width of the coupling head 1 
as may be seen in FIG. 1. The lower edge of the coupling head is formed by 
a guide ridge or cross piece 30 which interconnects guide wall 31 to the 
inner impact surface 10 and thus closes an opening which is underneath the 
coupling mouth 3. The opening contains various pipelines such as air or 
electricity which can be coupled to a central buffer coupler. 
On the rear lower portion of guide wall 31 there is a projection 32 which 
protrudes perpendicularly from the guide wall and which has a top 
horizontal surface 33 which defines a plane together with the lower 
positioning surface 26 of the guide horn 7 as may be seen in FIG. 2. The 
projection 32 is positioned below the rigid catch jaw 4 and is provided 
with a plurality of progressively inclined guiding surfaces 34, 35 and 36 
all of which are perpendicular to the guide wall 31. 
The projection 32 is positioned to engage the underside of a guide horn of 
a similar coupling head which is to be coupled thereto. The guide horn is 
provided with a recess on its underside defined by its surface 26 which 
corresponds in shape to the projection 32. The interengagement prevents 
relative turning of the coupling heads with respect to each other about 
their longitudinal axes since the bottom surface of the catch jaw is held 
by the projection 32 in constant contact with the upper surface of the 
guide horn on the counter coupling head. 
Spaced at a distance above the plane formed by the lower surface 26 of the 
guide horn 7 and the upper surface 33 of the projection 32 and 
corresponding to the deepest point of the groove or recess on the upper 
surface of guide horn 7, there is a lower surface 37 of the catch jaw 4 
which surface projects from the guide wall 31 forwardly in the direction 
of thrust and is positioned vertically above the top surface 33 of 
projection 32. With respect to the rear flank 16 of the groove on horn 7, 
the catch jaw lower surface 37 is inclined in the opposite direction and 
will be overlapped by the flank 16 through engagement from below when in 
interlocking connection with a counter coupler. 
A forward and lateral limiting point of the jaw lower surface 37 is 
disposed on the laterally outer boundary of the jaw and defines a second 
centering point B. Proceeding forwardly from centering point B, a rear 
lateral guide surface 38 extends forwardly and upwardly with respect to 
the direction of thrust and bevels or inclines the jaw 4 in the outer 
direction. The surface 38 then passes into a steeper inclined upwardly 
oriented forward lateral guide surface 39. The front central portion of 
the jaw 4 in the direction of thrust is provided with a substantially 
triangular central guide surface 40 which inclines upwardly in the forward 
direction and terminates in a face guide surface 41 which also bevels or 
slopes the face of the jaw 4. 
Extending from the central guide portion 40 is an inner gripping surface 42 
which is oriented toward the coupling mouth 3 and is similarly inclined in 
a rising direction. The interconnection between the surface 42 and guide 
wall 31 projecting perpendicularly from the lower side of the coupling 
head forms a rear surface 43 which beginning on the lower surface 31 of 
the jaw 4 extends upwardly into the area of the coupling mouth 3 and thus 
inclines the lower face of jaw 4 inwardly in this area. 
The guiding and supporting surfaces on the underside of the jaw 4 are 
characterized in that the common edge lines formed by the separate 
reciprocally adjacent surfaces such as between rearguide surface 38, 
central guide portion 40, inner gripping surface 42, rear surface 43 and 
jaw lower surface 37 terminate at the common centering point B. The 
centering point B is also positioned at a forward and lateral externally 
located edge of the jaw lower surface 37. As result of this structure, the 
coupling heads in shifted reciprocal abutment are centered and aligned 
gradually and step-by-step so that one avoids excessive surface pressures 
and wear on separate points of the abutting couplers. 
The recess formed by the groove on the upper surface of the guide horn 7 
thus facilitates coupling with a similar counter central buffer coupling 
having the same coupling profile or outline should these two couplers be 
shifted laterally and vertically with respect to each other. During the 
coupling operation, the catch jaw of the counter-coupling because of the 
groove on the horn will initially reach the area of the groove with its 
edge oriented in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the coupler. 
Thus, a contact which may prevent coupling will not occur. The surfaces 12 
and 14 arranged on the upper portion of the guide horn 7 will cause a 
reciprocal alignment of the coupling heads in the area below the coupling 
mouth of the counter-coupling and subsequently also in engagement with the 
trapezoidal surface 29 and supporting surfaces 22 and 20 so as to guide 
the coupling heads together into an interlocking connection. 
When two couplers which are displaced vertically with respect to each other 
abut against each other at the beginning of a coupling operation, gripping 
surfaces 27 and 28 on one coupler will engage opposite projection 32 on 
the counter-coupler to bring about an alignment of the couplers. 
It is thus apparent that with respect to the non-rigid couplers of the type 
described in the prior art, the central buffer coupler according to the 
present invention has the advantages of an increased range of gripping, of 
much improved protection for the coupling or connecting of air or other 
supply lines and of having a much narrower profile so as to occupy a 
minimum of space at the end of a railway vehicle. 
It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in 
order to adapt it to different usages and conditions, and accordingly, it 
is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may 
fall within the scope of the appended claims.