Improvements in Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Railway Rolling Stock.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Dec., 1887
Complete Left, 11th Apr., 1888
Complete Accepted, 18th May, 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Railway
Rolling Stock.
I, GILBERT EDOUARD RIBAULT, of 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, in the
Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in automatic couplings for railway rolling
stock whereby I. dispense-with the ordinary means of coupling usually consisting of a
screw coupling, which takes a comparatively long time to fix in position and does not
give the desired security, and of safety chains which, owing to their not being normally
in tension in the event of the screw coupling breaking, are extremely liable to break
from the sharp jerk which they then receive.
My improvements allow of the coupling and uncoupling of carriages and waggons
being easily effected without it being necessary to pass between them whereby
one of the chief causes of accident to men engaged in this class of work is done away
with.
In carrying out the invention on each carriage are a trumpet-mouthed sleeve or
cylinder and a socket having projections, the trumpet-shaped opening and the socket"
of one vehicle should be so arranged that they are respectively opposite the socket and
the trumpet-shaped opening of the following wagon.
The cylinder is fixed to a rod. jointed at its end to a rocking lever which oscillates
on a block which serves as a fulcrum and is fixed to the ordinary draw-bar; the rocking
lever is secured on the draw-bar by a collar.
At the end of the cylinder is jointed a catch which enters a slot in a rod. one end of
which is free; the other end is screwed to a sliding block moveable in the socket and
which is rigidly connected thereto by a forked cotter. To prevent this cotter
becoming detached the two pieces forming the fork are provided with a plate screwed
thereto.
The trumpet-mouth is provided with a jointed pawl for keeping the catch in a raised
position when two vehicles are uncoupled which is effected by introducing the spiked
end of a hand-lever between the catch and the top of the cylinder which raises the
catch; the catch is kept in the raised position by a notch with which it is provided
engaging with the end of the pawl.
>

page_text: On the cylinder is also arranged a pivotted support provided with a weight and
working in suitable bearings and serving to keep the catch raised.
The socket is connected to the rocking lever by means of a rod and is provided
with four projections and the sliding block is provided with a single projection. The
object of these projections is to serve as a fulcrum for the lever, when it is required
to move the sliding block in the socket in order to withdraw the forked cotter.
The sockets are kept in a horizontal position by means of supports bolted to the
frame of the vehicle.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION:
Improvements in Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Railway
Rolling Stock.
I GILBERT EDOUARD RIBAULT of No. 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, in the
Republic of France 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 to replace the devices in use at the present, time for
coupling rolling stock in respect of the coupling screw, which is tedious in mani-
pulation and fails to give the desired security, as well as of the safety chains, which,
always being a little slack, are sure to snap under the sudden shocks to which they
are subjected in the event of the coupling being broken.
My invention facilitates the coupling and uncoupling of the coaches, and the closing
in of the buffers, without it being necessary for the employé to pass between the latter,
and so far removes the numerous occasions of accident to railway servants who
employed in this branch of yard-work.
are
In order that my invention, and the means by which the same is to be carried into
practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, I will proceed to describe it in detail,
referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as part of
this specification and read therewith; and in which,
Fig. 1, is a side elevation partly in section.
Fig. 2, a plan in which I have included between the lines 1-2 and 3-4 the
coupling screw and hooks used at present, but which the adoption of my invention
will abolish.

page_text: Fig. 3, an elevation taken on the line X-X of Fig. 2; and,
Fig. 4, an elevation of a crowbar adapted for the manipulation of my invention."
Each coach, or truck, is fitted with a trumpet mouthed sleeve and a draw bar with
a forked. end, across which extends a pin held in position by two keys or split pins
for. the purpose of keeping the forked ends the proper distance apart. The trumpet
mouth of one coach is opposite its respective fork on the next coach, and the forked
drawbar on the latter opposite the respective trumpet-mouth on the former.
The trumpet mouth, A, with its slcove, B, is in one piece with a bar, C, jointed by
means of an eye, g, to the end of a double lever D. The latter is free to oscillate:
in a slotted socket, E, which serves as its support. K is a catch pivotted upon the
outer end of the sleeve, B, and adapted, as to its nose, to enter the slot provided for
its reception. A vertical detent, F, is adapted to close the throat of the trumpet-
mouth, being pivotted to the under side of the latter by means of a horizontal axis, H,
held by two plates, G, parallel with and close to the sides of the sleeve. The detent
is kept in a vertical position by an iron weight, I. So long as the detent maintains
its vertical position, it keeps the catch, K, raised until coupling has been effected.
The forked draw bar, L, has a U-shaped loop, M, pivotted on it. The arms of this
loop are bent hot round a pin, o, in such a way that it can move freely about the said
pin in the vertical plane. The extremities m, m, of the arms of the loop project.
forward, and are adapted to be sprung apart after entering the space, 1, between.
the forked ends of the bar, L, thereby grasping the latter tight enough to maintain
the loop, M, in a horizontal position.
When it is desired to couple and tighten up two coaches, the two loops, M, being in
a horizontal position, enter their respective trumpet-mouths, and trip the detents, F,
thereby leaving the catches, K, free. The latter; thereupon, drop by their own
weight, and the act of coupling is accomplished.
To uncouple the coaches, the crowbar illustrated in Fig. 4 (which being comprised
in the equipment of a railway yard is ready to the hand of the employés) is made use
of. Its nose is inserted between the sleeve, B, and the catch raised; whereupon the
tongue, R, pivotted upon the trumpet-mouth Á engages in the notch, k, of the catch,
and holds it up out of the slot in the trumpet-mouth. When the other catch is
raised in the same way, the two loops are free, and the coaches uncoupled.
The buffers are closed up in the following manner..
The drawbar, a, is screwed for the purpose of receiving the pinion, b, with which is
incorporated a sleeve, c. Upon this latter is fixed the socket, E, in which the double
lever, D, oscillates. When one of the hand wheels, P, is turned, the first motion
shaft, which carries a worm, S, gearing with the pinion, b,(the latter is kept in
position by two brackets e, e, bolted together)-the apparatus above described is
moved outwards, and the buffers closed upon each other, so long as the hand wheel is
turned to the right. When the wheel is turned in the opposite direction, the buffer
springs are freed and the apparatus returned to its normal position.
If two coaches are to be closed together without being coupled, the tongues, R,
are left in the notches, & of both, catches. The loops, M, enter the trumpet-mouths, A,
and the following shock causes the said loops to trip the detents, F, then opposite to
them; and when the arms of the loops are sprung apart, the weights, I, cause them
to close the slots in the trumpet mouths.
It should be borne in mind that the loops, M, are always in a horizontal position,
being maintained therein by the ends, m, within the spaces, 1, as described above
with reference to Fig. 2. For the purpose of allowing the buffers to complete their
travel, the ends, m, of the loops spring, in virtue of their clasticity, outside the
spaces, l, and then slide along the sides of the bars L. They afterwards return to
their normal position. The split pins, n, are a sufficient distance apart to allow the
loops, M, to open far enough for the ends, m, to slide along the sides of the bars, L.
The closing up of the buffers only displaces the loops when they reach the inner ends
of the sleeves, B; and if the buffers do not receive receive sufficient shock, the ends
of the loops remain within the spaces, l.
It must be distinctly understood that my invention is not confined to the precise

page_text: details illustrated in the drawings and described, as the same may be varied without
departing from the substance. of my invention, so long as the operative functions of
the parts are retained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In combination with an automatic coupling device, the use of a pivotted
catch, K, adapted to effect the automatic coupling of railway rolling stock, with a
looser tongue R, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accom-
panying drawings.
2. In combination with an automatic coupling device, the use of a pivotted or
rocking detent, F, with a weight, I, under a pivotied catch, adapted to keep the
said catch up or to allow it to fall for the purpose of coupling, substantially as herein-
before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
3. In combination with an automatic coupling device, the use of a forked draw-
bar, L, with a loop, M, the latter adapted to trip, at the moment of coupling, a
detent, F, so as to allow the catch, K, to engage in the closed end of the loop, the
other end of the loop being open and capable of sliding in the space, l, of the fork, L,
so as to allow the ends of the loop to spring out of the space, and to slide upon the
sides of the drawbar for the purpose of allowing the buffers to complete their travel,
after which the said ends return within the said space, l, substantially as herein before
described with reference to the accompanying drawings:
Deted this 11th day of Anril 1998
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.