Improvements in Automatic. Couplings for Railway Carriages and the like..
Year: 1896

page_text: Complado Cuis
Date of Application, 15th Apr.; 1896.
1
a
1000
201
4000
Date of Application, 15th Apr.; 1896.
Complete Specification Left, 14th May, 1996 Accepted, 20th June, 180€
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic. Couplings for Railway Carriages
and the like..
I, JOSEPH LOUIS LINOU, of 4 Rue Papin, Narbonne (Aude) in the Republic
of France Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in automatic couplings for railway
carriages and the like and has for its object to provide a coupling which avoids the
objections which apply to those hitherto used.
The coupling apparatus is attached to each end of the vehicle and comprises a
spring jaw placed horizontally on one side and a shackle placed vertically on
the other side of the ordinary coupling which may be retained, so that when two
vehicles come together the shackles are always, opposite the corresponding jaws
Do matter which end of the vehicle he presented to the adjacent vehicle.
Duplicate couplings are thus obtained, but as these are identical; only. one-pair.
will be described.
The jaws of the coupling are formed of a fixed part and, a movable part mounted
on a hinge and controlled by a spring. The said fixed part is made fast with a rod
connected by a cross-piece with the ordinary draw-bar of the vehicle and is formed.
at its front end with an inclined plane and a hook or catch. The movable part of..
the jaw is hinged eccentrically to the axis of the aforesaid rod and. is formed at its..
forward end with an inclined plane and a hook or catch the internal surface of
which forms the arc of a circle described with the axis of the hinge on which, their
movable part turns for its centre. In the said movable part a slot is formed which
receives a roller mounted at the end of the spring which keeps the said movable:
part pressed against the fixed part of the jaw. The said spring which may, be
formed of superposed laminated blades is attached to a support fixed to the end, of.
the vehicle the tail end of the said spring being connected to a nut mounted on a
screw-threaded part of a rod hereinafter described. There is thus great freedom
of movement in a longitudinal direction between the said spring and the movable..
part by reason of the aforesaid slot which permits. the said jaw to be freely
displaced forwardly or rearwardly although connected to the said spring which
latter tends to keep the jaw in a closed position; or the spring may be employed.
as a lever for opening the jaw as hereinafter described.
The shackle is formed of an elongated ring fast on a rod connected with the,'
aforesaid cross-piece of the draw-bar of the vehicle. The front part of this ring,
is formed with a tapering cross-section to facilitate its entrance along the inclined.
plane between the jaws opposite to which it comes, the axis of the said shackle
preferably being made to correspond with that of the jaws for this purpose.
The rod on which the screw nut passes is mounted in bearings on the end of the
vehicle so as to be parallel therewith and is provided at each end beyond the
buffers with a hand wheel; the said rod is screw-threaded at one part of its length..
along which the nut connected to the tail end of the spring can be moved, between
two fixed stops. By turning the rod the screw-nut is displaced and the spring is
caused to turn on its point of attachment and causes the movable part of the jaw
to turn on its hinge for either opening or closing the same. In order to connect
together two carriages provided with these couplings the movable parts of the jaws
.

page_text: are first brought into a closed position against the fixed parts by turning the hand-
wheels from either side of the carriage and then the vehicles are brought together.
The shackles strike on the inclined planes of the movable parts of the jaws force
the latter to open against the action of the springs, and engage therein, and then
the movable parts under the actions of their springs at once resume contact with the
fixed parts so that the jaws are closed and retain the shackles within them. To
detach the vehicles the hand-wheels are again operated on so as to cause the
nuts to be displaced and the springs to turn in the reverse direction and with
them the movable parts so that the jaws are opened and the shackles can be
withdrawn.
When passing over curves the shackles slide against the internal surfaces of the
jaws. The shackles should be of such a depth as to allow of a certain amount of
variation in the height of the carriages, while still securing efficient coupling.
Dated this 18th day of April 1896.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
Improvements in Automatic Couplings for Railway Carriages
and the like.
1; JOSEPH LOUIS LINOU of 4 Rue Papin, Narbonne (Aude) in the Republic of
France, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what
manuer the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in automatic couplings for railway
carriages and the like and has for its object to provide a coupling which avoids the
objections which apply to those hitherto used.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 shews in plan, the adjacent end portions of two vehicles connected by
couplings constructed according to my invention,
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same taken on the line 2-2 Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an end view of one of the vehicles and
Figure 4 is a vertical section taken through the line 4-4 Figure 1.
The coupling apparatus is attached to each end of the vehicle and comprises a
spring jaw placed horizontally on one side and a shackle placed vertically on the
other side of the ordinary coupling which may be retained, so that when two
vehicles come together the shackles are always opposite the corresponding jaws no
matter which end of the vehicle be presented to the adjacent vehicle. Duplicate
couplings are thus obtained, but as these are identical only one pair will be
described.
The jaws of the coupling are formed of a fixed part A and a movable part B
mounted on a hinge at C and controlled by a spring H. The said fixed part A is
made fast with a rod E connected by a cross-piece F with the ordinary draw
bar G of the vehicle and is formed at its front end with an inclined plane 6 and a
hook or catch a. The movable part B of the jaw is hinged at C eccentrically to
the axis of the aforesaid rod E and is formed at its forward end with an inclined
plane c and a hook or catch d the internal surface of which forms the arc of a
circle described with the axis of the hinge C for the centre. In the said movable
part B a slot e. f is formed which receives a roller g mounted at the end of the
spring H which keeps the said movable part pressed against the fixed part of
the jaw. The said spring H which may be formed of superposed laminated
blades is attached at a point h to a support I fixed to the end of the vehicle

page_text: the tail end of the said spring being connected to a nut i mounted on a screw--
threaded part of a rod J hereinafter described. There is thus great freedom
of movement in a longitudinal direction between the said spring H and the
movable part B by reason of the aforesaid slot e. f. which permits the said jaw
to be freely displaced forwardly or rearwardly although connected to the said
spring which latter tends to keep the jaw in a closed position; or the spring
may be employed as a lever for opening the jaw as hereinafter described.
The shackle K is formed of an elongated ring fast on a rod L connected with
the aforesaid cross piece F of the draw bar G of the vehicle; the front part k
of this ring is formed with a tapering cross-section to facilitate its entrance.
along the inclined plane e between the jaws opposite to which it comes, the axis
of the said shackle preferably being made to correspond with that of the jaws for
this purpose.
The rod J on which the screw nut passes is mounted in bearings on the end
of the vehicle so as to be parallel therewith and is provided at each end beyond'
the buffers with a hand wheel M; the said rod is screw threaded at one part j
of its length along which the nut i connected to the tail end of the spring H
can be moved between two fixed stops m. By turning the rod J the screw nut i
is displaced and the spring is caused to turn on its point of attachment hand
causes the movable part B of the jaw to turn on its hinge C for either opening
or closing the same. In order to connect together two carriages provided with.
these couplings the movable parts of the jaws are first brought into a closed
position against the fixed parts by turning the hand wheels M from either side-
of the carriage and then the vehicles are brought together. The shackles K
strike on the inclined planes of the movable parts of the jaws force the latter to
open agaiust the action of the springs H and engage therein and then the movable
parts B under the actions of their springs H at once resume contact with the
fixed parts A so that the jaws are closed and retain the shackles within them.
To detach the vehicles the hand wheels are again operated on so as to cause the
nuts to be displaced and the springs H to turn in the reverse direction and with.
them the movable parts B so that the jaws are opened and the shackles can be
withdrawn.
When passing over curves the shackles K slide against the internal surfaces of
the jaws.
The shackles should be of such a depth as to allow of a certain amount of
variation in the height of the carriages, while still securing efficient coupling.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.
1. Automatic couplings for railway carriages and the like consisting of the
arrangement on each carriage of jawe one part of which is fixed and the other part
hinged eccentrically on the first part, of a spring connected to the movable part of
the said jaw and arranged to act thereon so as to close it onto the fixed part and to
serve as a lever for separating it, of intermediate gear for causing the turning of
the said spring and consequently the opening of the said jaw and of a shackle or
elongated ring situated vertically the said jaws being placed horizontally, the said
jaws and the shackle mounted on the draw-bar of a vehicle being respectively
presented opposite to the shackle and jaws of the adjacent vehicle so as to-
become engaged and to form efficient couplings substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2. In automatic couplings of the kind described in the preceding claim the
arrangement of the movable eccentric part of the jaw, the terminal hook or catch
of which is inclined on its outer face against which presses the curved end of the
shackle of the adjacent vehicle so as to push back the said part and effect.
coupling, and the internal face of which on which the said hooked shackle bears is.
formed by the arc of a circle substantially as hereinbefore described.

page_text: 3. In automatic couplings of the kind described in Claim 1 the combination with
the eccentric movable jaw of a spring one end of which engages in a lateral
longitudinal slot formed in the said jaw so as to keep it closed while allowing it
proper movement substantially as hereinbefore described.
4. In automatic couplings of the kind described in Claim 1 the special arrange-
ment of a spring connected to the movable part of the jaw the said spring being
hinged on a fixed part and having its tail end provided with a nut engaging on a
screw threaded rod which acts as a fixed point when operating as a spring for keeping
the jaw closed and which on being rotated turns the movable part of the jaw so as
to cause the opening thereof substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 14th day of May 1896
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.