US1294288A - Car-coupling. - Google Patents

Description

W. MCCONWAY, JR.

I CAR COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED Nov.27. ISIS.

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Patented Feb. 1l, 1919.

W. MCCONWAY, JR.

CAR COUFLING. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 2z, 191e.

' ,294if,288 Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

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WILLIAM MGCON'WAY, JR., 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCGONWAY & TORLEY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR- PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatented Feb. II, 1919.

Application filed November 27, 1918. Serial No. 264,315.

To all ywhom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VVrLLrAM MCCONWAY, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny Vand State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings; and I do hereby 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.

My invention relates tocar couplers of the type in which the lock is supported in lockset position by a horizontally rotatable lever that serves to force the knuckle to open position. The best type of car coupler is the Master Car Builders standard D coupler, and my invention is especially adapted to improve and perfect such a coupler so as to render its operation reliable.

In the standard D coupler the lock at times fails to return to normal or locked po- Sition after the knuckle has been opened and closed following the operation of locksetting. This defective operation is due to the knuckle opening lever moving into the path of locking movement of the lock in such manner as to prevent the lock from dropping to locked position. This defect, which is an inherent consequence of the form and manner of combining the elements, is apt to be magnified in service, since the blows deliveredv to the knuckle opening lever by the knuckle in closing cause or tend to cause a compression of the metal of the coupler head adjacent the knuckle opener, thereby permitting the arm of the knuckle opening lever that isnearer the lock to project correspondingly farther into the path traversed by the lock in executing a locking movement.v

It is the object of my invention tov remedy this defect in a simple and efficient manner. To this end the invention, gen. erally stated, involves the combination of a coupler head, a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, a horizontally rotatable knuckle opening lever pivotally mounted in the lower part of the coupler head and having one arm extending behind the tail of the knuckle and the other arm arranged adjacent to andv in the rear of the lock, a gravity actuated lock which normally restrains known axample of this opening of the knuckle and which is adapted to be supported in unlocked or lock set position on the adjacent arm of the knuckle opening lever, and a stop on the guard arm side of the coupler head transversely overlapping the said lock and knuckle opening lever and serving as means for limiting the nxovenient of the shorter arm of said lever toward the lock.

In the drawings, tion as embodied in the ers standard D coupler,

Figure l is av horizontal sectional view of the mechanism7 the knuckle and knuckle opener being in plan.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, taken in the plane of the line 2-2, Fig. l, the lock being in elevation.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, taken on the line 3 3, Fig. l, the lock and knuckle opening lever being in elevation and the knuckle being omitted.

I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully so that others skilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the saine.

The coupler head 1 has mounted thereon a rotatable knuckle 2. these parts being prefcrably connected by means of the usual knuckle pin 3. When in closed or coupled position the knuckle normally is restrained from swinging outward by means of a lock 4- which extends in front of the tail of the knuckle. The lock 4 is provided with a downwardly extending portion or leg 5 which preferably is provided at its lower end with an elongated slot or eye 6 adapted to receive a finger or trunnion 7 at the upper end of a lock lifter 8 forming a part of a well known type of underneath release rigging. In order to clear the stop 9 by which the knuckle opening lever l0 is prevented from interfering with the locking operation of the lock 4:, the trunnion 7 of the lock lifter 8 is inserted in the slot 6 of the lock from the knuckle side of the coupler and the width of the lower end of the lug 5 of the lock is reduced adjacent the slot 6. For a similar reason the trunnion 7 at the upper end of the lifter 8 is made of suitable length to pass the stop lug 9 when the lower end of the lock 4 swings rearwardly in actuating the knuckle opening lever 10.

0n the knuckle side of the lock opening which show my inven- Master C ar Buildin the lower part of the couplei head l is a lock to the lock projection 11 which is adapted to be engaged by the upper end of the lifter 8 when the lock 4 accidentally attempts to assume an unlocked position, the lock thus being prevented from 'jarring upward to a position permitting the knuckle to swing open. When, however, the lifter 8 is Yactuated to liftthe lock t the trunnion 7 of the lifter slides upwardly and rearwardly iii the slot 9, thereby shifting the upper end of the lifter from its normal position beneath the projection 11 and allowing the litter to raise the lock.

lii locked position the lock l rests upon the upper surface or" the shorter arm 1:2 of a horizontally rotatable knuckle opening lever 10 which is mounted in the lower part of the coupler head, the lock being formed with a seat or shoulder 13 for that purpose. Gn the leg 5 or' the lock is a lower shoulder or seat 14 which is adapted to be seated upon the shorter arin orp the knuckle-opening lever 10 when the lock, upon being raised to unlocked position by the lifter 8, swings rearwardly under the influence of gravity. 1l/Then the lock is thus supported in lockset position on the knuckle opening lever, the muckle Q may be rotated outwardly to open position. The leg 5 of the lock is provided adjacent the guard-arm side of the coupler with a longitudinally extending guideway or recess 15 for receiving the stop lug 9.

The forward face of the lock e is provided with a projection 16 which, when the lock raised above unlocked position, engages and rocks upon a lug 17 formed on the interior of the forward upper portion of the coupler head 1, the leg 5 of the lock thus being caused to execute a positive rearward movement which forces the shorter arm of the knuckle opening lever rearwardly and thereby causes the longer arm of the lever 10 to press-against the rear face of the knuckle A tail and rotate the knuckle 2 to open position.

On the guard-arm side of the coupler head 1 is a short vertical rib 9 which is adapted to overlap the lock #l and the shorter arm 12 of the knuckle opening lever. This rib or stop 9, which operates in the longitudinally eXtending groove 15 in the leg 5 of thelock,flimits the rotation of thel shorter arm ol"V the knuckle opening lever toward the lock t and prevents said arm from projecting into the pathfof movement traversed by the lock when the latter is returning to locked position following a'closed rotation of the knuckle.

with a lock opening, a knuckle, a horizon-y tally rotatable lever mounted in the lower4 part of said head for opening saidV knuckle, an upwardly movable and rearwardly swinging lock adapted to be supported in lockset position on one of the arms of said, lever,

a stop on the guard-ariii side of said coupler.

head for limiting the movement of said lever arm toward said lock, a lock lifter for actuating said lock from beneath said coupler head, and a projection on the knuckle sidew of the lock opening of the coupler head adapted to be engaged by said lifter to therehy prevent said lock from ing to unlocked position. n Y

A car coupler having a head, a knuckle, a horizontally rotatable lever for opening accidentally mov*` said knuckle, lock for said knuckle adapti i ed to be supported in lockset position yon one or the arms of said lever, and a stop on the guard-arm side of said coupler head for limiting the movement of said lever arm toward said lock, the lower portionof said lock being tending groove. adapted toreceive said stop.

A car coupler having a head, a knuckle, a horizontally -rotatable lever for opening said knuckle, a lock for said knuckle adapted to be supported in lockset position on one oiC the arms of said lever, guard-arm side of the coupler head for limiting the movement. of said lever arm toward said lock, said lock the lower end of said lock being provided with a slot and being laterally displaced with respect to said stop, and saidlifter having at its upper enda trunnion insertiblein said slot from the knuckle side of said coupler head.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM iueeoivwnrg n.'

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner vof` Patents, Washington, D. C.

provided with a downwardly eX- a stop on theA and a lockk lifter for yactuatingV from beneath said coupler head,

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