US1686534A

US1686534A - Electric coupling

Info

Publication number: US1686534A
Application number: US699140A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred M Rosenzweig
Original assignee: REGAN SAFETY DEVICES CO Inc
Current assignee: REGAN SAFETY DEVICES CO Inc; REGAN SAFETY DEVICES COMPANY Inc
Priority date: 1924-03-13
Filing date: 1924-03-13
Publication date: 1928-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 1945-10-09

Description

oct, 9, 1921s F. M. RCSENZWEIG ELECTRIC COUPLING Filed March v1:5. 1924 ATTORNEYS d APatentedvv Oct.l 9, 1928.

- UNITED sTATl-:s

PATENT OFFICE.

FRED M. ROSENZWEIG, 0F NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE REGAN SAFETY DEVICES COMPANY, INC., 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

vistnozrriaic COUPLING.

This invention relates to an electric couplmg device, and has special reference to the provision of a coupling device for connecting vehicle carried electrical circuits in automatic train control systems.

In automatic train control systems of the type disclosed for example in the application of Shaver & Rosenzweig, Ser. No. 673,088, filed Nov. 6, 1923, to which the present linvention appertains, a plurality of vehicle control circuits are carried by the engine and tender of the train, these circuits being interconnected so as to selectively produce a plurality of different train indications or effects in response to varying roadside or trafic conditions. l

When the tender is coupled to and luncoupled from the engine of the train, it 1s highly desirable that the partial circuits carried by the tender be connected to and disconnected from the partial circuits carried by the engine With rapidity and ease. A further desideratum in connecting these partial circuits is that of maintaining the identity or integrity of the separated circuit parts, as by keeping the connecting parts which differ .in potential effectively insulated one from the other and from ground. Another important consideration in the connecting of the tender and engine partial circuits is that of providing for ready assembling and disassembling of the connecting parts for purposes of quick inspection and repair.

A rime object of the present invention therefore relates to the provision of an electric coupling device especially intended for service in train control systems designed so that the circuits may be quickly coupled and uncoupled, with the parts so designed' and arranged that the integrity of the connections may be maintained and the connections inspected and repaired if necessary, with facility and convenience.

To the accomplishment Iof the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my'invention consists in the elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter particularly described and sought to be defined in the claims; reference being had to the accompanying drawings Which show a preferred embodiment of my invention, and in Which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional View of the electric coupling device ofv my invention,

Fig. 2 is and l Fig. r3 is a horizontalview taken in crosssection onthe line 33, Fig. 1.

Referring now more in detail to the drawings, the coupling device comprises a casing a side elevational view thereof,

C formed of two mating casing sections c' and 02 detachably connected together by means of the spaced

bolts

10 and 10 held by the

apertured extensions

11 and 11 which preferably are formed integrally With the Wall of the casing section c', the said bolts being preferably threaded at their loWer` ends for reception in correspondingly threaded apertured

lugs

12 and 12 which form part of and are preferably formed integrally with the lower casing section c2. For the purpose of preventing the complete outward movement and loss of the

bolts

10, 10 the same may be the tender and engine partial circuits are inl sertable from opposite ends of the casing unit, the top casing section c being threaded' as at 15 and the bottom casing section c2 being threaded as at lf for the reception of correspondingly threaded conduits. For the purpose of preventing the entry of moisture l and other foreignmatter at the junction of Athe casing sections, the top section c is preferably provided with a circumferential skirt ,portion 16 fitting over and overlapping the top of the casing section c2.

As has heretofore been stated, a prime object of the present invention relates to the provision of a coupling device in Which the circuit connecting parts are associated to maintain the integrity of the circuits and to permit rapid detachability and separability of the parts for facilitating the making of connections, inspection and repair. To accomplish these and other ends, as will be more evident hereinafter, the circuit connecting means comprises a plurality of sets of matingcoupling members, each set including a male coupling member 17 and a female c oupling member 18 arranged to mate therewlth, the said coupling members being carried by insulation pieces or blocks which are removably secured interiorly to the casing sections, the male coupling members 17, 17 being carried by a pair of

blocks

19 and 19 whlch are removably secured to the casing wall by means of the spaced

bolts

20, 20 threadedly receivable by an annular iiange or lug 21 formed integral with the casing section 0 and the

female coupling members

18, 18 being carried by fa lower pair of insulation blocks 22, -22' which are removably attached by means of the spaced bolts 23 to the annular iange or lug 24 formed integrally with the casing section c2.

The pair lof insulation blocks 19, 19', for t-he purpose of economy of manufacture and simplicity of assembly, are made alike and are turned in opposite directions, as clearly shown i'n the drawings, the blocks being provided with the plurality of sets of aligned

openings

25, 25, each set receiving the body of the coupling member 17, each of the openings terminatingr in an enlargement 26 so that when the blocks are turned with similar ends l adjacent, t-he enlargements define a cavity which seats an enlarged portion 17 formed intermediate the ends of the couplmg members 17. The lower pair of

blocks

22 and 22? aresimilarly contoured to receive the bodies of the

female coupling members

18, 18 and to Seat enlarged

portions

18, 18 formed intermediate the ends of t-he female coupling members. Each of the coupling members is provided with an axial bore 27 at its outer end for receiving the ends of the

circuit conductors

28, 28.

With this construction it will be apparent that the

coupling members

17, 17 and 18, 18 are held in position against axial displacement by the insulation blocks, and that upon removal of the bolts 2O and 23 the coupling members and insulating supports therefor may all be separated for permitting the attachment of the circuit conductors and for permitting rapid inspection and repair. To prevent any rotative displacement of the coupling members in their insulating supports, the portions 17 and 18 maybe made square and the walls of the cavities defined by the enlargements 26 may be similarly contoured, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. With this construction, it will be further evident that no means is employed for attaching the coupling members to the insulation supports so that under limited s acerequirements, maximum insulation lleakage paths, both surface and dielectric, are provided between the coupling members of differing circuits.

WVhile I have shown my invention in the preferred. form, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may be madev in the structure disclosed Without departing from the spirit of the invent-ion, defined inv the following claim.

I claim:

An electric coupling device comprising a casing consisting of upper and lower mating sections,I means for removably securing the said sections together to form a coupling unit, the upper ot' said sections being provided with a plurality of apertured ears for suspendedly attaching the unit to a support, and being further provided with a protectively depending skirt overlapping the lowersection, the opposite ends of the said sections being threaded for receiving connecting conduits, a pair of twin separable blocks of insulation material in eachcasing section, the blocks of a pair having aligned openings terminating in adjacent enlargements defining a eavity, means for detachably securing each pair of blocks together and to its casing section, a coupling member received by the aligned openings in each pair of blocks and having a part seated in said cavity whereby the coupling member is held in position against axial displacement? by and between the blocks of the pair when the same is secured to the casing and is releasable from the blocks when the same are separated, the coupling member of one pair of blocks being arranged tomate with the coupling member in the other pair of blocks.

Signed at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, this 8th day of February, A. D. 1924.

FRED M. ROSENZVVEIG.