US2806612A - Coupler support - Google Patents

Description

Sept.'17, 1957 e. F. c ucH COUPLER SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 Q In'ventor: Glenn F Couch hjs Attorney Sept. 17, 1957 G. F. COUCH 2,805,612

COUPLER SUPPORT Filed Feb. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 4 /9 Q Iqventor: Glenn E Couch his Attorney United States Patent 6 QOUPLER SUPPORT Glenn F. Couch, Bergen, N. Y., assignor to The Symington-Gould Corporation, Depew, N. Y., a corporation of Maryland Application February 14, 1955, Serial No. 487,803

9 (Ilaims. (Cl. 213-61) This invention relates to a coupler support for supporting the shank of a railway car coupler and particularly to a coupler support in the form of a combined striking casting and coupler carrier.

In recent years interlocking coupler have been introduced for both passenger and freight service and in the form of the A. A. R. type H coupler will soon become mandatory on new equipment for passenger service. Though introduced more recently than the type H coupler, the interlocking coupler for freight service, known as the type F, has already been made an A. A. R. alternate standard and, since possessing numerous advantages over the non-interlocking type B coupler, which is the present standard, presumably will ultimately be made the mandatory standard for new equipment in freight service. The problem this poses to the railroads is that the type F coupler and its associated equipment is considerably more expensive than the type B coupler. Yet, if due to the saving, the type E coupler is now specified by a railroad for new equipment, it will ultimately be confronted with the expense of a changeover to the type F coupler, if maximum benefit is to be derived from its F couplers on equipment purchased after such couplers have been made the mandatory standard.

The difiiculty in the transition is caused by the difference in operation of the types E and F couplers, the former at most swinging only horizontally, while the latter is adapted to swing both horizontally and vertically. As a consequence, the conventional coupler carrier for the E coupler is rigidly connected to the underframe of a railway car, while that for the type F coupler is resiliently supported on a special striking casting. The change-over of a coupler support for a type B to that for a type F coupler thus at present entails the complete replacement of the E coupler support with the combined striking casting and resilient coupler carrier for the type F coupler.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved coupler support which is convertible from a rigid support for a type E coupler to a resilient support for a type F coupler by inverting a carrier member and applying to the latter the supporting springs and carrier iron of a resilient coupler carrier. v

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved combined striking casting and coupler carrier embodying the basic structure required for the connection to and support on the underframe of a railway vehicle of either a type E or a type F coupler, the combined unit being selectively convertible for use with either coupler with a minimum of additional parts.

An additional object of the invention is is provide an improved combined striking casting and coupler carrier convertible for use with either a type B or a type F" coupler, wherein the striking casting is of welded design for relative inexpensiveness in production without reduction in the strength or efficiency of the unit.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a 2,806,612 Patented Sept. 17, 1957 "ice coupler support an invertible carrier member which is closed at one end and open at the other and is reversibly seata-ble in a striking casting or like means rigidly con nected to the underframe of a railway car, the member in one position presenting its closed end for rigid support of a type B coupler and in the reverse position presenting its open end for the reception of the supporting springs and carrier iron for a type F coupler, and in both positions being held in place by common means.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved combined striking casting and coupler carrier convertible for use with either a type B or a type F coupler, wherein the construction of the striking casting is simplified by the use of novel means for securing in position the plate employed for supporting an F coupler yoke.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter in the detailed description, will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and will be illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a central vertical sectional view, taken along the lines 1-1 of Figure 2, of the improved coupler support of the present invention, showing the carrier member adapted for the support of a type F coupler;

of Figure l, of the coupler support of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view corresponding to the lower portion of Figure 3, with the carrier member inverted for the support of a type E coupler;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view of the coupler support of Figure 5, corresponding in section to the sectional portion of Figure 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts, the improved coupler support of the present invention has been embodied for purposes of illustration in a combined striking casting and coupler carrier designated generally as 1. The striking casting 2 of this unit is designed to be rigidly connected, as by riveting, to either end of the center sills 3 or corresponding part of the underframe of a railway vehicle (not shown).

The striking casting 2 is comprised of a pair or transversely spaced vertically directed side wallsi connected over the forward portions of their upper extremities by a horizontally directed top wall 5, the side and top walls together defining a substantially rectangular opening 6 for the reception of the shank of a coupler (not shown). The striking casting 2 preferably is stiffened below the coupler opening 6 by one or more cross ties 7, formed integrally with and extending between the side walls Also below the coupler opening 6 and adjacent the forward extremity of the striking casting 2, is a pair of transversely spaced, substantially parallel or aligned, inwardly opening or confronting guide channels or ways 8, each carried by one of the side walls the channels in the illustrated embodiment conveniently being formed by the end portions of the pair of longitudinally spaced cross ties or transverse webs 7 and the included portions of the side walls. Open at their upper ends and directed vertically or substantially normal to the coupler opening 6, the guide channels 8 are closed at their lower ends by feet or 3 flanges 9 inturned or instanding from the side walls 4 and together providing a seat in the striking casting 2.

The purpose of the guide channels 8 is to slidably receive a carrier member in open at one end 11 and closed at the other end 12, the carrier member preferably being of box-shape, and including, between its spaced vertically directed or upstanding longitudinal or side walls 13 and transverse walls 14 and its horizontally directed end wall 15, a vertically directed or upstanding pocket or socket 16 opening onto its open end ll. For seating the carrier member ill in the channels there are pro vided positioning lugs 17 each outstanding transversely from one of its side walls 13 and each adapted to seat against the upper face 18 of one of the pair of flanges E. It will be noted that the positioning lugs 17 are shouldered at both top and bottom so as to seat against the inturned feet 9, whichever end of the carrier member is uppermost. For locking the carrier member in its seat in either position, use is made of retainer plates or clips 19 which may be fixed at their outer ends, as by riveting, to flanges 23) outstanding from the side walls 4 of the striking casting 2 and extend through slots or apertures 21 in the side walls, each of the locking plates being adapted to align with and extend through one of a pair of vertically spaced slots 22 formed in each of the side walls 13 of the carrier member 10, above and below the positioning lug 17, one slot serving for each of the two positions of the carrier member.

Seatable and lockable in its seat in the striking casting 2 with either its open end ill or closed end 12 uppermost and confronting the shank of a related coupler in the couprer opening 6, the invertible or reversible carrier member 10 is the means whereby the coupler support of the present invention is enabled to carry the shank either of a coupler which swings, at most, only horizontally, such as the A. A. R. standard coupler, or of a coupler which swings both horizontally and vertically, such as the A. A. R. alternate standard F coupler. Its operation with the first or E type coupler is shown in Figure 5, wherein the carrier member 11 is seated with its closed end 12 on top or uppermost. In that position of the carrier member its end wall 15 serves as a base for rigidly supporting the coupler against downward movement, usually through the intermediary of a wear plate 23, which, conveniently, may be removably secured to the transverse wall or base id, as by welding, and effectively relieves the carrier member of the wear that otherwise would occur in the horizontal movements of the coupler.

As mentioned at the outset, a vertical swinging coupler such as the A. A. R. alternate standard F coupler, must be resiliently or yieldably supported so as to permit it to swing downwardly under service conditions. When applied to such a coupler, the carrier member 10 is inverted or reversed from the position shown in Figure to that shown in Figure 3 so that its pocket in opens upwardly, the wear plate 23, if one is applied, being removed in the interim. So disposed, the carrier member serves, in the same manner as does the integral pocket of a conventional striking casting for a type F coupler, to pocket and guide in its vertical movements a resilient coupler carrier comprised of a carrier iron 24 and coil or like springs 25 resiliently supporting the carrier iron in the pocket 16. The carrier iron 24 has the usual top wall 216 projecting over or overhanging the upstanding walls 13 and of the carrier member 10 and also has, as usual, a depending skirt 27 including a downwardly opening recess 28 for the reception of the springs 25, the several springs preferably being centered by opposed sets of centering bosses 29, one formed integrally with the end wall 35 of the carrier member 10 andrthe other with the top wall 26 of the carrier iron 24. The retainer.

plates 19, which lock the carrier member 10 in its seat, here extend into recesses or slots 36 in opposite sidesof the skirt 2'7, thus also serving to limit the maximum upward movement of the carrier iron under force of the springs 25.

Since disposed adjacent the forward extremity of the striking casting and thus forwardly of the pivotal axis (not shown) of the coupler, the carrier iron 24 is required to tilt or cant forwardly as the coupler swings downwardly. Provision is made for such tilting in the illustrated embodiment by corresponding vertical stepping of the upper edges 31 of the front and rear or end walls 14 of the carrier member 19 and the corresponding edges 32 of the transverse webs '7, the edges 31 of the carrier member also being inclined or tilted downwardly in a forward direction so as to have surface contact with the top wall 26 of the carrier 2%, when the latter is in extreme forward position. To ensure that the lower of the edges 31 of the carrier member will be in front when the carrier member is used with a vertically swinging coupler, an offset 33 is formed in the front end of the carriermember 10 adjacent its closed end 12 with corresponding T-shape of the latter and the front of the webs 7 is correspondingly relieved or recessed as at 34, thisconstruction, in conjunction with the flat inner face 34 of the rear'of the webs, serves as a locator or guide for preventing accidental insertion of the carrier member in the incorrect position.

The coupler support of the present invention is designed to provide not only rigid or resilient support of the coupler shank depending on the type of coupler with which it is employed but also, when necessary, supporting means for an associated yoke. As the draft connection, each of: the side walls 4 of the striking casting has as its rear portion an integrally formed draft lug 35, the draft lugs being adapted to be engaged in the usual manner by front follower of a draft gear (not shown) when the related coupler is subjected to draft forces. Forwardly of the draft lugs the side walls 4 are provided with the usual key slots 36 for the reception of the retaining key (not shown) conventionally employed in a regular or emergency application of an E coupler.

For applications in which a yoke is required to be supported by a supporting plate, as in the case of the F" coupler, the supporting plate, conventionally, is locked in position by means carried by the striking casting. In the instant striking casting, such means are dispensed with, enabling the construction of the striking casting to be simplified, and the center sills 3, instead, are depended on for plate 37 in position. In accordance with this simplified construction, laterally aligned plate-receiving slots 38 are formed in the side Walls 4 of the striking casting 2 and so disposed vertically relative to the bottom flanges 39 of the center sills 3 as to enable the supporting plate 37 to clear the adjacent bottom flange as it is slid from either side into the slots. Once the supporting plate is in position, its accidental removal is prevented by retainer bl0cks4i) removably secured, as by riveting, to the bottom flanges 39 and each obstructing egress, from one of the slots 38. Also to simplify manufacture, the striking casting preferably is divided initially along its longitudinal center line into two pieces, each of which is castable, with a minimum of coring, the parts being readily joined together by welding either at the manufacturing stage or in process of assembly. at the coupler shop;

Fromthe; above detailed description, it will be, apparout there has been. provided an improved coupler support which, While of relatively simple and rugged con struction, is readily convertible for use with either an E or an E type coupler, thus serving as an effective' transition; support for use by railroads considering ultimate conversion to type F couplers in the period beforetheF'coupler is made a mandatory standard. It should be understood that the illustrated embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention and that: all modifications are intended to be included which do not securing the yoke supporting depart from either the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a coupler support, an upwardly facing seat carried by an underframe of a railway vehicle, and a carrier member closed at one vertical end and having a vertically directed pocket opening onto the opposite end thereof, said carrier member being invertibly seatable in and supportable on said seat for selectively presenting each of said ends to a shank of an associated coupler, and said carrier member with said closed end presentedrigidly supporting said shank against downward movement and with said open end presented being adapted to pocket means for resiliently supporting said shank.

2. In a coupler support, an upwardly facing seat carried by an underframe of a railway vehicle, a carrier member closed at one vertical end and having a vertically directed pocket opening onto the opposite end thereof, said carrier member being invertibly seatable in and supportable on said seat for selectively presenting each of said ends to a shank of an associated coupler, and said carrier member with said closed end presented rigidly supporting said shank against downward movement and with said open end presented being adapted to pocket means for resiliently supporting said shank, and means for locking said carrier member in said seat with either end uppermost.

3. A coupler support comprising a striking casting having a pair of transversely spaced upstanding side walls and a connecting top wall together defining a conpler opening, a pair of transversely spaced vertically directed guideways carried by said side walls beneath said opening, an upwardly facing seat in said guideways, a box-shaped carrier member closed at one end and having an upstanding pocket opening onto the opposite end thereof, said carrier member being invertibly slidable from above into said guideways and seatable on said seat for selectively presenting each of the open and closed ends thereof to said coupler opening, one of the longitudinally spaced upper edges defining the open end of said carrier member being spaced vertically below the other of said edges, and locating means associated with said guideways for ensuring assembly of said carrier member with said lower edge outermost when the open end thereof is on top.

4. A coupler support comprising a striking casting having transversely spaced upstanding side walls and a connecting top wall together defining a coupler opening, draft lugs integral with and extending inwardly of said side walls, guideways carried by said side walls adjacent the forward lower extremities thereof and disposed substantially normal to said coupler opening, a box-shaped carrier member closed at one end and having an upstanding pocket opening onto an opposite end thereof, said carrier member being slidable from above into said guideways with either end uppermost, means outstanding from the sides of said carrier member and engageable with and adapted to underlie means instanding from said side walls for seating said carrier memher in said guideways, and means releasably securable to said striking casting for securing said carrier member in said seating.

5. A coupler support comprising a striking casting rigidly connectable to center sills of a railway vehicle, said striking casting having a pair of transversely spaced upstanding side walls and a connecting top wall together defining a coupler opening, draft lugs integral With said side walls, slots in said side walls adjacent the rear extremities thereof and opening below said center sills for receiving a supporting plate slidable laterally thereinto, means removably securable to bottom flanges of said center sills for blocking the sides of said slots and securing said plate therewithin, web means connecting said side walls adjacent front lower extremities thereof, a pair of vertically directed; ui 'f h' carried by one of said side walls, a box-shaped-carrier member closed at one'end and having an upstanding pocket opening onto the opposite endthereof, said carrier member being reversible and slidable from above into said guideways with the selected of said ends uppermost, and means instanding from said side walls and engageable with means outstanding from said carrier member for supporting said carrier member in said guideways, said carrier member with said closed end uppermost serving as a rigid support against downward movement of a shank of an associated coupler and with said open end uppermost being adapted to pocket means for resiliently supporting said shank for downward movement.

6. In a coupler support, the combination with a carrier member, of a striking casting comprising a pair of transversely spaced upstanding side walls and a horizontally disposed top wall connecting the upper extermities of said side walls over the forward portions thereof, said walls together defining a substantially rectangular coupler opening, a pair of transversely spaced vertically directed substantially parallel guideways carried by said side walls adjacent the forward lower extremities thereof, and means instanding from said side Walls and closing lower ends of said guideways to form a seat therein for supporting said carrier member.

7. In a coupler support, the combination with a carrier member, of a striking casting comprising a pair of transversely spaced upstanding side walls and a horizontally disposed top wall connecting the upper extremities of said side walls over the forward portions thereof, said walls together defining a substantially rectangular coupler opening, a pair of transversely spaced vertically directed substantially parallel guideways carried by said side walls adjacent the forward lower extremities thereof, and means instanding from said side walls and closing lower ends of said guideways to form a seat therein for supporting said carrier member, said striking casting having a weld extending substantially along the longitudinal center line thereof and connecting the two cast parts of said casting at opposite sides of said center line.

8. A coupler support comprising a striking casting having transversely spaced upstanding side walls and a connecting top wall together defining a coupler opening, a pair of transversely spaced vertically directed guideways carried by said side walls adjacent the forward lower ex tremities thereof, means instanding from said side walls and interrupting said guideways below upper ends thereof, a box-shaped carrier member closed at one end and having an upstanding pocket opening onto the opposite end thereof, said pocket being invertible and slidable from above into said guideways with the selected of said ends uppermost, lugs outstanding from sides of said carrier member and engageable with and supportable by said instanding means for seating said carrier member in said guideways, a pair of vertically spaced slots in each side of said carrier member and disposed above and below the associated of said lugs, and retaining clips releasably securable to said side walls and extendable through the selected of said slots for locking said carrier member in said seat with the selected end uppermost.

9. A coupler support comprising a striking casting having transversely spaced upstanding side walls and a connecting top wall together defining a coupler opening, a pair of transversely spaced vertically directed guideways carried by said side walls adjacent the forward lower extremities thereof, means instanding from said side walls and interrupting said guideways below upper ends thereof, a box-shaped carrier member closed at one end and having an upstanding pocket opening onto the opposite end thereof, said carrier member being invertible and slidable from above into said guideways with the selected insaidv guideways, a pair of vertically spaced slots in eachv side of said carrier member and disposed above and below the associated of said lugs, and retaining clips releasably securable to said side walls and extendable through the selected of said slots for locking said carrier member in said seat with, the selected end uppermost, said carrier member with said open end uppermost being adapted to pocket a carrier iron and supporting springs for resiliently supportinga shank of an associated coupler, said carrier iron havingrecesses in sides'thereof, and said retaining clips being adapted to extend into said recessesfor limiting upward movement of said carrier iron under force of said springs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,258,208 Johnson Oct. 7, 1941 2,544,288 Wolfe Mar. 6, 1951 2,590,868 Kahler Apr. 1, 1952 2,680,526 Kahler June8, 1954 2,718,968 Metzger Sept. 27, 1955

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