IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jasper Wetter, of the Firm of Herbert and Company,
Solicitors of Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil.
Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES."
A communication from abroad by Rensselaer A. Cowell, of Cleveland, State
of Ohio, United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Jasper Wetter at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th August 1880.
JASPER WETTER, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Solicitors of Patents,
of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY CARRIAGES." A communication from abroad by Rensselaer A. Cowell,
of Cleveland, State of Ohio, United States of America.
This Invention relates to platforms of railway cars, and it consists in the following
parts and combinations as hereinafter specified and claimed. In the Drawing,
Figure 1 is a plan view of a device constructed according to the Invention;
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal horizontal section thereof taken through the line y, y;
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same device taken through
line x, x, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detached view showing the cam for increasing or
diminishing the tension of the supplemental or yielding platform springs; Fig. 5
represents the device in operation. The rest of the Drawings represents modified
forms of construction of certain parts of the device. On said Drawings, A
represents an end position of the bed frame of a car, being that portion directly
under the passenger platform; B is the end of said frame, which abuts against the
next adjoining car. The central forward portion of the part B is chambered, as
shown at B1, Fig. 2; C is a supplemental or yielding platforin, made preferably of
metal. This is folded around the upper front and under surface of the portion B,
as shown in the Drawings, and is loosely attached, being permitted longitudinal
movement to the extent of the slot C¹. The supplemental or yielding platform C
is held in its outward extended position by the force of one, two, or more springs D,
which are located within the chamber B¹. These springs are placed between. trats

page_text: or lugs formed upon the inside vertical portion of the supplemental or yielding
platform C (as indicated in the Drawings) and a rocking bar E. The bar E is
connected or attached to a cam bar F in any suitable manner to permit of a
vibratory, rocking, or oscillating motion to the bar E. The rear end of the bar F
is formed into a bevel or cam F for engagement with the revolving cam G, which
said revolving cam G is located immediately behind the rear end of the bar F. A
handle G¹ is attached to the cam G for the purpose of operating the said cam in
the manner to be herein-after shown.
One of the principal objects of this Invention is not only to insure a perfect
coupling of the cars, but to effect this result without necessitating the severe
pressure on the compression platform, which operates to jolt the passenger and
injure the cars and locomotive.
The device as shown in the Drawings is so constructed that the supplemental or
yielding platform C can be placed under a greater or less spring tension according
to requirements. When the handle G³ is moved so that the cam G presses the
bars F, E, forward to their extreme limit, then the springs D are compressed, and
the supplemental or yielding platform C placed under its highest spring tension
and will yield less readily, but will yield more readily when the bar G³ is reversed
to such a position that the cam G does not operate and the springs D are released.
In this position the supplemental or yielding platform C will yield to a comparatively
gentle pressure, and this is the position of parts that should be had when coupling
cars; but when coupled the position first described for the highest spring tension
should be resorted to. The object of allowing the bar E to rock or tilt is to permit
a similar motion to the supplemental or yielding platform C. This allows of an
accurate juxta position of the supplemental or yielding platform C to adjoining
cars while said cars are rounding a curve. Thus a continuous unbroken platforın
or footing is provided between cars at all times; Fig. 5 of the Drawings represents
the device thus operating in this particular.
I do not limit myself narrowly to the construction of the bar E, as it may be of
any suitable character, this Invention more broadly consisting in a cam bar F
constructed in any suitable manner to be actuated by a cam device, so that by
turning or moving said cam the bar F can be adjusted at pleasure, as may be
required to adjust the yielding platform C to the desired degree of spring
resistance.
The bar E, as shown in the Drawings, might be omitted, and the bar F
constructed in such a manner as at the same time to perform as already specified,
and to also accomplish the functions of the bar E. His a lever intended to act
as a lock to the coupling. Its use and operation are as follows:-When the
supplemental or yielding platform is placed under its highest spring tension,
the cam G bears upon the short lever H¹, which in turn holds the lever H rigidly
in place with its outer terminus bearing upon the coupling device, heretofore
alluded to, holding the same in place and preventing the accidental uncoupling of
the cars.
When the bar G' is reversed to such position that the cam G does not
operate, and the springs are released, then at the same time the lever H is released,
and the cars may be disconnected without difficulty.
In the modified detail views the bar F is represented as being constructed in
three different ways, to provide for its adjustment, viz., as being provided with a
rack bar and adjusted by a pinion; again, as being provided with a worm shaft
and adjusted by a worm gear, and, again, as being provided with a screw and
adjusted by a hand-wheel. Also there are represented three different forms of
devices constituting the rocking bar E and bar F when made integral with each
other. In one form said parts are made in the form of a triangle, with the base
provided with lugs for retaining the springs in place while the apex of the triangle
rests against the adjusting cam.
Again, the bars E, F, are made of T form and of a single piece; and, again, the
two bars are made of Y form.

page_text: CLAIMS.
1. In combination with a supplemental or yielding platform C and adjusting
bar F, any suitable device whereby through said bar F the spring resistance of
said platform C may be adjusted, substantially as and for the purpose shown.
2. The combination, with the supplemental or yielding platform C, of one or
more springs D, bar E, cam bar F, and cam G, or its equivalent, whereby through
the movement of said cam the yielding or supplemental platform C may be adjusted,
substantially as and for the purpose shown.
3. The cam G or its equivalent in combination with a cam-bar F, for regulating
the tension of the springs D, substantially as and for the purpose shown.
4. The bar H, in combination with the cam G, for locking and unlocking the car
couplings, substantially as and for the purpose shown.
In witness whereof I, the said Jasper Wetter, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, A.D. 1880.
תגזתא
J. WETTER. (L.S.)