US1207550A - Railroad-bridge warning. - Google Patents

Description

B. J. HASTINGS.

RAILROAD BRiDGE WARNlNG.

APPLICATION FILED APR.13, \sxs.

i ,wimm Patented Dec. 5,1916. QT

BENJAMIN J. HASTINGS, or trAUnrou, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILROAD-BRIDGE WARNING.

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Application filed April 13,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN J. The- TINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Taunton, Bristol county, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Bridge lVarnings, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Railroads are required to provide bridge warnings so called, erected so as to be suspended over the track a short distance back from each side of the bridge to serve as a warning to brakemen on top of the freight cars of the near approach to a bridge. These warnings usually consist of a series of wire hangers pivotally connected with an arm extending crosswise of the track, these hangers being usually only a few inches apart and pivotally connected with the arm in suchi manner that they may swing in the direction lengthwise of the track. These wires are usually a foot or so in length, and secured to the lower end of each wire is a rope which hangs down a sufiicient distance so that if a, brakeman is standing or sitting on the top of a freight car at the time he reaches the warning the ropes will. strike him in the faceto warn him that he is near a bridge in ample time to enable him to flatten himself on the top of the carto avoid striking against the-bridge. The lower ends of these ropes usually reach down to about sixteen feetabove the top of the rail but the exact height abovethe-rail varies somewhat With differentrailroads The wiresthemselves areof simple construction, the pivot end of the wire being bent around to form a loop or eye and this eye is connectedwith the arm above by a staple or other fastening in such manner thatin order to attach or de tach the wire from the arm the workman must use a ladder and climb up to the arm from which the wire issuspended. It is a common practice for a brakeman on top of the freight car as it approaches the guard to put uphis hands and spreadthe wires apart so that his head may pass between the wires without being hit by them, but'as the wires are intended to swing only forward and backand not laterally thisact ofspreading the wires, bends them out of shape. For this reason and for other causes it becomes necessary occasionally to, have a workman make repairs either in the way of; straightening the wires or of removing them and Specification of Letters Patent;

v Patented Dec. 5, 1916. 1916. Serial No. 90,821

or sometimes, to replace the ropes which are suspended from the wire hangers. Whenever suchrepairs are made it is necessary for the workman to procure a ladder and mount to the arm as already described.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple device to be attached permanently to the arm and of sucha construction that the wires may be readily attached to or detached from said attachment by an operative standing on the ground and witlaput requiring the use of any ladder at a The invention will be fully understood from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of an arm and post of usual form of construction and a series of bridge warnings attached to said arm by means of devices embodying the invention] Fig. 2 is an elevation on a larger scale than Fig. 1 showing a single holder attached to the arm with one of the wire hangers and its connected rope attached thereto. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detailed view of one of the holders embodying the invention. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of one of the holders. Fig. 6 is a view of a device for handling the wire hangers in attaching and detaching them from the holder. U

Referring now to thedrawings 1 represents a post partly broken away which is planted in the ground at one side of the track and having attached to the upper end thereof an arm 2 which projects crosswise above the track and which is usually at the other end connected with a post similar to the post 1. On the under side of the arm 2 is secured a-wooden stringer 3 to which are secured the special devices or holders A which embody the invention. The holder has a head 4t provided with suitable means for attaching it to the stringer 3. The preferred securlng means consists of a screw 5 which may be readily screwed into the stringer 3; The holders are attached to the stringer at suitable distances apart.

The head 4 is formed with a vertical slot 6 extending up from the under side, said vertical'slot being of only slightly greater horisubstituting others,

to which therope 8 is secured and of greater horizontal length so that the loop or eye 9 formed at the upper end of the wire may be easily entered in the slot 6 as shown in Fig. 3. The said slot 6 preferably extends up into the head a distance about equal to the full length of the eye 9 so that the full length of the eye may be introduced into the slot. The length of the slot laterally as viewed in Fig. 3 should be at least equal to the diameter of the eye 9 and preferably the slot is open at the ends partway up but not for the full height; One side wall of the slot is .formed with a slot 10 extending therethrough at right angles to the slot 6 and is formed with ears 11 between which is pivoted a latch or hook member 12 on the pivot pin 13. Said latch has an arm 14 on one side of the fulcrum. which in its normal position extends entirely across the slot 6, and has an arm'15 on the opposite side of the fulcrum which projects out through the slot 10. The said latch 12 may be turned on its pivot so as to swing the arm 14 upward entirely out of the slot 6. A stop is provided so that the said latch 12 cannot be turned far enough to swing the arm 14 up beyond a certain distance, preferably just enough for'the arm to be swung up out of the .slotl6, and there is also a stop to prevent the arm 14 falling below a certain point so'that in the lowermost position of thev arm 14, it will extend crosswise of the slot. The. stop mechanism for thus limiting the downward movement of the latch is formed by the shoulder 16 at the lower end of the wall 17 V which connects the two ears 11. When the latch is in the normal position with the arm 14 extending crosswise ofthe slot 6, the arm 15 will engage the under side of the said shoulder 16 land when the latch is turned so as to swing the arm 14 up out of the slot 6, the upper edge 18 of the arm 14 will strike against the inside faceof'the said wall 17.

Preferably i the arm 14 overbalances the arm 15 of the latch so that, the saidlatch being free to turn on its pivot, the excess 'weight of the arm 14 'over the weight of the arm 15 will cause the arm 14 to remain in its downward position crosswise of the slot. It is obvious that a spring or any other suitable. equivalent could be employed normally to retain the said arm 14 in its downwardposition. V

,When it is desired to engage the wire 7 withthe holder, the eye 9 of the wire will be inserted into the slot 6 from the under side, the upper end of the eye thereby pushing-up the arm 14, turning it on its pivot until the upper end of the eye passes by the end of the arm 14 whereupon the weight of the arm 14will then cause it to drop back through the eye and crosswise of the slot (5 has as shown in Fig. 2, so that the wire is suspended from the arm 14.

Whenever it is desired to release the wire the finger piece 15 will be pulled down and the arm 14 will be tilted up and back out of the slot 6. By reason of the convex or cam shaped upper edge 18 of the arm 14 the eye of the wire will slide off the arm 14 and drop. The latch 12 may be actuated to release the wire 7 in the manner just described by an operative standing on the ground and having a pole of suflicient length with a hook on the end to reach over the arm 15 so as to turn the latch.

Whenever it is desired to re'ngage the hanger wire 7 or to introduce a new hanger this also may be done by the workman standing on the ground by means of a pole having a suitable clamp on the end to hold the wire 7 so that he can lift it u and insert the eye 9 into the slot 6, pus ring up the arm 14 until the upper end of the eye slides past the end of the arm 14 when the arm 14 will drop back across the slot 6 in a manner previously described. The spring clamp connected with the pole by which the wire 7 is lifted may be of such character that by a slight pull it may be released from the wire after the wire is suitably engaged with the latch 12. A suitable pole for this purpose is shown in Fig. 6, in which a pole 20 attached to one end thereof an arm 21 to which is'secured a spring 22 which is suitable for engaging and clamping the wire 7 for the purposes above mentioned.

What I claim is:

1. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge warning having a body formed with a vertical slot to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, a latch lever pivoted to said body and having one arm which normally extends crosswise of said slot, said lever being movable on its pivot to swing said arm up out of the slot so as to admit the eye of the wire therein by the upward pressure of the eye against the under side of said lever, said lever being so constructed and weighted that when the eye is moved upward far enough to ride past the said lever arm, said lever arm will swing back crosswise of the slot through the eye and thereby form a support for the wire, the upper edge of said lever arm being downwardly inclined crosswise of the slot when it extends across the slot in its normal positionin such manner that when said lever arm is tilted upward to move it out of the slot, the said eye of the wire will automatically slide ofi of the said lever arm by gravity and be disengaged from the holder.

2. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge warning having a body formed with a vertical slot to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, and having a second vertical slot through one of the walls of said first slot and extending at right angles to said first slot, a

first arm crosswise of latch lever pivoted within said second slot and having one arm which normally extends crosswise of said first slot, said lever having a second arm which protrudes out of said second slot, said first arm over balancing said second arm so as to normally retain said said slot, the upper edge of the first arm of said lever sloping downwardly in a direction toward its swinging end in such manner that when the said lever arm is tilted upward it will ride up under the eye, by gravity.

3. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge warning having a body formed with a vertical slot to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, the transverse width of the slot being but leaving the wire free to drop "slightly in excess of the diameter of the wire of which the eye is composed, and having a second vertical slot through one of the walls of said first slot and extending at right angles to said first slot, a latch lever pivoted within said second slot and having one arm which normally extends crosswise of said first slot, said lever having a second arm which protrudes out of said second slot, said first arm overbalancing said second arm so as to normally retain said first arm crosswise of said slot, the upper edge of the first arm of said lever sloping downwardly in a direction toward its swinging end in such manner that when the said lever istilted upward it will ride up from under the eye of the wire leaving the wire free to drop by gravlty.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

Washington, D. 0.

4. A holder for a tell-tale wire for a bridge Warning having a body provided with means at its upper end for a rigid connection with a support, said body being formed with a vertical slot between two flange portions to receive the eye of a tell-tale wire, the space between said two flanges being but slightly in excess of the diameter of the wire of which the eye is composed and having a second vertical slot through one of the flange walls of said first slot and at right angles to said first slot, said slotted flange wall having a slotted lateral extension forming ears, the slot between said ears in said extension connecting with the slot through said flange wall and forming thereinto a single continuous slot, a latch lever pivoted within said last slot and having one arm which normally extends crosswise of said first slot, said lever having a second arm which protrudes out of said second slot, said first arm overbalancing said second arm so as to normally retain said second arm crosswise of said slot, said second slot being of sufficient depth to permit said first arm to be tilted up therein entirely out of said first slot, and the upper end of the slot between said ears forming a stop to limit the downward swing of the latch end of said lever.

In testimony whereof I aflix in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN J. HASTINGS.

Witnesses:

THOMAS C. BAQHELDER, WILLIAM A. COPELAND.

my signature,

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

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