US1152940A

US1152940A - Weed-destroying machine.

Info

Publication number: US1152940A
Application number: US85360514A
Authority: US
Inventors: Patrick J Gannon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1914-07-28
Filing date: 1914-07-28
Publication date: 1915-09-07
Anticipated expiration: 1932-09-07

Description

P. J. GANNON.

WEED DESTROYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, i914.

1,152,940. Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEE.T 1.'

COLUMBIA FLANDURAPH CO..WASHINOTON, D. c.

P. J. GANNON.

WEED DESTROYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 19M.

1,152,940., PatentedSept. 7, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

MQ Q V a/QZMMA P. J. GANNON.

WEED DESTROYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28. 1914.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' ammo: v Par/(4.7. alzn/on/ ANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

PATRICK J. GANNON, OF FARMINGTON, MINNESOTA.

WEED-DESTROYIN G MACHINE.

Application fil ed July 28, 1914. Serial No. 853,605.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PATRICK J. GANNoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Farmington, in the county of Dakota and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Weed- Destroying Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to weed-destroying machines for use on railway tracks, and its object is to provide a novel and improved machine of this kind which scores or marks the weed line, and which destroys the weeds up to the ends of the ties regardless of the fact that the ties vary in length.

The invention also has for its object to provide a machine of the kind stated which carries the sand, gravel and dirt up the grade toward the ties, to reinforce the mud shoulder just where it is necessary and to leave it symmetrical.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the detailed description appearing hereinafter, and in order that the invention may be better understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure-1 is a plan view of the apparatus;

7 Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the means for attaching the supporting frame of the apparatus to the car or other support; Figs. 4 and 5 are sections on the lines 44: and 5- 5, respectively, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the swinging support of a weeding hoe.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 10 denotes the platform of an ordinary handcar onfiwhich the mechanism is mounted. The mechanism may also, if desired, be mounted on a push car, box car, switch engine or on any other rolling stock.

The main supporting frame of the mechanism comprises front and rear members 11 i and 12, respectively, which are pivotally connected at their inner ends to the car or other support 10, to swing vertically. The frame members extend outward from one side of the support, and they converge outwardly and are connectedat their outer ends. The entire mechanism is carried by these frame members, and as said members are pivoted to the support 10, the mechanism may be swung upward to come above the support when it is not in use," or is being transported to or from the place of use. If

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

the frame members are carried by a handcar, as shown in the drawings, the ends of the sills of the latter, on one side of the car, carry bracket members 13 to which the frame members are pivoted as indicated The connecting portion of the frame members 11 and 12 carries a boxing 15 which is pivoted at 16 to swing in a horizontal plane, and which supports the outer end of the shaft 17 of a rotary cutter-disk 18, the latter being carried by the outer end of the shaft. This cutter-disk scores or marks the weed line, and it is adjustable for a wider or narrower weed line.- This adjustment is effected by making the frame members in telescoping sections,'the sections being fascutter-disk 18 may be varied. The cutterdisk, ,when in operation, is oblique to the line of travel, the'depth it cuts being regulated by changing theangle, which is done by swinging the shaft 17 in'a horizontal plane. In order that this may be readily done, there is slidably mounted on a longitudinal bar 21 connecting the frame members .11 and 12, a, sleeve 22 to which is pivoted at 23to swing in a horizontal plane, aboxing 24 through which the intermediate portion of the shaft 17 loosely passes. The shaft 17 extends at an angle to the bar 21, and hence, if the sleeve 22 is slid along said bar, it will be obvious that the shaft is swung to change the angle of the cutter-disk '18. The shaft slides through the boxing 24 and the latter swings about the pivot 23 when the sleeve 22 is shifted. The boxing 15 being also pivotedallows the shaft to be swung as described, the shaft running free in the said boxing and the boxing 24- A hand-lever 25 is connected to the sleeve 22 by a rod 26, whereby said sleeve is shifted on the bar 21. The hand-lever is carried by the bar 21 and is also provided with the usu'allocking means 27. The inner end of the shaft 17 is guided in a slot in a curved bar .28 extending between the frame member 11 and a longitudinal bar 29 connecting said frame member and the frame member 12. In order to prevent the shaft 17 from slipping out of its boxings, its inner end is fitted with a collar 30.

To the rear of the cutter-disk 18 works a weed destroyer and a scraper or slope dresser, the former destroying the weeds inside the weed line made by the 'cutter disk 18, and the latter carrying the dirt, sand and gravel up the slope to reinforce the mud-shoulder and to obtain the proper sectional contour of the roadbed. The weed destroyer is a small plow having a mold board 31, a point 32 and a landside 33. To the plow point is welded, or otherwise rigidly fastened an elongated weed-cutting blade 31 which extends obliquely and rearward from the plow point in the direction of the track. Behind the blade 34 runs an elongated scraper or dresser blade 35, which is also set rearward and oblique.

The supporting frame carries two rearwardly extending and downwardly curved beams 36 which are fastened to the back of the blade 34", whereby said blade and the plow are supported. The scraper blade 35 is pivoted at its inner end, as indicated at 37, to the landside 33 of the plow so that it may swing in a vertical plane. The longitudinal bar 21 of the supporting frame is tubular and in its rear end is telescopically moi'inted a rearwardly extending bar 38 which has a downward bend terminating-be hind the blade 35, and carrying a chain 39 which is connected to said. blade. The bar 38 is not fastened to the blade 35, but merely bears against the same intermediate its ends to brace the same and take up the thrust of the dirt, sand and gravel thereagainst. The bar 38 may be moved forward or rearward as it is telescopically mounted in the bar 21, and it is held in adjusted position by a pin 39*, the telescoping parts having a series of apertures into a selected one of which the pin is passed.

The bar 38 carries a hook 10 to which the chain 39 is connected. By hooking different links of the chain over this hook, vertical adjustment of the scraper blade 35 is rendered possible, the connection between said blade and the landside 33 of the plow being sufliciently loose to permit this adjustment. The scraper blade can be bent in a horizontal plane, so that its angle to the line of travel may be varied. Theblade will form either an inclined bank or a curved shoulder, by varying the angle or curvature of the blade to the line of travel, andno ridge is left at the inner or rear end. The gravel and dirt escape in proportion to the sharpness of the curvatureor angle, the greater the angle or curvature, the greater the amount of dirt and gravelescaping.

The device for destroying the weeds adjacent to the ends of the ties comprises a weeding hoe L1 mounted on a shank 12 which is connected to a sleeve 13, the latter carrying a clamp at in which the shank is held. The sleeve 13 is rotatably mounted on the longitudinal bar 29 and the hoe 41 is therefore free to swing transversely toward and from the ends of the ties. To the upper end of the hoe shank is connected one end of a spring 45, the other end of which latter is anchored to the supporting frame. This spring yieldingly holds the hoe swung over against the ends of the ties, and if a tie longer than the preceding one is reached, the hOe swings outward to clear the tie. The hoe thus automatically accommodates itself to ties of different lengths and cuts the weeds close to each tie. The hoe is set at an oblique angle to the line of travel of the apparatus so that it strikes the end of the tie slantingly and thus glides past the same.

The beams 36 are carried by a cross bar 46 mounted on the rear ends of the longi tudinal bars 21 and 29, and a third longitudinal bar 47. The cross bar is adjustably secured to these longitudinal bars so that it may be adjusted transversely to properly locate the plow and its associate parts with respect to the cutter disk 18. An adjustable connection between the beams and the cross bar is also provided so that the plow and its associate parts may be spaced more or less rearward of the cutter disk. This connec tion is made by providing the beams with a series of apertures 18 through selected ones of which the fastening means 49 pass.

The plow has a short landside 33, the same being welded under the point 32, and twisted until. it is vertical. The moldboard 31 is also small, as all that is required of the plow is to catch the loosened gravel and throw it up where the scraper blade 35 can reachit. The scraper blade is bolted on the outside of the landside. The outer one of the beams 36 curves down back of the moldboard, and is bolted by a. bolt passing through said beam and through the moldboard and the blade 34. The scraper blade 35 has a, vertical series of bolt holes 37 for the bolt37, to permit vertical adjustment of said blade.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for destroying weeds on railway tracks, a traveling supporting frame, a rotary cutter-disk, a shaft carrying the cutter-disk, a boxing for the shaft pivoted on the supporting frame to allow the shaft to be swung in a horizontal plane to vary the angle of the cutter-disk to the line of travel of the apparatus, a longitudinal bar on the supporting frame, a sleeve slidable on said bar, and a boxing pivotally connected to said sleeve, through which last mentioned boxing the aforesaid shaft loosely passes.

2. In an apparatus for destroying weeds on railway tracks, a traveling supporting framefa rotary cutter-disk, a shaft carrying at one ofits ends thecutter-disk, a boxing for said end of the shaft pivoted on the supporting frame to allow the shaft to be swung in a horizontal plane to vary the angle of the cutter-disk to the line of travel of the apparatus, a bar carried by the supporting frame and having a slot in which the opposite end of the shaft is supported, a longitudinal bar on the supporting frame, a sleeve slidable on said longitudinal bar, and a boxing pivotally connected to said sleeve, through which last-mentioned boxing the intermediate portion of the shaft loosely passes. I

3. In an apparatus for destroying weeds on railway tracks, a traveling supporting frame, a weeding hoe carried by said frame, said hoe having a vertical shank which is pivotally supported to swing transversely of the supporting frame and about an axis which is parallel to the line of travel of the supporting frame, said hoe being set at an oblique angle to said line of travel, and resilient means for holding the hoe to its work.

4. In an apparatus for destroying weeds on railway tracks, a traveling supporting frame, a longitudinal bar on said frame, a sleeve mounted on the bar to rotate about an axis which is parallel to the line of travel of the supporting frame, a weeding hoe having its shank fastened to the sleeve to permit a swing of the hoe transversely of the line of travel of the supporting frame, said hoe being set at an oblique angle to said line of travel, and a resilient connection between the hoe shank and the supporting frame.

5. In an apparatus for destroying weeds on railway tracks, a traveling supporting frame, an oblique weed cutting blade carried by the frame, an oblique scraper blade running behind the weed cutting blade, and bendable to vary its angle to the line of travel, and means for holding the scraper blade in adjusted position. i

6. In an apparatus for destroying weeds on railway tracks, a traveling supporting frame, an oblique weed cutting blade carried by the frame, an oblique scraper blade running behind the weed cutting blade and bendable to Vary its angle to the line of travel, and a longitudinally adjustable bar carried by the supporting frame, and having a downwardly extending part located behind the scraper blade and engageable therewith.

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

PATRICK J. GANN ON. Witnesses:

A. N. SPRUTE, G. F. AKIN.

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

Washington, I). O.