Car-Coupling. Page: 3 of 4
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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
GEORGE JONES FERGUSON, OF GREENVILLE, TEXAS.
CAR-COUPLING.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 343,806, dated June 15,1886.
Application filed October 3, 1885. Serial No. 178,947. (No model.)To all whom it 7may concern:
Be it known that I, GEORGE JONES FERGU-
SON, a citizen of Great Britain, residing at
Greenville, in the county of Hunt and State of
5 Texas, United States, have invented a new
and useful Improvement in Car-Couplings, of
which the following is a description.
Figure 1 is a vertical section with the de-
vices in position for automatic coupling. Fig.
to 2 is a similar view showing the coupled posi-
tion, and Fig. 3 is an end view of a car equipped
with my improved coupling.
My invention is designed to provide an im-
proved positive automatic car-coupling for
15 coupling cars without involving the necessity
of going between the same; and it consists in
the peculiar construction and arrangement of
parts, which I will now proceed to fully de-
scribe.
20 In the drawings, A represents the draw-
head, which is provided with a tapering open-
ing at the front for the link, and with a verti-
cal channel intersecting the link-throat, in
which channel the coupling devices are con-
25 tained. These consist of the inverted-U or
hook shaped coupling B, lift-arm C, and stop-
abutment D. Onthe back of the U-shaped
piece is formed a hook, a, which is designed
to catch under a hook-shaped projection, b,
30 formed on the back wall of the draw-head.
The object of this hook a is to cause the U-
shaped coupling B to tilt when it is raised by
lift-arm C, and throw the front end of said
coupling B above the throat of the draw-head,
35 as shown in Fig. 1, so that when the link of
the opposing car enters this draw-head said
link will strikethe rear branch of the U-shaped
coupling and force it and the lift-arm C back
and down,forcing its front branch through the
40 entered link, and couple the cars. When the
U -shaped coupling is down, the stop-abutment
D drops or gravitates to a position above the
U- shaped coupling, which holds it from rising
out of the engaged link. The lift-arm C and
45 also the stop-abutmentD are each rigidly fixed
to their rock-shafts c and d, which have, out-
side of the draw-head, cranks c' and d', (see
dotted line,) which are connected together by
a cord, e, (or link,) and which are operated
to together to lift the arm C and U -shaped coup-
ling and turn the stop D back out of the way,of the rising U- shaped coupling. In tlis mo-
tion it will be seen that the hook a of the coup-
ling, by catching beneath the stationary hook
b of the draw-head, tilts the U-shaped coup- 55
ling and holds it, as shown in Fig. 1, main-
tained upon the end of the lift-arm C. To
prevent the lift-arm from descending too low,
a shoulder, n, stops it in a horizontal position.
Instead of raising the coupling by the lift- Co
arm, a cover or cap-piece, E, is jointed to the
top of the U-shaped coupling, and provided
with a cord or chain, and serves the double
purpose of a cover to the top of the channel in
the draw-head, to keep out snow, dirt, and sleet, 65
and also a means for raising the coupling when
it is desired to uncouple the cars, the stop-
abutment being deflected to permit this action
by the other cord. Back of the draw-head
there projects a hollow extension, F, in which 70
is contained a spiral spring, and against which
bears the end of a stationary link, G, fixed in
the draw-bar and surrounding the coupling
device B. The rear end of this link is pro-
vided with a hook or shoulder, f, which pulls 75
against a horizontal pin, g, which is detach-
ably fixed in the draw-bar back of the draw-
head. It will therefore be seen that the draft-
strain of the links is borne at a point back of
the draw-heads, so that if the draw-head gets 80
broken the cars are still held together by the
coupling. . The object of the spring behind the
link is to allow the latter to yield when it
strikes the opposite draw-bar. This spring,
to prevent being doubled up, should have a 85
guide-stem within its coils. When the link
G is to be entered into the mouth of the op-
posing draw-head, it is adjusted to height,
raised, and held in horizontal position by
pins h on the sides of the rear branch of the 90
U -shaped coupling, which pins slide in grooves
i in the side of the draw-head when the coup-
ling is closed. The sides of the vertical chan-
nels of the draw-head are serrated or grooved
at m, to permit dirt and grit to pass down be- 95
side the coupling B without causing the latter
to grip.
From the coupling as thus described the
cords or chains may be run to the sides and
top of the car, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to per- ico
mit it to be coupled or uncoupled from the top
or either side. A tapering spiral spring, 8,
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Ferguson, George Jones. Car-Coupling., patent, June 15, 1886; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth171281/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.