US1019984A

US1019984A - Mail-box-transmission system.

Info

Publication number: US1019984A
Application number: US66361411A
Authority: US
Inventors: John Mcgee
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1911-12-02
Filing date: 1911-12-02
Publication date: 1912-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 1929-03-12

Description

J. MQGEE. MAIL BOX TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.2,1911.

Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

' UNITE JOHN MOGEE, 0F QUINLAIN, TEXAS.

MAIL-BOX-TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

Application filed December 2, 1911. Serial No. 663,614.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN McGnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Quinlan, in the county of Hunt and Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Box lransmis 'sion Systems, of which the following is a specification.

,My invention relates to new and useful improvements in cable transmission systems for mail boxes.

In rural districts, the mail box at the road side is often removed a considerable distance from the farm house to which it-is desired to deliver the mail, and for this reason the residents along a rural delivery route are put to the inconvenience of a trip from the farm house to the road side and back each time the rural postman passes. The making of such a trip is more particularly a hardship in rainy weather or when the ground is muddy. lVloreovcr unless a resident along a rural route happens to be in sight of the mail box at the time the postman passes, he cannot be certain whether or not any letters were placed. in his box, and he may therefore uselessly make a trip from the house to the mail box.

It is the object of the present invention to rovide a cable transmission system especially adapted for use on rural delivery routes, for the purpose of transmitting a mail-box from the roadside to a farmhouse and vice versa, thus saving the farmer the trouble and annoyance of walking back and forth between the farm-house and mailbox to secure his letters.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cable transmission system comprising a mail-box adapted to travel freely along the cable upon a, wheeled frame, the extremities of the cable being adapted to undergo vertical adjustment in order that the cable may be so inclined as to produce travel of the mail box in either direction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism adapted to be actuated by the postman with little effort and adapted to produce travel of the mail-box from the road-side to a farm house along the cable.

A still further object is to provide a manually operated means for raising that ex- State of.

tremity ofthe cable which is adjacent to the farlfi-house, so that the mail-box may thus I be returned to the road-side after its con-' tents have been removed at the farm-house.

Finally an object of: the invention is to provide a device of the character described that will be strong, durable simple and cilicient, and comparatively easy to construct, and also one the various parts of which will not be likely to get out of working order.

WVith these and various other objects in view my invention has relation to certain novel features of the construction and operation, an example of which is described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of the herein described cable transmission system, a mail box being shown in transit upon the cable, traveling from the farm-house to the road-side. Fig. S2 is a detail perspective view showing a mechanism which may be operated by the postman to release the means provided for holding the roadside extremity of the cable down, so that said extremity may be elevated to rn-oduce the travel of the mail-box to the farm-house.

Referring now more mrticularly to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate similar parts in both the figures, the numeral 1 denotes two pairs of vertical posts, one pair being side, or the receiving end of the system, and the other pair at the farn'i-house, or delivery end. The upper extremities of each pair of posts are rigidly connected by a horizontal crosspiece 2. The upper extremities of the two posts at the delivery end of the system are funther connected by a pair of short beams 3, inclined upwardly toward each other and meeting midway between said posts. From the middle of each cross-piece 2, a bar 1- is extended downward at an inclination of approximately 45 degrees, said bars being oppositely inclined and positioned in the same imaginary vertical plane passing midway between the two pairs of )osts.

The lower extremity of the rod 4 which is correlated with the posts 1 at the delivery cod (adjacent to the farmhouse) is held rigid by a pair of brace rods 5, which extend convergently from the lower extremilocated at the read ties of said posts 1. The lower extremity of the rod 4, which is correlated with the posts 1 at the receiving end of the's ystem (adja cent to the road-side) is rigidly secured to a short "vertical post 6, embedded in the ground. Upon each of the inclined rods 4 there is mounted a wheel 7 having ,a grooved rim adapted to receive said rod. As will presently be explained the wheels 7 are Itive rods4, thereby thesystem being heavier than that provided at. the receiving end.. The rod 4 at the revce'aiyin'g end of the system is provided at its lowerext-remity with a recessed portlon 11 oi jhpproxi'mately semicircular shape, which portion is adapted to receive the wheel 7 car-.

ried by said rod, holding the rod against a tendency to'upward travel upon the rod due adjacent to the road-si e.

to atension in the cable 9 acting toward the delivery end and occasionedby the heavier weight 10 at said end of'the system.

As will presently be explained a wheeled frame supporting a mailbox is adapted-to travel upon the cable 9, and when the wheel 7 rests in the recess 11,said wheeled frame with its correlated mail-box will occupy a position at the receivin end of the system After the rural postman has deposited mail in the box, he

may cause the same to travel from'the receiving t'o the delivery end of the system by releasing the wheel 7 from the recess 11 thus permitting said wheel to travel up the,

inclined rod 4 under the force already ex plained as due to the heavier weight 10 at the delivery end of the system.

In order to facilitate the operation of raisin the wheel 7 from the recess 11, and in or er-to save time for the postman, a mechanism is provided'whi'ch will produce the desired result through the operation of a pivoted lever, readily accessible for manipulation. This lever which is designated by the numeral 12 is pivotally supported in a bracket 13 surmounted upon the post 6.. One extremity of said lever is provided with a handleand the otherextremity. is bifur-, Gated as is clearly shown inFig. 2 the furupward and made to respec ,ively engage the extremities of the spindle 7 beneath said spams. Itgis thus apparent that when the cations thus formed being! turned slightly vinga shank 8*? projecting par-- handle portion of the lever is depressed,

there will result an upward displacement of the bifurcated ends of the lever, thereby elevating the wheel 7 from the recess 11, so that said wheel will be free to travel up the inclined rod 4 upon which it is mounted.

As the wheel 7 travels up the rod at the receiving end of the system, the wheel 7 at the delivery end willttravel down its supporting rod (due to the superior weight 10 at the delivery end as compared with the weight 10 at the receiving end).

At the delivery end of the system a cord 14 isattached to the shank 8*- and is extended upwardly passing over a small sheave 15.

rotatably mounted in a bracket projecting downwardly from the juncture of the two beams 3. After aparty on a rural delivery route has removed his mail from the box, by

exertingapull upon the cord 14, he will -cause the wheel 7 with its correlated parts to travel up the rod 4 at the delivery end, the corresponding parts at the other end of the system at the same time traveling downward upon the rod 4, due to the weight 10 at said end of the system. Owing to the inclination thus given to the cable 9, the wheeled frame and the mailbox supported thereby will travel down the cable andjoe returned to their normal position at the road-side. When the wheel 7 at the receiv ing and of the system reaches the lower extremity of its supporting rod, said wheel.

will enter the recess 11, thus preventing upward travelof said wheel when tension upon the cord 14 is released. The wheeled frame which is adapted to travel" along the cable is denoted by the numeral 16., and the wheels resting upon the a ble and supporting said numeral 157N105 frame are designatell by the The mail box which is supported by the frame 16 is denoted by the numeral 18.

The above explanation of the construction of thecable system is believed to make the operation thereof quite clear. Normally the

parts

16, 17 and 18 comprising a wheeled frame supporting a mail box will be positioned at the receivingend of the system adjacent to the road-side. In case the postman has no mail for the party to whom the box belongs, he will of course leave the same unmolested, the owner of the box thereby knowing that no letters have come for him.

In case there should be mail for the owner of the box, the postman after having placed the same in the box would simply exert a' slight downward pressure upon the handle 12, whereupon as previously explained the cable will assume an inclination such that the box will at once travel to the house, where the owner thereof may secure his mail without inconvenience. The owner of the box will then pull upon the cord 14, suffi ciently to raise the wheel 7 with its correlated parts (at the delivery end) whereupon within the scope of the following claims p the box will travel back to its normal position and remain there until the next delivery of mail.

The invention is presented as including all such changes and modifications as come Nha t I claim is 1. A cable transmission system comprising oppositely inclined rods, one of which is located at each end of the system, "a wheel adapted to travel upon each of said rods, a bracket in which each wheel is mounted, a cable connecting said brackets, two unequal weights, one of which is attached to each bracket, a wheeled frame adapted to travel upon said cable, and means for holding the wheel which has the lighter weight attached to its correlated bracket, to prevent upward travel oi said wheel.

2. A cable transmission system comprising oppositely inclined rods, one of which is locarted at each end of the system, a wheel adapted to travel upon each of said rods, a

4 bracket in which each wheel is mounted, a

cable connecting said brackets, two unequal weights, one of which is attached to each bracket, a wheeled frame adapted to travel upon said cable, means for holding the wheel which has the lighter weight attached to its correlated bracket to prevent upward travel of said wheel, and a manually operated means for releasing said wheel from the means for holding the same.

A cable transmission system comprising oppositely inclix'ied rods, one of which is located at each end of the system, a wheel adapted to travel upon each of said rods, a bracket in which each wheel is mounted, a cable connecting said brackets, two unequal weights one of which is attached to each bracket, a wheeled frame adapted to travel upon said cable, and a manually operated means for raising the bracket to which the heavier weight is attached. I

4. A cable transmission system comprising oppositely inclined 1'0ds, one of which is located at each end of the system, a wheel adapted to travel upon each of said rods, a bracket in which each wheel is mounted, a cable connecting said brackets, two unequal weights one of which is attached to each bracket, a wheeled frame adapted to travel upon said cable, means for holding the wheel which has the lighter weight attached to its correlated bracket to prevent upward travel of said wheel, and a manually operated means for raising the bracket to which the heavier Weight is attached.

5. A cable transmission system compris- 'ing oppositely inclined rods, one of which is ,located at each end of the system, a wheel adapted totravel upon each of said rods, a bracket m which each wheel is mounted, a

cable connecting said brackets, two unequal weights one of which is attached to. each bracket, a wheeled frame adapted to travel upon said cable, means for holding, the wheel which has the lighter weight attached to its correlated bracket to prevent upward travel of said wheel, a manually operated means for releasing the last named wheel from the holding means, and a manually operated means for raising the bracket to which the heavier weight is attached.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN McGEE.

Witnesses:

R. B. BowoeN, J. L. SMITH.