US259032A - Gab coupling - Google Patents

Description

(No M0691.) .A v 2 Smeets--Sheetl 1.

l J; EMBREDITR GAR G OUPLING. Y v No. 259.0321'. PatentedJune-', 1882.

042th:- my.

UNITED STATE-s" PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. MEREDITH, F SURATTSVILLE, PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, MD.

- CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,032, dated June 6, 1882.

Application filed November 10, 1881. (No model.)

' and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable Yothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the laccompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in car-couplers upon which Letters Patent were granted to me February 17, 1880, in which I` employed hooks placed in a horizontal position,

which opened automatically and closed upon the coupling-pin of the next car when thecars were brought together. Y v.

The object of the present improvement is to enable the hooks to be raised and lowered and adjusted and fastened at any desired height in the draw-head without going between the cars, in order that cars of ditterentheights may be coupled together automatically and without danger to the person who does the work. My

4application for. Letters Patent for this part of my invention was allowed April 4,1881. I have nowmadeafurther improvement,consisting in a lookin gdevice to prevent the hooks from opening after they have closed upon the couplingpin of the next car. All of the above-named objects I attain by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation of a-freight-car, and Fig.2isa sideelevation ofpart ofafreightcar,showing different parts ot' raisin g and lowering and locking devices. Fig. 3 is a detached view of' a part ofthe raising and lowering device. Fig. 4 is a detached plan view of the raising andlowering andlocking arrangements taken from the bottom. Fig.5 is a side elevation ot' a part of a passenger -car, showing a part of the raising and lowering device.

F is a crank, something in the form of a bellcrank. It turns upon its shalt F', to which is attached atright angles the arm F. This arm F" has an elbow, and at its lower extremity there is a hook, f, which enters a staple, l.

rlhis staplel is secured to a plate, I The plate I- is attached to a vertical rod or pin, P. The

rod P is so arranged as to have an upward and lbody of the car, or in any other suitable position, such as the rails of the platform in passen ger-cars. -Itis intended tosecure the crankarm F, in any position that may be required.

K K are draw-heads. B is a hand-wheel attached to shaft D. S is the coupling-pin. C is a ratchet-wheel and pawl.- H is a pulley.

Gr is a pulley attached to shaft D. When the ,crank-arm F is turned to the right and downward the hooked point f of the arm F" will have an upward motion and lift the plate L, together with the rod P, as well as the coupling-hooks J J, to a higher position. When high enough to engage and couple with the next car the arm F must be released. When this is done it will engage in the teeth of the ratchet-plate E, and thus beheld in the proper position to allow thecarsto couple; but should the arm F be down, and it is desired to couple with a lower car, the arm F inustthen be raised to the desired height, and this will lower the coupling-hooks J J, and the arm F, upon being released, will be held in its proper position by the plate E.

The locking device is shown in Figs. l, 2, 4. It consists of a plate or wedge, Y, having a casing or guide, Z, in which it slides freely up and down, sovas to be raised or lowered. When raised it occupies a position between the coupling-hooks J J, tting snugly between the two and just touching both of them, in such manner as to prevent the rear ends of the hook-bars J J fromv approaching each other, and in this Way locking them, so that in any strain upon the hooks when the cars are going around a curve, or from any other cause, they will not open, and thus release the couplingpin and allow the cars to become separated from each other, as they would otherwise be apt to do upon any sudden strain or when heavily loaded. The wedge or plate Y is raised and lowered by IOO 5 joint.

means of the leverU, operating upon the shaft U', to which it is attached at right angles, and which has an arm, V, pivoted to a link, W, which is attached to the wedge Y by a hinged I do not confine myself to this exact construction, as it might be varied without departing from my invention. The pivoted hooks R R are intended to hold the lever U in place either when locked or unlocked.

I claim as my invention- 1. In acar-coupling, thelcvers or bell-cranks F F Ii",in combination with staplel and plate I, as described, and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, in a car-coupling, of the levers F I1" F, hook f, staple l, and ratchetplate E, substantially as shown and described, and for thc purposes set forth.

JOHN H. MEREDI'IH.

Witnesses W. T. JOHNSON, H. M. ROGERS.

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