US1822094A - Buffer and draw head - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 8, 1931. J. R. HICKS BUFFER AND DRW HEAD Filed May l5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet H .DE

INVENTOR JOL'I? Hicks b., w, @Mpg w hm his asharneys Sept. 8 l1931.

J. R. HlcKs 1,822,094

BUFFER AND DRAW HEAD Filed May l5. 1929 FIR! INVENTOR John R. HIC/fsv bv @Mw @wwe/QM@ 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2 Patented Sept. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES.

PATENT YoFFICE:

JOHN R. HICKS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HOWARD N. E-AVEN- SON & ASSOCIATES, MINING ENGINEERS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CO- PARTNERSHIP COMPOSED OF HOWARD N. EAVENSON, NEFNELL G. ALFORD AND JOHN n. HICKS y :BUFFER AND Application led lMay 15,

This invention relates to buffer and draw head construction, and particularly to the form and mounting of a coupling yoke carried by the buffer.

In buffer and draw head construction for mine cars and industrial cars great diculty has been experienced because of breakage or distortion of the coupling yokes. W'hen a coupling yoke is rigidly mounted in the car frame or draw head, sudden angular forces caused byv dis-alignment of the connected cars produce stresses tending to break or distort the coupling yokes. Such forces are encountered because of unequal laying of the mine or industrial track, and are more particularly y experienced upon derailment of oney or both of mutually connected cars. Under such circumstances there is a tendency for the coupling yoke on one of the cars to be forced upwardly. Attempts to avoid breakage or distortion of the coupling` yokes by increasing the strength of their structure have been only partially successful and at most have resulted in the breakage of the coupling link between adjacent yokes rather than injury to the yokes themselves.

Furthermore when coupling yokes have been rigidly mounted in the draw head or frame of the car, an injury to the yoke, with consequent necessity for removal and replacement, necessitates a difficult removal and replacement of the draw head members or structural members of the car with which the coupling yoke is directly associated.

The object of the present invention is to provide a buffer and draw head construction in which a coupling yoke is so mounted that it is free to move under extraordinarily applied force to relieve it from the distorting effect thereof.

A further obj ect of the invention is to so mount the coupling yoke relatively to the buffer that the buffer is enabled to stiifen and support the coupling yoke structure.

In the accompanying drawings Figure I is a plan view showing a draw head and two connected buffers; Figure II is a figure partly in elevation, and partly in section on the line 2 2 of Fig. I, showing the same structure as that illustrated in Fig. I, and shows j the yoke. j wardly to receive the lower leg 5 of the cou- DRAW HEAD 1929. Serial No. 363,315.

in dotted lines the furthermost position to which the coupling yoke associated with one of the buffers may be swung vertically; Figure III is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section, showing two cooperating buffers with the coupling link removed therefrom; Figure IV is a plan view'of one buffer, showing coupling link in inoperative position thereon; and FigureV is a front ele-i vation of the buffer, showing the same position of the coupling link as in Fig. IV.

In the drawings the reference numeral 1 designates the draw head structure generally, the reference numeral 2 the buffer which is associated with the draw head shown, and reference numeral 3 designates generally the cooperating buffer mounted on an adjacent mine or industrial car.

A coupling yoke, designated generally by j the reference numeral 1, comprises spaced ceiving the coupling pin. As shown in Figs. I and II of the drawings, the buffer 2 carries a pin 7 fixed therein, and the buffer 3 carries a removable coupling pin 8. Between the legs 5 and 6 of the yoke is a recess 9 into which extends the coupling link 10. As shown, the coupling link 10 is of special form to provide a swivelling connection between the elements thereof, such coupling link being illustrated and described in detail in my copending application Serial No. 363,314, filed May 15, 1929. Connecting the legs 5 and 6 of the coupling yoke is a body portion 11, which has ya circular surface throughout a portion of its extent, and which has therein a bore to receive a pivot pin.

rIhe buffer is recessed downwardly from its upper surface to receive the body portion 11 of the coupling yoke and has vtherein the horizontally disposed pivot pin 12 arranged to pass through the bore in such portion of The buffer is also recessed forpling yoke and house it rearwardly of buffing face 3a, and has at the forward eXtremity of such recess a curved face 13 to contact a similarly formed face 14 at theforward end of the leg 5 of the yoke. Angular movement of the coupling yoke 4 about the pivot pin 12 is limited by cooperating surfaces 15 and 16 on the body member of the yoke and on the louder respectively. With the relative arrangement of these surfaces illustrated, when the surfaces are in contact swinging movement of the yoke is limited vto the broken line position shown in Fig. II of the drawings. Opposite rotation of the yoke is limited by the seating of its lower leg 5 in lthe recess of the buffe-r. The specific stop means shown comprise a foot 5a arranged to Contact and rest on a shoulder 3a at the lower end of the curved face 13 in the forward end of the recess.

It will be noted that the recess 9 of the yoke in which the link 10 embraces the coupling pin 7 .or 8 is disposed upwardly beyond the pivot pin 12 .about which the coupling yoke as a whole is angularly movable. In service, therefore, the pull transmitted to the yoke by the coupling link 10 and the coupling pin, tends to maintain the yoke in seated position in the buffer. Furthermore, the pivot 12 is disposed on the line of draft of t-he buffer and the draw head with which it is associated. The normal force exerted on the parts is thus transmitted along the longitudinal axis of the draw head. rI`he recess 9 of the coupling yoke or head also lies, in seated position of the head, in a plane above the face 8b of the buffer, which may thus be unbroken throughout its inclusive area.

If the mine or industrial cars to which the structure is applied should pass over a portion of track so uneven that one car is ca-used to assume a. position markedly out of alignment with the other, one of the yokes l is caused to swing on its pivot pin in a vertical plane to relieve the extraordinary stress caused by the dis-alignment of the cars. Then the cars are again on an even track, the pull of the coupling link causes the yoke to rotate oppositely, and to be again seated in the buffer. If one or more of the cars should be derailed, the action is even more marked, but in this case also the angular movement of one or both of the associated coupling yokes tends to relieve them from the stresses produced by mutual dis-alignment of the cars which they serve to connect.

Vhen the buffer and draw heads are not in use, the coupling link 10 may be removed from position by withdrawal of the removable coupling pin 8. The coupling link may then be supported and retained in position out of line with the face of buifer 2 by means of a transverse groove 17 into which the link member of the coupling link which is directly associated with the fixed pin 7 may lie. This arrangement, illustrated particularly in Figures IV and V of the drawings, serves to prevent injury to the coupling link during shifting of the cars, or other circumstances in which Vthe buffers are brought into contact while the cars are still disconnected.

What I claim is:

1. In buffer and draw head construction the combination of a massive buffer having the inclusive area of its forward end forming an unbroken butling face, a coupling head having a lower seating leg an upper extension spaced from the seating leg and a rounded body portion extending below the upper surface of the seating leg, said buffer having a recess behind the unbroken buiiing face with a rearward portion extending to a lower level than the forward portion of the recess, the coupling head being so formed that in the assembly its seating leg lies in the forward portion of the recess with its upper surface approximately flush with the upper surface of the buffer and so formed that the body portion of the coupling head lies in the rearward portion of the recess, and horizontal pivotal connection between the buffer and the body portion of the coupling head disposed below the upper surface of the buffer.

2. In buffer and draw head construction the `combination of a buffer having a forward .bufting face, a coupling head having upper `and lower coupling members and a body portion, said buffer having a recess behind the `bu-iiing face with a rearward portion extending to a lower level than the forward portion `of the recess, the coupling head being so formed that in the assembly it lies partially 1n the recess with its lower coupling member tting behind and protected by the wall of .the butling face and extending upwardly in normal operative position no further than vthe upper surface of the buffer and so formed that the body portion of the coupling head lies in the rearward and lower portion of `the recess, and horizontal pivotal connection between the buler and the body portion of the coupling head.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN R. HICKS.

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