US311108A - Cash and parcel carrying system for store service - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) S a Sheet sSh-eet' 1. J., T. COWLEY.

CASH AND PARCEL CARRYING SYSTEM FOR STORE SERVICE. Nq %l1,108. I Patented Jan. 20,1885.'

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. T. COWLEY.

CASH AND PARCEL CARRYING SYSTEM FOR STORE SERVICE. No. 311,108. 1 Patented Jan. 20, 188-5.

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J. T. COWLEY.

CASH AND PARCEL CARRYING SYSTEM FOR STORE SERVICE. No. 311,108. Patented Jan. 20, 1885 a? /I|-(-}-E(& E -o v T (9 C 1 SSES WITNE ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE,

JAMES T. COVLEY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

CASH AND PARCEL QARRYING SYSTEM FOR STORE SERVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,108, dated January 20, 1885.

Application filed December 22, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES T. CowLEY, of Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cash and Parcel Carrying Systems for Store Service; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to cash and parcel carrying systems for service in stores, warehouses, and the like, and is designed to furnish the greatest effectiveness of operation,

simplicity, and rapidity with which the car may be transmitted from the clerk to the cashier and again returned to him, the same consisting, substantially, in the system as constructed, and in such other details as will hereinafter be distinctly described,and pointed out in the claims.

In constructing my system I employ between each station of the counter or counters of the salesmen and the counter ordesk of the wrapping-clerk two tracks, one of which is inclined in the direction of the wrappingclerks counter and termed the forwardingtrack, and the other being inclined reversely, or from the wrapping-clerks desk in the direction of the salesmans counter, and termed the return-track.

The essence of my invention lies in the provision of means at the salesmans end by which the car or carrier is elevated and caused to run upon the inclined forwarding-track, the elevator automatically descending to a position coincident with the lower end of the return-track and serving the capacity of receiver for the car when returned, and in means provided at the wrapping-clerks end for lowering or delivering the car or carrier automatically from the forwarding-track onto automatic lowering mechanism located at this terminal of the return-track, this latter mechanism also serving the function of elevator for the car to said return-track, my said invention being thus distinguished from those systems in which a carrier is received'from a return-track and then transferred from such receiver and placed in a restorer or elevator and elevated to a forwarding-track.

Referring to the annexed sheets of drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of system embodying my invention, the dotted lines and longer arrows denoting the direction in which the two tracks are divergent from each other, and the shorter arrows indicating the direction in which the cars travel to and fro between the wrappingclerk and salesmen. Fig. 2 represents aplan view thereof. Fig. 3 represents a plan view of one of the supporting-brackets for the tracks at the salesmans end, and Fig. 4 a side elevation thereof. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views, re-

' spectively, of the automatic elevator and the hinged transferring-arm at the terminal of the forwarding-track, by which the car is caused to descend onto the automatic lowering devices attached to the return-track at the sameend. Fig. 7 is a detail view in elevation of a slight modification.

As herein illustrated,the two tracks are shown converging toward each other at one end and supported at such end to devices located above the wrapping-clerks counter, which, as shown, is suspended from the ceiling, the same being designed to extend down to within close proximity to the cashier; but it is obvious that instead of being thus indirectly placed in communication with the cashier the attachment may be made directly to the desk of the cashier.

tension, a, for facilitating the passage of the wheels of the car from the track onto the hinged arm a. The said bracket is secured to a bar or rod, 1, as shown, and it is preferably jointed ICO taken up from time to time.

or swiveled, as at 2, by which it can be turned to conform to any direction that it maybe desired to extend the track. Similarly secured to a like bar, 3, is a bracket, 1), constructed in like manner as. the bracket a, excepting that in lieu of the'arm a, restored by a spring, it is provided with ahinged arm, b, having attached to its free end a cord or other flexible media, b, which passes over a small pulley,

b, borne by an upright projection, as shown,

the cord having a weighted handle. The two tracks at this point are arranged, preferably, one above the other, and at such distances apart as to permit a perfect freedom of operation. The arm a of the bracket a, when depressed by the weight of the car, should be sufficiently long to rest upon the bracket 1) beneath, so as to insure a proper transfer from one to the other. At the salesmans end the two tracks are permanently fixed to brackets c d, secured to and projecting outwardly from a depending rod or support, D, the former or upper one bearing pulleys c and c 0, (see detail, Fig. 4,) and each of them being formed with projecting offsets or stops 6 e. lhey may also be formed with a branch, f,which'bears a curved extension, 9, similar to and for the same purpose as a, or the latter may be separate therefrom and the proper connection of the two made, wire-tighteners It being provided atthe ends of each track, by which the slack may be These brackets c and d are arranged on the depending rod D at such a distance apart as to give the tracks their proper inclination, and connecting the two are vertical guide-rods z i, which pass through the offsets c e, and are properly secured by nuts or otherwise. WVorking between the guide-rods t t is an elevator, E, provided with a hinged arm, Z, similar to b, to which is attached a cord, m, that renders over the pulley c' of the bracket 0, and extends down to within convenient reach of the salesman or operator. Secured in the side of the elevator is another cord, a, which renders over both the pulleys c c, and extends downwardly along side the cord m, each of said cords having a weighted handle, as shown.

The elevatoris designed to be of weight sufficient to overcome the weight of the handle on cord n, so that normally the elevator will rest upon the stops of the lower bracket, d, and when the carrier is received from the cashier it runs upon the cord 0, and is depressed or lowered to within reach of the clerk, as represented in dotted lines.

The operation is as follows: A sale having been made by the clerk, and the elevator being at rest upon the stops of the lower bracket, d, (see dotted lines,) he (the clerk) draws downwardly on the cord at and raises the elevator up to the position shown in full lines, whereupon by pulling on the cord at the arm I) and that portion of said cord between the arm and pulley 0' are caused to assume the position of an incline, and the car consequently runs down upon the forwardingtrack by gravity.

The clerk, while performing this operation, keeps hold of the cord m, the weight on the cord at meanwhile perfectly eounterbalancing the car during its elevation, and as soon as the car has descended upon the forwarding-track the operator releases both cords and the elevator E descends below to act as receiver for the car on its return from the cashier.

Vhile certain devices or mechanism have been herein set forth, it is obvious that my in-.

vention is subject 'to various modifications by which that proposed to be accomplished from the description in the fore part of my specification is carried into effect.

As one modification, I have represented in Fig. 7 the employment of asingle bracket, M. in lieu of a and b, the same having a widened extremity, 0,with its two sides or ends turned over, to which the ends of the tracks are secured, and in which the end of the hinged arm a rests or plays, whether the arm be raised or elevated as it is normally by the spring a, or depressed by a pull upon the cord 0, depend ing therefrom. A spring hook or stop, 19, is provided thereon to catch the car when it arrives. In this instance the spring a is designed to be sufficiently powerful to resist depression of the arm by the weight of the car, the operation of transfer from the forwarding-track being effected by pulling upon the cord, the said spring acting to restore the arm.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In storeservice systems, the combination, with forwarding and return tracks extending between the cashiers desk and each station,0f an elevator for elevating the car upon the forwarding-track, which descends automatically and acts as a receiver for the return-track, substantially as described.

2. In store-service systems, the combination of forwarding and return tracks inclined in opposite directions, and an elevator for elevating the car to the forwarding-track, which descends automatically and serves as a receiver for the car from the return-track, substantially as described.

3. In store-service systems, the combination, with forwarding and return tracks inclined in directions opposite to each other, of a drop for transferring the car fromthe forwarding-track, and flexible media for receiving the car, and

by which it is elevated to the return-track,-

substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a storeservice system, of forwarding and return tracks inclined in opposite directions to each other, an elevator for elevating the car upon the forwardingtraek, and descending to act as receiver for the return-track, a drop for transferring the car from the forwarding-track, and flexible media for receiving the car, and by; which it is elevated to the return-track, substantially as described.

5. In store-service systems, the combination, with the reversely-inclined forwarding and return tracks, of the brackets c (1, formed with the a, the bracket 1), having hinged arm I) and pulley b, and the weighted cord attached to arm I) and rendering over the pulley, substantially as described.

7. In astore-service system,the combination, with reversely-inclined forwarding and return tracks, of a supporting-bracket for the two, widened at its extremity, and having the two ends or sides thereof bent or turned over, the

hinged arm a and its depending cord, the spring a, and the spring-catch p, substantially as described.

8. The combination, in a storeservice system, of independent forwarding and return tracks for each station, an elevator for elevating a car to a forwarding-traek, which also serves as a receiver for the return-track, and devices for transferring and receiving the car from one track to the other, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J AMES T. COWLEY. \Vitnesses:

EDWARD E. ELLIs, M. P. CALLAN.

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