Improved Arrangement of Automatic Coupling for Railway Carriages, Tramcars, and the like.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Jan., 1893—Accepted, 11th Mar., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Arrangement of Automatic Coupling for Railway
Carriages, Tramcars, and the like.
I, JEAN JOSEPH ETIENNE LENOIR, of La Varenne, Saint Hilaire, in the
Republic of France, 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 :-
My invention relates to a system of automatic permanent or temporary
coupling for vehicles, more particularly for railway carriages, tramcars and the
like.
The accompanying drawing shows the application of this system to railway
carriages,
Figure 1 being a plan view, and
Figure 2 a front view of the coupling.
Figure 3 shows a section of a modification of the attachment.
The coupling is carried out by means of a rigid bar A placed on one of the
vehicles, which fits between a fixed part B and a roller C of special form and
movable on an axis D, arranged on the other vehicle. The part of the roller
which presses on the bar may be of any suitable form, when it is circular, as is
generally the case, the roller is pivoted eccentrically.
.
I shall now describe this latter arrangement whilst reserving the right to use
any other form yielding the same result, or I may use a wedge in some cases.
.
I find it also advantageous to be able to uncouple without effort, the theory
itself of the eccentric showing that in this case the effort is practically nil, and is
operated by means of friction.
The coupling on the other hand becomes firmer as the draught increases. On
the piece forming the eccentric, I have arranged projections F G intended to
receive any shocks which may be produced and to prevent the eccentric from
exceeding a certain position where it could only act as a simple bolt.
arrangement allows of the carriages being shunted against one another, the
coupling being effected at the desired point as will be hereinafter shown.
This
The eccentric roller C is carried by a box E preferably of cast iron in the shape
of a funnel which guides the bar A and corrects the horizontal differences which
may arise when the carriages are arranged one in, front of the other. The
differences in height are compensated for by making the eccentric C and the fixed
part B of such a height that they may engage either above or below-or in the
middle according to whether a loaded wagon adjoins an empty one; this height is
the one that exists in practice between the heights of the buffers employed...
Each carriage has at each end, on the right the attachment bar A, and on the
left a box E carrying the eccentric C, and on the other end the same parts sym-
metrically arranged as regards the centre of the carriage so that whatever may be
the position in which a carriage presents itself to another on the track, a bar is
always opposite an eccentric case or box. The above described coupling may be
placed on any suitable part of the carriage so that the couplings at present em-
ployed need not be interfered with. In case it is desired to couple the carriages
by the automatic coupling alone, it will be sufficient to place the two parts one
against the other in the centre of the carriage.
The eccentric is connected to a horizontal lever H which is actuated by means
of a rigid bar I operated from either side of the carriage, either by pushing it or
pulling it as the case may be.
On the accompanying drawings, the spring J, which is intended to return the
eccentric C to its place, is shown arranged on the operating bar I, but it is

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evident that it might be placed elsewhere, for instance, on the eccentric itself, or it
may be replaced by a counterweight or other suitable device, allowing the
eccentric to return to the engaging position when it is desired that the carriage
should be ready for coupling.
The operating bar has a catch K which in turning engages in a groove and
renders the apparatus inoperative. The coupling bar A is loosely pivoted at L
which allows it to turn to right or left in order that the carriages may pass round
curves and also to follow the swaying movements of the train. In its middle
part a, the bar is of such a thickness that when the eccentric is in its normal
position, the former has a little play and can pass through without engaging
the eccentric and the fixed part. In its front part b the bar is thickened so
that it cannot pass hetween the eccentric C and the fixed part B without engaging
the same and causing the eccentric to grip it and form the coupling. An inclined
plane c exists between the two parts C and B on which the eccentric may also
engage without inconvenience.
Further, at the end of the bar there is a thicker part d connected with the front
part by an inclined plane and forming a notch. This notch serves as a safety
appliance in case of wear, for instance, by compelling the eccentric to bear with
greater force on the bar, the eccentric being assisted by a catch arranged in such
a way that when the notch of the bar engages therewith, it forces the eccentric to
turn in a tightening direction; it may also, if required, serve as a coupling. The
thin part of the bar is of such a length that the carriages are only coupled when
they are less than a given distance apart.
When entering a considerable curve, the 'coupling situated towards the greatest
radius of the curve is in operation, whilst the other situated on the smaller radius is
then over the narrow part of the coupling bar and is uncoupled. When the
carriages again enter on a straight piece of track, the coupling which was on the
smaller radius re-engages as soon as the ends of the carriage which were previously
on the inside of the curve have resumed the desired distance. In the case where
the apparatus is in the centre of the carriage, both parts of it work alike.
The bars A are arranged so as to allow of their being moved in a vertical or
horizontal direction when it is desired to dispense with their use.
I also reserve the right of making certain parts of a harder material than others,
in order to allow of those parts which are the easiest to replace being selected as
the parts to be first worn away. Some may be of tempered steel, others of
ordinary steel or iron, others again of cast iron or other suitable material.
.
In order also to prevent the eccentric engaging when the carriages are too close
together, a further apparatus such as the following may be employed. When the
bar penetrates beyond the limit which it ought not to exceed when coupled, it
encounters a catch which forces the eccentric to open, and the latter only closes
when the bar has left this catch or projection.
..also reserve the right to employ flat springs, or other elastic substances at the
points which may be exposed to shocks. The bars A are attached to the framework
of the carriages in any convenient manner, preferably by means of springs and
washers of the kind shown in the drawings.
also desire to reserve the right to the following arrangement, shown in Figure 3.
The notch on the coupling bar A may be situated on the other side of the bar as
at and may engage a shoulder arranged in the fixed part B, the coupling is
then performed by means of this notch and the eccentric or roller C simply serves
to prevent the bar from becoming disengaged from the shoulder, the profile of the
same being such that it can become disengaged when the eccentric is open.
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. An arrangement for automatically coupling vehicles, consisting of a bar A
freely entering into a sheath or Lax E and strangle
ip

page_text: of this sheath by means of an eccentric roller C of variable form which prevents
the bar coming out, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing.
2. In an arrangement such as described in Claim 1, the mode of construction of
the bar A, hinged at L to allow of its being shifted horizontally and having a
narrower part a which prevents the eccentric C from operating when the
carriages approach one another beyond a given limit, and a safety notch d which
forms a check for the eccentric C and forces this latter to turn in the engaging
direction, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. In such an arrangement of coupling, the combination of the axis D, of
the eccentric roller C, with a lever H and a bar I having a spring J and a
stop catch K in the manner and for the object herein before described.
4. In a coupling arrangement of the kind hereinbefore described, the modifi-
cation consisting in providing the bar A with a notch d' which engages a
shoulder of the sheath E whilst this bar is pressed against the fixed part B
by the eccentric C substantially as herein before described with reference to
Figure 3 of the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 14th day of January 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
.
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.