US1411408A - christenson - Google Patents

Description

E. CHRISTENSON.

RAILWAY GATE OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I7, 1921.

1,41 1,408. Patented Apr. 4, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET1- 5 @Ill 1 I/VI ENTOR E 77252 6 brisk/25022. B Y

A TTORNE Y E. CHRlSTENS-ON.

RAILWAY GATE OPERATING MECHANISM.

. APPLICATION FILED MAR I7, 192!- 1,41 1,408.

2iEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

/] TTOR NE Y UNETED STATES rarer crates.

ERNST CHRISTENSQN, F STOCKTON, KANSAS.

RAILWAY-GATE-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application filed March 17, 1921.

useful Improvements in Railway-Gate-Opcrating Mechanism; and I do declare 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 ap pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of refence marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to railway gate operating mechanism and the primary object thereof is to provide means whereby a railway gate or barrier will be moved to obstructing position in response to train-actuated'mechanism upon the approach of a train and will be moved out of obstructing position when the train is passing or has passed the crossing guarded by the gate or barrier.

The invention also contemplates a novel form of barrier which will normally obstruct the passage of trailic over the crossing when the barrier is in obstruction position, but which will yield under pressure so that dangerof damage to a car or person who accidently runs into the barrier will be climinated. v

Means is also provided for operating a signal when the barrier is moving into ob struct-ion position, the signal being preferably an audible one.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- F ig. 1 is a perspective view of a railway crossing to which my invention applied, the barrier being shown in obstruct-ion position.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the train-operated trips for controlling the actuation of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the barrier and its operating mechanism, part of the housing or casing therefor being broken awaytoillustrate the interior thereof.

7 Fig.4;is a perspective view of the barrier.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the barrier showing a segmental dog for holding: it in its raised position.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1922.

Serial No. 453,133.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the dog moving oil the segmental rack as the bar rier reaches its vertical position, and

Fig. 7 i a like view showing the barrier in its obstruction position, the dog dropped away from the rack.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference:

1 designates a portion of a railroad track and 2 a crossing to be guarded by the barrier or gate constituting one cram elements of my invention.

A. suitable distance away from the cross 1ng 2 is a trip 3 consisting of an upstanding lever 1 on a rock shaft .5, journaled in the casing 6 and provided with a rigid cam '7 adapted to contact with the arm 8 ofa bell crank lever 9 journaled in the casing. The end 9' of the bell crank lever 9. is in the form of a dog to engage ineither of the recesses 10 or 10 of a segmental rack 11, rigid'on the shaft 12 in the casing 6. J

The rock shaft 12 supports an upstanding slot-ted lever 13, which is in pivotal engagement with a lever 14 on a shaft 15. journaled in the bracket 16 which is mounted in the housing 17. The shaft carries a shoe or cam 15' adapted to ride against the head 18. which is connected to the verticallymovable rack bar 19 through the link 20rigid with the head 18, the link being in slotted engagement with the bracket 16, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3.

The rack bar 19is provided at its lower end with an elongated slot 21, through which the shaft 22 projects. The shaft carries a double cam 23 adapted to bear against the step or projection 24. rigid on the lower portion of the rack 19 so that when the shaft 22 is rotated in either direction by actuating mechanism to be later described, the rack bar will be depressed or moved downwardly. trip arms 25 and 25' and arm l are adja cent to the rail to be actuated by the car wheels as the train passes over the track.

The upper end of the vertical rack 19 is connected to the stem 26 of a piston 27 of. a dash pot 28 and the piston is normally urged into compression stroke within the dash pot by a spring 29, one end of which is connected to the casing 17 and the other to the rack 19.

The rack is also guided in its upper end in a slotted guide bracket 19', to which one end of a coil spring 30 is attached, the other This will occur when the end or" the spring being connected to an oiiset 31, integral with the rack bar 19. The normal tendency of the spring is to raise the rack bar 19 and the springfir') tends to maintain the teeth of the mo bar 19 in engagement with a pinion 33, carrying a .springrpresscd pawl 34 to engage a ratchet 35 on a shaft 36, horizontally disposed within the casing; 17 and provided with a triction clutch 37 at one end to drive a spur gear 38 in meshwith gear 39 on a shalt 40. to which the barricr is rigidly secured.

The shaft ell) carries a beveled ratchet gear 4:1, the beveled teeth of whirh: mesh with a beveled gear d2 on a shaft -13. The shaft- L8 carries a, fly wheel .or weightedv mm wheel -14 at one end and at the other a plurality oi? .tappets #iwhich may strike against a bell or sgongafi when the shaft 4-3 is rotated to make an, audible signal.

The shaft 40 is also rigidly connected to the ,barrie1",arm-l7,which isproyided with an ofi'setrend 48, carrying a. supplemental arm 49. pivoted thereto at by an inclined pivot member so that normally themember 49 will be folded back on 47, as shown in Fig.8, but when the member 47 is in a horizontal positio1i.,.the inclined pivot 50 will permittheextcnsion arm 19 to gravitate orswing outwardly intoaextended position. as shown indotted lines'in Fig. 4.

The arm 47 rigidion the shaft 40 also carries. a pawl 51; which is adapted to intermittently engage the segmental rack .52, tastened on the sideof the casing 17. Adjacent to thesha'ft 86 is a gear 53 on-a shaft 54;. a The gear 53 meshes with-the gear 38 and with the teeth 55 on a counterbalance weight 56, carried by a bar 57, one end of which is movable in a guide-5S and the other provided witlra slot 59. through which a headed bolt projects. The counterbalance weight, through the medium of the gears 53, 38 and 39, will tend to counterbalance the barrier consisting of the members LT and 49. the weight of the weight 56 being slightly less than thatol' the barrier.

The trip arms 25 and 25 are connected to rock shafts 61 and 62;. being normally held in their vertical positions by the springsfi j andfia, which bear against them,

7 the rock shafts 61 and 62 having dependmg crank arms 65 and'66, connectedto the pivot 267 for the lovers 13 and let by links tilted by contact with a wheel, the rock shaft to which it is attached will be rocked and, through the- link connection 68 or 69, as

the case maybe, the lever arm 14: Will be ling so as to impart movement to the shaft 15, causing the cam or shoe 15 to ride on the head or shoe 1S and through the link -90 push llllGgtOOlihBtl portion of the bar 19 out oi contact with the gear 33, allowing the gearing consisting of the gear 33, gears 38 and counterbalance 56, gear 39 ant gears 4-1 and, to run'frcely and since there will be nothing to hold up the arm 47, the-barrier must drop to a horizontal position, such as shown in Fig. '4'. and the: extended arm will'swing outwardly, as shown in dotted lines in F g. 4.

The-gravitation of the arm 4:7 to a'horr zoutalposit-ion will'impart anianpetus to the shaft 43through.thegears-41 and 42, the inertia ofthe fiy wheeled imparting a continuous irotation to the shaft 43 after the arm ei'ihasmoved to .-horizontal position since the gears 41 andelQ may run independent ot. any [movement of .the shaft elO. theshaft continues to spin in-its bearings. the tappets 49, which may be yieldingly connected to the shaft 13, will strike against the gong or'bell 46 for a 0011- siderable time after the barrier is in its obstructing position.

If, by any chance, the barrier happensyto be struck t-hat is, if the arm 49 should hap pen to be struck by a motor vehicle or contactedwith by a ihorse or other animal, the arm will'gire sufliciently to prevent wrecking the barrier.

\Vhcn the arm 1-]; is swung in either direction, it is=obyious that the shaft 12- will also he rocked through the medium of the arm 13 so that'thc-toothed portionll' of the elbow lever 9 will drop into one of a the notches ldor lO', thereby holding the arm 14 in'position so that the cam 15 will remain in its locked positionagainst the head 18land through the link 20. hold the lever 19 out'ot'. engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 35 so t-hatthc gate can movc to its horizontal posit-ion, the rack bar 19 being maintained out of engagement with its ratchet wheel during this time. Then when the first wheel in the train-strikes the arm 4; the shaft 5 will be rocked, causing the cam 7' to strike againstthe arm 8 of the elbow lerer 9 and withdraw the detent or dog 9 from engagement with the notch in the segment 11. permitting the spring QQto'pullthe bracket back into toothed engagement with itsratchetwheel.

At the same time the rock shaft 5will cause the double cam 23 to bear upon the foot or flange 24; to impart a downward movement to the rack bar 19 against the spring 30. The downward movcnientof the rack bar 19 will rotate the gcar -lil and,

through the gear 33, rotate the shaft 36, imparting motion to the gear 38, the gear 39 and shaft 40 so that the barrier will be raised slightly with a step-by-step movement as the wheels of the train continue to strike against the arm a.

The first time the wheels strike against the arm a, the gear will rotate the shaft 40 sufiiciently to allow the dog 51 to engage in the first or second tooth of the rack 52, rigid on the casing 17. The next time the arm -l is struck, the barrierwillbe swung to a slightly greater are, the dog 51 engaging the proper tooth to hold it in that position, and this will continue until the barrier is raised to a vertical position. when it will drop off the dog-as shown in Fig.

If the train is a long one and the arm at is actuated a greater number of'times than will be necessary to raise the barrier to a vertical position, the shaft 36 will continue to rotate but on account of the slip clutch 37, the gear 38 will not be rotated. The continued movements of the arm l, cam 22 and rack 19 will continue to rotate shaft 36 without rotating the gear 38, the resistance of the barrier 47 being sufficient to allow the shaft 36 to rotate without rotating the gear 38.

lVhen the train strikes the arms 25 or 25, as the case may be, and the rack teeth are pushed away from the gear 33, there should be a time element involved; that is, the teeth on the rack 19 should not engage the gear 33 until the barrier has dropped to its horizontal position. This is provided for by the dash pot 28, which will allow the piston 27 to move outwardly to draw air in through the pet cock 72, which may be regulated, but as soon as the wheel passes over the arms or 25 and the rack has moved away from its gear, the barrier will start to move to a horizontal position and during this time the rack will be moved back into engagement with the gear 33, the time required being determined by the pet cock 72-.

It will also be apparent that the detent 9 constitutes a positive lock to hold the rack 19 out of engagement with its ratchet wheel during the time that the gate is moving to a horizontal position. the timing device consisting of the dash pot or check being capable of operating only after the train has actuated the arm l to release the detent 9 from engagement with the notch 10 or 10', as the case may be.

It will, therefore, be seen that the device is automatic in its operation and that it may be actuated from either side of the crossing.

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

1. A railway gate operating mechanism comprising a shaft, a ratchet wheel on said shaft, a reciprocating rack for operating the ratchet wheel, a spring normally urging the rack in one direction, a spring connected to the rack to normally hold it in engagement with the ratchet wheel, a train-actuated cam for reciprocating the rack against the action of the first named spring, train-actuated means for releasing the rack out of engagement with the ratchet wheel to allow its shaft to turn independently of the rack. and a barrier controlled by the shaft. movable into obstructing position when the ratchet wheel is released from the rack.

.2. A. railway gate operating mechanism comprising a shaft, a ratchet wheel on said shaft.a reciprocating rack for operating the ratchet wheel. a-spring normally urging the rack in one direction, a spring connected to the "rack to normally hold it in engagement with the ratchet wheel, a train-actuated cam for reciprocating the rack against the action of the first named. spring, train-actuated means for releasing the rack out of engagement with the ratchet wheel to allow its shaft to turn independently of the rack, a barrier controlled by the shaft, movable into obstructing position when the ratchet wheel is released from the rack, a counter-balance weight for the barrier having rack teeth, a gear meshing with the rack teeth, and a gear on the first named shaft meshing with the gear which is in mesh with the rack teeth.

3. A. railway gate mechanism comprising a casing, a horizontal shaft in said casing, a ratchet wheel for driving said shaft, a reciprocatory rack having teeth for engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, a projection on the rack, a train-actuated cam for longitudinally moving the rack in one direction to actuate the ratchet wheel so as to turn its shaft, a tension spring for moving the tick in an opposite direction, a trainactuated means for moving the rack out of engagement with the ratchet, a dash pot for timing the return movement of the rack to mesh with the ratchet wheel. a barrier shaft driven by the first named shaft, and a barrier on the second mentioned shaft.

4. A railway gate operating mechanism comprising a casing, a shaft in said casing, a ratchet wheel on said shaft adapted to rotate the shaft in one direction but to rotate idly about the axis of the shaft in an opposite direction, a ratchet-actuating rack bar normally in mesh with the ratchet, trainactuated means for moving the rack bar in one direction to rotate the ratchet to turn its shaft. a spring for retracting the rack bar to rotate the ratchet idly about its shaft, train-actuated means for temporarily moving the rack bar out of mesh with the ratchet, and a barrier actuated by the shaft.

A railway gate operating mechanism comprising a casing, a shaft in said casing, a ratchet wheel on said shaft adapted to rotate the shaft in one direction but to rotate idly about the axis of the shaft in an opposite direction, a ratchet-actuating rack bar normally in mesh with the ratchet, trainshaft, :-1=spring for retracting the rack bar to'lotate the ratchet idly about its shaft, train-actuatedmeans i'ortemporarily moving the rack bar out-of mesh with the "atchet, a spring normall urging the rack bar into engagement with the'ratchet Wheel, a check to yieldingly oppose the movement of the rack bar into engagement with the ratchet Wheel, anda barrier actuated by the shaft.

6. A railway gate operating merhanism comprising-a casing, ashat't in said casing,

a ratchet WhGGl IHOUIItQd on the shaft to actuate the shaft When the Wheel turns in one direction and to turn idly in an opposite dii iiigioa rection about the axis of: the shaft, a reciprocatory rack bar normally inmesh W th the ratchet Wheel, a 'PIOJGCUOR on the rack bar,

a trainm'ctuated;rock shaft, a cam on the rock shaft to'ride 011 the projection onthe' rack to impart longitudinal movement thereto inone direction, a spring for retracting the rocltshaft, an arm pivoted to the rack, a train-actuated rock shaft having a partto ride on the end of the arm to move the rack out of engagement with the ratchet Wheel, means tor returning the rack into mesh with the ratchet Wheel, means for yieldingly re sisting the return movement, and a barrier controlled by the first named shaft.

In testimony whereof I allix mv signature.

ERNST CHRISTENSON.

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