US426317A - Coupling for electric cars - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

L. PPINGST. GOUPLING PoR ELECTRIC GARS.

PatentedApn 22, 1890.

No. 426,317,l

(No Model.)

, 2 SheetsSheet 2. l L. PFINGST.v GOUPLING POR ELECTRIC: GARS.

No. 426,317. Patented Apr. 22, 1890.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS PFIN GST, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

COUP L|NG FOR ELECTRIC CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,317', dated April 22, 1890. Application filed February27, 1890. Serial l\To.3ll1,94'7x (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it'known that I, LOUIS PFINGST, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusets, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Couplings for Electric Cars, of which the following is a description suflicientlyfull, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 isa bottom plan view of two cars, showing my improvement in use 5 Fig. 2, atop plan view of the link; Fig. 3, a sectional elevation showing details of construction, and Fig. 4 a front elevation of the hanger. v

Like letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates especially to couplings tor electric street-railway cars, the object be- 1n g to overcome lost motion usual in couplings of this class and jar on the tow-cars incidental to stopping and. starting the train.

The nature and operation of the improvement will be readily understood by all con versant with such matters from the following explanation.

In the drawings, A B represent the cars of a train provided with my improved coupler. The parallel braces l) d arev secured centrally and longitudinally on the bottoms of the cars. On the body of the car above the ends of these braces a metallic buffer D is secured, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Pendent from the ends of the braces and secured thereto by bolts and nuts f there is a metallic loop or hanger O, having a horizontal bottom g.

Secured to the bottom of the carbodies between the trucks and braces l) d there are metallic spring-boxes 71,. These boxes are open on their bottoms at t' and at j in their rear ends. (See Fig. 3.)

The draw-bar H is fitted to slide longitudinally through said boxes and is provided with a horizontallyslotted head 7c, after the mann ner of the ordinary link-and-pin drawbar. A rectangular plate m (see Fig. 3) is disposed loosely on the draw-bar, and is fitted to slide in the box 7L. Shoulders p on said bar engage the plate and force it inward in the box on the rearward movement of said bar. A similar plate q is loosely disposed on the drawbar at the opposite end of the box, said plate engaging a vertical shoulder or iiange r on the box bottom near the openingj. Secured on the draw-bar between the plate Q( and the inner end t of the box there isa block or ring o. A stiff coiled spring J is disposed around the draw-bar within the box 7L, the ends of said spring being secured on studs w a: on the plates m g, respectively.

A horizontally arranged supplemental draw-bar K rests centrally on the bottom g of the hanger C, and has one end secured in the head la of the draw-bar H by means of a pin 15, said pin being secured therein by a key or pin 16.

The linkP consists of a box, rectangular in cross-section, provided with a horizontal chamn ber 17, extending inward from each end and adapted to receive the free end of the bar K. Each end of the link is provided With a ver tical pin-opening extending across said chambers and adapted to receive coupling-pins 1S. An eye 19 is formed on the link, and chains 2O connect each pin with said eye.

, The supplemental draw-bars K have pinopenings in their outer or free ends adapted to register with the corresponding openings in the link. c

In the use of my improvement the link is secured by a pin 1S to the draw-bar l of the motor-car. The draw-bars of the train-cars being sustained in the same horizontal plane by the hanger C when the motor-car is backed against said train-cars to shackle them, the train-car draw-bar may readily be directed into the open end of the link and secured by a pin 18. The shock resultant from the coupling of the cars is cushioned by the spring J. The plate on, met by shoulders p p on the drawbar H, is driven into the box t and said spring compressedA The pinsl and 1S having no play in the pin-holes of the drawbars or link when the train is started the bar H is drawn outward through the box,\its block o engaging the plate q, compressing the spring and relieving the check on the tow-cars. By the use of my improvement the momentum of the towcar,

IOO

which ordinarily tends to drive it forcibly against the motor-car in stopping, is sufficient to overcome jarring.

By means of the supplemental dr( W-bar pivoted at its inner end to the main bar II by pin 15, sufficient lateral movement is allowed to permit the cars to readily pass around curves in the track.

The coupling proper as thus arranged on each car hasno longitudinal play independent from that on the adjacent car, and such joint movement is cushioned on the spring J.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim is l. In a car-coupler, a spring-cushioned draw-bar, a supplemental draw-bar pivoted to swinglaterally thereon, a link comprising a rectangular box chambered to receive an end of said supplemental bar, and a pin for securing it thereto, substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupler, a spring-box secured to the car-body, a main draw-bar fitted to slide in said boX,a springfor cushioning said bar, a supplemental draw-bar pivoted to said main bar, and a link comprising` a box chambered to receive an end of said supplemental bar adapted to be secured therein by a coupling-pin, substantially as described.

3. In a car-coupling, a link comprising a bar chambered longitudinally at each end to receive a draw-bar and provided With openings for coupling-pins, substantially as described.

4. In a car-coupling, the link I), provided with chambers 17,11'01 receiving a draw-bar,

and openings extendingv across said cham-l bers for the couplingepins, substantially as set fort-h.

5. In a car-coupling, the combination of a box secured to the car-body, a spring-cushioned main draw-bar sliding longitudinally therein, a supplemental draw-bar detachably pivoted to the head of said main bar, a hanger on the car provided with a horizontal bottoni for supporting said supplemental bar, and a link chambered to receive the outer end of said barmand provided with openings for acoupling-pin whereby it may be secured therein, substantially as described.

G. In a car-coupler, the combination of a spring-cushioned draw-bar sliding longitudinally on the oar-body, with a supplemental draw-bar pivoted thereto, and supported by a hanger on the car, a link comprising a boX or bar chambered to receive an end of said supplemental bar, and coupling-pins for detachably securing said bar therein, the pinopenings being arranged to prevent longitudinal play of the link and bar, substantially as described.

7. In a car-coupling, the spring-cushioned bar I-I, provided with thehead k, in combination with the bar K, secured thereto by the pin I5, the hanger C, the link P, chambered at 17, and the pins 1S, arranged to operate substantially as described.

LOUIS PFINGST.

Witnesses:

O. M. SHAW, K. DURFEE.

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