Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Dec., 1899-Accepted, 6th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway Vehicles.
I, PERCY ACTON DIXON, Grocer, of 20, High Street, Crewe, in the County
of Cheshire, 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 improvements in automatic couplings for railway
vehicles, such as trucks carriages, tram-cars and the like and comprises a system
of links and hooks carried at each ends of the vehicles which when the latter
are brought together are caused to engage or couple with one another. The
hooks are formed of two side arms, carried by the draw bar or fixed to the
ends of the vehicle and formed at their outer or hooked ends with inclined or
curved surfaces up which the links on the adjoining vehicle slide to engage with
the said hooks, the links being kept in engagement therewith by means of
a central hook pivoted between the said side arms. This central hook is formed
with two arms or prongs the upper one of which constitutes the hook and the
lower one acts as a means for raising the link out of gear with the main hooks
when uncoupling. The links are pivoted to the forward ends of the main hooks
and may be turned back out of action by means of a pivoted lever connected
thereto by a link and actuated by a vertical slide connected to a lever pivoted to
the end frame of the vehicle. The central pivoted hook is formed with a lower
arm or projection against which is caused to bear one end of a lever, mounted
on a vertical axis at the end of the vehicle, for the purpose of raising the said
hook, and with it the link, for uncoupling the latter from the main hooks, the
pivoted hook being returned to its normal or horizontal position by means of
a spring acting upon a rearward extension of the said hook. The above described
apparatus is applicable chiefly to railway trucks, but when applying the in-
vention to passenger carriages I prefer to adopt a screwing up arrangement for
drawing the same closer together when coupling-up.
This apparatus consists of a wheel provided with handles for turning it and
mounted upon a shaft formed on one side of the wheel with right-hand threads
and on the other side with left-hand threads. The one half or end of this screw
engages with a female screw thread formed in a bracket carried by the frame
supporting the coupling hooks, and fixed to the carriage frame or the draw-
bar, whilst the other half of the screw engages with a similar bracket connected
to the main coupling hooks, which are similar to those already described, and
which are capable of sliding lengthwise upon the said supporting frame.
The other parts of the apparatus are practically similar to those already
described with reference to the trucks.
And in order to clearly understand my invention reference is had to the
accompanying sheet of drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of
my improved coupling hooks as applied to railway trucks, Fig. 2 is a plan
of the same and Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line a, r, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a
separate detail view of the central pivoted hook. Fig 5 is a side elevation of
the apparatus as applied to passenger carriages and Fig. 6 is a rear end elevation
of the same.

page_text: .
Referring to Fig. 1 to 4 a, a are the main hooks which may be formed in
one with the draw-bar or fixed to each end of the truck. is the central hook
pivoted at c to and between the side arm of the main hooks. d are the links
pivoted at d to the forward ends of the hooks a and formed with a stop d
bearing against a pin e projecting from the sides of the hooks a, for keeping
the said links in a horizontal position a shewn in dotted line Fig. 1. The
short arm of the links d beyond the pivot d', is connected by a rod or link f
to the long arm g of a lever pivoted at g¹ to one side of the hooks a, the short
arm of which lever is acted upon by the vertical slide h connected to the
lever pivoted at 2, to the end framing of the truck. Thus upon pressing
down the outer end of the lever h¹ the slide is raised and the arm g of the first
named lever is lowered causing the link f to turn the link d into a horizontal
position as shewn in dotted lines, or to turn it back from the latter position into
that shewn behind the hook b when not in use. e are recesses in the links d
for permitting of their movement over the pins e.
As will be seen in Fig. 4 the hook is formed with the lower arm or
prong which is bevelled off at its forward end to permit of the easy passage
of the link d between it and the hook in the act of uncoupling. 2 is the
projecting part of the lever b against which the bent or cranked end of the
lever i, pivoted at ¹, bears when the said lever is turned to lift the forward
end of the hook for the purpose of raising the link d, by means of the
prong b¹, above the level of the hooks a to uncouple the said link., jis the spring
bearing against the extension for bringing the hook back to its normal
position.
+
In order to couple the trucks the links at one end of the trucks should be
turned back, as shown in Fig. 1, whilst the links at the other end should be
in their extended or horizontal position. Thus when two trucks are brought
together the extended links of one slide up the inclined ends of the hooks a of
the other (see Fig. 1) thereby forcing up the hook band dropping down behind
the hooks a with which they are kept in gear by the hook b. For uncoupling
the lever i is operated as before described so as to turn the hook 6 on its pivot
and raise the link d clear of the hooks a. The middle hook may if desired
be kept in its raised position by pinning the lever to the side of the truck
or wagon when in such position.
In the arrangement shewn in Figs. 5 and 6 m is a frame carried by the draw-
bar or fixed to the end of the carriage, and formed with an extension or
bracket m and n is a similar bracket formed with or attached to the main
hook a.
Each of these brackets is formed with a bush provided with a female
screw thread with which engages a screw-threaded shaft O one half of which
is formed with right-hand threads and the other with left-hand threads.
This shaft is provided at its centre with a wheel p having handles p¹ by
which the said shaft may be easily turned from the side of the carriage to
screw the coupling up tightly or to loosen it as desired, the main hooks a
sliding in guides m² on the frame m.
The pivoted hook is raised by means of the lever q acting upon the side
rods r, pivoted at to the frame m, and which rods bear upon the projecting
arms s of a bracket t fixed to the arm 6 of the hook b, the spring forcing
the hook back to its normal position when freed. The link d is turned into
its backward or forward positions by the lever connected to the lever v
pivoted at and whose forward end bears upon an arm w, pivoted at w¹ and
connected by the link f to the short arm of the link d which is actuated as
described with reference to that shown in Figs. 1 to 3.
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
Claim (1). In automatic couplings for railway vehicles the combination of

page_text: coupling hooks attached to each end of the draw-bar or the frame of the vehicle,
a central hook pivoted to or between the side arms of the coupling hooks, a
coupling link pivoted to the forward end of the coupling hooks, and levers and
links actuated from the side of the vehicle for operating the pivoted hooks and
coupling links, substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
Claim (2). The improved automatic couplings for passenger carriages of rail-
ways substantially as described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings
for the purposes specified.
Dated this 1st day of December 1899
J. B. FLEURET,
5, Hatton Garden, Holborn Circus, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.