US324934A - Railway-gate - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. GRIDLEY & T. JOHNSON.

RAILWAY GATE. No. 324,934. Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

ac M/g/VTOR (if "m WIH STATES ATENT OFFICE.

HARRISON GRIDLEY A ND THOMAS JOHNSON, OF (.ANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,934, dated August 25, 1885.

Application filed January 21, 1855. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HARRIsON GRIDLEY and THOMAS JOHNSON, of Canandaigua, in the county of Ontario and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Gates; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an improvement in automatic railway-gates; and it consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the gate and gate-operating devices in perspective, the gate being closed. Fig. 2 is the same with the gate opened, and Figs. 3, 4:, 5, 6, 7, and 8 represent detached views of parts.

A A represent gate-posts located on opposite sides of the railway-track. The posts A are preferably hollow for receiving and protecting from the damp weather devices for elevating and holding the gate in elevated adjustment, as will hereinafter appear.

B represents the rails. Beneath the rails, and extending from one post A to the other, is a rock-bar, D, journaled in suitable boxes or bearings, .I, located under the rails. The bar 1) is preferably square or rectangular in cross-section, excepting at the points where it rests in its bearings, at which points it is rounded, as shown at d. lales H h are secured to the bar D at suitable intervals, and extend upwardly to a height sufficient to form an effectual guard against the passage of man and beast. One of the pales, H, is connected with its adjacent pale, h, by a bracket, g, provided with a hollow arm, G, projecting over a pulley, F, rigidly secured on the rock-bar D. A plunger-rod, N, provided with an enlarged head, or, within the hollow arm, and with an eye, a, in the outer end, has a longitudinal movement within the arm and. is held in a normally elevated adjustment within the arm by a spring, 0, interposed between the outer or lower end of the arm and the enlarged head a. The pulley F is provided with ratchettecth f on a portion of its face, and a chain, E, attached at one end to the eye a of the plunger-rod, passes from thence beneath and partially around the pulley F, leading upwardly to the operating-rod O, to which it is attached. One of the links, 0, of the chain E is provided with ratchet-teeth, which register with the teeth f on the face of the pulley F. The operating-rod 0 lies parallel with and in close proximity to the rail B, on either the inside or outside thereof, and consists of a round metal rod provided with a flange, 0, running its entire length and arranged in a spiral form at each end, the spiral portion at one end being right and at the other end left hand. The straight portion of the flange 0 lies horizontally on the inside of the red when the gate is closed, the ends of the spiral portion being at the same time in close proximity to the rail 13 in position to engage the flange or face of the car-wheel. The red O is journaled in suitable end supports, I, and may be supported throughout its length at proper intervals by any suitable bearings. The flange c is provided with a recess, L, at the point opposite the pale H, which receives the pale when the gate is closed, and locks the gate against displacement. The pale H is provided with a block or shoulder, K, secured rigidly thereto, upon which the flange c rests when the gate is closed, thereby forming a stop for the rod 0, limiting its rotary move ment in that direction. The pale H and rod 0 thus mutually lock each other in their respective positions.

The mechanism for raising and holding the gate in elevated adjustment consists, preferably, in a rope, m, leading over a pulley, M, suspended from the top of the post A, one end of the rope being attached to a crank-arm, d, on the end of the rock-bar D, and the other end provided with weight L. In the place, however, of the rope and weight described, a spring might be substituted and other an rangemenls of rope and weight might be resorted to.

The operation is as follows: The flange or rim on the wheel of the approaching car engages the end of the spiral flange c and rotates the rod 0 one-half revolution, holding it in that position until it leaves it at the opposite end. Suppose the circumference of the red C and pulley F to be the same, the first one-fourth revolution of the rod 0 causes the pulley F and hence the rock-bar D to make one-fourth of a revolution, and throws the gate into a horizontal or open position. The motion of the rod 0 is transmitted to the pulley F during the first one-fourth revolution through the ratchet-teeth on the chain E in engagement with the teeth f, on the pulley F. The second onefourth revolution of the rod 0 draws the plunger-rod N out of the hollow arm G, against the resistance of the spring 0, the teeth on the link 6 being disengaged from the teeth f on the pulley at the end of the first quarterrevolution. The pale between the rod 0 and rail 13 lies beneath the flange a when the gate is open. As soon as the car-wheel passes the rod 0 is returned one-fourth of a revolution by the action of the spring 0, and the gate is then elevated by the weight L, a spring, or other suit-able mechanism arranged for the purpose. A quarter-revolution of the rod 0 is all that is necessary to turn the gate from a vertical to a horizontal position, but by causing the rod to make a half-turn the flange thereon is brought into a position convenient for locking the gate when the latter is in a vertical position.

Some of the more important advantages of the gate as thus constructed are its simplicity, there being but few parts, and these arranged to operate with the least possible amount of wear, its stability when closed, and the reli ance which can be placed upon its opening and closing.

We are aware that it is not new to locate the rock-bar of a gate transversely beneath the rails, and operate the same by a spirallyflanged operating-rod located alongside of one of the rails, and hence we make no broad claim to such a construction.

It is evident that slight changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, hence we do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves strictly to the construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway-gate, the combination, with a vertically-rocking gate, of an operating-rod having a shoulder or shoulders constructed to engage the gate and lock the same in a vertical position.

2. In a rail way-gate, the combination, with a gate consisting, essentially, of a series of pales secured to a rock-bar located transversely beneath the rails, of a spirally-flanged operating-rodjournaled along the side of one of the rails, a flexible device secured to the flanged rod, and a yielding device connecting the flexible device to the gate, substantially as set forth.

3. In a railway-gate, the combination, with a rock-bar provided with pales and located transversely beneath the rails, and a rotary rod located along the side of one of the rails, of a ratchet-toothed pulley secured on the rockbar, a ratchet-toothed chain, and a yielding device connecting the chain and rock-bar.

4. The combination, with a rock bar provided with pales and located transversely across the track, and a rotary operating-rod located along the inside of one of the rails, of a flexible chain secured at one end to the operating-rod and at the other end to a springactuated support on the gate, a portion of the chain being provided with teeth adapted to engage the rockbar, whereby the chain at first rotates the rock-bar and then disengages itself therefrom and accommodates itself to the rotation of the operating-rod, substantiall y as set forth.

5. The combination, with a vertically-rocking gate secured to a rock-bar, and a spirallyflanged operating-rod located alongside of one of the rails and connected to the rock-bar for turning the latter to a horizontal position, of a hollow post located in close proximity to one end of the rock-bar, and devices connected to the rock-bar and located within the post for turning the gate to a vertical position.

6. In a railway-gate, the combination, with a rock-bar located transversely beneath the rails and a series of pales secured thereto, of a spirally-flanged operating-rod located alongside of one of the rails, and an extensible or yielding device connecting the rock-bar and flanged operating-rod, whereby the latter is permitted to continue its movement after the pales on the rock bar have been turned to a horizontal position, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRISON GRIDLEY. THOMAS JOHNSON. Vitnesscs:

ED. XV. SnMMoNs, JOHN ANDREWS.

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