Year: 1888

page_text: I, EDWARD JACOB HILL of 6, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, in the City
of Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements on the apparatus for coupling and uncoupling
loose railway couplings for which former Letters Patent were granted to me bearing
date June 29th 1887 (No. 9267) and which consisted essentially of a swinging
crane, jib or arm pivoted on the head-stock of the wagon and of a chain or ropo
attached to the end link of the coupling passing over a sheave at the end of the jib
or arm to, or over, a sheave at the side of the wagon.
The main object of my present invention is to provide for rolling stock having
spring buffers, particularly buffers capable of a considerable amount of compression,
so that there is a comparatively large variation in the distance between the ends of
adjacent wagons. With rolling stock of this description, if the crane jib or arm be of
such radius that it will reach far enough to operate when the buffers are out to their
full extent, it will be liable to strike and injure, or be injured by the end of the
adjacent wagon when the buffers are compressed, and to guard against this, I mount
the bracket on which the jib or arm is pivoted on a horizontal axis in another bracket
carried by the headstock so that on the end of the upwardly inclined jib striking the
adjacent wagon it will be free to swing upwards and so avoid injury.
A further modification consists in making the chain or cord by which the jib and
coupling are operated, endless, or attaching both its ends to the coupling link.
Dated this 11th dow of Iul 1888
EDWARD J. HILL.
By A. M. & Wm. Clarke,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
. Patent Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements. in Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Railway
Wagons.
I, EDWARD JACOB HILL, of 6, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, in the
City of Westminster Engineer, 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 improvements on the apparatus for coupling and un-
coupling loose railway couplings for which former Letters Patent were granted to me
bearing date June 29th 1887 (No. 9267) and I have illustrated the improvements, as
applied thereto, in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification
wherein figure 1. is a front elevation of the jib or arm in its outwardly projected
position and figure 2 a side clevation the bracket being partly in section, shewing the
effect of the improvement in dotted lines. Figure 3 is an end view of the wagon.
The same letters of reference indicate like parts in both figures.
.
The former invention consisted essentially of a swinging crane-jib or arm
A pivoted on an inclined axis on the head-stock of the wagon, and of a chain or rope
B attached to the end link C of the coupling and passing thence over a sheave at the
end of the jib or arm A to, or over, a sheave at the side of the wagon. The main
object of my present invention is to provide for rolling stock having spring buffers,
particularly buffers capable of a considerable amount of compression so that there is
a comparatively large variation in the distance between the ends of adjacent wagons.
With rolling stock of this description, if the jib or arm A be of such radius that it
will reach far enough to operate when the buffers are out to their full extent it will be
liable to strike and injure, or be injured by, the end of the adjacent wagon when the
buffers are compressed, and to guard against this, I mount the jib or arm so that, in
addition to the slewing motion before described, its free end shall he free to swing or
move upwards and backwards when struck by the end of the adjacent wagon, and
thereby avoid injury. This may be done in various ways that preferred consisting in
mounting the pivot a of the jib or arm in a bracket 1) bolted to the head stock, the
bracket being so formed that the pivot a, whilst supported thereby and free to revolve
therein on its own longitudinal axis, is also free to rock in its bearing and describe a
seguient of a circle, as indicated by the dotted lines in figure 2. The pivot a is held
in the bracket by an upper bearing d and has a shoulder a¹ which rests on the top of
the bracket just above this bearing. This upper bearing is practically an all-round
one but the lower bearing d¹ of the pivot is a half-bearing only embracing the pivot a
on the rear side, the bracket being hollow or box-like and open on the front side so as
to leave the pivot a free to swing forwards, as shown in dotted lines, when the jib or
arm is rocked on a horizontal axial line situated at or about the upper bearing d. The
bracket is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly projecting horn E which acts as
a stop (in lieu of the guy-chain described in my former Specification) to limit the
outward slewing motion of the jib A and arrest it when its outer end is exactly in
the centre, line of the wagon and therefore directly over the coupling hook of the
adjacent wagon.

page_text: A further modification of my former invention is illustrated in figure 3; and has
for its object to facilitate the operation of coupling and uncoupling, and it consists in
attaching both ends of the chain B by means of which said operation is performed, to
the end link () of the coupling so that in uncoupling by pulling the member of the
chain which runs over the sheave at the jib-head, the coupling link is detached
from the coupling hook of the adjacent wagon to which it was coupled and by then
pulling the other member of the chain which runs direct to the coupling link, the
latter is drawn away from above the coupling hook with greater certainty.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. In an apparatus of the kind herein described, mounting the slewing pivot of
the jib or arm so that it is free to move on an axis at about a right angle to the
slewing axis a and transverse to the truck so that the arm shall be free to rise and
recede, substantially as specified.
2nd. The herein described arrangement of coupling and uncoupling apparatus in
which the chain or cord, by means of which the operation is performed, is attached by
both ends to the coupling link, as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 11th day of April 1889.
E J. HILL.
By A. M. & Wm. Clarke,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.