IMPROVEMENTS IN CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING CARRIAGES AND WAGONS ON RAILWAYS, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Turnbull, of Edinburgh, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, Writer to the Signet, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING CARRIAGES AND
WAGONS ON RAILWAYS, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 24th November 1868, and dated the 29th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Turnbull at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th May 1868.
I, JAMES TURNBULL, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, Writer to the Signet, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING
CARRIAGES AND WAGONS ON RAILWAYS, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention, which relates to connecting and disconnecting railway
carriages and wagons and railway vehicles in general without the
necessity of any one going between the vehicles to be connected and

page_text: disconnected, consists in providing each vehicle at each end with a lever
situated parallel with the sides of the vehicle. The lever is carried on
an axis or fulcrum fixed to a cross beam or otherwise, one end of the
lever being underneath the vehicle and the other projecting beyond the
end of it. That end of the lever which projects beyond the end of the
carriage or other vehicle is provided with a loop or eye situated in a
horizontal plane, this terminating with a hook in a vertical plane, the
point of the hook being upwards, and the back part of the bend of
the hook being elongated to a point. This end of the lever is capable
of being depressed, but is prevented from rising above a horizontal
position; that end of the lever beneath the vehicle is heavier than the
end provided with the eye and hook, and if necessary it may be bent
downwards or be shaped otherwise so as to permit it to rise when the
other end is depressed. The apparatus is so constructed that when two
vehicles approach each other the elongated points at the back of the
hooks come into contact and one of them glides below the other until
the hook meets the eye, when the weight of the other end of the lever
raises the hook upwards through the eye and retains it there until it
is wished to disconnect the vehicles. The length of the lever is so
regulated that in the case of railway vehicles not provided with spring
buffers the junction is completed just before they come into contact.
The vehicles are disconnected by raising the heavy end of the lever,
thus depressing the hook and disengaging it from the eye. This is
effected by means of chains or iron rods working underneath the vehicle
and terminated with a handle outside the side beams; when the chains
or rods are acted on the heavy end of the lever is raised and the
vehicles are disconnected, and when the chains or rods are freed the
lever resumes its original position. In place of employing coupling
chains as at present cach vehicle is provided at each end with a strong
bar of iron or steel in the form of a loop, the two ends being attached
horizontally by eyes or joints to the cross beam or otherwise below the
herein-before described lever, the circular end of the loop is made double
with a hook at the extremity which points downwards. This bar is
connected with the herein-before described eye and hook or lever, and is
upheld by it by a horizontal or nearly horizontal plane. When the eye
and hook are depressed the lower bar is also depressed, which admits
of the lower bar and hook of the next vehicle passing over it until
the hook is inside the innermost bar of the loop. As soon as the upper
hook catches and is elevated by means of the weight of the lever into

page_text: the eye the loop is also raised so that it is caught by the lower hook
of the next vehicle; the lower hooks are so constructed that although
the upper eye and hook should be fractured they would still remain
united. There is also a hook pointing upwards placed behind the eye
and close to the vehicle in order that those which are not furnished
with the eye and hook may be connected according to present practise.
In applying this Invention to carriages or wagons with spring buffers
the axis or fulcrum on which the lever works may be placed either as
before explained or in or on the buffer spring in place of the cross
beam or otherwise at either end of the carriage. When it is necessary
to have vehicles with spring buffers tightly coupled together the
apparatus is similar to that herein-before set forth, excepting that the
ends of the levers on which the eye and hook are formed is shortened
so that the hook of one vehicle will not enter the eye of the next
until the buffers are compressed by the vehicles coming into contact.
In place of the foregoing results being effected by a lever they may be
accomplished by a spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Turnbull in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
TURNBULL, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Writer to the Signet, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Turnbull, Her special license
that I, the said James Turnbull, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Turnbull, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN

page_text: CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING CARRIAGES AND WAGONS ON RAILWAYS, AND IN
THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Turnbull, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Turnbull, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be, particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention, which relates to connecting and disconnecting
railway carriages and wagons and railway vehicles in general without
the necessity of any one going between the vehicles to be connected and
disconnected, consists in providing each vehicle at each end with a lever
situated parallel with the sides of the vehicle. The lever is carried
on an axis or fulcrum fixed to a cross beam or otherwise, one end of
the lever being underneath the vehicle and the other projecting beyond
the end of it. That end of the lever which projects beyond the end
of the carriage or other vehicle is provided with a loop or eye situated
in a horizontal plane, this terminating with a hook in a vertical plane,.
the point of the hook being upwards, and the back part of the bend of
the hook being elongated to a point. This end of the lever is capable of
being depressed, but is prevented from rising above a horizontal position;
that end of the lever beneath the vehicle is heavier than the end
provided with the eye and hook, and if necessary it may be bent
downwards or be shaped otherwise so as to permit it to rise when the
other end is depressed. The apparatus is so constructed that when two
vehicles approach each other the elongated points at the back of the
hooks come into contact and one of them glides below the other until
the hook meets the eye, when the weight of the other end of the lever
raises the hook upwards through the eye and retains it there until it
is wished to disconnect the vehicles. The length of the lever is so
regulated that in the case of railway vehicles not provided with spring
buffers the junction is completed just before it comes into contact.
The vehicles are disconnected by raising the heavy end of the lever,

page_text: thus depressing the hook and disengaging it from the eye. This is
effected by means of chains or iron rods working underneath the
vehicle and terminated with a handle outside the side beams. When
the chains or rods are acted on the heavy end of the lever is raised.
and the vehicles are disconnected, and when the chains or rods are
freed the lever resumes its original position. In place of employing
coupling chains as at present each vehicle is provided at each end with
a strong bar of iron or steel in the form of a loop, the two ends being
attached horizontally by eyes or joints to the cross beam or otherwise
below the hercin-before described lever; the circular end of the loop
is made double with a hook at: the extremity which points downwards.
This bar is connected with the herein-before described eye and hook
or lever, and it is upheld by it by a horizontal or nearly horizontal plane ;.
when the eye and. hook are depressed the lower bar is also depressed,
which admits of the lower bar and. hook. of the next vehicle passing
over it until the hook is inside the innermost bar of the loop. As
soon as the upper hook catches and. is elevated by means of the weight
of the lever into the eye the loop is also. raised so that it is caught
by the lower hook of the next vehicle; the lower hooks are so con-
structed that although the upper eye and hook should be fractured
they would still remain united. There is also a hook pointing upwards
placed behind the eye and close to the vehicle in order that those
which are not furnished with the eye and hook may be connected
according to present practice. In place of the foregoing results being.
effected by a lever they may be accomplished by a. spring.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried
into effect, reference being had for the sake of more complete elucidation.
to the explanatory Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures.
marked thereon, that is to say:-
In Figure 1 the left-hand half of the Drawing represents a part
longitudinal section, and the right-hand half a part side elevation of
two carriages, marked respectively A and B, showing the application of
the improved coupling apparatus.
The apparatus consists of a double-armed lever a, one of which levers:
is situated at each end of each carriage, and it may be hinged to a.
crosshead 6 which supports one end of the draw bar b' and slides upon the

page_text: horizontal guide bars 62, as shown on carriage A, Figure 1, and on
Figure 2, which is a plan of the same. One arm of the lever is situated
underneath the vehicle as shown, and the other arm projects beyond
the end of it and is formed into a loop or eye c terminating in a hook d
which points upwards and is elongated at the outer end to a point as
shown; this outer end of the lever passes through the buffer beam e
of the carriage, and the opening in the, beam is formed so that the outer
arm of the lever cannot rise above a horizontal position, but it is capable
of being depressed. The arm of the lever a which is situated under
the carriage is made heavier than the projecting arm so as to over-
balance it and maintain it in a horizontal position, and when it is
necessary to depress the outer arm the arm of the lever a situated
under the carriage is raised; this is effected by means of a lever f,
Figures 1 and 2, which is fixed on a transverse shaft g extending across
the under side of the carriage and provided at each end with a lever h
so that it may be actuated at either side of the carriage.
The working of the apparatus is as follows:-If the carriages are
separated and arc to be coupled together all that is necessary is to
run them together, and as the elongated points at the back of the
hooks d come together the one glides under the other until one
hook d meets the eye or loop c in the other lever, at which moment
the heavy end of the lever under the carriage raises the hook
upwards through the eye and retains it there, therefore holding the
carriages together. The operation of disconnecting the carriages may
be effected at either side of the vehicle by an attendant depressing
one of the levers h at either side of the carriage, and thereby turning
the shaft g, which action also elevates the leaver and therefore lifts
the weighted inner arm of the lever a so that the projecting arm is
depressed and the hook of the lever on the one carriage is freed from
the eye or loop of the lever on the other carriage. In running carriages
into a siding, if it is desired to prevent them from being connected to
cach other, this is effected by depressing one of the levers at either
side of the carriage, which has the effect of depressing the projecting
arm of the lever a as herein-before described, and it is maintained in
that position by sliding the shaft g transversely until that lever h which
the attendant is operating is pushed under a stop pin or hook i, one
of which is fixed to each side of the carriage frame. To prepare the
carriages for coupling the attendant draws the shaft g towards or pushes

page_text: it from him, according to the side of the vehicle on which he is standing,
until the lever h is clear of the hook i. It may sometimes happen in
the operation of coupling that the points of the hooks d would strike
cach other and cause the carriages or trucks to rebound; to obviate
this an elongated and inclined hole is formed in the draw bar b', so
that on the hooks striking, the levers are driven inwards and by the
inner end of the lever being raised on passing up the inclined hole the
outer end of the lever is slightly depressed and to an extent sufficient
to enable one hook to pass under the opposite hook and catch in the
opposite eye. In this arrangement the other parts are the same as in
Figures 1 and 2, similar parts being indicated by corresponding letters of
reference, and as in the preceding parts of this Specification the parts
and their operation has been fully set forth it need not be here repeated.
As it may be necessary in some instances to connect railway vehicles
provided with this improved coupling apparatus with vehicles provided
with the coupling apparatus at present in use, a special arrangement
of apparatus may be provided for that purpose such as shown on
Figure 5. This consists in forming two hooks d, d', shown applied to
the truck B on the right-hand half of Figure 5, cach pair of which is
jointed to the projecting end of the lever a. When the present method
of coupling is employed the hook d is turned up and maintained in
that position by a hinged catch k which is fastened to the breast of
the wagon or other vehicle as shown in Figure 5, and the hook d
which is situated at right angles to the hook d is brought up to a
horizontal position and the coupling chains attached thereto. The
other parts of the apparatus and their action are the same as herein-
before described in reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. In place of
arranging the coupling apparatus precisely as herein-before described
and shown upon the accompanying Sheet of Drawings the rear part
of the lever a may be dispensed with and a spring applied to the
upper or under side of the fore part of the lever a for the purpose of
allowing it to yield when any two vehicles are brought together, the
tension or compression of the spring, according as it is arranged to act
upon the lever a, bringing the lever a into its horizontal position again
as soon as the points of one hook catches into the eye of the opposite
lever a. In the case of springs being employed as herein-before described
the cross shaft g, lever f, and lever / are arranged to act either upon
a short lever projecting inwards from the lever a, or in place of so
operating the shaft g, lever S, and lever may be placed towards or
,

page_text: attached to the buffer beam e, in which case the lever facts upon the
front part of the lever a. In the case of railway passenger carriage
spring buffers the draw spring 1, Figures 1 and 2, is provided with
apparatus for drawing in the buffers at any time when it is necessary to
disconnect or couple a pair of carriages; this may consist of a pair of
screws, one placed behind each end of the spring and simultaneously
rotated by a cross shaft, the screws passing through nuts in the ends of
the draw spring to which the buffers are attached, it is obvious that
according to the direction in which the screws are rotated the buffers
will either be drawn inwards or forced outwards. Provision in such
case must also be made to allow of the draw spring yielding when
pressure is applied to the buffer without disturbing the buffer with-
drawing apparatus, and this may be effected by placing the nuts in
which the screws are operated in links having in them slides or oblong
holes. Or in place of withdrawing the buffers as herein last specified
the inner ends of the buffer rods may be made hollow or tubular with
a screw thread cut in the tubular part; into this a screw passes attached
to the buffer spring and which is rotated by means of a handle placed
in any convenient part of the carriage; the effect of rotating the screws
in one direction is to shorten and therefore draw in the buffer rods at
the time when a pair of vehicles have to be uncoupled, whilst by rotating
the screws in the opposite direction the buffer rods are extended to
their proper working length. In place of withdrawing the buffer rods
by either of the preceding arrangements of apparatus, chains or straps
or a system of levers may be applied. It is obvious that as the buffers
are drawn in by any of the modes herein-before specified for effecting
that purpose the carriages themselves may be brought close together so
as to allow the point of the hook in one lever a to clear the eye in the
opposite lever d, thus uncoupling the carriages.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in or under which the same is or may be used or practically
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The arrangement of apparatus for effecting the coupling and
uncoupling of railway vehicles as herein-before described, or any mere
modification thereof.

page_text: Second. The form of the combined hook and eye on the outer end of
the lever a, as herein-before described and shown on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Turnbull, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, One
thousand cight hundred and sixty-eight.
JAMES TURNBULL. (L.S.)