US2130837A - Pilot step - Google Patents

Description

s pt- 2 9 B. H. BRENNER 2,130,837

PILOT STEP Filed July 1'7, 1936 9 INVENTOR:

.5511, amm 7113122121151,

Patented Sept. 20, 1938 PATENT OFFlCE PILOT STEP Benjamin H. Brenner, Altoona,

Pa., assignor to The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Philadelphia,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 17, 1936, Serial No. 91,155

2 Claims.

This invention relates to steps for railway vehicles and especially to steps of the character employed at the front end of a locomotive.

It has long been recognized that there is ad vantage in providing well rounded smooth sur faces at the front end of locomotives and other railway vehicles, and the considerations entering into the design of such surfaces have included the matter of lessening wind resistance with resuiting increased speed, the matter of improving the vision of the engineman by assisting the lifting of the smoke stream issuing from the stack, and the matter of deflecting objects struck by the vehicle away from the track on which it is traveling. In applying such improvements in front end design to a conventional steam locomotive, and especially where a relatively thin exterior casing is employed at the front of the vehicle, difiiculties arise with respect to satisfying certain safety requirements. One such difficulty is that the usual form of front step breaks the continuity of the surface, and thus not only creates an unsightly appearance but also impairs the function of the casing, both with respect to preventing the formation of eddy currents, and with respect to deflecting objects away from the track.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a form of step and a manner of mounting it upon the front end of a vehicle which overcome the above recited difficulties.

A further object of the invention is to provide a step which is of simple construction, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, and adapted to be swung from a service position in which it projects in a substantially horizontal plane to a housed position in which it lies flush with the exterior surface of the front end of the vehicle.

Other objects and advantages characteristic of this invention will become more fully apparent from the description hereinafter set forth of one example or embodiment thereof having reference to the accompanying drawing.

Of the drawing:

Fig. I represents a front elevation of a steam locomotive to which a pair of front steps embodying this invention have been applied, one at each side.

Fig. II represents an enlarged cross section, taken as indicated by the linesII-II of Fig. I, showing a front step in service or horizontal position.

Fig. III represents a similar cross section, with certain parts broken away for clearness of illustration, showing the step in housed or upright position.

Fig. IV represents a perspective view of the step with the mounting brackets therefor represented in dot-and-dash lines; and,

Fig. V represents a perspective View of one of the mounting brackets.

With reference to the drawing, there is selected for typical illustration a steam locomotive having a rounded nose I and wide sweeping skirt 2 10 in the form of an exterior casing of relatively thin metal surrounding the body of the vehicle. The pilot and pilot beam are represented in outline in Fig. I in broken lines as indicated at 3; and while the specific construction of the frame 15 of the locomotive is relatively unimportant for the purposes of this invention, it will be noted that the steps 4, which are hereinafter more specifically described, derive their support through angle bars 5 secured directly to the pilot. 20

As clearly shown in Figs. II and III, the exterior casing which forms the skirt 2 is spaced at a distance from the wall 6 of the pilot. Each angle bar 5 has bolted rigidly thereto a pair of brackets 1 which form connections for pivotally 25 mounting a step 4. The particular construction of the mounting brackets I may, of course, be varied considerably, but desirably these brackets have lugs 8 thereon which afford stop shoulders 9, H] for limiting angular movement of the step. 30

In the form illustrated in the drawing, each step 4 comprises a tread portion II, a riser l2, and side guards I3, formed as an integral casting. Trunnions l4 project from each side of the step and engage corresponding apertures in the 35 mounting brackets l.

The skirt 2 provides a smooth well-rounded surface extending across the front end of the locomotive. Openings l5 are provided at each side of the skirt 2 for the accommodation of the 40 steps 4. Each such opening l5 corresponds in shape and size to the step 4 associated with it. Accordingly, when the step 4 is swung to the vertical or housed position, it fills the opening i 5 and provides a smooth surface continuous with 5 the exterior surface of the casing. On the other hand, when the step 4 is in the horizontal or service position, it projects freely through the opening and substantially beyond the casing. It will be noted that in the service position the step is substantially out of contact with the casing 22, so that the Weight of a person standing thereon is not communicated to the relatively weak wall of the casing, but is carried by the relatively 55 strong angle bars 5 which form a part of the pilot.

The stop surfaces 9 of'the brackets 1 limit the downward movement of the step 4 by engagement with ledges [6 formed adjacent to the trunnions It. In like manner the stop surfaces H] of the brackets l limit upward swinging of the step by engagement with shoulders IT formed above the trunnions M. Thus the step 4 is limited to an angular movement of approximately Each step a is so mounted and so weighted that it tends to fall by gravity from housed position to service position. To retain the step in its upright position, a latch i3 is provided immediately above the opening l5, such latch including a finger piece !9 and a plate 20 which engages against a slot 2! formed in the outer edge of the step.

It will be observed that the steps 4 are normally housed in upright positions, and when so housed they form with the skirt 2 of the locomotive smooth uninterrupted surfaces. Thus the difficulties are avoided which arise when steps are used which are fixed in position and project outwardly from the front end of a locomotive. Such fixed projecting steps cause the formation of eddy currents and not infrequently catch objects struck by the locomotive and prevent such objects from being cast away from the track.

While the present invention has been described with reference to one form thereof, as applied to a steam locomotive, it .will be'apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention has many other applications, and that various departures may be had as to the form of the step and the manner of its mounting, without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Ina railway vehicle including a frame and a relatively thin exterior casing spaced therefrom in surrounding relation, said casing having an opening therein unreinforced at its edges, a supporting element attached to the vehicle frame and located entirely within said exterior casing and disassociated from it, a step supported wholly on said supporting element and having a pivotal connection therewith, said step being adapted to fall by gravity from a vertical position, wherein it fills the opening aforesaid and provides a surface continuous with the exterior shell to a horizontal position wherein it projects through said opening in the exterior shell substantially beyond the exterior surface thereof, an externally operable latch means for holding said step in its vertical position, and stops associated with said pivotal connection and engaging surfaces on said step to limit the angular movement of said step between said vertical and said horizontal positions.

2. In a railway vehicle including a frame and a relatively thin exterior shell spaced therefrom in surrounding relation, said shell having an opening therein unreinforced at its edges, a sup porting element attached to the vehicle frame and located entirely within said exterior shell and disassociated from it, a step supported wholly on said supporting" element and having a pivotal connection therewith, said step being adapted to fall by gravity from a vertical position, wherein it fills the opening aforesaid and provides a surface continuous with the exterior shell to a horizontal position wherein it projects through said opening in the exterior shell substantially beyond the exterior surface thereof, an externally operable latch means for holding said step in its vertical position, and stops associated with said pivotal connection, one of said stops contacting said step in its horizontal position and preventing downward movement thereof, and an additional stop contacting said step in its vertical position, and preventing backward movement thereof, said latch means when operated serving to hold said step tightly braced against said additional stop.

- BENJAMIN H. BRENNER.

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