An Improved Coupling for Connecting Shafts or Poles to Vehicles.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application. 2nd May. 1892-Accepted, 4th June, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Coupling for Connecting Shafts or Poles to Vehicles.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the firm of G. F. Redfern & Co., The
General Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of London,
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication
to me by Henry Parkinson of Warrnambool, in the Colony of Victoria, Engineer,
Arthur Dudley Dobson, of Warrnambool, aforesaid, Engineer, and Edward Ashton
Lister, of Dursley, Gloucestershire, England, but temporarily residing at the South
Melbourne Coffee Palace, Albert Park, near Melbourne in the said Colony,
Manufacturer) and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to those classes of couplings which are employed for
connecting shafts or poles to the axles of vehicles.
Its object is to provide a simple, inexpensive and non-rattling coupling with which
shafts or poles can be quickly connected to or disengaged from vehicles, and in
which the principal wearing part is easily renewable.
It consists in a shaft or pole coupling for vehicles, wherein a spring is arranged
between the rear end of the shaft iron and the front of the axle clip, and a set
screw is passed through the latter to enable said spring to he pressed against said
shaft iron with any required pressure thereby forcing two laterally projecting studs
or trunnions on said shaft iron against a pair of hooks projecting forwardly from
the axle clip.
This shaft iron, together with its laterally projecting studs or trunnions, is
preferably stamped out of one solid piece of metal, although it can be fitted with a
pin passed through a boss on its end, and so arranged as that it can be easily
removed when worn and a new one substituted for it, as will be well understood
from the following description, reference being had to our drawings, wherein
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and
Figure 2 is a plan of an axle clip having a pair of hooks projecting from it and
a set screw passing through it.
Figure 3 is a side elevation,
Figure 4 a front elevation, and
Figure 5 is a plan of the spring which as hereinbefore mentioned I insert between
the front of the axle clip and the rear end of the shaft iron.
Figure 6 is a side elevation, and
Figure 7 is a plan of the shaft iron with its laterally projecting studs or trunnions;
whilst
Figure 6 is a side elevation, and
Figure 7 is a plan of said shaft iron, but showing it fitted with a removable pin
passing through a boss on its end, as hereinbefore described.
Figure 8 is a side elevation, and
Figure 9 a plan of our improved shaft or pole coupling for vehicles illustrating
san.e with the various parts in their normal or coupled positions.
Figure 10 is a vertical central section on line 10-10, Figure 9.
Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
A, Figures 1 and 2, and 8 to 10, represents a clip from which project a pair of
hooks B-B. This clip is provided with clamping nuts a-a and a bar a' whereby
it can be securely fixed to the axle of the vehicle in the ordinary manner.
C, Figures 6 to 10, represents a shaft iron whose rear end is formed with a boss c
and has laterally projecting studs or trunnions D stamped or forged integral with it
as shown in Figures 6 and 7, or if preferred, a pin D may be passed through a
hole in the boss c so that its ends project beyond the sides of said shaft iron, as

page_text: shown in Figures 6 and 74, so that said pin may engage with said hooks B-B.
A spring E is inserted between the face of the axle-clip A and the boss c on the
rear end of the shaft iron C after the studs or trunnions D, Figures 6 and 7, or the
ends of the pin D, Figures 6 and 74, have been placed in engagement with
the hooks B B on the axle clip A.
F represents a set screw which is passed through the axle clip A and the axle of
the vehicle from back to front, and which bears against the back of the spring E
whereby I am enabled to regulate the pressure of said spring against the boss c to
any required amount.
I prefer to construct said spring E of approximately the shape shown in Figures 3
and 4, that is, with its upper ends curved outwardly, and I prefer to insert a piece
of india-rubber e between its two sides in order to increase its strength. Said
spring is moreover provided with two outwardly projecting parts - which
extend across the hooks B-B, and so prevent the spring from falling out of the
coupling.
When a removable pin is passed through a hole in the end of the shaft iron, as
shown in Figures 6 and 74, it is retained in position within the boss c by a smaller
pin & passing transversely through it, as shown in said figures, and rivetted over at
its ends so that when the pin D becomes worn, it is merely necessary to cut off one
of the rivetted heads of the small pin d and knock it out of the larger pin D to
enable the latter to be removed and a fresh one substituted for it, as will be well
understood.
The manner of employing my invention is as follows:
--
The clip A having been secured to the front axle of the vehicle by means of the
clamping bar a¹ and nut a, the set screw F is drawn back, as illustrated in Figures 1
and 2, and the studs or trunnions D, Figures 6 and 7, at the rear end of the shaft
iron C are placed in engagement with the hooks B. The spring E is then dropped
between the boss c and the axle clip A and said spring is pressed against said boss
by turning the set screw F to the right with the aid of a spanner or key provided
for the purpose. The effect of this is to force the studs or trunnions D forward
against the hooks B, thus effectually preventing any rattle taking place between
them. When it is required to remove a shaft or pole from a vehicle, it is merely
necessary to slack back the set screw F and to remove the spring E, when the shaft
iron C may be lifted out of engagement with the hooks B without any further
operations being necessary. The same operation suffices when the shaft iron is fitted
with a removable pin as shown in Figures 6 and 7^, instead of with the fixed or
integral studs or trunnions described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
In a shaft or pole coupling for vehicles, the combination with an axle clip
provided with a pair of forwardly projecting hooks (such as B) of a shaft iron
provided either with studs or trunnions or else with a pin (such as D) projecting
from each side thereof so as to engage with said hooks, a spring (such as E) fitted
between said axle clip and the rear end of said shaft iron, and a set screw (such
as F) passing through said axle clip and bearing against said spring, the whole
being constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes specified and
as illustrated in my drawings.