IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ADJUSTING COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ADJUSTING COUPLINGS FOR
RAILWAY CARRIAGES."-A communication from abroad by Hazen Webster,
of Elgin, in the State of Illinois, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th December 1864, and dated the 1st July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton-
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st July 1864.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ADJUSTING COUPLINGS
POR RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in providing the heads of draw bars, which are
when constructed to receive self-adjusting couplings, with a curved projection
that will enable the draw bars to operate also as bumpers, and in using in
connection with such curved projections coupling hooks or catches. The draw.
bar is made, with the exception of the head, in any of the known forms, and
is attached to the car in the usual manner. The projection at the head of the.

page_text: draw bar is made with a curved face, and it is proportioned somewhat in
accordance with the size of the coupling hook used, the object being to have
the extreme point of the hook of one draw bar strike the projection of the
other draw bar a little outside of the centre of the curve when the slackening
of the speed of the train causes the bumping of the carriages against each
other. The coupling hook or catch is pivoted to its draw bar, and a spring,
also carried by the draw bar, presses on its rear end for the purpose of keeping
the hook engaged with its counterpart on the draw rod of the coupled car-
riage. The hooks are disengaged by attaching a chain to a projection on the
back of the hook and putting the requisite draught on the chain by connecting
it with a windlass or lever.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SELF-ADJUSTING COUPLINGS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being bad to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
consists in providing the heads of draw bars, when constructed to receive
self-adjusting couplings, with a curved projection that will enable the draw
bars to operate also as bumpers, and in using in connection with such curved
projections coupling hooks or catches.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a top view of two draw
bars connected together according to this Invention, one of the draw bars
being in section in the plane of the line A, B, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a side view of
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.
the same.
The draw bar A is made, with the exception of the head, in any of the
known and approved forms and of any suitable material, and it is attached to
the car in the usual manner. The head of the draw bar on the side opposite
the hook is provided with a projection having its face curved, as shewn at C:
This projection is carried out somewhat in accordance with the size of the
coupled hook D, the object being to have the extreme point of the hook strike
it a little outside of the centre of the curve. By this arrangement the hook
of a self-acting coupling is made to operate as a bumper without unlocking
the cars, and the curve also assists the spring in holding the hook in place
and prevents the cars from uncoupling when on a down grade, where most of
the automatic couplings are found to fail, especially if the track is rough and
uneven. The side of the draw bar and head opposite the curve C are made
open so as to receive the hook D and spring E, as shewn in Fig. 1. The
hook or catch D is made of iron or other suitable material, as shewn in
Fig. 1, and hinged or pivoted at e. A spring E, made of steel and nearly
straight, is attached at a to the draw bar for the purpose of operating the
hook. The head of the hook D is made vertically, about fourteen inches in
width, so as to adapt it to different heights of cars and to prevent bounding
apart on uneven tracks. This device is opened by attaching a chain to the
projection 6 on the back of the hook D and connecting such chain with a
windlass, lever, or contrivance for overcoming the pressure of the spring E.
The parts, when brought together as shewn in the Drawing, make a self-
adjusting coupling which experiments have proved to operate successfully
under all circumstances.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in
self-adjusting couplings for railway carriages, as communicated to me from
abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,
constructing the draw bars of railway carriages as and coupling them together
by the means above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFfatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)