US340633A - Conveyer apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(No Model-.) 2Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. SMITH.

GONVBYER APPARATUS.

Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. SMITH.

- GONVBYER APPARATUS.

No. 340,633. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERVEY SMITH, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONVEYER APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,633, dated April 2'], 1886. Application filed December 22, 1885. Serial No. 186,433. (No modclll T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERVEY SMITH, a citi zen of the United States, residing at Erie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oonveyer Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to beafull, 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.

This invention relates to conveyer systems such as are used in stores for conveying packages, cash, &c., and for other like purposes, and it particularly relates to the appliances by which cars are automatically diverted from the main to the switch tracks at their destined stations, and at no others.

The invention consists in ccrtain'new and useful devices for effecting the automatic trans fer of the car from the main to the switch track at its destined station only. Two methods for automatically transferring the cars at their destined stations have been practiced heretofore. One consists in providing at each switch a post or other device to be hit by a projection from the car, and the appliances at the stations are graded serially in height or lateral position, or both, and the appliances on the cars are varied in position so that they will come in contact with the switching appliances at only one station. The other method consists in providing each car with a releasing apparatus,which will retain the switching appliance on the car from action until ithas been moved a certain number of times, and placing at each station a fixture, which will come'in cont-act with and move the releasing apparatus on the car as it passes each station, and when the fixed number of stations have been passed the releasing device will bring the switching appliance on the car into action.

My device more nearly resembles thelatter method than the former, but differs from it, in that I employ no releasing apparatus.

My device, generally speaking, consists ofa wheel on the car, which is moved a certain fixed distance at each station it passes, either by a ratchet or by arms extending from it in the manner of a star-gear, and an appliance for operating upon the switching devices at the destined station, which is brought into action by said wheel when it has moved a certain fixed distance.

A second feature of my invention consists in providing at the front part of the car means for opening the switch, and at the rear part of the car means for closing the switch, and a switch with means whereby when opened it willbe retained open until the retaining device has been disengaged, when it will close automatically.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as follows: Figure 1 is a perspective view representing a main track, A,two switches, A A, a car, B, and my devices for effecting the automatic transfer of the car at its destined switch. Fig.2 is a perspective of the same parts, taken from the opposite side from that seen in Fig. 1, and shows the cars just passing onto the destined switch. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the wheel B seen on the cars in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a like view showing a wheel of modified construction. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the wheel B and its associated parts. Fig. 6 shows still another modification of the wheel B. Fig. 7 also shows still another modification. Fig. 8 is an end view of the parts seen in Fig. 7. Fig. '9 shows a wheel similar to that seen in Fig. 7, but with slight modifications. Fig. 10 is an end view of the parts seen in Fig. 9.

The track shown in the drawings is a bartrack with switch-tongues a a thereon at the switch-point; but it must be understood that my invention is not limited to use on any particular form of track or with any particular type of switch. The switch-tongues are shown as connected by a sliding bar, a, which connects with a lever, a, at the side of the track, which lever is provided with a cam-face at its moving end, so it can be moved by a deflector on the car, and it is reacted by a spring. By the side of this lever is a spring'catch, ed, on a standard, a, and on the lever is a pin, a", which will be engaged by the catch as the lever is swung back from the track, as seen at the right of Fig. 2. On the standard a there is pivoted an L-shaped lever, a, which, if its long end is raised, will push back the catch a and cause it to release the pin a, when the spring will react the lever 0?.

The means by which the lever a is moved to open the switch are 011 the front end of the ear, and may be as shown or of any desired construction. At the rear of the car there is an arm, 13*, which will pass under and lift the lever to, and, as explained above, release the catch (6". It will therefore be seen that with these appliances a car that is to go onto a switch will move the lever a, and open the switch as it approaches it, and the switch will be retained open until the rear end of the car has passed over it, when the arm B will release the retaining device and the switch will be at once closed by the reacting spring.

The means by which I eli'ect the automatic switching of the several cars at their destined switches, and at no others, are as follows: At

7 the front end ofeach car is mounted a wheel, B.

On this wheel, or operated by it, are the means by which the lever a or any other switchmov'ing appliance at the station is moved. This wheel B is either provided with radial arms I), by which it can be rotated like a stargear, or else it has ratchet-teeth and is moved by a pawl and lever, B b", (as in Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 1.0,) as may be desired. On one of its sides it is provided with notches b,into which a catch-lever, 13*, engages. There are just as many of these notches as there are radial arms or ratchet teelh, and their object is to prevent the wheel being at any one movement more than just the intended dist-ance, and I make the notches with beveled mouths and square bottoms,so that the catch-lever B will be sure to hold the wheel at precisely the point intended.

At the proper point immediately in advance of the switches, thereis supported on an arch, O, a cam, l, in position to move the lever B as the car passes. A stud, B stands beside the lever l", and the cam (J passes between them. This insures a given movement to the lever B, as no swaying of the car can change the space between B and B, and the passage of the cam C between them must move the lever B the required distance.

Opposite the wide part of the ram 0 on the arch 0 is a fixtu re, 0, which depends from the arch, so as to be hit by the uppermost arm I) of the wheel B, or by the ratchet-lever B, where that is used, as the car passes. This moves the wheel B one notch. for the catchlever B is then disengaged from the notches b". Ofcourse,the length ofthe arms borofthe lever B if it is used, and the length of the fixture a will be properly adjusted, so as to obtain the required movementofthe wheel.

\Vhere there are a good many arms on the wheel-as, for example, twelve-as seen in Figs. 3 and 4, I slant the ends of the arms on the side toward which the wheel moves, as seen in those figures, so that there will be no danger of an arm striking the fixture 0 until it is standing at the top of the wheel.

The appliance for moving the switch-tongues is modified in the drawings. In Figs. 3, 4, 5,

and 6 it consists in setting certain of the arms, which are marked b, out to one side of the wheel, so that when they are standing at the bottom of the wheel they will extend far enough to one side to come in contact with the cam-face of the lever c and serve as a deflector to move that lever. In Figs. 7 and 8 there is a pivoted arm, B, below the wheel, which is depressed by cams b on the wheel, and when depressed it will come in contact with the lever a". In Figs. 9 and 10 there is a slide, B, below the wheel, which is moved out by cams b on the wheel. The arrangement of these arms I) or cams I) or b on the wheel is an es sential feature of my invention. Each of the wheels shown are divided into twelve spaces, but they may be divided into more or less, if desired. In Fig. 4 but one switch-moving arm, I), is shown, but all the arms are numbered. This arm is shown at the top of the wheel, and before it can act to open a switch it must be at the lower side; hence, when thus set on a car, that car will be switched at the sixth station on the line; but it it was set so that arm No. 4 was at the lowest point, then the car would go off on switch No. l. It will therefore be seen that such a wheel can be set so as to switch a car at any one of twelve different stations, and that it must be set prcperly before the car is sent off from the central station; but if the returirtrack were provi-ided with fixtures for revolving the wheel when running back from the way to the central station, then the wheels would be properly set when the car is returned. I V

It is desi rable,generally, that the wheels need no setting, and that this be accomplished without putting fixtures along the return-track. This I accomplish as follows:

In Fig. 2 each alternate arm is a switchmoving arm. Therefore, the car with such a wheel will go off on the second switch every" time it is put onto the track; but if there were only two such arms set opposite each other the car would be switched at the sixth switch every time, and if but three arms, and they placed at equal distances, as in Fig. 6, then the car would go off onto the switch No. 4 every time, and it there were four such arms placed at equal distances, then the car would go off on switch No. 3every time, and if there were but one such arm the car would only run off at switch No. 12. Therefore, with wheels divided into twelve parts, by properly placing the arms b or cams b or I), or whatever appliance may be used, cars can be switched onto switches Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. Now, to reach switches 5 and 10, the car must be provided with a wheel which is divided into either ten or fifteen or twenty spaces, and the same rule followed in fixing the points where the arms are to be placed, as above stated. For switch No. 7 a wheel with fourteen spaces may be provided, and for switch No. 8 a wheel with eight or sixteen spaces, and for No. 9 a wheel with nine or eighteen spaces, and for No. 11 a wheel with eleven or twentytwo spaces. To reach switch No. 1, a fixed deflector may be used. This illustrates the method for a IIO track having twelve stations or less, and from it it is easy to see how lines with more than twelve stations can be provided for.

The wheels should not be divided into fewer than eight spaces, unless they are made proportionately smaller, and they should not be made too small to get good results. I find a wheel-should be about two inches in diameter to get'the best results, and the wheels of this size can be divided into from eight to fourteen spaces easily and get good results, and as it is very rare that more than twelve stations be placed on a single line no difficulty need be had. However, if the construction shown in Figs. 7 8, 9, and 10 is used, the wheels may be divided into as many spaces as desired, for the objection to very short divisions does not obtain in those constructions.

It will be seen that practically the several modifications shown are alike. In each there is a wheel which is moved progressively as the car passes from station to station, and in each there are tappets on this wheel which operate to move the switching devices at the stations, either directly or through another part, as the lever B or slide B The wheels B, I. call tappet-whcels, forlack of a better term, for the arms I) and cams b and If are, in effect, tappets, which, in one case, act upon the lever a directly and in the other cases act upon an intermediate lever orslide.

What I claim as new is 1. Ina conveyer apparatus of the class herein named, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a main track having a series of switch or branch tracks, switchmoving devices placed at each switch or branch point, cars for traversing said tracks which have thereon movable tappets for operating upon said switch-moving devices when they are brought into proper position, and means, substantially as described, for moving said tappets into position as the car progresses along the track.

2. In a conveyer apparatus of the class herein named, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a main track having a series of switch or branch tracks, switch-moving devices placed at each switch or branch point, cars for traversing said tracks which have thereon movable tappets for operating upon said switch-moving devices when they are brought into proper position, said tappets being mounted on an equally-spaced wheel in certain relative position, as set forth, and means, substantially as set forth, for moving said wheel a fixed distance at certain periods of the cars advancement along the track, whereby the said tappets will be brought int9 operative position at certain predetermined points, as set forth.

3. In a conveyer apparatus of the class herein named, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a main track having a series of switch or branch tracks, switclrmoving devices placed at each switch or branch point, cars for traversing said tracks which have thereon an equally-spaced wheel, means, substantially as set forth, for moving said wheel one space as the car passes each station or switch, and tappets for operating the switchmoving mechanism mounted on said wheel at points between which there are as many spaces as the station to which the car is destined is removed serially from the startingpoint, for the purposes mentioned.

4. In a convever apparatus of the class herein named, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a main track having a series of switch or branch tracks, switclrmoving devices placed at each switch or branch point, cars for traversing said tracks which have thereon an equallyspaced tappet-wheel, for the purposes set forth, means, substantially as set forth, for moving said tappet-wheel one space as the car passes each station, and a locking device for preventing any untimely movement of said wheel, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. In a conveyer apparatus, the combination, substantially as herein set forth, of a main track, a switch-track, a movable switchtongue, a lever for moving said switch, a tappet on the forward end of the car for moving said lever, a catch for retaining said lever, and a second tappet on the rear of said car for disengaging said catch.

6. In a conveyer apparatus, the combination, substantially as herein set forth, and for the purposes mentioned, of the tappetwheel B on the car, a locking device for preventing untimely movement of said wheel, a fixture near the track for moving said tappet-whee1 as the car passes, and a cam for releasing said locking device at the time the fixture acts up on the tappet-wheel.

7. In a conveyer apparatus, the combination, the purposes mentioned, of the tappetwheel B on the car, the lockinglever B, for preventing an untimely movement of said wheel, the fixed post 13, and the cam O on the arch O, in position to pass between the lever B and post .B.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HERVEY SMITH.

\Vitnesses:

ROBT. H. Pon'rnn, G. SWALLY.

substantially as herein set forth, and forv ICO IIC

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