Improvements in and relating to Draw Gear for Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 25th May, 1897-Accepted, 31st July, 1897
[Communicated from abroad by CHARLES MOULTON GOULD, of No. 66, Broadway,
New York, in the State of New York, United States of America, Vice-
President of the Gould Coupler Company.]
Improvements in and relating to Draw Gear for Railway Vehicles.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents, 45
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 draft or buffer gear designed for use in connection.
with an automatic coupling of the type comprising a horizontally-swinging
coupling jaw commonly termed a "knuckle" which is pivoted to the drawhead
and adapted to interlock with the knuckle of a similar coupling carried by an
adjoining vehicle or wagon, this knuckle being retained in its closed position
by a lock which, when withdrawn, allows the knuckle to swing to its open position
for uncoupling the vehicles.
My improved draft and buffer gear is designed more especially for goods wagons,
although the same is also applicable to railway carriages. Such wagons are
ordinarily provided with side buffers arranged on the front side of the head stock,
but these buffers offer considerable resistance to the curving of the wagon, causing
excessive wear of the wheel flanges and the rails.
The object of my invention is to dispense with the ordinary side buffers and to
provide the wagon with a buffer, which offers comparatively little resistance to
curving, so as to reduce the wear of the wheel flanges and rails, and which is
simple, compact and inexpensive in construction and easy of application to existing
wagons.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the underframe and running gear
of a goods wagon, provided with my improved draft and buffer gear.
Figure 2 is a top plan view of one half of the under frame.
Figure 3 is a fragmentary end view of the same, showing the coupling and the
lever for unlocking it.
Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section in line 4-4, Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the underframe showing the
parts in their normal position.
Figure 6 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the drawbar
is pushed inward.
Figure 7 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the drawbai
is pulled outward beyond its normal position.
Figure 8 is a fragmentary top plan view corresponding to Figure 5.
Figure 9 is a transverse section in line 9-9 Figure 5.
Figure 10 is a fragmentary longitudinal section showing a modified construction
of the buffer.
Figure 11 is a transverse section in lino 11-11 Figure 10.

page_text: Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.
A represents the headstock, A' the.sole bars or side beams and A² the centre
beams. B is the continuous drawbar extending through an opening in the head-
stock and having its two sections connected by the usual craille or yoke C. D
represents the draft springs or cushions mounted on the drawbar sections between
the end bars of the cradle and the usual screw nuts e.
Fis the drawhead of the automatic coupling, which is secured with its upper
portion to the projecting front end of the drawbar, preferably by a vertical pivot
bolt f, so that the coupling is capable of oscillating or swinging laterally on the
drawbar for insuring the engagement of the couplings of adjoining cars upon
curves. The drawhead is yieldingly held in its central position by forwardly con-
verging spring followers or buffers which are guided in sockets g! secured to
the front side of the headstock and, which bear against laterally extending lugs g²
formed on the rear portion of the drawhead. The top of the drawhead is pre-
ferably flush or nearly flush with the upper surface of the drawbar and for this
purpose the drawhead is formed in its upper rear portion with a rearwardly flaring
recess or depression g³ for receiving the end of the drawbar. In order to relieve
the pivot bolt f from the thrust of the drawhead, the rounded front end g of the
drawbar is arranged to bear against the concave front wall of the recess g³, as
shown in Figure 8.
his the pivoted jaw or knuckle of the automatic coupling which may be held
in its closed position by any of the well known locks employed in this type of
couplings. As the particular construction of the coupling forms no part of my
invention, this lock is not shown in the drawings. In the coupling illustrated
in the drawings, the operating link of the lock extends through the side of the
drawhead and the same is retracted for unlocking the knuckle by an upright
hand lever I pivoted to the head stock and connected with said link by a chain i¹,
this lever being locked in position by a toothed segment as shown in Figures 2
and 3, or by any other suitable means.
J is a brace or bracket arranged underneath the front portion of the drawbar
and attached at its front end to the underside of the drawhead by the pivot bolt f
and having its rear end bent upward at right angles to its body portion and bolted
or otherwise secured to the drawbar at a short distance in rear of the headstocks.
This brace passes loosely through a guide or stran K arranged on the underside
of the headstock and slides freely through the same in following the inward and
outward movements of the drawbar. The brace J serves to give extra support to
the overhanging coupling and prevents the same from sagging.
L represents upper buffer springs applied to the drawbar in rear of the brace
or bracket, J, and M represents lower buffer springs arranged immediately below
the springs L. These springs are encased in a stationary housing N arranged 4
between the centre beams A2 and rigidly secured thereto and composed of two
approximately cylindrical pockets which receive the two sets of buffer springs,
respectively, as shown in Figure 9. o is a cylindrical follower sliding in the
upper pocket of the housing N and, bearing with its head or closed front end against
the front ends of the upper buffer springs, said head having an opening for the 4
passage of the drawbar. A similar follower o¹ slides in the lower pocket of the
housing and bears with its closed end against the front ends of the lower buffer
springs, the forward movement of the lower follower being limited by a longi-
tudinal bolt or slip pin 2 passing through the head of the follower and the closed
rear end of the housing. As shown, the two sets of springs are of the same length. 5
The bent or angular rear end of the brace J is square or abrupt and forms a
shoulder or butment which bears against the followers of the upper and lower
buffer springs, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, so that when the drawbar is pushed
inward by the coupling of an adjoining wagon, the abrupt rear end of the brace,
coming in contact with the two followers, forces the same rearwardly, thereby 5
compressing the two sets of buffer springs and casing the shock. As soon as the
pressure on the drawbar ceases, the compressed buffer springs and the followers

page_text: react against the rear end of the brace J and force the drawbar outward to its
former position. The brace thus acts both as an additional support for the coupling
and as an abutment or shoulder on the drawbar which co-operates with the buffer
springs.
By providing upper and lower buffer springs arranged in line with the drawbar
and the brace J, the resistance encountered by these parts is equalized and the
bending or buckling of the drawbar, which would be liable to occur in the absence
of the lower buffer springs, is prevented.
When the drawbar is pulled toward one end of the wagon in starting the train,
the abutment or shoulder formed by the square rear end of the brace at the
front end of the wagon recedes from the adjacent buffer springs, as shown in
Figure 7, and the draft springs, are compressed, while the abrupt inner end of the
brace at the opposite or rear end of the wagon is drawn against the follower of
its co-operating buffer springs, thus compressing these springs and cushioning.or
easing the draft in starting the wagon and relieving the wagon from the strain
incident to starting the same with the ordinary draw gear.
The sections of the drawbar are free to slide in the openings in the end bars of
the cradle C to permit a certain range of inward movement of the drawbar, which
is necessary in the use of automatic couplers.
In applying my improvement to existing wagons, the usual hook of the drawbar
is simply cut off and a hole formed in the end of the bar for the pivot bolt of
the coupling.
My improved central buffer does away with the ordinary side buffers and allows
a train to curve with considerably less resistance than the side buffers, reducing
the wear on the wheel flanges and rails. Its construction is simple and it can
be applied at small cost and without requiring any changes in the wagon frame
or the continuous drawbar.
As a modification of my improvement, both sets of buffer springs may be.
arranged upon the drawbar one behind the other, as shown in Figure 10, instead
of one above the other. In that case, the drawbar is forminated a short distance
in rear of the headstock and the coupling is carried by a pair of parallel straps or
braces J Ja arranged above and below the plane of the drawbar and connected at
their rear ends by an integral vertical bar J3 which is secured to the drawbar.
The front ends of these braces are secured to the top and bottom of the drawhead
which latter is preferably provided both in its top and botttm with recesses g for
the front ends of the straps J J2. These straps pass through a pair of openings
or a vertical slot formed in the headstock. In this modification, the square or
abrupt rear ends of both straps or braces bear against the follower P of the front
buffer spring L. A single long buffer spring or a pair of long springs might be
used in place of the two sets of short springs shown in Figure 10, but I prefer to
employ the latter construction, with an auxiliary follower L³, between the two
sets of springs, as shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what claim is:
1. A central buffer arranged in rear of the headstock, in combination with the
continuous drawbar, carrying an automatic coupling and provided in rear of the
headstock with a shoulder or abutment which acts against the central buffer,
substantially as set forth.
2. Upper and lower buffer springs arranged centrally in rear of the headstock,
in combination with the continuous drawbar carrying an automatic coupling,
and a brace or bracket arranged on the underside of the drawbar and extending
rearwardly from the coupling and having square or abrupt rear end which bears
against the upper and lower buffer springs, substantially as set forth.
3. The continuous drawbar carrying an automatic coupling in combination with
a casing secured to the wagon frame in rear of the headstock and extending below

page_text: the drawbar, upper and lower buffer springs and followers arranged in said casing,
and a brace or bracket arranged on the underside of the drawbar extending rear-
wardly from the bottom of the coupling and having an abrupt rear end which
bears against the followers of the upper and lower buffer spring, substantially
as set forth.
4. The continuous drawbar,. in combination with a buffer spring arranged in
rear of the headstock, and a pair of straps arranged above and below the plane of
the drawbar and having their front ends attached to the top and bottom of an
automatic coupling, and having abrupt rear ends secured to the drawbar and
forming shoulders which bear against said buffer springs, substantially as set forth.
5. The combination of the drawhead of the coupling having recesses in its top
and bottom, and the drawbar having upper and lower straps extending forwardly
through the headstock and pivoted to the drawhead by a vertical bolt and having
their rounded front ends arranged to bear against the walls of said recesses for
relieving said pivot bolt, substantially as set forth.
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HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.