Improved Means for Operating Railway Couplings.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr., 1899
Complete Specification Left. 25th Jan., 1900-Accepted, 31st Mar., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Operating Railway Couplings.
I, JABEZ Evaxs, of Cotteswold Terrace, Tewkesbury, in the County of
Gloucester, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
This invention consists of the herein described improved means for operating
the ordinary three link couplings of railway trucks or wagons my invention
being arranged to enable the wagons to be coupled and uncoupled from either
side without the necessity of the shunter going between the wagons and so as
to dispense with the use of the dangerous coupling pole which is at present
commonly employed for coupling and uncoupling the coupling chain. My inven-
tion also serves the purpose of a safety catch in case of breakage of the draw
bar or the two first and second links of the coupling chain. My invention is so
designed as to be easily applied to the existing three link couplings of railway
waggons.
In carrying out this invention I provide a pair of short side bars which at
their outer ends are jointed to a cross bar which is clamped or otherwise fixed
to the third or bottom link of the coupling. The other ends of these side bars
are jointed to two side levers which are fixed on a rocking shaft carried by bear-
ings underneath the buffer beam of the waggon. These two levers are con-
tinued beyond the point where they are jointed to the side bars and are there
made with a cross piece on which the said bars may rest when the way shaft is
turned to operate the coupling. The said way shaft in addition to being free to
turn in its bearings can also move endwise therein.
At each end of the rocking shaft and in a line therewith is what 1 call an
operating shaft which two operating shafts are carried in suitable bearings from
the buffer beam and arranged to turn therein and also adapted for endwise move-
ment. These two operating shafts, which really form continuations of
the rocking shaft, I will call respectively the right hand and left hand
operating shafts. Fixed 011 the outer end of each operating shaft is
a hand lever by which the operating shaft can be moved endwise or turned
for the purpose of operating the coupling. These hand levers are jointed to the
ends of their operating shafts and are each continued for a certain distance
beyond where they are jointed this continuation forming the fulcrum of the
hand lever and acting on circular bearing guides fixed to the wagon for the hand
lever ends to bear against in the various positions which the hand lever assumes
when operating the coupling. The ends of the operating shafts are by pre
ference not rigidly fixed to the ends of the rocking shaft but are connected
thereto by a peculiar arrangement of clutches and springs so constructed and
arranged as to bring the rocking shaft with the coupling link back only to its
entral position after the rocking shaft has been drawn endwise in either direc-
tion. The said clutches and springs are arranged as follows: -Each of the
operating shafts has fixed to its end a kind of clutch made with two side pro-
jections which are arranged to slide in longitudinal slots in a skeleton coupling

page_text: box fixed on the end of the rocking shaft. Each of these skeleton coupling
boxes contains a coiled wire spring which acts between the end of the coupling
box and the clutch on the end of the operating shaft forcing the clutch end of
the operating shaft inwardly towards the coupling. The slots in the coupling
box are made with notches at their inner ends arranged so that when one of the
operating shafts is turned in one direction to raise the coupling and rocking
shaft and move the same endwise, the projections of the clutch on the end of
the operating shaft engage with the notches in the slots of the clutch box and
thus form a rigid connection at this end while the clutch box at the other end of
the rocking shaft is free to slide and compress the spring therein.
The apparatus above described operates as follows:-Assuming the two trucks
to be coupled together the uncoupling is effected by lifting the hand lever at one
side of the truck which has the effect of turning the side projections of the
clutch on the end of the operating shaft into the notches of the slots of the
clutch box thereby raising the two side levers which in their turn raise the side
bars which are connected to the third or bottom link of the coupling thereby
lifting the said coupling link off the draw bar hook; the hand lever is then
turned sideways thereby drawing the rocking shaft with its levers and the coup-
ling sideways until the end link of the coupling is free of the draw bar hook.
The hand lever is then released and the coupling with the side bars and side
levers and hand levers turn down into their uncoupled position.
In order to couple the wagons the hand lever at either side of the truck has to
be raised and turned so as to turn the rocking shaft with the levers fixed
thereon and the side bars and the coupling thereby raising the coupling and at
the same time the end of the hand lever is turned sideways so as to draw the
rocking shaft endwise and cause the end link of the coupling to rise up clear
of and above the draw bar hook. The hand lever with the rocking shaft are
now moved inwardly so that the coupling link will fall on to the draw bar hook.
As the springs always bring the coupling into its central position it is impos-
sible to push it over too far from either side and therefore the coupling link will
always fall on to the draw bar hook provided it has been raised sufficiently.
The two side bars and levers which connect the third link of the coupling to
the rocking shaft form a safety catch in case of breakage of the draw bar or of
the first and second links of the coupling.
Dated this 17th day of Auril 1899
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Operating Railway Couplings.
I, JABEZ EVANS, of Cotteswold Terrace, Tewkesbury, in the County of
Gloucester, Manufacturer, 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 consists of the herein described improved means for operating
the ordinary chain link couplings (which are usually made with three links) of
railway trucks or wagons my invention being arranged to enable the wagons to
be coupled and uncoupled from either side without the necessity of the shunter
going between the wagons, also to dispense with the use of the dangerous coup-
ling pole which is at present commonly employed for coupling and uncoupling
the coupling chain. My invention also serves the purpose of a safety catch in
case of breakage of the draw bar of the links of the coupling chain nearest to

page_text: the draw bar. My invention is so designed as to be easily applied to the existing
chain link couplings of railway wagons.
I will describe my invention by referring to the accompanying drawings on
which Fig. 1 represents in side elevation the ends of two trucks coupled together
and both provided with my invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of one of the
trucks shewing my invention with the coupling uncoupled: Fig. 3 is a side
elevation illustrating the action of my invention; Fig. 3* is a plan of some
parts shewn in Figure 3: Fig. 4 is a plan of the parts shewn in Fig. 1; Fig. 5
is also a plan to shew the lateral movement of the coupling apparatus when
connecting the coupling to or disconnecting it from the coupling hook of another
wagon and Figs. 67 and 8 shéw details of my invention on an enlarged scale.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
In carrying out this invention I provide a pair of short side bars which
at their outer ends a¹ are jointed to a cross bar B which is clamped or other-
wise fixed to the third or bottom link C of the coupling. The other ends a² of
these side bars AA are jointed to two side levers DD which are fixed on a
rocking shaft carried by bearings el preferably fixed underneath the buffer
beam or sole bar F of the wagon. These two levers DID are continued to d
(beyond the point where they are jointed to the slotted ends of the side bars A¹ A²)
and the levers D¹ D² are at d made with a cross piece G on which the said
bars AA² may rest when the way shaft E is turned to operate the coupling as
in Fig. 5. There is also another cross piece G² fixed on the top side of the
levers under which the ends of the side bars rest when they are
being lifted or lowered by the levers DD2. The way shaft E in addition to
being free to turn in its bearings ele can also move endwise therein.
At each end of the rocking shaft E and in a line therewith is what I call an
operating shaft which two operating shafts are marked respectively H'H² and
are carried in suitable bearings h'h² fixed to the buffer beam or sole bar For to
the buffer sockets or otherwise to the wagon end. The operating shafts H' H²
really form continuations of the rocking shaft E and they are arranged to turn
in their bearings and also adapted for endwise movement." Each operating shaft
has jointed to its outer end a hand lever marked respectively JJ by which the
operating shaft can be moved endwise or turned for the purpose of operating
the coupling. The hand levers JJ2 are jointed at to the ends of their
operating shafts and are each continued for a certain distance at beyond where
they are jointed, the end of this continuation forming the fulcrum of the hand
lever and acting on a circular bearing guide which two bearing guides are
marked respectively KK through the centre of which the corresponding
operating shaft H₁H passes. These bearing guides are fixed to the ends of the
buffer beam or sole bar F or otherwise to the wagon sides so that the hand lever
ends will bear against them in the various positions which the hand levers
assume when operating the coupling. The ends of the operating shafts H¹H³
are by preference not rigidly fixed to the ends of the rocking shaft E but are
connected thereto by a peculiar arrangement of clutches and springs so con-
structed and arranged as to always bring the rocking shaft E with the coupling
back to its central position after the rocking shaft has been drawn endwise in
either direction to couple or uncouple the coupling. The said clutches and
springs are arranged as I will now describe one of which is shewn separately in
Figs. 6 and 7.
The operating shaft H' has formed on its end a kind of clutch
made with two side projections which are arranged to slide in longitudinal
slots in the coupling box L fixed on the end of the rocking shaft E. This
coupling box contains a coiled wire spring m which acts between the end of the
coupling box L and the clutch forcing the clutch end of the operating
shaft Hinwardly towards the coupling. The slots of the coupling box Ľ
are made with notches at their inner ends so arranged that when the operat-
ing shaft H is turned as shewn in Fig. 5 in the direction to raise the coupling
and rocking shaft E and is also pulled to move the same endwise the projec-

page_text: tions of the clutch engage with the notches of the clutch box L and
thus form a rigid connection at this end while the clutch box N at the other end
of the rocking shaft is free to slide and compress the spring o therein. This
clutch box N is similar to the clutch box L above described and is similarly
made with two longitudinal slots with end notches to engage with clutch
projections on the end of the operating shaft H2 which are similar to the
projections on the shaft H. There is also a coiled wire spring o in the
clutch box N similar to the spring m in the clutch box L.
The apparatus above described operates as follows:-Assuming the two trucks
to be coupled together as in Figs. 1 and 4 the uncoupling is effected by lifting
one of the hand levers, say the hand lever J, at one side of the truck which
has the effect of turning the side projections on the end of the operating
shaft H into the notches of the clutch box L as shown in Fig. 5 thereby
-raising the two side levers D'12 which in their turn raise the side bars A¹A
which are connected to the bottom link C of the coupling thereby lifting the
coupling link off the draw bar hook R the handle lever is then turned side-
ways as in Fig. 5 thereby bringing the rocking shaft E with its levers DD
and side bars AA² and the coupling sideways until the end link of the coup-
ling is free of the draw bar hook K. The hand lever is then allowed to fall
and the coupling with the side bars AA2 and side levers D1 D2 and hand
levers JJ turn down into their uncoupled position shewn on left hand truck
in Fig. 1.
In order to couple the wagons one of the hand levers say the hand lever J¹ has to
be raised and turned so as to turn the rocking shaft E with the levers D' D fixed
thereon and the side bars AA and the coupling thereby raising the coupling
as in Fig. 3 above the draw bar hook R and at the same time the end of the
hand lever is pulled sideways as in Fig. 5 so as to draw the rocking shaft E
endwise and cause the end of the coupling link to rise up clear of the draw
bar hook R as in Fig. 3. The hand lever with the parts connected is now
pressed inwardly so that the coupling link C will fall on the draw bar hook R.
As the springs mo always bring the rocking shaft E and the coupling into
their central position as in Fig. it is impossible to push it over too far from
either side and therefore the coupling link C will always fall over the draw bar
hook providing said link has been raised sufficiently. The two side bars
and the levers 112 which connect the bottom link (of the coupling to the
rocking shaft E form a safety catch in case of the breakage of the draw bar or
of the other links of the coupling. In this event any undue strain on the
shaft is prevented by the link S which is arranged immediately under the
draw bar hook and connects the way shaft E to a cross bar T carried by two
strong brackets which are fixed to the back of the sole bar F.
The accompanying drawings illustrated what I consider to be the best means
of carrying my invention into practice but it is to be understood that my inven-
tion is not limited to the precise details shewn.
4
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 4
I claim is:-
1. In an apparatus for coupling and uncoupling chain link couplings of rail-
way trucks and wagons, the combination with the said coupling of the way
shaft provided with downwardly depending levers DD which near their
outer ends are jointed to side bars A which are jointed to the bottom link of 5
the coupling, said way shaft and parts carried thereby being adapted for turning
and for endwise movements, the operating shafts HH arranged in a line with
and connected by spring clutch boxes L N to the ends of the rocking shaft each
of said operating shafts being jointed at its outer end to an operating lever
handle by which the shaft can be turned and moved to and fro the said parts 5
being constructed and arranged for joint operation substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 2. Means for coupling and uncoupling chain link couplings of railway trucks
and wagons from either side of said truck or wagon constructed arranged and
operating in the manner substantially as herein before described and illustrated
by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 24th day of January 1900
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.