US723509A - Thill-coupling. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTBD MAR. 24, 1903.

A. H. WORREST.

THILL COUPLING.

ED AUG. 7. 1902.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

ALFRED H. WORREST, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO METAL STAMPING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

THlLL-,COUPLING.

SPECiFIC-ATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,509, dated March 24, 1903.

Application filed August 7,1902.

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, ALFRED H. WORREST, a citizen of the United States, and a residentof Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Thill- Couplings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming partof this specification.

This invention relates especially to improvements in thill-couplings of the character described and claimed in my United States Letters Patent Nos. 646,531 and 662,050, which comprise a bolt-engaging hook on the thill, a pivoted jaw, a lever, and a connecting device between the lever and pivoted jaw,"the connecting device and lever constituting means to act on the pivoted jaw and control .its relation to the hook and coupling-bolt; and the invention consists of a thill-coupling embodying the mechanism hereinafter described and claimed.

On the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of this improved thillcoupling as it appears in use; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section showing the positions of the lever and connecting device when they begin to retractthe pivoted jaw; and Fig. 3, an inverted plan, the parts of the coupling being in the relative positions in which they are shown in Fig. 1.

Similar reference-numerals designate like parts in difieren't views.

An important object of this invention is to so improve the mechanism that acts on the pivoted jaw of a quick-shifting thill-coupling. and that includes a spring to press the jaw against the coupling-bolt as to render it operative to prevent the jaw from being forced out of the hook of the coupling if the spring should break or yield and to apply suchpressure to the jaw even if the spring should be broken as to keep the coupling tight on the coupling -bolt, so that the bolt would not work out of the draftlugs or coupling.al though the nut of the bolt were lost.

The thill-iron, which is fastened to the thill 1 by suitable means-such, for example, as 50 the bolt and screw shown-comprises a hook 2 and lugs 3and 4, the hook being of the Serial No. 118,740- (No model.)

proper form to pass over and bear on the coupling-bolt. The pivoted jaw 5 is secured to the lug 3 by the pivot-pin 6. A link-shaped lever 7 is pivoted to the lug 4 bya pin 9, and

of a cylinder whose interior diameter is a little greater than the diameter of the bar 10. On the socket are formed at one end ears 17 and at the other end an annular head. 18. The coil-spring surrounds the bar 10, bearing at one end against the shoulder 11 and at the other against the head 18 of the socket 14. The bar 10 extends through the head 18, in which it fits loosely, and the socket 14 is pivotedto the jaw 5 bya pin 19, passing through the jaw and the cars 17 of the socket and between the ends 12 and 13 of the notch in the bar. The coil-spring is compressed between the head of the socket and the shoulder 11, and consequently tends to force the socket from the shoulder. The bar 10 is movable lengthwise in the socket, the length of the movement depending on the length of the notch in the bar, whose ends 12 and 13 cannot pass the pin 19, the bar being constantly held by the socket close to the pin.

In closing the coupling, the thills having been placed in position so that each couplingbolt is received in the hook 2, the lever 7 is swung from the position in dotted lines in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 1. The pressure of the spring 15 against the socket 14, which is transmitted to the pivoted jaw 5 through the pin 19, forces the pivoted jaw into contact with the coupling-bolt. Then as the movement of the lever 7'is continued the spring 15 is still further compressed, bringing increased pressure on the coupling-bolt I00 and pressing it firmly against the hook.

The parts are so constructed and arranged that in closing the coupling the pin 16 is carried between and slightly past the centers of the pins 9 and 19, and the pressure of the spring 15 against the pin 16 thus tends to hold the parts in their closed positions. When the spring is further compressed by the action of the lever, as above described, the bar 10 is forced farther into the socket 14, so that the end 13 of the notch in the bar is carried nearly up to the pin 19. The bar remains in that position, held by the socket and pin 16. The pivoted jaw is then locked by the bar in the book 2, for although a force that would cause the spring to yield should tend to open the jaw the pin 19 could not pass the end 13 of the notch in the bar, nor could the bar be moved endwise by the action of the pin upon it.

In opening the coupling the movement of the lever 7 is reversed, the lever being moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 toward the positions shown in Fig. 2. This movement of the lever first carries the pin 16 from the thill-iron past the centers of the pins 9 and 19, and the bar 10 is drawn outward in the socket 14 until the end 12 of the notch in the bar engages the pin 19, the pressure of the spring 15 being in the meantime partially relaxed. The further movement of the lever 7 will then swing open the pivoted jaw 5, releasing the coupling-bolt-,the jaw being turned on its pivot by the action on the pin 19 of the end 12 of the notch in the bar 10.

It will thus be seen that the holding of the coupling-bolt in position is not, as in other forms of thill-couplings, dependent upon the integrity of the spring. In my improved coupling if the spring 15 should break it would'still be held in operative position by the bar 10, the only efiect of the breakage being to reduce the length of the spring by one coil. Thus except for an immaterial diminution of the pressure of the pivoted jaw on the coupling-bolt the device would still continue to perform its normal functions and the pivoted jaw would by the engagement of the pin 19 with the end 13 of the notch in the bar 10 be positively prevented fromswinging open to release the couplingbolt. This constitutes a decided advantage and renders the use of this quick-shift coupling even safer than the old form of drilledeye coupling, because with the latter if the nut should work 06 the coupling-bolt the bolt wopld be released and fall out, while with my device even if the spring should break and the nut on the coupling-bolt should be lost the spring 15 would exert sufficient pres sure to hold the bolt firmly in place.

Another advantage possessed by the construction herein illustrated and described is that when the lever 7 is in locking position the nut 21, which secures the thill-iron to the thill, will lie betweenthe sides of said lever and be thus prevented from turning on the securing-bolt.

The coupling will engage bolts of various sizes and automatically take up wear, it being capable of holding any ordinary thillbolt securely.

The preferred form of apparatus which for convenience of description I have selected for illustration may be considerably modified in many of its details without involving a departure from my invention.

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

1. Inathill-coupling,abolt-engaginghook,

a pivoted jaw, a spring for pressing the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, a lever, and a bar connected with the pivoted jaw and the lever and forming with the lever a lock for the pivoted jaw, substantially as set forth. 2. In athill-coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, and mechanism including a spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, a bar movable lengthwise, and a fastening permanently securing the bar to the pivoted jaw and forming a guide on which the bar slides, substantially as set forth.

3. In athill-coupling, abolt-engaginghook, a pivoted jaw, and mechanism including a coil-spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, a bar extending through the spring, and afastening securing the bar to the pivoted jaw,"substantially as set forth.

4. In a thill-couplin g, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, andmechanism including a coil-spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, a bar connected with the pivoted jaw, and'asupport by which the bar is secured to the thill-iron, the coil-spring be ing compressible by a backward movement of the pivoted jaw, and the bar andsaid sup port forming a lock toa'et on the pivoted jaw when the spring is thus compressed and shortened, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a thill coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, and mechanism including a coil-spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, a bar extending through the spring and permanently connected with the pivoted jaw, and means'to form with the bar a lock for the pivoted jaw, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a thill-coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, at pivoted jaw, and mechanism including a coil-spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, a bar extending through the spring, means to form with the bara lock for the pivoted jaw, and a fastening securing the bar to the pivoted jaw in a relation that is changeable with a movement of the bar lengthwise, substantially as set forth.

7. In a thill-coupling, a bolt-engaginghook, a pivoted jaw, and mechanism including a coil-spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, a bar extending through the spring, means to form with the bar a lock for the pivoted jaw, and a socket in which the bar is movable lengthwise, the socket being attached to the pivoted jaw, substantially as set-forth.

8. In athill-coupling, abolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, and mechanism including a spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling-bolt, and a rigid bar permanently connected with the pivoted jaw and movable lengthwise to retract the same, substantially as set forth.

9. In a thill-couplin g, a bolt-engaging hook,

a pivoted jaw, a lever pivoted to the thill-iron, and a connecting device secured to the lever and pivoted jaw and comprising a spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the couplingbolt, and a bar to lock the pivoted jaw, substantially as set forth.

10. In a chill-coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw,- a lever pivoted to the thill-iron, and a connecting device comprising a bar pivoted at one end to the lever and secured near its other end to the pivoted jaw, and a coil-spring surrounding the bar and acting from the lever on the pivoted jaw, substantially as set forth.

11. In a thill coupling, a bolt engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, a lever pivoted to the (hill-iron, and a connecting device comprising a bar pivoted atone end to the lever, a socket pivotally attached to the pivoted jaw and holding the bar engaged with that jaw, the bar being movable lengthwise in the socket, and a coil-spring surrounding the bar and acting from the lever on the socket, substantially as set forth.

12. In a thill-coupling, a bolt engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, a lever pivoted to the thill-iron, and a connecting device comprising a bar pivoted at one end to the lever and having near that end a shoulder and near the othena notch, a socket having a head through which the bar extends, the socket being pivotally attached to the pivoted jaw by a pin extending between the ends of the notch in the bar, and a coil-spring surrounding the bar and compressible between the shoulder on the bar and the head of the socket, substantially as set forth.

13. In a thill-coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, a lever pivoted to the thill-iron, and a connecting device to coact with the lever on the pivoted jaw, the connecting device comprising a curved bar and a coil-spring surrounding the bar, that eX- -tend outward from the thill-iron through the lever. when the coupling is engaged with a bolt, substantially as set forth.

14. In a thill-coupliug, a bolt-engaging book, a pivoted jaw, a lever, a device comprising a spring to coact with the lever on the pivoted jaw, and a fastening securing said device to the pivoted jaw and forming a guide on which said device slides, substantially as set forth. 7

15. In a thill-coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, a lever pivoted to the thill-iron, a connecting device secured to the lever and pivoted j awand comprising a spring to press the pivoted jaw toward the coupling port attached to the thill-iron, the pivot connecting the bar with the latter support being movable from and toward the thill-iron, and a spring to maintain the parts of said mechani'sm in'their proper relative position, substautially as set forth.

17. In a thill-coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, and mechanism including a bar pivotally connected both with the pivoted jaw and with another movable support attached to the thill-iron, and a spring to maintain the parts of said mechanism in their proper relative positions, said mechanism constituting a lock to'positively secure the pivoted jawin engagement with the coupling-bolt, substantially as set forth.

18. In a thill-coupling, a bolt-engaging hook, a pivoted jaw, and mechanism to actuate the pivoted jaw and secure it in engagement with the coupling-bolt, said mechanism comprising a lever connected with the pivoted jaw, a coil-spring, and a bar connected with the pivoted jaw and extending through the spring, substantially as set forth.

ALFRED H. WORREST.

In presence of S. B. GROVE, JOH F. GAHM.

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