Improvements in Couplings for Railway Wagons.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Feb., 1887
Complete Left, 9th Nov., 1887
Complete Accepted, 9th Dec., 1887
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Couplings for Railway Wagons.
We, JAMES WALKER of 16 Church Street, Eccles near Manchester in the County
of Lancaster, Picture Dealer and Gilder, and HENRY HARWOOD of 2 Cooper Street
Manchester aforesaid, Solicitor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its object improvements in couplings for railway wagons.
For this purpose we provide at the centre of each end of a railway wagon a
pivotted hook and link side by side. When out of use these hang down but when
the wagon is to be coupled to another they are held up in a horizontal position by an
arm or arms on an axis which passes across from one side of the wagon to the other
and which axis has on each end of it a lever handle by means of which it can be
turned whenever the hook and link are to be lifted. When the hook and link have been
lifted the lever handles on the end of the axis are retained by bolts made to protrude
outwards from the sides of the wagons. Then when the two wagons to be coupled are
brought together the link at the end of one wagon rides up over the inclined end of
the hook at the end of the other wagon and engages with it.
The bolts used for locking the lever handles above mentioned extend inwards to
the centre of the wagon and are there jointed to two opposite arms of a small lever-
so that when one bolt is withdrawn or protruded the other is withdrawn or protruded
with it.
One arm of the small lever is also jointed to a horizontal rod which passes across
the wagon from one side to the other and at each end the rod is provided with a
handle by which it can be drawn end wise and so made to withdraw or protrude the
bolts. It will thus be seen that the coupling or uncoupling of the wagons can be
effected from either side of the trucks or wagons.

page_text: For uncoupling it is simply necessary to withdraw the bolts, the lever handles
then turn upwards and leave the hooks and links free to drop by their own
weight.
Couplings formed as above described will not interfere with the old hooks and
shackles at present in general use so that a wagon fitted with this invention can
without difficulty be coupled with a wagon which has only the present coupling.
JAMES
WALKER.
HENRY HARWOOD.
Carpmael & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: Improvements in Couplings for Railway Wagons.
We, JAMES WALKER, of 16 Church Street, Eccles, near Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Picture Dealer and Gilder, and HENRY HARWOOD of 2 Cooper Street,
Manchester aforesaid, Solicitor, 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 has for its object improvements in couplings for railway wagons.
For this purpose we provide at the centre of each end of a railway wagon a
pivotted hook and link side by side. When out of use these hang down but when
the wagon is to be coupled to another they are held up in a horizontal position by an
arm or arms on an axis which passes across from one side of the wagon to the other
and which axis has on each end of it a lever handle by means of which it can be
turned whenever the hook and link, are to be lifted. When the hook and link have
been lifted the lever handles on the end of the axis are retained by bolts made to
protrude outwards from the sides of the wagons. Then when the two wagons to be
coupled are brought together the link at the end of one wagon rides up over the
inclined end of the hook at the end of the other wagon and engages with it."
The bolts used for locking the lever handles above mentioned extend inwards to the
centre of the wagon and are there jointed to two opposite arins of a small lever turning
on a pivot so that when one bolt is withdrawn or protruded the other is withdrawn or
protruded with it.
One arm of the small lever is also jointed to a horizontal rod which passes across
the wagon from one side to the other and at each end the rod is provided with a handle
by which it can be drawn end wise and so made to withdraw or protrude the bolts. It
will thus be seen that the coupling or uncoupling of the wagons can be effected from
either side of the trucks or wagons. For uncoupling it is simply necessary to with-
draw the bolts, the lever handles then turn upwards and leave the hooks and links free
to drop by their own weight.
In order to provide more effectually for the separation of the hook and the link the
latter may be retained in its lifted position by means of a small arm holding up the
link and so allowing the hook to drop without any possibility of coming into contact
with the link in the act of uncoupling.
Couplings formed as above described will not interfere with the old hooks and
shackles at present in general use so that a wagon fitted with this invention can with-
out difficulty be coupled with a wagon which has only the present coupling.
Figure 1 of the drawings hereunto annexed is a side elevation of the ends of two
railway wagons coupled together by couplings formed as above described. Figure 2
is a plan view of the same. Figure 3 is a perspective view of one end of a wagon.
A is the hook and B the link which are side by side at the centre of each end of a
wagon. C
an axis which passes across from one side of the wagon to the other
D is a lever arm on each of its ends. EE are other lever arms upon it which come

page_text: below the hook and link respectively. FF are sliding bolts which can be made to
protrude from the sides of the wagon and come above and bold down the lever arms D.
Both bolts at their inner ends are coupled to a lever G which turns upon a pivot L
this lever has also attached to it a rod H which extends to each side of the wagon and
there has a handle formed on each end. I. I. arms by which the links B are ordinarily
held up to allow of the hooks being more readily disengaged from them when they are
being uncoupled.
Provision may if desired be made for drawing these arms aside or turning them
away from the links to permit the links to hang downwards at times when they are
out of use.
The dotted lines K in Figures 1 and 2 show part of the ordinary hook
and shackle coupling chains in order to shew that couplings constructed in the manner
herein before described can be applied to wagons fitted with these ordinary couplings
without in any way interfering with their use whenever it may be necessary.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. Railway couplings composed of a hook and link carried side by side on a
horizontal axis at the end of each wagon a horizontal axis passing across from side to
side of the end of the wagon and having a lever arm at each end by which it can be
turned and also having an arm upon it by which the hook or hook and link can be
held up in a horizontal position, and bolts which can be operated from either side of
the wagon for locking the lever axis when the hook has been raised into a horizontal
position substantially as described.
2. Railway couplings constructed substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the drawings annexed.
Dated this Seventh day of November 1887.