US409109A

US409109A - John lofttjs

Info

Publication number: US409109A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1889-08-13
Anticipated expiration: 1906-08-13

Description

(No Model.)

J.LOFTUS. I DETAOHABLE COUPLER FOR CONNECTING SUPPLY PIPES 0F STEAM HEATING APPARATUS PORRAILWAY CARS. No. 409,109. Patented Aug. 13, 1889.7

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MAAANKA N. PETERS, Phoio-Uthognphan Wauhingtqn. 'n, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN LOFTUS, OF ALBANY, NEl/V YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EZRA W. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

DETACHABLE COUPLER FOR CONNECTING SUPPLY-PIPES OF STEAM-HEATING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY- CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 409,109, dated August 13, 1889.

Application filed February 15, 1889- Serial No. 299,986. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN LOFTUs, of the city and county of Albany, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful 5 Improvements in Detachable Couplers for Connecting Supply-Pipes of Steam-Heating Apparatus for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in I couplers for connecting the steam-supply pipes 0t several cars when connected together to form a train, so that steam can be conveyed from the head to therear of the train and supplied to the steam-radiators of each I car in the train; and the object of my improvement is to provide a coupler that will be sufliciently flexible to yield to the swaying movement of the cars and readily separable manually in detaching the cars from each other when standing quiescently and automatically when the train is broken apart accidentally. This object I attain by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are herein referred to and form 5 part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a plan View of a pair of my couplers connected together. Fig. 2 isahorizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevation of one of my couplers.

3 Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of one of my couplers, a portion of the spring-cylinder being removed for the purpose of exposing the contained parts; and Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a pair of the packing-seats of the con- 3 5 joining ends of my couplers.

As represented in the drawings, A is the steam-supply pipe by which the cars are supplied with steam for the radiators of their steam-heating systems, and in said drawings Figs. 1 and 2 show the conjoining ends of the steam-supply pipe of two connected cars. Each of said pipes is provided with an enlarging fixture 1, which is adapted to screw onto the end of the steam-supply pipe A.

B is a cylinder thatis secured tothe fixture 1, and forms a prolongation of the steamsupply pipeA at each end of a car. Said cylinder contains a sliding joint O,which has on its inner end a spherical enlargement 2,

whose diameter fits easily into the bore of said cylinder. A sleeve 3, whose cup-shaped flange 4 fits the convex surface of the spherical enlargement of the sliding joint 0, permits the outer end of the latter to swing laterally in any direction in the manner of a ball-and-socket joint. Packing 5, preferably of fibrous material, is inserted in the annular space formed between the bore of the cylinder B and the outer surface of the sleeve 3, said packing being used for the purpose of obtaining a steam-tight joint for the sliding joint 0 inside of the cylinder B. An annular gland 6 is fitted to bear upon said packing, and is held in contact therewith by means of a spring 7, which exerts its pressure thereon. Said spring, when the couplers are connected together, is compressed, as shown in Fig. 2; but when the couplers are separated, as shown in Fig. 4, said spring expands to force the sliding joint C outwardly toward 7o theopen end of the cylinder B, and at the same time maintains its pressure against the gland 6 at every point of the movement of the sliding joint 0.

D is a joint-packing seat or section of a coupler, which is secured to the outer end of the sliding joint 0, and is adapted to engage with a like part of a sliding joint of the steamsupply pipe of a conjoinin g car; and it should be understood that an entire coupler is formed by two such sections which are adapted to be clamped together to form a steam-tight joint at the conjoining ends of the steamsupply pipes of two cars when the latter are connected together in the formation of a train.

In the outer face of each of said packinghaving on its rearmost face a point 10, formed. by the junction of an inner concave line and an outer convexline. l)iametrically opposite to said catch-piece an eye 11 is formed, and in said eyean eyebolt or joint-piece 12 is fitted to receive a slight sliding movement against the resistance of a coiled spring 113, which normally holds the head of said joint-piece closed upon the outer face of the eye 1]. Iivoted to said eyebolt, as at 14, is a belLcrank handle 15, which is bifurcated to pass over the catch-piece 9, and at the bend of said handle a friction-roller 10 is journaled, said roller being fitted to roll over the convex surface of the catch-piece 9, the spring 13 yielding for that purpose, and, after passing the point 10, engaging in the concave under said point to lock that side of the coupler.

E is a check-chain, one end of which is attached to the handle 15, so that its point of attachment will lie outside of the pivot 1i, and the opposite end is secured to the cylinder B of the same coupler, or to some ad jacent st-ationary part of the steam-supply pipe or of the car to which said coupler is attached. Said checlechain is provided for the purpose of automatically releasing the handle 15 from its engagement with a catch-piece of a coupler connected thereto whenever any accidental separation of the cars of the train may occur; and to effect that purpose said check-chain should be of such length that it will prevent the spherical enlargement 2 from being drawn out of the cylinder 13. The handle 15can be Operated by hand when the cars are to be uncoupled in the usual manner, and when the cars are separated, either by accident or design, the spring 7 will push the sliding joint 0 outwardly as far as the check-chain E will permit it to go, and just before that limit is reached said chain will cause the outer end of the sliding joint C to swing sidewise, so that the body of the latter will engage in a notch 18, formed in one side of the outer end of the cylinder l3, and by said notch the sliding joint 0 will be held from falling down below its required horizontal position.

Each packing-seat D is provided with guide lugs 17, which are diametrically opposite each other, and which will guide two conjoining packingseats in such manner that the handle of one will be in position to engage with the catch-piece of the other.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Two conjoining cars of a train, which are connected together by car-couplings in the ordinary manner, and whose steam-supply pipes are connected together by my coupling device, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, become separated by any accident that is liable to occur, and thereby an unusual and excessive strain is thrown on the coupling device of said steam-supply pipe, beyond the strain it is designed to withstand, and by this strain the two parts of the coupler are drawn apart, the two sliding joints 0 being drawn outwardly in their respective cylinders 1; until their respective check-chains E draw back the handles 15 from their engagement with the catch-pieces 9 of the other part of the coupling, and thereby the two couplers are left entirely free and separated, and the car remainingin the part ofthetrain to which the motive power remains attached is free to move forward without; the other. In accomplishing this separation the two sliding joints 0 are moved outwardly in their respective cylinders 1-3, first, by the strain that eitects the separation, and, second, by the springs 7, until the outward movement of said sliding joint is terminated by the Cl1OGk-Olltll1SE. In effecting a separation of my couplers designedly, the relcasement of the handles 15 from the catch-pieces is effected by hand be fore a separation of the cars is attempted. Then, as the two cars are moved apart, the springs '7 force the sliding joints 0 outwardly in the manner above described. To recouplc my device, the two cars are moved together to fasten them together, and simultaneously therewith the outer ends of the two sliding joints (J are moved into correspondence, so that when the cars have attained a position to permit the car-couplings to secure them together, said sliding joints will be forced inwardly, thereby compressing the springs 7, leaving the handles 15 in position to be readily engaged with the catch-pieces t).

13y reason of the spherical enlargement of the sliding joints 0, ample provision is made for permitting the ordinary variations of the movements of the different cars, as when passing around curves, inequalities of the roadbed, or from other causes.

I claim as my invention- 1. A coupler for connecting steam-pipes of railway-cars, consisting of an openended cylinder that is connected to said steam-pipe andcontains a sliding joint provided with a spherical enlargement fitted to slide in the bore of said cylinder, a sleeve provided with a cup-shaped flange, which tits upon the convex surface of said spherical enlargement, a packing contained in the annular space formed by said sleeve and the bore of said cylinder, a packinggland fitted to slide free] y in said cylinder and to bear upon said packin g, a spring bearing upon said gland forthe purpose of compressing said packing and to force said sliding joint outwardly in said cylinder,a packin seat secured to the outer end of said sliding joint and provided with a locking device, whereby a pair of said couplers can be mutually secured together, as and for the purpose herein specified.

2. In a detachable coupler for connecting the steain-heating pipes of railway-cars, the combination of an open-ended stationary cylinder that is connected to the steam-supply pipe and has a notch formed in the side of its open end, a sliding joint provided with a spherical enlargement which is titted to slide in said cylinder and has at its outer end a lever-locking device which is connected by ITO check-chain to a stationary part of the pipes or car, a sleeve provided with a cup-shaped seat, which is fitted to receive the spherical enlargement of the sliding joint, a packinggland fitted'to compress the packing in the annular space between said sleeve and the bore of the stationary cylinder, and a spring which bears upon said gland to force the sliding joint outwardly, said check-chain being arranged to produce a disengagement of said to locking device and to deflect said sliding joint laterally into the notch of the stationary cylinder, as and for the purpose herein specified.

JOHN LOFTUS.

WVitnesses:

WM. H. Low, S. B. BREWER.