Improvements in Couplings for Cars.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 23rd July, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Couplings for Cars.
I, OLIVER IMRAY, of Birkbeck Bank Chambers, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention (which has been communicated to me from
abroad by Clinton Arthur Tower, Pattern Maker, of Cleveland, in the County of
Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, United States of America) 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 couplings for cars constructed as will be described
with reference to the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 is a plan of two opposite coupling parts according to this invention
interlocked with each other, one of them being shown in horizontal section.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line II-II of Figure 1. Figure 3
is a front elevation, partly in section, on the line III-III of Figure 1, showing the
knuckle locking and opening device raised, but not tilted forwards. Figure 4 is
a vertical cross-section also on the line III-III of Figure 1, showing the locking
and opening device in the position opening the knuckle. Figure 5 is a plan of
two opposing coupling parts the one marked A¹ showing the modification illus-
trated in Figure 6, and the other marked B¹ showing the modification illustrated
in Figure 7. Figure 6 is a vertical section of one modification, and Figure 7 is
a section on a plane at right angles to that of Figure 6, showing a second modifi-
cation. Figure 8 is a perspective view of the stilt.
2 is the coupler head having a knuckle 3 pivoted on a pin 4, and having an
outer arm band an inner arm or tail c, the end of which has a nose hook d. The
locking device consists of an angled locking and opening piece having a member e
which extends transversely over the tail of the knuckle, a dependent locking block
or head 7, and a rear arm f which extends downwards at the rear of the tail, and
when the knuckle is locked passes vertically through a guide-hole g in the floor of
the coupler. 8 is a link extending from the head or block 7 to the usual lifting
lever. To unlock the knuckle, the operator works the lever so as to lift the angled
piece until the base of its head 7 clears and passes above the horizontal path of
motion of the tail of the knuckle, whereupon the knuckle can be swung open, either
by separation of the cars, or by continuing the lifting of the angled piece until a
notch on the upper side of the member e engages a shoulder a on the coupler-
head, whereupon the angled piece tips radially in a vertical plane, and by bringing
its rearwardly depending arm f into action upon the tail of the knuckle moves
the knuckle outwards into open position.
If, when the unlocking of one coupling part is effected, it is engaged with that
of another car, the knuckle cannot be thrown open until the two parts are dis-
engaged. But it is often desirable when two coupling parts are in engagement
and the cars are stationary, to unlock one of them, and to set the lock in unlocked
position so that when the cars are eventually separated the coupler can freely open.
This can be done more efficiently in a coupling according to this invention, than
in those now used. Behind the position which the rear end of the tail of the
knuckle occupies when closed, is a piece 10 which may be turned, a lock-set or stilt

page_text: held upright in a guide 11, in which it can move, so that its upper end may project
above the top of the drawhead. This stilt has an arm 12 which is engaged by the
locking device in its upward motion, and a supporting step 13 which fits under
and holds up the locking device, as hereafter explained. The distance between
the foot of the stilt and the arm 12 is such that, when the stilt is raised, its foot
engages and rests upon the tail of the knuckle. When the knuckle is locked the
stilt rests idly in upright position behind the end of the tail of the knuckle and
behind the lock, the arm 12 extending over and in the upward path of the
member e or other part of the lock, and the step 13 below the level of the base of
the lock. The stilt is thus free from the lock, not tied or fastened thereto, and is
in a sense a loose or "floating" piece.
If the coupler containing the stilt is locked in engagement with the coupler of
another car, both cars being stationary, and if it is desired to unlock the coupler
and to set the lock in unlocked position, then the brakesman raises the locking
block by working the usual lifting lever, and as the lock rises, its member e engages
the arm 12 and raises the stilt vertically until its foot clears the knuckle. During
this motion, the stilt always slides against the metal at the rear of the aperture in
the drawhead through which it passes. The result of such motion and sliding
contact, when the coupler is interlocked with the coupler of another car; is (when
the stilt reaches the position shown in dotted lines at A in Figure 2 and has cleared
the knuckle) to project the foot of the stilt forward, and, when the lifting lever
of the lock is released by the brakesman, the foot of the stilt is seated in a transverse
rimmed hollow 14 on the tail of the knuckle leading towards the margin of the
knuckle. Thereupon, the lock comes to rest upon the step 13 which supports the
lock freely in its unlocked position, as shown in full lines at A in Figure 2. When
the lifting lever is released, the stilt, has its end in the hollow 14, and it tilts or
tends to tilt forward, but when, as described below, the support for the stilt is
removed by opening the knuckle or by tilting the stilt by hand so as to free it
from its retaining hollow 14 and to drop the lock, in either event it drops to the
position shown at B in Figure 2, and the bearing relations and positions of the stilt,
as explained above, will be repeated at the next working of the lock.
The coupler being then held unlocked by the above described operation of
the lock-set, the cars may be separated from each other. When this is done, the
unlocked knuckle is drawn open by the act of separation, and as the tail of the
knuckle then moves outwards, the foot of the stilt continues to rest in the groove 14 3
and is guided and retained thereby until it reaches the margin of the moving
knuckle, whereupon the stilt becomes unseated and drops behind the tail of the
knuckle, thus releasing the lock which (the knuckle then being partly opened)
does not need any longer to be supported and drops upon the tail of the knuckle.
When the knuckle is again closed, the lock, being unsupported by the stilt, drops 4
into locking position in front of the tail, thus restoring the parts into the position
shown at B in Figure 2. While the stilt is in supporting position, the rear shoulder
or rim of the hollow 14 on the side next to the rear end of the knuckle retains the
stilt positively in a stable position quite independently of gravity, until the knuckle
is opened far enough to unseat the foot of the stilt and to permit it to drop in the 4
manner above explained. The rim or shoulder which forms the rear margin of
the hollow has the important function of preventing displacement of the stilt
during motion of the car.
If after the stilt has been set in supported position, and before the knuckle is
opened, it be desired to release the lock, this can easily be done by raising some- 5
what and tipping forward the upper projecting end of the stilt, whereupon its foot
is disengaged from the knuckle and it drops behind the tail, releasing the lock
and permitting it to drop into locked position. This is rendered feasible because
the stilt, as explained above, is movable not fastened to the lock, and because its
end projects.
When the angled locking and opening piece is raised and tipped for the purpose
of swinging the knuckle open it engages and raises the stilt, throwing its lower
4

page_text: end forward as above explained, and when, as the angled piece when it engages the
top of the drawhead, itself tips throwing the knuckle open, and when it reaches
the limit of its throw it supports the stilt until the knuckle is again closed where-
upon the angled piece is pushed back by the knuckle to the wall of the coupler-
head and it, and the stilt, drop into their original positions.
The function of the parts of the stilt 10 will be readily understood from the
foregoing description. The step 13 serves merely as a block to support the lock;
and the lifting arm 12 enabling the stilt to be raised but takes no part in supporting
the lock.
Figures 5, 6, and 7, show modifications which operate in the same manner as
the coupler above described. In Figure 7 and in the part B₁ of Figure 5, which
show a form of coupler which I first devised, the staff of the stilt is formed with a
vertical slot 10 through which passes a pin 15 fixed in the drawhead. The slot
permits the stilt to be raised vertically on the pin and the pin permits the forward
motion necessary to bring it into supporting position on the knuckle, as shown in
Figure 7, when it has been lifted to the plane of the surface of the knuckle by
engagement of the lock with the arm 12 in the act of lifting the lock.
In Figure 6 and at A' in Figure 5, the staff of the stilt passes freely through a
sleeve 16 which is mounted on trunnions 16' in the top of the drawhead. The staff
of the stilt can move upwards in the sleeve, and the sleeve can turn on its trunnions
when the stilt is moved forward into the supporting position illustrated in Figure 6.
As I am the first to combine a lock set or lock-holding device with a knuckle-
locking and knuckle-opening mechanism, in such manner that the lock-set or
holder is engaged and moved into supporting position by the act of unlocking the
knuckle and is supported by the action of the parts in throwing the knuckle open.
I claim such combination broadly, whether the locking and opening piece is con-
structed as shown in the drawings, or is modified.
My improvement renders unnecessary the supporting lugs commonly applied
to the lifting levers of couplers, which, although they support the lock, require to
be disengaged by hand before the coupler will again lock. And this result is
accomplished in my improvement with more security than has been afforded by
prior lock setting devices and with less complication. Furthermore, the capability
of easily tripping the stilt is of importance; and as the stilt is made in a separate
or movable piece, if it be removed or broken the action of the other parts of the
coupler is not impaired and the stilt can be easily replaced or renewed.
The construction of the improved couplers may obviously be modified without
departure from the principle of the invention as defined in the claims..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A coupler for cars having a knuckle, an upwardly moving lock, a movable
stilt-like lock set not attached to the lock but having a lock supporting step, and an
arm extending into the path of the lock's motion so as to be successively engaged,
raised and moved laterally thereby into supporting position on the knuckle's tail;
substantially as described.
2. In a coupler for cars a stilt-like lock set consisting of an upright bar having
projecting portions between which the lock operates to move the stilt substantially
as described.
3. In a coupler for cars a knuckle having on the upper surface of the tail a
rimmed hollow to support and retain the foot of the stilt substantially as described.
Dated this 5th day of April 1898.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.