US1022455A - Mail-delivery apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

H. 0. WILSON.

MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1, 1911.

Patented Apr 9, 1912.

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H. 0. WILSON.

MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.1, 1911.

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HOWARD' O. WILSON, OF AINSWORTH, NEBRASKA.

MAIL-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

Application led December 1, 1911.

Specification of Letters Patent.

My invention relates to mail delivery apparatus.

The present invention has for its object the provision, first, of a mail bag crane or holder adapted to be carried by the car which has novel means for retaining the mail bag, and is constructed and mounted as well as adapted to the car in a new manner. A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel catcher adapted to receive the mail bag from the crane, which is arranged so that it will whirl when the mail bag is received and compensate for the velocity of the mail bag delivered thereto and also compensate for the shock of the impact.

The invention embodies novel features and combinations of parts, examples of which are set forth hereinafter and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which'- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the mail bag ready to be caught; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the catcher; Fig. 3, a plan view thereof; Fig. 4, a detail vview of a catch for the stem of the mail bag holder; Fig. 5, a view in elevation, looking from the inside of the mail car of the delivery apparatus when in lowered position; and Fig. 6, a perspective of the crane and the devices for holding the mail bag thereon.

The catcher has a tubular post 1 adapted to be stationarily secured alongside of a track and in this post there telescopes a stem 2 whose upper end is made flat at 3 and projects through the head 4 of the bag receiver which is hinged thereto at 5. The pin 6 holds the bag receiver in horizontal position as also does a catch 7 carried by the bag receiver and engaging a notch in an arcshaped guide 8 which is secured to the stem 2 and passes through an opening in the bag receiver. The catch 7 enables the bag receiver to be securely locked in horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 2, but when the catch is released and the pin 6 removed, the bag receiver can be swung into a vertical position. The bag receiver has a semicircular arm 9 arranged somewhat concentric to the circular head 10, the space 11 between these parts serving as a channel or mouth to receive the intermediate part of the bag. A stout leaf spring 12 secured to the part 10 serves to release the bag from its crane and as a guard for the mouth of the channel 11 so that once the bag passes thereinto, it cannot accidentally be thrown out of said channel. To enable the arm 9 to be reversed to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 so that it may catch mail coming in either direction, it is provided with a shoulder 13, and there are thumb screws 14 which secure it to the head of the catcher. The object of the catcher being fto rapidly rotate in the tubular post or standard 1 and thus absorb the shock of reception of the mail bag, I provide a bracket 15 on the side of the post 1 through which is threaded thumb screw 16 carrying a friction shoe 17 which is received in an opening in the side of the standard 1 and bears against the stem 2. The tension of the shoe 17 on stem 2 may be regulated as found desirable so that the rotation of the catcher will be checked more or less rapidly as may be found desirable in practice.

Extending crosswise of the door-frame 20 of the car is a rod 21 (Fig. 5) which has an aperture 22. The rod also is provided with pinholes 24a, 24". Encircling the rod 21 is a tube 25 which has the slots 26 receiving the pin 24 according as it is inserted in hole 242L or 241. The sleeve 25 has a slot 25EL adapted to receive the pin 22. A plug 27 is connected to rod 21 by any suitable flexible connection, being adapted for reception in the aperture 22. Disposed crosswise of the tube or sleeve 25 is another tube or sleeve 30, the arrangement being clear from Fig. 1. This tube or sleeve has converging slots 31 and 32 whose ends terminate substantially at a distance of'substantially 90 apart. Pivoted to the tube 30 are the catches 33 and 34 (Fig. 4), and there is pivoted to said tube a retaining catch 35 which is held in a position intermediate of the catches 33 and 34 and in line with the longitudinal axis of tube 30 by a leaf spring 36. The catch 35 has points which are adapted to be received in notches in the catches 33 and 34, whereby the catch 35 may be retained in one position or the other, as shown in Fig. 4.

Slidable longitudinally within and also adapted to rotate within the sleeve or tube 30 is the stem 40 of a crane 41, the stembeing provided with a pin 42 which is adapted to travel in either of the slots 31 lor 32, or to be retained by the catch 35, as

shown in Fig. 4. The stem 40 is provided with a suitable jointed handle 43 by which it may beslid lengthwise in tube 30 or rotated therein, and it also has openings 44,

diametrically disposed, respectively, adapt! `coperate with the fingers 46 to hold the rings of the mail bag thereon. The catches 48 are provided with extensions 50 which overlap at 51 so that the operator can press upon both of them simultaneously to throw the legs 49 of the catches back. Vhen the extensions 50, 51 strike the leaf spring 12, the legs 49 of the catches are pressed back by the spring 12 and the members 9 and 10 snatch the mail bag from the fingers 46, the bag being then supported by the parts 9 and 10. To enable the crane to be held in suitable position for attachment of the mail bag thereto when in the depending position shown in Fig. 5, I provide a swinging arm 52 carried by the frame 20.

"When the train is moving in the direction indicated by the arrow B, Fig. 5, pin 24 is placed in pinhole 24b and catch 35 is pushed to the left and held in position by catch 33, thereby clearing slot 32; plug 27 is pulled from hole 22 allowing the fork 41 to be swung into the car far enough to permit the application thereto of the mail bag or bags, the fork being held in this position by the catch 52, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5. Fingers 46 point toward inside of car in Fig. 5. The rings of one or more mail sacks are placed over fingers 46 where they are held in position by the legs 49 engaging with the fingers 46. The catch 52 is now pushed aside to the full line position shown in Fig. 5 and the sleeve 25 is slid on the bar 21 so that the pin 24 slides the full length of'the lower horizontal portion of slot 26. On grasping the handle 43, the fork 41 carrying the mail bags may be swung outwardly and upwardly, the pin 24 following the full length of the vertical portion of slot 26. From this position the air pressure due to the motion of the train and which strikes the mail bags, will slide the sleeve 25 on the rod 21 until pin 24 has traveled the full length of the upper horizontal portion of the slot 26, whereupon the motion of the train holds the parts in this ufingers 46 pointing backwardly.

position. When the parts are in this position, the sacks and the fork 41 are horizontal with the fingers 46 pointing downwardly. Catch 45 is now released and stem 40 is shoved outward through tube 30; the pin 42 by following slot 32 turning the fork 41 until, when fully extended, catch 45 engages notch 44, the sacks and fork 41 being then in a perpendicular position with the In this position the crane is ready to deliver the sacks to the catcher shown at the left of Fig. 1.

llhen the train is running in the direction of the arrow A, Fig. 5, plug 24 is placed in pinhole 24a and catch 35 is pushed to the right where it is held by catch 34, thus clearing slot 31. Plug 27 is pulled out of hole 22, and the fork swung into the car and the mail sacks supplied thereto, as previously described. Thereupon sleeve 25 is slid to the right the full length of the lower horizontal portion of slot 26, thereby reversing the position of fork 41 from that previously described and adapting the device to the delivery of the sack o-r sacks held thereby.

The catcher and crane are relatively so positioned that the mail bag first strikes the spring 12 and passes into the channel 11 and is snatched from the crane, the releasing of -the catches allowing the rings of the bag to slip off of the fingers 46. rIhe bag being received in the channel 11, the catcher whirls around and finally comes to rest, thus absorbing the velocity of the mail sack and the shock of its delivery. After delivering` the bag, the catch 45 is released, the handle 43 pulled inwardly, and a reversal of the operations heretofore described'having occurred, the crane is brought to the vertical position shown in Fig. 5.

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

1. In a mail delivery apparatus, the combination with a rotary circular head, of an arc-shaped arm separated from said head by a space adapted to receive the mail bag` and adaptable to be positioned on either side of said head.

2. In a mail delivery apparatus, a catcher having a rotary stem, a head hinged thereto crane may be disposed vertically or horizontally and turned to different positions.

4. In a mail delivery apparatus, a crane having a stem mounted to swing outwardly from the car and also mounted for rotation on its own longitudinal axis, whereby the crane may be disposed vertically or horizontally and turned to different positions, and means for locking the crane in either horizontal or vertical position.

5. In a mail delivery apparatus, a crane having a stem mounted to swing outwardly from the car and also mounted for rotation on its own longitudinal axis, whereby the crane may be disposed vertically or horizontally and turned to diiferent positions, said stem also being slidable in the direction of its length.

6. In a mail delivery apparatus, a crane having a stem mounted to swing outwardly from the car and also mounted for rotation on its own longitudinal axis, whereby the crane may be disposed vertically or horizontally and turned to dilferent positions, means for locking the stem in horizontal position, and means for locking said crane in vertical position when disposed horizontally.

7. In a mail delivery apparatus, a crane having a stem mounted to swing outwardly from the car and also mounted for rot-ation on its own longitudinal axis, whereby the crane may be disposed vertically or horizontally and turned. to different positions, means for locking the stem in horizontal position, and means for locking said crane in vertical position when disposed horizontally and for locking the stem and crane in vertical position when not in use.

8. In a mail delivery apparatus, a crane having a stein, a hinged tube or sleeve in which said stem is longitudinally slidable, said tube or sleeve having an oblique slot, and a pin carried by the stem which is adapted to travel in the slot, whereby the crane may be swung from a vertical to a horizontal position and vice versa and the stem turned to bring the crane into vertical position when the stem is disposed horizontally.

9. In a mail delivery apparatus, the combination with a hinged tube or sleeve having oblique converging slots, of a stem rotatable and slidable in said sleeve, a crane carried by said stem, a pin carried by the stem and adapted to slide in either of the slots aforesaid, and catch mechanism for locking or releasing said pin when at the junction of said slots, whereby the crane can be swung horizontally and turned to vertical position or vice versa.

10. In a mail delivery apparatus, the combination with a crane having upper and lower arms adapted to engage the respective ends of a mail bag, of spring closed hinged locking or retaining catches adapted to hold the mail bag on the arms, and provided with means positioned so that they will be struck by the mail bag catching apparatus whereby they are automatically disengaged to release the bag from the crane.

11. In a mail delivery apparatus, the combination with a crane having upper and lower arms adapted to engage the respective ends of a mail bag, of spring closed hinged locking or retaining catches adapted to hold the mail bag on the arms, said catches having upright arms disposed in advance of the mail bag and adapted to be struck by the mail bag devices in advance of its catching the bag to thereby iirst release the bag.

12. In a mail delivery apparatus, a horizontally rotatable catcher having horizontally disposed separated arms adapted for the reception of the bag therebetween and to whirl as the bag is received from the crane on the car to thereby compensate for the velocity of the mail bag and absorb the shock of the delivery thereof.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' HOWARD O. WILSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK S. ToLIvER, JOHN B. S'roLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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