US104462A - Improvement in car-couplings - Google Patents

Description

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" fwIIinIAIlI*.IoIINJtinrnsoiv, or NEW onLnANs LOUISIANA.

sind @titille l Letters Patent No. 104,462,1latc1l June 2l, 1870.

y IMPROVEMENT iNcAR-coUPLINc-is.

The `fcher-bile `referred to in these Letters Pa'tent and making part ci the same.

II, WILLIAM JOHN J onitsjoii, of the city 0f New l Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented anfim-l `proved GouplingDew'ce-forRailroad-Gars, of which .3 i the following is a specication.

The invention relates toa` spring `coupling which is i l self-fastening and at the same time so contrived that it will nncouple automatically, and with nnvarying l certainty, whenever a car is thrown oft' the track, although it cannot be uncoupled except by hand unless such an accident occurs;` g o The objects designed tolbe accomplished by my ini ventionare, to makeit` unnecessary for a man to place himself between two cars to couple `the sametogether orto aincou`.ple`` them, andlto prevent a car that is 13 thrown ofi' the rails or trackfrom dragging others off with it. y A y The precise nature of my inventionwill be at once y understood .by referring toI the drawing, whereon` Figure 1 represents small sections of` the platforms i of two'cars,with the two` parts Awhiclilmake up my device secured thereto, as when the cars are coupled Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of 1 through the center thereof; and i Figure 3, asimilar View@ me last, with mistifference' only, that the" cars-aremct coupledin this iig# At an the figures-4 y `.ai A are sections ofthe platforms of two cars; and

B B', the two main parts of which my device is composed.

`The part B. is composed `of a block, 1, provided with projecting side flanches or wings 2 at its upper u corners, to afford a means for securing it firmly in position underneath the platform of the car to which it is attached, through the agency of strong screwbolts, that are Vnot vshown in thedrawing, a central circular aperture at its frontend, for more than 'half l Vits length, to receive a helical spring, and a circular l bolt-like extension, 3, of another block, 5, attached to lj anothercar, and two side slots, 4, through which a pin, 6, passes, with the view to prevent a separation `of the parts 1 and 5, `when the device is in actual practice or use.

llhe block 5 is reducedin thickness, as shown at "Z, from a point'near its center, not reckoning the extension 3 asa part of its lengthfto` its front cxtremity, so as to leave an open space, O, between theplatform A and the vsaid reduced part 7, to receive the catchcrlhooked bar D. y f l flhe frontend ofthe part 7tapers on its upperside downwardly, as does, also, thatpart of the platform of the car immediately above it,only the latter inclines npwardlyfrom `its under surface, in order to widen the opening C at itsentrance,tc insure the mal position, as shown at all the figures.

entry of the catchLbar or hook 1),- althongh and when.- eyer one car may be somewhat higher than the other to which it is to be coupled.

Through the part 7 of the block 5 a vertical rectangular opening or slot'is made, to receive a catchbolt, 8, resting on and sustained by a"spring, 9, which extends to the shoulder 10 of said block, and is fitted in a recess in the center thereof', so as to be ush 1 with the under surface of the block when in its nor- The catch-bolt 8 is provided on its front dside with a notch, as shown at figs. 2 and 3, in which an actuating bar,.11, projecting from a shaft, 1,2, that isv sustained vin strap-journals secured on the underside of said'block 5, takes, as shown'also at figs. 2 and 3.

At the opposite end of the shaft l2, a crank, E, that 4is suciently long to extend above the platform of the car, and `within reach of the brakesman, is

firmly secured, so as to alord a means for depressing the catch-bolt 8, and hence of unconpling the two cars whenever desired.

rlhe part B is secured to the platform ofthe other` car,and constructed exactly inv the same'way that part B is, except that instead of a catch-bolt, 8, a catch-barY or licok, 1),--liormed` and projecting substantially as shown, is pivoted in a recess or open chamber in the part 5 oi' this block, in such a manner that, while it is held in position 'hy means of aV `fiat spring, 13, its hooked extremity will have a limited measure of up-and-down vibratiom-so as .to conform' to the motion of thecars when ruiming, and also accommodate itself to any inequality' of height between the cars to be coupled.

The hook at the end of the catch-bar D should be pointed, as shown, in order readily to enter the opening G, and 4wide enough to prevent a disconnection by thesaine off thecatch-bolt8, while'a train is runningen a curve of the road, butyet not wide enough.l

to prevent a disconnection or uncoupling of the part whenever the dedection'of a` car from the line of the road is as great as it must neccssarilybe if it be thrown oii the track, so that whenY suclr'an accident occurs to a car no other `will follow after itby being dragged oli' by it.

India-rubber cushions may be substituted furthe helical springs underueaththe circular bolt-like extensions of the two parts, B B', and will, perhaps, a's eiiectually prevent any violent shock at any time and under all conditions` as the said springs.

I reserve the right, therefore, rto make such substi tution, if I shall iind it expedient.

Afacing of India rubber-on the two parts, as shown at 14 and 15, will most probably be au unnecessary provision in the practice of the invention.' It will, of course, be understood that my device must be made of metal, and strong enough inall its parts not readily to yield under any ordinary circunk,

stances to which railroad-cars and trains are subjected.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by' Letters Patent- The parts B B', when the same are constructed as herein described in all their parts, andv are arranged for conjoint; operation, as speciled,'for the purpose seb forth.

Witnesses EMILE H. LEVY, RUFUS R. RHODES.

WILLIAM J.' JOHNSON. n

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