US594579A - Draft mechanism for railway-cars - Google Patents

Description

. v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. B. THOMAS. DRAFT MBGHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS. No. 594,579.

#(No Model.) 7

Patented Nov. 80, 1897.

road-beds and around curves.

JAMES BRYANT THOMAS,

PATENT Fries.

OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DRAFT MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

srnorrroA'rron forming part? of eat Patent No. 594,579, dated November '30, 1897.

Application filed ma s, 1397.

To all whom it may oo ncerm.

Be it known'that I, JAMES BRYANT THOMAS, a citizen .of the United States; residing at St: Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful. Draft Mechanism for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relatesto improvements in draft mechanism for railway-cars.

The object of the presentinvention is to improve the construction of draft mechanism for railway-cars and to prevent the frames of cars and the draft-timbers from being strained and otherwise injured through the lateral Vibration of the draw-head. and the draw-bar incident to the passage of a trainover rough A further object ofthe invention is to .provide a draft mechanism whichwill permit a draw-head and its draw-bar to vibrate laterally and thereby relieve the 'draft-timbers and the car-frame entirely of the strain resulting from such lateral thrusts when a rigid connection, such as the ordinary draft-timbers, is employed.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate a ready removal of the spring and the follower-plates in the event of the breakage of any of the parts and to enable'new parts to be readily supplied and assembled without necessitating the removal of the entire draftrigging.

The inventionconsists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a car provided with draft mechanism constructed in accordancewith thisinvention. Fig. 2 is a reverse plan view. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. at is a similar view showing one of the draft-irons. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the manner of introducing a follower-plate into and removing it from the draft-irons. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of one of the draft irons. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional View illustrating the construction of the supporting-stirrup of the draw-bar. Fig. 8'is a desen irb. 622,543. (No model.)

tail perspective view of the bottom piece of :the supporting-stirrup.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

l l designate a pair of similar longitudinal draft-irons arranged parallel with each other and .designed to dispense with the ordinary draft-timbers usually arranged at each side of the shank or draw-barof a draw-head, and each draft-iron consists of a central rectangular frame or portion 2 and forwardly and rearwardlyextending arms 3 and at. The central rectangular frame or portion 2 receives and forms ways for follower-blocks 5, which are held against lateral movement by upper and lower flanges 6 and vertical side flanges 7, located at the outer face of the draft-iron and extending around the rectangular opening of the frame or portion 2. The forwardly or outwardly extending arm 3,which is formed integral with the central portion of the draftiron, extends from the top of the frame or portion 2 to the front or end transverse sill 8' and is arranged against a longitudinal draft beam or timber 9. The body-portion of the upper arm 3 has its lower face flush with the lower face of the .end sill 8 of the car 10 and is arranged above the plane of the shank or draw-bar 11 of afdraw-head l2, so that the latter and its shank or draw-barfare unconfined at'the sides to permit thedraw-head to vibrate laterally without communicating any of the strain to the draft-timbers or the frame of the car.

The central frame or portion 2 is provided at its top with an upwardly-extending lug 13, which is arranged in'a recess of the drafttimber 9 and serves to strengthen the construction. The inwardly or rearwardly disposed arm 4: extends from the bottom of the central portion or frame to one of the bodybolsters of the car-frame, and a block of wood 14: is interposed between the body-bolster 15 of the car-frame and the inner or rear side of the central portion or frame 2 of the draftiron, making the construction perfectly solid and capable of withstanding successfully all the strains incident to such draft mechanism. The draft-iron is further strengthened by a longitudinal flange 16, extending from the front end of the upper arm 3 to the rear end of the lower arm and provided with a vertical portion 17, which extends along the out side of the central portion or frame 2. As clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 ol' the accompanying drawings, the draft-irons are sufficiently wide to permit the n ccessary lateral play or vibration of the car-coupling without any liability of the same coming in contact with the strengthening-llangcs 10, which are located at the outer faces of the draft-irons.

The follower-blocks 5, which are arranged at the ends ot a spring 18 in the usual maunor, are adapted to be readily removed from the draft-irons without detaching he latter, and the draw-head and the other draft-rigging and the upper and lower flanges U are provided with central recesses or notches ll), forming entrances to the ways and enabling the follower plates or blocks to be readily inserted in and removed therefrom, as illustrated in Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings. The spring 18 is disposed on a draftbolt 20, which is connected to the shank or draw-bar in the usual manner by a pin, and its rear end is provided with a nut.

One of the bolts 16 of each of the draftirons is located directly opposite the entrance recesses 19 and is adapted to prevent any liability of the follower blocks or plates accidentally slipping through the entrance-recesses. These bolts, which are located opposite the entrance openings or recesses 19, are removed when it is desired to remove the follower-plates.

The draw-head and its shank or draw-bar are supported by a stirrup 21., depending from the end sill 8 and composed of vertical sides 22 and a bottom connecting-piece The sides, which pass through openings 24: of the end sill S, are pivoted at their upper ends by bolts 25, disposed longitudinally of the car and arranged in perforations of knees or L-plates 26, the end sill being reinforced at its upper face around the openings Si by a suitable plate. The bottom piece 23, upon which the shank or draw-bar rests, has its ends 27 curved and bifurcated to receive the lower terminals of the sides 22,and the curved ends 27, which are slightly hook-shaped, engage horizontal bolts or pins 28, which form pintles and hinge the lower ends of the sides 22 to the bottom cross-piece 33; but other forms of hinge-joints may be employed.

The openings 2t are tapering and gradually increase in width from the top of the sill b to the bottom thereof, in order to permit the stirrup to swing transversely of the car, to yield to all of the lateral vibrations and thrusts of the car-coupling, and prevent the strain which usually results from such movements of the draw-head from being communicated to the car or the draft-timbers. lly permitting the carcoupling to swing laterally instead of employing a rigid connection the framework of the car, the draft-timbers, and the draft-irons are absolutely relieved of all the lateral strain which usually results when the draw-head and its shank or drawbar are rigidly mounted between two drafttimbers in the ordinary manner and when a train is passing over rough road beds or around curves. The openings 24: are also of sufficient longitudinal width to allow the stirrup a limited swing longitudinally of the car, in order to permit the same to yield to any longitudinal thrust of the car-coupling.

It will be seen that the draft mechanism is simple and exceedingly inexpensive in construction, that it possesses great strength and durabilityand increases the strength and stability of cars, and that it mounts the carcoupling in such a manner as to permit it to yield to all lateral thrusts and vibrations incidentto the passage of a train over rough road-beds and around curves and thereby rclieves the framework of the car and the supporting devices entirely from such strain. It will also be apparent that itaffords free access to the spring and the follower plates or blocks and permits those parts to be readily assembled and removed without necessitating the removal of the other draft mechanism.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

.Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination with a car, and a drawhead, of a latorally-swinging stirrup supporting the shank or draw-bar of the draw-head and composed of vertical sides pivoted at their upper ends to the car, and. a transverse bottom piece extending beneath the shank or draw-bar of the draw-head and hinged at its ends to the lower terminals of the sides, substantiall y as described.

2. The combination with a car provided in its end sills with tapering openings, a drawhead, and pivots located at the upper ends of the tapering openings, of a jointed supporting-stirrup suspended from the said pivots and receiving the shank or draw-bar of the draw-head, the sides of the stirrup being arranged in the tapering openings, and the latter being of-sul'licient width to permit the stirrup to swing both transversely and longitudinally of the ear, substantially as described 3. The combination with a car, and a (l rawhead, of a stirrup depending from the car, re eeiving the shank or draw-bar of the drmw head and composed of sides pivoted at their upper terminals and provided at their lower ends with pins, and the horizontal bottom piece having its ends bifurcated to receive the sides and curved to engage the pins, substantially as and for the purpose described.

l. The combination with a car, of the longitudinal draft-irons arranged in pairs, provided with ways and having upper horizontal arms extending forward or outward, a drawhead having its shank or draw-bar located beneath the horizontal arms of the draftirons, a draft-bolt connected with the shank or draw-bar, a spring disposed on the draftbolt, and follower plates or blocks receiving the draft-bolt and arranged in the ways of the draft-irons, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a car, of longitudinal draft-irons composed of rectangular frames forming ways, and flanges arranged at the outer faces of the frames and provided with entrance-recesses, follower-plates arranged in the ways of the draft-irons and adapted to be passed through the entrance openings or recesses of the flanges, a drawhead, a draft-bolt connected with the shank or draw-bar of the draw-head and with the follower-plates, and a spring disposed on'the draft-bolt between the follower-plates, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a car, of longitudinal draft-irons comprising central rectangular frames forming ways, and upper and lower horizontal arms extending forward and rearward from the top and bottom of the frame, follower-plates detachably arranged in said ways, and a draw-head connected with the follower plates, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a car, of longitudinal draft-irons comprising central rectangular frames forming ways and provided at their outer faces with flanges having entrancerecesses, and upper and lower arms extending horizontally from the top and bottom of the frames, follower-plates arranged in said ways and adapted to be passed through the entrance-recesses, and bolts passing through the frames opposite the recesses, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the class described, a draftiron composed of a central rectangular frame or portion forming a way and provided with entrance recesses or openings communicating with the ways and upper and lower arms extending horizontally from the top and bottom of the frame, substantially as described.

9. In a device of the class described, a draftiron comprising a central rectangular frame forming ways, arms extending horizontally from the top and bottom of the frame, flanges extending around the rectangular frame and provided with recesses forming entrances to the said ways, the longitudinal strengthening-flange extending the entire length of the draft iron, and the lug extending upward from the top of the same, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES BRYANT THOMAS.

Witnesses:

J OHN II. SIGGERS, FRANCES PEYTON SMITH.

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