An Improved Car-coupling.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, .17th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 23rd Dec., 1893
.PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Car-coupling.
1, SAMUEL SHEPARDSON, of La Grange, Grange County, Indiana, U.S.A.
Inventor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide a car-coupling which is simple in
construction and yet not liable to become accidentally uncoupled.
The invention comprises two draw-heads each of which is secured in the ordinary
way to a car. In each draw-head is a socket or slot. In the slot of one draw-
head a hook is pivoted, and a similar hook is pivoted in the opposing draw-head,
but with the point of the hook downwards so as to engage the upwardly extending
point of the other hook. The hooks are kept in a horizontal position by spiral
springs in compression between the rear wall of the slot in the draw-head and a
projection on the rear of the hook.
When the two opposing draw-heads are brought forcibly together, the springs
will give, and the hooks will engage each other. When in engagement the hooks
are retained in that position by a locking-pin which is passed through an aperture
in the draw-head and at the back of the projection on the hook.
Any suitable lever mechanism may be employed to disengage the hooks when
the locking-pin is withdrawn.
Dated this 17th day of February 1893.
W. H. MUNNS,
Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Car-coupling.
I SAMUEL SHEPARDSON of La Grange, Grange Co. Indiana, U.S.A. Inventor
do hereby 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 relates to car-couplings and it consists in the novel construction
and combination of the parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a plan view from above, showing the two halves of the coupling pushed
together.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.
A are the draw-heads, adapted to be attached to the ends of the cars in the usual
manner.
Each draw-head is provided with a similar socket B and a hook C, so that the
halves of the coupling are exactly alike.
b
The socket B is provided with a vertical pivot-pin D, arranged on the center
line drawn through the coupling longitudinally. The front edge 6 of the socket B
is curved on one side and the curve is formed on a circular arc struck from a point
substantially at the center of the pivot-pin of the other half of the coupling.
The front edge is further provided with projecting lugs b' on the other side and a
curved portion d, formed on a circular arc struck substantially from the center of
its own pivot-pin D.
.
D' are shoulders on the socket B, and d' is a locking-pin which passes through
the socket behind the said shoulders.

page_text: The hook C is pivoted on the pin D within the socket and is provided with
recesses c, which engage with the lugs b'.
E is a spring arranged within the socket B and adapted to press against the back
of the projection c¹ on the hook.
This spring E normally holds the hook, as shown in the drawings, pressed against
the said lugs . The front end e of the hook is forked and is provided with a
vertical pin-hole e arranged on the center line of the coupling between the pivot-
pins D. The projection e' is adapted to bear against the pin d' when the pin is in
place. The piu d' is only dropped into place when one-half of the coupling is to
be used in connection with the ordinary coupling-link of a car or the pilot-bar of
an engine. The pin d' then locks the hook C, and the coupling-link is connected
to the forked end e of the hook by means of an ordinary coupling-pin dropped
through the hole e'. The front end e of the hook is rounded at so that when the
pin d is withdrawn and the two similar halves of the coupling are pushed together
each hook is pushed back against the pressure of its spring E until just before the
hook strikes the curved portion b. The springs E then force the hooks into
engagement with each other as shown in the drawings.
Fis a shoulder on the socket B for the projection c¹ to strike against, so that the
hook cannot be forced so far back as to break the spring.
The front end e of each hook is provided with a slight projection g which engages
with a similar recess on the other hook, and as the pivot-pin of each hook is
arranged on the center line of the coupling there is no tendency to separate the
hooks when the cars are drawn along. When the cars are pushed together the
curved front ends of the hooks push against the curved front edges b of the sockets
substantially on the center line of the halves of the coupling and the hooks still
remain coupled. Each hook is provided with a chain or link h for uncoupling it
from the other hook. This chain or other similar device is worked from the side
of the car in any convenient manner. It is sufficient to pull one chain to uncoupic
the cars, as each hook can be moved far enough back to clear the other hook, and
the curvature of the front edge b is such as to permit of this motion. The
projections g are beveled at their meeting ends, so that they will not prevent either
hook from being drawn back.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a car-coupling, the combination of two similar draw-heads, each provided
with a socket having a curved edge and a lug b¹ in front, a curved hook pivoted
in the socket, and a spring normally holding the hook against the said lug, the said
hooks having curved front ends adapted to press against the said edges b,
substantially on the center line of the two draw-heads and being pivoted substantially
on the said center line, whereby the said springs are not subjected to strain when
the cars are moved forward or backward & whereby the said hooks are adapted to
engage automatically when pushed together.
2. In a car-coupling the combination, with a draw-head provided with a socket
having lugs, of a hook provided with a forked front end having a hole for a
coupling-pin and the projection c', the removable pin passing through the socket
behind the said projection and adapted to hold the hook against the said lugs, and a
vertical pin pivoting the said hook in the socket, the said pin and hole being
arranged substantially on the center line passing through the draw-head
longitudinally.
D1 17th Jan CAT
1
1900
W. H. MUNNS,
Agent for Applicant.