Patent GB-1051816-A (GB)
IPC: B61G3/16
Abstract: 1,051,816. Automatic jaw-type couplers for railway vehicles. MIDLAND-ROSS CORPORATION. July 21, 1965 [July 28, 1964], No. 31040/65. Heading B7T. An automatic fixed jaw-type coupler for a railway vehicle, intended to co-operate with a similar coupler on another railway vehicle, comprises a casing 1 in which a lock 5 is pivotable about a boss 41, Fig. 3, of the casing between locking and unlocking positions, and an anti-creep element 4 mounted on a stub shaft 30, carried by or forming part of the lock 5, for pivotal movement between a first position in which the element 4 is engageable with an abutment 17 on the interior of the casing to prevent movement of the lock 5 to its unlocking position and a second position in which it passes clear of the abutment 17 to permit movement of the lock 5 to its unlocking position. In an embodiment, Figs. 1-3 and 5-9 (not shown), a lockset piece 3 is suspended from a stub shaft 13 in the casing 1 and comprises a flange 25 engageable by the lock 5a of the other coupler, and a lug 26 co-operable with a first cam surface 27 of the anti-creep element 4 and with a lug 28 on the lock 5. A cam 2 is mounted on the shaft 6b of an uncoupling lever 6 extending through an opening 21 in the lock 5, and comprises a lip 23 co-operating with an abutment 22 on the casing 1, and a lug 24 which co-operates with an abutment 31 on the lock 5 and with a second cam surface 32 on the anti-creep element 4. A coupling indicating member 7 has an end portion 19 which may be acted on by the lug 18 of the anti-creep element 4 and a visible portion 7a, and a neutral position indicating member 8 which may be acted on by a lug 33 of the lock 5. Operation is as follows:- Precoupling position, Figs. 2, 7.-The visible portion 7a is very small. The lock 5 is vertical and its lower surface 38 abuts the edge 39 of the casing 1, and the lug 26 of the lock set piece 3 bears on the first cam surface 27 of the anticreep element 4. Preliminary stop position, Fig. 3.-This position is reached when the clocks 5 and 5a abut each other and the lock 5 then pivots about the boss 41 entraining the element 4 which moves the indicating member 7 so that the visible portion 7b is increased. The lug 28 of the lock 5 is above the lug 26 of the lock-set piece 3. Coupled position, Fig. 4 and Fig. 8.-This is reached as the couplers are brought further together and the locks 5, 5a resume their vertical positions, side-by-side, and the flanges 25, 25a abut and cause the lock-set piece 3 to pivot on the shaft 13. The lug 18 of the element 4 no longer acts on the indicating member 7, so that there is no visible portion. The surface 32 of the element 4 rests on the lug 24 of the cam 2. The element 4 is now in its first position so the coupling cannot be accidentally unlocked. Lock set, Figs. 5, 9.-This is reacted by manual, or otherwise, actuation of the portion 6d of the lever to the position shown. The cam 2 is thereby rotated and acts by the lug 24 on an abutment 31 to rotate the lock 5 and hence the member 7 so that the visible portion 7c is now longer than in the preliminary stop position, and the lug 33 of the lock 5 acts on the indicating member 8. During rotation of the lock 5, the lug 28 of the lock 5 passes below the lug 26 of the lock set piece 3 which is raised thereby and then falls back on the right-hand side of the lug 28 so that the lock 5 is held in the unlocked position. As soon as the lock 5a is removed, the lug 28 of the lock 5 escapes and the lock resumes its pre-coupling position. Neutral position, Fig. 6.-If the portion 6d of the lever 6 is further moved by means of a chain 44, the lugs 28, 26 are no longer in contact, and the visible portion 7d of the indicating member 7 is larger than the portion 7c and the indicating member 8 is moved so that the notch 8a appears. In this position, untimely coupling is prevented, for the lug 24 prevents the lock 5 from moving back, and the cam 2 cannot rock as the portion 6b is locked in the. aperture 2a. In another embodiment, Fig. 10 (not shown), the lock-set piece 3a has a different shape, having . perpendicular surfaces 45, 46. The cam 2b has a boss 47b which in the lock-set position abuts the surface 46, and has a surface 48 co-operating with the abutment 31 of the lock 5 to hold it.