An Improved Coupling for Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Sept., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 13th June, 1894-Accepted, 14th July, 1894
-PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Coupling for Railway Vehicles.
I, JOHN BELL HUGHES of Jasper, Walker County, Alabama, United States
of America, Superintendent of Alms House, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :—
The object of this invention is to provide a railway vehicle coupling by which
the coupling together of two vehicles may be effected by simply pushing them
together, and the uncoupling of the same, by the withdrawal of a pin which may
be effected from the sides or top of the vehicles. The drawhead has a link and
pin, with a pin support sliding in a chamber formed in the inside of the drawhead,
said pin support having a tail piece with a coiled spring on it, the end of the spring
resting against a shoulder formed by the back end of the chamber. A link presser
pawl is secured in a recess formed in the upper side of the bell shaped mouth of
the drawhead and pivotted on a pin. On the tail end of the presser pawl there is
secured a flat curved spring the end of which rests against the upper side of the
drawhead chamber pressing the tail of the pawl on the link and holding this in a
horizontal position. The link pin is of the usual form. It has a chain connected
lifting rod extending to the
to it and this is also connected to the crank end of a
top of the vehicle, the lifting rod being operated by a handle to withdraw
the pin.
14th day of September 1893.
THOMAS R. SHILLITO,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Coupling for Railway Vehicles.
1, JOHN BELL HUGHES of Jasper, Walker County, Alabama, United States
of America, Superintendent of Alms House, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :--
This invention relates to that class of railway vehicle couplings in which a link
and pin are used to connect the drawheads. The object of the invention is to
provide an inexpensive, strong and durable automatic coupling by which the
coupling together of two vehicles may be effected by simply pushing them together,
and the uncoupling of the same by the withdrawal of a pin, which may be effected
from the sides or top of the vehicles.
In the drawing
Fig. 1 is an end view of part of a railway vehicle with the drawhead in position,
the pin being withdrawn and ready for recoupling.
Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the drawhead with the link and pin in
the coupled position.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a pin support and link presser pawl.
A is the drawhead made of metal in the usual manner and secured to the vehicle
It is cored internally to the shape shewn to provide
in any suitable known manner.
a chamber for the pin support B and the link presser pawl C which are located
ide the drawhead.

page_text: The pin support B is made of metal. It has an opening in the top for the
spring D secured on the link presser pawl C to work through. E is a spiral spring
placed upon a round extension of pin support B with its ends bearing respectively
against a shoulder in the drawhead and a shoulder on the pin support B, so as to
force this latter forward when the pin I is withdrawn, pushing the link out and the
pin support remaining underneath the pin hole with the point of the pin resting upon
it until a link is inserted and the pin support thereby pushed back. The pin will
then fall and engage the link.
The pawl C is secured in the drawhead by a pin F a recess being formed in the
drawhead for this purpose. At the back end of the pawl is secured the aforesaid
spring D which is of a flat curved shape with one end resting against the top of
the drawhead chamber to press the back end of the pawl upon the link H which
is thus beld in a horizontal position.
The pin I is-formed with an eye at its upper end to which is attached a chain J
and the other end of the latter to an eye provided on the end of a lifting rod K
extending upwards to the top of the carriage and secured by eye bolts or staples
one of which is shewn at L and prevents the pin being lifted higher than is
necessary to allow the pin support B to slide under it. M is the handle of the
lifting rod. N is a pin projecting from the lower end of the lifting rod and
carrying the ends of levers Ŏ which are mounted to turn on pins P fixed to the
end of the vehicle, said levers having handles Q at one end, and slots R at the
other for working on pin N.
Supposing two vehicles to be coupled the coupling pin may be readily withdrawn
from the link from either side or from the top of the vehicle without going between
the vehicles. When the coupling pin is drawn up, the pin support B slides under
the hole and retains the pin in a vertical position in the drawhead. The link
pressure pawl in the opposite drawhead pressing on the link retains it in a horizontal
position and it is obvious that to recouple the vehicles it will only be necessary to
push them together.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a coupling for railway vehicles the combination of the drawhead having a
link and pin, with a pin support sliding in a chamber formed in the inside of the
drawhead, the said pin support having an extension with a spiral spring upon it,
one end of the spring resting against a shoulder in the drawhead and the other end
pressing against the pin support; a link presser pawl secured in a recess formed in
the upper side of the mouth of the drawhead and a flat curved spring secured to
the end of a presser pawl inserted in the pin support, substantially as described
and shewn.
2. In a coupling for railway vehicles, a drawhead with an internal chamber, a
pin support with a spiral spring upon an extension of the same, and a link presser
pawl having a flat curved spring on its back end, in combination with the fink H,
pin I, chain J, hand levers O and lifting rod K.
Dated this 13th day of June 1894.
THOMAS R. SHILLITO,
89, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant..