Coupling Carriages of Railway or other, Trains.
Year: 1885

page_text: Coupling Carriages of Railway or other, Trains.
I, THOMAS ATTWOOD BROCKELBANK of 34 Rylett Road, Shepherds Bush, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONNECTING TOGETHER OR COUPLING
CARRIAGES OF RAILWAY, OR OTHER TRAINS," to be as follows:-
In the specification of a former Patent granted to me, under date, the sixteenth
day of September 1882 No 4409 is described a coupling apparatus wherein the
hook of the draw-bar is made with a stop or projection, and there is jointed thereto
a coupling hook of peculiar form, comprising a head with two prongs connected by
a single shank with a bifurcated portion, this last mentioned part being jointed
by a pin to the draw-bar in such manner that the coupling hook is supported in
coupling position by the above mentioned stop or projection formed on the hook of
the draw-bar.
Now my present invention is designed to adapt the form of coupling hook
above referred to for use in connection with a draw-bar having a hook of ordinary
form made without such a stop or projection as above referred to, and also to make
the coupling hook more certain in its action as respects its engagement with a
similar hook attached to another vehicle. For these purposes I provide each prong
of the bifurcated or rearward portion of the coupling hook with an extension of
elbow shape arranged to come into contact with the frame-work or other available
part of the vehicle to which my apparatus is applied in such manner as to serve in
lieu of a projection upon 'the hook of the draw-bar for holding the coupling hook in
position in readiness for the coupling operation. According to one arrangement,
the elbow shaped projections are also turned outward to afford a better bearing
upon the part of the vehicle against which they are to rest.
Also, I form each prong of the head of the coupling hook with a lateral curvature
in an outward direction, thus increasing the distance apart of the points of the two
prongs, so that they may take a bearing upon the bifurcated rearward portion of
a similar coupling hook attached to an adjoining vehicle and may ride over the
draw-bar hook of such vehicle preparatory to a return movement: during which the
coupling hook will move somewhat downward and become engaged with that over
whose bifurcated portion it has been riding, as just described.
'

page_text: 6
Improvements in Apparatus for Connecting together or
Coupling Carriages of Railway or other Trains.
I, THOMAS ATTWOOD BROCKELBANK, of 34 Rylett Road, Shepherd's Bush, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, 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:-
In the specification of a former patent granted to me, under date the sixteenth
day of September 1882 No 4409 is described a coupling apparatus wherein the
hook of the draw-bar is made with a stop or projection, and there is jointed thereto
a coupling look of peculiar form, comprising a head with two prongs connected by
a single shank with a bifurcated portion, this last mentioned part being jointed
by a pin to the draw-bar in such manner that the coupling hook is supported in
coupling position by the above mentioned stop or projection formed on the hook of
the draw-bar.
Now my present invention is designed to adapt the form of coupling hook
above referred to for use in connection with a draw-bar having a hook of ordinary
form made without such a stop or projection as above referred to, and also to make
the coupling hook more certain in its action as respects its engagement with a
similar hook attached to another vehicle. For these purposes I provide each prong
of the bifurcated or rearward portion of the coupling hook with an extension of
elbow-shape arranged to come into contact with the framework or other available
part of the vehicle to which my apparatus is applied in such manner as to serve in
lieu of a projection upon the hook of the drawbar for holding the coupling hook in
position in readiness for the coupling operation. According to one arrangement
the elbow shaped projections are also turned outward to afford a better bearing
upon the part of the vehicle against which they are to rest. Also, I form each
prong of the head of the coupling hook with a lateral curvature in an outward
direction, thus increasing the distance apart of the points of the two prongs, so
that they may take a bearing upon the bifurcated rearward portion of a similar
coupling hook attached to an adjoining vehicle and may ride over the draw-bar
hook of such vehicle preparatory to a return movement during which the coupling
hook will move somewhat downward and become engaged with that over whose
bifurcated portion it has been riding, as just described. This arrangement also
facilitates coupling on curves.
Referring to the accompanying 3 sheets of illustrative drawings, Fig. 1 is a side
elevation of a coupling hook according to my present invention shown applied to a
vehicle with a dead block buffer. Fig. 2 is a view of the rearward end of the book
looking in the direction of the arrow Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of the
hook and Fig. 4 is an elevation of its forward end looking in the direction of
the arrow Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig. 1 showing the application of the
coupling hook to a vehicle provided with a spring buffer.
The coupling hook comprising a head 1 with prongs 2-3 connected to the
bifurcated portion 4 by a shank 5. 6 is a draw-bar and 7 is a hook of ordinary

page_text: form secured thereto. The bifurcated portion 4 of the coupling hook is pivotted to
the hook 7 by a pin 8 about which it can move during the coupling and uncoupling
operations. The prongs of the bifurcated or rearward portion 4 are provided each
with an extension 9 of elbow shape. These extensions are so arranged as to come
into contact with the under surface of the framework or headstock 10 of the
vehicle as shown and hold the coupling hook in the desired position ready to be
coupled to a coupling hook on an adjacent vehicle. In the arrangement shown the
extensions 9 are turned or curved outward as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 for the
purpose of affording a better bearing against the under surface of the framework or
headstock in order that the hook may be maintained in the proper position for
engagement with another like hook on an adjacent vehicle.
The prongs 2, 3 of the head 1 are curved outward in a lateral direction as shown
so that the distance apart of the prongs gradually increases up to their points for
the purposes before stated.
'
The coupling hook shown in Fig. 5 is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and
is similarly figured but being applied to a vehicle with spring buffers its shank 5 is
shown correspondingly longer.
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. Providing the prongs of the bifurcated rearward portion of the coupling hook
with extensions arranged and operating substantially in the manner described and
illustrated for the purpose specified..
2. Making the prongs of the head of the coupling hook with a lateral or outward
curvature substantially in the manner described and illustrated for the purposes
specified.
3. The improved coupling hook or apparatus as shown and described.