IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus for EFFECTING THE COUPLING OR BAILWAY WAGONS. LOCOMOTIVES AND VEHICLER
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Hartley, of Barnsley, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus for EFFECTING
THE COUPLING OR BAILWAY WAGONS. LOCOMOTIVES AND VEHICLER"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Hartley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th October 1874.
I, RICHARD HARTLEY, of Barnsley, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR EFFECTING THE COUPLING OF RAILWAY WAGONS, LOCOMOTIVES, AND VEHICLES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the railway couplings which are employed to
connect railway locomotives with wagons or vehicles, and also to connect
together the said wagons or vehicles, and the object of my Invention is
to enable the connection of such bodies to be effected with less danger
to the operator than is incurred when effecting the connection and dis-

page_text: connection in the ordinary manner. To this end I employ an arrange-
ment of levers and appliances which is capable of being actuated by an
operator standing on either side of the wagon or vehicle to effect the
connection or disconnection of the coupling links and hooks. The outer
link of the coupling is connected with the end of a lever frame which
is hinged to an arm or to arms, which are attached by one end to a shaft
which is fitted to be rotated in bearings. A second shaft fitted to
revolve in arms or parts which are fixed on the ends of the first-named
shaft passes through the said arms, and is provided with hand levers.
A lever on the second shaft is connected with the aforesaid lever frame.
The arrangement is such as that the outer link can be raised and
lowered, and be thrust outwards or drawn inwards, as may be required
by the combined actions of the two shafts.
In one arrangement the second shaft is mounted in ratchet segments
fixed on the first shaft, and pawls mounted on the aforesaid hand levers
and engaging with the said segments furnish the means whereby the
said shaft may be rotated, the independant rotation of the first shaft
being effected by actuating either or both of the said hand levers when
the said pawls are not engaged with the said segments. The aforesaid
lever frame may be so jointed as to yield to some extent sideways against
the pressure of a spring to accommodate deviations of the hooks from a
direct line.
1
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Hartley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HARTLEY, of Barnsley, in the County of York, Managing Director of
the Silkstone and Dodworth Coal and Iron Company, Limited, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Richard Hartley, Her special license,
that I, the said Richard Hartley, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Hartley, my executors,

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE COUPLING OF RAILWAY WAGONS, LOCOMOTIVES, AND
VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Hartley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Richard Hartley, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 :-
My Invention relates to the railway couplings which are employed to
connect railway locomotives with wagons or vehicles, and also to connect
together the said wagons or vehicles, and the object of my Invention is
to enable the connection of such bodies to be effected in less time &
with less labour, & also with less danger to the operator, than is incurred
when effecting the connection and disconnection in the ordinary manner.
To this end I employ an arrangement of levers and appliances which is
3 capable of being actuated by an operator standing on either side of the
wagon or vehicle to effect the connection or disconnection of the coupling
links and hooks. The outer link of the coupling is connected with the
end of a lever frame, which is hinged to an arm or to arms which is or
are attached by one end to a shaft which is fitted to be rotated in bearings.
A second shaft fitted to revolve in lever arms which are fixed on the ends
of the first-named shaft passes through the said arms and is provided
with a hand lever or with hand levers. A lever on the second shaft is
connected with the aforesaid lever frame. The arrangement is such as
that the outer link can be raised and lowered and be thrust outwards or
drawn inwards as may be required by the combined action of the two
shafts.
In one arrangement one end or each end of the second shaft is mounted
in a ratchet segment fixed on the first shaft, and a pawl mounted on a

page_text: hand lever and engaging with the said segment furnishes the means
whereby the said shaft may be rotated, the independant rotation of the
first shaft being effected by actuating the said lever when the said pawl
is not engaged with the said segment. The aforesaid lever frame may be
so jointed as to yield to some extent sideways against the pressure of
a spring to accomodate deviations of the hooks from a direct line.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I have
appended hereunto two Sheets of Drawings illustrative of the manner
in which I carry the same into practical effect, the said Drawings being
marked with letters of reference.
Referring in this place to the said Drawings, Fig. 1, Sheet 1, repre-
sents portions of two uncoupled wagons A and B fitted with my
Invention; and Fig. 2 on Sheet 2 represents the said wagons as when
coupled. In the said Figures a, a, are two shafts which are fitted to
revolve in bearings formed in the brackets 62, 62, which are bolted to the
under framing of the wagons. On the said shaft are fixed lever arms b, b,
the lower ends of which carry the levers or lever frames c, c. Each of
the levers c consists of two levers connected or framed together, or of a
single forked lever formed with two arms, between which the outer
link d of the ordinary coupling chains is received. The said link is a
formed or provided with two projecting studs or pins, one on each side
of the link, and each of the said studs or pins enters a jaw e formed in
the end of one of the arms of the forked lever or lever frame c, a pin or
cottar keeping the said stud or pin within the said jaw.
In place of this arrangement the stud or pin or a screw or other 2
appliance substituted therefor may pass through a hole drilled or formed
in the end of the arm c. The lever c is hinged to the lower ends of the
_arms b, b, and is formed with a projecting arm, which is connected by
means of the link with a lever g, which is fixed on a shaft h, which is
fitted to revolve in bearings formed in the arms b, b. A hand lever i is.
fixed on one end of the shaft a, and a second hand lever is fixed on one
end of the shaft h. Each of the said shafts is provided with such levers
at one end only or at both ends as preferred.
In the case of the wagon A similar hand levers are supposed to be on
the other side of the wagon. By operating upon the hand lever i so as 3
to rotate the shaft a the link d is moved towards or from the hook on the
other wagon, the raising and lowering of the said link being effected by

page_text: rotating the shaft / by means of the hand lever k. By acting upon both
hand levers the movements of the said link necessary to effect the
coupling of the two wagons can be readily effected.
The lever e may be jointed so as to give way sideways as already
mentioned herein-before if found to be necessary.
The Drawing on Sheet 2 represents the coupling as having been
effected.
Fig. 3 illustrates a modification in the arrangement. In this example
a ratchet quadrant / is fixed on one end or on each end of the shaft a,
and one end of the second shaft h is fitted to revolve in a bearing formed
in the said quadrant or in each quadrant if there be two on the shaft a.
A hand lever m is fixed on the end of the shaft a, and a pawl lever n is
mounted on a stud fixed to the said hand lever. A detent o engages
with the teeth of the quadrant when the link d has to be maintained in
an extended position. The shaft h is rotated to elevate the link by
means of the hand lever m, and the said link is moved outwards towards
the other wagon by allowing the pawl n to engage with the teeth on the
quadrant, so that when the said hand lever is pressed downwards the
shaft a is caused to rotate.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of my said
Invention, I would have it to be distinctly understood that I claim the
combination and arrangement of parts arranged and acting substantially
as and for the purpose set forth and indicated herein-before and in the
accompanying Drawings, what I consider to be the important feature in
my Invention being the combined action of the two shafts a and h upon
the part or parts which is or are connected with the outer coupling
link.
In witness whereof I the goid Richard Hartlov here bomounta