US1021419A - Draft appliance for railway-cars. - Google Patents

Description

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

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VIII/11011114 W. MoGONWAY, JR-

DRAFT APPLIANGE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APYIQIOATION FILED 00131, 1911.

WILLIAM McCONWAY, .na, or I'IT'rsBunGII, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB 'ro THE MCCONWAY & TOBLEY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORA- 'IION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Imam APPLIANCE ,Ion nniLwnv-cnns.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MoCoN- WAY, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft Appliances for Railway- Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the construction.

of draft appliances for railway cars and is especially directed to the production of simple, compact and eflicient devices for supporting the coupler so as to permitit to readily yield vertically when the car to which it is attached passes over vertical curves in the track.

Generally stated, the principal featured the invention consists in slidably mounting upon a vertically movable coupler a follower which is movable'vertically with re-' spect to said coupler, a spring which is car-' r1ed by" the coupler being interposed between the follower and coupler, and'the follower being supported by a yoke or carry iron through WlllCll the coupler extends and with respect to which the coupler is capable of vertical movement.

In the drawings illustrating my inven-" tion, thescope whereof is pointed out in the claims, Figure 1 is a plan view of a draft appliance embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical central section, illustrating the devices shown in Fig; 1; Fig. 3 is a detail view, partly in plan and partly in horizontal central section, showing the coupler and the devices by which it is yieldingly supported at its outer end;,Fig. 4 is a detall vertical section taken in the plane of the line 14, Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section'.taken in the plane of the line 5-5, Fig. 4. y

Like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

I will now roceed to describe my invention more ully, so that others skilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the same.-

. As myinvention is especially applicable to draft appliances whichare used on in- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed October 31, 1911. Serialli'o. 657,819.

, Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

tical curves in the track are sharp and generally numerous, I have illustrated it as applied to a coupler which is pivotall connected to the car so as to be capa 1e of swlnging laterally in both directions from a central position.

terurban care, where horizontal and ver- In the form of construction illustrated in the drawings, the coupler 1 is yieldingly and pivotally connected to the car through the intervention of a draft rigging comprising a casing or housing 2 which is open at 1ts outer end and which is provided with a detachable bottom 3 which permits the 5, the draft spring eing interposed beinsertion of a draft s ring 4 and followerstween the followers, and a 'yoke 6, which I is attached to the coupler, passing around said followers in the usual well lmown manner. The rear end of the draft gear casing 2 is provided with an aperturethat receives a bolt 7 which pivotally connects the casing '2 to a supporting bracket 8 which is' rigidly" attached to the car frame.

As a convenient means for connecting the coupler to the car so as to permit it to move vertically, the rear end of said coufpler may be pivotally connected to the dra yoke 6 by means of a horizontally .extending ivot I 'bolt 9, the inner end of the'coupler ing preferably formed with rounded edges, as

at 10, 10, which, when. the coupler moves either upwardly or downwardly from its normal position, as indicated in dotted lines I in Fig. 2, operate as cams to force the adjacent forward follower 5 rearwa'rdlys a short distance, the compression of the draft spring 4 bein maintaining t e coupler at the proper height above the rails. o

The forward end of the coupler 1 is supthus utilized in normally portedfronrthe car by a yoke or carry iron 1 11 which, if the colipler be pivotally movable laterally as in the present'instance, may be advantageously arranged to slide upon the flanges 12 of a curved supporting rail having plates or brackets 13- and 14. by

. which it may be bolted to the under sideof thecar, the carry iron 11 bein provided at its upper end with inwar y projecting flanges 11' forming a slot of T cross section which receives the correspondingly shaped supporting rail from which the carry iron depends. For convenience of assembly the carry iron 11 may have a detachable bottom 11, which is secured to the body of the carry iron by means of bolts '15.

Seated upon the bottom 11 of the carry iron 11 is a follower 16. havin arms 16" which extend u wardlyon opposite sides of the coupler 1, t ecoupler, as more particularly shown in Figs. 3 and 4 being provided upon each side with vertically extending ribs 1' forming guideways which receive the arms 16 of the follower.

Upon its interior the coupler 1 is formed with a spring-seat l which is arranged in alinement with an aperture 1 in the coupler through which a. spring 17 projects, the upper end of said spring being seated upon the spring seat 1 and its lower end resting upon a-corresponding spring-seat 16 formed on theupper face of the follower 16. The extent of upward movement of the coupler with respect to the follower is preferably limited by means of a vertically extending bolt 18 which loosely passes. through both the coupler 1 and follower 16, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

When a car equipped with ances embodying my invention passes over vertical curves in the track the coupler moves upwardly or downwardly as the case may require. In moving downwardly from its normal position the coupler slides vertically with respect to the follower 16', thus energizing the spring 17 so that it may subsequently return the coupler to normal position. In moving upwardly from its normal position, as the height of the opening in the yoke or carry iron 11 permits it to do, the coupler 1, acting through the bolt 18, lifts the follower 16 from its seat upon the carry-iron 11, the weight of the parts being sufficient to cause their return to normal position.

.As heretofore described, it is preferred to so form the rear end of the coupler and to so connect it to the draft gear that a vertical movement of the coupler 1 in either direction from its normal position causes the draft spring 4 to be slightly compressed, since the draft spring 4 is thus utilized, not

draft applionly yieldingly'maintain the coupler: in a vertically centralized position, but also to assist the supporting spring 17 in raising the coupler afterit has been depressed and to assist the force of gravity in restoring the coupler to. normal position after it has been elevated.

As the follower 16, moves with the coupler during any longitudinal movement of draft and bufling, the bottom plate 11 of the supporting yoke or carry-iron 11 should be made wide enough to extend under the follower 16 when the coupler is in any position it may assume in service.

I claim:

1. In a draft appliance for railway cars, the combination with a vertically movable coupler having a spring seat upon its interior and guideways upon its exterior, of a follower having upwardly extending portions which are slidable in the corresponding guideways upon the exterior of the-coupler,

and a spring resting upon said follower and upon the said spring seat 'of the coupler.

2. In a draft appliance for railway cars, the combination w1th a vertically movable coupler having a spring seat upon its interior and a spring receiving aperture in alinement therewith, a follower having upwardly extending portions which slidably engage the coupler, said follower and coupler being relatively movable. vertically, a

WILLIAM MoCONWAY, J 11..

Witnesses G110. W. MoCANDLEss, J OHN KONSTANZER.

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