Counter crank
The counter crank is part of the external gate control of a steam locomotive, the most famous of which is the Heusinger control .
Application and purpose
The counter crank transfers the movement of the drive axle via the swing arm to the swing arm of the Heusinger control. You can see in the photo the fastening on the driving pin of the driving axle with a square. The counter crank can therefore be referred to as a maintenance-free connection to the control of the steam locomotive. Only the connection to the swing arm is provided with a lubrication point.
On the sketch you can see that during the steam locomotive movement a constant vibration is transmitted by the counter crank, which is not influenced by the position of the control rod and thus the control wheel in the driver's cab. The counter crank transfers the movement to the rocker arm by 90 °, which means that the slide rod remains in the end positions, and thus when the cylinder is filled with steam, and is only withdrawn from the end position after the crosshead has moved backwards.
literature
- Edmund Heusinger von Waldegg: Special Railway Technology, Third Volume, Der Lokomotivbau , Leipzig 1882
