Im- PROVEMENTS IN THE COUPLING AND BUFFER APPARATUS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicolaus William Schroeter, of Berlin, in the
Kingdom of Prussia, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicolaus William
Schroeter at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 4th November 1878.
I, NICOLAUS WILLIAM SCHROETER, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE COUPLING AND BUFFER APPARATUS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES.”
This Invention has reference to an improved construction of couplings
for railway carriages, consisting mainly of a peculiar arrangement of the
coupling and connection thereof with the draw bar and buffer rods,
whereby the slack between two carriages is automatically taken up on
coupling them together, the ordinary screw adjustment of the coupling
for this purpose being dispensed with; also the hooking on of the

page_text: coupling is effected by a contrivance worked from outside of the buffers,
and additional safety couplings are combined with the main coupling.
For these purposes the draw bar which extends beneath the carriage
is not connected directly to the draw hook, but carries two spring levers
which are pivotted to a head on its end, and extend transversely to
either side of the carriage framing, where their outer ends are carried in
sockets secured to the buffer rods.
To intermediate points between the ends of these spring levers are
pivotted two rods, terminating outside the carriage framing in two draw
hooks for the safety couplings, and between these is the draw hook for
the main coupling, the rod of which carries at its inner end a sway beam
pivotted to the rods of the two side hooks. Thus when the couplings
connected to the said rods (the construction and mode of operating
whereof will be presently described) are hooked on to the next carriage,
and a tension is put on the coupling by the motion of the train, the rod
of the main coupling in acting upon the spring levers through the sway
beam and the rods of the side hooks will firstly move the outer ends of
these levers so as to press the buffer rods outwards, and thus bring the
buffers into close contact, and when this is effected the continued pull
exerted on the levers by the draw hook will be transmitted through them
to the draw bar.
When the pull on the coupling ceases, the spring levers, and with them
the draw hooks and buffer rods, are moved back into their original posi-
tion by means of springs situated near the outer ends of the levers, such
springs being compressed by the levers when the pull is exerted thereon
as above described.
The coupling consists of three loops pivotted to a cross piece, the
middle loop serving as the main coupling and the two side loops as the
safety couplings. These loops have stops at their junction with the
cross piece, which permit them to turn upwards, but prevent them from
turning downwards beyond the plane of the coupling when this is
extended in a horizontal position.
The transverse piece carries three other loops or links opposite these
above mentioned, by which the coupling is hung to the draw
hooks.
The coupling is raised from its pendant position and the loops thereof
hooked on to the draw hooks of the next carriage by the followin
con

page_text: trivance Beneath the end beam of the under framing of the carriage
is a transverse shaft carried at its middle by a bracket capable of swivel-
ling upon a pin fixed to the under framing, while at its outer ends it is
carried in slotted brackets, which permit of a slight angular motion of
the shaft in a horizontal direction.
Between the ears of the middle bracket the shaft has fixed upon it
two levers, which are connected by rods to a swivelling pin on the under
side of the transverse piece of the coupling.
The transverse shaft has at its outer ends hand levers, by which
when it is desired to hook on the coupling the shaft is first drawn into
the before-mentioned angular position so as to move the coupling links
laterally into a position between the draw hooks of the next carriage,
after which by turning the shaft the before-mentioned levers and con-
necting rods are caused to raise the coupling links up between the draw
hooks, and when they are raised above the latter the shaft is moved
back from its angular position so as to bring the coupling links over the
draw hooks, into which they are then allowed to fall.
The two safety couplings are intended to serve in place of the ordinary
coupling chains, but if desired such chains may be employed in addition
thereto, for which purpose hooks are formed on the ends of the trans-
verse piece of the coupling on to which the chains are hooked.
The before-described construction of coupling with connection by
means of spring levers to the buffer rods and draw bar may also be used
without the safety couplings, also the spring lever arrangements may be
employed in cases where no continuous draw bar is used, in which case
they are fixed to sliding blocks, to which the draw hooks are attached,
and serve both as draw and buffer springs.
The buffer rods pass through bushes sliding in the buffer boxes in
order to strengthen them against lateral flexure, and these bushes are
locked to the buffer pistons by turning the buffer rods through a quarter
of a revolution when a tension has been put on the train.
For this pur-
pose the connection of the buffer rods to the sockets of the spring levers
is effected by means of studs in the sockets fitting into circular grooves
in the ends of the buffer rods.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Nicolaus William Schroeter in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 29th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NICOLAUS
WILLIAM SCHROETER, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Nicolaus William Schroeter,
Her special license, that I, the said Nicolaus William Schroeter, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Nicolaus William Schroeter, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COUPLING AND BUFFER APPA-
RATUS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Nicolaus William Schroeter, my executors 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 manner 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 Nicolaus William Schroeter, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:—
This Invention has reference to an improved construction of couplings
for railway carriages, consisting mainly of a peculiar arrangement of the
coupling and connection thereof with the draw bar and buffer rods,

page_text: coupling for this purpose being dispensed with, also the hooking on of
the coupling is effected by a contrivanco worked from outside of the
buffers, and additional safety couplings are combined with the main
coupling.
For these purposes the draw bar which extends beneath the carriage
is not connected directly to the draw hook, but carries two spring levers,
which are pivotted to a head on its end and extend transversely to both
sides of the carriage framing where their outer ends are carried in
sockets secured to the buffer rods.
To intermediate points between the ends of these spring levers are
pivotted two rods, terminating outside the carriage framing in two draw
hooks for the safety couplings, and between these is the draw hook for
the main coupling, the rod of which carries at its inner end a sway beam
pivotted to the rods of the two side hooks. Thus when the couplings
connected to the said rods (the construction and mode of operating
whereof will be presently described) are hooked on to the next carriage,
and a tension is put on the coupling by the motion of the train, the
rod of the main coupling in acting upon the spring levers through the
sway beam and the rods of the side hooks will firstly move the outer
ends of these levers so as to press the buffer rods outwards, and thus
bring the buffers into close contact, and when this is effected the con- .
tinued pull exerted on the levers by the draw hook will be transmitted
through them to the draw bar.
When the pull on the coupling ceases the spring levers, and with
them the draw hooks and buffer rods, are moved back into their
original position by means of springs situated near the outer ends of
the levers, such springs being compressed by the levers when the pull
is exerted thereon as above described.
The coupling consists of three loops pivotted to a cross piece, the
middle loop serving as the main coupling and the two side loops as the
safety couplings. These loops have stops at their junction with the cross
piece, which permit them to turn upwards but prevent them from
turning downwards beyond the plane of the coupling when this is
extended in a horizontal position.

page_text: The transverse piece carries three other loops or links opposite those
above mentioned, by which the coupling is hung to the draw hooks.
The coupling is raised from its pendent position and the loops thereof
hooked on to the draw hooks of the next carriage by the following con-
trivance-Beneath the end beam of the under framing of the carriage
is a transverse shaft carried at its middle by a bracket capable of
swivelling upon a pin fixed to the under framing, while at its outer ends
it is carried in slotted brackets, which permit of a slight angular motion
of the shaft in a horizontal direction.
Between the ears of the middle bracket the shaft has fixed upon it
two levers, which are connected by rods to a swivelling pin on the
under side of the transverse piece of the coupling.
The transverse shaft has at its outer ends hand levers, by which, when
it is desired to hook on the coupling, the shaft is first drawn into the
before-mentioned angular position, so as to move the coupling links
laterally into a position between the draw hooks of the next carriage,
after which by turning the shaft the before-mentioned lovers and con-
necting rods are caused to raise the coupling links up between the draw
hooks, and when they are raised above the latter the shaft is moved back
from its angular position so as to bring the coupling links over the draw
hooks, into which they are then allowed to fall.
The two safety couplings are intended to serve in place of the ordinary
coupling chains, but if desired such chains may be employed in addition
thereto, for which purpose hooks are formed on the ends of the trans-
verso piece of the coupling on to which the chains are hooked.
The before-described construction of coupling with connection by
means of spring levers to the buffer rods and draw bar may also be used
without the safety coupling, also the spring lever arrangements may be
employed in cases where no continuous draw bar is used, in which case
they are fixed to sliding blocks on which the draw hooks are carried, and
serve both as draw and buffer springs.
The buffer rods pass through bushes sliding in the buffer boxes in
order to strengthen them against lateral flexure, and these bushes are
locked to the buffer pistons by turning the buffer rods through a quarter
of a revolution when a tension has been put on the train. For this
purpose the connection of the buffer rods to the sockets of the spring

page_text: grooves in the ends of the buffer rods.
By the last-described means the carriages are kept steady on
curves.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a plan and Fig. 2 à side view of the ends of the
under framing of two railway carriages provided with couplings and
buffers constructed and arranged according to this Invention as they
would appear when subjected to the traction strain; Fig. 3 represents a
plan and Fig. 4 a side view of the same parts in the act of coupling or
uncoupling; Figs. 5 and 6 represents respectively a plan and side view
of the parts when the buffers are compressed and the couplings are
slack; Fig. 7 represents an end view and Fig. 8 a plan of the end
framing of the carriage detached so as to shew more clearly the novel
construction of the couplings and their connection with the buffers;
Fig. 9 is a detached plan view of the coupling, and Fig. 10 is a detached
plan of a pair of buffers and their boxes. In these Figures the same
parts are marked by the same letters.
The coupling is triple, consisting of a middle part having loops b
and fat each end, and two side parts having loops a at the one end and
chain links at the other end. Each of these parts is separated by pieces d
and g, and jointed in the middle by two bolts e and e', the joints being
made with stops, so that the coupling can fold freely in one direction (as
shewn in Fig. 6), but cannot bend beyond its straight condition in the
other direction. The joint bolts e and e¹ of the coupling pass through
the two side parts c, c, which have hooks for the reception of safety
chains. At the end of each carriage are presented three hooks, a middle
hook p, and two side hooks h, h, for the reception respectively of the
middle loop 6 and the two side loops a, a, of the coupling; and the links
of the two side parts of the couplings are jointed to the two side
hooks h, h, respectively. Thus between each pair of carriages there
are two sets of the couplings, the one set hanging loose down from the
one carriage while the other set jointed to the other carriage is employed
for coupling the carriages together (as shewn in Figs. 2, 4, and 6).
The hooks p and h, h, are connected by rods passing through a spring
plate i, the former p to the middle m and the latter h, h, respectively to
the ends of an equal-armed lever or sway beam 1, and the latter con-

page_text: nections are extended backwards as shown at to and jointed to wedge-
shaped pieces y embraced between the plates of the spring levers x. The
inner ends of these spring levers are jointed to a head z attached to the
draw bar; their outer ends are enclosed in sockets q on the ends of the
buffer rods. A sliding bolt a mounted on a guider of the buffer rod is
pressed by a light spring against each of the spring levers x so as to
bring the buffers back when the traction strain is off.
For the purpose of coupling and uncoupling the middle part g of the
coupling is connected by a rod n¹ to arms n¹ projecting from a spindle o.
This spindle is mounted in a bearing n under the centre of the end
framing of the carriage, this bearing being jointed on a vertical pin and
the ends of the spindle work in slotted holes in brackets & fixed at each
side of the carriage framing. Thus the spindle o can rotate, and also
can be made to oscillate horizontally as far as the slots in the brackets t
permit.
On each end of the spindle o is fixed a hand lever s, by means of
either of which an attendant when he desires to couple two carriages
raises the coupling as shewn in Fig. 4, canting it a little to one side as
shewn in Fig. 3, so as to lift its loops clear past and above the hooks on
the next carriage, whereupon having again restored it to its straight
attitude he drops it so as to let its loops engage in these hooks. In like
manner for uncoupling, the attendant working either of the hand
levers s raises the coupling so that its loops are clear above the hooks of
the next carriage, cants it a little to one side, and allows it to drop, the
loops descending clear of the hooks.
It will be seen from Fig. 10 that the buffer rods work through bushes
of piston form, which fit the body and the neck of the spring boxes,
and serve to support the rods against flexure. These bushes are prevented
from turning by a feather working in the neck of the spring boxes, but
the buffer plates and rods are capable of being turned about one quarter of
a revolution round, the rods being held in the sockets q by set screws, the
points of which enter quadrant slots in the buffer rods as shewn at Fig. 10º,
which represent sections on the dotted lines of Fig. 10 corresponding to
the centre lines of those sections. In the act of coupling and uncoupling
carriages; as shewn in Fig. 3, there being then no traction strain on å
the couplings, the spring bolts u pressing back the spring levers & bring
the buffers back against the bushes and thus allow the two carriages to
approach sufficiently near for the coupling links of the one carriage to

page_text: be put on or taken off the hooks of the other carriage. When the
traction strain comes upon the coupling, the spring levers x being drawn
forward in opposition to the spring bolts u, push out the buffers so as to
make them bear against each other.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,-
First. Connecting the couplings of railway carriages to spring levers
so arranged that the shorter arms of those levers act on the draw bar
and their longer arms act on the buffer rods, substantially in the manner
and for the purposes herein set forth.
Second. The use for coupling railway carriages of a combined coup-
ling consisting of a central main link and two side or safety links, such
combined coupling being jointed in the middle, so that it can bend freely
in the one direction but not in the other, substantially as herein
described.
Third. The method of connecting the combined coupling referred to
above to the spring levers herein-before referred to by means of a sway
beam, the middle of which is connected to the central link and the ends
to the side links of the coupling, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein set forth.
Fourth. The use for coupling and uncoupling railway carriages of a
spindle which is mounted so that it can be rocked and also oscillated
laterally by hand applied to a lever on either side of the carriage, the
said spindle having arms connected to the middle of a jointed coupling
in such manner that the links of the coupling can be raised clear of and
dropped into the hooks of another carriage, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nicolaus William Schroeter, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
NICOLAUS WILLIAM SCHROETER. (L.S.)