AN IMPROVED SAPETY CAR COUPLING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frank Farnham Taylor and Henry William
Larkin, of San Francisco, California, United States of America, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SAPETY CAR COUPLING."
Sealed the 9th April 1872, and dated the 19th February 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Frank Farnham Taylor
and Henry William Larkin at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 19th February
1872, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment
Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FRANK
FARNHAM TAYLOR and HENRY WILLIAM LARKIN, of San Francisco,
California, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
SAFETY CAR COUPLING," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto us,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that we really believe
ourselves to be the first and true Inventors thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Frank Farnham Taylor and Henry
William Larkin, do hereby declare that the following Complete Speci-
fication, under our hands and seals, fully describes the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed
(that is to say) :-
Our Invention relates to an improved car coupling, which we call an
automatic safety car coupling, its object being not only to connect the
cars automatically in making up a train, but to disconnect them auto-
matically in case of an accident by which one or more of the cars leave
the track.
Its construction is such that as long as the cars remain upon the
track there will be no liability or danger of their being disconnected by
the motion of the train or swaying of the cars, but should one or more
of the cars be thrown off the track those leaving the track will be dis-
connected from each other and from those remaining on the track, while
the couplings of those that remain on the track are not disturbed.
In order to explain our Invention so that others will be able to
understand its construction and operation, reference is had to the
Drawings accompanying this Specification, and forming a part of the
same, in which "A" represents the drawhead of any car coupling. This
drawhead is provided with a recess or depression B on its upper side of
sufficient depth to permit the link to be used to have the necessary
amount of vibration each direction. Extending upwards from the
bottom of the depression B is a fixed catch or lug c. This lug stands
at a slight angle, its upper end leaning backwards from the face of the
bumpers, as shown, thus giving an inclined face to guide the entering
link over its upper end. The sides of this lug or catch are rounded
towards the point for the purpose herein-after described. A strong metal
bar or plate E is placed transversely across the recess or depression B,
so as to pass directly over the lug or catch c. The opposite ends of this
bar or plate are bent downward upon each side of the drawhead, and a
bar connects the two extremities below the drawhead. The sides of
the drawhead are grooved and the turned down ends of the bar or
plate E move in the grooves in order to keep them in place, or the
turned down ends may be slotted so that a pin on the sides of the
drawhead will work in the slots, the object being to guide the cross bar
E in its movements up and down. A pin G projects downward from
the under side of the drawhead, and passes through a hole in the under

page_text: cross bar f. A spiral spring i around this pin bears at one end against
the under side of the drawhead and at the other end against the under
cross bar f, so as to keep the upper cross bar E down against the upper
side of the drawhead. The front edge of the bar or plate E is bent
upward at an angle so as to present a flaring edge to direct the entering
link.
By this construction when the link J is forced against the lug or
catch c by the opposite bumper, the force of the concussion will lift the
cross bar E and allow the link to pass over the catch c, when the spring
will draw the bar E back upon the drawhead and thus couple the cars.
But the principal object in thus constructing the coupling is to allow the
link to be released should one or more of the cars be thrown off the
track by accident, in which case the twisting of the link occasioned by
the motion of the cars in leaving the track will lift the cross bar E and
allow the link to be freed. Any irregular movement up or down of one
of the cars will throw off the link and separate the cars.
The shoulder at the rear of the recess B is curved upwards towards
the cross bar E, so as to prevent the end of the link from being forced
out back of the cross bar.
We prefer to employ this coupling at only one end of each car, but
it can also if desired be used at both ends.
Various arrangements of the drawhead can be devised for accom-
plishing the same thing in an equivalent manner, one of which would
be to make the drawhead in two sections by dividing it horizontally and
hinging them together, so as to open and close in the manner of two
jaws, and employing a spring to keep them closed.
By this means we provide a perfectly safe coupling as long as the
train moves upon the track and within its prescribed limits, but in case
of accident it will be impossible for one car to drag the balance of the
train, or even one car with it from the track, thus in many instances
not only avoiding great loss in the destruction of cars, but saving many
lives that would otherwise be sacrificed.
Having thus described our Invention, what we claim and desire to
secure by Royal Letters Patent is,―
First. In combination with the drawhead A we claim the lug or
catch c, constructed as above described, and the yielding cross bar or

page_text: plate E, or equivalent device, substantially as and for the purpose above
described.
Second. The drawhead A with its lug or catch c, and having a yielding
cross bar or plate E, in combination with the link J, substantially as
and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Frank Farnham Taylor and
Henry William Larkin, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Seventeenth day of January, A.D. One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-two.
Witnesses,
JOHN L. BOONE.
A. T. DEWEY.
FRANK FARNHAM TAYLOR. (L.S.)
HENRY WILLIAM LARKIN. (L.S.)