AN IMPROVED SELF- ACTING SAFETY COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Wrigley, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SELF-
ACTING SAFETY COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 29th April 1859, and dated the 1st November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Wrigley, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1858.
I, FRANCIS WRIGLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED SELF-ACTING SAFETY COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists in a combination of joints, links, and pins, so
arranged as to form a complete "self-acting safety coupling" for railway
carriages, trucks, and rolling stock, and other purposes. The combined parts
may be described as consisting of two three-fold joints, with their links, pins,
&c., each joint moving on its own centre pin. These joints are attached to
the ends of the draw bars of any two railway carriages or trucks intended to
be coupled, and may be further described in detail as consisting of, first, the
outside joint or jaw attached to and forming part of the draw bar; second, an
internal double joint or pin link; and third, the centre or coupling link; the
whole being so arranged that when placed in a position, and the carriages or
trucks brought together in the usual way, the act of coupling is accomplished,
thereby entirely doing away with the necessity for a man to place himself
between the carriages or trucks, &c. to couple them, as is at present needful,

page_text: and consequently removing the cause whereby
sacrifised in performing that duty.
so many lives have been
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, file
by the said Francis Wrigley, in the Great Seal Patent Office on th
30th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCI
WRIGLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Francis Wrigley, Her special license that I, the said Francis Wrigley,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis
Wrigley, 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 "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING
SAFETY COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES,' upon the condition,
amongst others, that I, the said Francis Wrigley, 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.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Wrigley, 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 Drawings, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in a combination of joints, links, and pins, so
arranged as to form a complete self-acting safety coupling for railway
carriages, trucks, rolling stock, and other purposes. The combined parts may
be described as consisting of two three-fold joints, with their links, joints, &c.,
each joint moving on its own centre pin. These joints are attached to the
ends of the draw bars of any two railway carriages or trucks intended to be

page_text: coupled, and may be further described as consisting of, first, the outside joint
or jaw attached to and forming part of the draw bar; second, an internal
double joint or pin link; and third, the centre or coupling link, the whole
I being so arranged that when so placed in position, and the carriages or trucks
brought together in the usual way, the act of coupling is accomplished, thereby
entirely doing away with the necessity for a man to place himself between the
carriages to couple them, as is at present needful, and consequently removing
the cause whereby so many lives have been lost in performing the said
operation.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about three inches to a foot, and having similar letters of reference marked
upon corresponding parts of the apparatus throughout the several Figures.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the self-acting coupling link when
coupled; Fig. 2 is also a side elevation, shewing the link and jaw in the
position required when about to be coupled, that is, slightly deviating from the
horizontal line, which they assume when coupled; Fig. 3 is a plan view
shown partly in section, of the coupling when coupled; and Fig. 4 is a detached
view of the portion of the apparatus which secures the link within the jaw,
and forms the coupling, and is here shewn in position as uncoupled; and
Fig. 5 shews an instrument to be used for uncoupling, and adapted to be used
from either side of the carriages.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a, a, is that portion of the carriage called the "buffer
bar," through which the portion of the draw bar b, b, moves, to the end of
which said draw bar the coupling is attached, and consists of the double link or
jaw c moving or turning upon the joint pin d, upon which pin a link E is
also mounted, so that either the link or the jaw may be used in order to
accommodate itself to the link or jaw upon the carriage to be coupled, and
also as an extra one in the event of one becoming broken or damaged, each
carriage being supplied with a similar portion of the coupling, either of which
will couple with the other. The coupling together of the carriages or inter-
linking of the coupling is secured by the coupling pins f, which, when the
carriages are uncoupled, are retained within the socket g by the catch h, as
seen in Fig. 4, and when the carriages are brought together the link E enters
the jaw c and strikes the projection of the catch h, and thus releases the link
pin f, which is shot through the link, and into the opposite side of the jaw by
means of the spring i, and the catch is forced up the pin k by the spring 1,
leaving the jaw clear for the entrance of the link. m, m, are projecting pins
or studs, having rounded heads secured to the link pins, by which the said pin

page_text: may be withdrawn and the carriages uncoupled. The mode of coupling and
the action of the various parts are as follows:-The link E and jaw c to be
coupled together are raised to about the position shewn in Fig. 2, in which
they are retained by the dog catches n, n, in the racks o, o, and the link pinj
and its catch h will be in the position as seen in Fig. 4, if the carriages be
now brought together as usual to be coupled the link will enter the jaw, strike
the retaining catch h, and release the link pin, which then shoots through the
link and into the opposite side of the jaw, and the carriages are securely
coupled without requiring any attendant between them; the catch h is thus
thrown into the position seen in Fig. 3, and by the links assuming the hori
zontal position the dog catches become released, and the coupling is no longer
rigid, but perfectly supple, accommodating itself to the ordinary or extraor
dinary motion of the carriages the same as the common coupling, without the
liability to become uncoupled. The hooks p, p, are combined to be used when
the ordinary coupling is required to be employed. When the carriages are
required to be recoupled, and before they are brought together, the attendant
withdraws one of the link pins (the other remaining shot through the heel of
the opposite link to support it during the operation of coupling), and replaces
the retaining catch h on the link pin f, as seen in Figure 4, and after raising
the coupling links into position, as shown in Figure 2, the carriages are then
brought together with the usual impetus, and the recoupling is accomplished.
For uncoupling the attendant simply withdraws the link pin f by means of the
hooked instrument shewn in Figure 5, which is adapted to be used from either
side of the carriage.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of performing the various operations, I would remark, in conclusion,
that I claim coupling carriages, trucks, or other vehicles or railway "rolling
stock," by means of the novel and peculiar construction and description of
coupling, as herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the
Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Wrigley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
FRANCIS WRIGLEY. (L.S.)