Automatic Coupling for Railway Waggons and the like.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th May, 1899-Accepted, 24th June, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Automatic Coupling for Railway Waggons and the like.
HARRY GRAY, Engineer, 81, Nansen Street, Seedly, near Manchester, England,
and JOEL SIDEBOTTOM, Insurance Agent, 6, The Holme, Townsendfold, Raw-
tenstall, England, 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;-
This invention relates to an automatic coupling, for coupling together railway
waggons & the like, & consists essentially of the hooks A A¹ Fig. 2, made from
steel, or other suitable material, & to be secured by means of pins B & B to
ends of draw bars C & C¹, attached to waggons D & D both ends of waggon
draw bars C & C¹ being provided with one of these coupling hooks, the ends of
hooks being made to project beyond ends of waggons D & D as shewn at A & A¹
Fig. 2.
A spring box E Fig. 1 & 2 to be fixed on each end of waggon, this spring
box to be provided with a spiral spring F & piston G, this piston to project out
of end of spring box E as shewn in detail in Fig. 5, the piston G, by means of
spiral spring F, screw H, & plate I, being made to press against edge of hooks A,
Fig. 1 & 2.
Fig. 6, is a sectional plan of spring box E.
Fig. 1, for the sake of illustration shews the back of hook A, in section.
A bracket J is also fixed to each end of waggon this bracket to be provided
with a pin K, on which a double handed uncoupling lever L is fulcrumed the
handle parts L¹ & L₁ of same to extend to each side of waggon, as shewn in
Figs. 1 & 3, so that the lever L can be manipulated by a person standing at either
side of waggon D.
The lever L is also provided with an arm L, projecting downwards to edge
of hook bar A Fig. 1, the lever L being kept in the required position by being
secured to brackets M by means of pin or other suitable attachment, the
brackets M, being secured to each end of waggon.
Fig. 2 shews the waggons 1) & D¹ apart & uncoupled. To effect the coupling
together of the hooks A & A' Fig. 2, the ends of waggons D & D are forced
towards each other by the ordinary process of shunting, or by other suitable
means.
As the ends of waggons D & D approach each other the ends of coupling
hooks A & A come in contact & by reason of the bevelled shape of their ends,
they are, owing to the continued pressure applied to same endways, forced out-
wards, & slide over each other in the manner shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 2,
until the buffers N & N¹ on waggons D & D are almost touching each other,
when the hooks A & A¹, by reason of the force exerted by spring pistons G & G¹
on the outside edges of same, pressing the hooks together, are forced into each
other, in the position shewn in Fig. 4, in which position they are coupled
together, in such a manner that either waggon can be drawn along, by pulling at
the other waggon.
The outside of ends of hooks A & A¹ & the inside curves of same.
AMA

page_text: formed that when the hooks are coupled together, as at Fig. 4, they do not come
in contact with each other when the buffers N & N¹ are forced together.
The hooks A & A¹ Fig. 4, are uncoupled by pressing down at end L" of
lever L, or lifting up at end L' of same lever thus causing the projecting arm Lu
to press against side of hook A & by this means the hook A is forced away
from the engaging hook A¹ to the position shewn in Fig. 7, the hooks in this
position being uncoupled, & the waggons D & D¹ are then at liberty to be drawn
apart. During the process of uncoupling the hooks A & A¹ the lever L assumes
the position shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 3. When the lever L is released the
hook A & lever L are by reason of the force exerted on edge of hook A by spring
piston G forced back into the position shewn in Figs. 1 & 2. The coupling
hooks A & A¹ are made stronger on the hook part, as shewn in Fig. 3, than on
the shank part as shewn in section in Fig. 1, & the parts of the hooks that come
in contact with each other when hooks are coupled together, are curved, as shewn
at Fig. 4, so that they will adapt themselves to the angle formed between the
waggons, when same are passing round a curve.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, & in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
1. 1. An automatic coupling, for railway waggons & the like, & consisting of
coupling hooks, working in conjunction with spring boxes, & hand levers for
incoupling said hooks, all as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the
drawings annexed.
Dated 1441
1000