Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 6th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 6th Jan., 1899-Accepted, 25th Feb.,
1899
I, WILLIAM KIETH KIGHT, a Citizen of the United States, residing at Poplar
Bluff, in the County of Butler and the State of Missouri, United States of
America, Mechanic, 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, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,
wherein :-
Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved car-coupler;
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on line 2-2, Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a similar view, illustrating the moving parts in a different position;
Figure 4 is a side elevational view of my improved car-coupler, and
Figure 5 is a detail sectional view on line 5-5, Figure 1.
This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in car-couplings, and,
particularly, to that class known as "twin-jaw" or Janney type of couplers, where-
in a pin or bolt is provided to hold the knuckle portion of the coupler in a locked
position.
The objects of this present invention are to construct a simple, cheap, and
effective coupler provided with means for holding the lock-pin in a raised position
ready for coupling, and to provide means, co-operating with the lock-pin, for
throwing the inner end of the knuckle in the proper direction to place the coupler,
after being uncoupled, in a position to be automatically coupled when contacting
with the knuckle of the coupler of another car.
The essential features of this invention reside, first, in the novel construction
of the slide-bar for holding the lock-pin in a raised position; second, in the novel
construction of the rock shaft which is provided with suitable arms, one of which
co-operates with a slot or groove in the upper end of the lock-pin while the other
co-operates with the inner end of the knuckle, whereby, when the lock-pin is
raised, the inner end of the knuckle is forced to a proper position to be auto-
matically coupled, and, finally, the invention consists in the novel construction,
arrangement, and combination of the several parts, all as will hereinafter be
described und pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings, A indicates the main member or head of the coupler proper,
preferably formed of a metallic casting.

page_text: B indicates the knuckle, also, preferably a casting, which knuckle is pivoted
to the coupler head A by a bolt or pin b.
C indicates the lock-pin, which is positioned in the coupler head A preferably
by passing through a suitable opening a in the upper face of the same and through
a hollow space provided within said coupler head, and, when in a locked position,
said pin is supported by the bottom wall of the coupler head.
The knuckle B is substantially a bell crank lever, that is, it is provided with
two arms, or members 64, and 6, the former called the nose, when in a locked
position, co-operating with a similar nose or member of a coupler of another
car when said cars are coupled together and by which one car is enabled to draw
the other, as is well understood. The other arm or member 6, called the tail,
is designed to be retained behind the lock-pin to hold the nose b¹ in its coupled
position.
All the parts before mentioned are substantially of old and well known construc-
tion, and further description of the same is deemed unnecessary.
D indicates what I have termed a slide-bar, and is preferably placed to one side
of the lock-pin C and preferably arranged to slide in an inclined opening a¹ formed
in the upper side of the casting A, and, when the coupler is in a locked position,
as seen in Figure 2, the lower end of said slide-bar rests upon the upper face of
the tail 6 of the knuckle, and is out of alignment with the lock-pin. Upon the
inner face of this slide-bar D, and preferably near its lower end, is formed a
notch d designed to receive the nearest lower edge of the lock-pin and retain the
same when said lock-pin is raised, permitting the tail 6 of the knuckle to be
drawn from beneath the same, as is clearly illustrated in Figures 3 and 5. When
it is desired to uncouple, the tail 6 moves from beneath the slide-bar, and said
bar will, of its weight, slide downwardly until the notch d in the lower end thereof
is brought into alignment with the nearest lower edge of the lock-pin, and in which
lower position said slide-bar is arrested in its downward movement by suitable
projections d formed on the uppermost edges of said slide-bar which contact
with suitable faces formed on each side of the upper edges of the opening al
through which the slide-bar passes.
Upon the upper face of the coupler A, and on opposite sides of the opening a,
are arranged lugs all, and all, their inner faces being of greater distance apart
than the width of said opening a¹, thereby forming a flat face on each side of
Buid opening which flat face is somewhat below the upper face of said lugs and
is the face before referred to upon which the lugs of the slide-bar D rest when
said bar is in its downward position, and, when said slide bar D is in position, its
upper end is below the surface of said lugs, which, together with the portion of
metal which connects their inner ends, forms a housing for the same, thereby
protecting said upper end of said slide-bar.
Positioned in the lugs all and all, is a rock shaft E, one end of which is pro-
vided with means for preventing lateral movement of the same, and the other end
of said rock shaft is formed with a member approximately at right angles thereto.
This member I shall designate hereafter by reference to its arms e and e. The
arm e starting, we will say, from the rock shaft proper and extending inwardly
and upwardly, at its inner end, is provided with a bent portion e, parallel to
said rock shaft, which bent portion enters, and co-operates with a groove or slote
in the upper portion of the lock-pin C. The arm e starts from the rock shaft
and is bent downwardly outside the coupler, but sufficiently far away, when the
coupler is in a locked position, to enable the same to be moved inwardly some
distance, as will be hereinafter explained, said arm e¹ being formed at its free
end with an inwardly extending portion el, which passes through an opening all
in the side of the coupler. This end ell, when the coupler is in a locked position,
rests upon the side of the arm 6" of the knuckle, and, when the lock pin is raised
by any suitable means, the arm e carrying the portion el co-operating with the
slot c, rocks the shaft E which forces the arm e carrying the inwardly extending
portion toward the coupler. This action causes the end of the inwardly extend-

page_text: ing portion el to contact with the arm 61, and place under tension a spring ell
forming a part of arm ell, and, when the lock-pin clears the tail 6", said spring
will force the knuckle outwardly in an open or coupling position. This movement
of the coupler is automatic with respect to the withdrawing of the lock-pin, and,
when said lock-pin is thus raised, the slide-bolt D falls into its proper position to
support the same, as before described.
It will be understood, by referring to Figures 2, 3, and 5, that, when the knuckle
is rocked to its coupled position, the tail b will pass under the lock-pin and
co-operate with the lower end of the slide-bolt raising the same sufficiently far to
be out of the path of the lock-pin, whereupon a continued movement of said arm 6"
will clear the end of said lock-pin, allowing the same to descend by gravity to
a locked or coupled position in front of the tail 6".
The rock shaft E, aside from its function already described, answers as a guard
to prevent the slide-bolt D from being accidentally displaced, as it is directly in
the path of the same in its upper movement.
Preferably, the upper end of said slide bar is formed with a concavity to insure
a full and complete movement of the same in an upward direction, as is obvious.
I am aware that minor changes in the construction, arrangement, and combina-
tion of the several parts of my coupler, can be made and substituted for those
herein shown and described, without in the least departing from the nature and
principle of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is;-
-
1. In a car coupler of the Janney type, the combination with a coupler head,
of a knuckle pivoted thereto, a lock pin co-operating with the tail of said kunckle
for retaining the same in a coupled position, and a slide bar so arranged and
positioned as to support said lock-pin in a coupling position, said slide bolt being
also so located as to be forced from its supporting position when the tail of the
knuckle is moved in the proper direction for coupling, thereby permitting said
pin to assume its coupled position; substantially as described.
2. In a car coupler of the Janney type, the combination with a coupler head,
of a knuckle pivoted thereto, a lock pin co-operating with the tail of said knuckle
for retaining the same in a coupled position, and a slide bar operating in a suitable
opening in the coupler head and arranged obliquely to the path of said lock pin,
whereby when in a coupling position, it will be in such a position as to support
the lock pin by receiving the same in a notch formed in the lower end of said
slide bar, said slide bar being also provided with flanges for limiting its inward
movement; substantially as described.
3. In a car coupler of the Janney type, the combination with the knuckle and its
lock pin, of an externally arranged lever pivoted to one side of said lock pin,
one arm of said lever engaging a slot or groove in the upper end of the lock pin,
and the other arm of said lever engaging the knuckle to force the same outwardly
whenever the lock pin is raised to release said knuckle; substantially as described.
4. In a car coupler of the Jauney type, the combination with the knuckle and its
lock pin, of an externally arranged lever which is operated by a slot or groove in
the upper end of the lock pin to force the knuckle outwardly whenever the lock
pin is raised to release said knuckle, and a spring in which energy is stored by
the movement of the lock pin in clearing the knuckle, said energy being exerted
upon the knuckle when said knuckle is free to move; substantially as described.
5. In a car coupler of the Janney type, the combination with a coupler head, of
a knuckle pivoted thereto, a lock pin co-operating with the tail of said knuckle
for retaining the same in a locked position, an inclined slide bar for suspending
said lock-pin in an upward position when said knuckle is released by the same,
and an externally arranged lever for co-operating with a slot or groove in the
upper end of said lock-pin and the tail of the knuckle, whereby when the lock

page_text: pin is raised, the knuckle will be forced to a position ready to be automatically
coupled by contacting with a suitable counterpart; substantially as described.
6. In a car coupler of the Janney type, the combination with a coupler head,
of a knuckle pivoted thereto, a lock pin co-operating with the tail of said knuckle
for holding the same in a locked position, a slide-bar, said slide bar being so
positioned and arranged as to support the lock pin when the same is in a coupling
position and to be raised or forced from its supporting position by the inward
movement of the tail of the knuckle, and means for co-operating with the lock pin
and the tail of said knuckle, whereby, the movement of the knuckle is automatic
with respect to the said lock pin, when the coupler is uncoupled; substantially
as described.
7. In a car coupler of the Janney type, the combination with a coupler head, of
a knuckle pivoted thereto, a lock pin co-operating with the tail of said knuckle
for holding the same in a locked position, a slide-bar, said slide bar being sO
positioned and arranged as to support the lock pin when the same is in a coupling
position and to be raised or forced from its supporting position by the inward
movement of the tail of the knuckle, and a rock shaft, one end of said rock shaft
being provided with a member forming the arms e aud e', said arm e co-operating
with a slot c in the lock pin, while the other arm el operates upon the tail of the
knuckle, said last mentioned arm el being provided with a spring portion ell
whereby, when the lock pin is raised, the rock shaft causes the arm e¹ to be forced
inwardly against the tension of said spring portion el, which exerts its power
upon the tail of the knuckle, and after the lock pin has released said knuckle, said
spring portion will force the knuckle to a coupling position; substantially as
described.
1007.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
Chartered Patent Agent, London, For the Applicant.