AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY VEHICLES
Year: 1885

page_text: оптогон.
I JAMES SIMPSON, of Holt Town, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Galvaniser, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY VEHICLES, to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in an improved apparatus for coupling and uncoupling
railway vehicles, the object of my Invention being to provide a simple and efficient
apparatus by means of which the vehicles may be coupled and uncoupled from the
side without the necessity for the shunter to go between the vehicles.
My improved apparatus is constructed as follows:-I fit a cross shaft, at each
end of the vehicle, supported in any suitable number of brackets or hangers, fixed
below the cross piece, and I fix a handle at each end of the shaft by means of
which it may be turned partly round and moved a short distance longitudinally.
I employ two links one of which is fastened by a pin or bolt at one end to
the drawbar, and at the other is connected to the second link by means of a
peculiar joint resembling a knife joint, which will allow the end link to turn freely.
in one direction, i.e. upward or forward, but will not allow it to turn more than
a certain distance downward or backward. Near the centre of the shaft below
the drawhook I fix a lever preferably a curved double lever the ends of which are
made wide or forked to receive and guide the link connected to the draw bar.
By moving either of the handles at the ends of the cross shaft the forked lever
is moved and the links raised into position ready for coupling. The front end of
the second link is preferably bent upward,. in order to protect it from injury from
the adjoining vehicle when being coupled.

page_text: An Improved Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Railway
Vehicles.
I JAMES SIMPSON, of Holt Town, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Galvaniser, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING RAILWAY VEHICLES, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
My invention consists in an improved apparatus for coupling and uncoupling
railway vehicles, the object of my Invention being to provide a simple and efficient
apparatus by means of which the vehicles may be coupled and uncoupled from the
side without the necessity for the shunter to go between the vehicles.
My improved apparatus is constructed as follows:-I fit a cross shaft at each end
of the vehicle supported in any suitable number of brackets or hangers fixed
below the cross piece and I fix a handle at each end of the shaft by means of
which it may be turned partly round and moved a short distance longitudinally.
I employ two links, one of which is fastened by a pin or bolt at one end. to the
draw bar, and at the other is connected to the second link by means of a peculiar
joint, resembling a knife joint, which will allow the end link to turn freely in
one direction, i.e., upward or forward but will not allow it to turn more than
a certain distance downward: or backward. Near the centre of the shaft below
the drawhook I fix a lever, preferably a curved double lever, the ends of which
are made wide or forked to receive and guide the link connected to the drawbar.
. By moving either of the handles at the ends of the cross shaft the forked lever
is moved and the links raised into position ready for coupling. The front end
of the second link is preferably bent upward in order to protect it from injury
from the adjoining vehicle when being coupled.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into.
effect I will describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to
the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a railway wagon to which my improved
coupling is applied. Fig. 2 is an elevation and Fig. 3 is a plan of the drawhooks
and coupling apparatus on the adjacent ends of two wagons with one set of links
raised into position ready for coupling. Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 2 but
showing the wagons coupled and Figs. 5 and 6 are two views of an alternative
arrangement of hinge or joint which I employ for the links.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.
In Figs. 1 to 4-a designates the cross-piece or headstock of the wagon; below
each headstoek a is fitted a cross shaft b which is provided with handles c one at
each end and is supported and free to turn in brackets or hangers d d and e e
of which the hangers d d are preferably stationary being fixed to the headstock
while the hangers ee are free to swivel; in the centre between the hangers e e the
cross shaft 6 is made square in section and upon this portion of the shaft is
mounted the double lever ff, or a forked lever may be employed, the free ends of
which are provided with projections f¹ f¹ to receive and guide the link g; one end

page_text: of the link g is pivoted to the drawhook h by a bolt or pin i on which are fitted
loose collars 21 with bevelled edges to permit a sideway movement of the link the
other end of which is formed with a block or projection g' which has a hole in it
through which is passed when in an unfinished state the front link ; which is
afterwards welded together to form a complete link. The front end of the link j
is preferably shaped or bent upward as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 in order to avoid
injury or breakage in the event of the link being struck by the drawhook on the
adjacent wagon.
In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown on an enlarged scale an alternative arrangement of
hinge or joint for the links g and j. In this case the link g consists of two bars
at one end pivoted to the drawhook h in the manner already described and at the
other end flattened out or enlarged and with a plain or straight surface at the
front extremity. The front link j is made with a block through which and
the link g passes a bolt or a pin k to secure the links together; parts of the block ;'
are formed with plain surfaces to bear against the corresponding surfaces at the
front extremity of the link g. This arrangement forms a joint somewhat similar
to a knife joint.
When not in use the links and the other parts of the apparatus are in the
positions best shown in Fig. 1, but when two wagons or other vehicles are to be
coupled together one of the handles c is turned so as to turn the cross-shaft b in its
bearings and bring the double lever f f under the link g to raise it with the
link into position over the drawhook has shown in Fig. 2. In case the vehicles
are close together or at a slight angle to one another by simply moving one of the
handles c so as to move the shaft b with the lever ff lengthwise, the links g and j
guided by the projections f1 f1 can be swivelled to clear the drawhook h as indi-
cated by the dotted lines, Fig. 3. When the link ; has been raised and dropped
over the drawhook h the handle c is released and the coupling completed as best
shown in Fig. 4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is-
1. In apparatus for coupling and uncoupling railway vehicles, the combination
with a cross shaft supported and free to be moved axially and longitudinally in
suitable bearings and a forked or double lever provided with projections and
mounted on said shaft, of the link g pivoted to a drawhook and supporting a front
link such as j, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein described
and as illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
2. In a railway coupling, the combination with the link g formed with a block
or projection gl of the link j passing through a hole in said block or projection and
preferably shaped or bent upward at the front end, substantially as and for the
purposes described with reference to Figs. to 5 of the Drawings annexed.