Improvements in Buffers for Railway and like Vehicles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 30th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 1st Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Buffers for Railway and like Vehicles.
I, JOHN CHARLES TAITE, of 63 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention of improvements in buffers for railway and like vehicles has
reference to buffers of the kind in which provision is made for enabling the buffer
plunger and other parts to be removed from the buffer case for repair or renewal
without detaching the said case from the vehicle to which it is fixed, and it has for
object to simplify and cheapen the construction of such buffers.
For this purpose the outer end of the buffer case is made of sufficient internal
diameter to admit of the passage therethrough of the collar or other outwardly
projecting flange or shoulder on the buffer plunger that ordinarily serves to limit
the outward movement of the buffer head under the action of the buffer spring and
also if desired of the passage of the said buffer spring, and within the said outer
end of the buffer case is detachably secured by any suitable means, a sleeve that
serves as a guide for the buffer plunger and also as an abutment or stop for the
collar, or other shoulder thereon, the arrangement being such that upon removal
of the said sleeve the buffer plunger and it may be also the spring, can be readily
withdrawn from the buffer case.
The sleeve may be enlarged at its outer end so as to bear against the outer end of
the buffer case and it may be fixed in position by a split ring or clip having inwardly
projecting flanges, one of which is arranged to bear endways against a collar
or projection on the outer end of the buffer case and the other to take into a
groove or recess in the enlarged outer end of the sleeve. The split ring or clip
may be made in parts hinged together and provided with a suitable fastening device
such as a nut and bolt so that the said parts can be quickly fixed in position and
removed as required, or the said hinged parts may, if desired, be connected by a
rivet. The ring or clip may however be otherwise constructed and applied. Thus,
it may be sprung into place, or it may be heated and bent around the buffer case and
sleeve so as to surround, or nearly surround, both of them.
My invention may be applied in connection with buffers having either solid or
hollow buffer plungers. In the former case the inner end of the buffer plunger
may advantageously extend through the back of the buffer case, and be provided
on such end with a nut or nuts that serve to regulate the requisite compression of
the spring and assist in taking the back thrust and which must be removed before
the buffer plunger can be removed.
DL: L
ST100
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Buffers for Railway and like Vehicles.
I, JOHN CHARLES TAITE, of 63 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, 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 of improvements in buffers for railway and other vehicles has

page_text: reference to buffers of the kind in which provision is made for enabling the buffer
plunger and other parts to be removed from the buffer case for repair or renewal
without detaching the said case from the vehicle to which it is fixed, and it has for
object to simplify and cheapen the construction of such buffers.
For this purpose the outer end of the buffer case is made of sufficient internal
diameter to admit of the passage therethrough of the collar or other outwardly
projecting flange or shoulder on the buffer plunger that ordinarily serves to limit
the outward movement of the buffer head under the action of the buffer spring,. and
also if desired of the passage of the said buffer spring, and within the said outer
end of the buffer case there is detachably secured by any suitable means, a sleeve
that serves as a guide for the buffer plunger and also as an abutment or stop for the
collar, or other shoulder thereon, the arrangement being such that upon removal of
the said sleeve, the buffer plunger, and, it may be, also the spring, can be readily
withdrawn from the buffer case.
The sleeve may be enlarged at its outer end so as to bear against the outer end
of the buffer case, and it may be fixed in position by a split ring or clip having
inwardly projecting flanges, one of which is arranged to bear end ways against a
collar or projection on the outer end of the buffer case and the other to take into
a groove or recess in the enlarged outer end of the sleeve. The split ring or clip
may be made in parts hinged together and be provided with a suitable fastening
device, such as a nut and bolt, so that the said parts can be quickly fixed in position
and removed as required; or the said hinged parts may, if desired, be connected by
a rivet. The ring or clip may however be otherwise constructed and applied.
My invention may be applied in connection with buffers having either solid or
hollow buffer plungers. In the former case, the inner end of the buffer plunger
may advantageously extend through the back of the buffer case, and be provided
on such end with a nut or nuts that serve to regulate the requisite compression of
the spring and assist in taking the back thrust and which must be removed before
the buffer plunger can be removed.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 shows partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, one
construction of a railway or like buffer with solid plunger according to this
invention; and
Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof on the line x x Fig. 1, the buffer spring being
omitted.
The conical buffer case 1 has a cylindrical outer or forward end 1 the internal
diameter of which is sufficiently large to admit of the passage therethrough of the
collar 2 on the solid buffer plunger 2 and also of a cylindrical buffer spring (not shown)
3 is a sleeve that is detach-
of approximately the same diameter as the said collar.
ably secured within the forward end of the buffer case and serves as a bearing or
guide for the buffer plunger and also as an abutment or stop for the collar 2 thereon.
This sleeve is enlarged at its outer end as shown at 3ª so as to bear against the
outer end of the buffer case and is secured in place by two separate half rings 4
having inwardly projecting flanges 4* & 4b one of which, riz. 4ª, is arranged to
bear end ways against a collar or projection 1' on the buffer case, whilst the other,
viz. 4b, takes into a recessed part 3 of the sleeve and holds the said sleeve endways
against the forward end of the buffer case. The half rings 4 are held in position
by an undivided ring 5 that is passed over the forward end of the buffer case before
the plunger is inserted and is slipped over the half rings 4, when these have been
put in position, and is secured thereto by set screws 6, thus holding the various
parts securely in place but nevertheless in such a manner that the sleeve can be
quickly released to enable the buffer plunger to be withdrawn when desired.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section and
Fig. 4 a half cross section and half end elevation, showing the application of a
sleeve and fastening devices such as just described, to a buffer having a cylindrical
buffer case and a hollow buffer plunger 2 the inner end of which has secured
thereon a ring 2b to increase the wearing and guiding surface thereof and to provide

page_text: strong collar or enlargement to take against the end of the detachable sleeves and
imit the outward stroke of the plunger. In other respects the construction is
similar to that shown in Figs. 1 & 2 and corresponding parts in the two arrangements
are marked with the same reference figures.
Fig. 5 is a half cross section and half end elevation ;
Fig. 6 a half longitudinal section and half side elevation; and
Fig. 7 a half horizontal section and half plan, showing a buffer with hollow
plunger provided with a modified arrangement for securing the detachable sleeve-
in place.
In this case the two half rings 4 are hinged together at one side as shown at 4°
and are fastened together at the opposite side by a bolt 6 and nut 6ª the inwardly
extending flange 4 being arranged to take into an annular groove 3º in the enlarged
outer end of the sleeve. With this arrangement it is merely necessary to remove
the nut and bolt to enable the jointed half rings and sleeve to be removed to free
the buffer plunger. Any suitable means may be employed for forcing the buffer
plunger inward against the action of its spring to enable the detachable sleeve to
be readily secured in place and removed.
Figs. 8 & 9 are side and end elevations showing a tool or device that may
conveniently be used for this purpose in connection with buffers having hollow
plungers. It comprises a rod 7 passed centrally through a hole in the buffer
plunger and screwed at 7" into the end plate 8 to which the inner end of the buffer
case is secured, the outer end of the said rod being screw-threaded at 7" and
provided with a hand lever 9 the central portion of which is screw-threaded to
form a nut for the rod and is arranged to work against a washer 10 interposed
between it and the outer face of the buffer head 2°, the arrangement being such that
by screwing the lever 9 on the rod 7, after the same has been fixed in place, the
buffer plunger can be forced inward against its spring sufficiently to enable the
sleeve 3 to be fixed in place or released. The hand lever 9 is formed with a square
hole 9 to fit the outer squared end 7° of the rod 7 so as to enable the inner end 7*
of this rod to be readily screwed into the back plate 8.
Figs. 10 and 11 are side and end elevations, and
Fig. 12 a part plan, showing another form of tool adapted for use with buffers
having solid plungers. It comprises a short screw 10 that acts against the outer
face of the buffer head 2° and works through a correspondingly screw-threaded
hole in a bar 11 that forms a fixed nut and the ends of which are detachably
secured by links or long hooks 12 to eye-bolts 13 fixed to the back plate 8 of the
buffer case, the said screw being rotated by a lever 9 fitted to its outer
squared end.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. A buffer for railway and like vehicles, having its forward end made of
sufficient internal diameter to admit of the passage therethrough of the collar or
other outwardly projecting flange or shoulder on the buffer plunger, and also if
desired of the buffer spring, and provided with a normally fixed sleeve that is
arranged to serve as a guide and also as an abutment or stop for the buffer plunger
and is detachably secured in place in such a manner as to permit of the said plunger
and it may be also the spring, being readily withdrawn when necessary substantially
as herein described.
2. A buffer for railway and like vehicles provided at its outer or forward end
with a detachable sleeve that is adapted to serve as a guide and as an abutment or
stop for the buffer plunger and is enlarged at its outer end so as to bear against the
outer end of the buffer case, a divided ring or clip adapted to engage the buffer case
and outer end of the sleeve so as to hold the latter in place endways, and means
for holding said divided ring or clip in position, substantially as herein described
for the purpose specified.

page_text: 3. My improved buffers for railway and like vehicles, constructed substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference respectively to and shown in Figs. 1 & 2;
in Figs. 3 & 4 ; and in Figs. 5, 6 & 7 of the drawings annexed.
Dated this 30th day of October 1894.
W. Lloyd Wise,
J. C. TAITE.
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Applicant's Agent.