US1378619A - Shackle - Google Patents

Description

G. B. ROBERTSON.

SHACKLE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 14. 1920.

WIT/m8? I [MENTOR .GBEqgEeTson/ 7 \\\\M 7 ATTORNEYS Patented May 17,1921.

UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE. i

GEORGE BRYANT ROBERTSON, OF KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SHACKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented May 1'7, 1921.

Application filed December 14, 1920. Serial No. 430,742.

commonly termed a shackle, for connecting one vehicle to another, it is'a well appreciated fact that a number of difiiculties have arisen; i

. One of .the objections in a device of this type is to be found intheinsecure manner in which the same connects the vehicle being towed to the towing vehicle. Due to this difiiculty, it has often been the. experience of'operators to have the connection between the vehicles broken, resulting quite often in great damage to the vehicle being towed and the contents thereof. 7

While it is truethat certain shackles have been placednpon the market which have. provided a dependable form of connection upon which reliance might be placed, that no breaking of the connection would come into being, these latter devices have offered the objectionable feature that a relatively great amount of time has been necessary in operating them to firmly couple or uncouple thetwo vehicles.

A third objection peculiar to all types of shackles heretofore placed upon the market is to be attributed to the fact that a certain amount of play has been permitted by these members between the towing and towed vehicles.- Thus the movement of the vehicles has not been synchronized and a certain amount of back-lash and overrunning on the part of the towed vehicle has been observed upon the towing vehicle being started or stopped. This action is obviously detrimental to both of the vehicles for the reason that certain of their parts are subjected to a great amount of strain upon this action occurring.

Having these difiiculties in mind, I have now constructed a shackle which shall primarily present a connecting medium peculiarly adapted for coupling one Vehicle to another, but not necessarily limited to this adaption, as it might readily be used for connecting any two: desired members one to: the-other, and by means of which any possibility of an accidental disconnecting of one of these elements from the second of the same is reduced to a minimum, if not entirely precluded.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the nature speci fied, the parts of whichmay be coupled to the parts with which theyare to engage,

with great facility, aside from the fact that this action may be effected by certain operating means at a point relatively remote from the shackle itself.

A still. further object of my invention is the construction of a shackle in which all play between the parts is prevented so that the objections incident to this detrimental feature are avoided. j

- Another object of my invention is to be found in the provision of a shackle,'the A parts of which shall be extremely simple in construction, and economical in manufacture, and still further objects of my invention will appear in the annexed specification and drawings, which latter present one practical embodiment of my invention, and in which I Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle having ashackle constructed in accordance with my inventionassociated with its draft yoke.

Fig. '2 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the shackle as illustrated in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a partly fragmentary plan viewof the device illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be noted in the embodiments illustrated that I have shown my invention as applied to what is commonly known as a trailer, adapted to be drawn by an automotive vehicle, but it will be appreciated that my device is applicable for coupling any driven vehicle with a driving one, or in fact, for connectin any two desired elements one to the ot er.

It will be seen, reference being had to Fig. 1, that the reference numeral 5 indicates the wheels of a vehicle, which serve to support a body 6 of any desired character, and from which a draft yoke 7, also of any desired character, extends.

My improved shackle includes a base member 8 of any convenient construction,

according to the nature of the vehicle or p appliance With which it is associated, and a fixed jaw 9 is firmly secured to the outer end of the member 8 and extends downwardly therefrom in the form illustrated. This jaw serves as the draft portion of the shackle and is shown as engaged and encircled by a ring-bolt 10, connected to the towing vehicle.

To now provide means serving to retain the ring bolt in its proper position, a second jaw 11 is swingingly secured as at 12 to the member 8 and at a point at whichits outer end is capable of engaging the face of the jaw 9. A shoulder 13 forms a part of the jaw 11 and has a rod 14 rockingly secured to it as at 15. Thus, upon the rod 14 being projected the jaw 11 will be moved to the position shown in the drawings, at which, it will be noted, the ring bolt 10 is firmly interposed between the jaw 9, member 8 and jaw 11.

Now with a view of providing means serving to firmly retain the parts in this position, I utilize a compression spring 16, which latter is arranged along the rod 14 and has one of its ends bearing against the jaw 11, its second end contacting with a suit able stop 17 secured to the member 8, and through which the rod 14: may slidably'extend. Thus it will be obvious that the parts will be firmly retained in the position illustrated in the drawings, and any movement on the part of the ring bolt with respect to the shackle will be precluded so that the objections incident to play will be eliminated.

An operating lever 18 positioned at any desired point upon the draft yoke 7 has one of its ends pivotally secured as at 19 to the same, its opposite end conveniently extending through and beyond a guide 20, also fixed to the draft yoke 7 A link 21 is interposed between the inner end of the rod 14 and the body of the lever 18, and has its ends pivotally secured one to each of these members.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that a retraction on the part of the lever 18 will result in a pull being exerted upon the rod 14:, thus moving the jaw 11 against the tension of a an instant uncoupling of the ring bolt 10, so that any lengthy manipulation of the parts incident to this operation is avoided.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a shackle in which any danger of the parts becoming disconnected is eliminated. Also any play between the parts of the connection is precluded aside from the fact that a lengthy operation of the parts to effect a coupling and uncoupling is also overcome.

Obviously numerous modifications of structure might readily be resorted to without in the least departing from the scope of my claims, which are-- 1; A shackle, including a base member, a fixed jaw secured to said member, a second jaw swingingly secured to said base member and adjacent said first named jaw, said second jaw being formedwith a shoulder,'a rod having one of its ends pivotally secured to such shoulder, a stop, and a spring having one of its ends cooperating with said shoulder, its opposite end. bearing against said stop.

2. A shackle, including a jaw, a second jaw swingingly secured with respect to said first-named jaw, a rod having one of its ends pivotally attached to said second jaw, a lever having one of its ends pivotally secured to a relatively fixed point, and a link interposed between and having its ends pivotally attached to said lever and rod.

GEORGE BRYANT ROBERTSON.

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