Claims:
What is claimed is
1. A car coupler of the knuckle type comprising a head having a guard arm on one side thereof and a pivoted knuckle on its other side, said knuckle having a nose portion and a tail portion and being swingable from a closed position to an open position, said nose portion having on its rearward side a convex pulling face and having on its forward side a flat vertical aligning surface which commences at about the intersection of said surface with the longitudinal center line of the coupler and extends transversely and rearwardly therefrom when the knuckle is in closed position, said surface being at least about 1-1/8 inches in width, said surface when said knuckle is in closed position being adapted to engage the nose of the knuckle of a mating coupler when said last mentioned knuckle is in open position as the couplers approach for coupling from laterally displaced positions, said surface being so disposed as to cause sliding of said nose of the open knuckle along said surface so as to gather the couplers into position for coupling from laterally displaced apart positions of up to about 2-1/2 inches.
2. A coupler as set forth in claim 1 in which said aligning surface is disposed at an angle of about 26 degrees relative to a transverse vertical plane.
3. A coupler as set forth in claim 1 in which said aligning surface is disposed on said nose substantially directly forward of said pulling face.
4. A coupler as set forth in claim 1 in which said aligning surface is so disposed when the knuckle is in closed position that if extended toward said guard arm would intersect the forward end of the guard arm.
5. A knuckle for pivotal mounting in the head of a car coupler, said knuckle comprising a forward nose portion and a rearward tail portion, said nose portion having on its forward side a flat vertical aligning surface, said surface extending transversely and rearwardly from the intersection of the longitudinal center line of the coupler with the forward contour of said nose when the knuckle is in closed position, said surface being at least about 1-1/8 inches in width, said surface when said knuckle is in closed position being adapted to engage the nose of the knuckle of a mating coupler when said last-mentioned knuckle is in open position as the couplers approach for coupling from laterally displaced apart positions of up to about 2-1/2 inches.
6. A knuckle as set forth in claim 6 in which said aligning surface is disposed at an angle of about 26° relative to a transverse vertical plane.
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is usual procedure in the coupling of railway freight cars to have the knuckle of one coupler open and the knuckle of the mating coupler closed as the couplers approach for coupling. As often happens, the couplers are displaced laterally relative to each other and therefore knuckle-to-knuckle engagement may occur between the couplers as they come together. Under this condition the lateral displacement between the couplers cannot exceed about 1-1/4 inches, otherwise the couplers will not couple. Thus, if the displacement of each coupler from the center line of its car exceeds about five-eighths inches, the couplers will fail to couple because they will not gather or align into position for coupling together. The gathering range of about 1-1/4 inches applies to all of the A.A.R. (Association of American Railroads) standard couplers, as well as to non-standard knuckle type couplers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention involves a change in the contour of the knuckle of a knuckle type coupler whereby a substantial increase in gathering range is provided when two couplers engage knuckle-to-knuckle as they come together for coupling. Specifically, the contour of the forward face of the knuckle nose is modified so as to provide a guiding or gathering surface that is effective when the knuckle is in closed position and the opposing knuckle is in open position. This surface on the closed knuckle is adapted for engagement with the nose of the open knuckle of an opposing coupler to effect gathering of laterally displaced couplers into position from which coupling can be effected. The modified knuckle surface also is adapted to engage and cooperate with the modified knuckle surface as shown in W.J.Metzger U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,901, which issued June 20, 1972 on application Ser. No. 101,979, filed Dec. 28, 1970, to further increase the gathering range of the couplers.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the invention to increase the gathering range of a knuckle coupler by providing on the forward face of the knuckle nose a flat vertical aligning surface for engagement with the nose of a knuckle on an opposing coupler to align the couplers as they approach for coupling from laterally displaced positions relative to each other. The aligning surface is in functioning position when the knuckle is in closed position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a car coupler knuckle embodying the invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of two knuckle couplers not embodying the invention, showing the initial contact between their knuckles as the couplers approach for coupling from laterally displaced positions, one knuckle being open and one knuckle being closed.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of two couplers embodying the invention, showing the initial contact between their knuckles as the couplers approach from laterally displaced positions, one knuckle being open and the other knuckle being closed.
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing an open knuckle embodying a flat aligning surface on its nose in engagement with the nose of an opposing closed knuckle as the couplers approach for coupling.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring first to FIG. 2, the couplers shown are of the Association of American Railroads (A.A.R.) standard E type. This coupler has a head 10 having the usual guard arm 12 on one side thereof and a pivoted knuckle 14 on its other side. In order to couple two of these couplers, at least one of the knuckles thereof must be in open position. With A.A.R. standard E couplers, as well as with knuckle type couplers in general, the ability of the couplers to couple is most critical when the couplers are so displaced laterally of each other that, as they come together for coupling, contact between the couplers first occurs between their knuckle noses. It is well known that under this condition (one knuckle open and one knuckle closed) the maximum amount the couplers may be displaced laterally from each other and still be able to couple is 1-1/4 inches. This condition of maximum displacement of 1-1/4 inches between the A.A.R. standard E couplers is shown in FIG. 2, and is measured between the longitudinal center lines of coupler A whose knuckle is open and coupler A' whose knuckle is closed. If the couplers are moved together from this position, they should gather and couple. However, if it is attempted to couple them when they are displaced more than 1-1/4 inches, they will fail to gather and will not couple.
Referring now to FIG. 1 which shows an A.A.R. standard E knuckle embodying a contour modified in accordance with the present invention, the knuckle has a forward nose portion 16 and a rearwardly extending tail portion 18. The knuckle has the usual vertical opening 20 for receiving a pivot pin for pivotal mounting in the head of the coupler, as is well known in the art. In accordance with the invention, the nose 16 on its forward side is formed with a flat vertical surface 22 which serves to cooperate with the knuckle of an opposing coupler to increase the gathering range of the coupler, as will be hereinafter explained. Surface 22 commences at point c or at about the intersection of the present contour with the longitudinal construction line X--X, which represents the longitudinal center line of an A.A.R. standard E coupler in relation to its knuckle when the latter is in closed or coupled position. From point c surface 22 extends in a transverse and rearward direction relative to the coupler. Surface 22, if extended, would intersect the forward end of guard arm 12 of the coupler head, as at d in FIG. 3. The present contour of the forward side of the nose of the E knuckle is convexly curved and is shown in dot-dash at f in FIG. 1. Line Y--Y in FIG. 1 represents the coupling line of the coupler. It will be noted that surface 22 is so disposed in a direction transversely of the knuckle as to be substantially directly forward of the convex pulling surface 24 located on the rearward side of nose 16. Immediately adjacent pulling surface 24 is concave pulling surface 26. As is well known in the art, surfaces 24 and 26 are symmetrical about coupling line Y-Y and interengage with complementary pulling surfaces on the knuckle nose of a mating coupler when two couplers are coupled together and subjected to a force in pull.
The dimensions defining the position of surface 22 in relation to the present contour of the E knuckle are shown in FIG. 1. The length of the flat portion of surface 22 is approximately 1-1/8 inches as measured in a horizontal plane. This surface, of course, extends vertically substantially the full height of the knuckle. Surface 22 is disposed at an angle of about 26° relative to a transverse vertical plane passing through the knuckle. It will be understood that slight departures from the dimensions set forth in FIG. 1 for the construction of surface 22 are permissible without impairment of its aligning or gathering effectiveness during coupling operations.
In FIG. 3 are shown two couplers having knuckles modified in accordance with the invention, the lateral displacement between the couplers being such that the initial contact occurs between the noses of the knuckles. The total lateral displacement between the couplers is approximately 2-1/2 inches or twice that for the A.A.R. standard E couplers as shown in FIG. 2. The couplers of FIG. 3, when moved together from the position shown, will gather and will successfully couple. It will be observed that the forward edge of surface 22 of the closed knuckle engages the curved surface of the opposing nose of the open knuckle as at k. As the couplers are urged longitudinally towards each other, the nose of the open knuckle slides along surface 22, thereby aligning the couplers to enable coupling thereof. Once the alignment process has progressed to the point where the curved portion l of the nose of the open knuckle is in engagement with the curved nose of the opposing knuckle, each knuckle is well within the contour of the opposing coupler, and movement of the couplers to final coupled position takes place in the same manner as with knuckles not embodying surface 22.
In FIG. 4 both the closed and open knuckles are provided with aligning surface 22. In addition, the open knuckle is formed with surface 30 at the lateral extremity of its nose as disclosed in the aforementioned W. J. Metzger U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,901. The couplers shown in this view can be successfully coupled when displaced laterally from each other a total of 3 inches, or one-half inch more than the couplers in FIG. 3. It will be observed that surface 22 on the closed knuckle engages surface 30 on the open knuckle, as at p. As the couplers are urged longitudinally towards each other from the position shown, relative sliding will occur between surfaces 22 and 30 to align the couplers into position for coupling.
It will be recognized that there will be some variation allowed from the position and extent of surface 22 as shown, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, in order to adapt it to coupler knuckles which may not conform identically with the contour of the standard coupler knuckles.
It will be appreciated that the increased gathering is obtained when a knuckle having the improved contour is coupled with a coupler whose knuckle does not embody the aligning surface 22. Thus in FIG. 3 the open knuckle shown can be of the type shown in FIG. 2 and the increased gathering of 2-1/2 inches will be obtained.