US2621069A - Grappling device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 9, 1952 P. DE ANGUERA 2,621,069

GRAPPLING DEVICE Filed Aug. 25, 1949 I/I/A IN VEN TOR.

' (7% d6 flnyaera. 4 BY ATTYs Patented Dec. 9, 1952 'UITED .S TAT ES EPATJEN T OFFICE GRAPPLING DEV-ICE Rhilipdfi Anguera, Cincinnati, Ohio Application August 23, 1949.; Serial'No. -1113144) reciprocat ng, overhead conveyor for 'rnoving heavy articles, such as railroad ties, timbers, .or

the like.

The principal object of this invention .is to provide a grappler which has a pair of self-releasing jaw members thatoperate at right angles to, and below, the draft line for the article being moved thereby; the clamping action for the grappler being supplied by a contraction spring secu-red to and extending between :said members.

Another object of the'invention is to provide a grappler of the character described that has a jaw member formed to provide an article-tomember fulcrum point around which the :jaw members maybe pivoted to release them from it e object, when a pull is exerted on the draft line in a direction opposed to the draft movement. A further object of the invention is to provide a grappler which may be quickly applied to an object to be lifted and which is simple in construction and is strong and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view the intventicn consists in the novel combination of parts specifically set forth in the following specification and in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

"Fig; 1 is a top plan view of the grappling device. Fig. 2 is a side elevationof' the device illustrated inFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-4 of 1.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a railroad tie conveying mechanism with my grappling device associated therewith.

With reference to the drawings my grappling device 5 comprises a pair of jaw members i and 8 constructed from long, stout meta-1 plates which have diagonal bends 9 and B16 respectively formed intermediate their ends that provide fiat ar. 1 portions H and i2 and substantially parallel side portions [3 and :14 res, actively for the jaws. The flat arms are pivotally connected at 15 in face to-face relationship at their forwardly disposed common ends, and, as most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, a relatively long shaft (3 is fixed at its lower end to the arm I l of jaw member I! by welding, or the like, and extends at right angles therefrom to pass through an aligned opening i? formed through the flat arm !2 of the jaw member 8. A sleeve i3 is fixed to the arm 52 for the reception of the shaft Hi, the upper end of the "shaft being threaded at i9 for cooperation with .5 Claims. (Cl..,2;94-106) a nut 2c, the latter of bears against "the upper end of the sleeve 1-8. The purpo'scofthe long shaft #6 and the cooperating sleeve is to provide good bearing surfaces between the pivoted arms H -l2 of the grapple. The long shaft also serves as a convenient handle when applying the grapple to an object to be moved there-by.

The rear portion of an eyelink 2 1 encircles the sleeve [8 and preferably forms a part ofthe welded connection between the sleeve and the arm 42 in that one end of the'l-ink 'bears against and is welded to the arm and is also welded :to the base of the sleeve. The end of a draft line 2%! is threaded through and secured to-the fiorwa-rd end of the eye-link by a suitable draft line connection.

A spring 23 extends betWee-nand is connected at its-ends to the arms H and 12 of the jaw mambers and to this-end bolts "2 and 25 are threaded the upper races of the arms and are each en'- circled by a ring or eye 2-6 and 2 formed'nn the ends of the spring '23. As illustrated in Fig. l, the coils of this spring are normally in surface :con'taclt maintain the jaw members at predetermined, spaced apart minimum distances. When the jaws are rotated away from each other around their commonv pivot, the spring placed in tension which tends to urge the jaw members together toward clamping condition with ann hjectpositioned between therside portions 13 and N thereof.

The diagonal bends iland IJG in the jaw members. J and '8 respectively :are opposite eachnther :andlare substantially parallel :so that the down tu-rned :sides i3 and 123 01 the jaw members are in laterally spaced parallelism and at rightxanglee .to their respective arms .15 and 12. The lower :ends cf the sides t3 and 14 for the. jaw members 31 and. 28 are cash provided with a spur or pointed prong 28-423 respectively which extends inwardly from the adjacent :faces of said sides, and, as most clearly illustratedin Fig. '3, have their pointed ends 68 and 3d :aimed in the general direction of the common pivotmeans for the ,1 aw members.

The -operation of my grappling .device'will be described in connection with a railroad tie conveying'mechanism and it will be noted, with reference to Fig 4., that the grapple '6 is secured to the end of the draft line 22 which in turn is secured to a carriage 32 mounted for reciproeating movement on an overhead track 33. The track "terminates above the receiving end 340i an end-lessbelt conveyor 3-5 which' has a suitable,

inclined guide plate 36 positioned in front of the receiving end and in the path of a railroad tie 31 carried by the conveyor. It will be noted that my grappling device maintains the railroad tie in a predetermined position with the grappler straddling the uppermost portion of the forward end of the tie. This position is maintained because the draft line connection is located above and forwardly of the clamping device whilst the tie engaging spurs on the clamp jaw members have their tie entering points directed toward the clamp line connection and are spaced below and rearwardly of said draft line connection; said spurs being spring urged into the tie at right angles to the line of draft. The grappling device therefore deposits the tie upon the conveyor belt 35 in a position with its axis extending in the direction of travel of said belt, the device upon the uppermost surface of the tie, and the spur carrying side members I3 and 14 of the device straddling the sides of the tie. The forward speed of the belt 35 is preferably somewhat greater than the speed of the overhead carriage 32 whereby the speed differential in effect reverses the draft direction of the line 22 relative to the tie. As the carriage reaches a stop 38 on the track its movement and the actual movement of the draft line are fully reversed whilst the tie moves forwardly on the conveyor 35.

With reference to Fig. 4 it will be noted that when the draft line 22 becomes taut in the reverse direction, it will initially cause pivotal movement of the grapple around the spurs 28 and 29 whereby the forward portions of the arms H-I2 of the grapple move upwardly away from the tie at a greater rate than their rear trailing portions. This initial movement causes the trailing, inner edge portions 3939 of the arms II and I 2 to come in contact with the subjacent, marginal portions of the tie so that transversely aligned fulcrums are established between the grapple and tie around which the grapple rotates during its final releasing movement. Generally the initial pivotal movement of the grapple relative to the tie carries through approximately 15 before contact is made between the tie and the grapple arms at fulcrum points 39-39. Upon contact and further movement of the arms by the line toward the trailing end of the tie the sides l3-l4 of the grapple are rotated counterclockwise (Figs. 2 and 4) around the points 39-39 thereby slidin the spurs upwardly in an arcuate path along the respective sides of the tie until they move beyond the upper edge of said sides and are disengaged therefrom whereupon the tie is released from the jaws of the grapple and is free to move upon the endless conveyor to its destination whilst the draft carriage returns in an opposite direction to pick up the next tie. The final rotational movement of the grapple around the points 39-39 is generally accomplished within a 70 arc whereby the entire release action of the grapple requires an upset movement of the arms H-|2 through approximately 85.

It will be particularly noted with respect to the gripping and release functions of the grapple that the spurs 28 and 29 are directed inwardly from the respective sides of the grapple jaws l3 and I4 and that the spur points are aimed in the direction of the jaw pivot to which is also secured the grapple draft line connection. Also the spring 23 serves to initially position the grapple on the object to be lifted thereby and to some extent urges the points of the spurs into the body of the object. The pull exerted on the draft line accounts for the positive gripping action of the jaws in that the forward pull on the grapple causes the spurs to be forced into the body of the tie to a depth directly proportional to the pulling force exerted on the draft line. Upon final release movement of the grapple its rotation on the tie around the points 39-39 causes the spurs to move in an arcuate, transverse path with respect to the gripping direction of the spurred jaws whereby the spurs are readily disengaged from the tie body and move upwardly along the sides of the tie to disengaged positions beyond the upper surface of the tie.

What is claimed is:

1. A grappling device comprising a pair of jaw members, pivot means for connecting common ends of the jaw members, a draft line connection at the pivot means, each of said jaw members being in the form of a long plate having the outer portion turned downwardly on a diagonal bend line to a position substantially normal to its inner pivoted portion, spurs mounted on the ends of the downturned portions and extending inwardly from the adjacent faces thereof and having their pointed ends aimed in the general direction of the pivot means, and a spring extending between and having its ends fastened to the pivoted jaw portions.

2. A grappling device comprising a pair of jaw members, pivot means for connecting common ends of the jaw members, a draft line connection at the pivot means, each of said jaw members being in the form of a lon plate having the outer portion bent on a diagonal line to a position substantially normal to the inner pivoted portion, spurs mounted on the ends of the downturned portions and extending inwardly from the adjacent faces thereof and having their pointed ends aimed in the general direction of the pivot means, a spring extending between, and having its ends fastened to each of the inner pivoted jaw portions, and said pivot means comprising a relatively long shaft fixed at its end to one jaw member and extending at right angles therefrom and passing through a hole formed in the other jaw member, a sleeve fixed at its end to the said jaw member for the reception of the shaft, and a nut threaded upon the shaft, and bearing against the sleeve.

3. A grappling device comprising a pair of jaw members pivotally connected at common ends and each in the form of a long plate having a diagonal, intermediate bend therein to provide a pair of spaced side members for the device, a prong extending inwardly from the adjacent face of each of the side members, and directed toward the locus of the pivotal connection for the jaw members, a draft line connection adjacent the pivotal connection of the jaw members, and resilient means operable at right angles to the line of draft for urging the jaw members together.

4. A grappling device comprising a pair of jaw members, pivot means connecting the members at their forward ends, said jaw members having arms diverging rearwardly from the pivot means and each having a downturned side member formed at the free end thereof, a prong extending inwardly from the adjacent face of each side member, and directed toward the locus of the pivot means for the jaw members, a draft connection for the jaw members connected to the device adjacent the pivot means, and a resilient l minal having a spur thereon that points in the general direction of the pivot and also toward the spur on the other member whereby the spurs have a ratchet-like engagement with the object so that the spurs will grip the object when the grapple is pulled forwardly and be released from 6 said object when the grapple is rotated relatively to the object, and means for attaching a drag line to the grapple adjacent said pivot.

PHILIP DE ANGUERA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 829,903 Williams et al Aug. 28, 1906 1,382,144 Taylor June 21, 1921 1,732,976 Mathews Oct. 22, 1929 2,196,117 Lange Apr. 2, 1940 2,415,898 Meadows Feb. 18, 1947

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