IMPROVED COUPLING FOR RAILWAY CARS AND SIMILAR VEHICLES
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I CHARLES JAMES NICHOLSON of Barr House, Great Barr in the County of
Stafford Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
AN IMPROVED COUPLING FOR RAILWAY CARS AND SIMILAR VEHICLES to be as
follows and consists of a central buffer composed of a Cylindrical Casting within
which a plunger works forced outwards by a spring or counterweighted lever,
a drag-link is fastened to the Cylindrical Casting and on the drawbar of the
Carriage; near the end, a hook of peculiar shape is fixed, the drag-link is held
in suitable position by a small counterbalanced crank lever, when the drawbar
presses against the plunger of the buffer this drag-link automatically raises itself
over the hook on the drawbar and is caught thereby thus making a secure
connection between the Engine and the Carriage.
This Invention is applicably equally to connections between two or more Engines
or two or more Cars or Carriages.

page_text: I, CHARLES JAMES NICHOLSON of Barr House Great Barr in the County of
Stafford, Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
AN IMPROVED COUPLING FOR RAILWAY CARS AND SIMILAR VEHICLES and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This Invention is applicable more especially for coupling the engine to the car
on Street Railways familiarly spoken of as Tramways, and is a combination of
a Railway buffer & coupling, and consists in the first part of a body containing
a spring, and a buffer arranged as in the usual manner and for the like purposes,
but with these differences, that preferably, instead of the buffer terminating as a
disc or plate it is recessed as a cup; also that there is a coupling link attached
to the body capable of vibrating vertically; & further; that there is also a detent
or catch or, & preferably 'so, a prop attached to this body for the purpose of
temporarily holding the drag or coupling link in a suitable position to permit
of its being struck, & raised up the inclination formed on the upper side of the
termination of a drawbar which consists of the second part; & which said drawbar
terminates as a combination of a ram, (preferably round-nosed for the purpose of
entering the cup in the buffer) & a hook for the purpose of catching the aforesaid
link. This drawbar is secured to the car so as to admit of slight vibration
vertically, & of considerable vibration horizontally in order to allow for oscillation
& for passing freely round curves...
i.
The buffer is fixed to the engine by preference, & the drawbar to the car; they
are both situated centrally as in the case of ordinary couplings, with their respective
centre lines coinciding with each other horizontally & vertically considered.
The mode of coupling is as follows:-The link is propped or detented up slightly
above the horizontal centre line before mentioned. By the vehicles colliding one
with another the drawbar is caused to enter the cup of the buffer, & so to drive
back the spring. In so doing the drag link is caused to glide up the inclined plane
of the drawbar, thereby releasing the detent or prop, which falls, preferably by
gravity, from under it, thereby enabling the link, after it has mounted the incline,
to drop over the hook, whilst the recoil of the spring draws the whole connection
tight, obtaining as a consequence a coupling automatic, or more strictly speaking
self-fastening, when actuated by the colliding of the vehicles.
The identity of the parts is as follows:-A cylindrical body; B spring; C buffer,
both contained therein; D cup of buffer; E coupling or drag-link secured by
pin F; G prop, rocking on pin H; I the drawbar preferably anchored on pin K,
and preferably having a segmental slot L at the rear sliding on pin M, for the
purpose of holding the drawbar horizontally without impeding its horizontal
vibration freely; N the ram, which enters the buffer cup; O the incline plane
terminating as a hook.
Instead of the ram of the drawbar, & the cup or buffer extremity terminating as
it were, as a spigot and faucet joint they may terminate as buffer discs or plates.
And again, instead of the link being carried by the buffer body it may be secured

page_text: to the drawbar in which case the inclined hook will be on the buffer instead of on
the drawbar.
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 The arrangement & combination of parts constituting the automatic action
as necessary for suspending & releasing the link at the proper moment of col-
lision substantially as herein before described & illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
2 The arrangement & combination of parts constituting a ram, an incline & a
hook, substantially as hereinbefore described & illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
3 The arrangement & combination of parts constituting the buffer & drag-
link substantially as hereinbefore described & illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
4 The combination of a buffer and a drag link of the one part, & a drawbar,
inclined plane hook & ram of the other part, as serving the purpose of a complete
set of buffers & couplings substantially as herein before described & illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
5 The arrangement & combination of parts consisting of drawbar, ram & shackle
or link, substantially as herein before described & illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
6 So far as modifications, the arrangement & combination of parts consisting
of the buffer & hook, substantially as hereinbefore described & illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
7 The combination of a buffer, inclined plane, & a hook of the one part, & a
drawbar, ram, or disc, & shackle, or link, of the other part serving the purpose of
a complete set of buffers & coupling, substantially as herein before described &
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.