Improvements in Railway Vehicle Couplings.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Sept., 1897-Accepted, 13th Nov., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Vehicle Couplings.
We, IKE Poss, Shoe Merchant, ROBERT SCHWARTZ Shoe Merchant, JOSEPHI
OTTOKAR CADEK, Music Teacher, and DAVID ALTMAN, no occupation, all of Market
Street, Chattanooga, County of Hamilton, Tennessee, U.S.A., 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 more especially to improvements in what is known as the
Janney type of railway vehicle couplings..
In the accompanying drawing
Fig. 1 is a part sectional plan of a coupling of the invention in the locked
position.
Fig. 2 a part sectional side elevation of one of the coupling parts and
Fig. 3 an elevation of the opposite side thereof.
Fig. 4 a part sectional plan of a coupling part in the unlocked position.
Fig. 5 a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 6a perspective view of a detail.
A are the drawheads having the reverse tail pins B secured to their ends by
suitable keys C. To each jaw A¹ of the coupling is pivotted a knuckle D pointed
at D. Mounted within each drawhead is a spring actuated bolt E which is
reduced at the end e and has shoulders E¹ on opposite sides which limit the rear-
ward movement of the bolt as they strike against the end of the casing in which
the bolt slides. Pivotted in a recessed portion of each jaw is a lever F the hooked
end of which is adapted to rest immediately in front of the outer end of the bolt E
and as this lever is turned on its pivot, the bolt may be thrown back into its casing
and free the end of the knuckle D, allowing the latter to turn on its pivot and
become uncoupled.
"The lever is provided with a handle F1 which projects to one side of the vehicle
by which means the knuckle D is released at that side. To release it from the
other side of the vehicle a lever 12 is provided, pivotted at a point intermediate
of its length to the drawhead, one end of said lever extending outwardly to the
side of the vehicle and the opposite end pivotally secured to the handle F. This
arrangement of hand levers permits the knuckles 1 to be released from either side
of the vehicle.
On the under face of each knuckle is a lug adapted to be guided in an inclined
recess in the lower portion of the jaw A¹ of each of the coupling parts. These
inclines are slightly curved and rise towards the inner face of the jaw and cause
the knuckles to rise slightly as they are swung back into a locking position. In
order to facilitate the uncoupling of the knuckles, the spring actuated bolt E is
slightly inclined downward and as it is thrown back, the knuckle will swing on its
pivot and, partially by gravity, will open of itself as the lug will slide down the
inclined groove or recess and in the locking of the knuckles it will take slightly
more pressure on these to swing them into a locked elevation by reason of the lugs
on the knuckles turning back and upward in the inclined recesses or grooves.
3

page_text: In order to hold the operating lever F in the position shewn in Fig. 4 in which
it holds back the sliding bolt out of engagement with the end of the knuckle D',
an offset H is provided against which the lever bears, and when it is desired to
release the lever from engagement with the end of the bolt, said lever having a
slight vertical play on its pivot f, it may be raised to clear the shoulder or offset H
as shewn in Figs. 1 and 3.
_
Secured to the under side of each jaw of the coupling is a guard K which may be
held in position by means of the pivotal bolt or pin which holds the knuckle to the
jaw. They serve to catch the knuckles in case they should tend to drop down out
of engagement with each other.
In order to prevent the spring actuated bolt E from jumping out of its casing
one side of the recessed portion is provided with a stop M against which the outer
end of the bolt will come to prevent its further passage.
We are aware that in this type of coupling the use of a spring actuated bolt to
retain the end of a locking knuckle, said bolt being moved longitudinally by means
of a lever, is not novel and we do not claim any such construction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. In a railway vehicle coupling, the combination with the drawhead, jaws, and
knuckles pivotted therein, of a spring actuated locking bolt, designed to normally
engage with the end of the knuckle when closed, and a lever and notch engaging
therewith designed to hold the said bolt out of the path of the pivotted knuckle,
substantially as described and shewn.
2. In a railway vehicle coupling, the combination with the drawhead, jaw and
knuckle, of the spring actuated locking-bolt, a casing inside the drawhead in which
the said bolt is guided, shoulders on opposite sides of the bolt designed to abut
against the end of said casing to limit its forward throw, formed by the end wall
of a recessed portion of the jaw, in which the head of the bolt slides, substantially
as described and shewn.
3. In combination with the drawhead, jaws and knuckles pivotted thereto, the
spring actuated bolts and levers for actuating the same, the stop M to limit the
forward throw of said bolt, the offset H over which the said lever may be made to
engage, after the bolt is forced back in the drawhead to hold the bolt from
engaging with the end of the knuckle, substantially as described and shewn.
4. In a railway vehicle coupling, the combination with the drawhead, jaws and
knuckles pivotted therein, of a spring actuated locking bolt, a lever
provided with a handle projecting at one side of the vehicle, a hook upon the
opposite end of the lever to hold the bolt out of the path of the knuckles, and an
auxiliary lever pivotally secured to the drawhead having one end pivotally secured
to the aforesaid lever, the opposite end extending to the side of the vehicle
substantially as described and-shewn.
Dated this 30th day of September 1897.
THOMAS R. SHILLITO,
89 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicants.