US517967A - Car-coupling - Google Patents

Description

ITZER, GAR OUPLING,

. Mod

No. 517,967. Patented Apr. 10, 18,94.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC GEORGE SWITZER, OF LODI, OHIO.

CAR-COUPLING. I.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,967,dated April 10, 1894.

$erial No. 479,480. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE SWITZER, a citi zen of the United States, residing at Lodi,'in the county of Medina and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to 1ink-and-pin car couplers, and the invention consists in certain improvements of construction hereinafter fully set forth whereby the proper automatic coupling of the cars is facilitated.

The improvements reside, first, in the means for holding and adjusting the coupling-link to enable it to enter coupling-heads of varying heights, second, in the means for holding the coupling-pin in its elevated position before coupling and permitting it to drop to engage the link when the drawheads come together, and third, in means for preventing the coupling-pin from being jolted out of engagement with the link.

The drawings illustrate the drawheads of adjacent cars with the improvements applied thereto.

Figure 1, is 'a central longitudinal vertical section of the two adjacent coupling-heads with the coupling mechanism in position to automatically couple the cars when the drawheads come together. Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the coupling-head supporting the link. Fig. 3, is a front view of the coupling head with the coupling-pin ready to engage with the link. Fig. 4, is ahorizontal section of the coupling-head in the plane indicated by the dotted line 4-4 in Fig. 2. Fig. 5, is a vertical transverse section on the line 5-5 in Fig. 4, showing a detail of construction.

Each drawhead A, is formed with a longitudinal cavitya. cextending inward from the front face of the coupling-head, a vertical pinhole 1) near the front of the coupling-head, and

an oblique slot dbelow thelongitudinal cavity. The forward flaring portion a of the longitudinal cavity constitutes the usual opening into which the coupling-link A enters to engage with the coupling-pin, said opening being continued back into the draw-head to form the cylindrical bore 0 within which fits and slides a cylindrical bar or bolt 0 for holding the coupling-pin in an elevated position preparatory to coupling the cars. The vertical hole b is the usual pin-hole intersecting the cavity a and accommodating the coupling-pin B. part of the coupling-head below the link cavity a and forms a guide for the sliding linkset D hereinafter more particularly described. The bar or bolt 0 within the continuation c of the link cavity a, is designed to be moved forward when it is desired to elevate one of the coupling-pins of approaching cars preparatory to coupling, the pin being first raised and the bolt 0 then advanced so that its front end projects across the pin-hole b and supports the pin in its raised position. The bolt is of cylindrical form sliding freely within its cylindricalcavity c, this form of bar making the movementmore smooth and easy.

An operating stud s is formed on the side of the bolt 0, and extends into a bayonet groove or slot 25 cut in the side of the coupling-head. The bolt is moved out manually (by manipulation of the stud s) to support the coupling-pin, and then when the cars come together thebolt is automatically pushed back and is locked by the stud s entering the downwardly-projecting portion of the slot t (see Fig; 2). The stud 8 should project but little (if any) outside of the slot so as not to protrude objeotionably, and in order to give at the same time sufficient space for the fingers to manipulate the stud the lower margin of the longitudinal portion of the slot is beveled or cut away obliquely as indicated in the drawings at 25' (Figs. 2 and 5). If preferred, the manual operation of bolt 0 may be dispensed with and the bolt rendered completely automatic in its action by omitting the stud s and slot 25 and putting a coiled spring behind the bolt, as has been heretofore done in this class of car-couplers, so that when the couppling-pin is raised the bolt will be automatically projected by the spring and the pin held elevated until the bolt is pushed back by the link of the approaching car. Y

The link-set D consists of the stem D which extends through the slot d, and the link-sup- The oblique slot 01 traverses the lower porting plate D carried at the upper forward end of said stem. The slot (1 extends obliquely through the lower portion of the coupling-head, being intersected by the pin-hole b, and the forward end of the slot (1 is just below the link cavity a. While the plate D of the link-setremains in its most inward position against the front of the coupling-head, it does not affect the position of the couplinglink; but when the link-set is moved forward, the plate D stands below and supports the projecting end of the coupling-link A, and the coupling-link can be set at any desired angle (according as may be required by the height of the coupling-head of the other car) by adjusting the position of the link-set. Guided by the stem D and the slot cl, the link-supporting plate D will be raised higher and higher the farther forward it is moved.

To prevent the link-set from being pulled entirely out of its slot cl, the stem Dis longitudinally slotted as shown (Figs.1,and 3), and the lower end of the coupling-pin B extending down through the pin-hole b stands within the slot of stem D, as shown at the left in Fig. 1, so that the link-set can be drawn forward only until the rear end of the slot of stem D encounters the point of the coupling-pin B. Since the link-set is only drawn out when the coupling-head carries a link, the coupling-pin B of that coupling-head is never raised while the link-set is being manipulated, and so the.

coupling-pin is always in position to prevent the accidental removal of the link-set. But when the coupling-head is not carrying a link and the coupling-pin is elevated, as at the right of Fig. 1, there is no occasion to manipulate the link-set of that coupling-h sad at all, and the link-set in that case is not retained by the coupling-pin but is retained within its inclined slot cl by gravity merely. In any case, if it is desired to remove the link-set it is only necessary to raise the point of the coupling-pin out of engagement with the slotted stem D. The front of the coupling-head is recessed below the cavity a and around the forward end of slot d, as indicated at 00, Figs. 1 and 4, so as to accommodate the link-supporting plate D when the link-set is pushed in to its inward position. When the link-set is so pushed in, the plate D occupies the recess a: and so does not project at all beyond the face of the coupling-head but is flush therewith forming practically a part of the front of the coupling-head. The top edge of plate D is concave and forms the lower margin of the orifice of link cavity a, as best shown in Fig. 3. This concavity of the upper supporting edge of the plate D not only makes the plate conform to the contour of the coupling-head when the link-set is pushed in but also better adapts the plate to support the link when the link-set is in use.

The means provided for holding the coupling-pin after it has dropped into engagement with the link consists of a retaining projection formed on the top of the coupling head with which the pin automatically engages when itfalls and which prevents the pin from being accidentally jolted out but at the same time permits the ready disengagement of the pin when it is desired to raise the same to nncouple the cars. l

The construction is as followsz-Upon the top of the coupling-head near the pin-hole b is formed an overhanging lug or catch-plate m, which is rigidly attached to the couplinghead and is preferably cast integral therewith. As illustrateththe lug m is located directl y in front of the pin-hole and nearly overhangs the front margin of the hole. Opposite to the lug m and adjacent to the opposite margin of the hole I), is an incline 0 which slopes backward and upward from the pinhole. The coupling-pin B is formed with an annular flange a near its upper end extending horizontally, and this flange, co-operating with the lug m and incline 0, effects the auto matic securing of the pin. When the pin falls, one edge of the flange n slides down the incline o and thus guides the opposite edge of the flange under the overhanging lug or catch-plate m. The pin-hole b is of such diameter as to give a slight lateral play to the coupling-pin,and this permits the flange n of the pin to be guided laterally into the recess beneath lug m. The lug m overhanging the flange n of the pin prevents the Vertical displacement of the pin by any jolting or jarring of the cars, but when it is desired to lift the pin the lug m constitutes no 0bstruction because the pin need only be moved slightly toward the incline 0 thus freeing flange n from lug m and allowing the pin to be raised.

Before coupling, the two adjacent couplers are arranged as shown in Fig. 1,0f the drawings, the link A of one coupler being held at the proper height by the link-set D, and the pin B, of the other coupler being held elevated by the pin-holding bolt 0. When the two cars come together, the link A- enters the link cavity a of the other coupler, pressing back the bolt 0 and letting the coupling-pin B drop into engagement with the link, and at the same time the link-set D which was supporting the link A is pushed in by the impact of the opposing coupling-head. The entire operation of coupling is thus automatic, and the couplingpin also engages automatically with its retaining catch-plate m, as j nst described. To uncouple, the coupling-pin B is merely raised, and is held elevated if desired by the sliding bolt 0.

In preparation for coupling, the co-operating link and pin of the approaching cars are 1. The coupling-head having the recess 03 below and adjacent to the orifice of the link cavity, in combination with the link-supporting plate D which in its inoperative position occupiessaid recess and which has a concave upper edge constituting in its inoperative position the lower margin of said orifice, substantially as set forth.

2. In a car-coupler, the coupling-pin B and pin-hole b, in combination with the inclined slot (1 intersecting the lower portion of said pin-hole, and the link-set D having slotted stem D adapted to slide in said inclined slot (1, the slot of said stem D' registering with the pin-hole b and embracing the point of the coupling-pin, substantially as set forth.

3. The sliding bolt 0 having operating stud s, in combination with the slot twhich said stud enters having a beveled margin 13, substantially as set forth.

4. In a car-coupler, the coupling-head 0 having pin-hole b, and the coupling-pin B,in

combination with a stationary lug m adjacent Witnesses:

H. E. ALBERT, S. L. DYER.

GEORGE SWITZER.

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