An Improved Automatic Coupling for Railway Cars.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Apr., 1895-Accepted, 18th May, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Automatic Coupling for Railway Cars.
I, HUGO KLING, Official, of Landstrasse 66, Linz, in the Empire of Austria,
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 consists in an improved automatic coupling for railway cars.
This coupling is shown in the annexed drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view
showing the coupling applied to a railway car; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 3
a cross section and Fig. 4 a longitudinal section.
The coupling comprises, as Fig. 1 illustrates, the two bars H, fastened to project
horizontally from the end of the car between the buffers which bars, are, in their
inner parallel surfaces, provided with longitudinal grooves as shown in Fig. 3.
In these grooves, the lower surfaces of which slope towards the bottom, are placed
the shaped pieces B and C which latter are provided with corresponding
prismatic ribs d, d' adapted to slide in said grooves in the bars H. These ribs or
edges d, d' are illustrated in Fig. 2 in side view, in Fig. 3 in cross section.
The back piece C is directly connected to the car by means of the cross bolt G
and the eye F, while it is attached to the front piece B by means of the screw
threaded bar D, the free end (the end without screw thread) of which is solidly
fastened to part B and the threaded end passing loosely through a hole in part C
where it is held by a nut. By adjusting this nut the distance between the two
sliding pieces can be altered as desired, which operation admits of stretching or
slackening the coupling. The legs of part B, as shown in Fig. 2, are enlarged to
and terminate in bow-like loops N in which rests the spindle fof link A. The
object of these bow-like loops is to provide for differences in the heights of the
cars to be coupled. The piece A forms, in its front part, a link and its back
part F1 has the shape of a prismatic block; and the arrangement is made that the
centre of gravity lies as near as possible to the axis of the spindle f, that
consequently this piece A remains balanced indifferently in any position that it
may assume. The spindles or trunnions frest in the slots L of the bows N.
In order to effect the coupling the piece A of the one car is placed vertically,
that of the other car A¹ horizontal (see Fig. 4). The end of part A¹ will then
arrive against and press against the part F thereby causing A to fall forward
whereby the slit of the link A catches the upper nose a¹ which noses are arranged
in pairs and symmetrically in front of or behind the spindle symmetrically with
the axis of A, F¹. The nose a³ engages with A¹. Fig. 2 illustrates the coupling
as complete.
To effect the turning of part A around its axis f by the link A', the horizontal
middle plane of part A' should lie below that of A; in the representation of the
arrangement in Fig. 4, these planes coincide, in which case A' pressing in the
plane of the axis would cause no turning, but would possibly slide up in front of
the nose a. To insure the turning movement in all cases, even if in consequence
of different loads, the middle planes of the coupling of the cars should have
different elevations. At the ends of the loops A and A¹ horns p, pl are attached
which, extending downward, always touch the piece F' below the turning axis f,
before the end of part A¹ comes in contact with the piece F¹. In consequence
these horns cause link A to fall and, if the difference of the elevation require it,
raise part F by pressing against the under side, this raising being rendered

page_text: possible by the slit L in bow N. In this manner link A always assumes a position
above that of link A¹. The horns p, p¹ fastened on to the links A, A¹ are capable
of being turned, and whereas their downward movement is limited by a nose and a
catch, they may move upward freely so as not to impede the engagement. To
prevent A, F from falling backward or downward, below the horizontal plane, the
lugs g and g are arranged on parts B and F' respectively.
As mentioned above the ribs d, d', by means of which parts B and C are made
to slide in bars H (see Fig. 3) have a trapezium like cross section and move freely
in the respective grooves of bars H; this arrangement renders possible a slight
shifting sideways and an angular disposition of the two coupling axes, which is of
great importance for passing curves. As the lower surfaces of rib d are bevelled,
the parts C, B, always tend to assume a central position.
As to the length of the couplings, they should not exceed a certain limit so that
the front ends of parts B C in no way extend beyond the compressed buffers.
The coupling, as already mentioned, is effected by the piece A of the one car
being placed in a vertical position, so that the link extends upward whereas link A¹
of the other car rests horizontally. This moving upward of link A can, without
stepping between the buffers, be effected from outside by means of a stick. The
disengagement of the coupling can be done with the aid of a bar rested from
outside on one of the buffers. Said bar has a length of about 1.5 meters, is made
of tough wood and is provided at one end with an iron shoe similar to a pinch
bar. Whereas the other end has a wrench for adjusting the nut of the screw
spindle D; this operation requires only a moderate effort as the links A are
balanced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) An automatic coupling for railway cars, consisting of a link A, which is
capable of being turned upon a horizontal spindle and which is provided in front
of the axis of turning with a longitudinal slot, said piece having near the axis f,
on its upper surface, hooks a, lying in the direction of the longitudinal axis, the
coupling being adapted to be effected by the link A of the one car being placed
vertically, that of the other horizontally so that in moving the cars towards each
other the front part of the horizontal link strikes the other end of the vertical
link thereby causing it to fall and the loops to catch, alternately, the hooks a, a¹.
(2) The combination with the coupling above described of two bars H projecting
horizontally between the buffers and having grooves in which move the Ushaped
sliding pieces B, C, connected by a threaded bar, one of these pieces being directly
connected with the car, whereas the other one, at its ends N, is provided with
slots L to receive the spindles f of the coupling link A, the latter having a loop
like slit in its front part and hooks a, a¹ near its turning axis.
(3) The attachments p, p₁ of the coupling links A, A¹ of which attachments
that of the horizontal link A' strikes the lower end F of the vertical link A
thereby raising it and causing it to turn over in a forward direction.
(4) The loop like attachment N of the sliding piece B provided with vertical
slots L to receive the coupling axle of link A for the purpose of equalizing or
compensating for the different heights of the cars to be coupled for the purpose
described.
Dated this 2nd day of April 1895.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Agents to the Applicant.