US1155587A - Street-indicator. - Google Patents

Description

WITNESSES:

A. S. B. LITTLE & RI M. FEUSTEL.

STREET INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.3I, |914.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

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Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

A. S. B. LITTLE &.R. M. FEUSTEL.

STREET INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. sI

COLUMBIA PMNOURAPH C0.. WASHINGTDN. DA C.

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ARCHIBALD S. B. LITTLE, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, AND ROBERT M. FEUSTEL, 0F MADISON, WISCONSIN.

STREET-INDICATOR;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oet. 5, i915.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that we, ARCHIBALD S. B. LiTTLn and ROBERT M. FnUsTEL, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon, State of Illinois, and at Madison, in the county of Dane, State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Indicators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

Our invention has relation to improvements in street indicators for passenger (or other) cars; and it consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth in the specifications and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front face elevation of the indicator box or casing with reducing gear casing attached; Fig. 2 is a top plan of the left-hand end of Fig. l, the

casing of the reducing gear being in sec-V tion; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section through the casing or box of the reducing gear, on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2: Fig. 4 is a top plan of the indicator box, with parts broken away to expose the interior thereof; Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section on the rig-Zag line 5-5 of Fig. I; Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section on the line 6 6 of Fig. l; Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section on the line 7-7 of Fig. l, the box being broken in the middle; Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional detail on the line 8 8 of Fig. 5, showing the direction indicator; Fig. 9 is a. top plan of the lo-wer web-guide or apron; Fig. 10 is a front elevation of the web-guide partly broken away; Fig. 11 is a vertical cross-section on the zi g- Zag line 11-11 of Fig. l0; and Fig. l2 is a diagramma-tic illustration of the slot in the web showing its relation to the web-advancing disk or wheel.

The present invention is directed to improvements in street indicators for rail-4` way cars generally, and street cars in particular, having ,for its object to provide an indicator which may be applied to a car 'however propelled. It may be applied for example to cars propelled electrically, by steam, air, gas, or by draft animals, the reason therefor being that the mechanism of the indicator is independent of the-motive power, deriving as it does, its power from the rail along which the car travels.

A further object is to provide an indicator presenting a wide range of information; one which is positive in action; one which is reliable; one readily applied to existing cars; one in which any error is readily corrected; one susceptible of many modifications in construction without a departure from the basic principle of its operation, or from the spirit or nature of the invention.; and one possessing further and other advantages, better apparent from a` detailed description of the invention which is as follows.

Referring to the drawings, 20 represents a shaft to which rotation is imparted in any suitable way by the travel of the car, said shaft terminating in a bevel pinion 21 meshing with a similar pinion 22 at the outer end of a shaft 23 forming one of the members of suitable reducing gears confined in the box or casing 28, the said shaft being mounted on ball bearings at the bottom of said box, and carrying a pinion 29 adjacent one of the walls of the box, said ypinion meshing with a gear wheel 30 on a parallel wormshaft 3l, the worm' j pinion 32 whereof meshes with a worm gear 33 in the box, the gear 33 being mounted on a shaft 34 projecting with one end through the box wall, as fully shown in Fig. 2. IVe do not of course wishV to be limited to this special form or construction of reducing gear, any equivalent thereof answering our purpose.

Bolted, or otherwise secured to the shaft 34, so as to form an extension therefor, is the clutch-shaft 35 mounted between, and extending through one of, two opposite walls of the indicator casing or box 36, said shaft having mounted thereon within the casing 36, the opposing bevel pinions 37, 37', (Fig. 6) which are in mesh at points diametrically opposite one another with a bevel gear wheel 38 at one end of a counter-shaft 39 disposed at right angles to the clutch-shaft 35 and mounted in bearings or standards 40, 40, at the bottom of the indicator box 36, the farther end of the shaft terminating in a bevel pinion 4l (Fig. 5).

Formed with the pinions 37, 37', respectively, are the female clutch-sections or members t, t, with which is adapted to alternatively cooperate the adjacent portion of a sliding double-male member m which is slidingly feathered to the shaft 35 as Well understood in the art, so that with a rotation of the shaft 35 in a given direction, when the male fm is shifted into engagement with the female t of the pinion 37, rotation in a. given direction will be imparted to the gear 38 and its shaft 39; and when the male is shifted to engage the female t of the pinion 37., rotation will be imparted tothe gear 38 and its shaft 39 in the opposite direction. lvVhen the member m is shifted to an'intermediate point on the shaft 35 so as to engage neither member t or t, no rotation Will be imparted to the shaft 39.

.The mechanism for shifting the clutch member fm, is as fol-lows: Disposed ina transverse bottom trough or basin E ofthe box 36 is a screw-shaft e2, one end of Which is provided 1'vith a square or polygonal terminal e0 extending outside the box, said Vsquare end vreceiving the socket of a suitable detachable crank handle A by which rotation may be imparted to the screw-shaft in either direction, said direction depending on i Whether the car is inbound or outbound. A direction indicator r marked with the Words In and Out (Fig. l) serves to guide the operator inv determining the direction he shall turn the crank A. to effect a shifting of the member m to cause it'to engage one or the other of the female sections t, t. The shaft 419 is provided with a screw or threaded portion 43 which is traversed by the interiorly screw-threaded terminal of the lowerarm of a clutch-shifting member 44, said shifter member being formed with an intermediate hub portion or enlargement z' tting loosely on a guide rod I5 mounted in the box 36, the hub being limited by pins or pegs I6 on the rod, in its reciprocating movements (Fig. G). The free end of the upper arm of the clutch shifter 44e terminates in the usual fork 7 for spanning the groove of the male member m. It will be readily seen from the connections described, that With a turn of the crank A and shaft 42 in one direction, the shifter 4A Will be caused to travel in a given direction so as to shift the member m into engagement With one of the female members t', and with a turn of the crank in the opposite direction, the shifter will travel in the opposite direction, thereby causing the member mto engage the opposite female clutch member, the shaft 39 being caused to rotate in one direction orfthe other, depending 'on which female clutch member is engaged. When the member m stands out of engagement with both members 75,15', no rotation is imparted to the shaft 39, the hubs of the pinions 37, 37'., being loose on the clutch-shaft 35, thus allowing the clutch shaft to rotate Without affecting the gear 38. Obviously, from the manner of their mounting (Fig. 6) the-loose pinions 37,I ,j areheld against longitudinal.

Vdisplacement on the shaft 35 so that they remain permanently in mesh with the gear 38. l

ls/Ieshing with Vthe pinion LIl on the counter-shaft 39 is Ya bevel pinion 47 secured to the centrally disposed vertical Web-driving shaft S mounted in the indicator box or casing 36, said shaft having secured thereto, suitable disks or Wheels d8, 4S, Which are provided with radially disposed peripheral teeth or pins 49 meshing with properly spaced openings or holes u distributed along the web or indicator sheet 50 on which the names of the streets (and advertising matter if desired) are printed, the Web traveling horizontally across the casing 36, and having the necessary section thereof exposed Vthrough a glass plate Gr in the front Wall of the casing.v rIhe glass carries an arrow I) which is marked directly over the name of the street which the car is about to cross, or which the car has reached, the vname of'at least one street which the car has already Vthat the web 50 is traveling to the. left, it

shoivs thatQnd street has been passed and that 4th' Vstreet is the nent to be crossed. If the web travels to theright then it is 4th street which has been passed, and 2nd street the next to be crossed,3rd street being the street the car4 is crossing. rEhe web also indicates the street on which the car is traveling. Thus in Fig. l` the Web shows the car to be traveling on Main Street. Should the car pass to another street, the web would indicate that fact. As shofvn in Fig. l, the web has marked thereon suitable instructions, as for example Transfer to Market indicating that a passenger shall transfer to Market on the corner of Main and 2nd streets. It may also indicate otherf directions (on the order of advertisements) such as Theatre 7 :30 and 9:30, Music Store, showing that the theater and music store are to be found on the corners of the streets- Where marked on the Web. Y

To indicate when the clutch member m is in proper engagementto correspond With the in-bound trip of the car, Wesecure to the interiorly Vthreaded end of the member 44 traversing the screw-shaft 212, a pin 5l terminating in a head 52 (Figs. 5, 8), tliepinV traversing a slot s formed inthe inner vvall of the trough or basin E, said pin coperating withl an indicator I marked on a platey 53'secured to the trough Wall, saidA indi-j cator having marked thereon the Words In, Out,VV and N, corresponding respectively to the notations, in, out and the clutch arrow .on the indicator r 1):

which instructs the .operator in Which'fd-irection he is to turnthe crank A to bring the clutch member m into engagement with one or the other of females t, t', or to Vbring it into an intermediate or neutral (N) position so as to disengage it from both females. |The indicator I is therefore a check on the indicator r. In other words, when the operator turns the crank A (Fig. l) clockwise or toward the notation in, as pointed by the arrow, the shaft 42 will be turned in proper direction to shift the clutch member fm, to the right (Fig. 6) so as to cause it to engage the female member t on the pinion 37, whereby the gear 38 and its shaft 39 are turned in proper direction to advance the web 50 in a direction corresponding to the inbound trip of the car. When thecrank A is turned counter-clockwise the reverse of these operations takes place, the member m being shifted to engage the female t on the pinion 37, so that the web 50 is advanced in the opposite direction. When the members m, t, arein engagement, the head 52 of the pin 5l will be opposite the in mark on the indicator I, and when the members m., t, are engaged, the head 52 will be opposite the out mark on said dial, the pin head coming opposite the N or neutral mark when the member m is disengaged from both of the clutch members t, t.

It is of course essential that during the advances lof the web 50, the same should be properly guided and for that purpose we make the following provision: Disposed opposite the front wall of the indicator box 36 in front of each web-actuating wheel 48 is a sheet metal apron or plate 54, having an outwardly bent portion 55 terminating in a vertical flange 56 through which the plate is fastened to the said front wall of the box (Figs. 4, 7). The apron 54 has arear vertical fold folded close to the apron and extending substantially to the base thereof, the member m having a parallel folded member y spaced a suitabledistance however from the member o; whereby there is formed a deep narrow passage-way 79 for the free travel of a considerable marginal section of the web (Fig. 11) as thelatter is advanced across the window opening of the indicator box. Preferably, the web is engaged by the pins 49 in its passage through the passage or guide-way p, and to permit the pins to reach the web, the members 54 and a: are provided with elongated registering slots o, c, of equal width, and the member or fold jz/ is provided with a slot c of equal length but somewhat wider (Figs. l0, 1l), the wide slot allowing for a freel traverse therethrough of the peripheral portion of the disk 48, whereas `the joint slot c, c, allows for the free play therethrough of the pins 49, so that the latter mayproperly engage the holes u to actuate the web. The web is additionally guided by the vertical rollers 57, 58, suitably mounted in the box 36 on opposite sides of the shaft S, the purpose of the apron being more to offer a proper support and guide for the web as it is seized and advanced by the radial pins or teeth 49 of the disks 48. The ends of the web are secured to hard wood winding rollers 59, 59', respectively, the former being mounted on a shaft 60 and the latter on a shaft 60. One end of the shaft 60 terminates in a square end w for applying a crank handle A,a like square end w terminating the shaft S and for a like purpose (Fig. l).

In its advances, the web 50 of course should be maintained taut so as to wind and unwind positively, and that it may present an unwrinkled surface to the eye of the reader. Proper tension is therefore permanently exerted on the web for this purpose by the following mechanism: Disposed adjacent the winding roller 59, on the bottom of theV box 36 is a flanged cup 6l, the iiange being formed with a slit 62 through which is passed the outer end of a coiled spring 63,

the end of the spring being bent against i the outer wall of the flange (Fig. 4) whereby it is made fast to the cup. The inner end of the spring is fastened to an arbor or spindle 64 supported at the upper end in a bracket 65 and at its lower end in the bottom socket of the cup (Fig. 5) whereby upon winding up of the spring, rotation is imparted to the arbor, the same as in ordinary clock mechanism. The spindle 64 carries a gear wheel 66 which meshes with a pinion 67 on the shaft (60) of the roller (59). When the spring is under tension it will tend to rotate the arbor or spindle 64 and its gear wheel 66, and hence tend to impart rotation to the pinion 67 and the shaft i' (Fig. 5). When the web 50 is advanced in "Y a direction to unwind from a roller (59, 59') it rotates that roller in a direction to cause the spring to wind up, the 'opposite roller or that on which the web is wound being rotated in a direction to unwind its spring. This tends to impose an increasing tension on the spring connected with the unwinding roller, and a decreasing ,tensionV on the spring connected with the winding roller. It follows that when the quantity of web on one roller is equal substantially to that on the opposite roller, the tensions of the springs will be equ'alized, but from that moment, and with the farther advance of the web, one spring will begin to increase in tension while the other will begin to decrease. The tension of the spring identified with the roller from which the web has been practically unwound will assist in the driving of the web when the direction of advance Vof the Vlatter has been reversed; but while that -is true, the springs 6B, 63', are not relied on for driving the web, that being acthe disks a8, with elongated slots s', a', so

' that with any rotation of the disks '48 the pins will simply play through the slots s without engaging the web and the latter comes to a dead stop (Fig. l2). 3f course in order to bring the slots to the position Tindicated, a pin .t9 must first engage the nearest terminallof the slot so as to effect a final advance in the web, the movement of the web in such final advance bringing the end of the slot thus engaged out of range of succeeding pins, thereby allowing the disks to continue in their rotations without affecting the web. Y

The operation will be clearly apparent from the foregoing description but may be briefiy summarized as follows: lf the car is to make an out-bound trip, the conductor or operator seizes a crank-handle 'such asia, applying it to the-screw-sliaft 4t2 and turns the shaft counter-clockwise (Fig. l) until the male clutch member m has engaged the female member t, that fact being indicated by the head 52of the pin 51 coming opposite the out notation on the check indicator I, (Fig. 8). ltith a travel of the car as indicated, we can assume that the direction of rotation imparted to the gear 38 and hence to the countershaft 39 isv as indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 6. This will impart rotation to the. shaft S in a.' direction to exert a draft on the web 50 so as to advance `t to the right (Figs. t, 5), that is to say, it will pull the web off or unwind the same from, the roller or reel 59 and cause it to wind on the roller 59, being facilitated by the tension of the spring 63 .vhich aspreviously explained always tends to unwind and hence exerts a tension on the web. 'At the same time, the draft on the web 50 by the pins 49of the disks 48 secured to the shaft S will. cause the roller 59 to rotatein proper direction to wind up the spring 63', and thus progressively increase its tension. This increasing tension on the roller which is being constantly stripped of its web is desirable, because with a constantly decreasing quantity of web the roller is becoming lighter andfhencemore readily. turiied;l andito maintain'as nearly as possible a;constancyA of resistance to' the' 'draft on the web, what-theuroller loses in weight it keeps gaining (in the matter of resistance) by a corresponding. increaseinthe tension ofthe spring. VThe opposite roller (59') on-the other hand is increasingin cross-sectional diameterby reasonl of a constantfaccession of web vmaterial to its periphery so that a correspondingly increasing sweep-of vsaid vperiphery results from the saine angulairotationV of the roller. This increased peripheral travel tendsV to exert a draft on the section of web which is being wound on the roller, because it tends to wrap or take up agreater length of web j than is unwound from the rolleii) whose cross-sectional diameter is constantly decreasing. It is forY this reason therefore'that the winding of the spring 63 (63') -.is brought about by the unwinding or unwrapping of the web from its roller, the web being at all 'times lrepttaut the'action ofthe springs which tend to unwind. The web of course is actuated by the pins 49 on the disks' 48 (a single roller or cylinder or its equivalent could obviously be substituted for the two disks'lS), the shaft of which derives its Vrotation from the clutch-shaft 35 which in turn is rotated by the shaft 34EV of vthe reduction gearing operated from the flexible shaft 20. lf the car ism-bound instead of out-bound, the operator shifts the male clutch member m to engage the female t, whereupon the shaft S will rotate in the opposite direction, and the web will travel in the opposite direction; and what was previously the unwinding roller (59) will now become the winding roller, the rollerv 59 becoming the unwinding roller. VShouldthe web be carried beyond its normal range of travel it will come to a dead stop the moment the pins 49 come opposite the slots e', snof the web 4as -already explained. To bring the web back to proper position, the operator moves the clutch member m to central orneutral position so as to be disengaged from both females t, t, thus leaving the shaft 39 operatively disconnected frorn the clutch-shaft,

Vand by applying thecrank-handle AV to the square end w of the shaft GO of the roller 59 he can turn the roller the'necessary de-` gree to right the web. So too, should the web 50 at any time'while in service', be at variance or vout of register with the streets which it should indicate, so that thenames of the streets exposed' through the glass Gr n0 longer correspond with the actual streets the carris traversing or crossing, the error can be rectifiedor corrected by the Noperator or conductor applying the "crank-handle A to the square end tot of the shaft Si, and giving the shaft a sufficient turn or turns to bring the web to its true or corrected position, it being understood of course-that beforethatis done, the male clutch member is shiftedteicentra-l or neutral position in lltlf order to disengage the shaft 39 from the clutch-shaft 35.

It is apparent from the foregoing that the details of the mechanism may be departed from in many particulars without a departure from either the spirit or nature of our invention. Features shown but not alluded to are well understood in the art and require no description in the present connec tion.

We do not wish to limit the invention for indicating streets merely, as it may be used to indicate stations, or stopping points for steam or interurban cars; and the term street is not to be regarded as a limitation in any way, the same being herein used for convenience of title. Neither do we wish to restrict the indicator member to a web specifically.

Having described our invention, what we claim is:

l.. In an indicator of the character described, a traveling web provided with a series of alining perforations and elongated slots, a rotating member provided with peripheral radially disposed pins or teeth for engaging the perforations for advancing the web, andoperating through the slots without exerting an advance on the web, as set forth.

2'. In an indicator of the character described, a traveling web, a guide therefor comprising a member provided with a deep narrow passage for the traverse of a marginal section of the web, an actuating disk or wheel, peripheral radially disposed pins, the walls of the guide and passage thereof aforesaid being provided with elongated registering slots for the traverse of the pins and peripheral portion of the disk or wheel, the web being provided with a series of openings or perforations opposite the slots for the reception of the pins.

3. In an indicator of the character described, a traveling web, means spaced a suitable distance apart for maintaining a given section of the web taut or under tension, a guiding member interposed between said means provided witha narrow passage for receiving a marginal section of the web, an actuating disk, peripheral radially disposed pins on the disk, the walls of the passage aforesaid being provided with elongated slots for accommodating the pins aforesaid, the web being provided with perforations opposite the slots for receiving the pins of the actuating disk.

4. In an indicator of the character described, a clutch-shaft, a sliding clutch-member on the shaft, a screw-shaft, a detachable crank-handle for operating the screw-shaft, a sliding clutch member on the clutch-shaft, a clutch-shifter on the screw-shaft, an indicator for indicating the direction of rotation of the screw-shaft to shift the clutch member in a given direction, a second indicator serving as a check on the first indicator, and a member on the clutch-shifter cooperating with said second indicator, for the purpose set forth.

5. In an indicator of the character described, a traveling web, means spaced a suitable distance apart for maintaining a given section of the web taut or under tension, a guiding member interposed between said means provided with a narrow passage for receiving a marginal section of the web, a rotary actuating member, radially disposed pins on said member, the walls of the passage aforesaid being provided with slots for accommodating the pins aforesaid, the web being provided with perforations opposite the slots for receiving the pins of the actuating member.

6. In an indicator of the character described, a traveling web, means spaced a suitable distance apart for maintaining a given section of the web taut or under tension, a perforated guiding member interposed between said means and engaged by the marginal portion of the web, a rotary actuating member, radial pins on said member operating through the perforations of the guiding member, the web being provided with perforations opposite the perforations of the guiding member for receiving the pins of the actuating member.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses.

ARCHIBALD S. B. LITTLE. ROBERT M. FEUSTEL. Witnesses:

F. G. LAwLER, P. G. LITTLE.

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

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