US453030A - Sigismunp b - Google Patents

Description

(N Model.)

" S. B. WORTMANN.

DEVICE POR UNGOUPLING GARS.'

Patented May .26, 1891.

rms paens co., maremma., wAsmNGToN, u. c.

V UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

SIGISMUND B. VORTMANN, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

DEVICE FOR UNCOUPLING CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0.453,030, dated May 26, 1891.

Application fled April 8 1891.

Serial No. 388,100. (No modell) .To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, SIGIsMUND B. WORT- MANN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Uncoupling Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the artl to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to improve.

ments in devices for lifting or uncoupling the pin of a railway-car coupling: and the object of the invention is to provide simple means for easily and safely lifting the pin from the top or side of a car to uncouplewithout requiring the attendant or brakeman to pass between the cars.

With these and other ends in view my invention consists iny the combination, with a drawhead and a car-axle, of ashaft suitably supported below the car-body, a loose gear carried by said shaft and normally geared to said axle, a clutch keyed to the shaft and adapted to fasten the loose gear rigidly to said shaft, an operating-lever carryinga shoe adapted to be lifted by a cam or projection on the shaft, and a pin-liftinglever connected to the operating-lever and engaging with the pin of the draw-head to lift the latter from engagement with the link.

My invention further consists in the co1n bination of devices and novel construction of parts hereinafter pointed out and claimed.

To enable others to more readily understand myinvention, I have illustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, in which-n Figure l is a longitudinal section through an ordinary car-body, truck, and frame, with my improvements in side elevation, the section being taken on the vertical plane indicated by the dotted line l l of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improvements with portions of the car body and truck broken away or omitted to more clearly show the operating mechanisms.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in both figures of the drawings, referring to Which-m l A designates a portion of an ordinary carbody and platform 5 B, a port-ion of the front or rear truck; C, one of the axles of the car suitably journaled in the truck, and D the wheel or wheels carried by the axle. At the end of the car, beneath the platform, is the usual draw-head I, which carries the gravitypin h and is adapted to receive the link 7b2. All of these parts are of the ordinary or any preferred construction familiar to those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates; and I do not restrict myself to this particular form :of car and draw-head coupling, but hold myself at liberty to apply the improvements to any kind of car and dra`w-head which may be deemed expedient or desirable. i

In carrying my invention into practice I provide a shaft E, which is journaled in suitable bearings on the truck B, and this shaft carries a loose gear-wheel f, a cam g, and a sliding clutch F, which parts are suitably spaced or arranged between the clutch F and the cam or projection g.

On the axle O, I provide a gear wheel or pinion e, which is rigidly fastened or secured to the axle, and with this pinion or gear e` meshes the loose gear-wheel f, which is normally rotated or lturned by the gear-pinion e; but the shaft E is not rotated by the gears e f until the latter gear f is engaged with the clutch F. The loose gear-Wheel f is provided with a serrated or toothed hub f3, which projects laterally from the same toward the clutch F, and the latter (the clutch) is likewise provided with serrations or teeth, which adapt the clutch to be engaged with the loose gear. The clutch F is rigid with or fastened to the shaft E by a key, spline, or feather, audit is further provided with au annular groove,` in which groove fits the bifurcation or forked lower end of a lever f', which projects above the platform, or it may extend above the platform to the roof of a car, or it may extend to one side of the car, as may be preferred, to enable the attendant to operate the clutch either from the top of the c ar, the platform, or the side of the car, and thus obviate the danger of passing between the cars to lift the pin h by hand.

On the draw-head or coupling I is pivoted a pin-lifting lever IL'Which is peculiarly constructed to engage with the pin h', and this lever H is operated from the cam g through IOO the medium of the'operating-lever G, the le vers G H extending from the truck B to the draw-head. The lever' G is fulcrumed at an intermediate point 0f its length to the truckframe, as indicated at g, and the rear end of this lever G carries a shoe arranged in the path of the cam or projection g on the shaft E, the shoe being preferably arranged above the projection or cam, as shown in'Fig. l.

The pin-lifting lever is bifurcated. or composed of two parts, so as to embrace or straddle the draw-head at 'ir The forward end of the pin-lifting lever is bent upward. and inward to form the pin-supports h, which take beneath va shoulder or head on the gravitypin la The rear end of the lever Il is connected to the forward end of the operatinglever G byv a pin-andf-slot connection g2. (See Fig. i.)

This-being-the construction of my'improved pin-lifting device for car-couplers,the operation is asfollows: The loose gear-wheelf beingfreefrom engagement with the clutch- F, it turns freely on the shaft E by' reason of its engagement with therigid spur-wheel e on the axle but tlie'sh'aft F doesnotturn. Hence the earn? or projection g remains out of contact with the shoe on the'operating-lever G, and the pin h is lowered to engage' the link- 'tte'd in the draw-head. Tolift the pin h and thus unc'ouple the cars, the attendant has only to shift or'i'nove the lever f', which operates to throw the clutch F into engagement with the loose gear-Wheel, thus making the gear f rigid with the shaft E andv causing the latter to be rotated by motion imparted lthereto direct from the axle C. As the shaft El is turned,` the canil or projection g strikes the shoe of the'le'ver G, which has its front end depressed andl operates upon the lever ll to lift the forward end of said lever H, thus raising the pin-support h and elevating the pin h out of engagement with the link in the draw-head. The op'erator'ean shift the lever at the desired moment to' lift the pin and is enabled to encon-ple the cars with entire safety, as he is not compelled to go between the cars.

Changes in the forni and proportion of parts anddetailsof construction of the mechanism herein shown and described as an embo'dimentof myinvention-can be madewithout departing from the principle or sacrificin g the advantagesv thereof, and l therefore reserve the right to make such modification as falls within the scope of my invention.

described my invention, and desire to secure by Having thus fully what l claim as new, Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a draw-head and an axle, of a shaft having a loose gear-wheel geared to said axle, a clutch carried 'by said shaft and adapted to engage the gear-wheel, a. pin-lifting device, and mechanism operated 1 by thev shaft to operate the pin-lifting device,

substantially as described.

2. The combination, With a draw-.head and an axle, of a shaft carrying a1 cam-or projection, a pin-lifting lever, and an operating-lever adapted to be operated by the cam or projection to lift the pin-support, substantially as described'.

3. The combination, with a drawlhead-of a pivoted pin-support engaging the pin insaid' draW-head,a` shafthaving aca-mor projection thereon, and a lever connected to thepinsupport and arrangedfwithiln thepa'thlof said cam or projection,substantially asdes'eribed.

4. The combinationf,with a' drawlhead, of a pivotedv pin-support fitted? to the pin,a sh1aft having a cam, a lever connected to the pi-nsupport and adapted to be operated by thel cam, and mechanism for clutchingthe shaft .tol one of rthe axles'of the ear,s'ubstantiallyas described.

5. The combinationgiwitha draw-head, of a 8 piv'oted pin-support fitted to the pi1n'a} shaft having a cam, a lever connected to' the pinsupport and having a shoe arranged in the path of the canna gear-wheel loose on the shaft and geared to an axle, and a clutch', also carried by the shaft, substantially as de"- s'cribed. y

6. Thecombina'tion, with a draw-head,of a pin-lifting lever H, pivotedto the draw-head and having the supports h engaginrgwith the pin,- a shaft having the cam or proj'ectiomthe lever G, connected to thek lever H and having a shoe in the path of the cam, a geare, rigid with an axle, another gear loosely fitted on the shaft to mesh with the gear e and'having roo the serrated hub, and the ciu-tch keyed to the shaft and adapted to be shifted by a. handlever to engage the loose gear' on said shaft, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 105 presence of two witnesses.

SIGISMUND B.

ll/'itnessesz` i HENRY E. COOPER, H. I. BERNHARD;

VOR'FMANN.

Images