Coupling for Railway Carriages.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 2nd Apr., 1898
Coupling for Railway Carriages.
I, HEINRICH VON ENISIEDEL, at Dresden, Wiener Street No. 7, subject of the King of
Saxony, German Empire, Student of Technical Sciences, 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 :—
The object of my invention is a coupling for railway carriages which shows this
advantage, that the act of coupling and uncoupling the carriages can be effected by
the attendants from outside the carriage without crossing the rails, and getting in
between the carriages.
The base of the coupling consists of two cross bars at the front or fore side of the
carriages reaching from buffer to buffer or passing beyond them on either side. One
of these cross bars is fixed, i.e. neither revolving nor moveable in the direction of its
axis. The other cross bar is fixed somewhat higher than the first and further back-
wards and is made to revolve.
Upon the fixed cross bar, a double armned lever oscillates, its lower arm carries the
drag hook and chain. The moveable cross bar is provided with a disc and a ratchet
device. The double armed lever can be displaced or moved from end to end upon the
fixed bar. An endless chain is attached to the lever and runs from one end of the
bar to the other, so that the attendant may grasp it & pull the lever with its drag
hook and chain towards himself, in order to couple the carriages.
The subjoined drawing shows in
Fig. 1. a front-view of the coupling,
Fig. 2. a side-view of the same.
The carriage is marked with (a), the buffers with (b), the fixed cross bar with (c),
the moveable cross bar with (d). The double armed lever (h) oscillates upon the
fixed bar (c), the arms of which are somewhat bent inwards in the direction of their
carriage. To the lower arm of the lever (h) a link (u) is connected or fastened by
bolt (v), the other end of which is fastened to the frame (g), which carries spring (x)
inside, and at its outer end the drag hook (f) and the chain, which latter is not
represented.
A disc (k) excentrically fixed upon the revolving cross bar (d) pushes the upper
arm of the lever (h) forward, and consequently the lower arm backwards in order to
give to the coupling chain the required tension. On either side of this disc (k) is
placed a hook pivoting upon the before mentioned cross bar (d), which carries the
disc (c). The ends of these two hooks (i) are intended to give greater hold to the
fixed cross bar (c) and to preclude its bending or curving by grasping it round half
way. If the lever (h) should be moved by the endless chain towards the attendant,
when he is in the act of coupling or uncoupling, it would be necessary to let the
lever (h) pass. The ratchet device (o, p) formed upon the revolving cross bar (d)
prevents the disc (k) from standing back or away from the lever (h). The endless
chain (8) is fastened with its ends at point (y) to the lever (h) running also through
the supports as well as through the ear of the ratchet pawl (p). This arrangement
permits the play of the disc and its standing away from the lever (h) and enables the
attendant to pull the lever with the drag hook and chain towards himself.
D