US721891A - Automatic coupling. - Google Patents

Description

Y PATENTED MAR. s, 1902; G. A. HERMANSO'N. AUTOMATIC COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1803.

no 10mm.

Jrw 6x62764311? .1

UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAF A. HERMANSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES MUNTON, OF MAYWOOD, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 721,891, dated March 3, 1903.

Application filed January 3,190 3. Serial No. 137,655. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GUsTAF A. HERMANSON, acitizen of the United States, residing in Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Couplers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to automatic car-couplers for railway-cars of the class commonly known as Master Oar-Builders couplers, and which have a forked draw-head, a pivoted knuckle, and gravity-lock.

The object of my invention is to provide a car-coupler of a simple, efficient, strong, and durable construction in which the lock will be prevented from creeping or jumping upward,in which the lock may be set to couple or uncouple, which will have means for preventing the removal of the look from the draw-head, and in which the lock will be readily raised to uncouple in case the draftrigging of one coupler-should break or accicentally become disengaged from its car, so that the detached coupler may be supported by the lifting lever and chain, and thus prevent its dropping down upon the track.

My invention consists in the means I employ to accomplish this object or resultthat is to say, it consists in the novel construction of parts and devices and in the novel combinations of parts and devices herein shown or described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figures 1, 2, and 3 are central vertical longitudinal sections of a car-coupler embodying myinventiomshowing the parts in different positions. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail side and rear views, respectively, of the lifting-piece; andFigs. 6 and 7 are detail side and rear views, respectively, of the look.

In said drawings, A represents the forked draw-head of a car-coupler having the customary pivot-arm a, guard-arm a, and drawbar a B is the knuckle; O, the pivot-pin; D, the gravity-lock; F, the lifting-piece; H, the lifting-lever, and h the chain connecting the same with the eye of the lifting-piece.

The gravity-lock D, which engages the tail 7) of the knuckle to hold the knuckle closed,

moves up and down in a guideway or passage a of the draw-head and is provided at its upper end with a hook d, which engages a corresponding hook f on the lower end of the lifting piece. The lock D is furnished with a recess or chamber d at its upper end to receive the hook f on the lifting-piece and perwit a limited up-and-down movement of the liftingpiece in respect to the lock. The book f has a strengthening-web f, and the rear wall or web of the lock D at the chamber portion thereof has a slot (1 to receive said Web f when the lifting-piece is in its lowermost position in respect to the lock D, as shown in Fig. 1. The lock D has at its front side a shoulder or offset (i adapted to rest upon the tail of the knuckle, and thus set the lock for uncoupling the couplers, as illustrated in Fig. 2, when the cars subsequently separate. The lock D has at its lower end a shoulder or offset d adapted to rest upon the lower Web or floor a of the draw-head and support the lock in its raised position, and thus set the lock for automatically coupling the couplers when the cars subsequently come together. The lock-set leg 01 of the lock,which has the lockset shoulder 01 is provided at its lower end with a guide finger or extension ad, which fits in the opening a in the lower web of the draw-head and serves as a guide to keep the lock in position When the lock is raised. The hook d at the front side of the upper end of the lock has a rounded shoulder d which engages a shoulder a on the drawhead at the front side of the lock passage-way therein and serves to prevent the look from creeping and accidentally jumping upward when the cars are in motion. readily understood from Fig. l of the drawings. The lifting-piece F has a toe or projection f just above the hook f, which toe or projection f is furnished with a curved or inclined upper face f and which toe or projection by engagement with the rear wall a of the lock passage-way in the draw-head holds the upper end of the lock in its forward position, as shown in Fig. l, and the upper end of the lock or its shoulder d in proper engagement with the shoulder a on the drawhead, so that the lock cannot creep or jump upward when the cars are in motion. To aid This .Will be in this function, the rear wall of the lock passage-way in the draw-head has an incline or projection a and the socket or recess d in the upper end of the lock which receives the hook f of the lifting-piece is shaped to fit somewhat snugly at the lower portion thereof. The toe or projection f on the lifting-piece by engagement with the cross-pin G, which extends through the drawhead at the side of the lock passageway therein, also prevents the lock and lifting-piece from being entirely removed from the draw-head except by first removing this pin. The lifting-piece F is further provided at its upper end with a head j, having a curved flange f to fit over and close the lock passage-way in the draw-head. f is the eye at the upper end of the liftingpiece for connection with the lifting-chain h. The head f at the upper end of the liftingpiece has a curved or inclined lower face 1", and the lifting-piece has a cut-away portion or open space f between the head f and the toe or projection 1, which serves to facilitate the upward movement of the lifting-piece and lock and to prevent the same from binding under strain from the lifting-chain at different angles due to difierent positions of the coupler in respect to the car. The incline a on the rear wall of the draw-head also facilitates the easy upward movement of the lifting-piece, especially under strains from the chain in a forward direction. As the hook d at the upper end of the lock is at the front side thereof or adjacent to the lock-set shoulders d and d when the lock is lifted by the hook on the lifting-piece, it automatically or bygravity tilts forward, asillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, so that the shoulder (1 will properly engage and rest upon the tail of the knuckle if the knuckle is closed, and thus automatically set the lock for uncoupling, or so that the shoulder d will engage the lower web or floor of the draw-head, and thus set the lock in position for coupling if the knuckleis open.

I claim- 1. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head and a pivoted knuckle, of a gravity-lock having a hook at its upper end at the front side thereof, and a lifting-piece having a hook at its lower end engaging the hook on the lock, the draw-head having a shoulder at the front side of the lock passageway therein engaging the upper end of the lock to prevent the lock from creeping or jumping upward, substantially as specified.

2. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head and a pivoted knuckle, of a gravity-lock having a hook at its upper end at the front side thereof, and a lifting-piece having a hook at its lower end engaging the hook on the lock, the draw-head having a shoulder at the front side of the lock passageway therein engaging the upper end of the lock to prevent the look from creeping or jumping upward,'said lock having a socket or recess in its upper end to receive the hook on thelifting-piece, substantiallyas specified.

3. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head and a pivoted knuckle, of a gravity-lock having a hook at its upper end at the front side thereof, and a lifting-piece having a hook at its lower end engaging the hook on the lock, the draw-head having a shoulder at the front side of the lock passageway therein engaging the upper end of the lock to prevent the look from creeping or jumping upward, said lock having a socket or recess in its upper end to receive the hook on the lifting-piece, and said socket or recess in the lock permitting a limited up-and-down movement of the lifting-piece in respect to the lock, substantially as specified.

4. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head and pivoted knuckle, of a lock having at its front side a lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the tail of the knuckle to set the lock for uncoupling and a second lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the lower web or floor of the draw-head to set the lock for coupling, and a lifting-piece connected with the lock at the front side thereof to cause the lock to tilt forward at its lower end when lifted and throw its lock-set shoulders into proper position for engagement, substantially as specified.

5. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head and pivoted knuckle, of a lock having at its front side a lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the tail of the knuckle to set the lock for uncoupling and a second lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the lower web or floor of the draw-head to set the lock for coupling, and a lifting-piece connected with the look at the front side thereof to cause the lock to tilt forward at its lower end when lifted and throw its lock-set shoulders into proper position for engagement, the drawhead having a shoulder engaging the front upper end of the lock to prevent the lock from creeping, substantially as specified.

6. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head and pivoted knuckle, of a lock having at its front side a lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the tail of the knuckle to set the lock for uncoupling and a second lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the lower web or floor of the draw-head to set the lock for coupling, and a lifting-piece connected with the look at the front side thereof to cause the lock to tilt forward at its lower end when lifted, and throw its lock-set shoulders into proper position for engagement, the drawhead having a shoulder engaging the front upper end of the lock to prevent the lock from creeping, said lifting-piece having a toe or projection at its lower end engaging the rear wall of the lock passage-way in the draw-head to hold the upper front end of the lock in engagement with said shoulder on the drawhead, substantially as specified.

7. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head and pivoted knuckle, of a lock having at its front side a lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the tail of the knuckle to set the lock for uncoupling, and a second lock-set shoulder adapted to engage the lower web or floor of the draw-head to set the lock for coupling, a lifting-piece connected with the look at the front side thereof to' cause the lock to tilt forward at its lower end when lifted, and throw its lock-set shoulders into proper position for engagement, the drawhead having a shoulder engaging the front upper end of the lock to prevent the look from creeping, said lifting-piece having a toe or projection at its lower end engaging the rear wall of the lock passage-wayin the draw-head to hold the upper front end of the lock in engagement with said shoulder on the drawhead, and a pin extending across the rear side of the lock passage-way in the draw-head and adapted to engage said toe or projection on the lifting-piece, substantially as specified.

8. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head of a pivoted knuckle, a lock D, having hook d and recess d in its upper end and provided with lock-set shoulders 01 and (Z and a lifting-piece F having hook f at its lower end, substantially as specified.

9. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head, of apivoted knuckle, alock D, having a hook d and recess d in its upper end and provided with lock-set shoulders d and (Z and a lifting-piece Fhaving hook f at its lower end and a toe or projection f above said hook, substantially as specified.

10. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head, of a pivoted knuckle, a lock D, having a hook d and recess (1 in its upper end and provided with lock-set shoulders d and (1 a lifting-piece F having hook fat its lower end and a toe or projection f above said hook furnished with a curved or inclined upper face,substantially as specified.

11. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head, of a pivoted knuckle, a lock D, having hook d and recess (1 in its upper end and provided with lock-set shoulders 61 and (1 a lifting-piece F having hook f at its lower end and a toe or projection f above said hook,said lifting-piece also having a head f at its upper end, substantially as specified.

12. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head, of a pivoted knuckle, a lock D, having hook d and recess d in its up per end and provided with lock-set shoulders d and d a lifting-piece F having hook at its lower end and a toe or projection f above said hook, said lifting-piece also having a head f at its upper end and a cut-away portion between said head f and said toe or projection f substantially as specified.

13. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head, of a pivoted knuckle, a lock D, having a hook d and recess d in its upper end and provided with lock-set shoulders d and 01 a lifting-piece F having hook f at its lower end and a toe or projection f above said hook, and a cross-pin G, substantially as specified.

14. In a car-coupler, the combination with a forked draw-head, of a pivoted knuckle, a lock D, having a hook d and recess d in its upper end and provided with lock-set shoulders d and d*, a lifting-piece F having hook fat its lower end and a too or projection f above said hook, said lifting-piece also having a head f at its upper end and a cut-away portion between said head f and said too or projection f and a cross-pin G, substantially as specified.

GUSTAF A. HERMANSON.

Witnesses:

EDMUND ADcocK, H. M. MUNDAY.

Images