Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway Wagons.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway Wagons.
JAMES FRANCIS BAWN, 8, Kenilworth Road, Redland, Bristol, Commercial
Traveller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
(1). Consisting of two arms in a horizontal position, one over the other, sus-
pended from or attached to a drawbar and fixed to it between the buffers of
wagon. In the uppermost arm is a plate or tooth working in a slot in both arms
and secured by a swivel in the upper arm. This plate forms the automatic
catch, and closes the end of each extended arm, thus holding the link of the
coupling of the opposing wagon.
(2). A frame work supporting a cog wheel which raises by means of a connec-
tion the aforesaid tooth or slide, which wheel is also capable of being locked,
to prevent the catch rising and liberating coupling, & is fitted with handle
for raising.
(3). A link, or coupling fixed close to, and parallel with, aforesaid arms &
tooth, working upon a swivel and having a telescopic spring loop-end. This
loop or coupling is also capable of being caught and held in position.
1
1000
I, JAMES FRANCIS BAWN, of 8, Kenilworth Road, Redland, Bristol, Commercial
Traveller, 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 relates to automatic couplings for railway wagons. The
improved coupling devices which constitute this invention are so arranged
that coupling takes place automatically when a wagon is brought up sufficiently.
close to another, end to end. Undoupling is effected by operating certain
releasing mechanism hereinafter described.
According to this invention, there is fixed at each end of a wagon a jaw
in the shape of a fork. Also there is provided at each end of the wagon a
coupling shackle carried on a rod or bar around which are coiled springs for
cushioning shock and strain. The shackle stem is pivotted in a bracket fixed
on the wagon end. The jaw and shackle are situated at a suitable distance apart.
They are so arranged that when two wagons come together the shackle of one
is opposed to the jaw of the other, each to each at each end. Extending over
077

page_text: the upper member of the jaw is an arm which extends down the face of the
wagon end and is furnished below the jaw with teeth arranged as a rack which
rack gears with a pinion fixed on a spindle extending along the face of the
wagon end and supported in a bracket fixed to the wagon end. The spindle
carries hand-wheels at each end. To that part of the arm aforesaid which
extends over the upper limb of the jaw is pivotted a pawl so arranged that its
lower end normally lies in a slot provided in the lower limb of the jaw. The
upper limb of the jaw is similarly slotted to allow the said pawl to work on
its pivot.
Coupling is effected in the manner following: When the wagons have
approached sufficiently near to one another, the shackle of one wagon comes into
contact with the pawl in the jaw on the opposing end of the other wagon and
tilts the pawl inwards and upwards. This permits the shackle to enter the
jaw and when the shackle has passed in sufficiently far as to enable the pawl
to return to its normal position, the pawl swings back to such normal position
and, entering the shackle, couples the two together by a double coupling. As
it is not essential that there should be double coupling between two opposing
wagons, the shackles are made capable of being turned towards one side so that
the coupling may be single only, if desired.
For uncoupling, the pinion is turned so as to raise the arm which it operates
and thus the pawl is lifted clear of the slot in the lower limb of the jaw and is
raised to a sufficient degree to allow the shackle to be drawn clear as the wagons
are separated or drawn apart. The spindle by which the pinion is turned is
preferably adapted to lock, both when the pawl is raised for uncoupling, or
lowered for coupling.
For operating the shackle into and out of position for coupling, various devices
may be employed. According to one arrangement, such operation is effected
by means of a sliding spindle connected by a connecting arm to a block in
which is fixed the rod or bar which constitutes the stem of the shackle. The
said block is pivotted in a bracket fixed to the face of the wagon end, and
provision is made at that end of the block which is next the wagon end so that
the snackle cannot be turned inwards beyond a given extent, namely, when the
shackle extends approximately at a right angle to the wagon end.
The pinion shaft through the agency of which the pawl aforesaid is raised
or lowered is operated from either side of the wagon. This is also the case with
the mechanism for turning the shackle into and out of coupling position.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 represents a face view of my
improved automatic coupling devices as applied to a railway wagon end. Fig. 2
is an end view as seen from A, Fig. 1, a part of the hand-wheel at that side
being cut away to show the mechanism beyond, Fig. 3 is an end view, partly
sectional, as seen from the left side of the line e, a, Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a plan.
Fixed by the bolt a to the wagon end is a fork-shaped jaw over the upper
limb of which extends an arm e which is extended down the face of the wagon
end and terminates in a toothed rack with which gears a pinion & fixed on the
spindle e supported in bearings in the bracket f secured to the wagon end. The
arm c, which is capable of being slid up and down by rotating the spindle e,
is slotted vertically to accommodate the bolt a. Pivotted at to the arm is
a pawl counterweighted by the limb h. The tail of the pawl h lies normally
in a slot provided in the lower limb of the jaw . The upper limb of the jaw,
and also that part of the arm & which extends over the upper limb, are slotted
similarly to the lower limb of the jaw, and all three slots are closed at each
end. The spindle e is fitted at each end with hand-wheels by which the spindle
is turned from either side of the wagon.
с
At a suitable distance from the jaw is a bracket bolted to the wagon end.
In the bracket is pivotted on the pin
ra block to which is fixed a rod or
bar carrying a shackle having springs m and n coiled around it. That part
of the rod or bark which passes through the back of the shackle / is rectangular

page_text: or square so that the shackle, while free to slide on the rod or bar k, cannot
turn about it.
Both the arm & aforesaid and the shackle have locking devices, as herein-
after described. :
Coupling is effected in the manner following: When two wagons have
approached sufficiently near to one another, the shackle of each wagon comes
into contact with the corresponding pawl of the other and thus the pawls
are tilted inwards and upwards. This permits the shackles to ente: the jaws
and when the shackles have passed in sufficiently far as to enable the pawls to
return to their normal positions, the pawls swing back to such normal positions
each entering the corresponding shackle. Thus the wagons become coupled
together by a double coupling.
When it is desired to uncouple, the pinion d is turned, through the medium
of either hand-wheel i, and the spindle e, so as to raise the arm c and thus the
pawl is carried up clear of the slot in the lower limb of the jaw band is raised
to a sufficient extent to allow the shackle to pass out when the wagons are
drawn apart.
The locking arrangement for the arm which carries the pawl / consists of
the rectangular bosses o formed on the spindle e and adapted to be slid into and
out of grooves provided in the bracket f. When the bosses o are in the grooves
in the bracket f, the spindle e, which is capable of being moved axially so as to
put the bosses into and out of the grooves, cannot be turned..
The shackle is capable of being turned away from the jaw alongside of it
by means of a sliding spindle p, connecting rod 7 and arm q'. Wher single
coupling is desired, the shackle at one end of one of the wagons is drawn aside
away from the jaw by pulling the handle t of the spindle p outwards and so
turning the shackle on its pivot out of coupling position. The shackle / can
be locked in either position by the locking device consisting of the rack u, and
the pawl on the spindle p, which pawl can be moved into and out of engage-
ment with recesses provided in the rack u.
I do not confine myself to the special forms of locking devices above described
as for the arm c or the shackle 7.
That end of the block of the shackle stem which is nearest the wagon which
carries it is so shaped that the shackle cannot be pushed inwards beyond the
coupling position, the said end of the stem being shaped as seen in the sectional
view, Fig. 5, and adapted to bear against the bracket j.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. Coupling devices for railway wagons, consisting of a jaw such as b, in
closed-ended slots in the limbs of which is free to tilt a counterweighted pawl
such as which is pivotted to a similarly slotted arm such as c capable of being
raised and lowered by means of a pinion such as d gearing with a rack provided
on the arm, or by other suitable means, operated from either side of the wagon,
and a shackle such as so arranged on the end of the opposing wagon that, when
the two wagons have approached one another sufficiently near, the shackle
enters the opposing jaw and the said pawl is thereby tilted up so as to allow the
leading end of the shackle to pass inwards towards the opposing wagon clear of
the pawl which, on returning, enters the slot in the shackle and thus locks it
in the jaw, substantially as hereinabove described and shown in the accom-
panying drawings.
2. In combination with railway wagon couplings of the kind set forth in the
preceding claim, means for locking, in either the raised or lowered position,
the arm e carrying the pawl h; said means consisting of square or rectangular
bosses such as provided on the spindle e by means of which the arm c is

page_text: actuated, and rectangular-sided grooves or channels in the bracket f into and out
of which the bosses o can be slid, substantially as hereinabove described.
3. Means for putting the shackle into and out of coupling position and for
locking the same in either position; said means consisting of the spindle p,
connecting rod q, arm g, the pawl on the spindle and the recessed rack u,
the shackle being capable of turning on a pivot pin such as r provided in a
bracket fixed to the wagon end, substantially as hereinabove described.
Dated this 5th day of December 1899.
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Chartered Patent Agent, Bristol..