US357704A - Railroad-crossing - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) I QSheets-Sheet 1.

' W. S. EAST.

RAILROAD GRO$SING. No. 357,704. Patented Feb. 15,1887.

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

W. s. EAST. RAILROAD CROSSING.

No. 357,704. Patented Feb. 15, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM s. EAST, on LIMA, OHIO.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,704,6ated February 15, 1887. Application filed September 6. 1886. Serial No. 212,871. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. EAsr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Lima, in the county of Allen and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Railroad-Crossing, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention is an improvement in railroadcrossings, and relates to the manner of forming a continuous rail at such crossings in a cheap, simple, and effective way.

Figure 1 shows my invention as applied to a crossing in perspective; Fig. 2, a perspective of my device separate from the crossing.

A represents the target; B, the revolving rod on which the target is mounted; O, pedestal in which the'rod is pivoted,- D, handle on side of the rod, by which the target is turned around across the track desired; E, crank on the lower end of rod B; F, pitman connecting crank E and arm G by means of pin H; I, cog-wheelon shaft K, gearing with pinion L on shaft S; N N, miter-wheels that gear with wheels P and P and operate, through rod S and wheels Q Q, wheels R R on rod S T T T T are four anvils or sections of rail fitting neatly between the rails of the main tracks and closing the spaces; U U U U, similar anvils fitting the spaces between thecrosstracks.

The operation and construction of my device are as follows: To the bottom of the ordinary revolving target stem or rod I attach a crank, E, which, through pitman F, turns the'cog-wheel G as the target is turned. This wheel G is mounted on a short shaft, K, and gears with pinion L on shaft S, which is one of aseries of four shafts forming a square, and has Quit the miter-wheels N N, which engage with the miter-wheels P P, revolving rods S S and wheels Q Q on their other ends, and through them the wheels R R on the shaft S It will thus be seen that the turning of the target from one track to the other turns the'whole system of wheels-I L N N P P Q Q R R, and with them -revolves the four shafts S S S S. The wheel I is nearly twice as large'as the wheel L, and consequently when the wheel I revolves one-half a revolution the shafts S S S S revolve about two-thirds of a revolution. On each of these shafts S S S S 1 mount two sections of rail or anvils, T and U, so that when the target is in the position shown in Fig. 1 the open spaces in the track going north, say, will be filled neatly by the pieces U forming a continuous track, while the pieces T will be thrown back below shafts S S, on which they are pivoted, and out of the way'of the car-wheels; but when the target is thrown into position shown in Fig. 2 the anvils or pieces T will be thrown forward between the rails of the track running west and forming a continuous track, while the pieces U are-thrown back on and below the shafts S S out of the way of the wheels. It will thus be seen that the swinging around of the target to give a train the right of way throws my anvils into position, giving the train a continuous track across the crossing, while the swinging back of the target to give right. of way to the train on the other road will throw that set of anvils back, throw the others forward, and make a continuous track across the crossing in the other direction. These anvils or blocks, when forming part of the track, rest solidly on plates or road-bed, but when not so in use drop below the rails on their pivots.

My anvils are fastened on their shafts by set-screws, and should anything become the matter they can readily be loosened on their shafts and dropped back out of the way, leaving the track as it is now for the passage of trains, and can thus be repaired without delaying a train, and they can be readily raised to be cleaned of snow or ice.

All the apparatus is above ground and readily accessible.

When the crossings are at acute angles, or other than right angles, I make my shafts with knuckle-joints in them that they may accommodate themselves to any bend necessary in turning.

WVhat I claim is- 1. In a railroad-crossing, the combination, with crank E and pitman F, of the shafts S S S S having gear-wheels thereon, and the blocks T U, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a railroad-crossing, the combination,

with shafts arranged across the .path of the wheels, of the blocks T U, mounted on the shafts so that when thrown forward they rest solidly on the road-bed or plate to close the gap in the track, and when thrown back rest beneath the surface far enough to allow the wheels to pass over without touching, as and for the purpose set forth.

WM. S. EAST.

Attest:

A. EAsr, E. .K. CAMPBELL.

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