IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR CONNECTING TOGETHER PASSENGER OR OTHER CARRIAGES OR TRUCKS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Cook Morton, of the City of Boston, and
State of Massachusetts, in the United States of America, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR
CONNECTING TOGETHER PASSENGER OR OTHER CARRIAGES OR TRUCKS ON
RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 9th May 1873, and dated the 22nd November 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said James Cook Morton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 22nd November 1872, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
COOK MORTON, of the City of Boston, and State of Massachusetts, in the
United States of America, send greeting.
in
WHEREAS I am possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR CONNECTING TOGETHER PASSENGER OR
OTHER CARRIAGES OR TRUCKS ON RAILWAYS," and have petitioned Her
Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declara-
tion that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Cook Morton, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and
seal, fully describes and 'ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings forming
a part of this Specification, that is to say :—
My Invention relates to improvements whereby passenger or other
carriages or trucks may be automatically coupled or connected together
when desired, and the services of a person to go between such carriages
or trucks to couple the same together by hand are dispensed with,
and a large number of accidents will be avoided as well as a great
saving in time and labor obtained.
In carrying out my Invention, I dispense with the ordinary hooks
formed on the end of the draw-bars for the purpose of receiving one
end of the coupling, and in place thereof I form an enlargement on
such draw-bars, having a mouth capable of receiving one end of a link,
the other end of which is received and held by a corresponding mouth
formed in an enlargement on the draw-bar of the next carriage or
truck. A pin retains the link in position. This retaining pin is con-
nected by a pin joint to a plate or cover attached by a hinge or hinges
to the upper portion of the enlargement or mouth. A chain or rope is
attached to the plate or cover for the purpose of removing the pin and
allowing the cars to be uncoupled when desired.
The mouth of the enlargement on the draw-bar is formed circular or
nearly so on its front face, and the sides of the opening to receive the
link are formed with a gradually increasing curve towards the front, so
that the links may adjust themselves when the train is turning a curve,
and at the same time insure that the link will be properly received by
the mouth when carriages or trucks are required to be coupled together
on a curve, or the link is slightly out of the centre from any cause.
But that my Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to
describe the same more in detail by aid of the accompanying Drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a side view: Figure 2 represents a plan : Figure 3

page_text: a is the ḍraw-bar and 6 is the enlargement on the end of the same,
which is formed with a mouth 6¹ capable of receiving one end of the
link c, the other end of which is held by a corresponding mouth b¹
formed in an enlargement on the draw-bar of the adjoining carriage or
truck; d is a pin for retaining the link c in position. The retaining
pin d is connected to the plate or cover e by means of a pin joint e¹.
The plate or cover e is hinged to the upper side of the enlargement 6
at e*; ƒ is a chain or rope for raising the plate e and pin d when it
is desired to disconnect a carriage. The chain or rope fmay be attached
to any convenient part of the carriage easily accessible from the plat
form or from the level of the railroad; e³, e³, are holes formed in the
upper and lower sides of the enlargement 6 to admit of the free passage
of the pin d, which has a firm bearing against the front sides of e³ and eð,
when a load is drawing upon the same.
It will be seen that the enlargement 6 is formed circular or nearly so
from 6ª to b³, and the sides of the mouth 6' are formed with a gradually
increasing curve from the rear to the front face to insure the correct
reception of the link o when a pair of carriages or trucks are coupled
together on a curve, or when from any other cause such link is slightly
out of the centre. Supposing that a link c is placed in position in a
mouth 6¹ of a given carriage or truck, and it is required to couple such
carriage or truck to another carriage or truck, it is merely necessary to
back such carriage or truck and the link c will come into position in
the corresponding mouth 6³, and in so doing it will raise the pin d for
a moment, but as soon as the end o³ of the link o has passed such pin
it will fall and securely couple the carriages or trucks together.
If at any time it is required to back carriages or trucks together
without coupling, it is only necessary to hoist up the chain or rope ƒ so
as to hold the pin d out of position till again required for action, and in
like manner when it is required to uncouple a carriage, all that is
necessary is to raise the chain or rope ƒ and withdraw the pin d. The
pin d is attached to the plate or cover e by pin joints, as shown, in
order that it may be withdrawn when a load is pulling on the same, such
joint allowing the pin d to be withdrawn vertically from the link c.
Having thus described my Invention and means by which the same
may be carried into effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the exact details shown and described, as the same.

page_text: may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of my
Invention; but what I do claim is, the arrangement and combination
of means for coupling or connecting together passenger or other
carriages or trucks on railways, substantially as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Cook Morton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.