IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAY COUPLINGS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Johann Heinrich Cohrs, Merchant, of Stein-
strasse, in the City of Hamburg, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY COUPLINGS."
Sealed the 6th December 1875, and dated the 11th June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Johann Heinrich Cohrs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th June 1875.
I, JOHANN HEINRICH COHRS, Merchant, of Steinstrasse, in the City
of Hamburg, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY COUPLINGS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the couplings of railway carriages that are
moveable from the sides of the waggons. The common coupling now
in general use is left in its present state, but at the outer ends of the two
nuts I attach plates with short projections on which the loops of the
coupling rest, when the latter is lifted or lowered by a lifting apparatus,
which can be moved by levers from the sides of the carriage. This

page_text: lifting apparatus allows of a sideway motion sufficiently to clear on all
curves the hook of the carriage to which the coupling may be attached.
On the middle of the screw of the common coupling a conical wheel is
fastened into which gear two conical wheels, each of which has a shaft
which rests in bearings fastened on the under sides of the corresponding
buffer bearer. These shafts are furnished with links and slides so that
the coupling can be lifted or lowered freely, and they have at the ends
handles by which they can be turned in either direction for shortening
or lengthening the coupling as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Johann Heinrich Cohrs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHANN
HEINRICH COHRS, Merchant, of Steinstrasse, in the City of Hamburg,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Johann Heinrich Cohrs, Her special license
that I, the said Johann Heinrich Cohrs, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Johann Heinrich Cohrs, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY COUPLINGS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Johann Heinrich Cohrs, my executors or adminis
trators, 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.

page_text: from the sides of the waggon. To attain a good motion of the handles
and the necessary moveableness of the coupling to be lifted or lowered,
the axles R and R³ are furnished with joints; at the same time the
necessary shortening or lengthening of the axles is produced by the
slotted connecting pipes in which they work.
The iron hoop S which connects the two nuts a and a¹ prevents their
turning, and being at the same time fastened to the bearing of the
conical wheels E, G, H, likewise prevents a turning of the latter.
Figure 4 shows a modification of the screwing part of my coupling.
In this construction the axles R and R¹ are placed horizontally. To the 1
screw B a tooth wheel I is fastened which gears into a pinion J and the
transmission to the handles is produced by a pair of conical wheels
M, M', as shown in the Drawing. All other parts are the same as in
the coupling first described.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what 1
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First. The screwing apparatus for railway couplings, arranged as set
forth and as shown in the annexed Drawings.
Secondly. The combination of a screwing apparatus with a lifting
apparatus capable of being moved sideways, and also in combination 2
with metal plates fixed to nuts of a railway coupling, which can be
worked for all necessary operations from the sides of the waggon as
described and substantially as shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Johann Heinrich Cohrs, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, 2
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.