Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Railway Rolling Stock.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Coupling and
Uncoupling Railway Rolling Stock.
I, GEORGE HENRY ELLIS, of 21, Shepherd Cross Street, Bolton, in the County
of Lancaster, Joiner, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention to be
as follows:-
"
This invention refers to improvements in or relating to apparatus for coupling
and uncoupling railway rolling stock consisting of locomotives, carriages, wagons,
trucks, and other vehicles employed thereon, and is designed to allow of the
said operations being effected from either side of the said vehicles in lieu of the
present system by which a person is required to go between or under the same.
To the end of the draw-bar of each vehicle and between the ordinary
"buffers" is attached a centre carrying links which couple with the hook of
the vehicle to which it is to be connected. The said links are provided with
arms located so as to allow of the same being coupled and uncoupled from the
outside of each vehicle by means of handles and a cranked shaft; the latter
being mounted in fixings secured to the framework of the vehicle. The arms
of the links are provided with india-rubber or other rings to form a "buffer"
against the plate carrying the aforesaid fixings on the end of each vehicle. The
coupling hook of each vehicle is provided with a convexed surface to allow of
the connecting link sliding on and over the same to facilitate coupling with the
hook when brought together.
75
1
100A
EDMUND CHADWICK,
Agent.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Coupling and
Uncoupling Railway Rolling Stock.
I, GEORGE HENRY ELLIS, of 21, Shepherd Cross Street, Bolton, in the County
of Lancaster, Joiner, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention refers to improvements in or relating to couplings for railway-
vehicles or to apparatus for coupling and uncoupling railway rolling stock con-
sisting of locomotives, carriages, wagons, trucks and other vehicles employed
thereon and is designed to allow the said operations to be effected from either side

page_text: of the said vehicles instead of the present system by which a person is required
to go between or under said vehicles.
In carrying my invention into effect I make use of the devices hereinafter
described and as illustrated by the accompanying sheets of drawings:
Figs. 1 and 2 are each sectional elevations of sufficient portions of the ends
of two railway waggons having solid or unyielding buffers.
Figs. 3 and
are plans of parts shown by Figs. 1 and 2 respectively.
In Figs. 1 and 3 the waggons are shown in position as when drawing or
holding their couplings in a state of tension while Figs. 2 and 4 show the
waggon's with their buffers forced firmly together thus bringing their couplings
into position for being detached or separated from each other.
Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are similar views to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively but
illustrate my improved couplings as applied to waggons having spring or yeilding
buffers:
Fig. 9 is an end elevation showing certain of the parts illustrated by Fig. 1.
Figs. 10 and 11 are front and end views of an operating part hereinafter
described, the same being drawn to a somewhat enlarged scale as compared with
the preceeding figures..
Figs. 12 and 13 are top and end views of the coupling link drawn to a still
larger scale.
Fig. 14 is a drawing in detail (same scale as Figs. 12 and 13) of the draw-
hook.
•
Fig. 15 is an elevation of a portion of the front part of a vehicle (same scale
as Figs. 12 to 14) showing how certain parts of my improved coupling devices
are mounted in position.
Similar letters and figures of reference indicate similar parts throughout the
several views.
To attain the object of my invention I mount on both ends of each vehicle
or waggon a two coupling parts, one part consisting of the link and the other
part of the hook e one being on one side of the usual and well known coupling
chain-and-hook d and the other on the other side thereof, their said positions
being so arranged thereon that when one waggon is brought against another
waggon the link on the one waggon will be opposite the hook c on the other
so that they may be coupled. together as will be understood.
The mountings or bearings for these links and hooks are any of the well
known formations of draw-bars fy.
The hooks c are made to extend rigidly from their bearings while the links b
are pivotted on the bars f (or the hooks may be turned to have their inclined
surfaces beneath and so they may be hinged while the links are held firmly but
I prefer the arrangement of these parts as herein described) so that by such
links having arms b' they may be raised into the position somewhat as shown
by Figs. 2 and 6 while when free they will descend into contact with the hooks c
or into position for their arms b' to rest against the end or framework of the
vehicle a in order that on one waggon or vehicle a being run or brought against
another the outer ends 62 of these links b will come into contact with the some-
what convex or or inclined ends of the hooks c up which they will slide until
they are carried beyond the hooked position when they will descend and be thus
coupled together, in this manner the coupling of one vehicle to another is auto-
matically performed.
In order to effect the uncoupling of the vehicles or to detach the links b from
the hooks e I mount a cranked shaft h to extend across the end of the vehicle a
and arrange same so that it may be oscillated or moved by the arms or levers k
fixed at its outer ends and outside of the vehicle a. The cranked part 1 of
this shaft I form of the curved shape (see Fig. 11) shown so that it may be
brought by the oscillating of its shaft h to press upon the arms b¹ of the links b
to raise them as indicated by Figs. 2 and 6, thus the act of uncoupling may be
performed from either side of the vehicle and that without the operator having
to go between said vehicles as when the old style of couplings are employed.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saul
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. Apparatus or mechanism of the class described the same being constructed
and arranged to operate substantially as herein specified.
2. In mechanism of the class described, hooks, links and other devices the
same being constructed and arranged to operate in combination substantially
as herein set forth.
3. In mechanism for the coupling and uncoupling of railway rolling stock,
means whereby same may be automatically and otherwise operated substantially
as herein specified.
GEO. H. ELLIS.