IMPROVED APPARATus for COMPLING AND DISCONNECTING RAILWAY TRUCKS."
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Kemp, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATus for
COMPLING AND DISCONNECTING RAILWAY TRUCKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Kemp at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1874.
I, FRANCIS KEMP, of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the County of Lancaster,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AND DISCONNECTING RAILWAY TRUCKS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention is designed for the purpose of effecting the self-acting
coupling of railway trucks by merely pushing the trucks together, and
to afford a ready means of disconnecting them by a lever placed at the
outside so that there is no necessity for a porter or other person to pass
in between the trucks for either the coupling or disconnecting the same,

page_text: and by these means not only is a very great saving of time effected but
accidents from the above cause will be entirely prevented.
The ordinary draw bar of the trucks is provided at each end with the
usual hook so that it may be employed with a common coupling chain
if requisite at any time, and in addition to this with a self-acting shackle
hinged on a vertical pin or bolt placed immediately behind the hook.
This shackle is capable of moving horizontally on the pin or bolt, and is
provided at its free end with a double hook somewhat in the form of the
flukes of an anchor, and is held slightly to the left or right of the centre
line of the draw bar by means of a spring, so that when the trucks are
pushed together the shackles do not meet exactly end to end on a dead
centre but the left-hand hook of one shackle comes opposite to the right-
hand hook of the other shackle and the springs giving way they become
interlocked. To each shackle is attached a lever extending outside the
truck whereby it can be moved sideways so as to disengage the hooks at
any time, and the lever is provided with a catch by means of which it
can be held in this position as long as may be required. Upon merely
raising this catch the spring forces the double hooked shackle into its
normal position and the hooks are then ready to act automatically as
before.
The depth of the hook and of the shackle is such that they will inter-
lock although the frame of one truck may be a few inches higher or
lower than that of the other, and the hooks are so formed that in the
event of one breaking the other will hold, and if both break an ordinary
coupling chain can be used, as before mentioned.

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Francis Kemp, Her special license that
I, the said Francis Kemp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Francis Kemp, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
COUPLING AND DISCONNECTING RAILWAY TRUCKS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Francis Kemp, my exccutors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manuer the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Kemp, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :—
My Invention is designed for the purpose of effecting the self-acting
coupling of railway trucks by merely pushing the trucks together, and
to afford a ready means of disconnecting them by a lever placed at the
outside so that there is no necessity for a porter or other person to pass in
between the trucks for either the coupling or disconnecting the same,
and by these means not only is a very great saving of time effected but
accidents from the above cause will be entirely prevented.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention, I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to
be or may be performed or carried into practical effect; and in order
that the same may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a
Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with
figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof :—

page_text: elevation, and Fig. 3 a plan view showing part of the frame of a railway
truck with my Invention shown as applied thereto.
a, a, is the frame; the ordinary draw bar b, b, of the trucks is pro-
vided at each end with the usual hook c, c, so that it may be employed
with a common coupling chain if requisite at any time, and in addition
to this with a self-acting shackle d, d, hinged on a vertical pin or bolt e, e,
placed immediately behind the hook c, c; this shackle d, d, is capable of
moving horizontally on the pin or bolt e, e, and is provided at its free
end with a double hook f, f, somewhat in the form of the flukes of an
anchor, and is held slightly to the left or right of the centre line of the
draw bar by means of a spring 9, g, so that when the trucks are pushed
together the shackles do not meet exactly end to end on a dead centre
but the left-hand hook of one shackle comes opposite to the right-hand
hook of the other shackle and the springs 9, 9, giving way they become
interlocked; to cach shackle is attached a lever h, h, extending outside
the truck, whereby it can be moved sideways in a slot j, j, so as to
disengage the hooks f, f, at any time, and the lever is provided with a
I catch i, i, by means of which it can be held in this position as long as
may be required; upon merely raising this catch i, i, the spring forces
the double hooked shackle d, d, into its normal position, and the hooks
ff, are then ready to act automatically as before.
The depth of the hook and of the shackle is such that they will inter-
lock although the frame of one truck may be a few inches higher or
lower than that of the other, and the hooks are so formed that in the
event of one breaking the other will hold, and if both break an ordinary
coupling chain can be used, as before mentioned.
I would here remark that in some cases it may be thought desirable
to mount the shackle d, d, upon a horizontal pin e, e, so that it moves
vertically, as shown at Figs. 4 and 5 (drawn to a smaller scale), in which
case all that is necessary for unhooking is to have the shackle d, d, fixed
on the squared end of a shaft k, k, at the other end of which outside the
truck is a weighted lever 1, 2, which has a constant tendency to keep the
shackle in the horizontal position but allows it to rise when it comes
against the hook of another carriage.
I prefer however the first described arrangement as it will always
work irrespective of the height of the trucks, whereas in the second
described modification it might be possible for two hooks to meet on a
dead centre, in which case they would not act properly.

page_text: I
may
be
also observe that it will be evident that
may
Invention
my
equally applied to passenger carriages, the only proviso being that the
shackles must be so proportioned to the buffers that the latter must be
driven in a certain distance before the hooks interlock so that the buffers
are always held firmly in contact.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as my Invention the improved apparatus for coupling and discon
necting railway trucks, wagons, and other similar carriages, as herein-
before described and illustrated by the Drawings annexed, or any mere
modification or imitation thereof, constructed and operating in sub-
stantially the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Kemp, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-four.
LID ANOS KEMD
Tal