US1103860A - Signaling device. - Google Patents

Description

G. L. BARRETT. SIGNALING DEVICE. APPLIOATION FILED saw. s, 1913.

Patented July 14, 1914.

Fig.1. I

l vblmeooeo GEORGE L. BARRETT, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

SIGNALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 1914.

Application filed September 8,1913. Serial No. 788,426.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gronon L. BARRETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Signaling Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to signaling devices and more particularly to signaling devices actuated by some part of acar to announce its approach at a remote point. In devices of this kind the signaling devices are placed at convenient points, as in residences more or less remote from the street railway or other track, and devices are placed along the track at a distance more or less remote from the station or crossing, which devices will be actuated by the car to operate the signals and thus announce the approach of the car.

The object of the present invention is to provide a very simple device of this kind which will be actuated by the trolley wheel to positively close a signal circuit: which will lock the circuit breaker and closer in its closed position; and which will be actuated by the trolley wheel to unlock the circuit breaker and closer and permit the same to open.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this kind which will be very simple in its construction, very strong and durable and very positive in its opera tion.

In the'accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation showing my invention applied toa trolley wire; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the circuit breaker and closer and the connections between the same and the actuating member; Fig. is a detail View of the actuating member and the loci ing device therefor; Fig. 4 is a detail view of the trip devices for the actuating member; Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the brackets and the connection between the 'ported'fro in 'th etr'olley' oses in an o -d'inary mannerl lf have not illustrated thecar but have"shown'at a trolleywheel, suclias 11s emissar carried electr1'c' cars. I "have I for closing the circuit to actuate the signalv and announce the approach of the car. This circuit breaker and closer, or switch, may be mounted at any convenient point but I prefer to mount the same uponxone of the trolley poles 2 and to that end I have shown the same as carried by a bracket 7 which, in the present instance, is in the form of a right angle adapted to have the two arms thereof placed on'diii'erent sides of the trolley pole.

By making the bracket in this form and providing each arm thereof with a plurality of bolt holes it is possible to apply the bracket to posts of different shapes and different kinds, it being apparent that while the bracket will fit snugly about a post that. I

is square or rectangular in cross section, it can also be connected to a round post and that the plurality of bolt holes spaced along the arms will enable it to be connected with round posts of different diameters and toe.

have the bolt or other connecting device an ranged centrally of the post.

Mounted on the bracket 7 are contact members 8 and 9 which are connected to the bracket, preferably through the medium of;

insulating material 10, and which are connected wlth the respective sides of the signal circuit 5' by means of the usualbinding posts. The contact member 9 is movable and is preferably in the form of a lever or" arm pivotally mounted at one end and spring actuated to hold the same normally out of engagement with the contact member 8. As here shown a coiled spring 11 is conhere is also connectarwithactuating i'iiember"towhich movement is imparted "the""trolley wheel" of'thecare As*he1:e"-;sliown *the" "actuating" member :comprises a =rod* 1% supported aboye eXtendin substantially a-rallelqwith the trolley" Wire 11' havin *one endsupportedbylinksf13 from a mackerel,

yaeuaa'a on" mud.

nected with the lever 9 and with a part ofi? the bracket T; This movable "contact memlard/IN trolley wire. The opposite end of the actuating member 12 is supported on another bracket, 15, also mounted on the trolley wire, I

by means of links 16 which extend downward beyond thebracket 15, as shown at 17, into the path of the trolley wheel and constitute trip arms by means of which longi- 1 tudinal movement may be imparted to the actuating member. These trip arms preferably havetheir lower ends grooved, as shown at;1-8,-to receive the edges of the trolley wheel and prevent the same slipping elf the edge of the'trip arms without actu ating the same. With the trip arms conrockthe same about either pivotal support on the bracket .15 andthus' impartlongitudinalmovement to the actuating shaft12.

20 The actuating. member may be connected with themovable member of the circuit breaker and closer in any suitable manner structed as shown the trolley wheel must pass beneath the arms and in doing so will but in the arrangement here shown the cir- 1 cuit breaker and closer is arranged at one side of the trolley wire and the connection -i s -a flexible one which extends about an axis .1 arranged .beyond the end of the acturating member and here shown. as a stud. 19. 1

:Whileany suitable fiexibleconnection may 80 be passed about this axis in any desired man- .ner, thatchosen for the purpose ofillustrat-ionjconsists oftwo flexible members 20 and 21, theformer connected with and insulated from the movable contact arm. 9 and the 95 other, 21, connected :with the'adjacent end ofthe actuating member 12. The two flexible. members are connected one to the other by atsuitablei device mounted on the stud 19-. zzIn the present instance this. devioeis. a disk 22:having.ears to which the respective flexible members are connected. It will be apparent that a pullupon the actuating ,member. 12 willrock the disk 22v and thus .fdraw -the contact member 9 towardits cooperating contact member Stand close the circuit 5 through the. signaling device, this ion" opposite .sides or. the actuating member and ,also providingashoulderadapted to gengage avlug- 251-onftheupper edge of the ,aaectuatin'g.member-.12. .Th'e lug 25 is so ar-,

ranged with relation to the latch 23 that when longitudinal movement is imparted to I the fornier'to close the circuit the latch will I drop -,in the rear of the lug 25 and thus prevent the return of the actuating member to its normal position. The.,arms.of the bifurcated portion "of the latch extend downward to points adjacent to the trolley wire where they will be engaged by the flanges of the trolley. wheel when the-latter passes these points, thereby raising the latch, releasing the. actuating member and permitting the movable contact member .9 to be moved into its open or normal position by -the spring 11. y a

WVhile I have shown .and described one embodiment ofrmy invention it will be .understood that this has been chosensfoli the purpose of illustration only and that I-do not desire to be limited to the details oi construction shown and described, .for obvious modifications will occur to a person-skilled .in the art. For example, where it is.,desired to use. the device witha source of electrical energy which is irregular I may, if Idesire, mount a storage battery 26 in a suitable location, as upon the, side of the post, and

place the circuit breaker vand closer;either upon. or adjacentto'the,storage .:battery. I

The battery will then be charged whilethe circuitis alive and will operate the bell. when .the source. of electricalenergyhas died-out temporarily. Otherwise, the construction and operation will be substantially that above shown and described. .Also. it ;may, under certain. circumstances,be desirable to, provide a stop 27 on one of, thebrackets to limit the movement of the actuating member and thus prevent the trip armsbeing ,carried'i'nto aposition where they will either be-improperly acted upon by the] trolley wheel or will not be engaged by ,thetrolley wheel: at all. As here shown the stop is formed integral with the bracket 14: but it will be obvious .thatqthe bracket may be mounted in any suitable manner and at any v suitable :point. ,ble members 20 and 21 may be adjustably connected with their respective parts and, in. the present instance, I have shown, the member 20 as provided witha turnbuckle device having a hook at one end, as; shown at 28,by means of which it maybe connected with the contact lever 9. and its length adjusted after the connectionis made.

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

.1.- The combination, with a trolley wire, a signal circuit, a circuit breaker and closer supportedindependentlynof and at a point remote from said trolley .wire,.an actuating member supportedzadjacent to said trolley wireand operatively connected withgsaid c ircuit breaker and closer, .anddeviceswarranged to be successively engaged and actuated by a trolley wheel to positively control the movements of said actuating member, which movements control theopening and closing of the circuit breaker and closer.

2. The combination, with a trolley wire, a signal circuit, and a circuit breaker and closer supported independently of and at a point remote from said trolley wire, of brackets mounted on said trolley wire and spaced apart, an actuating member carried by said brackets and capable of longitudinal movement relative to said trolley wire, an operative connection between said actuating member and said circuit breaker and closer, a device connected with said actuating member and arranged to be engaged by a trolley wheel to impart movement to said actuating member and close said circuit, a detent to hold said actuating member in a position to retain said circuit closed, and means actuated by the further movement of said trolley wheel to release said actuating member from said detent.

3. The combination, with a signal circuit comprising a signal and a circuit breaker and closer, of a trolley wire, brackets carried by said trolley wire and spaced apart, a rod mounted on said brackets for longitudinal movement, an operative connection between said rod and said circuit breaker and closer, trip arms connected with said rod and arranged to be actuated by a trolley wheel moving along said trolley wire, a latch carried by one of said brackets and adapted to engage a part carried by said rod, said latch being arranged to be engaged by the trolley wheel to move the same out of engagement with said part of said rod.

4. The combination, with a signal circuit comprising a signal and a circuit breaker and closer, of a trolley wire, brackets mounted thereon and spaced apart, a rod, a link connecting one end of said rod to one of said brackets, another link connecting the other end of said rod to the other of said brackets and extending beyond said bracket to form a trip arm, and means controlled by a trolley wheel for retaining said rod in a position to retain said circuit breaker and closer in a closed position.

In a device of the character described, the combination, with a trolley wire, a signal ircuit, and a circuit breaker and closer for the signal circuit comprising a movable member to open and close said circuit, of an actuating rod mounted adjacent to said trolley wire, operatively connected with said movable member and capable of longitudinal movement relatively to said wire, a trip arm connected with said actuating rod and extending into a position to be engaged by a trolley wheel moving along said trolley wire and thereby cause said movable member to be actuated, and a latch arranged to engage said actuating rod and hold the same 5 in a position to retain said movable member in its open position and to be released from said rod by the further movement of said trolley wheel.

6. In a device of the character described,

the combination, with a trolley post, a trolley wire supportedthereby, a signal circuit, and a circuit breaker and closer for said signal circuit mounted on said trolley post,

said circuit breaker and closer comprising an angular bracket having a plurality of holes in each arm thereof, and contact members mounted on and insulated from said bracket, of an actuating rod mounted adja cent to said trolley wire, operatively con- 0 nected with said circuit breaker and closer and capable of longitudinal movement, trip arms connected with said actuating rod and extending into the path of a trolley wheel moving along said trolley wire, a latch 5 adapted to engage said actuating rod and to be released from said rod by the further movement of said trolley wheel.

7. In a device of the character described,

a signal circuit, a circuit breaker and closer ley Wire, an actuating rod supported adjacent to said trolley wire and capable of longitudinal movement, an operative connection between said rod and the movable member of said circuit breaker and closer, trip arms connected with said rod and arranged to be engaged by a trolley wheel moving along said wire, and a latch arranged to engage said rod and hold the same against the tension of said spring, said latch having parts adapted to be engaged by said trolley wheel to move the latch out of engagement with said rod.

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

GEORGE L. BARRETT.

Witnesses:

EDWARD L. REED, H. L. HAMMAKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of ratentl,

Washington, D. 0."

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