IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLING OR JOINING TOGETHER RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Handyside, of Saint John's Wood, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
.
، وو
.
Sealed the 29th December 1874, and dated the 3rd July 1874.
°
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Handyside at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd July 1874.
I, HENRY HANDYSIDE, of Saint John's Wood, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COUPLING OR JOINING TOGETHER RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the method of coupling or joining together
the carriages, wagons, or other vehicles of railway trains, and consists in
passing a coupling rod entirely through or suspending it from the end
and centre transoms forming parts of the framing of each vehicle, the
said rod sliding freely so as to be easily withdrawn if required, and fitted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Handyside in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HANDYSIDE, of Saint John's Wood, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
•
-
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give.
and grant unto me, the said Henry Handyside, Her special license
that I, the said Henry Handyside, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Handyside, my executors,
administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COUPLING OR JOINING TOGETHER RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK," upon. the

page_text: condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Handyside, my
executors or administrators, 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 Henry Handyside, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
1
My said Invention relates to the method of coupling or joining
together the carriages, waggons, or other vehicles of railway trains, and
consists in passing a coupling rod entirely through or suspending it from
the end and centre transoms forming parts of the framing of each
vehicle, the said rod sliding freely so as to be easily withdrawn if
required, and being fitted at each end with a series of coupling links of
the ordinary or any suitable construction.
The rod and links of cach vehicle are connected with those of the
next vehicle by shackles and pins or equivalent devices in the manner
herein-after mentioned.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both the
Figures.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of a portion of the framing
of a railway carriage, shewing the application thereto of a coupling rod
arranged in accordance with my Invention; Figure 2 is a detail plan of
a portion of the links of two consecutive carriages connected together....
A is the coupling rod provided with links a, b, and passing through
the transoms B, B₁, of the framing C, so as to be capable of sliding
freely through the same. The coupling rod of the carriage which is to
.be connected to the carriage Ċ is fitted with a shackle c, into which the
link is passed so as to bring the apertures or eyes of the link and

page_text: hackle opposite each other, and a pin d is then inserted through the
two, whereby the rods of the two consecutive carriages are securely
coupled together.
. When it is required to attach a carriage to the opposite end of the
carriage C a similar shackle may also be fitted to the last link a, but if
the carriage C is intended to be the last of the series a pine is introduced
into one of the links a, as shewn, by which means the coupling rod A is
retained in its place. The pins d, e, are elongated beyond the shackles
and links, as shewn, so that when drawing on the rods and links the
said pins extend across the respective holes in the transoms B¹ through
which the links pass and bearing hard upon the transoms, thereby
pull or push the vehicles from behind instead of from the front
as heretofore. Or the rods and links may be coupled by peculiarly
constructed hooks formed with flats on their hooked portions
which flats bear hard against the transoms as in the case of the pins
previously described.
When required to uncouple it is simply necessary to withdraw the
pins or hooks as the case may be. These arrangements admit of draw
springs being dispensed with and of the requisite clasticity being derived
from the corner buffers which should be of the spiral spring class; this
description of spring being much lighter and cheaper than the centro
blado springs in common use.
ว
It is obvious that the before-mentioned methods of connecting
together the coupling rods are also applicable to rods arranged otherwise
than in the manner herein-before described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. Coupling or connecting together the vehicles of railway trains
by means of coupling rods passing through the framing of the vehicles
or through attachments to such framing, so as to be capable of sliding
longitudinally therethrough, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described and as illustrated by my Drawings.

page_text: Second. The application and use of shackles and pins or of
hooks formed with flats on their hooked portions for connecting together
the coupling rods of railway vehicles, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Handyside, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Second day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
HENRY HANDYSIDE. (L.S.)