Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway and like Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Dec., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 14th Mar., 1900-Accepted, 12th May, 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway and like
Vehicles.
We, GEORGE TUSTIN, of 21, Charleworth Street, Caledonian Road, London, Painter,
and EDWARD CUMBER, of 340, York Road, King's Cross, London, Painter's Assistant, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to improvements in automatic couplings for railway and like
vehicles and in carrying it into practice we proceed in or in about the following
manner. On the opposing buffer beams of the two vehicles to be coupled together
we provide hooks one of which has its beak turned downwards and the other upwards.
Somewhat behind each beak is a projection pointing upwards or downwards according
to the direction of its adjacent hook and it is proposed to make the projection and
hook in each case integral with one another. One of the hooks-that with the down-
ward pointing hook-has a tail or spindle passing through the buffer beam so freely
as to allow some upward motion therein, and the end of the spindle which passes out
on the inside of the buffer-beam is surrounded by a spiral spring and a similar spring
surrounds that portion of the spindle which projects through the front of the buffer
beam in which position it is contained within a casing or boss through which the
spindle is free to move to and fro and also up and down to an extent limited by the
size of the hole. Pivotted to the base of the projection behind the downward
pointing hook is a link, one end of which stands well above the hook, the other end
being curved round so as to rest normally in contact with the rear side of the
projection to which the link is pivotted and prevent the link falling over so that its
outer end would not stand clear of the hook. It is essential that the link be so
balanced that not much power is required to move it on its pivot, the upper part
On the front of the other hook is a
being however heavier than the lower part.
knob which when the hooks approach one another will come in contact with that
part of the link which is below the pivotting joint. Pivotted to the vehicle frame
is a lever having a forked or bifurcated end the prongs of which are in the same
plane as the arms of the link. The action of the apparatus is as follows assuming the
vehicles to be uncoupled and the link upstanding. On bringing the vehicles together
the opposing hooks will come in contact with each other and the loose one will ride
up and engage with the opposite one. Simultaneously the knob will touch the link
and over-balance it so that it will embrace the projection behind the hook having the
knob and so couple the vehicles. In uncoupling them the lever is operated so as to
cause the fork to lift up and throw back the link to its original position. If the link
has only one arm the lever need only bave one tipping end.
Dated this 1st day of November 1899.
HUGHES & YOUNG,
23, Coleman Street, E.C., Agents.

page_text: Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway and like
Vehicles.
We, GEORGE TUSTIN, of 21, Charleworth Street, Caledonian Road, London, Painter,
and EDWARD CUMBER, of 340, York Road, King's Cross, London, Painter's Assistant, 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:
Our invention relates to improvements in automatic couplings for railway and like
vehicles and in carrying it into practice we proceed in or in about the following
manner, making reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan
of a portion of the underside of a vehicle, Fig. 2 a side view, Fig. 3 a side view
sbowing in full lines the two couplings engaged and in dotted lines the movement of
the parts when uncoupling, and Fig. 4 shows a front view of the retainers for the
coupling and uncoupling levers. Through each buffer beam a and the cross beam b
of the vehicle c is passed the draw-bar d, the holes in a and b through which & passes
being of sufficient size to allow d to have considerable play in all directions. The
parts of d where it passes through a and b are of circular cross-section, the remainder
of the draw bar being square. At the inner end of the draw bar dis a
stop e between which and a loose plate f is a spiral spring g surrounding d.
At the outer end of the bar d is the coupling hook having on the same side
as the beak a projection to the lower part of which is pivotted a link,
the longer arms of which are bridged across as at m, the short arms n being slightly
turned over as at n¹ to limit the movement of the link. Between the back of the
hook and a plate o is a spiral spring p surrounding this part of the draw bar d and
a face plate may be attached to the beam c. On the under side of the side frame
of the vehicle is a rod s passing from side to side and free to slide in bearings t, each
end extending somewhat beyond its own side of the frame and being provided with a
return portion terminating in a handle v. Projecting from the centre of the rod s
is an arm w bent at an angle to itself, as at x and again at an angle to . as at the
free end being somewhat overturned as at 2. The inclination of and bends in the
arm w are so arranged and proportioned that when the rod s is pushed to the limit of
its movement in one direction the end will be in the same plane as one of the long
arms of the link , and the bend x in the same plane as the projection j and when
the rod is pushed to the opposite limit the end and the bend r will be out of the
said planes. To hold the return ends u in the two positions we provide the
retainers A A B B¹ one on each side of the vehicle, the spaces A¹ and B₁ being for
the reception of ends u when the vehicle is coupled and the spaces A and B for the
reception of the ends when the vehicles are to be uncoupled. To provide for
the hooks h on each vehicle being in the right position for coupling we make
the draw bars & rotatable by attaching the chains C to opposite sides of the bar, the
chains being run over rollers D, out through the rings E, (fastened to the frame r)
and being attachable to hook F by rings at the outer end of each chain.
ولا
The action of the coupling is as follows, assuming that the draw bars which are to
be coupled together have been turned so that the back of one of the hooks points
upwards and the other downwards and that the link of the hook with the downturned
beak is turned over so that its longer arms incline towards the vehicle. On the two
hooks h coming in contact with each other they will ride up and under one another
and so become engaged as shown in the full lines of Fig. 3. Simultaneously the
concussion will cause the link to be thrown away from the vehicle towards which it
has hitherto inclined and to fall over the projection ; behind the lowermost of the

page_text: two hooks and so complete the coupling. To uncouple, one of the return ends u
is lifted from its space A¹ or B' as the case may be and the rod s pushed so that the
return end can work in the space B. Then on pushing down the return end u
the bent over top of y will be brought under one of the long arms of the link which
can thus be thrown back off the projection towards the vehicle into its original
position before coupling and by continuing the downward movement of the return
end the bend will come in contact with the projection behind the downturned
hook and so lift it out of engagement with its opposite hook. The return end can
then be replaced in the space A or B according to whichever side the coupling is
being operated from.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. Automatic couplings for railway and like vehicles and consisting essentially
in (1) Providing each end of each vehicle with a draw-bar having a hook at its outer
end, the draw bar being revolvable in its bearings so as to enable the beak of the hook
to be brought to point upwards or downwards, and being also influenced in its
horizontal movement by a spring. (2) A projection behind the hook extending at
right angles to the draw bar and pointing in the same direction as the beak of the
adjacent hook. (3) A link pivoted to the inner end of the projection and destined
when the beaks of the opposing hooks come into engagement to be thrown over by
the concussion of the opposing hooks coming into contact so as to embrace the
projection behind the beak of the opposing hook. (4) An uncoupling arrangeinent
workable from either side of the vehicle whereby the link can be thrown back from
over the projection and the hooks lifted out of engagement with one another, the
whole provided for and acting substantially as described in the above specification
and exemplified by the accompanying drawings.
2. Automatic couplings for railway and like vehicles constructed, operatable and
operating substantially as described in the above specification and exemplified by
the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 6th day of Wahmenw 1000
HUGHES & YOUNG,
23, Coleman Street, E.C., Agents.