Patent GB-1074490-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to automatic coupings of the willison type for railway vehicles
IPC: B61G3/18
Filed: 1964-12-15
Abstract: 1,074,490. Automatic couplings for railway vehicles. SOCIETE DES APPAREILS BOIRAULT. Dec. 15, 1964 [Dec. 16, 1963; July 11, 1964], No. 50978/64. Heading B7T. An automatic coupling of the Willison type for railway vehicles comprises a head 1 having a sliding bolt 2 and a pivotable counter bolt 7 which extend in the rest position of the coupling from a head chamber 55 into a duct 53 of the coupling head 1, the bolt 2 being slidingly supported on a flange 62 of the head 1 and on a lug 3 fixed to the wall of the head chamber 55, and pivotally carrying at 71 a pawl 5 pivotally carrying a pusher 6, and the counter bolt 7 being pivoted at 8 to the head 1, a control cam 10 integral with an auxiliary shaft 11 and connected to a link 12 connected to a crank 13 integral with a manually operable shaft 14, and a bolt cam 9 rotatably carried on the shaft 11 and comprising a foot 17, a beak 16, and a recess 82. The bolt 2 is urged into the duct 53 by a spring 4 but is retained by the beak 16 engaging a shoulder 15 of the bolt 2, the foot 17 engaging the floor 18 of the chamber 55 to prevent rotation of the bolt cam 9. Locking.-When an opposing head (1a) Fig. 6 (not shown), engages the head 1, the small dog (52a) repels the end 56 of the bolt 2 and then the block 57 of the counter bolt 7, the bolt 2 sliding inwards and upwards until limited by a ramp 115 of the chamber 55, and a beak 23 of the pawl 5 sliding against a boss 24 on the counter bolt 7, and the block 57 of the counter bolt 7 rotating inwards until its upper arm abuts the ramp 115. When the small dog (52a) engages the large dog 51 of the head 1, the bolt 2 slides outwards to its original position, but the counter bolt 7 is maintained in its rotated position by the small dog 52a. The two bolts 2 and (2a) slide alongside each other to lock the heads 1, (1a). Unlocking.-One of the operating shafts 14, (14a) is rotated manually anticlockwise (in Fig. 4) until the mark 91 is almost diametrically opposite the initial position A. The control cam 10 is thereby rotated anticlockwise and initially a lug 84 on the cam 10 moves freely in the recess 82 of the bolt cam 9 and at the same time a ramp 25 of the cam 10 abuts a ramp 77 of the pusher 6 thus causing the beak 23 to rise clear of the boss 24. When the lug 84 abuts the radial arm 81 of the bolt cam 9, the beak 16 of the cam 9 lifts the shoulder 15 of the bolt 2 and the pawl 5 so that the beak 23 passes over and engages with the boss 24. The operating shaft is then rotated clockwise through 180 degrees to its original position, an arm 85 of the cam 10 preventing the pusher 6 from moving the pawl 5. When the bolt 2 is thus withdrawn an inspection member 68 visibly projects through a window 69 in the head 1. If the heads are now separated, the bolt (52a) releases the counter bolt 7 which pivots under its own weight and because of the spring 4, and allows the bolt 2 to drop, and the mechanism to return to its original position. Cancellation of unlocking.-When the bolt 2 and the counter bolt 7 are in the position shown in Fig. 11 (not shown) with the heads 1, (1a) still coupled but not locked, unlocking may be cancelled by rotating the shaft 14 anticlockwise through about 30 degrees so that the ramp 25 of the cam 10 abuts the beak 78 of the pusher 6 and prevents it from rotating, causing the pawl 5 to be rotated until the beak 23 clears the boss 24, and the bolt 2 advances into the duct again. Prevention of locking.-The shaft 14 is rotated anticlockwise until the mark 91 is opposite position A as for unlocking, whereat the link 12 abuts the shaft 14. The articulation 88 passes through a line joining the articulation 87 and the shaft 14 into an overcentre position. In another embodiment, Figs. 14, 15 (not shown), the spring 4 is replaced by a pretorsioned torsion spring (101) wound on a ring (110) next to the cam 9 on the shaft 11 which is made withdrawable. One arm of the spring (101) urges on a flange (106) of the bolt 2, and the other arm (107) abuts the edge of an aperture (104) in the floor 18 of the chamber 55.