US1909707A - Vehicle signal - Google Patents

Description

May 16, 1933. F.'S. NAWROCKI 1,909,707

vVEHICLE SIGNAL Filed May 20, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r) INVENTOR.

m2 WW A TTORNEYS.

May 16, 1933. s, NAWROCK! I 1,909,707

VEHICLE SIGNAL I Filed May 20, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 16, 1933 STATES FRANK S. NAWROCKI, OF NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA VEHICLE SIGNAL Application filed m 20,

This invention relates to signal means for indicating changes of direction in the course of a self-propelled vehicle.

An object of the invention is to provide a signal of the character stated which may readily be attached to various makes of vehicles now on the market, and which is pro vided with an adjustable operating connection so that the variation of position, with reference to the steering wheel on different makes of cars, will not interfere with the efficient operation of the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanical movement for the control of a plurality of signal elements so that such signal elements may be timed for individual operation in such a manner that there will be no confusion between the signals nor failure to actuate the individual signals at the time required.

Although the signal device provided by this invention is primarily intended to be operated automatically by the steering mechanism of the vehicle yet the construction of the device is such that, if desired, it may be adapted for manual operation by the driver.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention may hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate what is at present deemed to be a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the attachment looking at the obverse side of the face plate.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the attachment looking at the reverse side of the face plate,

i the rear wall of the casing being broken away to avoid concealing interior parts.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line i 1 of Fig. 2.

F ig. 5 is a somewhat diagrammatic View illustrating in a general plan the operation of the device.

Referringin detail to the drawings, the frame work of the device includes a transversely extending base plate 7 which is housed within a hemispherical casing 8 the 1932. Serial No. 612,487.

otherwise open side of which casing is closed by the upstanding face plate 9, except that said base plate is providedwith a sight opening 10, said sight opening defining the signal display field. The base plate 7 is of an elongated character the length of said plate extending transversely of the vehicle upon which the device is mounted. The ends of said base plate are provided with upwardly directed portions 12 which-form the'end plates of the device, said end plates serving to support a pair of substantially parallel guide rods 13 and 14 which are mounted in vertically spaced relation to each other. Said guide rods serve to guide the movements of the signal elements 15 and 16 which are individually displayable one at a time through the sight opening 10.

Above the sight opening 10 the face plate is shown provided with a glass portion 10a and below said sight opening the face plate is shown provided with a glass portion 107;. These glass portions 10a and 1072 are preferably both made of red glass. 1000 located behind these glass portions serve to illuminate appropriate lettering carried by them. In the drawings the word Stop is shown inscribed upon the upper portion 10a and the word Tail is shown inscribed upon the lower glass portion 10?). As the face plate is viewed in Fig. 1, the letters TU are placed upon the imperforate opaque left hand portion of the face plate and the letters RN areplaced on the corresponding opaque right hand portion thereof, the sight opening 10 being provided with a transparent glass covering 100. Any well known means'may be provided for holding .the glass portions 10a, 10b and 100 in proper position, and therefore these portions of the device, though shown in the drawings, are not described in detail. Likewise the lamps 1000 may be supported in any convenient manner as by the brackets 103 and the wiring for them arranged in any convenient way, an electric cord 102 being shown to supply the current.

Both of the signal elements are shown con-v structed according to the same pattern, and are each provided with an arrow-shaped in- The lamps dicating portion 17 for displaying through the sight opening, said arrow-shaped por tion forming one limb of an approximately horseshoe-shaped plate. The neck portion 19 of this plate connects the part 17 thereof with the other limb 20 of the plate, said limb 20 having its free end a laterally directed portion Qlhaving therethrough an aperture through which loosely extends Ll lQ rod l l. The base of the neck portion of the horse shoe member whichfhas been described is soldered or otherwse secured to a vertical bar or plate 22. he upper end of said plate 22 is provided with an aperture which loosely receives the upper guide bar 13, and in the lower portion of said plate or bar 22 is an aperture which loosely receives the lower bar 1.4: and which is a companion to the aperture through the portion 21 already referred to.

Means will next be described for operating, whether manually or from the steering and running gear of the vehicle, the signal elements 15 and 16. For this purpose there is mounted upon the base plate 7 a guide plate 25 of an elongated charact r having at each of its long edges an upwardly and inwardly directed flange 26, thus providing a runway upon which is slidably mounted an operating plate 27. Said guide plate is pivotally mounted between its 6I1ClS -piil 8l'- ably somewhere near mid-length, upon pintle 28 which is supported. by upwardly directed ears 25a with which the base plate is provided.

The operating plate 27 is provided with a pair of cam slots 30 and 31 which are cut therethrough and which in a general way extend lengthwise of the plate. The slot 31 has a straight longitudinally extending left end portion as viewed in Fig. land at its other extremity said slot is provided with an outwardly directed portion 31?). Correspondingly the slot 30 is provided with a straight longitudinally extendi rig its at end. portion m and at its other extremity has an outwardly deflected portion 30?).

Part of the longitudinally extending portions 30:; and 31a of the slots of the operating plate extend alongside of each other in order that the two signal elements which are operated by these slots may ordinarily both be maintained in neutr l or inoperative positions, that is to say there will be a neutral zone provided wherein the steeriizg wheel and front wheels of the vehicle may be deflected to a limited extent without operating the signal device to indicate a turn.

The operating plate 27 is slidably sup ported upon the guide plate 25 to reciprocate therealong, an operating rod 34: beingsecured to the mid-width oi. the end portion oi said operating plate, said guide plate be ing provided at its outer end with an upwardly directed portion 37 having therethrough an aperture through which slidably extends said operating rod.

As shown in Fig. 2 the convex portion oi the casing is provided with a segmenta: slotted extension l0 through. which exte ds the operating rod 84, a guiding tube all being provided for said rod to prevent buckling thereof during operation of the signals. In Fig. 2 the guiding tube i1 is eilOWll lo cated near the upper portion of the slotted extension 40, but it is to be understood that in practice it may be located at a lower point along said slotted extensioin iii the design oi the vehicle makes a dillerent adj ustment necessary.

As shown in. Fig. 5 the operating rod 34 is at its front end pivotally connected with the crank 41% which in turn is in fixed relation to the usual means for steering he front wheels 411w. The steering mechanism, through the rod 84:, controls and operates the signaling mechanism which has previously been described.

The operating plate 27 is operatively con nected with the signal elements means of two operating levers 50 and 51, which are swingingly mounted below the base plate 7. Each 01" said levers is pivotally attached to said plate '7 at r the pivotal mounting 52 whic" is located no: r the 2* end of each lover. The forward end of lever 50 extends loosely through. a short slot 20;; in the lower ear 20a of the signal element l6, and other lever i1 is likewise at its forward end extended loosely through a like slot 208 in the lower car 200; of the other signal element l.5. The slots through which the portions of these levers extend are sulliciently long to permit a tree swinging movement from the positions in dieated in dotted lines in Fig. l to like positions at the opposite side of the mid-wii'lth of said figure.

At their other ends slightly beyond. the r pivotal mountings each lever is provided with an upwardly directed curved extension 510, these extensions "espectively projecting upwardly through the slots30 and 31 of the operating plate 27. The signal elements and operating rods and the slotted operating plate are thus related to each other in such a manner that one of the signal ele ments is projected into thesight op from one end thereof while he other signal element remains stationary ou side said sight opening, and the other signal element can not be projected into the sight opening until the first mentioned element has been withdrawn therefrom. Means ar therefore provided for singly projecting the signal elements into the sight opening, it sing possible for only one of said elements to occupy the sight opening at a time.

The upwardly directed extensions 51a of the levers 50 and 51 are each curved along led lilo

an arc concentric with the pintle or pivot pin 2-8 in order that the swinging adjustments of the guide plate about said pivot may not have any operative effect upon the means for varying the position of the signal elements which are displayed through the sight opening of the face plate.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 the signal ele ment 16 has the letter L mounted thereupon for display in the sight opening, and the signal element 15 has the letter R mounted thereon for display through the sight opening. It is to be understood that the complete word Right could be substituted for the letter R to indicate a right hand turn or the complete word Left could be substituted for the letter L to indicate a left hand turn, but the letters L and R are shown as the preferred means for indicating right and left hand turns. The letters TU and RN in the sides of the sight opening are of course arranged so that they spell the word Turn when viewed from the rear of the vehicle.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle signal, a frame defining a signal display field, a plurality of signal elements individually movable into said field to display a signal, an operating plate having cam slots therethrough, means for actuating said plate, and operating means for said signals, said opera-ting means having portions engaging said slots.

2. In a signaling device for vehicles, an upstanding plate having a sight aperture therethrough, a frame to support said plate, a plurality of signal elements mounted upon said frame and individually displayable through said opening, guides for said signal elements along which they travel to and from signaling position, levers pivoted between their ends, said levers having their end portions at one side of said pivotsoperatively connected with said signal elements, an operating plate having cam slots therethrough with which the other end portions of said levers are operatively connected, means to slidably mount said guide plate upon said frame, and means to slide said guide plate upon its said mounting to actuate the signals, the slots in said guide plate being constructed and arranged to bring said signal elements selectively and one at a time into view Within said sight opening.

3. A signal operating device comprising a support, signal elements mounted. thereon, a guide member of an elongated character pivot-ally mounted between its ends upon said support, an operating plate having cam slots and mounted upon said guide plate to slide lengthwise thereof, signal operating elements consisting of rods having offset portions projecting through the slots of said operating plate adjacent the pivotal mounting thereof, said guide plate being tiltable upon its said mounting to various positions in all of which it remains in an operative relation'to said rods, and means for slidably moving said operating plate to actuate said rods and thereby operate said signal elements.

4. A signaling device comprising a support, a guiding means upon said support, a slide mounted to reciprocate along said guiding means, said slide having two slots therethrough the length of said slots ex tending in the same general direction as the direction of reciprocation of said slide, two signal operating elements one of which is operatively related to one of said slots and the other of which is operatively related to the other of said slots, one of said slow being arranged to actuate the signal operating element which is operatively related thereto during one portion of the movement of said slide and to maintain it stationary during the remaining portion of the movement of the slide While the other slot is arranged in a reverse relation to the signal operating element which extends therethrough in order that one signal operating element be maintained inoperative while the other signal operating element is operated, and a signal proper operated by each of said signal operating elements.

5. A signaling device comprising a support, a guiding means upon said support, a slide mounted to reciprocate along said guiding means, said slide having two slots therethrough the length of said slots extending in the same general direction as the direction of reciprocation of said slide, two signal operating elements one of which is operatively related to .one of said slots and the other of which is operatively related to the other of said slots, each of said slots having one of its end portions substantially straight and in alinement with the direction of reciprocation of the slide and having its opposite end portion deflected to act as a cam upon the signal operating element with which it is operatively related, the straight and deflected portions of one of said slots being reversely arranged to the corresponding portions of the other slot to provide for singly operating the signal elements.

6. A signaling device comprising a frame adapted to be attached to a vehicle to display'a signal, said frame defining a signal display field, two signals proper adapted for being singly displayed upon said field, guiding meansextending across said field, said signals being mounted upon said guiding means to travel thereon to and from signaling position, each of said signals proper having an operating arm, and a reciprocatory member having two cam elements, one

of said cam elements being operatively related to one of said arms and the other of said cam elements being operatively related to the other arm, whereby said signals proper may be singly projected and withdrawn into said field from opposite sides thereof.

7. In a signaling device, a frame, a signal element movable to and from. signaling position, a pair of substantially parallel rods mounted upon said frame, said signal element being slidable along said rods, said signal element comprising a part having an aperture therethrough, an operating lever projecting loosely through said aperture in a side-wise manner, and means for swin ing said lever to operate said signal element.

' 8. In a signaling device, a frame comprising a plate having a sight opening there through, a pair of substantially parallel rods mounted upon said frame at the rear side of said sight opening, one of said rods being located adjacent one side of said sight opening and the other of said rods being located adjacent to the opposite side of said sight opening, two signal elements slidably mounted upon said rods, one of said elements being movable into said sight opening from one side thereof and the other of said elements being movable into said sight opening from the other side thereof, and operating means for said signal elements construct ed and arranged to display them one at a time through said sight opening.

9; In a signaling device, a frame defining a signal display field, a pair of substantially parallel rods mounted adjacent to said field, a signal element consisting of a plate forming a signal proper displayable in said field, said plate having portions provided with apertures through which said rods extend in order to guide the movements of said signal element, and operating means to reciprocate said signal. element upon said rods to and from signaling position.

10. In a signaling device, the combination with a frame defining'a signal display field and a signal element movable into and out of said field; of operating means for said signal element, said operating means comprising an elongated guide plate mounted upon said frame, an operating plate positioned flat-wise upon said uide plate to reciprocate therealong, said guide plate having at one end a deflected portion having an aperture therethrough, an operating rod for operating said plate, said rod extending slidably through said aperture, said operatin g plate having a cam slot extending there through, and means for moving said signal element, said moving means being operatively related to said cam slot.

11. In a signaling device, a frame comprising a base plate, said frame defining a signal. display field, a signal element dicplayable in said field, guiding means for said signal element mounted upon said frame and positioned to guide said signal element plate to reciprocate transversely of said base plate, an operating lever pivotally mounted at the opposite side of said base plate, one portion of said operating lever being operatively connected with said signal element and anetl 1r portion thereof extending through the slot of said operating plate to be actuated thereby, and means to reciprocate said operating plate.

12in a signaling device for self-propelled vehicles, the combination with a support and two signal elements mounted there on for movement to and from a signaling position, of a member having cam slots therein, means operatively relating one of said signal elements with one of said cam slots and the other of said signal elements with the other of said cam slots, and means opcratively related to the steering mech anism of the vehicle to move said member hack and forth to singly operate said signal elements, the operating means for said signal elements being related to said cam slots in such a manner as to provide a neutral Zone for the operating means wherein slight turning movements of the vehicle will not effect an operation of either of said signal elements.

13. in a signaling device, the combina tion with a support and two signal ele ments mounted thereon for movement to and from a signaling position, of a member having cam elements therein, means operatively relating one of said signal elements with one of said cam elements and the other of said signal elements with the other of sait cam elements, and means to move said member back and forth to singly operate said signal elements, the operating means for said signal elements being related to said cam elements in such a manner as to provide a neutral Zone for the open igmeans wherein slight turning movements of the vehicle will not effect an operation'of either of said signal elements.

14. In a signaling device, a support, a guiding means upon said support, a slide mounted. to reciprocate lengthwise along said guiding means, said slide having two slots therethrough the length of said slots extending in the same general direction as the length of said slide, t .vo signal operating elements one of which is operatively related to one of said slots and the other of which is operatively related to the other of said slots, each of said slots having one of its end portions substantially straight and in alinement with the length of the slide and direction of reciprocation thereof and having its opposite end portion deflected to act as a cam upon the signal operating element with which it is operatively related, the deflected portions of one of said slots being reversely arranged with relation to the corresponding deflected portion of the other slot to provide for singly operating the signal elements, said signal operating elements. being related to the longitudinally extending portions of said slots in such a manner that a limited reciprocation of the slide does not project either ml element into the signal disolay field w rereby a neutral zone is provided with relation to the operation of the two signals in order that neither signal be displayed by a slight turning movement of the vehicle, and means operatively connecting said slide with the steering means of the vehicle. I

15. In a turn indicating device attachable to a vehicle, a frame having a signal display field, a signal element mounted upon said frame to move into and out of said field, a lever to actuate said signal element, a slide having a cam element which extends in a general way lengthwise of said slide, an elongated guide for said slide, said guide being pivotally supported between its ends and having a swinging adjustment upon said frame, the aforementioned lever being swingingly mounted between its ends upon a pivotal support, said lever having a curved portion which maintains an operative relation to the cam of said slide, said curved portion being curved along an arc substantially concentric with the pivotal mounting of said guide, and means operatively re lated to the steering mechanism of the vehicle to reciprocate said slide.

16. In a turn indicating device attachable to a vehicle, a frame having a signal display field, a signal element mounted upon said frame to move into and out of said field, a lever to actuate said signal element, a slide having a cam slot therethrough which extends in a general way lengthwise of said slide, an elongated guide for said slide, said guide being pivotally supported between its ends and having a swinging adjustment up on said frame, the aforementioned lever being swingingly mounted between its ends upon a pivotal support which extends at substantially a right angle to the pivotal support of said guide, said lever having a curved portion which at all times extends through said cam slot, said curved portion being curved along an are substantially concentric with the pivotal mounting of said guide, and means operatively related to the steering mechanism of the vehicle to reciprocate said slide.

17. In a signaling device for vehicles, in combination, a signal element movable to and from a signaling position, means to operate said signal element, said operating means comprising a member having a slot consisting of two parts which meet each signature.

FRANK S. NAWROCKI.

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