IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLING LINKS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COUPLING LINKS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Allen Middleton, of Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
SIMILAR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th June 1880.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLING LINKS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND
OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Allen Middleton, of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
This Invention consists of a weldless coupling link of steel, the ends of the said
link being reinforced in thickness, and the grain of the metal being straight
throughout, as hereinafter described; the link thus made is more economical in
construction and more durable than ordinary bent and welded coupling links of
wrought iron.
An ordinary carriage link is made by bending a bar of wrought iron to the
desired shape and welding the ends together.
It is well known that links of this class are frequently broken, the fractures
being due in part to the bending of the metal, and that they are soon worn away at
the ends where they are in severe frictional contact with the coupling pins. As a
remedy for the latter difficulty it has been proposed to reinforce the ends of the
links by making them thicker and therefore more lasting, a plan carried out by
making enlargements at proper points on the bar before bending and welding the
same.
Bessemer steel and other steel of analogous character being much more durable
than wrought iron and much stronger under tension, would be applicable to the
manufacture of substantial links in the ordinary way but for the difficulty of
making a proper weld of that metal,
The improved link which forms the subject of this Invention is made without
welding from a solid bar of steel, preferably Bessemer steel, the eye being cut or

page_text: punched out by suitable tools and machinery while the steel is hot, but not so hot
as to impair the metal. After this operation the link may be rounded at each end,
and may if desired be rounded by swaging, but this is not essential to the
Invention.
It will be understood that the grain of the metal is straight throughout and
parallel with the sides of the link, but any weakness at the ends which may be due
to this direction of the grain is counteracted by the toughness of the metal
compared with wrought iron and by the extra thickness of the metal at the ends.
Bessemer steel of a quality adapted to the manufacture of the improved links
is as cheap as or even cheaper than the charcoal wrought iron, of which the
best of ordinary links should be made, and the improved link can be manufactured
much more rapidly than the common link by suitable appliances, as no tedious
bending and welding operations are required; hence the improved link is at the
same time both more economical to make and more durable than ordinary
wrought iron links.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
December 1880.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLING LINKS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND
OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Allen Middleton,
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America.
The said Invention consists of a weldless coupling link of steel, the ends of
the said link being reinforced in thickness, and the grain of the metal being
straight throughout, as hereinafter described; the link thus made is more
economical in construction and more durable than ordinary bent and welded
coupling links of wrought iron.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 is a plan of the improved coupling
link for railway carriages.
Figure 2 an edge view.
Figure 3 the same showing the edge of the link rounded; and
Figure 4 a view illustrating the mode of making the link.
An ordinary carriage link is made by bending a bar of wrought iron to the
desired shape and welding the ends together.
It is well known that links of this class are frequently broken, the fractures
being due in part to the bending of the metal, and that they are soon worn away at
the ends where they are in severe frictional contact with the coupling pins. As a
remedy for the latter difficulty it has been proposed to reinforce the ends of the
links by making them thicker and therefore more lasting, a plan carried out by
making enlargements at proper points on the bar before bending and welding the
same.
Bessemer steel and other steel of analogous character being much more durable
than wrought iron and much stronger under tension, would be applicable to the
manufacture of substantial links in the ordinary manner but for the difficulty of
making a proper weld of that metal.
The improved link which forms the subject of the present Invention is made
without welding from a solid bar of steel, preferably Bessemer steel, the eye, shown
by dotted lines in Figure 4, being cut or punched out by suitable tools and
machinery while the steel is hot, but not so hot as to impair the metal. After this
operation the link may be rounded at each end, as shown in Figure 1, and may if
desired be rounded by swaging, as shown in Figure 3, but this is not essential to
the Invention.
It will be seen that the grain of the metal is straight throughout and parallel
with the sides of the link, as indicated by the parallel lines in Figure 1, but any
weakness at the ends which may be due to this direction of the grain is counteracted
by the toughness of the metal compared with wrought iron and by the extra
thickness of the metal at the ends.
Bessemer steel of a quality adapted to the manufacture of the improved links is
as cheap as or even cheaper than the charcoal wrought iron, of which the best of
ordinary links should be made, and the improved link can be manufactured much
more rapidly than the common link by suitable appliances, as no tedious bending
and welding operations are required, hence the improved link is at the same time
both more economical to make and more durable than ordinary wrought iron
links.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said.
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into

page_text: effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
As a new manufacture a weldless link of steel, the ends of which are reinforced in
thickness and in which the grain of the metal is straight throughout, substantially
as herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)