Balance lever coupling
The balancing lever coupling , also known as a rocking lever coupling or compensating coupling , is a type of central buffer coupling that has found widespread use , especially on narrow-gauge railways . In Switzerland , this type of coupling is called a central buffer with two screw couplings , or Zp2 for short .
description
With the balancing lever coupling, a movable balancing lever is mounted transversely behind the buffer , on which a hook is attached on one side and the coupling chain with turnbuckle on the other . If two vehicles with this coupling are facing each other, the chain on the balancing lever is hooked into the hook of the other coupling during the coupling process. This balancing lever can be attached in front of or behind the buffer support, in the latter case the hook and eye are passed through recesses in the buffer support. When fastening in front of the carrier, the tensile forces are also cushioned via the conical spring of the buffer; when fastening behind the carrier, the balancing lever is connected to the carrier via a second spring.
In the case of simple designs, the turnbuckle is partly replaced by a triangular isosceles chain link. This chain link has side lengths of different lengths, so the length of the coupling chain for separating or tensioning the train can be varied by simply turning the chain link. Instead of the coupling chain with turnbuckle, a screw coupling is also used in newer designs .
With the introduction of rolling vehicle traffic, the balancing lever coupling was combined with the funnel coupling on most of the narrow-gauge railways in order to be able to couple the rolling carriages using a dome tree. An additional auxiliary coupling for coupling the trolleys is common on Polish narrow-gauge railways. At the Rhaetian Railway , the roller bogies (roller carriages) are equipped with normal couplings, if necessary flat wagons can be lined up as protection wagons .
commitment
Examples of today's use of the balancing lever coupling are:
- Matterhorn Gotthard Railway (MGB)
- Rhaetian Railway (RhB)
- Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (HSB)
- Rügen Kleinbahn (RüKB)
- Diakofto - Kalavryta Rack Railway (SPAP-ΣΠΑΠ)
Individual evidence
- ^ VRS Verein Rollmaterialverzeichnis Schweiz (Ed.): Directory of the rolling stock of the Swiss private railways . 8401 Winterthur.