IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY
CARRIAGES." A communication from abroad by Jacob Heberlein, of
Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria.
Sealed the 27th December 1873, and dated the 28th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the
,
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th October 1873.
I, JOHN IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
3 in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING
RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to apparatus to be applied to railway carriages
for the purpose of moving the couplings, either to hook them together
) for the purpose of joining the carriages, or to unhook them for the
purpose of detaching the carriages from each other, the apparatus being

page_text: (
so contrived that it can be readily applied to existing rolling stock, and
that the couplings are moved from outside the buffers on either side of
the carriage so that the workman employed is not exposed to the danger
which usually attends the act of coupling or uncoupling when it is
necessary that he should work in the space between the carriages. For
this purpose a horizontal shaft is mounted in bearings under the end
frame of the carriage, such shaft extending the whole width of the
carriage, and having fixed on it at each end a hand lever by which it
can be turned. At the middle of the shaft is fixed another lever which
is connected by a rod to a pin on a sliding piece on the loop of the
ordinary screw coupling. This rod is not straight but bent to a suitable
form, and passes between two other levers which are respectively fixed on
sleeves or tubular shafts embracing the first-named shaft, each of which
sleeves extends from near the middle of the carriage to the outside of
the framing on either side, and has fixed on it a hand lever at cither
end. The two middle levers of the sleeves are connected together by a
pin on which is mounted a roller under the bent connecting rod aforc-
said.
. The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Suppose it is desired to
couple two carriages, in which case the coupling link is hanging nearly
vertically downwards from the hook of one of the carriages, the workman
outside the buffer on either side moves the lever and the cross shaft so as
to turn the shaft, and the turning of the shaft by means of its middle lever
and connecting rod causes the coupling link to swing upwards and out-
wards; then by turning the sleeve or tubular shaft the roller worked
by its middle lever is made to run along under the bent connecting rod
and so to raise the loop of the coupling above the hook of the contiguous
carriage, into which by turning the sleeve a little backwards it is allowed
to drop when the carriages are brought a little nearer together..
For uncoupling two carriages the sleeve is first moved a little by
'means of the lever on its end so as to raise the loop of the coupling
link out of the hook of the contiguous carriage, the carriages are then
parted a little, and the sleeve and shaft being turned backwards the
coupling link descends to its hanging. position.
When this apparatus is applied it is preferred to make the lever which a
works the tightening screw of the coupling to work in the manner of a
ratchet brace with pawls on either side to act for either tightening.or

page_text: slackening, and to provide on the hanging weight of the lever eyes or
hooks so that the attendant from outside can by means of a hooked rod
work the same in either direction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, 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
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Imray, Her special
license that I, the said John Imray, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Imray, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 APPARATUS
FOR COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY CARRIAGES," a communication to mé
from abroad by Jacob Heberlein, of Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Imray, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hand and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner thé
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediatelý
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Imray, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying

page_text: is to say:
This Invention relates to apparatus to be applied to railway carriages
for the purpose of moving the couplings either to hook them together
for the purpose of joining the carriages, or to unhook them for the
purpose of detaching the carriages from each other, the apparatus being
so contrived that it can be readily applied to existing rolling stock, and
that the couplings are moved from outside the buffers on either side of
the carriage, so that the workman employed is not exposed to the danger
which usually attends the act of coupling or uncoupling when it is neces-
sary that he should work in the space between the carriages. For this
purpose a horizontal shaft is mounted in bearings under the end frame of
the carriage, such shaft extending the whole width of the carriage and
having fixed on it at each end a hand lever by which it can be turned.
At the middle of the shaft is fixed another lever, which is connected by
a rod to a pin on a piece supporting the loop of the ordinary screw
coupling. This rod is not straight but bent to a suitable form; and
passes between two other levers which are respectively fixed on sleeves
or tubular shafts embracing the first-named shaft, each of which sleeves
extends from near the middle of the carriage to the outside of the
framing on either side, and has fixed on it a hand lever at either end.
The two middle levers of the sleeves are connected together by a pin, on
which is mounted a roller under the bent connecting rod aforesaid.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Suppose it is desired to
couple two carriages, in which case the coupling link is hanging nearly
vertically downwards from the hook of one of the carriages, the work-
man outside the buffer on either side moves the lever and the cross shaft
so as to turn the shaft, and the turning of the shaft by means of its
middle lever and connecting rod causes the coupling link to swing
upwards and outwards; then by turning the sleeve or tubular shaft the
roller worked by its middle lever is made to run along under the bent
connecting rod and so to raise the loop of the coupling above the hook
of the contiguous carriage, into which by turning the sleeve a little
backwards it is allowed to drop, when the carriages are brought a little
nearer together.
For uncoupling two carriages the sleeve is first moved a little by

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For uncoupling in like manner he raises the loop out of the hook and
the carriages being separated he allows the coupling to drop to the
position shewn in Fig. 1. .
In order that the attendant may tighten up or slack out the coupling
without getting between the carriages the ordinary right-and-left screw 5
of the coupling has fixed on it a ratchet wheel z, and a weight y hangs
from the screw by two cheek pieces, one on each side of the ratchet
wheel; these cheeks carry a double ended pawl x, and the weight y has
on either side an eye y¹. The attendant by means of a hooked wire or
rod can from outside the carriages lay hold of either of the eyes y', and 1
by turning the weight y in the one direction or the other cause the one
end of the pawl x to engage with the ratchet wheel z, and can thereby
turn the screw of the coupling.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my 1
foreign correspondent, I claim,--
First. The use for coupling or uncoupling railway carriages of apparatus
consisting of a shaft and sleeves mounted at one end of a carriage, with
hand levers at each end and arms in the middle connected to the
coupling link, whereby the link can be raised or lowered by hand applied 2
to the end levers, substantially as herein described.
Second. The use for tightening or slacking the screw couplings of
railway carriages of a ratchet wheel and double ended pawl in combina-
tion with the hanging weight, and with eyes on the weight, whereby it
can be moved from outside the carriages, substantially as herein 2
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in the year of
Azzu
Íond One thousand night hundund and aouandus Laven