US2610745A - Coupler and yoke constructions - Google Patents

Description

`draft applied to the vehicle coupler.

yoke.

-l reference may be Patented Sept. 16', 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT COUPLER AND YOKE CONSTRUCTION S Application March 28, 1950, Serial No. 152,486

This invention relates to draft mechanisms for use on railway vehicles, such as cars or motive power units, for cushioning shocks in buff and More particularly, the invention is concerned with a novel coupler and draft gear combination which permits the coupler to swing a limited distance ina horizontal plane to facilitate the coupling` together of cars, the couplers of which are somewhat out of horizontal alignment.

Though the new coupler and draft gear combination may be employed in friction gears it Iwill be illustrated and describedas including 'a Avertical yoke positioned between the spaced longitudinal sills of the vehicle and cushioning means interposed between the yoke and the sills. The

Vyoke is provided with a pair of horizontally .slots in the yoke wings and coupler shank are suciently longer than the key is wide so that the coupler may be swung in a horizontal plane,

.relative to the yoke, against the resilient means until the coupler engages one of the Wings of the The yoke is substantially narrower throughout its length than the space between the sills, so that the yoke may be swung a limited distance relative to the sills against the force exerted upon it by the cushioning means. The total angle, through which the coupler may thus be swung relative to the railway vehicle in either horizontal direction, is, therefore, equal to the horizontal swing of the coupler with respect to vthe yoke plus the swing of the yoke with respect to the sills of the vehicle.

For a better understanding of the invention,

'drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view through a lcoupler and draft gear combination, according to Athe invention on line I-I of Fig. 2, and

Fige2 is a vertical sectional view on the line vmade to the accompanying l Y 3 Claims. (Cl. 213-19) n y 2 Y In the drawings, the coupler andv draft gear combination is illustrated as installed on a railvway vehicle which is provided with spaced longitudinal sills I0, on the inner faces of which are mounted front and rear abutment means, which may be pairs of front stops II and rear stops I2. The tops of the sills are connected by'a platef'I3 and, at their lower ends, the sills are provided with outwardly extending nanges I4 connected by a carry iron I5. Wear plates I6 are supported between the sills on the carry iron I5 and similar wear plates I1 yare attached to plate I3, which connects the tops of the sills.

A vertical yoke I8 is supported between the sills on wear plates I6 and it comprises a front bar I9 and a rear bar 20 connected by upper and lower bars 2| and 22. Horizontally spacedjside wings 23 integral with the front bar extend forwardly from it and verticalyv spaced wings 2 4 project forwardly from the front bar of the yoke between wings 23. i

A front cushioning unit 25 lies within the yoke and is supported on the lower bar 22 of the yoke. This unit is made upof alternate rubber spings 26 vand nat divider plates V2 `I, each rubber spring consisting of a metal sheet to the opposite faces of which are secured concentric rubber rings 28. The rubber springs and divider plates are usually rectangular in form. The front cushioning unit bears at its rear end against the front face ofthe rear bar 20 of the yoke and at its, forward end, against a follower block 29 which extends through the yoke, rests upon lower bar 22 of the yoke, and has forwardly extending ,portions 30 and 3| which engage front stops Il. f 1

A rear cushioning unit 32 made up of alternate rubber springs and divider plates is mounted out.- side the yoke and rests upon'wear plates I6. The rear cushioning unit bears at its forward end against the rear face of the rear bar `2l) of the yoke and at its rear end against a follower block 33, the rear face of which engages rear stops' l2. The rear cushioning unit, as shown, contains a larger number f of rubber springs and divider plates than the front unit, so that the gear has greater capacity in bui than in draft.

I'he shank 34 of a coupler 35 extends into the pocket dened by the wings 23 and'24 of the yoke and the shank is connected to the yoke by a key 36 which passes through a slot 31 in thesh'ank and aligned slots 38 and 39 in the side wings 23 of the yoke. A recess 40 is formed in the front face of front bar I9 of the yoke between the wings and contains resilient means for acting on the rear end of the coupler shank and tending to force it outwardly, so that the rear end of the slot in the shank engages key 36l and forces the key against the front ends of the slots in the wings. Various forms of resilient means may be used and that shown is a rubber ring 4I, which is somewhat thicker than the recess is deep and is held in place by a stud |9a on the yoke. A follower 42 is interposed between the front face of the cushion and the rear end of the coupler shank and is held in place by opposed transverse flanges 24a extending inward from the top and bottom wings 24.

The slots in the coupler shank and in the side wings of the yoke are substantially longer than than the key is widel and, when the coupler is acted upon by a force in draft the force is transmitted through the shank and key to the wings 23 of the yoke and the yoke is then moved forward against the resistance of the front cushioning unit 25. In buff the force is transmitted from the-coupler'shank to the yoke through follower 42 and the pad 4|, and the yoke moves back against the resistance of the rear cushioning unit 32. Under compression, pad 4I will be deformed and flow4 into the space between the front face of the front bar I9 of the yoke and thefollower 42.

The coupler is supported` forwardly of its connection to the yoke by a striking casting 44 which prevents the coupler from moving downwardly in a vertical plane but the coupler may, be swung f yoke, is substantially narrower than the distance between the opposed faces of the sills. Therefore, the yoke too may be swung a small distance in a horizontal plane against the resistance of cushioning units and 32.

The provision of a resilientl seat for the rear end of the coupler shank and the loose key connection between the shank of the coupler v and -the wings of the yoke permit the coupler to be swung in -a horizontal plane, and the resilient member acting on the fiat rear end of the shank tendsto maintain the-coupler in central position. The coupler may be swung until its shank engages a wing of the yoke and, since the yoke is narrower than the space between the sills, the coupler and the yoke may be swung farther until the wing of the yoke engages the inner face of the adjacent sill. The total angle of swing of the coupler is sufficient to make possible engagement of a pair of couplers, which are substantially out of alignment.

We claim:

l. In a railway vehicle having spaced longitudlnal sills provided with spaced front and rear abutments on their opposed faces and elongated slots between the ends of the sills and the front abutments, a coupler and draft gear combination, which comprises a yoke positioned between the sills, cushioning means interposed between the yoke and respective pairs of abutments, the

yoke having a front bar containing a recess in its forward face and a pair of side wings projecting forwardly from the front bar, a coupler having a shank extending between the wings, the shank and wings having slots aligned with the sill slots, a key extending through all the slots, a resilient element seated in the recess and projecting out of the recess, a follower bearing upon the resilient element and engaging the rear end of the shank, the resilient element and the follower urging the shank forward to cause the rear end of the shank slot to hold the key against the forward ends of the wing slots, and upper and lower flanges on the yoke for holding the follower in place.

2. In a railway vehicle having spaced longitudinal sills provided with spaced front and rear abutments on their opposed faces and elongated slots between the ends of the sills and the front abutments, a coupler and draft gear combination, which comprises a yoke positioned between the sills, cushioning means interposed between the yoke and respective pairs of abutments, the yoke having a front bar containing a recess in its forward face and a pair of side wings and a pair of top and bottom wings projecting forwardly from the front bar, a coupler having a shank extending into the space defined by the wings, the shank and side wings having slots aligned with the sill slots, a key extending through all the slots, the slots being substantially longer than the key is wide, a resilient element seated in the recess and projecting out of the recess, a follower engaged by the element and engaging the rear end of the shank, the element and follower urging the shank forward to cause the rear end of the shank slot tov hold the key resiliently against the forward ends of the side wing slots, whereby the coupler may be swung in the plane of the key against the force exerted upon the coupler shank by the element and follower, and the yoke being substantially narrower throughout its length than the space between the sills, whereby the yoke may be swung laterally a limited distance against the resilient force yexerted upon it by the cushioning means, and

flanges on the opposed inner faces of the top and bottom wings for holding the follower in position.

3. In a railway vehicle having spaced longitudinal sills provided with spaced front and rear abutments on their opposed faces and elongated slots between the ends of the sills and the front abutments, a coupler and draft gear combination, which comprises a vertical yoke positioned between the sills, cushioning means interposed between vthe yoke and respective pairs of abutments, the yoke having a front bar containing an annular recess in its forward face and a'pair of horizontally spaced side wings and a pair of vertically spaced top and bottom wings projecting forwardly from the front bar, a coupler having a shank extending into the space defined by the wings, the shank and side wings having slots horizontally aligned with the sill slots, a horizontally disposed key extending through all the slots and the slots being substantially longer than the key is wide, an annular rubber element seated in the recess, a follower engaged by the outer end of the element and engaging the rear end of the shank, the element and follower urging theshank forward to cause the rear end of fthe shank slot to hold the key resiliently against the forwardv ends of the wing slots, whereby vthe coupler may be swung in a horizontal plane against the force exerted upon the coupler shank 5 y by the element and follower until the coupler REFERENCESCITED Shank engages one of the wmgs and the yoke The following references are of record in the being substantially narrower throughout its m f tht t. length than the space between the sills wheree o 1s pa' en by the yoke may be swung horizontally against 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS the resilient force exerted upon it by the cush- Number Name Date ioning means until it engages a sill and means 904,712 Mcconway Nov, 24, 1908 on the inner faces of one pair of wings for hold- 1,369,224 Davis Feb. 22, 1921 ing the follower in position. 1,648,340 George Nov. 8, 11927 WALTER CABBLE DTI-1G. 10 1,850,694 Schulz Mar. 22, 1932 GEORGE ROLFE MUNRO. 2,197,030 clark Apr. 16, 1940 2,469,118 Kimm et ai. May 3, 1949

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