US940678A - Automatic pipe-coupling. - Google Patents

mary vparts 10, 11 and 12'; #The

part

10 is adapted to be one ofthe cars by means of 4the, threaded

aperture

13 adapted toengage-a threaded "the

part

10 lis bolted or riveted thereto steel clutches 1T.

"Part 11 is provided with a

casing

18,

air chambers

19, 20, 21'and 22,'a

valve stem

23 carrying the' valves-24 and 25, 'the .former- 24

stem

23 and connected lwith the coil spring 2G which encircles the valve stem- 23, while the

valve

25 isv rigid upon the stem vand rests against lthe

coil spring

27, also encircling the lvalve'etem

A'lhe valve stem

23 is provided witha shout.

der 2S and is heldin a horizontal position by Ithe

circular guides

29 Vand 301, ,-1`lie'casiiig v.181s increased to greater diameter as you approach intermediately of the saine at both ends, leaving a

channel

31 at the center raamt c. Doane ann reni) n. cnnnna, or srcxnive, wasiinverom Assierioss or, V.

connected withv the pipe -on thereof with a rounding. wall ,at one side i thereotl as at and a perpendicular wall at theotherside thereof; asat. shoulder 34: is also provided on the surface of tlie'cas- '

ing

18,*the purpose f of which will be hereiny after explained. v The

part

12 is adapted to be connect-edito the pipe of a car by means of the threaded aperture 34:, adapted to engage a thread upon the end of the pipe.

1Part

12`lis provided withair chambers 35,

terminating as at 89 in abellshape.

Fart

12 is also provided with a valve stem Al() carrying` valves 111 and 4:2, the `formerof which is loose upon the stein 4() attached to the coil springdl encirclingthe rllie valve stein is provided with a

shoulder

45 and isheldjin a 'horizontal position by

meansof thecirculaij guides

116 and 17. The

casing

38 has riveted theretosteel springs Swhich inclose a ring 1 9 encircling the casing bearing 50.

-therein is a

rod

69 which is encircled by a 105

coil spring

52 between the

ring

49 and the We have shown the

train pipe

53 bent to f the center 4ot" the.

car

54 and connected at the center of a pipe l55 arranged transversely' of the

car

54 with

pipes

56 and 57 connected at the ends thereof and reaching out beyond 'the end of the

car

54. To one ot' these pipes and 12, so that there can be no possible mistake in not having both the

parts

10 and- 12 Where each coupling is to be made. We prefer to have the part 11l connected up with the

part

10 when the cars are uncoupled for the reason that We have provided

part

12 with a bell shaped

opening

39 making it easier and more certain for the connecting arts to seek their right position when rought together by the approach of the cars to each other. The transverse. pipe and the

extension pipes

56 and 57 should be connected by

ball joints

5S and 59 to provide for proper play when trains are going around a curve and on other occasions. 7e have shown

spring carrier plates

60 attached to the bottom of the

cars

54 adapted to hold thepipes in proper position and coil springs 61 -connected tothe same and also to the angle ball joints 59.

In the. practical use lof the coupling, the

parts

10 and 11 would be connected to the

pipe extension

57 at theend of yone car and

part

12 would be connected to the

pipe extension

57 at the end of the opposite car. When the cars are brought together the end of part 11 will be guided into the bell shaped opening 39 of the casing38, the

steel clutching parts

48 will spread until the clutching

points

62 reach the perpendicular sides of the

channel

31 in part 11 when the sain'e will spring inward and clutch the part 11 at that point and which is the position of the parts when a complete coupling has been eiiected. The endsl of the valve stems and will have come together prior to the

L@points

62 reaching the clutching point and will -have been forced back,thereby openving the valves in the connectingl parts and connecting lup the air from the car previously connected with the train to the one being connected with the train. For `instance the valve 42 being seated at 63 is opened and the

valve

25 being seated at 64 is opened, giving a free passage from the pipe on the car connected with the trainthrough the chambers 35, 36, l37, 22, 21, 20,

19 and 14 thereby reaching the pipe ot' the car being connected up. Callingattention to

valves

24 and 41 in this connection, valve 24 is capable of being seated at 65 and

valve

41 is capable of being seated at 66 and asy has heretofore been stated, .these twovalves are loose upon the stems. Ve have termed these graduating-valves and they are for the purpose of preventing a complete opening from one connecting part to another 1n- -tra'cted a certain amount.

Astantaneously when the cars are connected up and are calculated to provide a means for allowing the air to pass gradually until the pressure of air in the pipes of the connecting car is equal to the pressure in the pipes of the train. The practical working of these valves would be that the torce ot' the 'air coming into chamber 36 and rushing toward chamber 37 would unseat the

valve

41 from its position at 66, the air then passing through chambers B7-and 22 and. into 21 would seat the valve 24 at 65 thereby closing the passage excepting such opening as would be left between the valve 24 and the

stem

23 by reason of the valve -24 being loose upon the

stem

23, thus causing a slow seepage of the air' between the valve 24 and lthe stem 23 until the force ot' the air in the pipe of the c nnecting car is equal to the force in the pipes of the train when the

coil spring

26 will unseat-the valve 24 from its

position

65 allowing a free passage then of the air through all of the chambers and connecting parts. In order to avoid a possibility of either one of the

valves

42 or 25 not opening when the parts are connected, we have provided

shoulders

45 and 28 upon the valve stems 40 and 23 respectively adapted to engagethe circular guides 47 and 29 after the

springs

44 and 27 ,upon the valve stems 40 and 23 respectively have con- This provision is made iii order that the contact of the valve stems 40 and 23 will force the other spring tocontract sulhciently to unseat the opposite valve. The shoulder34 upon the

casing

18 is adapted to come in contact with the inner surface of the bell shape-d opening in the connecting up of the coupling at a point where there is a proper pressure upon the gasket 67 and to relieve it from any extraordinary pressure. vvIn case of an p open in the remainder of the coupling thereby permitting the brakesto be set upon the cars 'remaining connected with the engine and lassisting in the stoppingof the train. We have shown a means `of uncoupling the apparatus by `attaching a cable, 68 to the orice 51 of the

rod

69 connected with the

ring

49 the cable also being connected to a lever 70 secured to the

rod

71 and adapted to be rotated by a

hand lever

72 at one side of the

car

54. The turning of this lever will draw the

ring

49 inward, throw the steel clutches -48 outward 'and release the part 11 from the

part

12,-`and contract the coil spring 5.2. After the parts are, disconnected, the

coil spring

52 will then have the force to return the

ring

49 to its position shown in Figs. 1 and 50 f seated at one endy of the chamber and par- .Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: