US2167613A - Coupler structure - Google Patents

Description

July 25, 1939. E. P. KINNE El AL COUPLER STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 6, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 zmrzdPiwz/w Q Hmr JOVEWQZZ,

y E. P. KINNE ET AL v COUPLER STRUCTURE fave/725m: ZZZFZLZJZLZ P 'iuzrze, firmer Jfireamwafi,

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1957 y 25, 1939- E. P. KINNE El AL 2,157,613

COUPLER STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 6, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ju y 25, 1939. E. P. KINNE ET AL COUPLER STRUCTURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 6, 1937 [720 Fdfizzujd fiiuzrze, Elrrzen/ Greazzawalzi Patented July 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE liance, Ohio,

assignors to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, Ill., a. corporation of New Jersey Application December 6, 1937, Serial No. 178,195

22 Claims.

Our invention relates to railway couplers and more particularly to an improvement on the present standard E type coupler.

As is well known, there is a certain amount of play or slack between cooperating couplers of the present standard type. It has been found desirable to permit a certain amount of play between the contours of mating couplers, for example, in order to facilitate coupling. A method of permitting this play between contours for purposes of coupling and, at the same time, greatly reducing it in actual train operation after cou-- pling, has been described and disclosed in a copending application entitled Car coupler and filed in the United States Patent Office May 6,

1336, Serial No. 28,183. issued as Patent No. 2,08,297 November 2, 1937, in the name of Frank H. Kayler. Our improvement in slack control may be used supplementary to the improvement shown in the said Kayler application or it may be used independently thereof.

The general object of our invention is to provide a means of retaining the contours of mated couplers in tighter engagement during actual operation of trains while, at the same time, permitting the necessary amount of play for the coupling operation.

A more specific object of our invention is to provide an improved type E coupler incorporating a spring-resisting and lock-bearing wall.

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved type of lock which will permit adjustable abutment against said lock-bearing wall in a series of spaced planes.

Another object of our invention is to provide a novel form of lock having adjustable means providing abutment between said lock and the wa against which said lock normally abuts.

Qur invention contemplates a novel form of lock having under certain conditions of operation the normal contour of the present standard E coupler lock and having under certain other conditions of operation a contour difiering from the present standard.

A further object of our invention is the provision of a two-piece lock having automatically adjustable slack take-up means.

Our invention further contemplates a novel form of coupler with parts interchangeable with the standard E coupler and wherein the slack take-up feature is operative when either our novel two-piece form of lock is used or the present standard type of coupler.

With these and various other objects in view,

the invention may consist of certain novel fea tures of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawings which illustrate embodiments of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure '1 is a fragmentary top plan view, partly in section, of our novel form of controlled slack coupler in normal locked position together with a fragmentary contour of a mating coupler;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view substantially in the plane indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the couplers under conditions of horizontal angling; I

Figure 4 is a top plan view, partly in section, of two couplers incorporating our invention under pulling conditions;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of our novel form of lock with the lock assembly seated in its normal locking position and with the parts in position to provide maximum width of the lock;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of our novel form t of lock under the conditions shown in Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a front elevation of our novel form of lock showing the relative position of the parts of said look when the lock is in raised position;

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the look under the conditions shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a top plan view of the lock structure with the lock parts in their relative positions shown in Figures '7 and 8;

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the adjustable portion or wedge-piece of our novel form of lock;

Figure 11 is an end elevation of the wedgepiece;

Figure 12 is a sectional view through the lock structure with the parts in the relative position shown in Figures 5 and 6, the section being taken substantially in the plane indicated by the line i2-l2 of Figure 6;

Figure 13 is a sectional view through the lock with the parts in the relative positions shown in Figures 7 to 9, the figure being taken substantially inthe plane indicated by the line i3-E3 of Figure 8;

Figure 14 is a sectional view through the lock structure, the section being taken substantially in the vertical plane indicated by the line I4--l4 of Figure 9;

Figure 15 is a plan View of the adjustable looking wall plate used in our novel form of coupler;

Figure 16 is a side elevation thereof; and

Figure 17 is a section through the plate, the section being taken substantially in the plane indicated by the line ll--l1 of Figure 15.

Describing our invention in more detail, and with particular reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, it may be observed that the mating couplers 2 and 4 have the standard contours at 6 and 8 and include the mating knuckles l8 and i2 pivoted respectively at I4 and 18 in the usual manner. It will be observed that we have provided a novel form of guard arm E8 of enlarged form to provide the spring retaining cavity 25 defined by front and rear walls 2% and 23 and top and bottom walls 22 and 24 and reinforced by the center wall 25. Within the cavity are the compression springs 28, 28 having abutment at their outer ends against the spring seats 38, 30, said spring seats having vertically arranged positioning flanges 32, 32 providing abutment against the retaining bolt or rivet 34 as at 36, 35, said retaining bolt being received in aligned openings adjacent the outer extremities of the walls 22, 24 and 2G and riveted over at their opposite ends as at 38, 38.

The inner ends of the compression springs 28, 28 abut the adjustable lock wall plate 40 over positioning means 42, 42 integrally formed on the wall plate 48 and received within the coils 28. The lock wall plate 40 provides a movable abutment for the lock 43 as at 44, the wall plate 40 being normally urged outwardly of the cavity 20 by the compression springs 28, 28 until the top and bottom flanges 46 and 48 are in abutment against the flanges 58 and 52 on the guard arm as most clearly shown in Figure 2. Movement of the wall plate 40 in the opposite direction, compressing the springs 28, 28 as under the heavy pulling stresses normally occurring in starting a train or under angling positions, is limited by abutment as at 54 and 56.

In conjunction with our novel form of slack controlled coupler, we have incorporated the cushion knuckle face plates 58, 58 of the form described in the above mentioned Kayler application Serial No. 78,183.

The lock 43 which has abutment against the wall plate 40, as above described, is of novel form having a normal outside contour similar to that of the lock used in the present standard E coupler. Our novel form of lock, however, is a two-piece structure having the adjustable wedge-piece 60 operable to vary the width of the lock in a manner to be hereafter more fully described. As shown in Figure 1, it may be observed that the lock wedge 68 projects beyond the normal locking face of the lock a distance indicated at B, the normal width of the lock being indicated at A. It will be readily understood that increasing the width of the lock as indicated at B by adjustment of the position of the wedge 60, affects the contour since such increase of the lock width rotates the knuckle E8 on the pivot [4, thus tightening the contours and lessening the free slack between the mated couplers. As shown in Figure 1, it will be observed that all free slack between the two coupler contours has been eliminated, this effect being brought about partly by the operation of the wedge 68 in increasing the width of the look as indicated at B and in part by the abutment of the knuckle face plates 58, 58.

As seen in Figure 1, the lock 43 is in abutment on the face opposite the wedge 68 as at 62 with the locking face of the knuckle tail 64, said lock being normally seated on said knuckle tail when in locked position as at 66 and 68 (Figure 5) and as well known in the present standard type E coupler.

Figure 3 shows a mated pair of our novel form of couplers under conditions of horizontal angling. Under these conditions it may be noted that the face plate 58 of the knuckle I2 is compressed inwardly to a point flush with the heel of the said knuckle as at T8, and the nose of the knuckle I2 is also moved outwardly as compared with the position shown in Figure 1 through its rotation in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure 3 on the pivot it, thus moving the wall plate 48 in a direction to compress the springs 28 and. bringing the wall plate 40 in abutment against the surfaces on the guard arm indicated at 54 and 56 (Figure 2 At the same time, the face plate 58 of the knuckle i0 is in its fully expanded position and is free of engagement with the throat of the opposing coupler 4 inasmuch as the coupler 2 is laterally angled the maximum of eleven degrees as indicated at C with respect to the axis XY of the coupler 4.

Figure 4 shows mated couplers of our novel design under heavy pulling conditions such as occur in the starting of a train, the pulling force being suflicient to cause the adjustable lock wall plates 40, 40 to be thrust back into abutment against the guard arm surfaces 54 and 58 (Figure 2) compressing to the maximum amount the springs 28, 28, thus permitting the mated knuckles l0 and I2 to rotate on their respective pivots l4 and i5 and move outwardly from the throats of the opposing couplers 4 and 2 respectively, the positions of the respective contours 8 and 8 under such conditions conforming to the present standard No. 10A contour lines. Under these conditions, it may be noted that there is a certain clearance between each of the knuckle face plates 58, 58 and the throat of the opposing coupler as shown at D, D. It will be apparent also that as the pulling stress gradually decreases under normal pulling conditions, the compression springs 28, 28 will be operable to diminish the spaces D, D by rotation of the respective knuckles and under proper conditions to bring the knuckle face plates 58, 58 into engagement against the throats of the opposed couplers, whereupon the parts will have assumed the relative positions shown in Figure 1.

Our novel form of lock is shown in detail in Figures 5 to 14 inclusive, wherein Figures 5 and 6 show the normal relationship of the parts in locked position of the lock wherein it presents a maximum width to close the coupler contour, and wherein Figures '7, 8 and 9 disclose the normal relationship of the lock parts when the lock is free or in raised position and presents a contour substantially identical with that of the present lock of the standard E coupler.

The lock generally indicated at 43 is a twopiece structure comprising the main body portion 12 and the movable wedge 52 which, when assembled in the relative position shown in Figure '7 with the wedge 60 in its lower-most position, presents an outside contour like that of the lock of the present standard E coupler. To those skilled in the art it will be apparent that when the lock is freely raised as in unlocking, the wedge 60 will drop under the influence of gravity to its lower-most position, the look assembly then presenting the contour shown in Figures '7 to 9. At this time the lock with the wedge reseated is of normal width A and under coupling action may start to drop past the knuckle tail locking face as indicated at 62 (Figlife 5) toward its normal seat on the knuckle tail as indicated at 66 and 68 (Figure 5) and on the knuckle thrower as indicated at 6! (Figure 6). This action occurs before the knuckle has reached its fully pulled-in position and while there is still some clearance between the mated knuckles and the opposed coupler contours as is normally the case. It may also be observed that when the lock is in its free and raised position, the lower end of the Wedge 60 projects below the normal lock rest 68 of the lock to the point indicated at 14 (Figures '7 and 8), the wedge member 63 presenting at 75 an offset portion which seats upon the shelf 11 (Figure 12) of the main body portion of the lock. In the coupling operation, therefore, the look at once drops part way past the knuckle tail face at 62 while there is still a certain amount of coupling clearance between the contours. After dropping part way, the bottom portion or leg 16 of the wedge strikes the top of the knuckle thrower 18 as at 6'! (Figure 6) and is stopped. The lock, however, is still free to move downwardly and in so doing will be forced over laterally due to the wedge action as the wedge member 60 is raised in relation to the main body portion 12, thus increasing the over-all width of the lock by the amount of the wedge projection indicated as a maximum at B whenrthe lock has been seated in its final lock position resting on the thrower T8 and on the knuckle shelves as at 66 and 68 (Figure 5).

From a consideration of Figures 10, 11 and 12, it will be apparent that the wedge 60 may assume any one of a series of positions with relation to the main body portion 12 of the lock, the serrated face 80 on the portion 12 being complementary in form to the face 82 on the wedge. These serrated faces are composed of a series of spaced steps or surfaces 84, 84 (Figure 11) in planes parallel to the vertical axis of the lock, and joined by sloping faces 86, 86, in planes diagonal to said axis and to the faces 84, 84, thus providing the wedging action above described. When the lock is in an operative position under compression between the locking Wall plate 40 and. the tail of the knuckle, there will be no wedge action developed inasmuch as the faces 84, 84 on the wedge and on the portion 12 will be in abutment with each other in planes parallel to the axis of the lock. The above mentioned wedging action will occur only when the lock is falling from a raised position and the purpose of the stepped arrangement of the wedge faces as compared with a wedge having plane surfaces is to eliminate the tendency which would otherwise occur for the lock wedge to work upward along the tapered face under the normal pulling stresses such as occur under operating conditions.

The wedge 60 is retained in. assembled relationship with the main body portion 12 of the lock by having on its lateral edges the vertical flanges 88, 88 which are received in slots 90, 90 formed in the said body portion and the removal of the wedge in a vertical direction is prevented by the stop member 92 (Figure 13) which may be welded or otherwise secured in position after the parts have been assembled.

The form of the locking wall plate 46 is shown in detail in Figures to 17 wherein it may be observed that the structure consists of a platelike body portion indicated at 94, thicker at one edge than at the other in order to accommodate the angular relationship of the springs 28,

automatic operation of our novel form of lock is v such as to present a varying lockwidth which is adjustable to the particular conditions of each coupler. By the use of this novel structure it is possible to compensate for the usual manufacturing tolerances which occurin steel castings and to insure absolutely tight engaging contours of mating couplers when our novel structural features are incorporated therein. At the same time it will be apparent that our structure is such as to permit the contours to open the necessary amount under conditions of stress or in the coupling or uncoupling operation.

It is to be understood that we do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiments of the device shown which are merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. In a railway car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knuckle having a nose portion forming a part of said contour, a guard arm opposite said knuckle forming another part, of said contour, resilient means housed in said guard arm, a locking plate seated against said resilient means, and a lock positioned between said locking plate and the tail of said knuckle to retain said knuckle in its closed position, said lock carrying means adjustable by gravity to vary the width thereof and being vertically movable to permit rotation of said knuckle from closed to open position, said locking plate being laterally movable in said coupler under the influence of said resilient means to vary the locking position of said lock and modify said contour.

2. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, a knuckle thrower, a guard arm, a movable locking plate housed in said guard arm, a vertically movable lock normally seated on said knuckle and said thrower between said face and said plate to retain said parts in locked position, said plate being laterally adjustable to vary the position of said lock laterally of said coupler when in locked position, and movable means on said lock operable by impact with said thrower as said lock falls from its raised or unlocked position, said operation of said movable means effectingan increase in the width of said lock.

3. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, a knuckle thrower, a guard arm, a movable locking plate housed in said guard arm, a vertically movable lock normally seated on said knuckle and said thrower between said face and said plate to retain said parts in locked position, said plate being laterally adjustable to vary the position of said lock laterally of said coupler when in locked position, and movable means on said lock operable to vary the width of said lock by impact with said thrower as said lock falls from its raised or unlocked position.

4. In a railway car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, and a nose forming a portion of said contour, a guard arm opposite said knuckle forming another part of said contour, a cavity in said guard arm, a movable locking plate in said cavity, resilient means in abutment against said locking plate, and a lock interposed between said plate and said face, said lock comprising a body portion and a wedge piece having engagement along spaced offset planes whereby said wedge piece may be seated against said body portion in any one of a plurality of positions laterally offset with respect to each other.

5. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, a knuckle thrower, a guard arm, a movable locking plate housed in said guard arm, and a vertically movable lock normally seated on said knuckle and said thrower between said face and said plate to retain said parts in locked position, said plate being laterally adjustable to vary the position of said lock laterally of said coupler when in locked position, and means on said lock abutting said plate, said means being operable to vary the width of said look when moving from lockset to locked position.

6. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle with a locking face, a guard arm opposite said knuckle, a cavity in said guard arm opening toward the axis of said coupler, a movable locking plate in said opening, resilient means in said cavity in abutment against said locking plate, and a lock seated between said face and said plate, said lock having a movable wedge member secured thereto, said wedge member having selective engagement with said lock along a plurality of offset planes whereby vertical movement of said wedge member with respect to said lock is effective to vary the width of said lock.

'7. An automatic car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, and a nose forming a part of said contour, a guard arm opposite side knuckle, a locking plate in said guard arm, a lock normally positioned between said plate and said face to retain said knuckle in closed or locked position, and resilient means housed in said guard arm in abutment against said plate and operable through said plate to vary the position of said lock and said knuckle under normal operating conditions, said lock comprising a movable wedge piece and means retaining said wedge piece, said wedge piece having selective engagement with the body of said lock along a plurality of spaced areas: whereby said wedge piece may serve to vary the effective Width of said lock.

8. A car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knuckle with a locking face, and a nose forming a portion of said contour, a guard arm forming another portion of said contour, a locking plate housed in said guard arm, a lock nor mally positioned between said face and said plate to retain said parts in locked position and vertically movable therefrom to release said parts, and movable means on said lock automatically adjustable relative thereto to vary the effective width of said look by engagement of said means with another member of said coupler as said lock is raised and lowered in normal operation.

9. In an automatic car coupler a vertically movable lock comprising a main body portion, and a wedge-piece vertically movable with respect to said main body portion, said wedge-piece in its lower-most position being confined within the normal contour of said lock and in raised position extending outwardly of said contour to increase the effective width of said lock, said wedge-piece being automatically operable under normal operating conditions of said coupler.

10. In an automatic coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, a guard arm opposite said knuckle, resilient means mounted in said guard arm, a movable locking plate in abutment against said resilient means, and a vertically movable lock between said plate and said face, said lock having a movable memberadjustable under the influence of gravity to vary the width of said look as said lock moves from lockset to locked position under normal operating conditions.

11. In a railway car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knuckle having a nose portion forming a part of said contour, a guard arm opposite said knuckle forming another part of said contour, resilient means housed in said guard arm, a locking plate seated against said resilient means, and a lock positioned between said locking plate and the tail of said knuckle to retain said knuckle in its closed position, said lock comprising a member relatively movable with respect to the body of said lock to vary the effective width of said lock, said member being operable by auto matic engagement with means on said coupler as said lock moves from lock-set to locked position in normal operation.

12. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, a knuckle thrower, a guard arm opposite said knuckle, said guard arm housing an adjustable locking plate, a vertically movable lock seated between said face and said plate, said lock being vertically movable to release said parts from locked position, and movable means on said lock actuated by engagement with said thrower as said lock falls from elevated to locked position to increase the effec tive width of said lock.

13. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle with a locking face, a guard arm opposite said knuckle, a cavity in said guard arm opening toward the axis of said coupler, a movable locking plate in said opening, resilient means in said cavity in abutment against said locking plate, and a lock seated between said face and said plate, said lock comprising a wedge piece having engagement with the main body thereof along spaced offset planes whereby said wedge piece may be seated along said body portion in any one of a plurality of positions laterally offset with respect to said body portion to vary the effective width of said lock.

14. In an automatic car coupler a vertically movable lock comprising a main body portion, and a wedge-piece vertically movable with respect to said main body portion, said wedge-piece in its lower-most position being confined within the normal contour of said lock and in raised position extending outwardly of said contour to increase the effective width of said lock.

15. In a railway car coupler, a lock of variable width comprising a main body portion and a wedge-piece, means on said lock retaining said wedge-piece and said portion in assembled relationship, sa-id wedge-piece and said body portion having selective engagement along a plurality of vertical faces lying in parallel planes, whereby the relative position of said wedge-piece may be altered to vary the effective width of said lock.

16. In a variable width lock for an automatic car coupler, a main body portion, a wedge-piece, means on said lock retaining said Wedge-piece in assembled relationship, said body portion and said wedge-piece having selective engagement along a plurality of parallel vertical faces, Whereby said wedge-piece may serve to vary the effective width of said lock.

17. In an automatic car coupler, a pivoted knuckle, a knuckle thrower, and a lock movable on a vertical axis, said lock comprising a movable wedge-piece having selective engagement with the main body portion of said lock along a plurality of vertical planes, whereby said wedgepiece is operative to vary the effective width of said lock.

18. In an automatic car coupler, a pivoted knuckle, a knuckle thrower, and a lock movable on a vertical axis, said lock comprising a movable wedge-piece having selective engagement with the main body portion of said lock along a plurality of vertical planes, said wedge-piece being operable to engage said knuckle thrower as said lock moves downwardly and increase the effective width of said lock.

19. A two-piece lock for an automatic car coupler comprising a body portion and a wedge-piece, means on said body portion retaining said wedgepiece in assembly therewith, said wedge-piece and said body portion having selective engagement along a plurality of offset planes, whereby vertical movement of said wedge-piece with respect to said body portion is efiective to vary the width of said lock.

20. A two-part lock for an automatic car coupler comprising a body portion and a wedgepiece having engagement with each other along spaced offset planes, whereby said wedge-piece may be seated against said body portion in any one of a plurality of positions laterally offset with respect to each other.

21. In a railway car coupler, a pivoted knuckle, a knuckle thrower, and a lock movable on a vertical axis, said lock comprising a movable memher having engagement with said lock along a plurality of offset plane faces, said member being operable to engage said thrower and shift its position relative to said look as said lock moves downwardly,

22. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, a knuckle thrower, a vertically movable lock, and a guard arm opposite said knuckle, said guard arm presenting an adjustable locking plate for abutment of said lock, said lock being normally seated on said knuckle and said thrower in abutment against said locking plate to retain said parts in locked. position, said lock comprising a wedge movable relative thereto and engageable therewith along a plurality of spaced areas, said wedge being automatically positioned with respect to said lock by engagement with said thrower as said lock moves from lock-set to locked position.

EDMUND P. KINNE. EIMER J. GREENAWALT.

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