US1357064A - Signal for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

J. J. LANAHAN.

SIGNAL FOR VEHICLES.

APPLlCATlON FILED NOV. 16, 1911.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES JQLANA AN, or BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

mm. 150R VEHICLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L'JAME's J. LANAHAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State or New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Signals for Vehicles, or which the following is' a specification.

This inventionrelates to a signal forautomobiles or other vehicles for indicating the direction wliiclrthe vehicle is about to take orwhether the same is aboutto stop, and thereby avoid traiiic accidents.

It is the object of this invention. to 131'0. vide a signal of this character which is simple and compact in construction; neat in appearance, eflicient and reliable in operation and low in cost. i

In the accompanying drawings: v

Figure 1 is an elevation on a reduced scale, of my improved signal showing. the

same applied to the wind shield of an auto-,

nobile and the movable parts being shifted into their operative position; Fig. 2isa vertical longitudinal section of'this signal, on anenlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the correspondingly numbered line in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 isa' vertical transverse section, on anenlarged scale, taken 011 line 4 1, Fig. 2. 4 Fig; 5 is a fragmentary, verticahlongitudinal section taken on line 5 5, Fig'jt. -Fig.6 isa detached inside elevationofthe disk of the electric switch which controls the -circuitiofthe sig nal lamp forming partof this invention.

Similar characters I of reference indicate corresponding part-s throughoutthe several the casing for terminating the signalc' The casing '1 which forms the supportin the present instance is preferablyconstructed of sheet metal and'has ain opening;inits outer sidethrough which the; signal device is adapted to moveinto'and out of thef'casinm This casing may be mounted on anysuitable' or convenient part of thef-vehic1e,- for instance, on the frame 2 of the windshieldj of an automobile; for whlclr purpose a clampfing;device .is prov ded which comprises two I Speeificationof Letters l atent.

Application filed. November 16, 1917. Serial No. 202,265.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

clamping jaws 3 a, engaging with opposite s des of an upright bar of the wind shield i'rame and a clamping bolt 5 which passes horizontally and transversely through these clampingjawethe inner part of the casing and a spacmgsleeveG arranged within the casing, as best'shown in Figs; 2 and 3. The

opening on the outer: side of the casing is covered and uncovered-by means of a lid on door 7 which is preferably pivotallv con nected at its lower end bya hinge 8 with the lower part of the casing so that this lid can either swing into its upright closed position ordownwardly into a horizontal open position. On the innerside of this lid ismounted the signal devicewhich isso constructed that it displays asignal .duringthedav time and also during the night time. In its preferred form the signal device comprises a semaphore of-sheet metal havinga longitudinal bar or plate-9'arranged parallelito i thelid, alug 10 arrangedat the inner end of the'bar and secured to the lidiadjacent to the pivotal connection of the same with the casing and a ring 11 arranged at the outer end of the semaphore'bar andsecured to the outer or upper partof the lid. This lid, together with the signal device mounted thereon, may be'moved inwardly andioutwardly into its inoperative and operative position, by any suitable means, for instance,

by ashifting rod 12 arranged horizontally within the lower partlof the casing. and

passingthro'ugh an opening 13. in the rear or inner wall thereof and pivotally connected at its outer'end by. means of a screw 14 with the semaphore lug while its innerqend is provided with a finger piece or handle 15 whereby this rod may be actuated manually.

l6 represents an electric lightbulb mount- .edon thesemaphore so thatits' filament is arranged in line with theopening within the ring ll 'and when illuminated serves as a night signal on opposite sides of the semaphore. current may be supplied by wires 1'7, 18 to this lamp from any suitable source,

' ;i ')r-instance the generator or storage bat tcry 19. now commonly; employed in connection with the ignition and illuminating systems of automobiles. A s'witchmechanism :is provided whereby this lamp will vbe automatically lighted whenjthe signahdevice is ,moved outwardly into its operative position andJextinguished when the same is returned to its'normal inoperative position.

preferred form of thisswitch mechanism In the 7 the same is combined with a stop device whereby the outward movement of the sig nal device into the operative position is limited, this stop device as shown in the draw ings, being preferably constructed as follows:

20, 21 represent two switch supporting disks which are constructed of vulcanite or similar material, the disk 20 being relatively fixed andsecured to the inner part of the semaphore by means of a rivet 22, as shown in Fig. 4%, and the other disk 21 being rotatable concentrically relative to the fixed disk and pivotally connected therewith and the semaphore by means of a pivot-bolt having a hollow shank 2-3 which passes axially through both switch supporting disks and the semaphore and engages its head 24- with the outer side of the movable switch disk while its nut 25 engages with the outer side of the semaphore, as best shown in Fig. 4. On the opposing sides of the switch disks are arranged the contact members which are adapted toform parts of the circuit of the electric lamp and to open and close this circuit upon turning these switch disks one relatively to the other@ In the preferred form of this switch the fixed disk 20 is provided with two metallic contacts 26, 27, to which the circuit wires are connected and the relatively rotatable disk 21 is provided with a metal bridge contact 28 which is adapted to cooperate with the fixed contacts 26, 27, of the other disk. The arrangement and construction of the contacts of these two switch disks is preferably such that the bridging contact 28 of the disk21 engages with only one of the contacts of the fixed switch disk when the lid, semaphore and lamp are in their retracted or inoperative position, thereby breaking the circuit of the lamp and extinguishing the same at this time, but upon moving the lid, semaphore and lamp outwardly into a laterallyprojecting position relative to the casing for giving a signal, the bridging contact 28 of the movable switch disk engages with both fixed contacts 26, 27, immediately after the initial opening movement of the'lid, semaphore and lamp is effected, until these members reach their outermost position, thereby causing the lamp to be not only illuminated while in its farthermost or projected position but also causing the same to produce a sweeping light as it moves outwardly from the casing and back again, whereby a more effective signalis given than would be the case if the lamp were simply lighted and extinguished while in its outmost position."

The turning movement of the rotatable switch disk is effected by means which also form part of the stop device which limits the outward movement of'the semaphore,

lid and lamp, and as best shownin Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the switch actuating and .stop

1 projecting laterally from the front end of the stop rod through the hollow shank 23 of the bolt from the head-end thereof, a nut 34 applied to this pivot pin and engaging with'the nut end of the bolt shank 23,and a staple-shaped fastening 35 for connecting the stop rod with the outer side of the movable switch disk. p

Upon shifting the lid and the parts mounted thereon outwardly, the stop rod slides outwardly in the lug 29 until the stop head 32 at its inner end engages with this lug at which time the outward movement of the lid is arrested and in the preferred organization is so determined that the lid, semaphore and lamp project laterally at this time from the casing, as shown by full lines in Figs. 1, 2 and. Upon swinging the lid and the parts mounted thereon upwardly and inwardly into their retracted position so that the signal devices are inclosed within the casing, the stop rod slides inwardly and upwardly through the stop lug into the position indicated by dotted lines, in Fig. 2. During such sliding movement of the, stop rod through the stop lug, the front end of the same and the movable switch disk 21 connected therewith turn relatively'to the fixed switch-disk 20 so that this switch operates to complete the circuit of the lamp and give a light signal upon moving the lid, semaphore and lamp outwardly and inwardly and. to extinguish the lamp during the last part of the retractingmovement of the lidand associated parts.

In order to cut off thesource of electricity from the lamp duringday time when the lightis not required, an auxiliary hand switch 36 is provided in the circuit which may be of any'suitable construction.

As a whole, this signal comprises very few parts which can be easily assembled, the

structure is very compact and presents a neat appearance and the same contains no delicate parts which are likely to get out of order, thereby rendering the same particularly suitable for use as a direction signal for automobiles which will serve to indicate the intention of the driver during the da time or during the'night time as to whether th'e'particular driver intends to stop or turn toward theright or toward the left, whereby the safety of pedestrians and the passengers is increased. v

I claim as my invention:

ILA vehicle signalcomprising a semaphore pivotallymounted on said casing and'movable into and out of the same, a

casing, a

stop device for limiting the opening movement of said semaphore comprising a stop lug arranged on the inner side of said casing and a stop rod slidable on said lug and provided at its inner end with a stop adapted to engage with the back of said lug while its outer end is pivotally connected with said semaphore on one side of the pivotal connection between the latter and the casing, an electric lamp mounted on said semaphore, and an electric switch having contacts arranged in the circuit of said lamp and adapted to be engaged and disengaged by the relative rotary movement of said semaphore and stop rod. v I

2. A vehiclesignal comprising a casing, a semaphore pivotally mounted on said casing and movable into and out of the same, an' I electric lamp mounted on said semaphore, an electric switch mounted on said semaphore and comprising two insulating disks,

one of which is fixed on the semaphore and the other rotatable relatively to said fixed disk, cooperating contacts arranged in the circuit of said lamp and mounted respec' t'ively on said disks, and means for turning said disks relatively to one another upon ,7 moving said semaphore into and out off its operative position.

3. Avehicle signal comprising a casing, a

semaphore pivotally mounted on said casing and movable into and out of the same, an

electric lamp mounted on said semaphore, an electric switch mounted on said semaphore and comprising two insulatingdisks one of which is fixed 011 the semaphore andthe other rotatable relatively to said fixed disk, cooperating contacts arranged in the circuit ofs'aid lamp and mounted respectively on said disks, meansv for pivotally connecting said disks comprising a hollow pivot bolt;

passing axially through said disks and hearing with its head against thepivoted disk and with its nut against t he semaphore, and means for turning said movable disk and limiting the outward movement; of said semaphore comprising a sto) lug arranged on said casing, and a stop'ro slidable in said stop lug and provided at its inner end with a stop engaging with said .lug and at its oufiend with a, laterally-projecting pivot wrist which is arranged in saidhollow bolt and-connected with said rotatable disk.

JAMES J. LANAHAN.

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