US380341A - mu-nroe - Google Patents

Description

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T. W. MU-NROB.

STATION INDIGATUR.

Patented'Apr. 3, 1888.

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T. W. MUNROE.

STATION INDICATOR.-

No. 380,341. 12mm-.ed Apr. 3, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

THOMAS VILLIAM MUNROE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, ASSIGNOR OF TVO-THIBDS TO HENRY BURPEE BERRYMAN, OF BERKELEY, OALFORNIA.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,341, dated April 3, 1888.

Application filed October 2G. 1887. Serial No. 253,479.

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern: A

Be it known that I, THoMAs WILLIAM MUN- ROE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing inthe city and county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Station-Indicators for Railway-Cars; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being hadto the drawings that accompany and form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in street or station indicators for railway-cars; and it consists of an improved indicator-box of the kind in which the names of the streets are arranged on separate cards or plates that are displayed one at a time in required order at a sight-opening in the box, and also of certain improved automatic mechanism for operating the indicator at proper intervals in the travel of the car through the agency of stops or projections set along the track.

My said improvements in indicator-boxes differ in several points and features from the indicator-box heretofore produced by me, and which I have already made the subject of an application for Letters Patent by my application iiled in the Patent Oflce on or about the 28th day of July, 1887, Serial No. 245,573, as in the present invention I have a single stationary card rack or holder anda double set of cards,with the names of the streets arranged on one half of the numberin the order in which the streets follow one another when traveling in one direction along the route, and on the other half of the number the same streets in reverse order, or for the return-trip of the car, so that the cards always circulate or move in the same direction within the box, and the mechanism that brings the cards in succession into View at the sight-opening is greatly simplifled and there is no reversing mechanism required.

The nature of these said improvements and the manner in which I construct, produce, and apply them are fully explained and set out in the following description, the accompanying drawings being referred to by gures and letters.

(No model.)

Figurelisafront view of my improved indi- 5o cater, with a portion of the case broken away t0 expose the interior. Fig. 2 is a section taken through Fig. l on the vertical line x as. Fig. 3 is a crossscction taken horizontally through the case at the line y y, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a View in side eleva-tion of the automatic mechanism, showing its arrangement on the car and its connection with the indicator. Fig. 5 is a front view of the box with two sightopenings.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The box or case A has a hinged front in which the sight-opening AX for the cards C is made. By providing two sight-openings, AX A2, Fig. 5, one below the other, of suitable height, proportioned to the size of the cards, other matter in addition to the name of the street can be arranged on each card and exposed to view at the lower opening while the 7o card is resting in the bottom oi' the case before it is elevated to the upper opening. This is illustrated by Fig. 5, where the card at the top sight-opening displays the name of the neXt street or station, while the front card of the 7 5 set in the bottom of the case shows at the lower opening such matter as may be arranged on the card for such purpose below the name of the street.

B is the rest or holder for the cards in the So bottom of the case, and D is the elevator that raises and holds up the cards to View behind the sight-opening. The bottom of the holder slopes or pitches toward the front for the purpose of throwing the top edges of the cards out of line, or one above the other. This position of the cards prevents the fingers DX ofthe elevator from takinginto the slits 0X of more than v one card at a time.

The cross-bar E, vwith its ends fixed in the 9o sides of the case, sets across the front of the card-holding space, and the cards rest against it in close order one behind the other. Springs F are fixed to the back of the case to throw the cards forward as they drop one after another 9 5 into the bottom of the case.

The elevator D has arms that play up and down in slots A3 from the back of the case, and

the ends of the arms, being bent inwardto set in front of the cards, are provided with fingers D", that take into the slits of the foremost card in the upward movement of the elevator from y the lower part of the case. These fingers catch into or seize a card and raise it up into the upper part of the case at each upward movement, and during the time the elevator is at rest they hold the top edge of the card so that it hangs perpendicularly, while its bottom edge just rests upon the inclined shelf H, which is set just below the line of the bottom edge of the sight-opening. The fingers turn on the ends ofthe arms and stand inward toward the face of the card. They are also pressed against the card by the springs gx, so that they slip into the slits as the elevator reaches the end of its downward movement and are in position t0 raise the card when the elevator rises. Each card raised and exposed to view in this manner is discharged and thrown to the back of the case at the downward movement of .the elevator, where it drops into place at the back of the cards standing in the card-holder and is pressed forward by the springs F. The spring-clips I, fixed to the top'of the case, are placed to confine the top edge of the card and prevent it from dropping either forward or backward when the elevator begins to move downward, as at such times the fingers are withdrawn from the slits, and the bottom edge of the card requires to be thrown inward, in order that it may slip from the inclined shelf. The front edge of this shelf is formed of a sheet of thin spring metal, as the card being raised by the elevator must pass between it and the front of the case, and then come into position to set on the shelf.

The automatic mechanism consists of the upright lever M, supported from the runninggear of the car in position to engage at its lower end with a stop, W, on the roadway and connected at the opposite end "by connecting rods and levers with the lower end of an upright rod, N, to the upper end of which the card-elevator D is fixed. The rod moves in the guides nx nx, and a slot, y, is cut through the casing of the carbody for the elevator to work in.

Connection of the rod N with the lever M is made by the lever P on the rock-shaft It, the connecting-rods S and T, and the bell-crank lever U, by which the movement of the lower end of the lever is multiplied at the rod and changed into the required upright or vertical movement. The end uX of the lever Uis connected by the link v to the end of the rod N, and the end of the other arm is connected to the lever P by the rod T, in which there is a telescopic joint, T TZ. In the operation of this mechanism t-he fixed stops IN, set at intervals valong the track, throw back the end of the lever M and draw back the rod T, so that the rod N, carrying the elevator, will drop down to its lowest position. The telescopic joint in this connecting-rod allows the rod to drop quickly, and also takes up whatever excess of movement there may be inthe rod T overv that required in the elevator. or cushion, wx, is interposed between the sliding parts of this joint to overcome thejar and noise when the two parts come together. The elevator is thus brought down and remains in the lower part of the indicator-case as long as the lower end of the lever M is riding on the raised projection W; but as it passes the projection the spring L and draw-rod LX bring the lever back, and through the movements of the levers M P U and connecting-rods S T throw up the elevator-rod N. In the interval of time between the action of one stop W and A spring the next the elevator remains in the upper part of the case and the card is exposed to view at the sight-opening.

The lever M is supported under the car from some part of the truck where it will not be affected by the play of the car -body on the springs and that its lower end may always stand at the same distance from the surface of the roadway. Ball-and-socket connections SX 8X between the ends of the connecting-rod S and the levers M P are also used to accommodate the swiveling movement of the carbody on the truck.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a street or station indicator for railway-cars, the combination of a suitable case having a sight opening, a set of indicator cards or plates, one half of which are provided with the names of the streets or other matter to be displayed in regular order and the other half thereof with the same matter repeated in reverse order, a vertically movable elevator which is adapted to take hold of theforemost card of the set, elevate it and hold it for display at the sight-opening, and to discharge or release said card in the manner set forth, and an inclined ledge or shelf in the case beneath the sight-opening to support the bottom edge of the card when elevated and to direct the fall of said card when released, as set forth.

2. In a street or station indicator for railway-cars, the elevator D, having fingers DX, adapted to engage the top part of va card or plate to be elevated, the rod N, connected to the elevator, lever M, having its lower end set to engage with a line of stops or projections on the track, the spring applied to draw the llever back after passing the projection, and the connecting-rod S, lever P, rod T, lever U, and link V, connecting the lever M with rod N, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a suitable case with a sight-opening, the separate name -bearing cards C, the elevator D DX, operating-rod N, connected to the elevator, shelf H in the case under the sight-opening, rest-bar E in the casein front of the upper ends of the cards, and mechanism,y substantially as described, adapted to be actuated by engaging with a line of stops or projections in the roadway IOOA IIO

IIS

and connected with the operatingrod to move cally-niovable elevating-ber having fingers DX the same down end up at intervals, as set forth. DX to engage the slits ex in one card at each 4. In a. street or station indicator, a set 0f downward movement and to raise the same independent cards or plates having openings by an upward movement to the upper part of I5 or slits cx, bearing the names of the streets or the case, in combination, as set forth. other matter to be displayed in the required In testimony that I claim the foregoing I order, a card rest or holder at the bottom of have hereunto set my hand and Seel. a. ease or box belowr a. sight-opening, a ledge THOMAS WILLIAM MUNROE. [n s.] or shelf in the case below the said sight-open Witnesses: ing, with an inclined top to take the bottom O. W. M. SMITH, edge of the card when elevated, and a vert- JAMES L. KING.

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