US142596A - Improvedent in railroad cattle-guards - Google Patents

Description

l. C; TUNISN @L A. REEVKE.

Railroad Cattle-'Guards N0, 1425596, I. Patented September9,1873

@m nim g,

ISAAC O. TUNISON, OF ROODHOUSE, AND ANDREW REEVE, OF PIKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD'CATTLE-GUARDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,596, dated September 9, 1873; appiication tiled V April 20,1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownv that we, IsAAc (l. TUNIsoN, of Roodhouse, in the county ot' Green and State of Illinois, and ANDREW Rnnvn, of the county of Pike and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cattle-Guard; andwe do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, reti erence being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon. v

This invention is designed to prevent cattle getting on the railroad at points crossed by common roads, or wherever it may beirequired to inclose the track; and consists in the peculiar construction of the actuating mechanism, as will be described hereinafter.

The device consists of a pair of gates, which are closed automatically by a weight 'and opened by the approaching trains as they arrive upon a section of the tracksupported in a peculiar manner, as will be described hereinafter. p

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, as indicated by the line ai, Fig. 2, showing that part of the track by which the :machinery is actuated. The approach on the other side of the gate, being constructed in precisely the same manner, is not shown. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 exhibits, upon a larger scale, the operation of the levers in connection with the frame to which the rails are secured.

A A, Fig. 1, is a stout wooden frame or box supporting aplatform, B, having in it longitudinal slots from end to end, as shown in the plan, Fig. 2. On each side of the platform is a gate-post, to the upper part of which is pivoted a swing-gate whose lower extremity is secured in a step, C, Fig. l, attached to the inside of the frame A A. d d, Fig. 2, are posts to prevent the gates swinging too far back. e c are bars Supporting the ties and rails, these bars resting upon. levers m m', which are pivoted at a a', Fig. l, and connected, at about the middle of the frame, by a stud or bolt, h, which plays, by the movement of the said levers, in a slot provided for its reception, as fully shown at k, Fig. 3. P, Fig. l, is a fiat bar, which oscillatcs upon pivots' passing throughV each side of the frame. It will be observed that these'pivots are not centrally located in the bar, but a little to one side. Up-

cross-bar P is secured a box, G, Fig. 1, designed' to be filled with rock or other heavy substance, constituting the balance-weight by which the gates are automatically closed. Q,

-is a rod secured in the crossbar P, having a bifurcation in its upper extremity so contrived as to secure the gates in the Aclosed position, so that they can only be opened by operating the machinery provided for that purpose. L L are beams lying in a slanting position, as shown in the drawing, their lower ends resting in suitable mortises in heavy cross-timbers, the end of one of which is shown at O, the upper parts supporting the ties and rails. Y Y are cross-braces by which the beams L L are framed in pairs, as will be seen by reference to the plan, Fig. 2.

The'operation ot' the device is as follows: When an approaching train arrives at about that point of the track marked H, Fig. 1, the end of the beam L toward the gate is depressed slightly, the other end being xed and acting as a pivot, and carries with it the beam L, upon which it rests, which beam is arranged in a similar manner, the latter, in its turn, pressing down the bars e, whose extremities communicate motion to the levers m m', the vibrating extremity of m actuating the crossbar P and the arm R depending therefrom, the latter giving the required motion to the gate, for the purpose of opening the same, through therintervention of the connecting-rod S. As soon as motion is communicated to the crossbar P the bar Q immediately releases the gates, and returns to its former position as the latter are closed.

In regard to the construction of the framcg work supporting the track constituting the approaches to the gates, it will be observed that the beams or levers L L are designed to communicate motion to the gates. The num- FFIoE.

ber employed will therefore necessarily depend upon the distance from the gates at which it is intended an approaching train shall cause them to open. The action of these supporting-beams will be understood by regard ing them as a series of levers of the third order, acting upon each other in the order of their distance from the power. Supposin g the power to act upon the middle of, say, the second lever, L', its vibrating extremity would move through twice the distance of the power. This doubling of the extent of action in each successive lever is designed to counteract the loss of motion incidental to deiiection, thus insuring the immediate opening of the gates when the train reaches a certain point on the track. The precise action of these levers will be, perhaps, more fuily understood by observing that when there is no weight upon the rails they all lie at the same angle, and, being of equal length, it follows that their upper extremities lie in a straight line as well as their lower ones. But when the first lever is acted upon by the weight ci a train the amount of depression there produced will be doubled in each successive lever; consequently the yi brating extremities of levers thus acted on must lie in a curved line. Practically, however, this curvature has no existence, its disappearance resulting, as already observed, from the deection of the levers, which this peculiar action is designed to counteract.

Having obtained a patent September 3, 1872, for an invention showing the precise features represented in this case which are not herein claimed, we desire strictly to disclaim those features as a part of this application.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The series of beams L L', in combination with each other and the gate-opening devices, as described, the beams being hinged at one end, and free to move at the other to transmit motion to open the gate, as described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 15th day of April, 1872.

ISAAC (l. TUNISON. ANDREW REEVE.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. HODGKIN, WrLLiA'M H. STOECKEL.

Images