IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLINGS FOR AUTO- MATICALLY COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK AND FOR OTHED CATTOL THA 25 TITAANOTTUA
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Thorne Roe of Wandsworth in the County of
Surrey for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLINGS FOR AUTO-
MATICALLY COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK AND FOR
OTHED CATTOL THA
25
TITAANOTTUA
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Thorne Roe at the
"IMPROVEMENTS
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th June 1883.
JAMES THORNE ROE of Wandsworth in the County of Surrey
IN COUPLINGS FOR AUTOMATICALLY COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY ROLLING
STOCK AND FOR OTHER COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING PURPOSES
>>>
According to this invention I furnish each end of the carriage or waggon with
an identically similar half coupling. Each half coupling consists mainly of the
following parts viz: a double armed lever formed with an opon hook or jaw-part
at its lower end and by a chain or other suitable connection at its upper end
connected to the draw bar, secondly a horizontal sliding bar to which is jointed
an arm for closing the jaw and to which arm tho jaw lever is jointed and thirdly
a shackle which is jointed to the same fulcrum and which is kept from falling below
the horizontal position or thereabouts by a stop and is free to rise or swing
upwards on its fulcrum against a stop so that either of the shackles can become
hooked while the other rises out of its way acting at the same time as a guide for
it, thus adapting itself to varying heights of waggons according as they are loaded.
The aforesaid bar is checked by a spring. There is also a spring or weight con-
nected to the jaw part of the double armed lever for the purpose of facilitating
the entry and retention of the shackle in the jaw.
The automatic working of the coupling consists in the entry of the shackle of
cach half coupling into the corresponding jaw or hook of the other half coupling,
caused by the force of the railway waggons in motion towards each other.
The jaws or books are formed so as to facilitate the entry of either shackle.

page_text: The holding or releasing of the coupling is caused by the same force of tension
acting respectively on the guide bar or on the chain which latter is attached to the
draw bar of the waggon. When the coupling is to be maintained the guide bar is
free; but when the coupling is to be disconnected the chain must be slack and the
guide bar is then by a brake appliance or otherwise held rigidly in such a position,
thereby setting the jaws or hooks free to open by the tension caused by moving
the waggons or the jaws being free may be lifted by other convenient means such
as lever gear.
The guide bar though free to slide is checked by a spring at its back keeping it
sufficiently forward for the buffers to admit of the operation of coupling, after
which the spring yields sufficiently to allow the buffers to come into contact
without injury to the coupling.
The aforesaid brake appliance for holding the sliding bar in the required position
may be worked from the side of the carriage. The shackle of my coupling will
connect with any ordinary or other hook on another carriage and any-ordinary
shackle will connect with my jaw hook so that a carriage fitted with my coupling
will connect with any other carriage not so fitted but having simply a hook or
shackle.
: -
Instead of the aforesaid brake I may uso rack gear or screw gear to be acted on
from the side of the truck for the purpose of putting the sliding bar in the required
position for taking the tension off the chain this is especially useful for goods traffic
en inclines, where the chain would normally be in tension.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor filed by the said James Thorne Roe in the
Patent Office on the 5th January 1884.
JAMES THORNE ROE of Wandsworth in the County of Surrey IMPROVEMENTS
IN COUPLINGS, FOR AUTOMATICALLY COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY ROLLING
STOCK AND FOR OTHER COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING PURPOSES."
According to this Invention I furnish each end of the Carriage or Wagon with
an identically similar half coupling.
Each half coupling consists mainly of the following parts namely a double armed
lever formed with an open hook or Jaw part at its lower end, and by a chain or
other suitable connection at its upper end connected to the draw bar.
Secondly a horizontal sliding bar to which is jointed an arm for closing the jaw
and which arm is provided with a notch into which the jaw hook ontors and to
which arm the jaw lever is jointed and thirdly a shackle which is jointed to the
same fulcrum and which is kept from falling below the horizontal position or
thereabouts by a stop and is free to rise or swing upwards on its fulcrum against a
stop, so that either of the shackles can become hooked while the other rises out of
its way acting at the same time as a guide for it thus adapting itself to varying
heights of wagons according as they are loaded.
The aforesaid bar is checked by a spring.
There is also a spring or weight connected to the jaw part of the double armed
lever for the purpose of facilitating the entry and retention of the shackle in
the jaw.
The automatic working of the coupling consists in the entry of the shackle of
each half coupling into the corresponding jaw or hook of the other half coupling
caused by the force of the Railway Wagons in motion towards each other.
The jaws or hooks are formed so as to facilitate the entry of either shackle.
The holding or releasing of the coupling is caused by the same force of tension
acting respectively on the guide bar or on the chain which latter is attached to the
draw bar of the Wagon-When the coupling is to be maintained the guide bar is
free, but when the coupling is to be disconnected the chain must be slack and the
guide bar is then, by a brake appliance or otherwise, held rigidly in such a
position, thereby settling tho jaws or hooks free to open by the tension caused by
moving the Wagons, or the jaws being free may be lifted by other convenient
means such as lever gear.
The guide bar though free to slide is checked by a spring at its back keeping it
sufficiently forward for the buffers to admit of the operation of coupling after which
the spring yields sufficiently to allow the buffers to come into contact without
injury to the coupling.
The aforesaid brake appliance or any other convenient means for holding or
drawing back the sliding bar in the required position may be worked from the
side of the carriage or from the Guard's Van, or from the Engine by suitable
connections the force or tension being applied to the guide bar by means of a lover
appliance, or its equivalent, which can be worked from the side of the Wagon or
carriage or from any part of the train.
My invention furnishes a ready means of uncoupling in case of an Engine
running off the line and preventing the remainder of the train from following the
Engine.
The shackle of my coupling will connect with any ordinary or other hook on
another Carriage and any ordinary shackle will connect with my jaw hook so that.

page_text: a Carriage fitted with my coupling will connect with any other carriage not so
fitted by having simply a hook or shackle.
Instead of the aforesaid arrangement I sometimes use lever gear rack gear or
screw gear to be actuated from the side of the truck for the purpose of putting the
sliding bar in the required position or by the application of Steam Hydmulic
Power Compressed air or Vacuum for taking the tension off the chain; this is
especially useful on inclines where the chain would normally be in tension.
And in order that my said Invention may be clearly understood reference is
hereby made to the accompanying drawings in which similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts.
The
Fig: 1 is an elevation of my Invention, (partly in section) as it is intended to be
fitted to each end of a Railway Wagon. Fig: 2 is a simple modification of the
same where cheapness is desirable. Fig: 3 is a plan of the Shackle as fitted in
Fig: 1 and Fig: 4 is a side view of shackle having a slot at j-h is the shackle
which is held by the pin j to the arm a, and which pin also passes through and
holds the double armed lover e in position. The arm a forms part of or is other-
wise fixed to the guide bar g, and the pin i acts as a stop to keep the shackle h
from dropping or falling from a horizontal or nearly horizontal position.
guide bar g has a spring at its inner end to impart thereto an outward tendency.
The motion of the shackle h is limited in a downward direction by the pin i and
in an upward direction by the pin k-b is the head stock of the wagon, w, is the
ordinary draw bar, and c is a short chain linked at d, to the lever arm of ef is a
notch cut into the arm a into which the point fl of the hook enters-e is slotted to
allow the arm a to pass through it, and the shackle h is double ended (as shown in
Fig. 3) so as to contain both a and e between its ends. The bracket n acts as a
guide to the rod m¹ and also as a butt or stop to the spring m surrounding m¹-
The rod m is attached to the lower part of the lever e-m³ is. a. flange fixed
to m―The operation is as follows-When two wagons both fitted with my
coupling device are brought together the shackle h of one of the approaching
wagons will strike e at e¹, this will cause the outer shackle to slide upwards
against the surface e¹ to f¹ and in so doing will raise the shackle h in the direction
of the arrow. The hook end of the lover e is also forced a small distance down-
wards which movement allows the shackle of the approaching wagon to become
hooked into the lower end of e-The spring m immediately closes the hook and
when the traction takes place the guide bar g is drawn outwards, the chain c is
straightened, and the coupling is then secure; the strain upon the long arm
preventing the possibility of the coupling being accidentally uncoupled
A modification of my said invention is shewn in Fig. 2. in which I disponso
with the guide bar g and attach e directly to the draw bar w
Fig. 5 is another modification in which the shackle is retained in a horizontal
position by the weight -the arm a is formed as shewn and supported at the
joint a The draw bar has a joint at w¹ and this end is supported by the
eccentric y in the position shown the turning of the eccentric in the opposite
position relaxes the chain and uncouples the wagon
When it is necessary to uncouple or detach the wagons the bar g (Fig. 1) is
forced back by the pressure arising from the backing of the engine the bar g is
then retained in that position by means of a set screw worked from either side
by a connecting bar
Another mode of uncoupling is also shewn in Fig. 1 The upper side of the barg
has a few serrated notches at g' into which the pawl g² falls and retains the bar g
in the position to which it may be forced-When the pawl is to be released, the
weight is thrown over to the position shewn by the dotted lines, in which
position the bar is free. The bar g may also be moved forward by pinion and
rack as shewn at g³ or by means of a piston in a cylinder actuated by steam,.
bydraulic, compressed air or vacuum as a motor
The above description applies to wagons. But when I apply my invention to
passenger carriages I prefer to make both shackles become hooked in order to

page_text: afford additional security-This is effected by enlarging the hole at j (Fig. 4) and
making it a slot, as shewn, This slot allows sufficient play to enable both shackles
to hook on to the hook e
Other forms of my invention are shewn in Figs 5. 6 and 7. Fig. 5 is a side
view of a hook and shackle. e¹ is the slanting face of the hook against which the
shackle strikes to guide it to the hook. The inner end of the shackle is attached
to a fork which is capable of receiving vertical motion from the lovers 8. 8. Fig. 6-
When the ends of the levers 8 8. are raised to the position shewn by dotted lines
the outer end of the shackle is raised for disconnecting but.the coupling is effected
by merely driving the trucks or wagons towards each other
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim
1 The manufacture and use of automatic coupling apparatus constructed arranged
and operating substantially as herein before described and shewn on the drawings
2 In automatic coupling apparatus the use of the arm a the double armed lever c,
the chain c, guido bar g, and the special form of shackle h, with their appurtenances
for the purposes and in manner severally as herein before described and shewn on
the drawings or any mere modification thereof
3 The manufacture and use of the several and respective parts together forming
my improvements in couplings for automatic coupling and uncoupling Railway
Rolling stock and for other coupling and uncoupling purposes substantially as
hereinbefore described and shewn on the drawings.
In witness whereof I the said James Thorne Roe have hereunto set my hand
and seal this fifth day of January in the year of our Lord One thousand oight
hundred and eighty four.
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