US1546991A - Direction indicator - Google Patents

Description

' July 21 1925..

P. NlEWlAROWSKl ET AL DIRECTION INDICATOR Qpiginal Filed Feb. l0. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 2l 1925.

i umm" P. NlwlARowsKl ET AL DIRECTION INDICATOR 2 Sh-eets-Sheet 2 Urginal Filed Feb. lO. 1921 esmzmzeeesllll T Hangar-1a.

Patented July 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE."

Horn NiEwrAnov/*sii AND 'rOivrAszi-ramieanna, .or OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

l DIRECTION INDICATOR.

Uriglnal application filed February 10,1921, Serial' No. 443,911. 'Divided and this application filed November 2, 1921.

To all whom `t may concern:

Be it lmown'that we, (l) Piorn Nniwiii` iiowsiri and (2) TOMASZHALAGANDA, (l) a citizen ot the United States of America, and (2) a citizen ot Poland, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Direction Indie catoi's, ot' which the following is a specilication.

February 10, 1921, upon direction indicators, terminating in PatentNo. 1,409,883, dated Marclrll, 1922.

One objectot the-invention is to simplify the operatingmechanism `ot signals of this character sothat by the special manipulation of a single member, the indicator niember may be extended and swung to the right or to the Vleft at will.

A further object of the invention is to providean improved construction wherein the manipulation of the operating member orhandle willcontrol circuits to illuminat` ing means Aand an audible signal when the" signal member isentended.

`Still another Object of. the invention is to provide an improved guiding means for the operating member or' handle for limiting moveinentot the latter' to the proper distance when operated 'for swinging the signal member to the right'or to the left, or when returning it to its Vnormal intermediate position, as well as for properly limiting requirements for a serial No. 512,253.

`successful commercial use.V g I Vvlith the above general objects in view and others that will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel forni, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying draw ings and claimed.

' ln the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views- C Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the device attached to an automobile and constructed in accordance with the present in vention, i

Figui-e 2 is a top planview of thedevice shown in Figl, f y

Figure 3 is vertical sectional view of the signal, drawn on a larger scale and with parts broken away,

Fig.` 8 is aV sectional view on line itin- '-iiia er Fig. s i i Y .Figure 4 is `a horizontal sectionalrview i taken uponV line lVlV of F ig.. 3,`and show ing the electrical circuits somewhat dia gramiiiatically, i

Figure 5 is a rear elevationalview of the device shown in F `8, i

Figure G ,is a horizontal sectional view f taken upon line Vl-VI of F ig. 3, and

Figure 7 isa iraginentaryfside elevational view ofa modified :torni of signal member which may be employed with the mechanism.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the numeral 5 designates atiame or casing through which extends an upright rotatably mounted tube 6, theA lower end of which has a spur pinion 7 keyed thereomthe pinion 7 being Varranged within theI casingg and meshing withy av relatively large spur` gear 8 which'is rotatably'mounted :in the casing "5 and which `is provided with a rigid stub shaft 9 which projectsdownwardly through thebottom wall ot the casing 5, anoperating member or hand lever 10` being pivoted atV y its forward end as at 11 to the lower end ot said stub shaft 9, for vertical vswinging' movement. vThe pinion 7` prevents do`w11- ward movement of the tube 6 4through the casing 5, and nuts 121er the like are pro? vided on the tube 6 so as to prevent upward movement ot the same relative to the casvr ing 5.

Passing through a longitudinally entendlit) ing elongated slot 13 in the upper portion of tube 6 is a vertically slidable ear 14 which, in combination with the fixed lug 15, is pivotally attached to a system ot simple levers, forming an extensible lazy tong arm 1G to which longitudinal movementis iin-- parted by means ofi a tubularrod 17 which has the ear `1l 'fixed to the upper end thereof, and which is actuated vertically by the hand lever 10. A hand 1S 'for pointing direction, is attached to a transverse bar lor plate 19, and the latter is connected by suitn able pivot `pinsto the outer elements oi' the extensible arm 16, onelpivot beingfixed as at 2O and the other being slidable in the slot 21 ot the plate/19. The handle 10 and tube 17 are normally held depressed or lowered by means ofa compression spring 22 which is arranged within thel tube (S between an abutment 23 which is xed' in the upper end portionl otsaid tube, and the uppeiI end or. the tubular 'rod 17, whereby the lazy tong arm 16 is normally held in collapsed condition with the hand retracted.

lThe tubular rod 17 has a slot rod Q11 extending therethrough and fixed therein, said rod 24 being extended upwardly beyond the upper end of the rod 17 and through the spring 22 where it terminates normally in spaced relation to the central contact ofan incandescent lamp 26 which is suitably removably tixed in the upper end of the tube 6. The rod 24 is suitablyinsulated as at 27 from the rod17, which in turn is insulated, with the spring 22, from the tube G by the sleeve Ga which is formed oi' insulating material, and a` segmental contact plate 28 is suitably fixed to thevprojecting lower end of the rod 24 so as to be insulated trom the lower endV off rod 17 by the lower projecting end of the insulation 27 andto be engaged by the arcuate plate 29 whi-ch is fixed to the hand lever 10, when the latter is in any of? its horizontally swung positions, whereby upward movement of said hand lever willcause simultaneous upward inovement'of the rods 17 and 2a when said hand lever is in any oflits said positions. The shell of the lamp 26is in electrical connection with the tubel 6, and also with the `casing 5, one wall of'which is provided with a grounded binding post 30.` rlhe binding post 30 is electrically connectedby means off a wire 31 to'one. contactfSQ of a switch, the' other 'contact 38 of said switch being connected to one side of a battery 34: whose other side is connected by means of wire- 85 with the binding post ot' a yieldable `contact arm 37V which is insulated from the casing 5 as at 38 and'which is arranged in 'the' path of the plate 28 so as to be engaged by the latter when the rod 17 is elevated a sufficient distance. It willthus be seen that when theA contact 33 is engaged with the contact 32, and the rods 17 and 2e are elevated so as to cause engagement ot plate 28 with contact 37 and engagement of the upper end of rod 211 with the central lamp contact 25, a circuit will be completed :tor lighting the lamp 2G simultaneously with the extension of the arm 1G, as i's`desirable at nighttime for illuminating the signal hand 18. he rays 'from the lamp 2G may bereflected toward the hand 18 by means oi suitable reflecting hood 39 which is pre'l'e Laby detaehably mounted upon the upper end of the tube 6.

Another spring contact, similar to the contact S7 and indicated at 110, is insulated Yfrom the casing 5 as at L11, and is provided with a binding pest 42 which is connected by means ot a wire i3 with one side of an audh ble signal such as horn all, the other side of said signal being connected with the wire 31, and the contact 10 being arranged with its free end portion directly above and normally in slight spaced relation to the tree end port-ion el the cont-act 37. Thus, when the platel Q8 is sufficiently elevated, the lamp 25 will not only be lighted, but the contactsll" and ett) will be engaged with each other for closing thev circuit to the audible signal and thereby calling attention ot pedestrians and the like to the intended change in direction indicated by the hand 18.

As shown in Fig. 7, theihand 18 may be constructed so as to offer little resistance to the wind and so asto have av conspicuous and ornamental appearance, by stamping the. samev trom sheet metal to provide nninerous relatively large openings or pei-fiorations 18 therethrough and by providing the lingers with colored borders as at 45, special openings t5 being` provided to have the appearance of the finger and thumb nails of the hand.

A vertical plate-#17 is fixed to the rear of the casing 5 so as to project above and belowthe latter, and this plate is formed with a top flange i8 through which suitable fastening devices may be passed tor rigidly mounting the device as indicated in Fig. 1 in front of the drivers seat sufliciently midway between the sides of the vehicle and with the tube 6 extending upwardly of the wind shield A ot the vehicle, the hand lever lOlbeing disposed adjacent the dash of the vehicle within convenient reach of the operator. The plate 47 has a substantially E-shaped slot 19 formed therein, with the back portion of the E-shaped slot horizontally'disposed adjacent the lower edge of the lplate 17 and with the legs or arms ot said slot extending upwardly. The shank oit the hand lever 10 projects through this slot 49, and it will thus be seen that said lever will be effectively guided and limited in movement for proper manipulation ot the signal. 1n other words, when the llO lever l() is disposed in its normal position `as shown in Fig. 5, the operator may raise said slots into which the lever will nor` inally automatically seat for preventing accidental horizontal swinging movement olE the signal arm. Upon swinging the lever l() to the right, said lever will cause rotation of the'gear 8 toward the lett and this will canse rotation oic the tube G and signal arm 1G to the right by transmission or the motion from gear 8 to tube 6 through pinion 7. On the other hand, if the lever 1t) is swung to the leit, similar swinging movement is imparted to the arm 16. ln this way the arm may be swung either to the right or left" as desired, for indicating the drivers intent to turn in either one out these directions, and as soon as the arm has been swung to its desired position, it can be imniediately extended by further iiianipulation of the saine lever 10 by swinging the saine upwardly. The operation of. the device is thus exceedingly simpliiied and improved as a plurality of controlling members i'or performing .these twofunctions have been `employed heretofore as in the above mentioned patent at and 21.

lt will, of course, be understood that the arm 16 may be extended during the day time by simply moving the lever 10 upwardly a slight distance, without causing contact between the plate 28 and yieldable contact 37 so as to avoid lighting ot' the lamp 26 at suchV time. Y y

As the several operations of the device and the general manner of employing the` construction as a drive signal have been dealt with in describing the structure of the invention, it is believed that the construction and operation ofthe invention as well as the advantages of the same will bev readily understood and appreciated from the foregoing description by those skilled in the art. i Y l `What is claimed as new is:

`ln a vehicle direction signal, a rotatable upright member, an extensible signal arm carried by and rotatable with said upright member, a vertically movable element carried by the rotatable member and operatively connected to the extensible arniso to cause the latter to extend upon slid ing movement of said element, a single liever operatively associated with the sliding element of the lever will cause horizontal swinging movement of said extensible arm, whereby vertical swinging movement of said lever will cause sliding of the slidable element for entending said arm, means to prevent accidental swinging movement of the lever when the extensible arm is collapsed and when said lever is in either of three predeterminedv different horizontally swung positions, means to prevent vertical swinging movement of the lever except when the lever is in said predetermined po sitions, a lamp arranged to illuminate said signal arm, means including a circuit closer carried by the slidable element 'for lighting said lamp upon upward sliding movement ofthe sliding element, an audible alarm, and means including a circuit closer operable upon further. continued upward movement Lrei 'ri iv-, ri it nhercb horiyontil swinging no e soi of the sliding element for causing operation o'f said alarm. l

In testimony whereoi: We affix our sig natures.

PITR NIEWIAROWSKI.

TOMASZ HALAGARDA.

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