US1542304A - Car coupler - Google Patents

Description

w. KELSO CAR COUPLER June 16, 1925.

tains to make and use the same.

Patented June 16, 1925.

UNITED.iSTA

PAT NT OFFICE .WILLIA'M KELso, or .r rTsBun-en, rsNNsYLvAnIA, AssIeNoa To THE 'MQGONWAY r & TORLEY COMPANY; or rrrrseunen, PENNSYLVANIA, A conroan'riouorf PENNSYLVANIAF 'W'CARLCOUPLEB.

' Application filed February 7, 1923. Serial No. 617,548.

T 0 all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, WViL IAM KELso, a citizen oftheUnited: States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the: county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar Couplers; and I dohereby declare the following to be afulh'clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apperinvention relates to car, couplers of the Master Car Builders type and particularly to the form known as the standard D-coupler. While the improvements described and claimed are especially applicable tothe D.-eoupler, it isto be understood that they are not'solely limited 'tofacoupler of that type.'- I I l I The principal object ofthe invention is to provide alock lifter for a coupler of, the D-type which is of simple form and capable of being readily assembled with theother parts of the mechanism, and which byf-its cooperative engagement with the lOCl7 llS prevented from dropping to'an inoperative position or accidentally being driven to such position as the result of some heavy object striking upon itsupper end; v

The primary feature of the invention, generally stated, consists in combining with a coupler head and. a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly movable and rearwardly swinging lock for said knuckle adapted to be actuated by a lock lifter formed at-its lower end with aplurality of faces disposed at an angle to each other and provided with a plurality of trunnions extending into an upwardly and rearwardlyopening slot in said lock, said slot being formed with'a' bottom wall comprising a plurality of angularly disposed faces respectively adapted to engage the said angularly disposed faces of said lifter, one of the faces forming the bottom "of the slot, in thelock being inclined downwardly-toward the rear of the lock, and: one of. the angularlydisposed faces of the lifter being similarly inclined, said inclined faces being adapted to cooperate to enable said lifter to move .to

locked position under the influence of gravity, and the other of said faces of said bot-.

tom wall and lifter being adapted to engage each other to limit the downward movement of the lifter with respect to the lock.

Other features of the invention residing in special relations ofcparts and details of elemental construction will, hereinafter appear.

In the drawings illustrating the invention applied to a Master Car Builders stand ard D-coupler,

,Figure l is a vertical sectional view of mechanisminvolving the invention, the lock, knuckle opener, knuckle and lock lifter be ing elevation and in locked relation.

Figure 2 is a detail side elevation of the lock lifter.

Figure 3 isaj detail rear elevation of the.

lock lifter.

In the D-coupler the knuckle is retained in coupled relation by means of an upward 1y movable and rearwardly swinging lock. As applied to freight cars this look is usually actuated by a lock lifter member whose upper end projects through an opening in the top wall of the coupler head. The lock is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot into which the lower end of the. lifter extends. posed trunnions with which the lifter is furnished at its lower end project into said slot to constitute means for slidably and detachably connecting the lifter to the lock.

-The lifter is operatively attached at its upper end to a suitable uncoupling rod or coupler releaserigging designed to enable the trainman to unlock the coupler and effect an outward rotation of its knuckle from a position at the side of the car.

Oppositely dis- In normal 1 1 locked relation of the parts the lower end of the lock lifter projects rearwardly beyond the lock and stands beneath an anti-creep lug or shoulder formed upon the interior of the coupler head. This relation of the lower end of the lifter to the anti-creep lug uponthe-head is designed to prevent the 1 lock from. accident-ally creeping upward to unlocked position as .a result of the jars and shocks which the coupler receives when the car is in motion. As a result of wear due to service however, the parts of the mech anism are reduced in size and become capable [of assuming relations detrimental to efiicient' operation of the device. The asso ciation in" the. D-coupler as at present constructed of a worn lock lifter with a coupler head having an anti-creep lug of reduced length allows the lifter to drop of its own weight until its trunnions pass out of the guiding slot of the lock in which they normally operate. hen this happens the uncoupling lever or coupler release rigging can no longer be availed of to effect an unlocking operation of the lock and the trai'nman, if under the necessity of unlocking the mechanism, must stand between the cars where he can reach the lifter and then endeavor by careful manipulation to restore the trunnions to their operative position within the slot of the lock. The trainnian is in this mannerv sometimes able to return the lifter to a position enabling the lock to be actuated by pulling upwardly upon the lifter; but if the trunnions cannot thus be restored to the slot of the look so as to enable the lower end of the lifter to bewithdrawn from beneath the anti-creep shoulder of the coupler hea l, one or more of the elements of the mechanism must be cut or otherwise destroyed before the parts can be separated. liforeover, where a worn lock lifter is associated with a coupler head having a short anti-creep lug the disconnection of the uncoupling rod or release rigging from the'lifter may result in accidentally allowing the lifter member to drop and pass wholly within the coupler head. Under such circumstances also the parts of the coupler cannot be separated without destroying one or more of its elements. In addition to the ability of the lock lifter of the ED-coupler, as the result of wear due to service, to drop out of place by its own weight and assume an inoperative position, little or no wear of the parts is necessary to permitthe lifter to be accidentally driven down to an 7 inoperative position as the result of some ings.

heavy object strikin upon its upper end.

In the drawings, 1 is the coupler head and 2 is the knuckle rotatably mounted thereon by means of the usual knuckle pin 3. The knuckle is normally prevented from rotating to open position by a vertically sliding and rear "ardly swinging lock 1 having a depending leg 5 which projects downwardly through an opening 6 in the lower wall of the coupler head. The lock 4, together with the knuckle opener 7 and the lock lifter 8, is brought to assembled posi- 'tion within the coupler head by being introduced through the mouth 9 of said head. \Vhen the parts are in. locked relation the lock a is seated upon the horizontally rotatable knuckle opening lever 7 of standard form, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the draw- The upward vertical movement of the lock elreleases the knuckle 2 so that it may perform an uncoupling rotation. The subsequent rearward swinging movement of the lock ca .see its. depending leg 5. to press rearwardly against the knuckle opening lever 7, thereby causing the latter to perform its pivotal movement and throw the knuckle open.

The lock e: is actuated by means of a lifter 8 which is slidablyand detachably connected at its lower end to the lock 4- and whose upper end projects through an aperture 10 in the top wall of the coupler head. An openingll in the upper end of the lifter affords means for attaching the latter to a suitable uncoupling rod or release rigging in the well known manner.

The lock 1 is fashioned with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot 12 into which the lower end of the lifter 8 extends, said slot being formed with a bottom wall comprising a plurality of faces 13 and 1a, respectively, which are angularly disposed with respect to each other, the face 13 having a downwardslope or inclination toward the rear face of the lock 1. The lower end of the lifter is similarly provided with a plurality of faces 15 and 16, respectively, which are disposed at an angle to each other and are adapted to cooperate with the cor responding faces 13 and 1 1 of the slot 12. In addition to the features of construction heretofore described the lower end of the lock lifter 8 is provided with the customary laterally extending trunnions 17 which project into the slot 12 of the lock and thereby serve as means for movably and detachably connecting the lifter to the lock 1. The lifter is also formed with the usual upwardly facing shoulder 1S for cooperating'w'th the anti-creep shoulder or lug 19 upon the interior of the coupler head 1. hen the parts are in normal locked relation the upwardly facing shoulder 18 at the lower end of the lifter extends beneath the anti-creep lug 19, thus preventing the lock from executing an unlocking movement until an upward pull upon the lifter 8 has caused the shoulder'18 to be withdrawn from beneath the anti-creep lug. The inclined faces 13 and 15 cooperate to enable the lifter readily to slide down the sloping face 13 so as to move to locked position under the influence of gravity. The engagement of the faces or shoulders 1 1 and 16, respectively, arrests this gravity induced sliding movement of the lifter 8, limiting it to 'an extent precluding the trunnions 17 from passing out of the slot 12 of the lock and thereby insuring that the lock 4 may at alltimes be operated by an upward pull upon the lifter. The engagement of the stop faces 14 and 16 serves not only to limit the normalslidingmovement of the lock lifter S with respect to the lock 1, but also adequately prevents the lifter from being driven downwardly below its normal position as the result of accidental blows delivered to its upper end.

rearwardly swinging lock for said knuckle,

and a lock lifter for actuating said lock,

said lock being provided with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot adapted to receive the lower end of said lifter, said lifter being formed at its lower end with a plurality of faces disposed at an angle to each other and being provided with trunnions extending into said slot and movably and detachably connecting said lifter to said lock said slot being formed with a bottom wall comprising a plurality of faces angularly disposed with respect to each other and respectively adapted to engage the said angularlydisposed faces of said lifter, one of said faces of said bottom wall being inclined downwardly toward the rear of said lock, and one of said faces of said lifter being inclined downwardly toward the rear of said lifter, said inclined faces being adapted to cooperate to enable said lifter to slide down said inclined face of said bottom wall under the influence of gravity, and the other of said faces of said bottom wall and lifter being adapted to engage each other to limit said sliding movement of said lifter with respect to said lock.

2. In a car coupler, the combination with a coupler head, of a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly movable and rearwardly swinging lock for said knuckle, and a lock lifter for actuating said lock, said lock being provided with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot adapted to receive the lower end of said lifter said lifter being movably and detachably connected to said look by trunnions formed on said lifter and extending into said slot, said slot/being formed with abottom wall which adjacent the rear end of said slot slopes downwardly to provide means cooperating with the lower end of said lifter for cans-- ing said lifter to move to locked position under the influence of gravity, and said lifter being provided forwardly of said trunnions with a shoulder adapted to engage said lock within the'slot therein to limit said gravity induced movement of said lifter. a

In testimony whereof I affix my signa- WILLIAM KELSO.

. ture

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