US1349160A - Station-indicator - Google Patents

Description

.I. I. KUVACH.

STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION man MAR.4,1920.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

2 SHETS-SHEET l.

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1. J. KGVACH. STATION INDICATOR.

`\PPLICAT|0N FILED MAR. 4, 1920.

' 1,349,160. mmm@ 10,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I www @0o @o L@ UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STATION-INDICATOR.

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, .loi-in Jo'snrH Kovaci-i, a citizen of the Republic of @Zeche-Slovakia, residing at La Belle, in the county of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Station-Indicators; and I do de'- clare the following' to`be a full', clear, `and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make a'ndv use the same.

rThis invention relatesto an'improved station indicator. e

Indicators of the above' mentioned character are employed vforthe purpose" of enabling persons to determine thek names of the various stations and towns before they are reached by the train, street cai", or other means of travel upon which the device is installed. ThisV method of announcin'L'g` the stations does away with the" usual way, wherein a conductor comes through the car and announces the names of the various stations and towns being approached.

My device is to be placed at convenient points in the car, for instancev at the end'of the car so it can be readily seen by the passengers. Iii order togattract. the' atteiitionof the passengers, I have equipped'tlie device with an audible signal, suchas a bell, which will ring at the time the indicator is in operation.

I am aware that devicesfhaveY been patented for accomplishing the same'result that I do, and I do not claim'it broadly. flowever, these devices that I have in j mind are a great deal dierentV in construction and design fr om mine, and are' notnearly as effectiif'e in operation as mine is'. It is therefore my intention and the object of this 'invention to generally improve upon and simplify such devices. To this end I have produced a device which is'extremely simple in construction, strong, durable, effective in operation and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description. y

.In the accompanying drawings, forming a Vpart of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same; I

Figure l is an end elevation of a device Speecation of Letters Patent. Patented flug. '10, 1920. i Application aied Mameli, i920. semaine. 363,248.

constructed in accordance with my invention, the same being shown in use.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged central vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of the device, showing the operating mechanism more clearly.

F ig. 3 is a section taken on the plane of the line 8-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. Ll is a view taken on .the plane of the line l-fl of Fig. 2, the operating mechanisni being shown in the position which is assumes before being moved to operative position.

Fig. 5 is a vview like F ige, showing the position of the parts when the device is operative;

My Astation indicator is to be used in connection more particularly with railway cars, but it may be equally well used on street cars ifso desired. In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration, I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral l designates'the bottoni or floorv of a railway car,` which in order to support my device will be provided with an opening through which the device may be projected.` rTheA device may be connected to this floor in any suitable way and shouid project far enough above the upper surface thereof to enable the passengers to readily see the names of the towns.

lThe device includes a housing' 2 which forms a support for the various parts thereof and which maybe made of wood if desired. As before stated, a portion of this housing-will project above the surface of the floor to enable the passengers to read the names of the towns. In this portion of the casing is the indicator mechanism, designated as a whole by the numeral 3. This mechanism is more clearly Yshown in Figs. e, and 5, wherein there is shown pairs of rollers journaled in the support. There are two pairs of such rollers, and I have designated them as upper and lower pairs 4: and 5, respectively.V The belt 6 is wound about these rollers in the manner disclosed, vthat is, it is wound on one of the lower rollers 4.-, over the upper rollers v5, and thence on the remaininglower roller 4. It contains the names of the towns thereon at which the train is to stop. In order to enable the passengers to see suchnames, the upper portion of the support or housing willbe prohad vided with windows 7 which-may be of glass.

or any other suitable material.

This indicator mechanism is operated'by Vtrack-controlled mechanism supported in the lower portion of the support 2. This mechanism is more clearly disclosed in Figf2.-

By referring to this figure it Awill be `seen that the numeral 8 designates a shaft which is journaled in the support or housing 2.

c the short chains are connected to the sprockets. 412 and thence to sprockets 13, on the journals of the upper rollers 5. It is to be noted that both of the long chains are connected to the sprocketsv 10 and one of them is connected to one of the sprockets 12 on one of thel lower rollers 4;'while the other like chain is connected to the sprocket12 on the other lower roller 4. The shortY chains are arranged in a similar way, that is, they are `arranged to cross one another in the manner shown. -ZVith this construction of driving means, l maintain a uniform and steady pull which will insure effective operation of the indicator mechanism and will prevent damaging of thebelt 6 which might otherwise occur owing to sudden jerking thereof if only one or two chains were employed. While T have shown and described sprockets and chains for operating the indicator mechanisms Iedesire it to be understood that it may be accomplished withy any other driving means.

Connected to the lower end of the support 2 is a vertically movable frame, indicated Asection 19 which will be disposed at a distancel from the various stations and towns. This roller is held in frictional contact with the roller 19 by means of coiled springs 2O which are disposed between it and the lower end of the support 2. It is desired to prevent the gears 9 from rotating when the device is inoperative. To this end, I make use of a pair of bars 21 which are rigidly secured at their lower ends to the shaft 16,

will be permitted to rotate.

and are provided between their ends with slots 22 through which the shaft 8 extends. The upper endsof these bars extend above the gears 9 and have cross pieces 23 secured `to them, the latter carrying a pair of fingers 24 which are designed to engage and prevent rotation of the gears 9 when the device is inoperative. AVHowever, as soon as the framel 14 is moved Vupwardly by reason of the engagement of the wheel 1S with one of the track sectionsr19, the bars 21 will be caused to move upward to an extent to disengage the fingers 24 whereby the gears 9 If desired, a guard casing 25 may be placed over the drivingV mechanism.

As before stated, it is my intention to employ an audible signal in order to attract the attention of the passengers whenithe device is in operation. This signal includes a bell 26 which is controlled by means of the con-V tacts 27, which lare brought into operation when the vframe 14 is caused tol move upwardly, as is obvious.

` In use, my device will be installed at convenient points in the cars so'that the passengers will be able to readily and, easily see the names of-the towns as they are brought to view. Within a certain or desired distance of the town, the cam-shaped rail sections 19 will he placed, in a position to be engagedby the device upon passing over the same. So, it will be seen that when the roller 18 engages one of the rail sections 19, it will be held in frictional engagement therewith by means of the coiled springs 20. Owing to this, it will be rotated, which in turn will impart movement to the gears 17. As it approaches the center of the rail section 19 it will cause theV frame 14 to move upwardly against the action of the springs 20, thus bringing the gears 17 and 9 into mesh, and imparting rotation' to the shaft 8 which in turn causes the sprocket chains 11 to move. It is obvious that such movement of the sprocketchains 11 which are asso ciated with the indicating-mechanism 3, will cause the latter to operate. Such construction of the indicator mechanism will cause the belt device -to bewound from one of the rollers 4 onto the other, thus bringing the indications thereon behind the windows 7 so that the passengers in the car will be able to see them and determine the name of the station being approached.

As soon as the roller 18 has passed over the rail section 19 the parts will assume an inoperative ,positionl due to the action of the coiled springs 20. When in inoperative position the fingers 24 will engage the gears 9 in such a manner as'to prevent rotation thereof which is undesirable and which might otherwise occur due to the jars to which the device is subjected. It is also to be mentioned that'when the device is in operative position the bell 26 willV be caused to ring in the manner already set forth, thus insuring that the attention of the passengers will-be directed to the name of the town brought to view. n

A device constructed in accordance with my invention will be found extremely advantageous, as, it will automatically indicate to the passengers, the name of the town at which the train will stop next; thus 0bviating the usual custom now employed. The device is extremely effective in operation, and may be installed on trains now in use with extremely slight alterations of the body of the cars. Consideration of the foregoing description taken in connection with 'the accompanying` drawing will enable persons skilled in the art to which this invention relates to obtain a thorough understanding` of the advantages and operation of the device. Therefore, further description is deemed unnecessary.

lt is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred form of the same, and that various minor changes in the shape,

lsize, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

l claim as my invention:

l. A device of the class described comprising a support, movable indicator mechanism carried thereby, gearing also carried by the support for imparting motion to said mechanism, a vertically movable frame, springs between the frame and the support, a shaft journaled in said frame, a roller on said shaft for frictional contact with a cam track section, and a gear on the shaft held out of mesh 'ith said gearing by said springs.

2. device of the class described comprising indicator mechanism, a support for the saine, a shaft journaled in the support, a on the shaft, means coacting with the gear and indicator mechanism for actuating the latter, a vertically movable frame including guide arms having slots through which said shaft extends, coiled springs loetween the support and frame to force the latter away from the former, a shaft journaled in the frame, a roller on the last named shaft for frictional engagement with a cam track-section, and a gear also on this shaft Vnormally held out of mesh with the first mentioned gear by said coiled Springs.

3. A device of the class described comprising movable indicator mechanism, a support therefor, a gear carried by the latter for imparting motion to the indicator mechanism, a verf1 "ally movable spring pressed frame carried by said support, a shaft journaled therein, a track-controlled-roller on the last shaft, a gear also on this shaft for mesh with the first gear, and locking means for the iirst mentioned gear including a bar carried by the second mentioned shaft and extending above the first named gear with which it coacts, a cross-piece on this. end of the bar, and a depending finger on the crosspiece for cooperation with said gear.

A device of the class described coinprising movable indicator mechanism, a support therefor, a shaft journaled in the support, a pair of gears on the shaft, means reacting with the gears and indicator mechanism for actuating the latter, a vertically movable spring pressed frame carried by the support, a shaft j ournaled in the frame, gears on this shaft for coperation with the first gears all of said gears being normally out of mesh, a roller fixed on the last shaft Abetween the gears for frictional contact with a cam track-section, a pair of vertically disposed bars carried by the last named shaft, each bar having an elongated slot therein `through which the iirst shaft extends, a

cross-piece secured to the upper ends of the bars, and a pair of depending lingers carried by the latter for engagement each with one of the first mentioned pairs of gears.

A device of the class described comprising a support, upper and lower pairs of rollers journaled in the support, a belt having indications thereon, wound from one of the lower rollers, across the upper pair and then on the remaining lower roller, a sprocket wheel on the journals of each of the rollers, a shaft journaled in the support, a gear on the shaft, a sprocket wheel on each end of the shaft, a plurality of long and short chains cooperating with the sprocket wheels, the long chains being connected to the gears on the shaft, one of these chains being connected to the sprocket wheel on one of the lower rollers while the other chain is connected to one of the sprockets on the other lower roller, the short chains being connected to the remaining sprockets on the lower rollers, directed at angles to cross each other and connected to the sprockets on the upper pair of rollers, a vertically movable spring pressed frame carried by the support, a shaft journaled therein, a roller fixed on the shaft for frictional contact with a cani track-section, and agear also on this shaft'for mesh with the first named gear.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN JOSEPH KovAoH.

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