US242317A - Passenger-vehicle - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

- 3 SheetsF-Sheet 1. P. HEPJDIC. Passenger Vehicle. No. 242,31?. Patented May 31,1881..

N. PETERS. Phoh-Llhngmpher, Washmgton, D, C.

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(N0 Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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N. PETERS. Fhum-Lilhugmphur. washmgxan. D. CA

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

P. HERDIC, Passenger Vehicle.

No. 242,317. Y Patented may 31,1881.,

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\` Mmmm UNITED STATES PATENT FOEErcE.

PETER HERDIG, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PASSENGER-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,317, dated May 31, 1881.

' Application filed January 17, 188i. (No inodel.)

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that; I, PETER HERDIo, ot the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Im provementsin Passen ger-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in passenger vehicles, such as coaches, street-cars, &c., ofthe class provided with doors controlled by the drivers.

My objects are to provide a suitable vehicle with a door or doors which the driver, while in his seat, may close and hold closed to prevent access to the vehicle; to cause such door or doors to open automatically as desired by the driver; and to enable the driver, at will, to entirely shut in or inclose the platform or step by which the vehicle is entered, and so not only prevent access to the vehicle, but render it impossible for any one outside to ride upon or cling to the platform or step.

The subject-matter deemed novel will hereinafter be designated by the claims, after first fully describing` my improvements in connection with a suitable vehicle.

I have in this instance shown my invention as adapted to a Herdic coach-such, in general features of construction, as shown in Letters Patent ofthe United States granted to me April 20, 1880, No. 226,748. My improvements, or some of them, may be used in connection with tram-cars or other passen ger-vehicles to which their application would be advantageous.

The accompanying drawings show one way of organizing my improvements and adapting them .to a suitable vehicle, so much only of the vehicle being represented as is deemed requisite to a proper illustration of this invention.

Figure 1 is a horizontal section on the line l 1 of Fig. 2, representing a portion of the rear ot' a coach, with-the doors represented in dotted lines as open. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the linev 2 2 of Fig. 1, with the door represented as closed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. et is a front ele vation with the dash-board in section, showing the door-controlling cords terminating near the drivers seat. Fig. 5 shows, on an enlarged scale, one of the yielding sections of the pullcords. Fig. 6 is a view similar to that shown by Fig. 2, the door being provided with a latch,

which holds it closed until released by the driver. Fig. 7 is aview, in detail, of the latch engaging and controlling devices, the housing for said devices being in section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 8, and Fig. S represents a section on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

Themain portion or body VA ot" a suitable vehicle is, in this instance, provided at rear with a covered platform-projection or housed stepextension, B. The rear wall or back, Bl', ot" this platform-projection or step-housin g extends from the level of the step or platform proper, b, to the hood or roof-extension A'. A sliding Window, such as usually provided for this class of vehicles, is, by preference, tltted to the back or rear wall,B, ofthe step-housing for lighting and ventilatin g. The distance between the rear ot the vehicle proper or body A and the rear ot' the housing B is sufficient to forma `side doorway for the entrance and exit of passengers. There is a doorway at each side of the platform, and a doorway, O, in the rear end of the vehicle-body. The step or platform b is preferably located somewhat below the level of the door ofthe vehicle, for an obvious pur pose.

Each swinging door D ot' the platformextension is preferably hung at its rear edge to the corresponding edge ot' its doorwaytl1at is to say, the doors D D are hinged respectively to the opposite sides of the step-housin g, and at the rear corners thereof, by suitable hinges, d d, connecting the doors with uprights or cornerposts, E E. The doors D D swing inwardly or over the platform b, and backward toward or against the inner side of the platform-extension rear wall, B. Each door is provided with a suitable spring, F, or two such` springs if deemed desirable, and each spring is, by preference, combined in proper way with a hinge, by which to hang the door. These springs act upon the doors with a constant tendency to swing them open when closed or to hold them open when swung back, instead ot' acting to close the doors. In this way, when the springs are allowed to Vact the doors are automatically swung open inwardly across the platform and toward the back of the housing as they-.move on their hinges about the posts or corners E E.

Instead ofthe above specitically-describedv IOO arrangement ofthe doors, they m ay,without material alteration, or in accordance with `my invention, be hung at their front edges to the corresponding edges of the doorways, and thus be adapted to swing automatically, as before, but outward and forward, or against the rear of the vehicle-body, instead of inward and backward. By this modification there would be no obstruction of the platform by the opening of the doors, while they would still be controllable by the driver in the manner and by means presently to be explained. As the platform-extension or step-housing B is con- Ysiderably narrower than the body of the vehicle, and projects centrally from the rear thereof, ample room is afforded for the outward swing of the doors without projecting beyond the vehicle-sides.

Each door D is controlled by the driver ot' the vehicle, so that he may allow or prevent access to the vehicle. The driver may at will prevent the opening of the door from the i11- side as well as from the outside without action on his part, and so prevent passengers leaving the vehicle when it is moving, or when from other reason it might be dangerous or undesirable to allow a passenger to step off.

It should be noticed that the doors when closed entirely shut in the platform or step, the lower edges of the doors closing ush or practically even with the adjacent or vertical outer edges of the steps, thus rendering it impossible to ride outside the doors or hang behind or cling to the platform when they are closed.

Two pull cords or wires, G G, are connected at their rear ends respectively with the doors D D,at or near their tops, by the brackets g g or other suitable means. These cords pass first by way of pulleys 71J h, one over each doorway, and then along the root' or sides of the vehicle, near the roof, to the front and outl side of the Vehicle, and terminate within convenient reach of the driver in his seat. The cords are supported in proper way at suitable intervals along the root' or sides ot the vehicle, and at their front ends have rings I I for fastening them to hooks or buttons i t'. These rings are attached to the pull-cords by means of rubber strips J J, and the cords, including the short lengths of rubber, (or, it' preferred,

Y coiled springs or some other equivalent for the rubber,) are ot' such length as to require them to be elongated when fastened to hold the doors closed. The length of the cords and the tension upon them is such as to hold the doors against the force of their springs and prevent rattling.v By employing the rubber, or short sections or lengths of any suitable elastic material, at 'any desired points in the cords, slight variations in the length of the cords,due for instance to atmospheric chan ges, is compensated. A

Obviously the two cords might be jonedin one near the rear ofthe vehicle and so enable theddriver to control both doors'by the one cor It is also obvious that one only of the swinging spring-actuated or automatically-opened doors and a controlling-cord for closing and holding it might advantageously be employed in connection with a suitable step or platform.

The employment, in connection with the swinging doors and the steps or platforms of many vehicles in common use, of the pullcords and door-opening springs would adapt them to the use of my invention, to the extent at least of embodying the features for controlling and automatically opening the doors.

ln an applicationlfor Letters Patent of the United States, entitled Improvements in Doors and Steps for Passe'nger-Vehicles,7 filed by me sim ultaneously herewith, are shown and described certain features similar to or substantially the same as some of the features herein shown and described. My invention in said application relates to an organization of parts involving certain features which are not claimed herein.

For securing the doors when closed, or as an additional means for preventing access to the vehicle against the will of the driver, each doorD is provided on its inner side with a latch, K, to which access cannot be had directly from the outer side of or through the door. The latch of each door is pivoted and engages a suitable keeper, k, as usual, when the door is closed, and when a door is to be opened the driver unfastens the latch by lifting its outer end above the keeper by means of latch-controllingdevices operated by way of the pull-cords l l, one such cord tor each door, terminating near the drivers seat L, and either hanging loose at its front end or adapted to be hooked in place. Each cord l passes from the front of the vehicle backward along or near the roof and over a pulley, m, at or near the top of the door-frame, thence downward by wayof a channel or housing, M, (shown as formed by a Vgrooved strip fastened to the door-frame,) and is connected to the upper end of a latch-tripper, (shown as formed by a vertically-sliding lugged plate or-trip-bar, N.) A rubber or other suitable spring, O, connected at its opposite ends respectively to the lower end of the latchtripper N and to the bottom of the groove or housing M, acts always with a tendency either to draw down this tripper or to hold it in its lowermost position, at which time its lower lug, a,

abuts against a shoulder formed by the lower edge or wall of a lateral slot or side opening in the housing-strip, as clearly shown in Fig.

- 7. The upward movement of the tripper beyond the proper point to trip the latch or lift it free of its keeper k is prevented by the lug a', which, a-t the extreme of the upward movement of the tripper, comes against the shoulder or stop formed by the top end or wall of the housingslot.

To prevent the accidental displacement of the latch or its disengagement from the keeper by" the joltingof the vehicle, arubber cushion, P, or other equivalent device forbearingdown upon the latch with a yielding pressure,1s pro' vided. In Fig. 8 the cushion l) is represented by dotted lines as housed in the bracket or latch-guide Q.

From the above description it will be understood that when thc pull-cord l for a doorlatch is pulled by the driver, so as to elongate the spring O and trip or lift the latch, the door will be automatically swung open by its spring, provided the door-holding pull-cord G is unfastened to release the door. Then a door is open the latch-actuating bar or tripper is held in proper position to allow the door to be closed and latchcd by pulling' the cord G, and this cord may then be secured, or the door be held, wholly by the latch.

The latch may be temporarily secured in such manner as to be inoperative, if desired, simply by inserting a wedge or pin beneath it and between its lower edge and the bottom of the guide-bracket; or a swinging dog or button might be provided ,beneath the latch, which, when turned up, would hold the latch against its spring or cushion P and sufficiently elevated tobe clear of the keeper.

I claim as of my own inventionl. The combination, with the step or platform of a vehicle, of the swinging door and the spring or springs solely by the action of which the door is thrown open when released, substantially as and for the purpose hcreinbefore set forth.

2. The combination of the step or platform of the vehicle, the swinging automaticallyopened or spring-actuated door, and means under the control of the driver by which to close the door against the action of its spring or springs and secure it, and by which the door may be unfastened or released to be thrown open automatically, or by the unaided action of the spring or springs, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination of the step or platform, the doors closing at their bottoms respectively near to or flush with the outer portion or edge of the step or platform adjacent thereto, the springs by the action of which the doors are automatically opened as soon as freed or unfastened, and the pull cord or cords by which to close the doors and prevent access to the platform, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

i pose hereinbcfore set forth.

7. The. combination ofthe swin gin g dloor, automatically thrown open when released or unfastened, the pull-cord for closing the door, the inside latch, aud the latch-controlling devices actuated by an independent pull-cord, substantially as and for the purpose hereinhefore set forth.

S. The combination of the step or platform of a vehicle, thc swinging door, its inside latch, the vertically-sliding latch-tripper, the spring by ,which it is moved in one direction, the pullcord for moving it in the opposite direction, and the housing by which the latch-controlling devices arc concealed and protected, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbeforeset forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name. l

P. HERlDlC.

Witnesses:

WM. J. PEYTON, J osEPH I. PEYToN.

purpose hereinbe-

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