US454110A - oaldwell - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

E. P. CALDWELL.

ROTARY PLANGBR.

110.454,110. y Patented June 16,1891.

(NovMoael.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

E. P. LDWELL.

ROT PLANGBR.

No. 454,110. Patented June 16, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.j

EDWARD P. CALDIVELL, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO COMMODORE P. JONES, OF SAME PLACE.

ROTARY FLANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,110, dated June 16, 1891. e

Application led March 24, 1890. Serial No. 345,055. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. CALDWELL, of Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain Improvements in Rotary Flan gers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements iu mechanism designed particularly to remove snow and ice from railway-tracks, and is particularly usefulwhere iceis allowed to accu mulate next to the rail on the inside thereof, impeding and obstructingthe runningof trains; and it consists, generally,in a rotating Wheel adapted to rotate on the inside of each rail and in close proximity thereto, carrying a series of adjustable cutters by means of which flan ge-room may be made through ice or snow to any depth or-any suitable gage. This r0- tating Wheel carrying the adjustable cutters may be caused to rotate by being connected by a suitable driving-chain to an axle of the moving train or driven by suitable gear from a motive power carried upon the car to Which the iianger is attached, or attached directly to the Wheel of an ordinary car and upon the same axle.

Other objects of the invention are hereinafter more fully detailed, and Will more clearly appear from the accompanying` drawings, taken in connection with this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation and partial section showing myimprovement attached to a car. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through different parts, showing driving mechanism. Fig. 3 is a detail of the adjustable cutter.

In the drawings, 2 represents the bodyot'a car,having the girders 3 and supporting truck- Wheels 5. Arranged underneath the body of the car are the cu tter-Wheels 7, rigidly secu red to the shaft 8, which has suitable bearings 9 in the pivoted arms 1l, Which are pivotally secured to the body of the car by means of pivots 12 passing through said arms and the ears 13, which are securely bolted to the bottom of said car. Above said cutter-Wheel 7 and secured to the frame of said car is a cylinder 15, provided With a suitable piston and having a suitable connection with a supply of steam or compressed air for operating said piston, which has suitable connection with said shaft S, whereby said cutter-Wheels may be raised or lowered at will by the use of steam or air in said cylinder. Arranged at any suitable point is the pivoted dog 17, secured to the shaft 1S, having bearing 19, secured to the frame of the car. Vhen the cutter-Wheel 7 is raised, the dog 17 engages the cross-bar 2O on said Wheel and retains it in its elevated position. In the drawings Ihave shown mechanism for rotating said cutter- Wheels 7 as used in connection with a platform-car, though it may be used with any snow-plow or with an ordinary car.

In the construction shoWn2l is the main shaft, rotated by direct connection with a suitable engine. (Not shown.) Upon the shaft 21 is arranged a bevel-gear 23, meshing with the gear 25 on the vertical shaft 2G, which, by means of the meshing bevelgear 27 and 2S, will cause the horizontal shaft 29, Which is secured in suitable bearings underneath the iioor of said car, to rotate when said main shaft 21 is rotated. Upon the shaft 8 is secured the sprocket-Wheel 3l, and the sprocketwheel 33is j ournaled looselyupon the shaft 29. They may be of any suitable relative size, having the driving-chain 35 for imparting the motion of the shaft 29 to shaft 8 When said sprocket-Wheel 33 is thrown in gear by means of the clutch 34, which is adapted to slide upon a feather or spline on said shaft 29.

Upon the outer face of the cutter-Wheels 7, in radial grooves 37 thereon, are arranged a series of cutters 39, being adjustably secured to said Wheels by means of bolts 40 passing through holes in the body of said Wheel and through a slotted opening 41 in said cutters, and held in place by means of the nuts 42 and 43, the outervone acting as a lock-nut. The inner end 47 of the cutter 39 is preferably round and screw-threaded to receive the adjusting-nut 45. This end 47 is adapted to pass through a suitable opening 48 in the iiange kprojection 49 on the outer face of said wheel, formed at the inner end of said groove 37, against which the adjusting-nut is adapted to bear. The lower part of the cutter 39 is adapted to project beyond said Wheel, and is preferably constructed of greater Width than that portion secured in the groove in said Wheel, in order to give greater Width to cut.

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One side is also preferably constructed concave and the other convex, the concavity and convexity terminating at their outer extremities in a knife-edge, which is preferably in a plane at a slight angle to that of the shaft S, thereby forming a cutter which cuts deeper next to the rail and tends to throw the loos ened ice and snow away from the rail.

In its application to an ordinary car the sprocket-wheel 33 may be arranged upon the axle of the car-truck instead o' a separate shaft, as shaft 29, in which case the belt 35 and sprocket-wheel 3l are arranged, as shown. A lever 55, connected to the clutch 34 by means of the rod 5G, is arranged above the Hoor for operating said clutch. A lever 57, secured to the shaft IS, is provided to release the dog 17 from engagement with the crossbar 20 when it is desired to lower the cutterwheel.

While the constructionshown for imparting motion to the danger maybe modified, as above described, by connecting it to the car-truck axle by means of a sprocket-wheel and chain, other means may be used without departing from my invention, or the cutter-wheel may be secured directly to the inside of the carwheel and adapted to rotate with the carwheel, in which case no other motive power is. necessary.

In order to remove the snow and ice from between the rails, where it would be left by the device hereinbcfore described, I provide a chute 59, rigidly secured by the arms 60 and 61 to the arm 1l, so that when the shaft 8 is raised or lowered the chute 59 is raised or lowered in unison therewith, and is so arranged that its forward end is just behind the cutters 39, permitting their rotation without striking said conveyor. The chute is preferably constructed in the form of a plowshare, the rear portion extending outward over the rail to secure theV depositing of the snow and ice conveyed over it a suiiicient distance from the rail.

I claim as my inventionl. In a rotary Hanger, the combination, with the shaft 8, of the cutter-wheel 7 having radial grooves 37 and flange I9, cutters 39, ad justably secured to said wheel in said grooves, and suitable driving mechanism for rotating said shaft, for the purpose specified.

2. In a rotary danger, the combination, with a wheel adapted to be rotated, of a series of cutters adjustably secured thereto, said cutters having their outer ends formed with a concave and convex side terminating in a knife-edge, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the body of a car, of the shaft 8, having bearings in the arms ll, pivotally secured to said car, the wheels 7, scoured to said shaft, cutters 39, adjustably secured to said wheels, and suitable driving mechanism for rotating said shaft, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with the body of acar, of the shaft S, arms ll, forming bearings for said shaft and pivotally secured to said carbody, wheels 7, secured upon said shaft, cutters 39, adjustably secured to said wheels, chutes 59, pivotally secured to said car-body and adapted to be raised and lowered in unison with said wheels, and suitable mechanism for rotating said shaft 8, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this J-th day of March, 1890.

EDYVARD P. CA'LINVELIJ.

In presence of A. C. PAUL, R. 1I. SANFORD.

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