US380090A - John b - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) i I J. B. CLOT. sTRRRT AND STATION. INDICATOR TOR RAILWAY GARS. y

No. 380,0 90. Patented Mar. 27A, 1888.,

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NITED STATES ATENT C)1r1rrcn..y

JOHN B. CLOT, `OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

STREET AND STATION INDICATOR FOR` RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.. 380.090, dated March 27, 1888.

- Application tiled December 16, 1887. Serial No. 858,134. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, JOHN B. CLOT, a residentof the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improved Street or Station Indicator for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a. device which automatically exhibits the name of the street or station at which the carwill next arrive, the device being actuated by bringing a certain lever in contact with a raised longitudinal b ar set within the track a little beyond each street or station. l

The invention consists in certain arrangements of parts giving greater accuracy and certainty of operation than is generally obtained luy these devices, as is more fully set forth be- In the accompanying drawings, formingv part of this specification, Figure l is a plan of a portion of one end of 'a-car, including a truck-V frame for the carrying-wheels with my device attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a side View of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, on a larger scale, of the indicator and parts immediately connected therewith. Fig. 4 4A is a face view of the indicator with the center part broken away. Fig. 5 is a complete front view of the indicator.

rlhe same letters of reference are used to in-v dicate the same parts lin all the figures.

A is a barrel supported in a suitable box or frame, B, by having pointed thumb-screws C screwed into recesses in the ends of the barrel,

as shown in Fig. 4 4". The screws are in turn supported in the standards D, which are fastened by screws d to the ends of the box or frame. Around the periphery of the barrel, equidistant apart', there are a number of longitudinal rods, D, (or staplesA or eyescrews can be used if preferred.) On these are swung the name-plates F,as many as may be required, upon which the names ofthe streets or stations are plainly marked. The rods may be secured to the barrel by bending their ends inward and driving them into the surface of the barrel, which can be made of wood. On one end of the barrel there is a ratchetwheel, G, with as many teeth as there are name-plates. With this ratchet-wheel the pawl G engages. Every time its point swings up, the barrel is moved around one space and the na1ne-p]ate,- which at the moment leans against .the pins H H, is

drawn down suciently to escape the contact, and, falling over and down, uncovers the face of the name-plate behind, which in Aturn has which might occur from jarring, there is provided a weighted pawl, I, which swings into engagement with the teeth of the ratchetwheel as soon as the full stroke of the main pawl is accomplished. The outer endof the main pawl is connected with the Vertical rod J, which passes downward through the :door

of the car to attach to the overhanging arm K on the shaft L. The shaft L is made several feet long, the longer the better, and has one end held quite loosely in a journal-box, M, attached to underneath the car-door, while the other end is similarly accommodated in a journal-box, M', set upon the-truck-frame timbers, which maintain' a permanent height with relation to the track independent of any actionof the springs which may be applied to the truck. From the end of the shaft resting on the truck there is projected an arm, K', and from this there depends a rod, N, -carrying between its bifurcated lower end a wheel, O, which in riding over the raised bar P actuates the entire mechanism of the indicator. Y

The springs between the car-body and truck, or lthose on the truck itself, are variously arranged, and in some cases it may be necessary to support the journal-box M directly upon one of the axles ofthe carrying-wheels, the object being in all cases to gain such asteady support for this end of the shaft L that the height of the wheel O will bear an unvarying relation to the road-bed, notwithstanding any variation in the height of the car-body due to variations of its load upon its springs.V The bar P may be variously placed. In cable street-railways it would be well to fasten it to the slot-irons between the rails, and'wherever convenient to do so it should always be placed as near the middle of the track as possible,

where the influence of curves in the track (See Fig. 3.)

IOO

would be least felt. So, also, the journal-box M ought to be placed as near the center of the truck as possible, so as to avoid the difficulty of the truck swinging about in going around curves. Still, however, Where the shaft L is a long one, reaching from one end of the car to the other, or nearly so, and if plenty of play be allowed in the journal-boxes little or no difficulty need be experienced in going around curves. The back face of each of the several main plates may be utilized for advertising purposes.

There are cars which have no trucks, simply carrying the wheel-axles in pedestal-boxes secured to the car-body. In such casesthejournalbox M must be carried 'by the wheel-axle upon a sleeve which will permit of the axle revolving within it; or if, as sometimes is the case, the axle-boxes are inside between the wheels, then a bar may be carried across from box to box to support the box l As this matter is merely suggestive, no elaborate description is necessary.

I am aware that station-indicators have been operated by obstructions on the track similar to the bar P, and I am also aware that indicaters have been made with hinged name plates 0r leaves, and I do not, therefore, broadly claim the invention thereof, my invention consisting mainly in the improved arrangement of the parts in detail and means of automatically operating the whole.

It frequently happens that cars are changed from one route to another, in which case, although the indicator mechanism would be suitable, still the names on the hinged leaves would not be correct to indicate the names of the streets or stations on the new route. To

provide for this difficulty I arrange to support the barrel on thumbscrew pivots which can be screwed in or out in the act of removing one barrel and replacing it with another having suitably-inscribed leaves corresponding with the names of the streets or stations on the new route.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. The indicator herein described, consisting, essentially,of a barrel upon whose periphery a series of name-plates are set longitudinally and hinged thereto equidistant apart, a carrying-frame for same open in front to exhibit the names and inscriptions upon said plates, a ratchetwheel secured to one end of the barrel or its supportingpivot, a pawl engaging with said ratchet, and suitable mechanism actuated by an obstructing bar upon the track to automatically operate the indicator, substantially as herein described.

2. In stationindicators, the means of operating the same, herein described,consisting, essentially, of a horizontal shaft, L, set beneath the door of the car and held in the boxes M M', one secured to the car-body and rising and falling with the motion of the car upon its springs, and the other to the carrying-wheels axle directly or indirectly, so as to be immovable vertically, a horizontally-projecting arm, K, and rod J, connecting with the indicator mechanism, arm K', rod N, having wheel O, and bar P, arranged substantially as described.

3. A street or station indicator consisting, essentially, of a revolving barrel carrying a series of inscribed plates or leaves longitudinally hinged thereto and supported on pivots at both ends, one or both of which pivots is screwed through its supporting-standard into position so as to permit the withdrawal of the barrel with facility, and suitable operating mechanism, substantially as herein described.

JOHN B. CLOT.

Witnesses:

GEO. PARDY, JOHN D. HOOKER.

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