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A coupling or coupler is a mechanism, typically located at each end of a rail vehicle, that connects them together to form a train. The equipment that connects the couplers to the vehicles is the draft gear or draw gear, which must absorb the stresses of the coupling and the acceleration of the train.
Buffers and chain couplers (or couplings) – also known as "buffers and screw", "screw", and "screwlink" – are the de facto International Union of Railways (UIC) standard railway coupling used in the EU and UK, and on some railways in other parts of the world, such as in South America and India, on older rolling stock.
The railcar couplers or couplings listed, described, and depicted below are used worldwide on legacy and modern railways. Compatible and similar designs are frequently referred to using widely differing make, brand, regional or nick names, which can make describing standard or typical designs confusing.
The diagram from Beard's 1897 coupler patent [1]. Janney couplers were first patented in 1873 by Eli H. Janney (U.S. patent 138,405). [2] [3] Andrew Jackson Beard was amongst various inventors that made a multitude of improvements to the knuckle coupler; [1] Beard's patents were U.S. patent 594,059 granted 23 November 1897, which then sold for approximately $50,000, and U.S. patent 624,901 ...
Railway vehicles that were to be transferred to other parts of the network, run by other companies, had to be equipped with several buffers or coupling systems. Founded in 1882, the International Conference for Promoting Technical Uniformity on Railways specified the dimensions for buffer positions and distances customary in England and ...
The Type 10 includes "horns" to aid coupling on curves and include a function to provide standardised automatic air-brake connections; the coupling horn is often visible poking out at the front of the nose of high-speed trains. For European freight, the TSIs mandate buffer and chain couplings at specified heights.
The Scharfenberg coupler [1] (German: Scharfenbergkupplung, abbreviated Schaku) is a commonly used type of fully automatic railway coupling.. Designed in 1903 by Karl Scharfenberg in Königsberg, Germany (today Kaliningrad, Russia), the coupler has gradually spread from transit trains to regular passenger service trains, although outside Europe its use is generally restricted to mass transit ...
An axlebox, also known as a journal box in North America, is the mechanical subassembly on each end of the axles under a railway wagon, coach or locomotive; it contains bearings and thus transfers the wagon, coach or locomotive weight to the wheels and rails; the bearing design is typically oil-bathed plain bearings on older rolling stock, or roller bearings on newer rolling stock.