Improvements in Railway Couplings.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Mar., 1895-Accepted, 3rd Aug., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Couplings.
THOMAS GASKINS, of Arcadia, De Soto County, State of Florida, United
States of America, 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:-
My invention relates to that form of car coupling popularly known in the United
States of America as the "Janney" type in which the draw-head is provided upon
one side with an articulated knuckle adapted to couple with a similar knuckle on
the other draw-head, which knuckles are provided with means for locking them
rigidly in their coupled position, or allowing them to be turned outwardly to be
disengaged from each other.
My invention consists chiefly in an improved construction and arrangement of
the locking lever which holds the coupling knuckle, whereby the draft strain on the
coupling pin is so reduced as to permit it to be operated by hand even when the
dratt strain is on as will be hereinafter more fully described with reference to
the accompanying drawings forming part of this Specification, in which
Figure is a horizontal section of the coupling in the locked position.
Figure 2 is a similar view in the open position.
Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section through line 3-3 of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a vertical section through line 4-4 of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a view similar to that shown in Figure 1 but showing a modification
of the invention and
Figure 6 is a view showing different means for lifting the pin to uncouple the
cars.
In the drawing, A represents the draw-head which has a hollow chambered
portion B on one side, and a curved forward projection B' on the other side. In
the outer end of the side B of the draw-head there is pivoted or hinged upon a
vertical pin D, a coupling knuckle a a' constructed as a short elbow lever whose
outer arm a forms the coupling hook, and whose inner arm a¹ is at right angles to
the outer arm and is acted upon by locking devices. These locking devices consist
of a horizontal lever and a vertical pin C. The lever b oscillates about a vertical
axis located directly in rear of the pivot pin D of the knuckle. At one end of
the lever on its front side and immediately in front of its axis of articulation and
extending to the centre of this axis is a curved seat 62 53 in which the rounded end
of the knuckle arm a¹ plays, working therein as an abutment. In the opening
movement of the knuckle its book end a moves outwardly, and its inner arm a¹
moves toward the centre of the draw bar and bears against the side of the seat
in lever b, tending to throw the free end of lever b rearwardly into the draw-head,
and in the closing movement of the knuckle its arm a' strikes the side b² of the
seat in the lever b, and tends to throw its free end outwardly or to the front.
When the cars are coupled and the knuckle is in the position shown in Figure 1 a
locking pin C, upon the opposite side of the draw-head, is arranged to drop
vertically through a hole in the draw-head, and passes behind the end of the lever b,
preventing its free end from moving to the rear from the pressure of the end of the
knuckle arm a' against the side 3 of the seat in lever b, which pressure is caused
by the draft strain on the outer or hooked part a of the knuckle; and so long as
the pin C remains behind the free end of lever b the knuckle a a' is locked in the
coupled position. When, however, the pin C is raised above range of engagement

page_text: with the lever b, the said lever may move to the rear, and the knuckle arm a¹ and
the hook a move outwardly, to permit of the uncoupling of the cars, as shown in
Figure 2. When the draft strain is on the knuckle the pressure of its rear end is
reduced in proportion to the leverage which its short armn a bears to the longer
arm a, and this pressure of its rear end is still further very greatly reduced by the
lever because the end of the arm a' works against the lever bat a point coincident
with its axis, which causes the longer free end of lever to rest so very lightly
against the pin C, that the frictional contact thereagainst is very light, and does
not interfere with the free and easy lifting of the pin C to uncouple, even when
the full draft strain is on. The pin C is made square at its upper part, its cross
section being indicated at 1, 2, 3, 4, in Figure 1, and the hole in the upper part of
the draw bar is made to correspond. The lower end of the pin is, however, only
about half the size, being cut away on one side, so that its cross section is only
that shown at 1, 5, 6, 4, and the hole in the lower part of the draw bar is made to
correspond. There is therefore left on the inner side of this pin C a shoulder s,
see Figure 3, which when raised above the plane of the end of lever b allows the
latter to move back in coupling, and when dropped below the plane of lever
locks this lever from going back, and holds the coupling locked in its closed
position.
To provide axial bearings for the oscillation of the lever b, it is formed with a
cylindrical boss at the top and 6 at the bottom, which play within corresponding
recesses in the'draw-head. To permit the lever to be inserted in the mouth of
the draw bar, curved channels are formed at top and bottom of the throat
of the draw bar to give passage to the bosses in inserting or removing the
lever b.
To hold the bosses in their proper axial position after being inserted in the
channels and, the lower boss is made longer than the channels are deep, and at
the end of the lower channel ' there is a round hole h* passing through the bottom
of the draw bar, and corresponding to the boss 6º. When, in inserting the lever,
the bosses reach the ends of the channels, the lever and bosses drop down, and
boss becomes seated in its bearing hole 2 which prevents it from coming out.
In setting the devices for automatic coupling, the parts are put in the position
shown in Figures 2 and 3 with the shoulders of pin C resting upon the end of
lever b. Now when the cars come together, the knuckles are closed by the impact.
and the rear end of knuckle arm a', striking against the side of the seat in
lever b, throws its free end to the front from beneath the shoulders of the pin C,
and allows the latter to pass behind the lever b which is immediately locked
thereby, and in turn locks the long arm a' of the knuckle.
As a modification of my invention I may arrange it as shown in Figure 5 in
which a detachable pin b' extends all the way through the lever 6 and forms its
axial bearing either with or without the bosses. The shoulder a² of arm a¹
by locking against the shoulder d when the cars are coupled takes a part of the
draft strain off the pin D and also prevents the uncoupling of the cars in case of
breakage of the pin D. r, t, are stop shoulders on the knuckle and drawhead to
limit the motion of the former.
The uncoupling of the cars is easily effected even when the draft strain is on,
because there is but little frictional resistance on account of the reduction of
leverage by the arrangement of the parts described. The lifting of the pin may
be effected either from the top-front, or side of the car, by the devices shown
in Figure 6, in which H is a double crank shaft, connected to the pin by a chain,
or other means which crank shaft is worked from the top of a car through rod R
and lever M, or from the side of the car through rod K and lever L. When
worked on a passenger car lever M may or may not rise above the level of the
platform.
I am
aware that this type of car coupling, comprising a jointed knuckle, a
locking cam for the knuckle, and a retaining dog for the locking cam, is old, and
therefore only claim my peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts, in

page_text: which a leading feature is the transverse lever b pivoted upon one side of the draw-.
head immediately behind the axis of the knuckle and extending across the
draw-head to its opposite side to co-operate with the pin C and arranging
the arm a of the knuckle to penetrate to or nearly to the centre line or axis of the
locking lever b, and also further in the special provision of pivotal or axial bosses
and bearings for the lever b. These improvements cause the draft strain to be much
more lightly transmitted to the coupling pin C, so that the latter can be easily
worked while the draft strain is on and the whole coupling is rendered much
simpler and cheaper, and more effective and practical in its operation.
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 with the knuckle; of a locking lever for
the rear arm of the knuckle baving at the top and bottom axial bearings com-
posed of projecting bosses with a seat between them for the rear arm of the
knuckle extending practically into the axial line of the bosses, and an adjustable
pin or locking device for holding the outer end of the lever substantially as and for
the purpose described.
2. In a car coupling, the combination with the knuckle; of a locking lever for
the rear arm of the knuckle having at the top and bottom axial bosses with a seat
between them for the rear end of the knuckle extending practically into the
axial line of the bosses, and adjustable locking pin for the outer end of the lever,
and the draw-head having channels in its throat to give passage to the bosses of
the lever, and a hole at the end of the lower channel for the reception of the lower
boss and the retention of the lever in place substantially as and for the purpose
described.
3. The combination with the draw-head and its hinged knuckle; of the locking
lever having seat. 6263 for the rear arm of the knuckle, and a vertically adjustable
locking pin C made larger at its upper end than at its lower end and having a
shoulder's adapted to rest upon the free end of lever b or drop behind it substantially
as and for the purpose described.
4. The combination with the coupling knuckle, and the draw-head having
channels in the top and bottom walls of its throat; of the locking lever b
having bosses 65 66 around its axial hole and a detachable axial pin b' substantially
as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 19th day of March 1895.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.