GB241774A - Improvements in railway-vehicle couplers - Google Patents

Abstract

241,774. White, A. E., (National Malleable & Steel Castings Co.). Jan. 27, 1925. Couplings, automatic.-In a car coupler having two rigid, laterally-separated. oppositely-disposed jaws 3, 4, and a lock 9 movable in a cavity 10 extending longitudinally between the jaws, the lock is adapted to be positively actuated by a lever arm 15 to move it into a retracted unlocking position and into lock-set position, the lock having a projection 22 co-operating with a recess 24 on the coupler for supporting the lock in lockset position. The projection 22 on the lock is adapted to slide in a groove 23 formed in the inner face of the buffing jaw 3, the recess 24 being provided for the projection 22 when in lock-set position. One side of the lock 9 is recessed, shown by the irregular line 18, 14, 19, 21. Fig. 2, and in the recess works the arm 15 of a U-shaped lever 15, 16 pivoted on a bolt 13 and manually operated by a rod 16a to retract the lock for uncoupling or lock-setting; the other side of the lock is provided with projections 27, 29 adapted to bear on the wall 28 to maintain the lock in vertical position, and a curved tail 12 provides a guide and also limits the forward movement of the lock. To retract the lock from the coupled position, Fig. 2, the rod 16a is moved rearwardly to raise the arm 15 so that its surface 20 engages the recessed surface 21 of the lock to move the lock upwardly and rearwardly until the uncoupling position, Fig. 3, is reached, where the projection 22 on the lock is beyond the recess 24 and the lock is supported on the arm 15 at 19. In this position the centre of gravity of the lock is to the rear of the point 19 so that the front of the lock tilts upwardly, and when the lock is released the projection 22 enters the recess 24, which is the lock-set position of the coupling. The lower part of each lock is bevelled so that, as the couplings draw apart, the forward edge of the look which has not been retracted sweeps across the face of the other to squeeze it rearwardly to dislodge it from the lock-set position so that it shoots forwardly into the looked position ready for the next coupling of the vehicles. If the couplings are not on the same level, the look remains in its lock-set position and is only dislodged by the buffing face or lock of the opposing coupling at the next automatic coupling. When the lock is in the locked or extreme forward position the arm 15 is behind the surface 18 of the lock so that the lock is prevented from moving backwardly to the extent of unlocking the coupling.