US1039626A - Street or station indicator. - Google Patents

Description

D. S. WISEHART, STREET OR STATION INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23, 1911.

1,039,626 Patented Sept. 24,1912.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Mimi 94d D. S. WISEHART.

STREET 0R STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23, 1911.

1,039,626. Patented Sep 1912.

3 SHEET ET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH c0" WASHINGTON. D. :4

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

D. S. WISEHART. I STREET OR STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23, mm.

HAFI

i W i wucwto'z DOCTOR SMITH WISEHART, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

STREET OR STATION INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Application filed August 23, 1911. Serial No. 645,605.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, Docron S1\[IT.II 'Wlsn- HART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Street or Station Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to street or station indicators, and has for an object to provide an apparatus of this character for use in public conveyances such as street cars or the like to indicate the names of the streets or stations in proper order or succession when approaching the same or when stops are made.

Another objectof the invention is to provide an indicator which will include an indicating apron on which. the names of the streets or stations are printed or otherwise suitably arranged and to further provide winding rollers for supporting the apron and for accurately winding the same on movement of the apron to its display posi tion.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide the companion supporting rollers for the apron with springs which operate in opposition to each other so that as the apron is wound upon one roller under the tension of the spring, the spring adjacent the receiving roller will be unwound so as to effectively move the apron in either direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a counterbalancing brake member which will operate to normally arrest the feed or apron supporting rollers and to hold the apron operatively in its adjusted position after the apron is adjusted to station-display position.

In the drawings, forming a portion of this specification and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views: Figure 1 is a side view of the indicator. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the apron-reversing means operatively connected with the controlling lever. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the indicator. Fig. l is a section on line 4-4 of Fig 3. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the omission of the guiding and display rollers. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the controlling lever. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the winding lever. Fig. 8 is a section on line 88 of Fig. 1.

The indicator comprises a suitable casing or housing 1 which may be mounted in any suitable well known manner on the car so as to be disposed in full view of the passengers. The casing has mounted therewithin superimposed apron-supporting rollers 2 and 3 each including a winding spring These springs are provided with portions 4? which are fixedly secured to the casing and portions 6 which are fixedly secured to the rollers. In advance of the rollers 2 and i3, and suitably journaled in the walls of the casing l are combined guiding and display rollers 7 and 8, each being preferably provided with a central axle 9 which extends through the sides of the casing, as shown.

The terminal ends of the indicator apron 10 are wound in opposite directions around the rollers 2 and 3 respectively, and as shown, said apron is extended over the combined guiding and display rollers 7 and 8 so that any desired indicating portion of the apron can be quickly brought into registra tion with the transparent display portion 1 l of the casing. The rollers 7 and 8 are provided with peripheral radially extending teeth 12 which are adapted to fit in cor respondingly formed perforations 18 in the apron 10.

From the construction described it will be seen that when the apron is traveling in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the spring on the uppermost roller is being placed under tension. In other words, this spring is being wound on the unwinding of the lower spring and vice versa. lVith view of retarding the move ment of the apron under the influence of the springs 4, I provide a brake or counterbalancing roller 14. This roller is revolublv mounted in the casing 1 and is provided with an axle 15, the ends of which are supported in the journal portions 16 of the springs 17 The roller 1% is provided with a peripheral elastic surface 18, and under the influence of the springs 17 the roller is held in a position to cause the surface 18 thereof to be frictionally engaged with the peripheral surface of the display roller 7.

One end of the axle 9 of the display roller 7 has fixedly mounted thereon a ratchet feed wheel 20 which is preferably provided with peripheral suitably spaced sockets 21. A controlling lever 22 is loosely supported on this end of the axle, and asshown, the lever is provided at one side with a substantially semi-cylindrical extension 23 which extends into the casing, the surfaces 2% of the extension being yieldingly engaged by the extremities ot a restoring spring 26, the said spring operating to hold the lever 22 normally in a neutral position, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The lever is provided with a sliding dog 27 which is normally held disengaged from the wheel 20 through the in'tluence of a spring 28, the latter having one end bearing against the dog guide 29 and the opposite end engaged against the shoulder 30 ot the dog. The outer end of the dog is pivoted, at 31, to a rock member 32. The lever 22 is provided at opposite sides of the axial line of the dog with ears 33 and The former mentioned ear is adapted to interchangeably receive the rocking member 32 through the medium of the pivot pin that is to say, reference being more particularly directed. to Fig. 2 of the drawing, that when it is desired to reverse the apron the free end 32 of the rocking member 32 is pivotally connected with the ear by means of the pin It will, of course, be understood as illustrated in the drawing, that these ears and rocking member are provided with alining perforations to permit the interchangeable connection of the said rocking member with respect to said ears. The said apertured ear 35% may be employed for the insertion of a pin or the like, whereby the upward movement of the free end of the rocking member 32 may be limited and by so doing will control the engagement of the dog 27 with the spaced sockets 21. An actuating cable 36 depends from one end of the member 32 and is adapted to be manually actuated when it is desired. to move the apron to station-display position. On reference to Fig.1 of the drawings, it will be seen that the rocking member 32 is pivotally connected with the cars :33 of the controlling lever. N ow, when it is desired to move the apron in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the actuating cable 36 is pulled downwardly. This rocks the member 32 so as to impart sliding movement to the dog 27, causing the dog to operatively engage in one of the notches 21 in the feed wheel 20. On further downward movement of the actuating cable the feed wheel 20 and the roller 7 will be revolved so as to cause the apron to be moved across the display portion 11 of the casing. To limit the movement of the lever 22 in two directions, I provide the stops 3? and 38 each being provided with a threaded stem 39 which is removably fitted in a correspondingly formed passage d0 in one of the walls of the casing, a series of such passages being employed and the stops 37 and 88 being interchangeably fitted therein. When it is de sired to move the apron in a reverse direction, the rocking member 32 is interchangeably pivoted by pivotally connecting its terminal end 32 with the ear 83, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, and the actuating cable 36 is extended upwardly and over the guiding rollers a1 and L2 which are mounted on one side of the casing at a point adjacent to the feed wheel 20, the rollers 4L1 being disposed above the plane of the controlling lever 22. Should it be desired to wind the apron continuously from one of the supporting rollers to the other, I provide the winding crank -13, the same being fitted to one end of the axle 2, as shown.

I claim:

1. An indicator comprising a housing, winding rollers for a roll of display tape mounted in said housing, guiding rollers for unwinding the tape from one of the rollers, a shaft supporting one of the guiding rollers means for causing the tape to be wound upon the other roller, a driving gear wheel on the shaft of one of the guiding rollers, an actuating lever mounted on said shaft on the outside of said casing, a dog slidably mounted on the actuating lever and normally disengaged from the said gear wheel, controlling means for the dog for moving the same into engagement with the gear wheel, an extension carried by said lever and extending within said casing, a spring engaging said extension for normally holding said actuat ing lever in neutral position.

2. An indicator comprising a display tape, winding rollers therefor, guiding rollers for the tape, a shaft supporting one of the guiding rollers, a gear wheel on the shaft, an actuating lever movable on the shaft and provided with an ear, a dog slidably engaged with the lever and normally disengaged from the gear wheel, a spring engaging the lever to hold the same yieldingly against movement in one direction, a dog controlling member carried by the actuating lever and an actuating element operating to simultaneously move the actuating lever and to move the dog to an engaged position with said gear wheel, said actuating element being adapted for an interchangeable connection with said car.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

D. SMITH IVISEI-IART.

Witnesses J A0013, A. .ADAMS, JACOB II. LATHAM.

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

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