US1094834A - Cattle-guard. - Google Patents

Description

A. O. BRIXEN.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1913.

1,094,834. Patented Apr. 28, 1914/ sat n:

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFIE ANDREW C. BRIXEN, OF LAURIN, MONTANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO PHILIPPE O. JOHNSON, OF LAURIN, MONTANA.

CATTLE-GUARD.

Application filed. March 11,

To all 207mm "it may concern Be it known that 1, ANDREW C. BRIXEN. a citizen of the United States residing at Laurin, in the county of Madison, State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Guards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to cattle guards and has for an object to provide a cattle guard which may be applied to a railway track on the side of a road crossing and will prevent cattle leaving the road and walking up the track.

A further object is the provision of novel guards between and on each outer side of the rails, such guards normally lying flat on the ties, and being so mounted as to tilt up upon an animal venturing thereupon and form a fence which will obstruct further ac cess of the animal to the railway track.

A still further object is the provision of an extremely simple and inexpensive cattle guard which may be formed of a few strong parts that will not easily get out of order.

ith the above objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications may be made in the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating this invention:Figure 1 is a plan view showing the application of my improved cattle guard on both sides of a road crossing. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cattle guard. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 3-3 Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view on the line 44: Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of reference designate similar parts, the cattle guard is shown to comprise a substantially square frame consisting of side walls 11 and end walls 12 with longitudinal partitions 13 and 14 disposed parallel with the side walls and terminally secured to the end walls. There are cross braces 15 connected to the bottom edges of the side walls and partitions near the end walls. The frame is designed to be inserted Specification of Letters Patent.

underneath the rails 16 of the railway track Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

1913. Serial No. 753,578.

with the railway ties 17 disposed across the top edges of the side walls and partitions and terminally secured by bolting or otherw1s'e t o the side walls. The rails overlie the partitions.

Disposed near that end wall of the frame lying nearest to the road crossing, is a shaft 18 which anchored in suitable openings 19 formed in the partitions and side walls near the bottoms thereof and extends parallel with the railroad ties. A guard 20 is pivoted on this shaft between the rails and other guards 21 are pivoted on this shaft outside of the side rails, and as these guards are identical in construction but one will be described in detail.

Each guard comprises a pair of parallel metal bars 22 each of which is formed with a U-shaped offset 23 having the bight arched upwardly as shown at 24; to straddle the shaft. A U-shaped strap 25 spans the arch with the legs extending up along the outer side of the U-shaped oflset and secured thereby by a tie bolt 26 which bridges the offset above the arch, this strap loosely confining the shaft within the arch. The ends of the bars most remote from the road crossing are connected by an oblong sheet metal plate 27, and the ends of the bars nearest to the road bed are connected by a sheet metal plate 28. The ends of the bars most remote from the road bed are considerably greater in length than the ends nearest to the road bed so that the former ends counterbalance the latter and the longer ends are thus normally disposed upon the railway ties but may be rocked upwardly by an animal stepping upon the plate which connects the shorter ends to form a barrier which will obstruct access of the animal to the track, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. To limit sinking movement, a stop rod 29 is arranged transversely of the frame below the short ends of the bars and forms an abutment against which said short ends impinge and are limited thereby in sinking movement.

As an additional means for preventing the animal from forcing its way across the guards and thus gaining access to the track, I provide skeleton members that cooperate with the plates carried by the long ends of the bars, each consisting of a U-shaped length of wire 30 the ends of which are passed through slots 31 in the correspond- 2 owest ing plate 27 and terminally equipped with eyes 32 which are pivoted by means of staples 33 or otherwise to the edge of one of the frame end members which underlies the free end of said plate 27. Upon the plate being tilted upwardly toward the animal this skeleton member is rocked upwardly by and forms an X-shaped barrier wit-h the plate and presents its bight toward the animal, such bight striking the animal at about the head should the animal persist in crossing the guard, such blow being usually suliicient to cause the animal to turn about and retrace its steps to the road or crossing.

From the above description it will be seen that l have provided an extremely simple and durable cattle guard which will effectively prevent cattle leaving a road crossing and traveling upon the railroad track.

What is claimed, is:

A cattle guard including a frame, a shaft journaled in the sides of said frame, a pair of parallel metal bars each formed with a U-shaped offset having the bight arched upwardly and straddling said shaft, means for retaining said arched portion on said shaft, a plate connecting adjacent ends of said bars on one side of said shaft, a plate connecting adjacent ends of said bars 011 the opposite side of said shaft, one of said plates being of greater weight than the other to normally hold the guard in a horizontal position, stops on said frame supporting said heavier plate in horizontal position normally, said plate being provided adjacent one end with a pair of slots, and a U- shaped rod member having the legs passed through said slots near the free edge thereof and then pivotally connected to said frame, said heavier plate being adapted to be rocked up upon depression of the plate on the opposite side of said shaft therefrom with a resultant rocking up of said rod to form a barrier.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signa ture, in the presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW G. BRIXEN. lVitnesses HANs if. KELLER, GEORGE D. GAsrER.

Copier of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of ratents, Washington, D. b.

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