US1520433A - Automatic railway gate - Google Patents

Description

P. PARNICKY AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE Filed Dec. 51, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 P. PARNICKY AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Dec. 31, 1923 5 vwcmfoz; PAUL PAHNICKY,

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Patented Dec. 23, 1924.

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PAUL PAR-NICKY, OF KENMORE, OHIO, ASSIGNQR OF ONE-HALF TO PETER GABALAC AND ONE-FOURTH TO MIKE KANURITZ, BOTH OF AKRON, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE.

Application filed December 31, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL PARNICKY, a subject of Yugoslavia, residing at Kenmore, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railway Gates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic railway gates, and more particularly to a turnstile type of horizontally rotatable gate in association with mechanism preferably gearing said gate directly to actuating levers for automatically open ing and closing the same. The object of my invention is the provision of a simple, cheap and efficient temporary barrier of traffic that is not liable to get out of order and may be operated directly by elemental mechanical means promptly to close a highway and reopen the same upon the approach and departure, respectively, of a train.

Preferably such gates are operated in pairs in conjunction with one or more railway tracks at the highway or street intersections. and more often with double tracks. hence I shall describe my invention as applied to a double track railway equipped upon either side with two horizontally swinging gates connected for actuation by the improved mechanism of my invention. It will be obvious that one or more railway tracks may be thus protected, but reference to the typical embodiment of my improvements herein set forth will explain the structural features and principles of operation without further and more comprehensive description.

Making preliminary reference to the apparatus herein more fully described and claimed, I may explain that two gates, centrally pivoted within the roadway or street and adapted to swing transversely thereof in unison, are connected by suitable gearing for actuation by distantly positioned controlling levers associated with both lines of a double track railway. Thus the gates are adapted to be positively actuated automatically for the protection of passing trafiic.

The details of construction and operation may best be p ain y ma ing ref- Serial No. 683,659.

erence to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of the safeguarded railway tracks at a highway crossing; said tracks being broken away at the distant operating positions and the gates swung to their open position clear of traflic,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on line 2-2, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail illustrating in full and dotted lines the operating lever and its mode of actuation,

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line 4 4, Fig. 3,

Figs. 5 and 6, respectively, are fragmentary details illustrating the detent mechanism for the closed gate,

Fig. 7 is a view in elevation showing the side posts and swinging gate. Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail illustrating the operating lever mechanism with the preferred spring actuating means duplicated at each operative position; Figs. 9 and 10 are fragmentary views of an operating lever and spring; Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail of the bell and signal lamp, and Fig. 12 is a transverse section on line 1212.

Throughout the several figures of the drawings I have employed the same character of reference to indicate similar parts.

Referring first to Fig. 1 the parallel up and down lines of railway track, a, b, will be recognized as shown at a highway crossing 0; the planking of said highway being centrally broken away to show actuating gearing, while the lines of track are broken away on either hand to indicate the distant operating positions, say approximately a half mile on either side of the highway crossing.

The crossing itself is guarded by two opposing gates d, 03 centrally pivoted upon standards ewhich mount bells or gongs fand signal lamps g, respectively. These gates preferably are adapted to swing turnstile fashion in clockwise direction for reasons that appear below; being respectively mounted upon standards d, d terminating in beveled gears d, cl". These latter members are engaged respectively by the coacting beveled gears it, It terminally mounted upon the transverse ha h and' ntenne levers 7', 7c are mounted at quadrature upon the short shafts Z, Z so that when the levers 7c are upright the levers j are in their inoperative or downturned positions. This results from the fact that the beveled gears Z, respectively provided on the shafts I at at the distant operative positions and controlled by said levers, are in mesh with the gears 'll, thereby interconnecting the levers of the up and down tracks with each other and with the gates through the means defined above and illustrated in-the drawings.

It will be understood that with the passing of a car wheel m the lever 7' will be depressed from its full line to its dotted line position .shown'upon the right (Fig. 8),

while the coacting lever 7r, shown at the left in dotted lines, will be elevated to its upright dotted line position in association with the adjacent track, since these two levers are in quadrature. This actuation of the operating lever is immediately communicated through the shafts and beveled-gearing to the gates cl, (Z, which will be swung simultaneously to their closed positions transversely of the roadway. The ends of the gates respectively engage the posts a and the latches 0 upon the posts a. These latter are pivoted at 0' and serve as detents resiliently held by the springs 0 to prevent the accidental opening of the gates, as shown by the fragmentary views, Figs. 5 and 6.

lVith the described system of interconnected levers, it will be appreciated that both closing levers j will be downturned when the gates are closed, so that a train approaching on the opposite track will not actuate such levers and the associated gearing. However, both levers are turned to their upright positions and as soon as the flange of the locomotive wheel m engages the lever it the positions of the levers will be reversed, while the gearing will be ac tuated immediately to open both gates and free'the crossing for traflic. Two automobiles 7 2, p are shown in waiting position, Fig. 1. away from which the gates will be swung when in closed position, i.- e.. in counter clockwise direction. Thus the presence of the standards and signals will serve to warn the drivers of the crossing and cause them to slow down oeven when the gates are'open, while said gates immediately ever, in practice it is preferable to modify that system by certain further improvements which are shown in the latter figures of the drawings and particularly in Figs. 8. 9 and 10, relating to the mounting of the operating levers by means of actuating springs interposed between said levers and their respective shafts. Moreover, it is desirable to duplicate such levers in order to:

provide against accident and insure the actuation of the gates with greater certainty and dispatch.

Referring to the enlarged Fig. 8, it will be observed that two sets of operating levers j. j and 7c, 7", respectively mounted in quad.- rature, set by set, are shown at the given operative position. thereby indicating that a plurality of such levers spaced at short distances from each other are provided, as desired. to insurecertainty of operation. In addition, the levers preferably are provided with actuating springs 1" interposed between said levers and their shafts, so that the sudden torque, otherwise imparted to the shaft by the blow of a rapidly movin wheel or wheels, will be gradually applied t rough the medium of the springs and the plurality of levers thus provided. It will be appreciated that the upstanding levers 7' or is will be successively depressed by the car wheels until they have exerted sufficient torque upon the shafting to close or open the gates and said levers will then lie parallel with the rail. Otherwise, the operation of the system as previously described obtains as to the modified and preferred form set forth. above.

Having now described apparatus em. bodying my invention and adapted for the practice thereof in its preferred form, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the following:

1. The herein described means operatingtraffic-control apparatus, the combination with paired lever members mounted approximately at quadrature upon a' common shaft and associated with opposing tracks, of mechanical actuating means, comprising shafts and gearing directly connected j with said levers and traflic-control apparatus associated with said actuating means, substantially asset forth.

2. The her n de ri ed for viper for I ating traffic-control apparatus, comprising a plurality of sets of paired lever members mounted approximately at quadrature upon a common shaft; each lever of a set being associated wit-h opposing tracks and the sets being respectively positioned at a suitable distance from each other upon said tracks, mechanical actuating means comprising shafts and gearing interconnecting said levers, and traffic-control apparatus operatively associated with said actuating means, substantially as set forth.

The herein described system of automatic railway gates, comprising a plurality of sets of paired lever members mounted. approximately at quadrature upon a common shaft; each lever of set being associated with opposing tracks and the sets being respectively positioned at a distance on either side of the gates, of pivoted gates oppositely disposed at a crossing of said tracks, and gearing operatively connecting the levers and the gates for actuation in a unitary system, substantially as set forth.

4. The herein described automatic gate for highways, comprising an intermediate standard, a barrier member mounted intermediately thereon to swing approximately through an arc of 90, a shaft connected to actuate said member and associated shafting and gears for actuating the barrier member from a distance, substantially as set forth.

' 5. The herein described system of automatic railway gates, comprising opposing intermediate standards positioned at either side of a railway crossing, barrier members mounted at mid-length thereon respectively, shafts connected to each and adapted to swing said members approximately through arcs of 90, a plurality of sets of paired lever members mounted approxin'iately at quadrature upon common shafts respectively; each lever of a set being associated with opposing tracks and the sets being respectively positioned equidistant along opposing tracks With respect to the crossing, and gearing operatively connecting the levers and the shafts of said barriers for automatically operating the latter, substantially as set forth.

6. The herein described means for operating trailic-control apparatus, comprising the combination with a plurality of associated levers in co-acting sets mounted in duplicate sets of two adjacent to a railway track, of mechanical actuating means connected for independent actuation by each of said duplicated levers, and traffic-control apparatus associated with said actuating means substantially as set forth.

7. The herein described system of automatic 'ailway gates, comprising a plurality of sets of paired lever members mounted approximately at quadrature pair by pair upon common shafts; each lever of a set being associated with opposing tracks and the sets being respectively positioned at a distance on either side of the gates, springconnecting means interposed between each lever and its shaft, pivoted gates oppositely disposed at a crossing of said tracks, and gearing operatively connecting all of the levers and the gates for actuation in a unitary system, substantially as set forth.

In automatic actuating apparatus for railway tracks, the combination with a plurality of paired lever members mounted pair by pair approximately at quadrature; said levers being associated in co-acting sets respectively with the rails of opposing tracks, and springs connecting the levers with their respective shafts, substantially as set forth.

5-). In. automatic actuating apparatus for railway tracks, the combination with a plurality of paired lever members mounted pair by pair approximately at quadrature in co-acting sets, shafts and gearing connecting said levers for actuation in unison, springs connecting the lovers with their respective shafts for resilient actuation thereof; said levers being adapted for association respectively with the rails of opposing tracks, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I do now affix my signature.

PAUL PARNICKY.

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