IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY HOOKS AND COUPLINGS FOR CONNECTING RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES.
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Chamberlayne, of Cranbury Park, near
Winchester, Hampshire, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SAFETY HOOKS AND COUPLINGS FOR CONNECTING RAILWAY ENGINES AND
CARRIAGES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES.
Sealed the 7th October 1864, and dated the 12th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Chamberlayne.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th April 1864.
I, THOMAS CHAMBERLAYNE, of Cranbury Park, near Winchester, Hamp-.
shire, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY HOOKS AND COUPLINGS FOR CONNECTING RAILWAY.
ENGINES AND CARRIAGES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
For the purpose of enabling carriages composing a railway train or the
engine and tender and the carriages, to become detached from each other
when from any accidental cause the engine, or engine and tender, or any

page_text: carriage may leave the rails and endanger the safety of the remainder of
the carriages and their passengers or contents, I substitute for the ordinary
form of hook as employed for connecting the side chains and screw couplings,
a hook of L-shape, having a hinged piece or moveable point, which may
either be held in its normal position or position of rest by a hinged spring,
clip piece, or stop, into a hole or recess in which the moveable point is
made to take or enter, and is thereby held firm; or the hinged piece or
moveable point may be so formed as to complete the third side of the
staple-like hook, and be held in its place by a spring. A link of flat section
and suitable width to correspond with but not occupy the whole of the width
of the hook is employed, and inasmuch as the link whilst being pulled or
drawn in a straight line or within certain limits of divergence from the
straight line will rest securely within the L-hook, the moveable point of
which, forming the third side thereof, is held securely in its place and cannot
be opened by the vibration or motion of the link within the hook nor
otherwise than by the disengagement of the stopper from the point thereof
forcibly, either by hand or by the line of draught or pull upon the link being
changed from the right line to an angular direction to the right or left,
as the case may be. The divergence from the straight line of draught
requisite for the purpose of opening the point of the hook will be in the
direction of the point of the hook; this will cause the inner edge of one
side of the link to come in contact with the back part of the hook, whilst
the outer edge of the opposite side of the link presses against in a corre-
sponding degree, and opens or disengages the spring stop-piece from the
end of the hinged point of the hook which is pressed open or forced back
by the inner side or edge of the link, and thus the link being set free from
the hook is drawn therefrom, and the connection between the carriages
severed by the obliquity of the draught, the width of the link forming the
one end of a right-angled bent lever, the length of the link forming
the other end, the inner edge of one side of the eye of the link being the
fulcrum, whilst the outer end of the opposite side becomes the point of
the lever. In attaching or hooking on the links they are passed over the
hinged point of the hook, which is thereupon turned up or made to form. the
third side thereof, and thereupon, for the purpose of securing it in its place,
the movable stop-piece is brought on to the point and the spring is made to
maintain it in its proper position.
In applying hooks and coupling links to the ends of railway carriages they
may either be welded on to the ends of the draw bars or may be attached.thereto

page_text: by a cotter, pin, or key, in which case the hooks may be made to reverse from
right to left or left to right, for the convenience of arranging the proper
coupling up of the carriages and to prevent the necessity for their being
turned round or reversed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Chamberlayne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
CHAMBERLAYNE, of Cranbury Park, near Winchester, Hampshire, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord. One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Chamberlayne, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Chamberlayne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I; the said Thomas Chamberlayne, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAPETY HOOKS AND COUPLINGS FOR CONNECTING RAILWAY
ENGINES AND CARRIAGES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Chamberlayne, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under mine, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office, within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Chamberlayne, do hereby
declare, the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Sheets of Drawings:-
For the purpose of enabling carriages composing a railway train or the

page_text: engine and tender and the carriages to become detached from each other
when from any accidental cause the engine, or engine and tender, or any
carriage may leave the rails and endanger the safety of the remainder of
the carriages and their passengers or contents, I substitute for the ordinary
form of hook employed for connecting the side chains and screw couplings,
a hook of L-shape, single or double, having a hinged piece or moveable
point, which may either be held in its normal position or position of rest
by a hinged spring, clip piece, or stop, into a hole or recess in which the
moveable point is made to take or enter, and is thereby held firmly; or
the hinged piece or moveable point may be so formed as to complete the
third side of the staple-like hook and be held in its place by a spring.
A link of flat section and suitable width to correspond with, but not occupy
the whole of the width of the hook is employed, and inasmuch as the link,
whilst being pulled or drawn in a straight line or within certain limits of
divergence from the straight line will rest securely within the L-hook, the
moveable point, forming the third side thereof, is held securely in its place
and cannot be opened by the vibration or motion of the link within the
hook nor otherwise than by the disengagement of the stopper from the
point thereof forcibly, either by hand or by the line of draught or pull upon
the link being changed from the right line to an angular direction to the
right or left, as the case may be. The divergence from the straight line of
draught requisite for the purpose of opening the point of the hook will be
in the direction of the point of the hook, this will cause the inner edge
of one side of the link to come in contact with the back part of the hook,
whilst the outer edge of the opposite side of the link presses against in a
corresponding degree and opens or disengages the spring stop-piece from
the end of the hinged point of the hook, which is pressed open or forced
back by the inner side or edge of the link, and thus the link being set
free from the hook is drawn therefrom, and the connection between the
carriages severed by the obliquity of the draught, the width of the link
forming the one end of a right-angled bent lever, the length of the link
'forming the other end, the inner edge of one side of the eye of the link being
the fulcrum, whilst the outer end of the opposite side becomes the point of
the lever. In attaching or hooking on the links they are passed over the
'hinged point of the link or the equivalent therefor, which is thereupon turned
up or made to form the third side thereof, and thereupon, for the purpose of
securing it in its place, the moveable stop-piece is brought on to the point
and the spring is: made to maintain it in its proper position. Instead,

page_text: however of a single L-hook, a double L-hook, made by preference in one
piece, may be employed, and instead of the spring stop or stopper pieces
being acted upon by a flat link, or T-headed connecting bolt, or an inter-
mediate piece or link with a T-head may be substituted, and the. facility.of
effecting disengagement by either a right or a left hand movement.instead
of by a movement in one of those directions only, may by these means be
'secured.
:
In applying hooks and coupling links to the ends of. railway carriages they
may either be welded on to the ends of the draw bars or may be attached
thereto by a cotter, pin, or key, in which case the single L-hooks may be
made to reverse from right to left or left to right for the convenience of
arranging the proper coupling up of the carriages and to prevent the necessity
for their being turned round or reversed.
In the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings I have shown various modifi-
cations of my Invention as being some of those which may be advantageously
adopted, and I have for the most part shewn the parts of such proportions
as are best suited for the purpose of connecting railway carriages; but it
must be understood that they may be adapted to. coupling or connecting
other bodies or things which require to be disengaged or. disconnected
when a sudden change of position occurs between the bodies, or when some
accidental and detrimental derangement of the line of draught or traction
occurs.
In Sheet 1, Figs. 1, 2, and 3 represent views of the same arrangé-
'ment; Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are corresponding views of another modification ;
Figs. 7, 8, and 9, are corresponding views of a third modification;
Figs. 10, 11, and 12 are corresponding views of a fourth modification,
in which a double hook or block piece is 'shown with a T-head, pin, or
connection; and Figs. 18, 14, and 15 are modifications of the single hook
and link arrangements.
In Sheet 2, Figs. 1, 4, 7, 11, and 18 represent five modifications of
-hooks and their parts shewn in Sheet 1, but in the position of having their
stop-pieces or retaining pieces opened by the obliquity of the draught or
traction acting through the link or connection, which is shown in the act of
being slid off or out of the hook, or escaping therefrom and disconnecting the
carriages.
In the several Figs. in the accompanying Drawings the hooks are
shewn as secured to plates and incapable of having their position changed
without unscrewing or unbolting them from the end frame or buffer

page_text: board, but they may be so formed that the shank may be formed square
or have a stop-piece thereon, and be made to slide. in the plate to a
-limited extent so that the direction of the hook may be reversed when
necessary.
·
Fig. 16 shows a mode of reversing a single hook; Fig. 17, Sheet 2,
exhibits a skeleton plan view of the portions of three carriages fitted with
some of the forms of coupling apparatus according to my Invention. The
foremost carriage and the middle carriage are shewn as being in line, whilst
the third or following is shewn in the position it would assume when from
any cause it has been thrown off the rails. Of course these views are
exaggerated for the purpose of shewing the action more thoroughly, but the
parts of the coupling apparatus should be so proportioned and arranged
that the departure of any one carriage so coupled from the rails to the extent
of the flanges of the wheels passing from the inner to the outer edge of the
rail, or a distance equal thereto, may be sufficient to disengage that carriage
from the next adjoining.
The following letters of reference relates to the several parts of the apparatus.
A is the single L-hook proper, irrespective of variation of dimensions or
form, and A,.A, the combined or double L-hook'; B, the plate or means of
fastening the hook to the carriage or body; C, the projection having the
joint to which either the stop-piece or hinged stopper is connected; D, the
moveable piece or stopper acted upon directly by the spring; E, the spring
for retaining one or other portion of the stopper; F, a hinged-piece or
point of the hook, which in Figs. 1, 2, 4, &c., forms the closing-in piece
or portion of the hook, which does not exist in Figs. 10 to 14 inclusive;
G, the flat link; H, the T-headed bolt, link, or connection, which is the
equivalent employed in Figs. 10, 11, and 12, for the flat link shewn in the
other Figures in Sheet 1.
Having now described my Invention, and illustrated it in the accom-
panying two Sheets of Drawings, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is,
First, the construction or formation of safety coupling or connecting gear
as herein described.
Second, constructing hooks for coupling or connecting railway carriages
as herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the construction of hooks as herein described, and the combination
therewith of flat links, by which upon an angular direction being given thereto
the hooks are opened and facility afforded for the disengagement of the

page_text: connection between the bodies with which the hooks and the links are
respectively connected.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Chamberlayne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JAMES STEVENSON,
19, Salisbury Street,
Strand,
W. C.
THOMAS CHAMBERLAYNE. (LS.).