US185087A - Improvement in car-coupling wedges - Google Patents

Description

- Inventor THE GRAPH [C C0 N.Y.

NITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLING WEDGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 185,087, dated December 5, I876; application filed July 13, 1876.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, WM. B. DUNNING, of Geneva, in the county of Ontario and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Expansive Wedge for Tightening (Jar- Uouplings; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my expansive wedge, the dotted lines representing its adaptation to the couplings. Fig. 2 is a top View of the same, thewedge w being shown in section on the line :0 in Fig. l.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple and substantial device, to be inserted in the link between the draw-heads of carcouplings, for the purpose of taking up the slack between the draw-heads, caused by the extra length of the link, which is necessary to permit the introduction of the couplingpin, when the cars are backed together. It consists in the employment of an expansive wedge or key, so formed as to be readily adjusted to fill the space between the drawheads, whether a longer or a shorter link be employed for coupling.

I provide a sort of wedge-shaped key, 70, having a projection, c, on one or both of its fiat or parallel sides at the narrow end. Its inclined or taper edge may be suitably roughened, preferably by fine serrations, as shown, which latter plan permits the free introduction of the wedge w, and at the same time prevents its discharge by the vertical jostlings of the cars while in motion. The wedge w is formed of uniform thickness from end to end, and maybe provided with asuitable ring or holder, B, at its broad end, that being the top when adjusted in the coupling, which latter should be of a width, relatively to its length, to make its inclined or roughened edge correspond to that of the key It, while their opposite edges shall be parallel, or nearly so, when they are placed together in the link, as shown in Fig. 1. The object of sloping the serrations on the key, from the point toward the broad end, and those on the key in the opposite direction, is to allow the wedge to be inserted and pressed down into position readily, and at the same time permit its removal from the link, Without withdrawing the key also. Instead of this plan of serrating the contiguous edges of the key and wedge, they may be roughenedby means of fine shallow creases simply or otherwise. The creases, or even the serrations, may be made transversely across their edges, or obliquely.

What I claim as my invention is- The expansive wedge, composed of the key It and wedge w, constructed to operate eonjointly, substantially as shown and described, for the purpose or taking up the slack in the ordinary link-coupling for cars, as set forth.

This specification signed this 20th day of June, 1876, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. B. DUNNING.

Witnesses:

WM. S. LOUGHBOROUGH, A. L. MABBETT.

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