US439726A - Store-service apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

G. R. ELLIOTT; STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

Patented NOV. 4, 1890.

WITNESSES INVENTOR MW. BYWIA ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT R. ELLIOTT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGN OR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO, THE LAMSON CONSOLIDATED STORE SERVICE COMPANY, OF NEWARK,

.NEW JERSEY.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,726, dated November 4, 1890.

I Application filed October 26, 1889. Serial No, 328,350. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known that I, GILBERT R. ELLIOTT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Store-Service Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to store-serviceap- [O paratus, and particularly to that kind wherein the end of the track is provided with a movable section and a receiving and restoring cord, whereby the car is lowered within easy reach of the salesman and restored again to the track to be sent to the distant station;

and it consists in the novel structure hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawings forming a part thereof, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying the improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line 3 3, Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to said drawings, it will be un- 2 5 derstood that only one end of the track of a store-service apparatus is shown, it being obvious that the opposite endas, for instance, the cashiers desk may be provided with the mechanism now to be described, or with any 0 other form that maybe suited to the requirements of the service.

The trackAmay consist of a wire stretched taut between distant stations, and, in the structure shown, rigidly conn ected to the outer 3 5 end of an arm B, projecting from, say, a bar C, that is supported either from the ceiling or from the store-shelving by a bracket D. As the car rests at one or the other end'of the track for a greater or less space of time, its

40 weight when at rest tends to sag the track at its end, This is utilized in the present construction to cause the opposite effect upon the track, keeping it taut and preventing it from sagging. Thus the arm G is bent or curved in the ogee form shown, so that when the car rests upon the movable section E, hereinafter referred to, as it does at times, its weight will be equivalent to the strain upon the outer end of the arm 13, tending to still further bend that arm both upward and dowry ward, which in effect tends to foreshorten it, and thus tightens the track. The junction between the arm B and the end of the track is had through a bridge 20, leaving sufficient space between the track and the side of the arm laterally to permit the free travel of the carrier.

At or near the point of junction between the track and the arm B the former is connected. with a movable section of track E that extends rearward a suitable distance, and at its end is connected with a receiving and restoring cord 21, that extends up over and around a pulley 22 that is mounted in a bracket 23, secured to the bar C, and said cord extends downward either to a spring-drum (not shown) that is adapted to take up the slack of thecord, or down within easy reach of the salesman, so that he may manipulate the cord in a manner presently to be described. The connection between the movable section of track E and the track proper is a hinge of pivotal connection, so that said movable section may be moved with respect to the track within certain limits-say, forinstance, from a position in substantial alignment with the track to a position at an incline to the track so that the car on said section is caused to travel by gravity "With sufficient speed to carry it to the distant station or opposite end of the track. The movable section of track E is at or near its inner end preferably provided with a stop 24 to limit this movement. This stop consists of a link pivoted to the section and provided with a long slot 25, that is engaged by a pin 26, projected from the side of the arm B. This pin is set a little to one side and not directly in line with the connection of the link to the movable section E, so that when said section is moved from the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in full lines the link will be permitted to renection of cord 21, when at the will of the salesman, by paying out upon the cord, the car will descend from 01f the movable section in a loop of the cord in a well-known manner. When it is desired to return the car, the salesman will draw upon the cord so as to raise the movable section E into the position shown in full lines, and at the same time restore the car from the loop in the cord onto said movable section, when it will rapidly descend down the incline formed by the section, and thence onto the track on its way to the distant station.

In order to dispense with the usual movable gate with which cars in this form of apparatus are usually provided for the wellknown purpose of preventing the car from becoming derailed and falling to the floor and yet permit the car to pass beyond a bridgepiece-such as QO-lreretofore described, the car forming a part of the present invention is provided with suitable guards to prevent the accident referred to. As usual in such cars, the frame G is provided with a side opening 30 to permit the passage of the bridge-piece 2O therethrough, which bridge-piece in the presentinstance is provided with the U- shaped bend 31, within which a projection 32 from the frame of the car extends. This bend of the bridge also provides a second bend 33 and a right-angular bend 34:,and the upper part of the frame of the car is provided with a projection 35, extending immediately above the projection 32, with sufficient space between the ends of the two projections to permit the bridge-piece to pass between them, and a third projection 36 also extends from the car down upon the inner side of the U- shaped bend 31 into the right-angular bend 34. Another portion of the frame of the car extends down into the bend formed by the portion 33 between the track and the U -shaped bend 31. From this construction, owing to the serpentine form of the bridge-piece, it results that if the wheels of the car become derailed one or more of the several projections of the car just described will catch against one or more of the bends formed in the bridge 20, and sustain the car sufficiently to prevent it from falling to the floor.

\Vhat I claim is-- 1. The combination of a track and a car moving thereon, an arm sustaining the end of the track, a movable section forming a continuation of the track, a cord for raising and lowering said section, and a reversible link connected with the section and with a fixture to form a stop for limiting the movement of said movable section, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a track, an arm sustaining the end of the track with a connecting bridge-piece of serpentine form, anda car having one or more projections extending from its frame for engagement with the serpentine bridge-piece should the car become derailed, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a track, an arm for sustaining the end of the track with a connecting bridge-piece, and a car provided with two or more projections extending from its frame for engaging either with the bridgepiece or with the track should the car become derailed, substantially as described.

at. The combination of a track, an arm sustaining the end of the track with a connecting bridge-piece having two U-shaped bends, and a car provided with two or more projections extending from its frame and coacting with the bends in the bridge-piece and the track to prevent the car from falling, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 12th day of October, A. D. 1889.

GILBERT R. ELLIOTT.

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