US338048A

US338048A - Liott

Info

Publication number: US338048A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1886-03-16
Anticipated expiration: 1903-03-16

Description

(No Model.)

I. E. ELLIOTT. v

P. No. 338.048. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. P. E. ELLIOTT.

GAR STEP.

No. 338,048. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

l I E I I l ;j; go 5 I J NITED STATES ATENT GFFICE.

FRANCIS EUGENE ELLIOTT, OF UNITED STATES ARMY.

CAR-STEP.

EPEGIPICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,048, dated March 16, 1886.

Application filed January 23, 1886. Serial No. 189,498. (No model.l

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS EUGENE EL- L'io'rr,of the United States Army,nowstationed at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Oar-Steps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification, in which Figure 1 represents a perspective View of the invention attached to the fixed steps of a car. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of one of the angle-irons forming part of the frame of the movable step attached to the fixed step. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the plates upon which the frame of the movable step pivots. Fig. 4. is a detail, partly sectional, view of the connect-ion of said plate and one of the angle-irons. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view through the journal of an angleiron upon a plate. Fig. 6 shows detail views of the connection of the foot-board of the movable step and its frame. Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing the way in which the movable step is turned up on the fixed step. Fig. 8 is a view showing one end of a modification of the foot-board.

This invention relates to improvements in car-steps, the object being to provide an adjustable step having its frame journaled at the ends upon the fixed step of the car, so that it can be folded up thereon and be out of the way when the use of the fixed step alone is required. By the use of this step the danger and inconvenience to travelers while getting off and on trains are largely diminished. The adjustable step can be fitted to any form and size of fixed step.

The invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A designates an end of a car having the platform A attached, which is provided with the usual railing and other fixtures, as shown. These, however, form no part of the invention, and are therefore not described.

B is a fixed step depending from one side of the platform, and composed of the two vertical parts I) b and the two horizontal parts I) b". At or near each end of the outer edge of the part b is secured by bolts or in other proper manner a plate, 0, which rests in a recess in the part I), so as to be flush with the upper surface thereof. Each of these plates has a similar upright, c, of suitable form, which is provided with a journal-pin, c, the two journal-pins having bearings in the ends of the frame of the movable step hereinafter described.

D is the said frame, composed of the end angle-irons, D, and the connecting iron or brace D", which has its ends bolted or riveted to the ends of the angle-irons, as shown in Fig. 2. Each angle-iron is composed of the two horizontal parts (1 (1, respectively, and the central vertical part, d", provided near its lower end with a longitudinal slot, (P, for a purpose hereinafter explained. The part (I has near its inner end a proper opening for the journalpin 0 to enter, so that the angle-irons and their brace D can be turned over on the fixed step in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 7, the parts being constructed of relative dimensions to permit this movement.

The journal-pins are preferably made hollow, and have screws or bolts entering them, the heads of which screws prevent the angleirons from escaping from their bearings. This construction is shown in Fig. 5. The part d of each angle-iron has on its edge a projection, 00, which enters a corresponding recess in the part b of the step and prevents lateral motion of the movable step when turned down. The parts d have a length just a little less than one-half the breadth of the part b of the step B, and the standards 0 are. so situated that when the angle-irons are turned down the edges of the parts (1 will rest against the edge of the part b of the fixed step. Consequently when the angle-irons are turned up there will be a narrow space between their parts d and the part b of the fixed step.

E is the foot-board of the movable step, of proper dimensions to lie upon the lower part of its frame with its edges resting upon the brace or connecting-iron D and the parts d of the angle-irons.

ICO

e are projections which stand inward from the inner edge of the foot-board near the ends thereof. When the foot-board is in position, these projections incline slightly upward, each projection having a journal-pin, e, which enters one of the slots d and is prevented from escaping therefrom by a nut on its outer end.

If desired, the plates 0 may have projections or pins on their lower surfaces, which projections pass through openings in the fixed step and have nuts on their threaded lower ends.

When the movable step is turned down, the parts assume the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, except that the foot-board is in the position shown in Fig. 1. When the movable step is turned up, the parts assume the position shown in full lines, Fig. 7, the foot-board standing between the parts d of the angle-irons and the part b of the fixed step. The pins e also fall in the slots d, so that the lower edge of the foot-board may rest upon the fixed step and be in a more stable position.

The movable step when turned up is kept in that position by its own weight.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. In a passenger-car, the combinatiomwith a fixed step of ordinary construction secured to the end platform of a car, of a movable step composed of end angle-irons having their ends pivoted upon standards secured to the lower foot-board of the fixed step, a brace-bar connecting the lower end of said angle-irons, and a foot-board having its ends journaled at its inner edge upon the angle-irons, and its sides and front edges resting upon the angle-irons and brace-bar when the step is lowered, substantially as specified.

2-. The combination of the step B, secured to the platform A, and composed of the vertical parts I) b and the horizontal parts b b, the angle-irons D, pivoted at their upper ends upon standards secured to thepart b connected at their lower ends by the brace-rod D and composed. of the horizontal parts d d and vertical part d, and the foot-board journaled, by means substantially as described, upon the parts d of the angle-irons.

3. The combination of the fixed step B, composed of the vertical parts b b and horizontal parts b If, the plates 0, secured to the part b near the. ends thereof, and provided with standards a, havingjournal-pins c, the angle- .irons D, composed of the parts d d d, with the ends of the parts d journaled on the pins 0, having the slots d in the parts (1, and the ends of the parts d connected by the bar D, and the foot-board E, provided with the projections 6, having the journal-pins e, which enter the slots d so that the foot-board can be turned up and down on the angle-irons, all parts constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

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

FRANCIS EUGENE ELLIOTT.

Vi t n esses:

W LLIAM H. B. PAGE, ALcEMoNs P. HILLER.