US1353738A

US1353738A - Railway-mail-delivering apparatus

Info

Publication number: US1353738A
Application number: US303536A
Authority: US
Inventors: Otto M Gilbertson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1919-06-12
Filing date: 1919-06-12
Publication date: 1920-09-21
Anticipated expiration: 1937-09-21

Description

v 0. M. GILBERTSON.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1919.

Patented Sept. 21,1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0. M. GILBERTSON.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS. A

APPLICATION FILED JUNE12, 1919.

.PatentedSept. 21,1920.

I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- LEI E Q A a. M. "muszmson.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, I919.

- Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 0. 772. dzZfievZawv 0. M. GILBERTSON.

RAILWAY MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- Patented Sept. 21, 1920.

If 1 l 1 l/ h 7 \kti I I Mail-Delivering Apparatus; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and

' apparatus may be employed regardless of State of WVisconsin, have invented certain unrrr o'r'ro M. eI BnRTson', onnn cnossn, wlscoivsm.

a citizen of the United States, residing at La Crosse, in the county, of IiaCrosse and new and useful Improvements in Railwayexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its principal object to provide a comparatively simple, yet a highly efiicient and reliable means for delivering mail bags from" moving trains, without the danger of injury either {to the bag or its contents, and in carrying out this object, other objeots are to provide a traveling car to receive the sack; to provide for slowly checking the movement of the car after the sack is deposited therein; and to devise an arrangement whereby the entire the direction in which the train is traveling.

With the foregoing in' view, the invention 7 resides in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the descriptive 'ma'ttenbeing supplemented by the accompanyingdrawings forming a part'of this application.

- Figure-1 is a perspective view of the invention showing the same in readiness to deliver a sack of mail.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section through one of the mail cars and the tracks of the receiving car; showing an elevation of the different parts carried by said car and tracks.

" ried arm and the thereon.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is'a vertical section on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 "are detailvertical sections through the sliding arm and its guide, as

seen on the Fig. 2. c

Fig. 7 isan endelevation of the car car- 'bag holding means plane of lines 5-5 and 6+6 of I Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 but illusrating the reversible h d of the holding in means in sectionlfl 1 v Fig. 9 is'a horizontalse'ction on the plane of line 9-9 of Fig. 7. I

Fig. 10 is a disassembled perspective of. the car carried arm and its reversiblehead.

.another application.

RAILwAY-MAIL-nnmvnnme' rrAnA'rUs. V

bag receiving car and associated parts. I v F1gs12and13 are transverse sections on the planes'indicatedby the lines 12-12 and fofFig. 11. f n p The present disclosure includes a hired unl t F-disposed at one sideoit the railway tracn' nd a traveling unit T mounted ona mall car of a train, and both unlts are constructed 1n. a novel-manner. The traveling ,a longitudinal section of the it .unithowever forms the subject matter of The unit F includes a mail bag receiving car 1 having wheels 2 traveling on tracks 3,

and a'shock absorber' 'f to gradually brin'g said car to a standstill afterthe 'mail has been deposited'therein. The'car 1'is open at its top and at one end, while its opposite end is closed and is provided with abumper 5 which" is preferably hinged as'seenat 6 in Fig. '11, and provided with a' shock absorbing spring 7 A sack strikes the bumper 5 'when it is received in the car 1,. and'the. shock thus greatly absorbed, such shock, however, serving to start the car 1 along its tracksf3. against the checking action of the shock absorberj i. I

v The tracks 3 maywell be loca'ted'on a longitudinally extending horizontal frame 8 centrally pivoted at 9 forswinging' horizonfrom trains approaching in either direction. Suitable] supports 10 may be provided for the ends of the frame 8 and said ends are I tally to position thecar 1 for receivingmail to oneposition or the other. Suitable means 12 are provided for locking theframe 8 j against movement when itis properly set.

Not 'onlyrislthe car' '1 mounted on the carried thereby, and'although said shock frame 8, but'its'shock absorbertislikewise absorber inight'vary in form, it preferably consists of a fixedcylinder 13,'a'piston 14,

' a pistonv rod 15 connecting the piston with the car 1, and any suitable valve or connection 16.for permitting slow escape of air "from the cylinder, this arrangement being illustrated most clearly in Fig. '11. It'will thus be seen that when the'car 1 is rapidly moved 'byfdepositing of the mail sack S therein; it must move against the resistance caused by the expulsion of. air from the cylinder 13 by the piston'l l, and this serves to gradually bring'the car to a standstill.

roller 17 may well be mounted on the lower end of a hanger 19 depending from the 'piston rod and clamped against an arm 20 which extends downwardly from the bottom of the car 1. Although this construction might be followed, others could be used to equal advantage.

The traveling unit T is illustrated most clearly in Figs. 2 to 10, said unit including a guide 21 hingedly mounted at 22 on one side of the mail car, for swinging against the side of the latter as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 3 or for disposition at right angles to the track as seen in full lines.

Suitable hooks

23 and 24 or other preferred means may be employed for holding the guide in either of its positions. The upper edge of the guide 21 is provided with a roller 25 located at the inner end of said guide, while another roller 25 is mounted in the lower portion of said guide, at its outer end. horizontal slide bar or arm 26 is slidable in the guide and has its inner end 27 offset downwardly from its outer. end, said outer end resting on the roller 25, while said end 27 extends under the roller 25. The outer end of the arm 26 carries the mechanism for holding the mail sack and consequently there is a downward strain on the outer end of the bar and an upward strain on the inner end thereof, but these strains are received by the

rollers

24 and 25 and thus the bar may be slid in or out with ease. A handle or the like 28 may be provided for this purpose if desired.

The outer end of arm 26 carries a reversible, horizontally swinging head 29 which might be connected thereto in any adequate manner, although intermeshing knuckles 30 and a pivot pin 31 are preferably employed for this purpose. The head 29 may be of any suitable shape, but in most instances 'I prefer to construct the same in the form of an inverted L with the knuckles 30 on the vertical arm thereof, while the horizontal arm 32 serves to support the sack S.

Any, suitable means may be employed to hold the head 29 in either one position or the other, according to the direction in which the train is traveling, but I prefer to provide the outer end of arm 26 with a fixed disk 33 having openings 34 through which a pin-35 is insertible, said pin being slidably carried by the head 29, for instance, in a lug 36 at the lower end of said head.

By any suitable connection, I attach the mail sack S to a ring 37 and pass such ring over the horizontal arm 32 of the head 29,

and I employ a novel latch mechanism for holding the ring in place on the arm until the sack is deposited in the car 1, and for then releasing said ring to permit the arm 32 to withdraw therefrom. In the present showing, I have illustrated a vertical lever 38 fulcrumed in a slot 39 in the arm 32 and provided with a downturned end 40 to eX- tend over the ring 37 said end being normally held in a socket 41 in the arm 32 by means of a coiled spring or the like 42 which normally holds the lever 38 in position to hold the ring 37 against removal. The lower end of lever 38 forms a trip to strike the upper end of the bumper 5 or a release plate 43 carried by the car 1, and it will be seen that this lever is in front of the sack S. Thus, by the time the lever is released by contact with the receiving car, the sack has been deposited in said car against the bumper 5, which starts the'car along'its tracks 3.

After its use, the slide bar 26 may be drawn into the car, and I may provide spring detents 44 and a lug 45, carried respectively by the guide 21 and bar 26, for yieldably holding said bar in either projected or retracted position. The shape of the lug 45 and its manner of co-action with the detents 44, is illustrated most clearly in Figs. 1 and 5, said detents being adapted to snap into a central depression with which said lug is provided.

In operation, the sack S is hung by the ring 37 upon the head 29 and held by the lever 38, said head being swung to the proper position, according to the direction in which the train is traveling. The slide bar 26 is then projected, after first swinging the guide 21 outwardly from the wall of the car and anchoring it by means of the hook 23. In the meantime, the car 1 has been positioned at the ends of the tracks 3 to receive the sack S, and when said car is reached, said sack and the lever 38 strike the same at approximately the same time. The lever 38 is thus released to allow the head 29 to withdraw from the ring 37, leaving the sack or sacks of mail in the car 1. The shock of receiving the mail is decreased to a large extent by the bumper 5, but never theless the car 1 is caused to travel along the tracks 3. However, the shock absorber 4 slowly brings the car to a standstill so that the sacks may be removed, after which said car is returned to the receiving end of the tracks. After delivery of the mail, the arm 26 is of course drawn into the train and its guide 21 is then folded against the wall of the coach as indicated in dotted lines in-Fig. 3. By swinging the frame 8 and the head 29 to one position or the other, the device may be used regardless of the direction in which the train is traveling.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that although my invention is of and since probably the best results are obtainable from the details disclosed, they may well be followed. I wish it understood, however, that within the scope of the invention as claimed, considerable latitude is allowed for making numerous minor changes.

I claim:

1. In a railway mail delivery apparatus, a mail bag receiver open at its top and at one end, said receiver being disposed at one side of a railway, an arm extending laterally from a railway car and having a rearwardly directed portion at its outer end parallel with the railway and adapted for loose reception in a mail bag supporting ring, and a latch for holding the ring on said arm, said latch having-a rearwardly movable releasing arm in front of its ring engaging portion to strike said receiver and release the latch, thereby permitting said rearwardly directed end of said arm to withdraw forwardly from the bag supporting ring. a

2. In a railway mail delivery apparatus, a track at one side of the railway, a receiving car movable along said track, means carried by a railway car for holding a mail sack in position for reception in said receiving car, a releasing trip device for said holding means, and a bumper in said receiving car adapted to be struck by said trip device and by the mail sack. V

3 Ina railway mail delivery apparatus,

a track at one side of the railway, a receiving car movable on said track, an arm extending laterally from a railway car, a reversible head on the outer end of said arm, means on said head to hold the mail sack in position for reception in said receiving car, and means for releasing said holding means when the sack is deposited in said receiving car; saidreceiving car,'in addition to said head, being reversible to permit the apparatus to operate regardless of the direc- 7 means pivotally mounting the center of said frame to permit horizontal swinging thereof to reverse the-position ofthe'car, fixed supports upon which the ends of said frame rest when in either position, and means for locking said frame normally against turning.

my hand. v OTTO M. GILBERTSON.

In testlmony whereof I have hereunto set'