US1059792A - Mail-bag catcher. - Google Patents

Description

J. WADE.

MAIL BAG GATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30, 1912.

1,059,792. Patented Apr. 22, 1913;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. WADE.

MAIL BAG GATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED 110130, 1912.

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

2 S HEETS-SHEET 2.

' ammm c7196 mdfi tins J OE WADE, OF RUSSELLVILLE, ARKANSAS.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER.

osaaoa Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

Application filed November 30, 1912. Serial No. 734,355.

17 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OE WADE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Russellville, in the county of Pope and State of Arkansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail bag catchers; and it has for its object the provision of apparatus of this character which may be operatively connected in the door-opening of a car and arranged for manual adjustment therein whereby it may be quickly eX- tended to a collecting position or swung into the car as the occasion may demand.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mail bag catcher which will include a rotatably adjustable supporting shaft, a collecting arm and means for adjusting the collecting arm inparallel relation with the supporting shaft so that the efiective bag grasping and collecting portion thereof may be accurately adjusted with relation to the bag delivering crane.

Another object of the invention is to provide a single actuating means which may be operated manually to effect rotary adjustments of thesupporting shaft and parallel adjustments of the collecting arm.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for positively holding the collecting arm and the supporting shaft in operative collecting position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of mail bag catching apparatus which will include a collecting arm having relatively yieldable bag embracing and clamping jaws embodying therein a trip mechanism for normally holding the jaws extended relatively.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the tripping mechanism of the collecting jaws will be disposed in the effective path of the bag so as to be operated thereby on contact therewith andinsure an immediate adjustment of the jaws to bag clamping and retaining positions.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective view of a car, showing the application of the catcher thereto; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the car, showing the collecting arm in an extended position beyond the door opening; Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. at is a section on line 44- of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a top plan View of the collecting arms, showing the jaws thereof in collecting position, portions of the aws being shown in section; and Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing the jaws in opened position.

The catching apparatus is shown to include bearings 1 and 2, which are disposed in line with each other and secured to the side bars A of the door-opening B of the car C herein conventionally shown. A supporting shaft 1 has its ends mounted in bearings '1 and 2, whereby the shaft is free for rotation to permit the collecting arm of the apparatus to be adjusted to operative and inoperative position, as the occasion may demand.

A collecting arm 5 is disposed in parallel relation with the supporting shaft 4: and as illustrated said arm is pivotally connected at 6 with a link 7, the latter having pivotal connection at 8 with the shaft 4. Adjacent to the opposite end, the collecting arm 5 is pivotally connected as at 10 with a lever 13. The latter having pivotal connection at 14 with said shaft 4. The lever 13 is extended inwardly beyond the supporting shaft 4, where it is provided with a dog 16, which may be engaged yieldingly under the influence of the spring 17 with a rack segment 18, the latter being secured to the shaft 4 and disposed in concentric relation with the pivot 14: of the lever. From this connection it is evident that the lever 13 can be rocked on the shaft 4 and positioned at the desired point upon the rack segment 18 to cause the dog 16 to engage with the rack and thereby retain the required adjustment of the collecting arm. Adjustment of the arm 5 is desirable in that the elfective bag collecting portion thereof may be adjusted with relation to the mail crane, not shown, and thereby made to effectually grasp the bag and withdraw the same from the crane as is evident.

In order that the shaft l may be held against rotation and thereby relieve the operator of the trouble of holding the collecting arm 5 in an operative collecting position, I provide the bearing 2 with a con centric rack 19 with which a locking dog 20 of the shaft 4 may be engaged, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The collecting end of the arm 5 supports a fixed jaw 2d and a pivoted jaw 25,tlie latter tending to move normally toward the jaw 24: under the influence of a closing spring 26. The fixed jaw is connected with a pivoted trip 27, which is adapted for movements in a slot 28 in the movable jaw and to engage with a keeper 29 of said movable jaw whereby to hold the latter against the action of the spring 26. A handle 30 of the trip 27 may be engaged by the hand, and adjusted so as to move the trip into operative position with the keeper. The trip extends across the bag collecting space between the companion jaws 24 and 25 where it is disposed directly in the path of the bag so as to be actuated thereby and released or permit both of the jaws to move relatively into proper grip ping contact with the bag.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A mail bag catcher comprising a revolubly mounted shaft, means for supporting the shaft in the door opening of a car, means for holding the shaft against rotation, a rocking lever mounted on the shaft, a link mounted for rocking movement upon the shaft and movable parallel with the lever, and a collecting arm operatively connecting the link with the lever.

2. A mail bag catcher comprising a revolubly mounted shaft, means for supporting the shaft in the door opening of a-car, means for holding the shaft against rotation, a rocking lever mounted on the shaft, a link mounted for rocking movement upon the shaft and movable parallel with the lever, a collecting arm operatively connecting the link with the lever and including a fixed jaw and a movable jaw, a spring open ating against the movable jaw for moving the same in the direction of the fixed jaw, a trip carried by the fixed jaw and extending across the spacebetween both jaws when the device is-set to an operative bag receiving position, and means on the movable jaw for engaging the trip whereby to normally hold the movable jaw in an operative bag collecting position with relation to the fixed jaw.

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

' JOE l/VADE. Witnesses W. H. TEAL, VEITER HOLT.

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

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