IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY TRUCKS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Cook, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC COUPLINGS
FOR RAILWAY TRUCKS."
Scaled the 11th December 1874, and dated the 17th June 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Cook at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th June 1874.
I, JAMES COOK, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTO-
MATIC COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY TRUCKS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed for the purpose of affording a ready means
o automatically coupling railway trucks by merely pushing them into
contact, and also of uncoupling the same by a simple movement of a
lever outside the frame of the truck so as to avoid the necessity for
porters or others passing in between the trucks.. The coupling apparatus
acts entirely without springs, and is simple, inexpensive, and not liable.
to get out of working order.

page_text: 1
The end of the ordinary draw bar terminates in a hook, the forward
part of which is formed with an incline sloping upwards and backwards
for a purpose herein-after described. To one side of the draw bar a
shackle is jointed by a bolt or pin, the hook being situated upon one side
of the centre line of the truck, and the shackle an equal distance on the
other side, so that when the trucks are brought together end to end the
shackle of each truck is opposite to the inclined hook of the other, and
vice versa.
The shackles are so formed and provided with a tail-piece that they
are capable of being raised up a certain distance on their joint pins, but
cannot fall down below the horizontal position. It will therefore be
evident that when the trucks are thrust together the shackle of each
truck coming against the inclined part of the opposite hook of the next
truck will be raised up thereby until it passes over the point or barb of
the hook, when it will fall by its own gravity, and the coupling is 1
thus effected.
In order to uncouple the trucks without the necessity for passing
between them, each end of each truck is provided with a transverse shaft
passing across, just behind the rear end of the shackle, and provided
with a tappet or cam behind the tail-piece of the said shackle, and with a
a lever at each end outside the frame of the truck. Upon drawing the
levers of the two trucks towards cach other at either side of the trucks,
the tappets or cams lift the shackles off the hooks and the trucks are
uncoupled.
In a modification of this Invention the shackles arc dispensed with, 2
and the end of each draw bar is provided with a double inclined hook
capable of oscillating or partially revolving upon the horizontal axis of
the draw bar. When the two trucks are thrust together the inclined
surfaces of the double hooks coming together cause the hooks of the
two trucks to oscillate or partially revolve in opposite directions till the 3
points or barbs of the hooks have mutually passed cach other. The
hooks are then brought back into their normal position and the coupling
effected by means of weighted levers attached to the hooks.
The uncoupling is effected by drawing the weighted levers aside so as
to cause the double hooks to partially revolve till their points or barbs 3
are free of each other.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Cook in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, Í, JAMES
Cook, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent,. bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh ycar of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Cook, Her. special license. that.
I, the said James Cook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Cook, 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC COUPLINGS
FOR RAILWAY TRUCKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Cook, 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 James Cook, 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 designed for the purpose of affording a ready means
of automatically coupling railway trucks by merely pushing them into
contact, and also of uncoupling the same by a simple movement of a
lever outside the frame of the truck so as to avoid the necessity for
porters or others passing in between the trucks. The coupling apparatus
acts entirely without springs, and is simple, inexpensive, and not liable.
to get out of working order.
.

page_text: Such being the nature and object of my said Invention 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 is a sectional elevation of the ends of
two railway trucks with my Invention shown as adapted thereto; Fig. 2
is a plan view of the same; and Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views, showing
the same coupled.. a, a, is part of the end of the truck, and b, b, one
of the wheels.
The end of the ordinary draw bar terminates in a hook c, c, the
forward part of which is formed with an incline ȧ, d, sloping upwards
and backwards for a purpose herein-after described. To one side of the
draw bar a shackle e, e, is jointed by a bolt or pin, the hook c, c, being
situated upon one side of the centre line of the truck, and the shackle e
an equal distance on the other side, so that when the trucks are brought
together end to end the shackle of each truck is opposite to the inclined
hook of the other, and vice versa.
The shackles are so formed and provided with a tail-picce f, f, that
they are capable of being raised up a certain distance on their joint pins,
but cannot fall down below the horizontal position. It will there-
fore be evident that when the trucks are thrust together (see Figs. 3
and 4) the shackle of each truck will be raised up thereby (as shown
by the dotted lines in Fig. 1) until it passes over the point or barb
of the hook, when it will fall by its own gravity, and the is thus
effected.
In order to uncouple the trucks without the necessity for passing
between them, each end of each truck is provided with a transverse
shaft g, g, passing across, just behind the rear end of the shackle, and
provided with a tappet or cam h, h, behind the tail-piece f,f, of the said
shackle, and with a lever i, i, at each end outside the frame a, a, of the
truck. Upon drawing the lever i, i, of the two trucks towards each
other at either side of the trucks, the tappets or cams h, h, lift the
shackles e, e, off the hooks and the trucks are uncoupled,

page_text: In a modification of this Invention (shown at Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8)
the shackles are dispensed with and the end of cach draw bar is pro-
vided with a double inclined hook k, k, capable of oscillating or partially
revolving upon the horizontal axis of the draw bar 1, 1. When the two
trucks are thrust together the inclined surfaces m, m, of the double hooks
coming together cause the hooks of the two trucks to oscillate or par-
tially revolve in opposite directions till the points or barbs of the hooks
have mutually passed each other. The hooks are then brought back
into their normal position and the coupling effected by means of weighted
levers n, n, attached to the hooks.
The uncoupling is effected by drawing the weighted levers aside so as
to cause the double hooks to partially revolve till their points or barbs
are free of each other. This may be effected by a hand lever at each
side of the truck connected by a link to the weighted lever.
The advantage of using this form of coupling is that owing to the
breadth of the hooks k, k, they will couple even if the trucks are not of
the same height.
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,―
Firstly. The combined fixed inclined hook and movable shackle
herein before described and shown at Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the
Drawings.
And, Secondly. The double oscillating hook above described and
illustrated by Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Drawings or any mere modifi-
cation or imitation thereof, constructed and operating in substantially
the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Cook, have hereunto set
my hand and seal this Fourteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-