IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WAGONS, AND ROLLING STOCK
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Roberts of 7 Roscarbury Villas Chandos Road
Tunbridge Wells in the County of Kent for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS
IN COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WAGONS, AND ROLLING STOCK
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Roberts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th April 1883.
SAMUEL ROBERTS of N° 7 Roscarbury Villas Chandos Road Tunbridge Wells
in the County of Kent IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES,
WAGONS, AND ROLLING STOCK.
My Improvement in the coupling railway carriages and wagons and rolling
stock is by means of an anchor and two hooks in place of present chains and hooks
and to do away with the dangers of a man having to get under or between wagons
to couple or uncouple them.
According to my arrangement I fix a short draw bar in place of the present long
one and if by any means it should be drawn out from wagon in travelling it is
impossible for any accident to happen for drawbar being short it will not reach to
the ground and so it cannot throw wagons or carriages off the rails as has been
the case with the long drawbar resulting in a serious accident recently.
At the end of the drawbar I attach my coupling which has a slot to fit the end
of the drawbar and is fixed to the drawbar by an inch and a quarter pin or bolt
which gives to it the required motion for curves on the railway.
The coupling is in three pieces, three solid forgings of wrought iron and of great
strength. One is forged with an anchor on one end and a plain round pin on the
other end on which will be cut a screw and on which will fit the two other
forgings which are two hooks to close up and down on the anchor and the face of
the hooks are dovetailed and the anchor is the same to insure the grip being all
the tighter. The hooks are opened or unhooked by means of a wedge driven in
by a lever from either side of wagons or carriages and the hooks are closed by a
powerful spring pressing on top and bottom of the catch hooks so that when the
wedge is drawn out from between hooks and wagons or carriages are pushed

page_text: together and are coupled together at once and are ready for travelling and twenty
or fifty wagons or carriages can be coupled instantly.
If required to be left open so that wagons or carriages can be shunted without
coupling leave wedge in and they will not couple.
By the use of this coupling an Engine Driver can catch a runaway train or fetch
wagons or carriages from sidings without assistance in any way and if the coupling
on the Engine is closed it will not matter in what position the opposite coupling is
left in.
For passenger carriages the improvement consists of a simple arrangement for
drawing trains together to take off the shock to passengers in starting and stopping
trains.
It consists of a slot cut in the draw bar about three inches from the outside end
and a socket to fit the end of the draw bar and into this slot is put a wedge which
when driven in by means of a lever that can be worked either side of a train
(so as not in any case necessitating Railway Employees getting under or between
the wagons or carriages) draws carriages tight together and forms one of the most
simple powerful and at the same time instantaneous tensions imaginable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Samuel Roberts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd October
1883.
SAMUEL ROBERTS of 7 Roscarbury Villas Chandos Rond, Tunbridge Wells
in the County of Kent IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES
WAGONS AND ROLLING STOCK
And in order that this my said Invention may be the more readily understood
I refer to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference shown
thereon-the same letters indicating like parts in all the Figures throughout-
My improvement in the coupling of railway carriages and wagons and rolling stock
is by means of an anchor D and two hooks B B in place of present chains and
hooks and to obviate the danger of having to get under or between wagons to
couple or uncouple them as is the practice at present-According to my arrange-
ment I fix a short drawbar G in place of the present long one and if by any means
it should be drawn out from the wagon or carriage iu travelling it is impossible
for any accident to occur for the drawbar being short it will not reach to the
ground and so that it cannot throw the wagons or carriages off the rails as has
been the case with the long drawbar resulting as it frequently does in serious
accidents
"
At the end of drawbar G I attach my coupling which has a slot to fit the
end of the drawbar aud it is fixed to the drawbar by a pin or bolt which gives to
it the required motion for curves on the Railway
The couplings are in three pieces or three solid forgings of wrought iron and of
great strength One is forged with an anchor D on one end and a plain round pin
on the other end on which will be cut a screw and on which will fit the two other
forgings which are the two hooks B B to close up and down on the anchor D And
the face of the hooks are dovetailed and the anchor is the same to insure the grip
being all the tighter The hooks B B are opened or unhooked by means of a
wedge C Fig 2 driven in by a lever E from either side of the wagons or carriages
and the hooks are closed by a powerful spring A pressing on top and bottom of
the catch hooks BB so that when the wedge C is drawn out from between the hooks
and the wagons or carriages are pushed together they are coupled at once and are
ready for travelling and from twenty to fifty or more wagons or carriages can be
coupled instantly-If required to be left open so that the wagons or carriages can
be shunted without coupling I leave the wedge C in and they will not couple-
By the use of this coupling an Engine Driver can catch a runaway train or fetch
wagons or carriages from sidings without assistance in any way and if the coupling
on the engine is closed it will not matter in what position the opposite coupling
is left in.
For passenger carriages the improvement would consist of a simple modification
of the above for drawing the trains together and to obviate the shock to passengers
in starting and stopping trains and would consist of a slot cut in the drawbar G
about three inches from the outside end and a socket to fit the end of the drawbar
with a slot in it to correspond with slot in the end of the drawbar_and into
this slot is put a wedge F which when driven in by means of the lever E that can
be worked on either side of a train (so as not in any case necessitating Railway
Employeès getting under or between the wagons or carriages) thus drawing the
carriages tightly together and forming one of the most simple powerful and at the
same time instantaneous tensions imaginable

page_text: Figure 1 Is an inverted view of the apparatus
Figure 2 Is an end elevation
Figure 3 Is a side Elevation
Figure 4 Is a General view of the arrangement
The following letters on the above drawings refer to like parts throughout
A is the spring D is the anchor, E is the lever for working the wedge shown
B is the hook especially in Figure 2, F is the smaller wedge for tension,
C is the wedge) G is the drawbar
1
HH are the buffers, I I are the supports for attachments of levers E E
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed or carried into effect Now
what I claim and desire to be secured to me by the before in part recited Letters
Patent is the said Invention for Improvements in Couplings for Railway Carriages,
Wagons and Rolling Stock substantially as hereinbefore described in the foregoing 1
specification and as shewn on Drawings or any mere modification thereof
In witness whereof I the said Samuel Roberts have hereunto set my hand
and seal this first day of October in the year of Our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty three.
SAMUEL ROBERIS (L.S.)