Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st May, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Jan., 1898-Accepted, 30th Apr., 1898
I, EMIL KRINNER, of Herzog-Heinrichstrasse 31/III, Munich, Bavaria, in the
Empire of Germany, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved safety-coupling for railway-carriages, which
is of very simple construction and fulfils thus all the conditions which are required
from it, that is to say, it couples automatically and securely and adjusts the lever, by
means of which the coupling is again disengaged, the disengaging can be easily
effected from either of the exterior sides of the carriage by means of a lever, but it
can never be effected by jolting etc., this improvement allows simultaneously of
drawing the carriages together, buffers for goods waggons having however the
prescribed distance from one another, the coupling is applicable for all carriages, for
carriages with shorter or longer or with unequal buffers.
The two members of the coupling are similar to one another and each comprises a
casing open laterally and secured on an arm or frame extending from the end of the
carriage. A pivoted finger projects from this casing, said finger being integral with
a lever ending in a roller. In the casing is pivoted a counter roller. A locking bolt
may be drawn into the casing in such a way as to lie between these rollers and so
form a stop for the lever, thus locking the finger in a projecting position against
backward movement away from the carriage but not against forward movement
towards the carriage. On two carriages being thrust together for coupling the
fingers strike each other and mutually press each other towards their respective
carriages until they pass one another and the back thrust of the buffer springs brings
them back against each other. This inward thrust will have caused a pin on each
lever to operate so as to draw forward the bolt, so that on back thrust the fingers
cannot give too far outwardly but remain engaged.
To disengage the coupling from the side of the carriage a lever may be moved by
hand to draw back the bolt; the fingers can then move outwardly to disengage each
other, after which a spring returns them to their normal position ready for
re-engagement.
Means are provided to prevent the hand lever from acting accidentally to release
the coupling.

page_text: Improved Automatic Safety Coupling for Railway Carriages.
I, EMIL KRINNER, of Herzog Heinrichstrasse 31/III, Munich, in the Empire of
Germany, Manufacturer, 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 an improved coupling for railway carriages, which is
operated automatically, that is, by the carriages being pushed against one another
without requiring any other assistance, and which coupling can be uncoupled from
outside without a man having to go between the carriages, so that there is no danger
for the railway officials. This coupling is further distinguished by its great simplicity
and especially by the entire exclusion of an unintended disengagement in consequence
of shocks or the like.
In the annexed drawing:
-
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the coupling, and shows the same in the coupled position.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a diagram representing the position of the parts during uncoupling.
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the displacement of the fingers.
The coupling mechanism (consisting essentially of the fingers a a¹, the jointed
levers 6 b¹, the rods c c¹, and the operating levers à d¹) is arranged on the rods e e
attached to the carriages between the buffers of the same.
Each of the rods e el bas
When
a slot, through which the fingers a a¹ pass, and are fixed in the same by means of the
bolts f¹, on which they can swing or turn. In this manner the fingers a a' become,
as it were, pivoted levers. The position of the fingers a a¹ as represented in Fig. 2
is the coupled position, in which position they are also kept by springs g g¹ arranged
on the rods e e' when the coupling is not in operation. On the rods e e¹ there are
further arranged arms h h', to which the one ends of the jointed levers b b¹
are pivoted. The other ends of the jointed levers are connected with the
rods c c¹, which are connected to the levers d d¹. On the back ends of the fingers a a¹
there are rollers i ¹ and near the latter are the pins kk. On the rods e e¹ there are
also arranged the rollers ll¹. When the carriages are pushing against one another
the two fingers a a¹ collide, and pass by one another and, as soon as they have passed,
they fall back into their stationary position in consequence of the effect of the
springs gg, whereupon the coupling is effected. Fig. 2 shows the coupling in the
coupled position. Fig. 4 shows a diagram of the position of the fingers immediately
before or during coupling. The coupling is effected in the following manner.
the carriages collide the fingers a a¹ pass into the position shown in Fig. 4. The pins
kk operate on the jointed levers 6 6¹ and bring the latter as well as the rods c c¹
coupled to the same into the position shown in Fig. 4, and as the rods c c¹ are
connected with the levers d d' these are also moved. As before mentioned, the
fingers a a¹, as soon as they have passed one another, return into their stationary position
in consequence of the effect of the springs g g', and as, by their displacement during
collision, the rods c c¹ have been drawn out (see Fig. 4 on the left), their back ends,
that is, the rollers find resistance on the drawing rods c c¹, so that they are fixed
in their stationary position (Fig. 2). The thus coupled fingers are held firmly against
one another by the spring effect of the carriage buffers which tends to draw the
carriages apart. When the carriages are to be uncoupled, one of the levers d d¹ which
are guided in slots m m¹ must be operated by hand, whereby the rod c or c¹ is drawn
backwards, so that the roller i or ¹ becomes free and the finger a or a' is displaced
(Fig. 3), until the roller i or i¹ abuts on the roller or respectively. The carriages
can now be moved apart, whereupon the finger a or a¹ returns again by the action of

page_text: the spring g or g¹ into its stationary position. The rollers i ' are arranged for the
purpose, that the rods c c¹ slide more easily for the purpose of uncoupling the
carriages, when operating the levers d d'. In order to give to the coupling a greater
security when travelling round curves etc. both fingers are provided with
hemispherical projections n and hollows n¹ corresponding to the latter, which engage
one another. The levers d d¹ are arranged so that they can be fixed in their
guides m m in an appropriate manner, so that they cannot be displaced
accidentally.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. An automatic coupling for railway carriages having the coupling members or
fingers a a¹ with hemispherical projections and corresponding hollows which are
pivoted on framings e e¹ in order to meet together; rods c c adapted to be moved
forward before projections by means of articulated levers b b', to lock the
coupling members a a¹; springs g g¹ for holding the fingers a a¹ in position when
disengaged and levers d d whereby the coupling is disengaged from one of the two
sides of the carriages by moving the one disengaging lever d or d back in the
guidings m or m' to withdraw the rod c or c'.
2. The construction of the said coupling and its attendant parts substantially as
herein described and illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of January 1898.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant, 18, Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C., London.