US1119887A - Trolley-pole retriever. - Google Patents

Description

T. B. SHANAHAN. TROLLEY POLE RETRIEVBR. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1909. 1, 1 1 9,887, Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

3 BHEETS-SHEET 1.

- WITNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEYS 'u! NORRIS F'FIERS 1J0. PHUTCJ-LIHII wAwuNuIu/v. n l

T. B. SHANAHAN.

TROLLEY POLE RETRIEVER.

APPLICATION IILED BEPT.1, 1909.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

dzipf ATTORNEYS INVENTOR fi VIJ Q/ T. B. SHANAHAN. TROLLBY POLE RBTRIEVER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. l, 1909. 1, 1 1 9,887, Patented Dec 8, 1914.

3 BHEETS-8HEET 3.

INVENTOR 738 ATTORNEYS ns NORRIS PETERS m, FNOTD-LIIHQ, WASHING ruN ov c UNITED srarns PAETENT onnioE.

THOMAS B. SHANAHAN, 0F MANLIUS;NEW "YORK.

TROLLEY-POLE RETRIEVER.

Application filed September 1, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, THOMAS B. Si-IANA- HAN, of Manhus, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Trolley-Pole Retriever, of which the following is a spec1fication.

My invention has for its object the proconsists in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing in which like characters parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View, partly in elevation, of my trolley-pole retriever. Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views looking in opposite directions taken, respec' tively, on lines A.A and B--B, Fig. 1. Figs. 4: and 5 are opposite end views of the reel, the shaft being shown in section. Fig. 6 is a face view of the detached disk fixed to the shaft. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views of the cams for shiftin g the anchor member.

This trolley-pole retriever comprises gen erally a support, a reel for the trolley-pole rope, a spring for turning the reel to wind the rope thereon, the spring being normally under tension and disconnected from the reel, and shiitable means for holding the spring under tension and for connecting the spring to the reel.

The support 1 which may be 01 any desirable form, size and construction, is here shown as a hollow shell comprising an innor wall or base 2, and a cap 3 detachably secured to the wall or base 2 by any suit able means, as screws 4. The wall or base 2 of the support 1 is provided with any desirable means, as an external flange 5 adapted to be attached to the dashboard or other suitable part of the car, and is provided on its interior with an axially arranged hub 6 formed with a socket 7 extending lengthwise therein from its inner end; and the cap 3 is formed with an opening 8 arranged in axial alinement with the socket 7 and is also formed with an opening 9, Fig. 2, for permitting the passage of the trolley-pole rope 10.

As best seen in Fig. 1, the reel 11 is Specification of Letters Patent.

desi nate corres' ondin Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Serial No. 515,688.

loosely mounted on a shaft 12 journaled in the support 1, as hereinafter described, said reel having oppositely extending hubs 13, 14, one hub 13 abutting against the free end of the hub 6. A spring 15 for winding the trolley-pole rope upon the reel 11 is arranged at one side of the reel 11 and within a chamber 16 formed around the hub 6 in the wall or base 2 of the support 1, the outer end of the spring 15 being suitably fixed, as by a rivet 17 to the wall or base 2. The inner end of the spring 15 is connected to a holder 18 consisting of a disk located between the spring 15 and the reel 11, and a hub 19 which encircles the hub 6 within the chamber 16 and is suitably fixed to the inner end of the spring, as by a rivet 20, the free end of the hub 19 engaging the inner face of the wall or base 2.

The .Slll'ftitblfi means for normally holding the s n'ing 15 under tension and for connecting the spring to the reel comprises a locking mcn'iber 21 movable about the axis of the reel 11, and also lengthwise of such axis and the shaft 12, and here shown as a disk loosely mounted on the hub 6 and provided with a hub extending toward the cap 3. This member 21 is slidably intGIlOCkOd with the spring holder 18, being here shown as formed with openings which receive shoulders 23 projecting from the opposing surface of the holder. Said member 21 is also provided with notches extending inwardly from its peripheral edge and forming shoulders 24 for coacting alternately with shoulders 25, 26 provided respectively upon opposing faces of the inner wall or base 2 of the support 1, and the reel 11, the shoulders 24; being normally engaged with the shoulders 25 and being movable out of engagement therewith into engagement with the shoulders 26 when the member 21 is shifted to the right. The shoulders 23 are of greater length than the shoulders 25 or 26 so that said member 21 is engaged with. the shoulders 23 when. the shoulders 24. are engaged either with the shoulders 25 or the shoulders 26; and the shoulders 25, 26 are preferably provided with inclined or cam faces coacting with the shoulders 2-l for facilitating the shifting of the member 21. Whenthe member 21 is in its position assumed in Fig. 1 with its shoulders 24; engaged with the shoulders 25, the spring 15 is disconnected from the reel 11 and is held under tension, but when the member 21 has been moved axially to the right disengaging its shoulders 24 from the shoulders 25 and engaging the shoulders 24 and 26, the holder 18 and the member 21 connect the spring 15 to the reel 11, and thereupon the spring 15 operates to turn the reel and wind the trolley-pole rope 10 thereon.

As shown in Fig. 1 the locking member 21 is moved axially by the shaft 12 which is provided with a pin passed diametrically therethrough, the ends 27 of the pin forming shifting arms which are normally engaged with the right-hand wall 28 of an annular recess 29 in the inner face of the hub 22 and are spaced apart from the opposite wall of such recess. The movement of the locking member 21 axially toward the right serves to compress a coiled spring 30 encircling the hub 22 and having its opposite ends bearing respectively against the contiguous face of the member 21, and an annular shoulder or collar 31 fixed to the inner extremity of the hub 6, and consequently this spring 30 tends to yieldingly force the locking member 21 toward the left and disengage its shoulders 24 from the shoulders 26 of the reel, and engage said shoulders 24 with the shoulders 25 of the wall or base 2 of the support 1. This shoulder or collar 31 is shown as formed separable from the hub 6 and as secured thereto by a fastening screw 32..

The shaft 12 is journaled at one end in the socket 7 of the hub 6 and terminates short of the bottom of the socket 7, and said shaft is moved axially toward the right by a spring 33 arranged between the bottom of the socket 7 and the opposing end of the shaft, and is moved axially in the reverse direction and normally held from axial movement by the spring 33 by segmental cams 3% arranged on opposite sides of the axis of the shaft and fixed to the contiguous portion of the cap 3, these cams 3a engag ing segmental bearing faces 35 fixed relatii'ely to the shaft 12 and arranged on opposite sides of the axis thereof, and normally engaged with the high points of the cams 34 by reason of the spring 33 press ing against the opposite end of the shaft. Preferably, the bearing faces 35 are provided on a sleeve 36 suitably fixed to the shaft 12, this sleeve being directly journaled in the opening 8 of the cap 3.

When the free end of the trolley-pole flies upwardly, owing to the disengagement of the trolley from the wire, the shaft 12 is partially rotated with the reel.11 by connections, presently described, and upon such rotation of the shaft, the bearing faces 35 are rotated from their normal position in engagement with the high points of the cams 34 to a position opposite to the low points of said cams. During this partial rotation of the shaft the spring 33 forces the shaft axially, and owing to the engagement of the shifting arms 27 with the face 28 of the hub 22 of the locking member 21, said member moves axially with the shaft, disengaging its shoulders 24 from the shoulders 25 of the support 1 and engaging said shoulders 24 with the shoulders 26 of the reel 11, and thus connecting the spring 15 to the reel 11 for rotating the same to wind the trolley-pole'rope thereupon. Upon the reverse'partial rotation of the shaft 12 the faces 35 ride up the inclined surfaces of the cams 341, thus moving the shaft to the left against the action of the spring 33, and per mitting the spring 30 to move the locking member 21 to the left, and disengage the shoulders 2 1 of such member from the shoulders 26 of the reel and engage said 7 shoulders 24 with the shoulders 25 of the support 1, thereby disconnecting the spring 15 from the reel 11. It will be apparent that the engagement of the shoulders 24: with the shoulders 25 and 26 is effected by the springs 30 and 33, thereby avoiding liability of injury to said shoulders 24, 25 and 26 when being engaged. It will also be noted that the locking member 21 is con nected to the shaft 12 by a lost motion, owing to the space interposed between the shifting arms 27 and the left-hand wall of the recess 29, this lost motion permitting the shaf 12 to move independently of the locking member 21, and enabling the spring 30 to move the locking member yieldingly independently of the shaft 12 into engagement with the shoulders 25 of the support 1.

The means for connecting the reel 11 to the shaft 12 when the trolley is disengaged L from the trolley wire, preferably consists of dogs 37, Fig. 5, pivoted intermediate of their ends at 38 to the right-hand face of the reel'll, correspondingends of the dogs 37 beingadapted to engage with a disk 39 fixed to the shaft 12 and their other ends being weighted and connected to springs 10 carried by the reel 11, these springs 40 normally holding the dogs '37 out of engagement with the disk 39. The contrifugal force due to the rapid rotation of the reel 11 by the upward impulse of the free end of the trolley-pole when the trolley is disengaged from the wire, throws the weighted ends of the dogs 37 outwardly and causes theopposite ends of said dogs to engage the disk 39, whereupon the reel 11, the disk 39 and the shaft 12 revolve together.

The disk 39 is shown as formed separable from the shaft 12, as having opposite faces thereof respectively engaged with a bearing face -11 on the inside of the cap 3 of the sup port 1, and the inner end of the hub 14 of the reel 11, and as'provided with openings 42 which receive arms or lugs 13 provided upon the sleeve 36 carrying the bearing faces 35, the lugs 13 serving to rigidly connect the disk 39, and said sleeve 36. A coiled spring.

44 is arranged between the disk 39 and the web of the reel 11, one end of said spring being suitably fixed, as by rivets 45, to the hub 14, and the other end thereof being fixed to a stud 46 passed through an arc-shaped slot 47 in the disk 39 and secured to the cap 3 of the support 1. This spring 44% serves to rotate the reel 11 to take up the slack in the trolley-pole rope due to the different levels of the trolley wire. As there are two dogs 37 for coacting with the teeth of the disk 39, a part of the periphery of said disk may be left smooth and when one of the dogs is opposite such smooth surface, the other dog will be engaged with the teeth of said disk.

My trolley-pole retriever is provided with a hand lever 4:8 which is suitably fixed to the shaft 12, being here shown as mounted upon the end of the sleeve 36 carrying the bearing faces 35. This lever is held in position by any suitable means, as a plate 19, and a screw 50 passed through the plate 49 into the end of said sleeve 36. The hand lever 48 provides means for enabling the operator to rotate the shaft 12 to move the locking member 21 into engagement with the shoulders 25 and thus reset the locking member in its normal position after the trolley-pole has been retrieved.

In operation when the trolley leaves the wire and the pole flies upwardly, unwinding the rope from the reel and violently rotating the reel 11, the centrifugal pawls 37 are thrown outwardly against the action of their springs 40, into engagement with the ratchet teeth of the disk 39, rotating said disk part of a revolution sufficiently to position the cams 35 between the cams 34, Fig. 2, so that the spring 33 can shift the shaft 12 axially to the right, Fig. 1, such movement of the shaft carrying the anchor member 21 therewith by reason of the engagement of the pins 27 with the shoulder 28 on the hub of the anchor member, and also carrying the anchor member out of engagement with the shoulders 25 of the support and into engagement with the shoulders 26 of the reel so that the main spring 15 is anchored at its outer end at 17 to the support and connected at its inner end to the reel. Upon the engagement of the anchor member with the reel, the main spring 15 is free to act and rotates the reel in the reverse direction to that in which it is rotated by the trolley rope, such movement retrieving the trolle and relieving the pawls 37 of their frictional engagement with the disk 39 so that the pawls are free to return to their initial position under the influence of their springs 40. Unwinding of the trolley rope sufficiently to again place the trolley on the wire and give the rope the usual slack, again tensions the main spring,

and the trolley having been placed on the wire, the anchor member and associated parts again are reset by operating the handle 48.

WhatI claim is 1. A. trolley pole retriever comprising a case, a reel for the trolley pole rope, a spring arranged in the case, and located outside of the reel, the spring being fixed at one end to the case, an anchor member con-. nccted to the other end of the spring, the case having an annular clutch face opposed to an end of the reel and the anchor member coacting with said clutch face and being shiftable axially between the spring and the opposing end of the reel and being normally engaged with the clutch face of the case and shiftable into engagement with the face of the reel, centrifugal means located on the other end of the reel and shifting means coacting with the centrifugal means, the shifting means including a part located at the latter end of the reel between the same and the opposing wall of the case, saidpart being connected to the anchor member to shift the same, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A trolley pole retriever comprising a case, a reel for the trolley pole rope within the case, the case and the reel being formed with opposing clutch faces and the reel being non-movable axially; a coiled spring located in the case outside of the reel and connected atone end to the case, an anchor member, in the general form of a disk, connected to the other end of the spring and interposed between said opposing clutch faces and the disk having means normally interlocking with the clutch face of the case and being shiftable into interlocking engagement into the clutch face of the reel, a compression spring located within the reel and acting onthe anchor member to hold the same in its normal position. means for. shifting the anchor member against the action of the spring including a shaft extending axially of the reel and connected to the anchor member, the shaft being shiftable axially, cams associated with the shaft and the case and normally arranged with their high points in engagement, a spring normally tending to shift the shaft in one direction, a disk interposed between the other end of the reel and the case, and connected to one of the cams to rotate the same, and centrifugal pawls carried by the latter end of the reel and coacting with the disk to rotate the same, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. A trolley-pole retriever comprising a support, a shaft carried by the support, a reel for the trolley-pole rope, the reel being loosely mounted on the shaft, a spring for turning the reel to wind the rope thereon, the spring being connected to the support, a member movable about the axis of the shaft .the shaft, a spring for moving the shaft axially to shift said member, at the end of the partial rotation of the shaft, and means arranged to prevent such axial movement of the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. A trolley-pole retriever comprising a support, a shaft carried by the support, a

reel for the trolley-pole rope, the reel being loosely mounted on the shaft, and the shaft being movable axially relatively to the reel, a spring for turning the reel to wind the rope thereon, the spring being connected to the support, a member movable about the axis of the shaft and connected to the spring, the member normally en aging the support and being movable lengthwise of the axis of the shaft with said shaft out of engagement with the support and into engagement with the reel, and means for controlling the shifting of said member into engagement with the reel, said means comprisinga part operable by the free rotation of the reel in one direction to partially rotate the shaft, a spring for moving the shaft axially to shift said member, at the end of the partial rotation of the shaft, and means arranged to normally prevent such axial movement of the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. A trolley-pole retriever comprising a support, a reel for the trolley-pole rope, a spring for turning the reel to wind the rope thereon, the spring being connected to the support,a member connected to the spring and normally engagingthe support, yielding means for forcing the member into engagement withthe support, and additional yielding means for forcing the member out of engagement with the support into engagement with the reel, and means for normally restraining the operation of said additional yielding means, and means operable by the also provided with a socket for receiving one end of the shaft, said end of the shaft terminating short of the bottom of the socket, a reel for the trolleypole ,rope, the reel being loosely mounted on the shaft and being held from movement axially relatively thereto, a

spring for turning the reel to wind the rope thereon, the spring being located outside of the reel around the hub and having one end fixed to the support, a holder loosely mounted on the hub and movable about the axis of the shaft and fixed to the other end of the spring, a member loosely mounted on the hub and movable about the axis of the shaft and slidably interlocked with the holder, the member normally engaging the support and bein movable lengthwise of the axis of the shaft out of engagement with the support and into engagement with the reel, a shoulder fixed to the shaft and engaging the member for moving the same axially in one direction, said shoulder having a movement independently of the member, a spring between the shoulder on the hub and the member for moving the member axially in the opposite direction into engagement with the support, a fixed cam for forcing the shaft axiallyin one dir ction as the shaft turns about its axis, and a spring between the end of the shaft and the bottom of said socket for forcing the shaft axially in the opposite direction as the shaft turns in the reverse direction,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

in testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, 1n the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, this 30th day of August, 1909.

THOMAS B. SHANAHAN. Vlitnesses:

S. DAVIS, E. K. SEEMILLER.

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

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