US351970A - frank - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P.FRANK.

I GAR COUPLING. No. 351,970. Patented Nov. 2, 1886.

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MMWW v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER FRANK, or sr. Louis, MISSOURI.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,970, dated November 2, 1886.

Application filed August 16, IEFG. Serial No. 211,089. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER FRANK, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car- Gouplings, of which the following is a 'full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which-- Figure 1 is an end view of a freight-car, showing my improvement applied. Fig. 2 is a detail elevation showing the adjacent ends of two cars with my improvement applied. Fig. 3 is a detailtopviewof the adjacent ends of two cars, showing my improvement applied Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the ends of twodraw-bars provided with my improved coupling, the section being taken on line 4 5, Fig. 7. Fig. 51s a similar view showing the parts in a similar positiomexcept that theyare adjusted to cause the link to enter a drawvbar of a higher elevation than the one in which the link is supported, thesection being takenon line 4 5, Fig. 7. Fig. 6 is a horizontal. longitudinal section taken on line- 6 6', Fig. 4. Fig. 7is" a vertical transverse section taken on line 7 7, Fig. 4. Fig. 9 is a-horizontal longitudinal section taken on line-9 9, Fig. 5, looking down. Fig. 8 is an elevation of one of the coupling-pins and a section of one of the lifting-collars.

In allv automatic car couplings heretofore.

constructed the actuating mechanism has been exposed either to the weather or to the action of. the draw-heads upon eachother, or both, and no provision has been before made for aul tomatieally withdrawing the actuating machinery to a place of safety when out of employment and securing its return to a position and from being exposed to' the weather, one

that will operate perfectly under all circum stances, one that-willnot be liable to getout of: order, and. which may be used without going between the cars to couple or unconple 3 them; and. to this end my invention consists in features of novelty, hereinafter fully described, andp'ointed out in the claims'.

Referring. to the drawings, Arepresents: the

adjacent ends'of two cars. In Figs. 1 and 3 box-cars are shown, and in Fig. 2 a flat car is shown. In the former case the mechanism constituting the coupling may be provided with-cords or rods extending either to the top of the car or to the sides, or both, as hereinafter described, so that it can be operated without entering in between the cars, and in the latter case such rods 01' cords would ex tend to the sides of the car, so thatthe mechated without passing in between the cars.

B representsthe draw-bars, which are secured to the body of the cars in any well-known or usual manner.

0 represents the coupling-link, and D the coupling-pins. Each draw-bar is provided with a housing or case, B, having a removable cap, B, within which the mechanism constituting the automatic coupling is located, and which protects this mechanism from exposure to the weather and from being struck by objects which might cause a breakage or dislocation of the parts.

Each pin is provided with an extension, D, that protrudes through the cap B of the housing. Upon this extension is formed or secured a projection or lip, I, as shown in Figs. 4, 5-, 7, and 8. This lip or projection is engaged'to support the pin by a dog or pawl,J, secured to a rock-shaft, J, jonrnaled in the sides of theho'nsing B, and held to engagement by the shapeof'said pawl and bya countor-weight on arm J*. This rock-shaft is operated to disengage the hook J from the lip I, to allow the pin to fall by gravity, by means of an arm, I, on the shaft J, connected by means of a link, J to an arm, K, on a rocksh'aft, K, j ournaled in the walls of the housing B. This shaft 11 is provided with a cam, K 'w-ith which engages the upper end, L, of a trip-lever, L, supported on a rock-shaft, L journaled inthe walls of the housing B, this lever extending down through an opening, B 3 in the topof the draw-bar, its lower endfitting gin the central part of the throat of the drawbar.

Now,- it will be understood that when the ,ooupl-i-ng-link Centers the throat of thedrawitri-p-lever L it forces it from the position ishown on the right-hand side of Fig. 4 to the bar and comes against the lower end of the anism constituting the brake could be o'p'erposition shown on the righthand side of Fig. 5, and through means of the described connection the dog or pawl J will be disengaged from the lip I, allowing the pin to descend, and as it falls it enters the coupling-link, thereby coupling it to the draw-bar. The pinis thus automatically dropped to coupling or using position.

In order that the link 0 shall not move the parts too far, which might result in a breakage, and in order to prevent any danger of its passing the lower end of the trip L,the throat of the draw-bar is contracted at B, (see Fig. 9,) forming shoulders, against which the end of the link would impinge, preventing its farther movement into the draw-bar. In case the link 0 is in place and the cars are not moving, the pin can be dropped by operating the dog J by hand,instead of by the action of the pin, by simply rocking the arm J on one end of the shaft J outside of the housing, so that the dog J can be operated by such turning of the shaft J by taking hold of this arm J; and in order that it may be operated from the side or top of the car acord or rope, J may be connected thereto and extended to the top or side of the car within handy reach of the brakeman or other person.

In coupling a car the pin D is raised or elevated from the positionshown on the left-hand side of Figs. 4, and 5 to the position shown on the righbhand side by means which I will now describe.

M represents a collar surrounding the upper end of the pin D, and having a socket to receive a flange, B on the upper end of the pin. To this collar is connected a rock-shaft, M, by means of arms M and links M, these arms and links acting to lift the collar, and consequently the pin, when the shaft M is turned. The shaft is jonrnaled in the sides of the housing B, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7. The collar M is provided with ears M, to which the lower ends of the links M are secured. It will thus be seen that by turning the rock-shaft M in the proper direction the collar M and pin D will be raised from their lower to their upper positions, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The shaft is provided with an extension, M extending to the side of the car, and by which it can be turned without going between the cars; and by providing the extension M with a crank or segment, M, to which is connected a'rope, cord, or rod, M, reaching to the top of the car, the pin can be raised from the top of the car, if desired. It will be seen that the collar M is not held from vertical movement on the pin D, so that as soon as thepin is raised and the power that raised it removed from the extension M the collar M and the arms andlinks that form a connection between it and the rock-shaft M will return to their normal position,as shown by dotted lines on the right-hand side of Fig. 4. This leaves the pin suspended alone, so that when the dog J is disengaged from the lip I the pin will be free to fall, and its movement will not be retarded by the mechanism by which it is elevated. As the pin is elevated the dog J is moved back by bearing against the inclined upper surface of the lip I, and as the lip I rises above the dog the latter moves in beneath the lip, holding the pin in suspension, as already described.

I have now described the manner of lifting and dropping the pin of one draw-bar, and the mechanism of the other draw-bar is identical with this. I have spoken of the arms J, K, and M and the links J and M as there being one of each; but, as is shown and preferred, there may be two of each, one on each side of the pin-that is, the shaft J has preferably two arms, J", the shaft K preferably two arms, K, and consequently there would be two links, K, connecting these arms, one for each pair. The same is true of the arms M and links it It frequently happens that one draw-bar, or the draw-bar of one car, is at alower elevation than the draw-bar of the car to which it is to be coupled. To meet such cases I have provided astirrup or U-shaped frame, fitting and working in a groove, N, in the draw-bar, to lift the coupling-link. This frame or stirrup is placed within and back some distance from the mouth of the draw-bars, so that it is not liable to be struck or injured by the heads of the draw-bars when they come together, and it may be raised from the position shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 4 to the position shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 5. It is thus raised by means of a shaft, D, journaled in the sides of the housing B, to which are secured arms 0, connected by links 0 to the respective ends of the stirrup N.

The shaft 0 is provided with an extension, 0 which extends to the side of the car, and which, like the extension M of the shaft M, may be provided with a crank or segment, 0', to which is secured a cord, 0, extending to the top of the car, and by which the rock-shaft O can be turned to lift the link from the side or top of the car. Vhen thelink is thus raised, it is supported in it's raised position at any desired height by means of one or more catches or projections, P, on the outer face of the arms J with which engages a rod or bar, N, that connects the upper ends of the U-shaped bar N. (See left-hand side of Fig. 5.) The rod N maybe caused to engage either of the projections P, so that the link 0 may be held at the desired elevation. On the left-hand side of Fig. 5 the upper projection, P, is shown in engagement with the rod N, so that the link 0 is held at its highest elevation. The lower faces of the projections P are made rounding, so that when the link is raised the bar N, coming against the bottoms of these projections, will cause the lower ends of the arms J z to swing inward, allowing the bar N to pass, and the arms will then swing back bygravity, causing the projectiOnS l? to engage beneath the rod N.

ICC

\Vhen the heads of the draw-bars come to- I get-her in coupling the cars, the U shaped yoke will be moved from the position shown in full lines on the left-hand side of Fig. 5 to the position shown in dotted lines, thus releasing the stirrup N and allowing ..it to drop to its lower or normal position, so that the throat of the draw-bar is left clear and not obstructed by the stirrup while the cars are in motion or the next time the cars are to be coupled. In connecting two cars (Where the draw-bars are at a different elevation) the link would first trip the device supporting the pin D, as shown on the right-hand side of Fig.5, and then, be-

ing prevented from moving farther inward into the head of that draw-bar by the contracted throat D, it would be forced back into the throat ofthe other drawbar, operating that, as shown by dotted lines on the left-hand side of Fig. 5, thereby releasing the stirrup.

Although on the right-hand side of Fig. 5 the dog J is shown as disengaged from the projection or lip I, yet the pin is shown in its raised or upper position, to better convey the idea intended to be illustrated in this figure. In practice, of course, the pin would drop as soon as the dog J is disengaged from the lip I.

I claim as my invention- I In a car-coupling, the combination of the pin, collar engaging the pin, rock-shaft, connection between the rock-shaft and collar, and means for supporting the pin, the Whole being constructed substantially as described, whereby when the pin is raised the collar may return to its normal position, leaving the pin suspended, substantially as set forth.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination of the pin, collar engaging the pin, rockshaft, arms on the rock-shaft, links connecting the arms to the collar, and means for sustaining the pin, the whole being constructed substantially as described, whereby when the pin has been raised the collar may return to its normal po sition, leaving the pin suspended, substantially as set forth.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination of the pin, collar engaging the pin, rock-shaft, connection between the rock-shaft and collar, extension on the pin, lip or projection on the extension, and a dog for engaging the lip, the whole being arranged substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a car-coupling, the combination of the pin having an extension provided with a lip or projection, collar engaging the pin, links secured to the collar, rock-shaft, arms on the rock-shaft to which said links are secured, and a dog for engaging the projection on the extension of the pin, the whole being arranged substantially as described, whereby the dog supports the pin after the collar has returned to its normal forth.

' 5. In a car-coupling, the combination of the vpin, collar surrounding the pin, rock-shaft, connection between the collar and rock-shaft, extension-on the pin, lip or projection on the extension, dog for engaging the lip, rock-shaft to which the dog is secured, arms on the rockshaft, links connecting the arms to arms secured to asecond rock shaft, cam on last-mentioned rock shaft, and pivoted lever engaging said cam, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a car coupling, in combination with the coupling link, pin having an extension provided with a lip, and mechanism for elevating the pin, constructed to return to its normal position while the pin remains elevated, a dog for engaging the lip on the extension of the pin, and mechanism through which the dog is operated by said link, substantially as set forth.

7. In a car-coupling, in combination with the pin having an extension provided with a lip and mechanism for raising the pin, a dog for engaging the lip on the extension of the pin, rock-shaft to which said dog is secured, arms secured to the rockshaft, a sec ond rock-shaft provided with arms, links connecting said arms, cam on last-mentioned rockshaft, and pivoted lever engaging said cam, and acting in conjunction with the couplinglink to release the pin and allow it to fall into using position, substantially as set forth.

8. In a carconpling, in combination with the pin provided with an extension having a lip and a dog for engaging the lip and holdingthe pin in an elevated position, rock-shaft position, substantially as set to which the dog is secured, arms on the rock shaft, projections 011 said arms, a stirrup or on said stirrup for engaging the projections on the arms, and means for disengaging the projections from the cross-bar on the stirrup, consisting of a pivoted lever, cam, rock-shaft to which the cam is secured, and'connection between the rock-shaft and arms having the projections, substantially as set forth.

9. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-pin and coupling-link, the stirrup encircling the coupling-link and provided with a cross-bar on top, links connected to the stirrup, arms connected to the upper ends of the stirruplinks, rock-shaft to which the arms are secured,and by which they are operated to elevate the coupling-link, and a draw-bar provided with a groove, in which said stirrup fits and works, substantially as set forth.

10. In a carcoupling, in combination with a draw-bar having a groove in its throat, a coupling-pin and coupling-link, the stirrup fitting in the groove of the draw-bar encircling the coupling-link, and located entirely within the throat of the draw-bar a distance back from the face of the draw-head, and mechanism for operating the stirrup to elevate the coupling-link, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

11. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-link and coupling-pin, a stirrup encircling the coupling-link, provided with a cross-bar at top, links secured to the stirrup, arms secured to the upper end of the stirruplinks, rockshaft to which the armsare secured, and by which they are operated to lift the stirrup, swinging arms provided with projections to engage the stirrup, rock-shaft to which the arms are connected, cam on the rock-shaft, and pivoted lever bearing against the cam, and which is operated by the coupling-link to release the stirrup and allow it to descend to its normal position, substantially as set forth.

12. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-pin, mechanism, substantially as described, for elevating the pin, and a housing secured to or formed upon the draw-bar for inclosing said mechanism, and in the sides of which the rock-shafts of said mechanism are journaled, substantially as and for the purpose Set forth.

13. I11 a car-coupliug, in combination with the coupling-pin and coupling-link, mechanism, substantially as described, for lifting and releasing the pin, mechanism, substantially as described, for raising the link, and the housing secured to or formed upon the draw-bar for inclosing said mechanism, and in the sides of which the rock-shafts of said lifting and releasing mechanism arejournaled, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

14. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-pin, mechanism, substantially as described, for lifting the pin, mechanism, substantially as described, for releasing the pin automatically by the entrance of the link, mechanism, substantially as described, for lifting the coupling-link, mechanism, substantially as described, for releasing said link-lifting mech anism automatically by the entrance of the link, and draw-bars having contracted throats acting to prevent the link from entering the draw-bars too far, for the reasons specified.

15. In a car coupling, in combination with the coupling, mechanism, substantially as described, for lifting the pin and then automatically returning to its original position, mechanism for lifting the coupling-link, substantiall y as described, and placed within the drawbars and housing, both sets of mechanism placed as described and capable of acting automatically, separately or together, and all returning automatically to their normal position as soon as used, snbstantiall y as described.

GEO. H. KNIGHT, J OE WAIILE.

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