Improvements in Couplings for Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1898-Accepted, 9th July, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Couplings for Railway Vehicles.
We, MORITZ HAY, Gentleman, of No. 4, Kleine Bruckengasse, Buda Pesth, in
the Kingdom of Hungary, and LUDWIG MATHIAS OROSZ, Gentleman, of Erzse-
bethalva, near Buda Pesth, Hungary, aforesaid, 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:
Side-operated couplings for railway vehicles have hitherto not come into universal
use, partly because of their being too complicated, and partly because the impor-
tant fact has been overlooked, viz., that the vehicles, according to whether they be
loaded or empty, have their couplings at different heights.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a coupling for railway
vehicles operated from either side, which is characterized by great simplicity, and
adapts itself automatically, at the same time, to the various load levels of the
vehicle.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention,
Figure 1 is a side view of the coupling;
Figure 2 is a top plan view of one half of Figure 1;
Figure 3 shews some details.
and
Beneath the wagon frame a, is mounted a shaft b, having both its ends, which
project beyond the wagon, turned over to form a lever arm or crank b¹.
At the middle of the length of the shaft, is mounted a rigid arm c, which arm,
through an intermediate link d, is connected to the double arm g working on the
pivot of the link frame f, and carrying the double hooks h and i.
With the help of the cranks 6', the shaft b may be rotated from either side of
the
wagon, carrying with it the fixed arm c, and, through the intermediate link d,
swinging out the arm y carrying the double hooks h and i.
The double hooks h and i each terminate in a slanting back portion h¹ and 2',
giving the hooks a heart shape ending in a point k.
Suppose two wagons having the same device are to be coupled together, the shaft b
is brought into position, by means of the crank b', so that the arm 'c is horizontal.
This having been done, the shaft is locked in this position by means of the bolt 62
engaging with the crank portion 61 (see Figure 3). If the two wagons to be
copied be now moved towards each other, according as they are loaded or empty,
so will their bodies occupy a higher or a lower level, and the upper or lower
surfaces, or, of the double hooks, will accordingly engage with the bolt 1 of
the deuble arm g of the other wagon. The particular surface ¹ or which
engages with the bolt 7, determines which of the two hooks, whether h or i, shall
come into operation, but in either case the coupling of differently weighted
vehicles holding their couplings at different levels is provided for. To support
in position the arm g carrying the double hooks, its rear end catches under a pin f¹
in the link frame f.
For drawing the coupling together, a special shaft m¹ is provided, which, with
the aid of the lever or crank m upon each wagon, may be rotated, and drives the
skew gear wheels nn'.

page_text: Fast with the worm wheel n¹ is connected a screwed sleeve p, placed on the
opposite side of the fixed plate r. In this sleeve works the screwed spindle o',
which spindle terminates in the draw-bar o, carrying the link frame f pivoted on
the pin.e.
For further supporting the coupling, the arm g is connected on both sides by
the pivotted rods and y to the draw-bar o, so that in case of the pin g², or the
link frame f, breaking, the pivotted rods x, y will be drawn out, and the coupling
remain secure.
Before the parts of the coupling engage, the coupling hooks h and i may be
so positioned, by means of the crank m, that a secure grip of the parts of the
coupling is ensured, and this is rendered possible by the fact that the arm c on the
shaft bis connected to the arm g which carries the double hooks h and i, through
the intermediate link d. When the couplings are approximately brought to
position by lengthening or shortening the draw-bar o, the wagons are pushed
together in the known manner, and then one or other of the hooks h or i will
engage, by the sloping portion h¹ or ¹ riding over the bolt l. It will thus be seen
that only one half of the coupling, either h or i, engages the bolt 7, so that in the
case of a hook or a bolt breaking, the other hook or bolt will still be available
for holding the coupling, and a double security is thus attained.
When the parts are engaged, the skew gear wheels n and n¹ are rotated by
the crank m, thus providing a method of drawing the couplings together.
The couplings are released in the same simple way, it being only necessary, to
rotate the cranks m in the reverse direction, and after pushing aside the catch b²,
to take hold of the cranks 6 and lift the coupler hooks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. An automatic side-operated coupling for railway vehicles, comprising a
transverse crank shaft carried by the vehicle, an arm fast thereon, and a double
hook connected by links to the arm, and provided with a double inclined end
adapted to slide over, and engage one of the hooks, with a bolt adjacent to the said
hooks of the counterpart coupling of the adjoining vehicle, all arranged and
operating substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
2. A form of construction of the coupling claimed in Claim 1, so arranged,
that the drawing up of the parts thereof is effected by skew gear wheels operated
by an independent shaft terminating in a lever or crank m, in the manner and for
the purpose above set forth.
3. A form of construction of the coupling claimed in Claim 1, characterized by
the facts that the double hooks are, on the one hand, arranged pivotally on the
draw bar o, and, on the other hand, are connected by means of an intermediate
link d with a rigid arm of the shaft b, with the object, by altering the position of
the draw-rods by means of the hand-crank m, of enabling the double hooks to be
brought exactly into the vertical position required.
4. In the coupling above described, connecting the arm g with the draw-bar o
by the pivotted link rods x and y, for the purpose of maintaining the coupling
secure, in case of breakage substantially as described.
Dated this 5th day of Now 1000
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.