US1228605A - Mail-bag supporting mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

J. SANDER.

MAIL BAG SUPPORTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION HLED SEPT. 21, 1915.

1,228,695.. Patented Jun 5, 1917.

Sumo; Joseph 7? (Sander m1 mmms PETERS an, Puma-1.1mm WASNINGION. u. c

JOSEPH P. SANDER, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TO THE SPOKANE MAIL EQUIEMENT COMPANY, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION.

MAIL-BAG-SUPPORTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Application filed September 21, 1915. Serial No. 51,798.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrrr P. SANDER, a citizen of the United States, residlng at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag- Supporting Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail bag transferring mechanism and one of theprinclpal objects of the invention is to provide means for supporting the bag to be transferred 111 such a manner as to take practically all of the strain off from the material of the bag and dispose such strain upon a separate supporting means.

The invention has to do more particularly with that type of mail bag catching or transferring mechanism in which the bag 1s supported by lines extending from the ends of the bag, and it has been found in practice that when the bag is wfull, its length is slightly contracted as compared to its length when the bag is empty.- Furthermore, when the bag is full, or partially filled, the strain imposed upon the bag structure, itself, when the same is caught by either the station or the car device, is of such a considerable nature that the life of the bag is materially shortened. This applies especially, to the points at which the endwise projecting lines are secured to the ends of the bag.

Now it is a primary object of this invention to effectively support the bag, preferably at both ends and the middle, without in any way straining the material of the bag in the operation of transferring the bag from the car to the station or vice versa. Furthermore, it is an object of this invention to support the bag irrespective of variation of the length of the latter due to it being empty, partially or fully loaded.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawing and will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a station device showing a mail bag supported by the device of my invention, with the flat side of the bag in full elevation.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of a partially filled bag, drawn on an enlarged scale, and showing the manner in which the bag is supported at its upper and lower ends and also at an intermediate point.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of my improved supporting line.

1 Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the different fig- .ures'of the drawing.

As illustrated, 1 designates the platform structure of a station transfer device which is provided with an upright post or stand ard 2. An arm supporting spindle 3 is journaled at its upper and lower ends in bearings 4 and 5 to permit said spindle 3 to rotate about a fixed vertical axis. Mail bag transferring arms 6 and 7, preferably provided with forked ends, are mounted upon said spindle 3 so as to be rotated to and from projecting positions with respect to the platform 1. The precise construction which is herein broadly illustrated, is shown more particularly in my co-pending application filed September' 2, 1914, Serial Number 859,866. Referring more particularly to the structure of the present invention, 8 designates, broadly, a supporting line which may be in the form of a cable, chain or rope and which is herein shown as provided with upper and lower sections 9 and 10. Said sections 9 and 10 are connected with a strap loop 11, at their inner ends, as indicated at 12 and 13; At their terminal ends, said sections 9 and 10 are provided with enlargements 14 and 15, which may be termed lugs, and which serve to prevent the supporting line from pulling through and becoming detached from the forks after the supporting line has entered the contracted or thrust portions of the forks. Inwardly with respect to the ends of said sections 9 and 10, I provide fastening devices which may comprise clamps 16 and 17 each provided with a snap hook. as indicated at 18 and 19.

The mail bag is indicated at 20 and is shown provided on its ends with oppositely projecting eyes 21 and 22. Now by reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the supporting line 8 extends along the mail bag 20 and above and below the ends of the latter, the disposition of the snap hooks 18 and 19 being such that the ends of the bag may be secured thereto without unduly stretching the bag irrespective as to whether or not its length is varied by the extent to which the same has been filled. Thus the bag lies along an intermediate portion of the supporting line and will be secured thereto in a manner to support the bag without any strain whatsoever excepting the strain that would usually be imposed upon the bag by reason of the weight thereof. However, in my improved construction I also provide means for even lessening the strain that would usually be imposed upon the bag, when the same is merely supported at its ends, such means being in the form of a contracting strap 23 which is threaded through the loop 11 and buckled about the bag in such a manner as to contract the waist or central portion thereof. Thus in the most improved embodiment, the bag has three points of support. I

The great advantage in providing this intermediatesupport for the bag is that the bag is held closely alongside the supporting line so that in the act of transferring the bag from the car to the station device, or vice versa, the whirling movement usually resulting is materially reduced because no portion of the bag is free to swing bodily laterally by centrifugal force, as a result of such whirling movement. Therefore the result of my improved construction is a much more smooth and eiiicient action in the actual transfer, than in constructions heretofore known.

It is believed that the advantages and utility of my invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description, and while I- have herein shown and described one specific form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as. the claims may import.

I claim 1. In combination with the supporting elements of a mail bag transferring mechanism and a mail bag provided with attaching devices secured at either end, of a continuous removable mail bag supporting line adapted to be held in a vertical position between said supporting elements and provided with attaching devices to cooperate with said attaching devices of the mail bag to retain said bag in a vertical distended position and in close parallel relation to said line.

2. In combination with the supporting elements of a'mail bag transferring mechanism and a mail bag provided with attaching devices secured at either end, of a bag supporting line adapted to be held in a vertical position between said supporting elements and provided with attaching devices to cooperate with said attaching devices of the mail bag, an additional bag strap retaining device carried by said line disposed intermediate of the aforementioned attaching devices of said line, the several attaching devices of the bag and line all serving to retain said bag in a vertical distended position and in close parallel relation to said line.

3. In combination with the supporting elements of a mail bag transferring mechanisrn and a mail bag provided with attaching devices secured at either end, of a continuous removable mail bag supporting line adapted to be held in a vertical position between said supporting elements for instantaneous detachment therefrom and provided with attaching devices disposed intermediate of its ends to coiiperate with said attaching devices of the mail bag to retain said bag in a vertical distended position and in close parallel relation to said line.

4. In combination with the supporting elements of a mail bag transferring mechanism and a mail bag provided with a plurality of attaching devices, of a removable mail bag supporting line adapted to be held in a vertical position between said supporting elements for instantaneous detachment therefrom and provided with a plurality of attaching devices disposed intermediate of its ends to cooperate with said attaching de vices of the mail bag to retain said bag in a vertical distended position.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

JOSEPH P. SANDER.

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

Images