New or Improved Coupling for Railway Carriages and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Sept., 1897-Accepted, 16th Oct.,
1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Coupling for Railway Carriages and the like.
We, GUSTAV WEISSENBERG, of 29 Vihoferstrasse, Essen on the Ruhr, Merchant,
and WILHELM HERWEG, of 39 Kettwigerchaussee, Essen on the Ruhr, Jeweller, both
in the German Empire, 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 a coupling for railway carriages and the like so constructed
that it acts automatically, and that there is no necessity to pass in between the
carriages to couple and uncouple them.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings
Figure 1 is a side view of the adjacent ends of two railway wagons coupled together
with coupling apparatus constructed in accordance with our invention.
Figure 2 is a section taken on the line no of Figure 3 which is a partial plan
corresponding to Figure 1 but with the cover plate of one coupling removed.
Figure 4 is a view from below of the end of one of the wagons with its coupling.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section through the front part of the coupling.
Figure 6 is a plan view of a coupling.
Figure 7 is a view of a coupling without the front casing and without the coupling
shackle, and
Figures 8, 9 and 10 are various views of a stop piece furnished with a rounded
part, which stop piece comes into action automatically when the coupling of two
carriages is being effected.
The coupling consists essentially of a cylinder a (Figure 5) in which a strong iron
pin can move, being guided by the disc 22. A chain a passes longitudinally
through the cylinder a and is fastened to the lug i¹ of the pin 2. Surrounding the
chain a is a strong spring 6 one end of which bears against the end of the cylinder a
and the other end of which presses against the guide disc 22. The chain a¹ passes
round a guide roller 62, which turns on the pin 6, and then through the hole c in the
bottom of the casing of the coupling as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and is secured
between the flanges of the roller d (Figure 4). This roller d is carried by the
shaft d turning in bearings d' d' under the wagon. The shaft d is furnished at its
two ends with a square part k (Figures 1 and 4) so that it can be turned, from the
side of the wagon, by means of a suitable key or handle adapted to fit on to either
of the said squares.
When the coupling is in action, as shown in the section Figure 5, the end of the
iron pin projects into the hole g³, and when in that position the said pin holds the
coupling shackle A in place (Figures 2 and 3). As also shown there is placed above
the cylinder a and the pin the stop piece h furnished with a hollowed-out part h²,
and pivotted between the parts of and gl on a piu g'. When the coupling has been
effected the stop piece h lies (as shown in Figure 2) loosely against the coupled
shackle A, and if now the pin i is drawn back by turning the shaft d', the stop piece h
falls automatically into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2; and
071

page_text: consequently the pin i, when again released and urged forward by its spring b,
presses against the stop piece h, which latter must then he moved out of the way
before a coupling operation can be effected. If now two wagons are to be coupled
together automatically the coupling is so placed that the stop piece h (Figure 2) takes
the above mentioned lowest position and the two wagons are caused to run against
one another. At the moment when the buffers CD are forced back (Figure 3) the
coupling shackles A of the wagons push the stop pieces h out of the lowest position
shown by dotted lines in Figure 2; this liberates the pins i and these are driven by
their springs b through the shackles A into their respective bearings g², and thereby
complete the connection or coupling of the wagons together. In order to prevent
slipping back of the pin i by reason of injury to the spring b of either coupling, a
special safety apparatus is provided which consists, as shown in Figure 3, of a strong
spring e fixed at one end and carrying at the other a bevilled stop which takes
through a hole in the cylinder wall and behind the guide disc so as to prevent
backward movement of the pin i.
At the point e¹ of the said stop is a pin adapted to move in a slot es
Below the coupling case a
(Figures 3 and 4) at the bottom of the coupling case.
chain is connected at one end to the pin e¹ and at the other end to the shaft d¹.
When it is required to uncouple the wagon the shaft d' is turned from the side of the
wagon by means of a crank handle or a key and the two chains fand a¹ are wound
on to the shaft. The chain a¹ runs round its guide roller 62 and draws back the
coupling pin i against the pressure of the spring b, and at the same time the chain f
draws the spring e out of its locking position so that the pin i is free to move
backwards. In order to put the coupling entirely out of action and to hold it ready
for coupling up again, small discs (Figure 1) are arranged at the sides of the
wagons the projections of which can take into the notches 8' of the disc & fixed on
the shaft d', and govern the backward motion of 8. The disc s may also be furnished
with an arm 82, which may serve as a lever for turning the shaft d', and therefore for
operating the coupling. The couplings are so arranged that the shackles A of any
two adjacent wagons or carriages are on opposite sides and consequently always come
opposite the appropriate part of the coupling it is intended to engage with, and
both couplings engage with one another simultaneously. By the arrangements above
described it is quite immaterial which end of a wagon or carriage is presented to the
end of another. The whole of the coupling is enclosed in a casing of sheet iron made
in two parts in order to protect the whole from dirt and injury. Over the stop piece h
is a cover B which enables the parts to be examined and kept in good working order.
The coupling shackles are made of malleable iron and are usually fixed at one side by
screws or otherwise to the under surface of the wagon whilst the other side is fixed
in any suitable way to the front of the wagon. The buffers may be of the construction
usually employed for railway wagons or carriages.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
First. A coupling for railway carriages and the like which consists of a shackle A
secured to one wagon or carriage and a pin i arranged on the other wagon or carriage
and adapted to move horizontally and crosswise of the said wagon or carriage and to
be pushed through the aforesaid shackle by a spring immediately the said shackle
has pushed back a stop piece h which until then prevents the automatic forward
movement of the said pin, the said stop piece h being so adapted that it places itself
automatically in front of the pin i when the same has been drawn back in order to
uncouple the wagon or carriage, substantially as described.
Second. In a coupling for railway carriages and the like, of the kind herein
described, the devices whereby a coupling pin and a stop spring are drawn back
by the winding of two chains fand a¹ on a shaft d' arranged underneath the wagon
or carriage and which is provided at both ends with means for rotating the same
from either side of the wagon or carriage, such shaft being also provided with stop

page_text: apparatus 78, arranged at the ends thereof for the purpose of preventing backward
rotation of the shaft, substantially as described.
Datel Day of Depremo
G. WEISSENBERG,
W. HERWEG,
Per W. H. Beck.
115 Cannon Street, London, E.C., Agent.