US1584746A - Automatic lock and release for mine cars - Google Patents

Description

May 1s 1926. '1,584,746

J. E. JONES AUTOMATIC LOCK AND RELEASE FOR MINE CARS Filed Sept 27, 1924 2 sheets-sheet 1 :g- -9 A H v l 9 h 34 4 7" .9 L 4j 36 @gf 7&5 f6 @0J 46 616 17 Y 7 KD S @l 2 11 ""'l U J 1 EINEN@ y l e f@ pri 26 H /42 22 ,ze j ,27 0 f; l, |1 1 If1l1. 2@ '2 2^@ NICI-:1FL n i j .ze fi@ Y 1M@ 26 i111 @o f@ 6 1 S I9' GD e 14 @I f7 .9 45 11/16 f2 a5 92, M 6&1 9\ a5 ,3g 3111101141101 '9 n '-.E rIEJIoneS. i; 46 f n' 9 Gttoavwg! May 18 1926. 1,584,746

J. E. JONES- AUTOMATIC LOCK AND RELEASE FOR MINE CARS l Y i Patented May 18, 1926.

Ul'l" ST TES 'EET Fl CE AUTOMATIC LOCK AND RELEASE FOR MINE CARS.

Application filed September 27, 1924. Serial No. 740,278.

This invention relates to mechanism for locking a mine carV upon a cage and releasing the car after it has been drawn to the surface 4of the ground or other discharge point'. The object ofthe invention is to provide an apparatus of compact and simple construction which will automatically lock the car"k upon the cage and which will be operable upon descent of the cage to automatically release an empty car and permit it tobe replacedV by a loaded car. Gther incidental lobjects will appear in the course of the following description.

In the drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of my invention,

f Figure 1 is a plan view of a cage having my improvements applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a transverse 3 3 0f Fig'. l,

Fig. et is an end view of a portion of the release mechanism, viewing the same from the side opposite that shown inFigs. 2 and 3, and

Fig. 5 is a detail section on the line v5--5 of Fig. 1.

rlhe cage in the accompanying drawings is illustrated as consist-ing of side beams or sills 1, cross bars or ties2 secured to and extending between the sills, and a tie bolt 3 section on the line inserted centrally through the sills so as to firmly bind all the parts together. Track rails 4 are secured upon the cross bars or ties 2 and extend longitudinally of the cage, as is usual in these devices. Mounted upon the platform or cage, parallel with the rails and at the outer sides of the same, are rock shafts 5 which are journaled in bearings 6 secured upon the sills and cross bars or upon bed plates 7 which are in turn secured upon 'the upperfsides of the sills and cross bars, the said bed plates being provided with slots or notches 8 to accommodate the working elements. Upon referenceto Fig. 1, it will be noted that the rock shafts 5 are provided at the outer side of each track rail l and at cess or`notch 8 a collar 10 is secured upon 13 loosely fitted uponv the rock shaft 5 and an expansion spring 15 is provided between the horn and a guiding bearing lug 16 on the plate 8 so as to hold the horn toward the collar 10, while a torsional spring 17 coiled around the rock shaft between the horn and bearing lug 16 and having its ends attached to the said lug and the horn respectively serves to hold the horn yieldably in a position proj ecting over the adjacent track rail, as clearly shown in the drawings. Below the rock shaft, a crank arm 18 depends from the horn, and this crank arm carries a counterweight 19 `which cooperates with the spring 17 to hold the horn in the wheel engaging position illustrated in the drawings. A headed stud 2O is provided on the edge of the arm 18, and this stud slidably engages in a longitudinal slot 21 formed in the outer end of a link 22 at one side of the apparatus which is disposed below the top of the cage or platform andv has its inner end pivotally attached to a crank arm 23 which is fixed upon a rock shaft 24 mounted in suitable bearings 25 provided therefor upon adjacent cross bars'2. Radially alined with the crank arm 23 is asecond crank arm 26 to which is pivoted the elongated yoke 27 carried by the inner end of a link 28 which corresponds, otherwise, to the link 22 and is connected with the horn 14 at the opposite side of the cage in the same. manner that the link 22 is connected with the first-mentioned horn. It will thus be readily seen that, if the shaft 2-1 be rocked, the crank arms 23 and 26 will in opposite directions and thereby swing the respective horns outwardly with respect to the track rails, while the slots 21 permit the horns to be swung away from the rails if the shafts 5 be rocked and the shafts 24 remain at rest. Mounted in suitable bearings 29 upon the cross bars 2 and above the bearings 25 is an operating rock shaft 30 which, like the shafts 5 and 24, Yextends parallel with the track rails, and this shaft 30 has fixed thereon a crank arm 31 which extends downwardly to the yoke 27 to which it is pivoted, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2.1 The shaft 8O extends to the end of the cage and at a rbe swung so as to move the links 22 and 28 (mine shaft and ha.

point immediately adjacent the outermost cross bar 2 is litted with a disk 32 having a peripheral shoulder 33. This disk is arranged between eheekplates 3s which are loosely mounted upon the hub 35 of the disk and extend radially outwardly from the rock shaft. Disposed between and givoted to the upper outer corners of the cheek plates 3l is a dog 36 having a tooth or shoulder 37 on its lower edge which is adapted to engage the shoulder 33 on the disk 32, as illustrated 1in Fig. it being understood that. the dog 36 is disposed in the same vertical plane as the disk. A lateral stud or pin 33 is provided on the side ot the dog 36 and projects over a trigger 39 which is formed on the inner end ot'fa short rock shaft il() journaled in a suitable bearing 41 at the end ot' the cage and having its outer end formed into a trip- Ll2 which extends radially outward Vand terminates adjacent the track rail 4, as shown at 43, Vwhereby it may be actuated by the wheel ot a car passing onto or from the cage. Obviously, when the trip ll2 is depressed by the flange of a car wheel, the trigger 39 will be swung upwardly and by Vits engagement with the pin or stud 33 will rock the dog 36 so that its tooth or shoulder 37 will be released from the shoulder 33 so that movement of the dog and of the disk 32 will then be entirely independent. A lever el is tulcrumed upon a rod 45, mounted longitudinally of the vcage upon the bottom thereof, andthe said lever is disposed transversely of the cage and has one end provided with a counterweight 46 so that it will be norinally in the pendent position shown in'Figs. 2 and 3. kThe opposite end ot the lever la is connected by a link 47 with the outer lower corners of the cheek plates 34, as shown and as will be readily understood. In the operation ot the apparatus, the `tree weighted end of the lever 4st is adapted to strike a projection or landing tan at the side ot the mine Shaft and be thereby swung upwardly so that the cheek plates 3ft will be rocked downwardly about the shaft 30, and the dog 36, being then in engagement with the disk 32, will transmit the motion to the rock shaft 30.

The landing fan may be ofany preferred or well-known form. In Fig. 2, I have indicated by dotted lines a fan consisting of a blade 50 or the like which is hingedly mounted at its lower edge on the side of the an upper corner connected by links with a rcontrolling lever on the landing. In one position of the controllinglever, the blade is heldv close to the wall `et the sliatttoflet the cage pass and in another position ot the controlling lever -the blade is rocked to present its upper edge to the under side of the tree end of the lever Normally the horns 14; have their upper extremities disposed over the trae t rails s in the path ot the wheels ot a car coming onto the cage. It will also be noted upon reference to Fig. l that the upper edges of the horns are disposed obliquely with respect to the track rails so that a car approaching from either side will have its wheels engage an obliquely disposed face of the first-encountered horns and will consequently push the same aside, the springs 17 yielding to permit such movement and the slots 2l accommodating the movement while the links 22 and remain stationary. rl`he horns nearer the opposite end ot the cage, however, will present abrupt faces or edges to the car wheels and will stop the travel otI thecar, and the springs IT and weights l0 will return the lirst encountered horns to their elieetive positions behind the car wheels so that the wheels ot the car will be held between the pairs ot horns. rlhe shoulders 12 et the horns and the lugs Il ot' the collars lO are so relatively disposed that the locking movement of the horns is not interfered with by the collars. L loaded ar having been thus brought onto the cage and locked in position, the cage is raised to the mouth of the sha't't. At the ground level, it there be no landing tans, the trips 9 are depressed by the operator whereby the rock shafts 5 will be rocked to bring the inner sides of the lugs ll inte enggagenient with the inner portions ot the shoulders l2 and swing the horns outwardly so that the ear will be released. Ir there be a landing tan, the cage is carried upwardly a few inches above the level ot the landing to permit the head man to throw the landing fan in under the cage, whereupon the cage is lowered to the level. The tree weighted end o'iE the lever 45st will then encounter the landing tan and will be rocked so as to transmit the motion through the intermediate connections to the shaft 30 and as the said shaft 30 is connected through the cranks 23 and 26 and the links 22 and 23 with the horns, the horns will be rocked outwardly to release the ear. The released ear will be pushed from the cage and un empty car will follow immediately behind it onto the cage. is the loaded earppasses trom the cage, its wheels will ride over the trips 42 and depress the same, thereby rocking the triggers 39 so as to` release the dogs 36 from the disks 32, whereupon the springs 1T and the weights 19 will throw the horns over to the rails to check and hold the empty car while the lever fl remains in its raised position. rIllie cage is then slightly raised to permit withdrawal oi the landin(Y fan, whereupon the lever lll will swing downwardly and the parts will be set tor the next operation.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. it will be seen that I have provided a verv simple, compact, easily. operated and efficient mechanism whereby a car will be locked upon the cage and automatically released when the cage has been moved to the discharge point.

Having thus described the invention, IV

claim:

l. The combination with a cage and track rails thereon, of rock shafts on the cage alongside the rails, horns mounted loosely on the rock shafts, yieldable means holding the horns normally over the rock shafts, an operating lever on the cage, lostmoti0n conections between the lever and the horns whereby the horns may be moved from over the rails, horn-engaging members on the rock shafts, yieldable means holding the horns to said members, and means for rocking the shafts whereby to move the horns from the rails independently of the lever.

2. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a cage, track rails thereon, horns mounted at the sides of the track rails, yieldable means holding' the horns normally projecting overy the rails, a rock shaft carried by the cage, lost-motion connections between said rock shaft and the horns, and trip devices operatively connected with the rock shaft whereby to move the horns to ineffective position.

3. The combination of a cage, a track thereon, a rock shaft adjacent the track, a horn mounted loosely on the rock shaft, yieldable means holding the horn normally over the track, meansA for rocking the horn while the shaft is at rest, means for rocking theV shaft, and means on the shaft to engage the horn and move it from normal position when the shaft is rocked.

e. The combination of a rock shaft, a horn mounted thereon, yieldable means holding the horn in normal position, means whereby rocking of the shaft will move the horn from normal position, and trip devices for moving the horn from normal position while the shaft is at rest.

5. The combination of rails, horns mounted at the sides of the rails and normally projecting over the same, yieldable means holding,` the horns in normal position, a rockshaft between the rails, lost-motion connections between said shaft and the horns, a shouldered disk connected with the rock shaft, a dog normally engaging said disk, and means for releasing the dog.

6. The combination of a cage and rails thereon, horns mounted at the sides of the rails, yieldable means for holding,` the horns over the rails, a rock shaft extending longitudinally of the cage, a lever on the cage to engage an extraneous operating device, operative connections between the lever and the rock shaft,` lost-motion connections between said shaft and the horns, and trip devices to be operated by the wheels of a leaving car for releasing the connections between the shaft and the lever whereby the horns may return to operative position while the lever is at rest.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.`

JOHN ELMER JONES. [Ls]

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