Patent GB-919838-A (GB)
Title: Vehicle to vehicle couplings
IPC: B60D1/155
Filed: 1959-11-13
Abstract: 919,838. Vehicle couplings. KIRKHAM, J. W. Jan. 26, 1961 [Nov. 13. 1959], No. 38591/59. Class 103(5). In a vehicle-to-vehicle coupling as claimed in claim 1 of Specification 875,270, the means for locking the slide 5 to the guideway 6 in the second position comprises a latchmember pivotally mounted on the slide and an actuator 7 mounted on the guideway, the latch member and the actuator being adapted to make co-operating relationship with each other, upon the slide being moved upwardly from the first position past the second position, by which the latch member is moved by the actuator to a position in which to lock the slide to the guideway, upon the slide then being moved downwardly to the second position, to restrain further downward movement of the slide, the latch member and actuator also being adapted to make co-operating relationship with each other, upon upward movement of the slide after the latch member has locked the slide and the guideway to each other in the second position by which the latch member is moved by the actuator to a position in which to permit downward movement of the slide past the second position. As shown, the latch member consists of two pieces 1, 2 which are coupled to a spindle 3 and lie between a pair of posts 4 in which the spindle is journalled, the posts being carried by the slide 5. The latch member is biased towards the left-hand post 4 by a spring-loaded ball the spring of which is housed in the righthand post 4; this biasing ensures that the latch member rotates under a predetermined friction. In the upright positions of the latch member the ball engages with recesses in the latch piece 2. The opposing ends of the latch pieces are provided with recesses 10, the recesses in the latch piece 1 each being defined by a flat face 11 and an arcuate face 12 and the recesses in the latch piece 2 being defined by arcuate faces 12. In. use when the slide is raised to couple the vehicle to the trailer the latch member which is initially in the position shown in Fig. 1 is raised and the latch piece 2 is engaged by the actuator 7 and is rotated in a clockwise sense until the actuator reaches the apex of the recess. The slide is then lowered and the lower arcuate faces of the latch member ride on the bottom face of an aperture 15 in the guideway to rotate the latch member into the position shown in Fig. 3 in which the lower flat face 11 of the latch piece 1 engages the inside face 18 of the guideway to prevent further rotation of the latch member and the curved faces 12 engage the bottom face of the aperture to prevent further downward movement of the slide. To retard the slide it is first raised and this causes the actuator to engage the side face 19 of the latch piece 2 which is thus rotated further clockwise, apertures in the slide and guideway permitting this. The slide is then lowered and the inside corner of the aperture 15 strikes the side faces 20 of the latch pieces to rotate them further clockwise until the latch member reaches a position 180 degrees from the position shown in Fig. 1; the slide can then be lowered and since the latch member is symmetrical about the spindle 3 it is in a position for repeating the latching and unlatching sequence.