US423886A - Electric railway-gate - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A(N0 Model.)

M TOULMIN BLBQTRIG RAILWAY GATE.

PatentedMarv. 18, 1890;

MMM

2 Sheets-'Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

M TOULMIN ELECTRIC RAILWAY GATE.

No. 423,886'. Patented Mar., 18, 1890.

UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE. t

MORTON TOULMIN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

4ELECTRIC RAILWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 423,886, dated March 18, 1890.

Application filed July 29, 1889. Serial No. 319,050. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern..-

Be it known that I, lWIoRToN TOULMIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railway-Gates, of which the following is t a specification, reference being had therein t-o the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in railway-gates, and it is designed as an improvement upon the apparatus shown and described in Letters Patent No. 397,880, dated February l2, 1889, of my invention, with respect to organizations, combinations, and constructions, having in view the simplification, durability, and cheapening of the device.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like reference-letters indicate corresponding parts, Figure l represents aside elevation of myimproved apparatus withA one side of the housing removed; Fig. 2, a detail perspective view of the motor-circuit closers, their dogs or de- Ytents and contact-points, the rock-shaft, the

circuitfbreakers, and a portion of the gatearm and housing; Fig. 3, a plan view of the apparatus, with the gate-arm and the housing in horizontal section; and Fig. 4, a diagram exemplifyin g one arrangement of the main-line wires.

The letter A designates a suitable casing or housing, constructed of wood or metal and designed to constitute an inclosure for the operating mechanism and a suitable pedestal or support for the gate arbor or shaft. This housing is to be located in proximity to a railway-track crossing and arranged so that the gate when lowered will stand across or partly across a roadway or street. The mechanism is operated and controlled by electromotive force through the instrumentality of a suitable electrical generator, chemical or mechanical.

The letter C designates a rock-shaft mounted in suitable bearings C', secured to the casing and having plates D attached thereto, between which is clamped the gate-arm E, of any approved construction, so that when this shaft is rocked in the are of a circle the arm will descend and ascend. l

f A suitable electric motor F is placed within the casing and provided with an extended shaft G, which carries a worm H, arranged to mesh with a worm-gear I, Whose shaft is mountedin suitable bearings J withinthe casing. This shaft or wheel I is connected through a pitman K with an arm L, extending from the rock-shaft C. The length of the arm L, compared to the pitman-crank, is such that the arm is caused to move back and forth in an are of about a quarter of a circle at each rotation of the wheel I, whereby when such wheel is rotated the gate-arm is lowered and raised positively anduniformly.

I will now refer to the means for controlling the motor and its circuits andthe arrangementthereof, rst observing that the object in view is to provide such an organization ofy of this mechanism embodied in the annexed y i drawings, the letter M designates a. suitable support or shelf, upon which are placed the standards4 O, which pivotally support the motor-circuit closers P and Q., which preferably have a preponderance of weight at that side of their pivot at which are located the contact-points. cuit closer P closes what I term the gateclosing motorcircuit-that is to say, thecircuit whichis closed when-the motor is to be The operated to close or lower the gate. other of these motor-circuit closers Q is used to close the gate-opening motor-circuit-that The rst-named motor-cin" l 1 t is to say, the motor-circuit which is closed f when the motor is to be operated to open or Y elevate the gate. The contact-pointsR and S are carried by the ci rcuit-closer P and arranged to make contact with the stationary points T and U, respectively, the latter U being preferably of a yielding nature to f.

cilitate the simultaneous meeting of the respective pairs of points. The points R and T are used to complete the motor gate-closing circuit, while the points S and U are employed to close both the motor gate-closing circuit and the bell-circuit, to be presently referred to. connected through a strip W with thecircuit-closersnP and Q through theirstand- Io ards O.

The several circuits will be traced hereinafter by a special reference to the wires employed for this purpose.

The circuit-closers P and Q are normally held out of closing position by means of pivoted bell-crank dogs or detents X and Y, respectively, eachV provided with an insulatingshoulder Z. Armatures a and b are carried by these dogs, respectively, while to the caszo ing are secured electro-magnets c and d., eniployed to attract these armatures, so as to drawthe detents out of engagement with the cucuit-closers P and Q to effect contact.

These'magnets are of any approved type, and are, the one c connected with the advance main line, and the other b with the rear main line. It will be understood that when the magnet c is energized the armature a will be attracted and the circuit-closer P freed and 3o allowed to gravitate and make contact, so as to close the motor gate-closing circuit through the points R and T, as also instantly to close the bell-circuit through the points S and U. This sets the rock-shaft C in motion through the motor and the intermediate instrumentalities already described, so that the gatearmbegins to descend or close. The rock- Vshaft carrles two circuit-breakers e and f,the

nff/v former for lifting the circuit-closer P by rid- 4o ing under the adjacent end thereof and lifting it from the contact position at such a time as to admit of consuming the momentum of the parts in the movement between the time of such breaking of the circuit and that when the gate iinally reaches the closed position. This motion of the rock-shaft C carries the circuit-breaker f from the position shown in full lines in Fig. l to that shown in dotted lines, so that the motor gate-opening 5o circuit-closer Q, whenever the rear main-line which latter connects by a conductor t' with the battery. This done, the motor will again be put in operation and the gate raised or opened. As it nears this position, the circuitbreaker f returns and operates to lift the cir- 6o cuit-closer Q andbreak the circuit at such time as to consume the momentum by the time that the final opened position of the gate is reached. Y

I will now refer to the arrangement of the wires or conductors as shown in Fig. l. The

magnet c is connected with the battery B through-the wires 7a and Z, the latter having a A binding-post V is electrically circuit-closer interposed in its length. The magnet d is likewise connected with the battery, though the wires are not shown. The wire mleads from one pole of the battery to the binding-post V, whence the circuit leads through the conductor W, standards O, the circuit-closers P and Q, their contact-points g and R, conductor t', and a wire o, through the motor, and thence by a wire p to the other pole of the battery. This constitutes the motor gate-closing circuit, as also the gate-opening circuit, according to'whlch of the circuit-1 closers P orV Q is allowed. to make contact. The bell-circuit is composed ot a wire q, connected with the contact-point U and with the bell, through which the current passes. From the bell it passes through a wire fr to one pole of the battery, and from .the other pole of the battery through the wire 'm and the circuitclosers P and Q and the intermediate connections. This of course is merely one arrangement, while others may be adopted.

Referring now to the diagram shown in Fig, 4, it will be observed that the wire Z is carried up the track in advance of the roadway or crossing say a quarter, half, or full mile, or other suitable distance-where it is connected with any convenient form of circuitcloser adapted to be closed bythe passing train, so that the gate may be closed before the train reaches the crossing and the bell sounded-at the same time. The wires k and l connect with the magnet c and with a bat-4 tery. The other Vmagnet d is connected by similar wires s and t (which are also each connected with a suitable battery) with a similar circuit-closer located a short distance below the crossing, so that as the train passes away from or beyond the crossing the gate is opened or raised. In the diagram Iillustrat-e two wires in each circuit; but it is obvious that one wire may be employed with a groundconnection as a substitute for the other. It will be observed that the worm Il, gear-wheel I, pitman K, and arm L constitute one type of motion transmitting mechanism, by which ythe continuous or direct rotary motion of the motor-shaft is converted into a rotary reciprocating motion and transmitted to the rockshaft. I do not wish to be understood 'as connin g myself to this precise mechanism or organization, since this part of the invention does not reside so much in the particular devices employed or their arrangement as in the operation of the gate-arm to and fro in the arc of a circle through a continuous or direct rotary motion derived from the electric motor, (which avoids the inconvenience and more or less complication incident to reversing the direction of rotation of the motor,) so

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as to move the gate in directions both conunderstood as confining' myself to thefother` matters of construction and arrangement 423.886 e 3VL illustrated and described, so long as the mode of operation and the stopping of the motor or its action upon the gate-arm when the same reaches or nears a closed position and reaches or nears the open position be preserved and carried into effect.

I-believe myself to be the first to oscillate a gate-arm in the arc of a circle by means of an electric motor and through motion-transmitting mechanism having the ability to convert direct rotaryinto reciprocating rotary motion, whereby such action of the gate is obtained through the application of electric currents to the motor, resulting in controlling and eecting such movement of the gate by electro-motive force. I also believe myself to be the first to bring the motor to a state of nonaction upon a gate-arm at or near the closing of the latter and at or near the opening of the latter by automatic instrumentalities which leave themotor or its motion in such a state with respect to the gate-arm when the latter becomes closed or becomes opened as to be reapplied automatically to operate the gate in a reverse direction to the direction of its last movement.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a support, a pivoted gate-arm mounted thereon, an electric motor, and motion-transmitting mechanism geared to the motor-shaft and connected to the gate, so as to operate the latter by the continuous rotation of the motor-shaft, of an electric generator, a circuit-closer and a circuitV to operate the motor to close the gate, an automatic circuit-breaker for said circuit, another circuitfcloser anda circuit for restarting the motor to open the gate, and an automatic circuit-breaker for the latter.

2. The combination,with a gate-arm, a rockshaft upon which it is mounted, an electric motor, and motion-transmitting mechanism geared to the motor-shaft and connected to the gate-shaft, so as to operate the latter by the continuous rotation of the motor-shaft, of an electric generator, a circuit-closer and a circuitto operate the motor to close the k gate, an automatic breaker for said closer and another circuit-closer and circuit for re-V starting the motor to open the gate, anautomatic circuit-breaker therefor, and'mechanism and circuits to release said motor-circuit closers. i

3. The combination, with a gate-arm, its shaft, an electric motor, and motion-transmitting mechanism converting the rotary motion of the motor into an oscillating motion for the gate-arm, of two motor-circuits, a circuit closer and breaker for each ofthem, and a main-line magnet with its' circuits and circuit-closer for eachof the motor-circuits, and an electric generator. y

4. The combination, with a gate-arm, its rock-shaft, an electric motor, and intermediate motion-transmitting mechanism, of two motor-circuits, an electric generator, a circuit-- closer for each circuit, a detent and a magnet controlling the saine for each circuit-closer, and circuit-breakers carried by therock-shaft and adapted to engage said circuit-closers, l

respectively, at or near the closed and opened positions of the gate-arm.

5V. The combination, with a gate-arm, its shaft, and circuit-breakers carried thereby, of circuit-closers arranged to be raised out of contact by said'circuit-breakers, respectively, a detent for each circuit-closer to holdit out of contact, and a magnet and armature for each detent. Y

6. The combination, with a rock-shaft, a gate-arm carried thereby, and circuit-break? ers actuated by said shaft, of independent circuit-closers, detents which hold them normally out of contact, and a magnet to control each' detent, the circuit-breakers being arranged to automatically and alternately return the circuit-closers into engagement with the detents at the closing and opening of the gate-arm.

In testimony whereof I'afxmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

, THEoDoRE MUNGEN,

M. P. CALLAN.

MoRToN ToULMIN.

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