US1404679A - Mail carrier - Google Patents

Description

H. w. ANTHOLZ.

MAIL CARRIER. APPLICATION FILED FEB-[4.1921.

1 194,679. Patented Jan. 24, 1922..

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- INVENTOR H. W. ANTHOLZ.

MAIL CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.14. 1921.

1 ,404,679, Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR depend upon the number'ot stations in the s ria arena mete MAIL nann es.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patefii'tgd Jan, 241. 11922,

Application filed February l t-{192 1. Serial No. 444,732.

ToaZZw/zomz't may camera." 7

Be it known that I, HENRY IV. ANTHOLZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at McDonald, in the county of Rollins and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Il/IailCarriers; and I do declare the following toibe a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relatesto aerial railways in which a superposedtrack supports a car or cars adapted to carry merchandise, mail and the like. i i i The invention is particularly applicable for use in connection with rural tree deliv ery routes in which a circuitous track is provided, over which'may travel one or more cars from a central station, to be returned to the central'station after making the circuit. i

At suitable intervals in the circuit will be provided stations representing the points of delivery and collectiom it beingpossible to automatically release a car ata designated point and pick up another car or proceed without picking up another car until another station has been reached, whereupon a second car may be automatically detached until all the cars in the train have been released. The number of cars in the train propelled by the motorcar' or pilot car will circuit and certain mechanism on each drawn car can beset/to cause that particular car to be released at a particular station.

The specific details of construction embodied/in thepreferred form of my invention will be described hereinafter, itbeing understood that changes in form, proportion and minor details ofconstruction may be resortedto without departing "from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

In'the drawings,

Fig. 1 is *a perspective View or" a pilot car and one trailer, part of the trailer being broken away to show the settingi'inechanisni therein.

v,Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view through the pilot car and one trailer.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspectiveview of the coupling release, and I l Fig. l is a side elevational view on a reduced scale of a pilot car and a plurality oftrailers. f I I In carrying outmy inventionI prefer to provide a plurality of posts 1, provided wit-l base members 2 for the track frame at the top thereof, the base members 2 having upstanding bracket arms 3 and l. The number of posts and bracket arms will depend upon the number required to .maintain the aerial rails or wires 5 comparatively taut,

the rails or wires 5 being fastened to the upper endsot the bracket arms 3 and 4 in any well known manner.

The bracket arms at the stations where trailers are to detachedare preferably connected with yielding or spring braking strips 6, adapted to bear against wear plates or braking strips on the trailers, will be explained hereinafter. The posts l at the stationshave upwardlyextending and laterally curved trip arms 7, the curved portions 8 of which come in contact with the pivoted levers. on the settin mechanism or the 3 t l v trallers, to be presently oescribedh I V It isapparentthatthe posts Will be arranged 111 parallel so that there will he parallel rails 5 to supportthe pilot car and trailers on opposite sides, as clearly shown inFig. 1. i

a The pilot'car may consist of a rectangular hollow member 9, having overhanging edges 10, beneath which aretractionwheels 11 on opposite sides of thecar on shafts 12 and 13. The shafts Band 13 extend through a the'sidewalls of the car to support thc trac tion wheels or pulleysjon the ends thereof? and which wheels or' pulleys ride ou the rails 5 5. a

The forward grooved traction wheels 11 on shaft 13 are idlers while those on the shaft 12 are driven through a gearing from a motor 14. The motor lt'rna-y be an electric motor if desired and may. be energized eitherby a trolley or through a. storage battery 15. The gear 16 on the motor drives a gear 17on, a shaft 18,, which, in turn,carries a pinionzltl, meshing with the gear 20 on shaft 12 so that shaft/12 will be positively driven. Therefore, when the motor 14 is cut in the circuit and receives its energy, the pilot car or motor car will be driven over the track formed by the rails 55. Access may be had to the interior of the car 9 by the hinged door 21.

On the forward end of the motor car is a bumper 22, corresponding to the bumper 23 on a trailer 24, the bumper having a shock transmitting member 24, pressed out by a gpring 25, as will be seen by reference to lg.

Projecting from the rear of the pilot car 9 are two parallel arms 26, between which is pivoted a coupling hookor member 27, adapted to engage one of the bars 28 of a squirrel cage complementary coupling member 29, mounted in bearings in the frame 30 and having a ratchet 31 rigid therewith. The frame 30 carries an elbow-shaped ratchet consisting of a pawl 32 and an upstanding arm 32. The pawl 32 engages in the teeth of the ratchet 31 and the arm 32' is adapted to be tripped by a pin or projection 33 on the wheel 34, mounted onthc shaft 35 in the frame 30. The toothed wheel 34 is loose on shaft 35 and it can be disengaged from the shaft through the medium of the pawl 36 and ratchet 37 so that the pin 33 will have any predetermined relative position with respect to the arm 32; i

The 'wheel 34 is provided with a coil spring 38, which will restore it to its normal position each time it is swung in a rota-tive movement to bring the pin 33 into contact with the arm 32'. The swinging movement is effected by a yielding lever 39, mounted in frame 30 and having a dog 40 to engage with the teeth 41 on the wheel 34. The normal upright position of the lever 39 is maintained by a yielding flat spring 42, so that the upper end 43 of the lever '39 will nor:- mally be in a vertical position through the slot 44. 7

If the pilot car is to pass from'the cen tral station to a plurality of substations or delivery stations, the train, consisting of as many trailers as there are stations to receive mail, will be started over the track. When the train passes the first station for which the setting mechanism in the trailer has been set, the upstanding portion 43 of the lever 39 will strike against the curved portion 8 of the arm 7. At the same time the wear plate or braking surface 45 will contact with the spring strip 6. The lever 39 will be thrown rearwardly so as to rotate the wheel 34 the required distance, for example, one notch, Since the wheel 34 in the first car, which will be the last car in the train, will have its pin 33 setnear'to the arm 32, said pin'will come into contact with 7 arm 32, throwing the pawl32 out of engagement with the ratchet 31 so that the squirrel cage coupling member 28 will be throws of the wheel 34 must be made before 7 the pin 33 will contact with 32. The releasing mechanism in the third car, then the 7 last car, will be set so that three throws of the wheel 34 must take place before the car can be released and so on up to the total number of cars.

The pilot car ormotor car may have a bumper 22 to strike against any emptywhich is ahead of it so that it will push the empty along the track to return it to the central station and if desired, the frontof the pilot car may have a squirrel cage coupling member 28, corresponding to the one on the front of the trailer except it will remain stationary .so that it may engage with a complementary coupling member 27 011 the car which it is pushing and thereby couple up the cars on the front of the pilot car as well as the rear. 7

It will be apparent that when the train initially starts out, it will automatically proceed under its own power until it comes to the first station, where it will drop a car. Then it will proceed to the second station, where it will drop the second car, etc.', until all of the cars in the train have been dropped. The consignee may then remove the mail matter or other material in the car, leaving it on thetrack,

After the pilot car has made the circuit, it may start outwith a new train, having the selected mechanisms in the trailers set for their particular stations. On the second round, the train will drop the first car which, of course, will be the last one in the train, and pick up the previously dropped car at that station. When the train reaches the second station, the second car then the last one in the train, will be dropped and 'another empty will beipicked up in front of the train, the trainproceeding until all of the loaded cars have beendropped at their respective stations and empties returned by the pilot car, which finally will be the last car in the train.

Of course, it is to be understood that the trailers are supported on the trolley, tracks or rails by idler wheels 46. V 7

It will be apparent that the device is entirely automatic and that thecars may be successively dropped and empties picked up while the pilot .car is making the circuit covered by its tracks.

My invention particularly lends itself for use for mail delivery but obviously it may also be designed for carrying merchandise if desired.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an aerial railway system, an aerial track, a pilot car movable over the track, a trailer having a squirrel cage coupling member, a complementary coupling member on the pilot car engaging one of the longitudinal bars of the squirrel cage coupling memher, a pawl normally holding the squirrel cage coupling member against rotation, and means for releasing the .pawl from engagement with the squirrel cage member to permit the cars to become uncoupled.

2. In an aerial railway system, a pilot car, means for operating it, an aerial railway over which the car moves, a trailer, a rotatable coupling member on thetrailer, a pivoted hook coupling member on the pilot car engaging the rotatable coupling member, means for normally holding the rotatable member against rotation, whereby the two cars will be coupled, and means for releasing said first named means to permit the rotatable coupling member to rotate the outer coupling engagement with the hook. v

3. In an aerial railway system, a pilot car, means for operating it, an aerial railway over which the car moves, a trailer, a rotatable coupling member on the trailer, a pivoted hook coupling member on the pilotcar engaging the rotatable coupling member, means for normally holding the rotatable member against rotation, whereby the two cars will be coupled, means for releasing said first named means to permit the rotatable coupling member to rotate the outer coupling engagement with the hook, said means comprising an upstanding lever projecting through the top of the trailer and adapted to contact with the tripping arm above the track, and a ratchet actuated pin controlled car movable over said track, a trailer adapt.

ed to be connected to the pilot car, a coupling for effecting the connection comprising a hook member on the pilot car, a rotatable coupling member of squirrel cage form in the trailer to be engaged by thehook shaped member, an elbow shaped dog having a pawl to engage with the ratchet on the rotatable coupling member and provided with an up standing arm, a rotatable ratchet wheel having a pin movable into engagement with the upstanding arm to throw the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, an arm for actuating said wheel, said arm extending through the roof of the trailer, and an obstruction in the path of movement of the arm where y said arm may be swung into functional position.

5. In an aerial railway, a track, a pilot car movable over said track, a trailer adapted to be connected to the'pilot car, a coupling for effecting the connection comprismg a hook member on the pilot car, a rotatable coupling member of squirrel cage form in the trailer to be engaged by the hook.

shaped member, an elbow shaped dog having a pawl to engage with the ratchet on the rotatable coupling'memberand provided with an upstanding arm, a rotatable ratchet wheel having a pin movable into engagement with the upstanding arm to throw the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, an arm for actuating said wheel, said arm extending through the roof of the trailer, an obstruction in the pathof movement of the arm whereby said arm may be swung into functional position, and a spring for restoring the arm to, normal position after it has functioned. o

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

HENRY w. ANTHOLZ.

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