Morning journal and courier., 1880-12-25
A New Invention.
Hverit,. Automatic Car Coupler.

Everft's Automatic Car Coupler.
 The new invention by W. L.. Everit, Esq, of this city, the automatic cam acting car coupler, takes high rank as an invention of great merit in itself as a mechanical agency highly useful on railroads and meeting want long felt and which many in vain have at tempted to fill, while as life saving agent it's
 value cannot be estimated. One cannot pick up paper in these days when railroads are so multiplied over the face of the earth with
 out reading of the terrible death of some man while coupling cars, or else of his re-
 ceiving a mutilation in many cases worse than death. The number of deaths from this
 cause are great. It is not the slightest exag-
 geration to say thousands of lives are lost
 every year by men when engaged in coupling
 and uncoupIng freight cars, and, when the
 number of the maimed is added, the amount
 of suffering involved is fearful to contem-
 plate. This invention is 8 model of simplic-
 ity and perfect operation, and herein lies the
 genius of inventing in that the object is at
 tained without any complexity of design or
 device and accompishes what so many in-
 ventors have failed to reach. The utility of
 the invention immediately comments itself to
 all. An exhibition of it's merits was made
 recently before President Watrous and Vice
 President Reed of the New York, New Haven
 and Hartford railroad, and others, and the test
 was most thorough demonstrating it's per
 feet utility and success, from all points of
 view No doubt the new life saving car coupler will come into use everywhere and
 the gentleman who has invented it will have conferred real service to humanity. A de- scription of the new invention is follows The frame of the coupler is about three feet long, and in general shape, size and mode of attaching to cars is like those in general use, but in the part which projects 1 forward it flares to funneIshaped mouth, in which coupling link is held in hori-
 zontal position. The link is held by means
 of hinged weight resting on the inner end of the link, so that when another car is l backed up to couple the projecting end of the link enters the mouth of the opposing coupler, and in so doing comes in contact | with the connecting pin which is pivoted
 and hangs from the top. This pin swings back till the link has passed in far enough to allow it to drop through the opening. It IS l then forced forward again by the same weight which held the link horizontal, but as the pin comes forward the lower end is intercepted by a cross-bar which has been raised by the entering link tripping latch by 8 projection on top of the con- | meeting pin and setting free short han ! dle, the lower end of which is cam shaped and attached to the end of the cross bar, so I that the handle in dropping forces this bar up to catch the end of the pin and holds it ! firmly coupled. When uncoupling is desired
 a light pull at chain attached to the end of the handle throws it it free to uncouple and also ready for auto
 matic recouphng, the only msn-power re- quired being to pull up the chain to un- l couple This is done from the platform or ! from the top of box car, so that no one need step between the trucks to operate it. Since completing this coupler the inventor | has adjusted 1t to suit the different height of cars, and to do this has invented an adjust able yoke to take the place of the iron bar 1 which holds the coupler up in place. This is | secured to the platform in the same way as the iron strap, and has recessed chamber, in the bottom of which is screw operated by a small wheel, and when two cars of diff ferent height are to be brought together, a few turns of this wheel will bring the couplers to corresponding height.
 Another feature of the invention is that any number of detached cars may be connected
 and train made up by simply backing the engine to receive them, no man being needed to assist in the operation.
 Mir. Everit is also the inventor of many other useful things, and one of general inter- est, invented while president of the Whitney avenue horse railroad, is noiseless sash, by
 which the rattle of glass on street cars and
 other carriages is entirely prevented.