US2436226A - Mail crane - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 17, 194s. l, PENbLETON 2,436,226

MAIL CRANE Filed June 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l In vel/tar aar/WWW M@ Feb. 117, 1948. r PENDLETQN 2,436,226

MAIL CRANE .Filed June 2, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 2 f ,gl @MMM d/away 15.7 M5195 Patented Feb. 17, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAIL CRANE Irvin Pendleton, Campbellsburg, Ky.

Application June 2, 1945, Serial No. 597,311

3 Claims. (Cl. ZES-1.2)

This invention relates tc mail bags of the type designed for use in connection with cranes holding said bag for delivery to a passing train or vehicle and it has for its principal object to improve the safety of operation of the arrangement by means of which the bag is caught or picked up,to rmake ythe arrangement iit for operation in connection with vehicles travelling at high speed such as fast trains, or airplanes and to provide a construction ci this type which will not materially change or complicate the approved type of structure.

Two kinds of structures have been in practical use for the purpose above specified. The older type of *mail bag was fastened to a ring or to a chain which was suspended or stretched on pins or hooks of a station device. A crane arm or carrier on the train provided with a hook caught the ring or chain and carried it along together Withvthe mail bag attached thereto.

The operation of such a device is, however, only tolerably saie at slow speed. It has the great advantage lthat once the ring or chain was caught it was safely held but it had, among others, the disadvantage that the mail bag and support were not protected against free swinging movement.

As such a movement causes a very marked unsafety of operation, .may cause damage and is even dangerous, especially where heavy mail bags are used, a second method has been employed, raccording to which the mail bag is carriedbn both ends between horizontal arms of a station device which are under resilient pressure. These arms carry pins or spring hooks engaging hooks or rings on the mail bag and thus hold the latter fully stretched out'and in an upright position between them. Usually a cord running from one end of the mail bag to the other provides a means for catching the mail bag, which as a rule is a double bag with a constricted middle portion. Either vthe latter is caught by a forked crane arm Ion the train or the said arm catches the mail bag between its constricted middle portion and the cord stretched betweenl the two larger endA portions'. 1

The, present invention is an improvement of .the'last named method according to which the mail bag is held in an upright position at the endof stationary crane arms which are under spring pressure. It consists in an additional spring'pressed device attached to the stationary carrier which is able to hold under spring pressure a cord, strap, wire or other device attached to the mail bag and it, therefore, is capable of holding such cord, straps, bands, or wire in a distended condition so that together with the mail bag itself and with any suspension orextension cord xed to the mail bag it may form a loop covering awide area. The spring pressure takes up any slackening of the cord, strap or wire and therefore prevents swinging of the same,

The device presents a much wider area to the crane arm lon the train than heretofore attainable. Thereby the number of failures to catch the mail bag is reduced to a. minimum even ii trains are travelling with high velocity. It will also be noted that the device may operate from both sides alike.

The new device moreover extends the area of the loop by attaching the latter not directly to the stationary crane arm b'ut by means of extensions in the form of cords, straps, wires, bands or the like attached to its ends. .These extensions are caught and held by the stationary arms and thus determine the width of the loop at the end. lThe loop may thus cover a triangle of any size, with all corners held firmly and resiliently on the stationary device.

The triangular loop is much more easily caught by a crane arm on a vehicle than the small loops formed by cords attached to both ends of the mail bag and it may even be arranged in such a way that the triangular loop is very large and may be caught by an airplane by means of a cable loweredfromsaid plane. and provided with a catching hook.

Two modifications of the invention are illustrated and described but it is to be-understood that these modiiications` show the invention merely by way` of example and that further emf bodiments of the invention may be used without departing from the essence of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the arrangement, showing the mail bag suspended in an upright position near a railroad car provided with a device for catching the mail bag.

Figure 2 is an elevational side view of the de#- vide a wide basis for the triangular loop. This suspension method is used for airplanes,

The arrangement illustrated in Figure 1 comprises the usual type of mail bag i!! having a constricted middle zone which is provided with hooks, rings or eyes II at its ends. These eyes are held on bolts I2 which are pivotally mounted on crane arms I3, I4', hinged to an upright I5, by means oi hin-ges' Iii.4 They-upper arm I3is preferablyunder the tension of. a Vrspring l'I which will move it upwardly, while the lower arm i4 simply falls down by gravity if not held.

Both arms are held in a horizontal position by the mail bag I when the eyes II are inserted over the pivoted ends of the bolts I2.

The upright I5 carries a support 2B in which the loop catching piece 2l is guided. *This 'piston- `on said arms extending into the direction along like piece passes through a guide hole 22and is y provided at one end with a head 23, carrying an ,nprightbolt 124. Ori the other end it carries adisk againstwhich a spring 26 is pressing which nds its support onawa'sher 36pressing against the supportilZ. ,c "LTheloop/form'ing cord onv strapLZI .is attached to the upper and lowerfpartv of the Vmail bagl in the modification shown in v.Figur-'e 2 either directly or by.meansofsnap,fasteners A5 which permit to attach it to ,back-.on clamps 46 attached to the mail bag. vThis cord or strap carries aring or .eyepiece .28 whichmay be slid over the uprightbolt 24 on head23. `The. spring 28 retracting the piston-likepiece 2l then holds the cord 21 in such a tensioned position under spring pressure that anapproximately triangular loop is formed by the mailbagand the two sections of the cord` 21 which are held .by the eye piece 28.

Av railroad .car.29 y:providedwith. a crane arm will bring the forward end 35` of its .arm into the triangular.areaenclos'edby the loop 21 and will seize the mail .bag .witha great degree oi safety, as the area of..the -loop ,is much greater than-that Vcovered by the lateral movements of the crane arm, ,even under -the most vunfavorable conditons when the -caris jerking heavily. All the parts of-the mail bag or connected with the mailbag `are moreover `rmly held against swinging or similarmovements.

The mailbag mayl be easily detached from the crane arm, even lif-the latteris-at a distance from the car window by openingthe strap fasteners.

To enlarge the area of the-.loop .the mail-bag may be -attachedlto extension straps or bands 32 with its ends,which are provided-.with the suspension eyes or rings. The cord v`2'lvis then attached to the extensionstraps, strips or bands and the area ofthe loop, as is clearly seen from Figures 5 and 6, may be-.extendedconsiderably.

For catching mail -bags from an airplane by means of a cable.\33,asfindicated in Figure 4 it iscpreferable to suspend the mail bag horizontally on a mast 35v cron-a plurality of-masts, the latter-carrying the structure 31, yfor. suspending the mail bag in a horizontal position. The arms 38 need not be hinged 'o'rfpivoted' ini this case, as the airplane can catch the bag merely by means of a hook'39andv will lift it vabove 'therstructure Y' Thesections'39 of 4thecord forming the loop which are attached toA the extension sections 32, 82 are'iixed ona' hook-or eye 4I which is held which vthe mailbag is moved during the pick-up operation for slidably holding the mail bag, meansattached to the ends of the mail bag for engaging-'said studs adapted to slide along said studs, la cord attached-to the said end portions of the mail bag, to form a loop with the body of themail bag, means attached to saidcord for detachably holding it, a spring pressedl'slid-f able member mounted on the xed membjeno the crane provided with a stud, for engagingthe cord holding means and' for drawing the' cord and the mail bag inwardly towards wthe crane, thus simultaneously extendingthe loop to ymaximum lengthand holding the mail bag ,on' the studs of theV movable crane arms.

2. A mail bag suspension arrangement for mail bags to be picked up by vehicles in motion, comprising a crane with .a fixed member and with movablemail bag suspension arms adapted to` b e moved away from each other, projecting lstuds on said arms for slidablyholdin'g the mail bag, extension cords attached to the centervoi the end portions ofthe mail bag for extinisionv along the longitudinalgaxisof the mail bag, means attached to the ends of the extension cordsof the mail bag for engaging saidstuds, said means being adapted to slidealong the same, a cord attached to said extension cords forforininga loop with the body ofithe mail bag, means jattached to said Ycord for detachablyholding it. a spring pressed slidable member mounted on ,the fixed member ofthe crane provided withastud, for engaging the cord holding means t'and for drawing the cord and the mailbag inwardly to- Wards the crane,.tl'n.,1s,simultaneouslyy extending the lcopto maximum length and holding'the mail bag on the studs o n the movable crane arms.

3. A mail bag arrangement as speciedin'claim 2, with a mail bag provided with extension cords extended horizontally and with a spring pressed member arranged vertically for'forminga'lcop to be caughtby airplanes. y

IRVINPENDLETQN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordinfthe ilecf this patent:V

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