improve a
Year: 1890

page_text: "Date of Application, 27th May, 1890-Accepted, 5th July, 1890
improve a
I, NELSON NEWMAN, residing at corner of Cook and Eighth Streets, Springfield,
County of Sangamon, State of Illinois, United States of America, Inventor, 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:
My invention relates to an improvement in car-couplings and it consists in the
peculiar construction and combination of devices that will be more fully set forth
hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.
The object of my invention is to provide simple and effective means for automatically
coupling cars and for uncoupling the same from either side or from the roof of a car
with safety and which is further adapted for use in coupling or uncoupling cars when
in position on switches and to be operated in connection with cars provided with the
common form of pin and link coupling..
In the accompanying drawings:-
Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a car provided with my improved coupling.
Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of my improved car coupling.
Fig. 3 is an inverted longitudinal sectional view of the same looking in the
direction of the arrow.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are detailed views.
Figs. 7, 8, and 9 illustrate modifications adapted for passenger cars.
On the end of the car A is arranged a lever C' having the slot c¹ in which the pivot
works. A slide-bar B is arranged transversely on the end of the car, in guides 6, has
longitudinal and a slight vertical movement in the said guides, and at the ends of the
slide-bar are handles ³. On the under side of the slide-bar near one end, is a notch b¹
which is adapted to engage a pin or stop b² when the slide-bar is at one limit of its
movement to lock said slide-bar in position, for the purposes to be presently stated.
Arranged longitudinally under the car are parallel sills E, the ends of which project
beyond the ends of the car and are connected by plate h, on their lower sides and
cross-bar H on their upper sides.
At the ends of the car, cross-plates H¹¹ connect the sills on their upper and lower
sides. The extreme ends of the sills are flared or beveled outward on their opposing
inner sides. Arranged between the sills at the ends thereof are hooks D, having
inward extending arms D' and having the pivots which are in central openings in
the cross-plates h¹. Springs e have their outer ends bolted to the inner sides of their
respective sills and the free ends of said springs bear against the hook arms D¹ and
serve to normally retain the latter in the position shown in Fig. 2. The outer ends of
the books are slotted and provided with vertical openings intersecting with the slots
and thereby adapted for the reception of the pins and links in common use for
couplings cars.
A shaft K is pivoted in openings in each cross-plate hand cross-bar H and is
provided with broadened flattened arins or keys which project in opposite directions
and normally lie snugly between the coupling hooks when two cars are coupled
together and being of such slight thickness as to enable the shoulders of the said
coupling hooks to be engaged notwithstanding the interposition of the flattened armis
or keys.
At the upper end of each shaft K is attached a crank arm having a pin or handle k
which is arranged between a pair of projecting pins ¹ on the proximate slide-bar B.
The upper portion of the lever works in a slot g in a guide plate G attached to the

page_text: roof of the car at the end and the lower end of said lever is pivoted by a pin c³ to a
standarde which is attached to the slide-bar. The latter may be moved end wise
either by moving one of its handles from either side of the car or by operating the
lever C from the roof.
The operation of my invention is as follows:-
1
When two cars are to be coupled, the abutting ends of the two draw hooks D
(Fig. 5) one on each car impinge against each other so as to compress the spring e
(Fig. 2), which bears against the arm D' of each draw bar until the hooked ends of
the draw hooks D pass each other when the spring reacts, causing the hooks to
engage.
To uncouple the cars, the operator standing at the side of the car takes hold of the
handle and pushes the slide B in the direction shown by the arrow which causes
the pins k¹ to press against the pink thereby turning the crank lever so as to force
apart the draw hooks D and permit the cars to separate.
To uncouple from the roof of the car the operation is the same except that the
operator on the footboard F takes hold of the upper projecting end of the lever C and
pulls the lever toward him which gives the proper motion to the slide-bar B. To
prevent the coupling of cars on switches or elsewhere where coupling may not be
desired the draw hook D is secured in the uncoupled position by moving the slide-bar B
until the notch b¹ hooks over the pin 6 and firmly locks the slide-bar B and the
connected mechanism.
The slide-bar B is unlocked either by pulling upward the upper end of the lever C
or by lifting on the handle 6 on the end of the slide-bar adjacent to the pin 63 or by
depressing the handle 63 at the other end of the slide bar.
"
I will now describe a modified form of my invention in which the coupling devices
are adapted to be used on passenger cars. In Figs. 7 and 8 the slide bar B is shown
arranged under the car-platform A and in the guides which latter are bolted to the
end of the car. The ends of the slide bar are presented to openings A² in the steps A³
so that the handles 68 of the slide bar may be readily grasped and the slide bar
operated in the manner before described. By thus arranging the slide bar the latter
is disposed entirely out of the way and the same offers no obstruction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination of the spring-pressed pivoted draw-hooks, the pivoted flattened
arms or keys k² arranged against the neck of one draw-hook and adapted to lio
between the same and the head of the companion draw-hook, the thickness of the said
flattened arms or keys being less than that of the shoulders of the draw-hooks for the
purpose set forth, substantially as described.
2. The combination of the spring-pressed pivoted draw-hooks, the pivoted flattened
arms or keys k³ arranged between the neck of one hook and the head of its engaging
companion and the crank arm attached to the said flattened arms or keys, whereby
the latter may be turned, for the purpose set forth substantially as described.
3. The combination in a car-coupling of the pivoted engaging draw-hooks, the
pivoted flattened arms or keys k² arranged between them and having the crank arm,
and the slide-bar mounted on the end of the car and connected to the said crank
arm, substantially as described.
4. The combination in a car-coupling of the pivoted engaging draw-hooks, the
pivoted flattened arms or keys arranged between them and having the crank arm
provided with the pink, and the slide-bar on the end of the car and having the pins k
engaging said pink for the purpose set forth substantially as described.
5. In a car-coupling, the pivoted draw-hooks, the spring, the shaft having the arm
or key to disengage the draw-hook and provided further with the crank arm, the slide
bar connected to the crank arm and the lever connected to the slide-bar all in
combination substantially as described.

page_text: 6. In a car-coupling the combination of the sills, the cross-plates connecting them,
the draw-hooks arranged between the sills and having the pivot in the cross-plates,
the spring bearing against one side of the draw-hook arm, and the shaft having the
flattened wings or arms bearing against the same side of the draw-hooks, substantially
as described.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.