Improvements in the Automatic Coupling of Railway and other Vehicles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1895
Complete Specification Left. 28th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 1st Aug., 1896
Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1895
Complete Specification Left. 28th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 1st Aug., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Automatic Coupling of Railway and other
Vehicles.
I, GEORGE WASHINGTON MOON, of 16 New Burlington Street, in the Parish of
Saint James, Westminster, in the County of London, Honorary Fellow of the Royal
Society of Literature of Great Britain and Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object the automatic coupling and the uncoupling of
railway and other vehicles without the aid of any spring and without the necessity
of the operator having to go between the vehicles, whereby many fatal accidents
occur.
In an automatic coupling constructed according to this invention the outer end
of each draw bar is bifurcated so as to form a crosshead or open jaw having a
cross pin at right angles to the draw bar, but inclined at an angle of about 45° to the
horizontal or vertical. On the said cross pin is hung an arm whose inner end
passes over the cross pin and is bent to form a tail piece which abuts against the
draw bar crosshead, or an attachment thereto, so as to prevent the arin from falling
below an approximately horizontal position, but leaving it free to rise when coming in
contact with a hook on a corresponding arm of an adjacent vehicle.
The arm is bent so as to form a guide to deflect the opposite hook from jamming
and from crashing into the end of the carriage when the vehicles meet, and the
inner face of the outer hook is slightly curved, preferably so as to form an arc,
the centre of whose circle is the pin or pivot on which the arm moves. The object
in having the inner face of the hook curved to form an arc, as described, is that
vehicles so fitted may be uncoupled without being backed.
Dated this 2nd day of August 1895
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Automatic Coupling of Railway and other
Vehicles.
I GEORGE WASHINGTON MOON, of 16 New Burlington Street, in the Parish of
Saint James Westminster, in the County of London, Honorary Fellow of the Royal
Society of Literature of Great Britain and Ireland, do bereby 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 has for its object the automatic coupling and the uncoupling of
railway and other vehicles without the aid of any spring and without the necessity
of the operator having to go between the vehicles whereby many fatal accidents
occur.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings:
Figs. 1 and 2 show an elevation and plan of the draw bar end, Figs. 3 and 4 an
elevation and plan of the shank end of a coupling hook and,

page_text: Figs. 5 and 6 show perspective elevations of vehicles coupled together by two
differently shaped coupling hooks constructed according to this invention.
a
In an automatic coupling constructed according to this invention, the outer end
of each draw bar a is bifurcated so as to form a crosshead or open jaw b having
cross pin c whose axis is at right angles to the draw bar but inclined at an
angle of about 45° to the horizontal or vertical. On the said cross pin c is hung
an arm d secured by a block e and screw g and formed with a tail piece d¹ having
a screw projection h which abuts against the draw bar crosshead so as to prevent
the arm from falling below an approximately horizontal position, but leaving it
free to rise when coming in contact with a hook on a corresponding arm of an
adjacent vehicle.
The arm d (Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive) is bent so as to form a guide to deflect the
opposite hook and prevent it from jamming and from crashing into the end of
the carriage when the vehicles meet, and the inner face of the outer hook is slightly
curved preferably so as to form an arc, the centre of whose circle is the pin or
pivot c on which the arm moves. The object in having the inner face of the hook
curved to form an arc as described, is that vehicles so fitted may be uncoupled
without being backed.
In the modified arrangement shown in Fig. 6 the hooks are hung in a similar
manner but are uncoupled by backing one of the two adjacent vehicles and displacing
one of the hooks by means of the chain i.
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. In apparatus for automatically coupling railway vehicles, hinging the coupling
hook arm to the draw bar at an angle of about 45° and securing it thereto
substantially in the manner described and shown.
2. The arrangement and construction of automatic coupling apparatus for railway
vehicles substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 24th day of April 1896
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.