IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING RAILWAY WAGONS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hough, of Blue Pits, near Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING RAILWAY
WAGONS."
Sealed the 16th August 1872, and dated the 6th June 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hough at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th June 1872.
I, JOHN HOUGH, of Blue Pits, near Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING
RAILWAY WAGONS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is intended to afford a ready means of coupling and
uncoupling railway wagons from the outside without any necessity for
the porters or others going in between the wagons, and thus to prevent
the frequent accidents which happen to the servants of railway companies
from this cause.

page_text: In the ordinary construction the draw bar at the end of each wagon
is provided with a hook and a chain, and the method of coupling is
for a porter or other person to enter between each two wagons and
place a link of the chain of one draw bar over the hook on the other,
a very dangerous operation and one occasioning frequently fatal accidents.
The unconpling is similarly performed by going in between the wagons.
According to my Invention there will be no occasion for a porter or
other person to go between the wagons or trucks, as the coupling and
uncoupling are performed by means of a lever placed at the outside of
the wagon. I use the ordinary draw bar and hook, but dispense with
the chain and substitute in place thereof an elbow-jointed shackle.
When not in use, the loop of the shackle rests on its own draw bar just
behind the hook, the elbow joint hanging downwards and being slightly
in advance. When it is desired to couple two wagons, a simple movc-
ment of a lever from the outside first raises and advances the elbow
joint, and then pulls the loop of the shackle over on to the hook of the
other wagon, and the coupling is effected; and when it is desired to
uncouple, a movement of the same lever first lifts the loop of the
shackle off the hook of the next wagon, and deposits it on to its own
draw bar, and then draws back and lowers the elbow joint into its
original position. These movements are effected by a simple arrangement
of links and levers attached to the frame of the carriage, and connecting
the elbow-jointed shackle to the hand lever above-mentioned, the end of
which projects from the side of the wagon as before named.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said John Hough in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HOUGH, of Blue Pits, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-

page_text: fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Hough, Her special license that I,
said John Hough, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Hough, my executors, administrators, and
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 APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR
CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING RAILWAY WAGONS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Hough, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, 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 John Hough, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention is intended to afford a ready means of coupling and
uncoupling railway wagons from the outside without any necessity for
the porters or others going in between the wagons, and thus to prevent
the frequent accidents which happen to the servants of railway com-
panies from this cause.
In the ordinary construction the draw bar at the end of each wagon
is provided with a hook and a chain, and the method of coupling is for
a porter or other person to enter between each two wagons and place a
link of the chain of one draw bar over the hook on the other, a very
dangerous operation, and one occasioning frequently fatal accidents.
The uncoupling is similarly performed by going in between the wagons.
According to my Invention there will be no occasion for a porter or
other person to go
between the wagons or trucks, as the coupling and
uncoupling are performed by means of a lever placed at the outside of
the wagon. I use the ordinary draw bar and hook, but dispense with

page_text: the chain and substitute in place thereof an elbow-jointed shackle.
When not in use, the loop of the shackle rests on its own draw bar
just behind the hook or against the other part of the shackle, the elbow
joint hanging downwards and being slightly in advance. When it is
desired to couple two wagons, a simple movement of the lever from
the outside first raises and advances the elbow joint and then pulls the
loop of the shackle over on to the hook of the other wagon, and the
coupling is effected; and when it is desired to uncouple, a movement
of the same lever first lifts the loop of the shackle off the hook of the
next wagon and deposits it on to its own draw bar, and then draws back
and lowers the elbow joint into its original position. These movements
are effected by a simple arrangement of links and levers attached to the
frame of the carriage and connecting the elbow-jointed shackle to the
hand lever above-mentioned, the end of which projects from the side of
the wagon as before named.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Im-
provements in Apparatus for Coupling or Connecting and Discon-
necting Railway Wagons," I will now proceed to describe more in
detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be clearly
understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative
thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof:-
Fig. 1 in the annexed Drawing represents a section of a portion of
the ends of two railway trucks, showing the application of my Invention,
the apparatus being shown in the position it assumes when out of use,
the dotted lines shewing the position the apparatus takes as the coupling
is being effected. In Fig. 2 the coupling is completed, and the dotted
lines show the action of uncoupling. Fig. 3 is an end view of the
wagon showing the apparatus in the position corresponding to that
drawn in full at Fig. 1.
a, a, is the frame of the truck, and b, b, the ordinary draw bar and
hook; c, c, d, d, is the elbow-jointed shackle, the part c, c, being con-
nected to the hook by a bolt or pin, and the loop d, d, being jointed to
the former at the point e, e.

page_text: In the Drawing the looped part of the shackle is shown as shorter
than the part which is jointed to the hook, but it may (if preferred) be
made longer, in which case, when in the position shown in full at Fig. 1,
the loop will rest on the draw bar behind the hook.
Underneath the frame of the carriage is mounted in bearings a
shaft ff, at one end of which is a winch handle or lever f*, by means
of which the shaft may be partially turned forwards or backwards as
hereinafter explained. On this shaft are keyed two levers, one of
which g, g, is for the purpose of raising the shackle as shown in dotted
lines in Fig. 1, and the other is connected by a link h, h, to a long
lever i, i, the other end of which is connected by a rod k, k, to the
arm of the looped part d, d, of the shackle.
The parts being in the position shown in full in Fig. 1, if it be
required to couple the two trucks, the winch handle f* must be moved
in the direction of the arrow, which will have the effect of raising and
throwing forward the shackle c, c, by means of the curved lever g at
the same time that the lever j will pull over the long lever i, i, till the
pin at its lower end arrives as the further end of the slotted part k* of
the rod k. It will then draw the rod k along with it, turning over the
looped part d of the shackle on the pin e, as shown in dotted lines in
Fig. 1, until the loop falls over the hook 6* of the other truck, when
the handle f* is released, and the whole apparatus falls into the position
shown in full lines at Fig. 2. The coupling is thus effected by a simple
forward movement of the handle f* in the direction of the truck to be
coupled. On the contrary, a backward movement of the same handle
will move the pin at the lower end of the lever i, i, to the reverse, and of
the slot * pushing the rod k forwards and causing it to raise the loop d
off the hook 6* (as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2), and fold it back on
to the part c of the shackle, thus uncoupling the trucks; the handle j
is then released and the apparatus falls into the original position shown
in full lines at Fig. 1.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention the novel and peculiar arrangement of appa-
ratus herein-before described and shown in the Drawings annexed for

page_text: coupling and disconnecting railway trucks from the outside, without
passing in between the same or any mere imitation thereof, constructed
and operating in substantially the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hough, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JOHN HOUGH. (L.s.)