US338663A - Electric cash and parcel transfer system - Google Patents

Description

4 SheetsSheet 1.

Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

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(No Model.)

G. I. GREEN.

ELECTRIC CASH AND PARGEL TRANSFER SYSTEM.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

- G. F. GREEN.

ELECTRIC CASH AND PARGEL TRANSFER'SYSTEM.

No. 338,663. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

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ELECTRIC CASH AND PARGEL TRANSFER SYSTEM.

No. 338,663. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

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ELECTRIC GASH AND PARGEL TRANSFER SYSTEM. No. 338,663. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. GREEN, OF KALAMAZOO, MIOFL, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND OLIVER S. KELLY AND SOL J. HOUOK, BOTH OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

ELECTRIC CASH AND PARCEL TRANSFER SYSTEM.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,663, dated March 23, 1886.

Application filed February 25, 1854. Serial No. 121,953. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. GREEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kalamazoo, in the county of Kalamazoo and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Cash and Parcel Transfer Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a system for trans- 1O fering parcels or cash from one part of a store to another by means of a car propelled overa track by electrical force; and the invention consists in means for taking't-he receptacles from hooks by which they are suspended as I 5 the car passes the same, and in means for transferring the receptacles on the return-trip of the car from the car to devices applied to receive the same, as hereinafter particularly described, and illustrated in the accompany- -2o ing drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a car with an electric motor attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a bottom view thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the track arranged with reference to the counters and the cashiers desk. Fig. 5 is a side View of a portion of the track, showing one part of my invention applied thereto. Fig.6 is a side 0 elevation of the track, showing the manner of making and breaking the circuit. Fig. 7 is an end view of one of the rotating armatures; and Fig. 8 shows detail views of the commutator and roller-brushes.

A track, a a, of suitable conducting material, is supported by brace-rods b, extending from shelving b,arranged in any suitable manner about the room in which the system is to be used, and will be placed in any position to suit the location of the counters and the cashiers desk 0, and to be within convenientreach of the person desiring to use the same. The car is represented as applied to a spread track, but such is not absolutely necessary, as the two rails may be placed together and insulated from each other by any well-known method.

In the present instance I have illustrated the track as arranged to serve asthe electrical circuit,with the brace-supports Z) and ties b properly insulated by blocks 1/, of wood or other suitable material, where they join the tracks. I have also illustrated a car mounted upon wheels A, held in their bearings by roller A in spring-plate B, and also upon driving-wheels ff, having non-conducting peripheries, secured to their respective shafts c e, which are actuated by two rotating electric armatures, f, which receive their motion from electro-magnets 9 that surround them. These magnets are of the type known as fieldmagnets, and may be of any construction suitable for revolving the armatures. The batteries may be located at any convenient place in the room in which the transfer system is operated,and may be of any well-known and approved form suitable for the purpose, or when convenient a dynamo may be used. The circuit from the batteries or dynamo connects with the track a a, with the positive conducting-wire a attached to the rail a and the negative wire a to the rail a, or vice versa, for the purpose of transmitting the current from the rail, through suitable brushes and other intermediate means, to the field-magnets, which will then cause the armatures and the wheels f, connected therewith to revolve, and propel the car in either of two directions, according as the direction of the current is changed by a suitable switch. Aswitch suitable for the purpose is composed of the sliding bar 'L',attaehed by screws or other suitable means to the under side of the frame of the car, and having pivoted to one end the cop per levers o c", which turn on pivots 17,projecting from block 12, and are pressed by springs 0 into contact with the points '20 w of the circuit-wiref as they are thrown from one of said points to the other by the movement of the sliding bar, so as to reverse the circuit.

The brushes (1 d have rods d d, which slide loosely through openings therefor made in the plates (1 d,which are secured by screws or other suitable means to some part of the ear, the said rods sliding vertically and being free to swing in said plates, the longer rods, in addition to passing through the said plates, also passing through guide-arms (1 d If de sired, the shorter arms might be extended and passed through similar guide-arms, but such is not necessary.

The current passes from the rail through brushes (1 to plate (1 thence through arm (1 to wire f, thence, to pivot 22', thence through lever 22 to point 20, thence through wire f diagonally across to point w, thence through wire f to field magnet g, from thence through wire f to plate c through the same to wire f, thence to magnet g, thence through wire f, thence to point w", thence through wire f diagonally across to point w, thence through lever 22 and pivot 12' to wire f from thence through plate 2" and rollers Z Z to commutators g, thence through both ends of the rotating armature to lower side of commutator, through brush-rollers Z 1 to plate '6, thence across through plate Z to plate t, thence through brush-rollers m n to commutator g, from thence through brush-rollers m n and plate 6 to plate d, to top plate, d, then to brush cl and to track.

The commutatorsggare formed with breaks or gaps h h, arranged at right angles to each other, as shown, so that the full force of the batteries may be applied to one armature at a time while the gaps are passing the brushrollers. These rollers are located one in ad Vance of the other, so that the current shall not take or burn metal from the commutator as the rollers pass from one side of the gap to the other in reversing the circuit from one side of the rotating armature-head to the other.

The shafts e of the rotating armatures, at their inner ends, are angular and fit into a coupling,

i so that the two will be connected together in order that one engine will pull the other over dead-points to assist the car in starting, the inner ends of shafts having their bearings in the journal -box i fastened by screws or other means to some part of the car-frame, and the said coupling i fitting in the forked end of said journal-box. The plates i i of the brush-rollers are connected to the car-frame by screws, and a spring, i bears against the c011- necting-plate 1 so as to equalize the pressure of the said roller-brushes on the two commutators. lVhen the current is reversed to move the car in the opposite direction, the current passes through the field-magnets, but in the reverse direction to that already described, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The car moves in the direction that the switch bar 2' is moved. The bar 2' is moved through a lever, n, which is connected at its lower end to the bar and at its upper end to the connecting-neck m of the arms on m, which are curved, as shown, and extend in opposite directions, and are supported from a bracket, 0, by means of a bolt, m passed loosely through the neck m, so as to permit the said arms and lever to rock. The arms may be braced by rods m and they, together with the lever, stand at an inclination, as shown, so that one arm will always be higher than the other, in order that it may strike against a tripping device, in whichever direction the car may be moving, so that when it strikes said tripping device the arm coming in contact therewith will be depressed and the lever moved so as slide the bar 1', and through it shift the levers one nearer one rail than the other, so that "when the car moves in one direction the arm m will strike-the tripper and the switch-bar ibe moved so as to reverse the circuit and the 7 direction of the movement-of the car.

In order to break the circuit and hold the car at rest at the cashiers desk, I pivot at s s to blocks b at one side of the the track, so as to be disconnected from the circuit, an inclined frame or bar, q, in such manner that it may be tilted or rocked, the said incline bar normally being above the track, so that as the car runs upon the same by reason of its. -momentum the brushes (1 will be elevated above the track and the circuit thus broken,

when the car will remain at rest till the cashier tilts the bar, so as to lower it far enough to permit the brushes to again comeincontact with the track, and thus close the circuit for the further movement of the car. The tilting of the incline bar is effected by the cashier pulling on the cord 1", which is connected with the arm 1, attached to the tilting bar, as shown in Fig. 5. As soon as the cashier releases the cord r a spring, t, secured at one end to the block b and bearing at its other end against the tilting bar, restores the latter to its former position. .After the cashier has emptied the car of its contents he restores the car to thetrack in the manner already described,-so that the car will be in position to move onward on its trip when the circuit is closed by a salesman.

The cars are constructed to carryany desired number of parcel holders or receptacles x. The tracks a a are provided with parcelholder, supports or hooks y and receiver or suspension-hooks y anda trip, 2, at all desirable points, and the car is provided with a lift-hook, z. When the salesman desires to communicate with the cashier to send money and get change, he puts the money into the receptacle a2, and also a tag with the name of I 13 the salesman and amount of sales marked thereon, and then suspends the receptacle from the hook 1/. He then by suitable means establishes the circuit so as to bring the car to him, and after it has passed the suspended receptacle and been reversed the hook on the car lifts the receptacle from the suspensionhook and carries it to the cashiers desk, and on its way thither lifts such other receptacles as may be suspended from the other hooks and carries them to the cashiers desk. The cashier, after emptying the receptacles, hangs them on the parcel-holder supports or hooks 0,

(one of which is provided for each salesman,) pivoted to a cross-beam, 0*, suspended by an arm, 0 from the car-frame. The hooks 0' and the hooks y will extend outward such distances that each hook 3/ will take only one receptacle from the hooks c as the car'passes.

On the return of the car from the cashier the series of receptacles are deposited on their suspension-hooks y by the heels of the hooks c striking their respective trips 2, whereby each hook c is tilted so as to release the receptacles, which will be caught by the hooks 3/.

A stop-block, extends upward from the beam 0", directly under the car-rail, so that if the car should jump the track the said block will strike the rail and throw the car back to the track.

As means suitable for establishing and breaking the circuit, there may be employed a copper plate, y secured to the under side of the counter, and a copper wire, y, suspended by non-conducting loops y from the counter beneath said copper plate 3 the said plate being connected by a wire with the track, and the wire 3 with the battery. By pressing the wire against the plate the circuit will be established, and by breaking the contact the circuit will be broken.

There need be only one battery used, as the copper plate will extend along the under surface of the entire counter, and so will the wire which is suspended beneath the plate. Such being the case, the pressure of the wire into contact with the copper plate at any point throughout their length will cause the circuit to be closed at such point of contact and the current established between the rail and battery, as is obvious to those skilled in the art.

In addition to providing the car with the lever n and arms m m, there may be provided cords 0", which will be connected to the slid ing bar 2' at opposite ends, and will hang down from eyes at the ends of the car, so as to be within easy reach of the salesman. By pulling on this cord the sliding bar can be moved so as to shift the levers '0 v and change the direction of the current and movement of the car as readily as by the swinging lever and tripping devices. It is obvious that both or only one of the means may be used on the same car.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination of a track, a car to travel over the same, an electric motor connected with the car and charged through the same, a switch for controlling the direction of travel of the car, a parcel-holder support located in proximity to said track, and a lift attached to said car adapted to remove the article held by said holder-support as the car travels past the same, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a track and a car propelled over the same by electricity, a parcelholder support connected with the car, a receiver supported in proximity to the track, and a trip to release the parcel-holder from its support to permit its transfer to the said receiver, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the track, the car propelled over the same by electricity, the pivoted hooks c, suspended by a suitable support from the car, the hook z, supported from the car, the hooks y 3/, supported from the track, and the trip 2 above the hook 1", substantially as described.

4. The combination of a track, a car to travel over the same, a pivoted parcel-holder support connected with the car, a receiver supported in proximity to the track, and a trip for moving the said pivoted support to permit the transfer of the parcel-holder therefrom to said receiver, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE E. GREEN.

Vitnesses:

JAMES L. NoRms, Jos. L. OooMBs.

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