US463218A - sumner - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. 0015111111 au W. J. SUMNER. SUPPORT FOR LADDERS.

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

L. GOBURN 8v W. J. SUMNIEB..

SUPPORT PoR LADDBRS. 4

110.463,218. Patented Nov. 1'7, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEMUEL COBURN AND VILLIAM J. SUMNER, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO THE COBURN TROLLEY TRACK MANUFACTURING COM PANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SUPPORT 'FOR LADDERS'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,218, dated November 1?, 1891. Application filed March 2, 1891. Serial No. 383,508! (No modell) To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, LEMUEL COBURN and WILLIAM J. SUMNEE, citizens of the United States, both residing at Holyoke, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Supports for Ladders, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to improvements in 1o trolley-supported step-ladders, the object of the invention being the provision of devices in and for the ladder and in and for the supporting devices therefor, which are most adaptable and efficient for the easy and certain and freely-movable support of the ladder and for the adjustment thereof to accommodate various situations. These improvements are constituted by the constructions and combinations of parts, all substantially as will zo hereinafter more fully appear, and be set forth in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a perspective view of the ladderand the improved equipments therefor, the ladder being shown as suspended from a trolley-track and by a portion thereof movable upon and along a counter and past a series of shelves. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, on alargerscale, showinga portion of the trolley-track and of 3o the roller-carrier thereon and the upper portion of one rail ofthe step-ladder connected to said hanger. Fig. 3 isa perspective view of parts employed in jointingthe side rails of the ladder, said parts in this view being shown 3 5 as disconnected, while Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the said parts in the united relations.

In the drawings, A represents a trolleytrack provided with double parallel ways ad,

4o with an intermediate slot or opening h b between them, and said track is shown as secured by suitable clips c cat the top and front edge of a bank of shelves B, which rise above a counter C, below which latter is a `bank of drawers D, and all such as may be found in many stores.

G represents the step-ladder, which by its top is supported on rollercarriers, which are movable upon the said track, the said ladder 5o by'a-lower portion thereof having a sliding engagement wit-h a roller-provided rail E, which is at the front of the counter. The ladder at its back side is provided with a runner-bar H, which bears along on the rolls CZ of the said rail E. 55

A preferred form of roller-carrier, as shown at J, and one which is advantageously ein ployed in connection with the improved devices of the present invention, forms the subject-matter of a separate application for Let- 6o ters Patent of the United States, filed simultaneously herewith under Serial No. 383,502, and consists of the two rollercarriers ai, each comprising the pair of rollers lO 10 and the unitingaxle 12, the parallel metallic side strips 14 14E, confining by riveting or otherwise between their end portions the wood blocks 15 15, which have the transverse bearing-recesses 16 in their under sides for bearing on said roller-axles, and there is a cross 7o bar or pin 17, which is supported on inter1nediate portions of the said strips and traverses the opening 18, which is between them and between the ends of the said blocks 15 15.

Now, proceeding to describe novelties of construction as embraced under the present invention, K K represent hanger-bars vertically applied, each of which by its upper portion enters the said opening 1S in the carriern body, being of a thickness about equal to the 8o width of said opening, and each bar K is supported on one of said pins 17. lEach hangerbar at its portion 20, below the under side of the body of the carrier, has a thickness less than the width of the slot l) in the track, and at its lower end is formed enlarged, as at22, and bored horizontally and in a direction parallel with the line of the track, as indicated at 23. A bar L is horizontally supported under and parallel with the track at the lower 9o ends of said bars, being' entered within the said openings and rigidly held by the setscrews g g. Each side rail of the ladder at its upper end is provided or equipped with transverse sockets ff, through which the said rod L is passed and by which connection the ladder is supported. As particularly shown, the ladder-rails at their upper ends have the hubbed castings h h secured thereon, through which the said rod passes. Set-screwsjj are roo shown as entered through the said socketwalls and against the said bar L.

The construction described is deemed important and advantageous, for, on noting that each post K is sustained on a carrier-body J, which is supported and held against tilting sidewise by being'moun ted on four rollers, as explained, and the bar L, being held rigidly and against rolling or turning with relation to the said posts, and the upper portion of the ladder being by the set-screws j 7' rigidlj7 united to the said bar L, it will be manifest that the Weight of the obliquely-positioned ladder or of a personthereon will not cause any swinging of the ladder as to its upper portion, and from the line ot' contact with the counter as its center of movement, which might 'consequently exert a leverage on the lower ends of the bars Kto also tilt them and cause them to bind upon one side of the track within the slot b. The ladder is, as it were, a rigid fixture ofthe carriage when the parts are once set up, although of course on loosening the set-screws the parts maybe disunited or adjusted, so that the ladder may at any necessary slant extend from the edge ot a counter of any width up into proximity with the elevated track.

The ladder illustrated in the drawings has its side rails jointed and the lower sections 'Z thereof adjustable relative to the upper sections m of the ladder, so that no 'matter at what 'degree of inclination the said upper sections are placed the lower part of the ladder will, as shown, stand vertically,and therefore two castings o and p, such as particularly indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, are provided, each being adapted to be bolted or otherwise connected upon the side of the sections m and Z of the ladder-rails, and one of the said lcastings hav-ing a central bearing-aperture 25, within which the hub 26 of the other casting iits. The end portions of these castings are rounded concentricall with the said engaging- bearings 26,25, an each casting is provided with a semicircular or arc-shaped concentric rib or bearing edge 27, upon and against which the extreme edge portion 28 of each castin g respectively bears. rlhe casting p is provided with concen trie-arc-formed slots u u, and the casting o has holes QJ o, with which said slots u u register, and bolts which pass through the said holes fu and slots u, together with suitable lockingnuts applied thereon, serve to rigidly confine the one casting upon the other, and therefore when the said parts described are in their interlocked and `conned relations each two-part ladderrail is to all intents and purposes the same as one integrally formed having the desired angle.

ln addition to the capability for adjustment, which has already been mentioned as being due to the provision ot' the joint-forniing castings, incidental also to such provislsion arises greatieconomy in the production of the ladder side rails, for it will be plain that to produce an angular side rail from a single piece of stock requires stock which is very wide, and therefore expensive of employment, due to the excessive waste.

The runner-bar H is by its forward edge let into openings w therefor, which are formed within the rear edges of ythe ladder-rail -sections Z Z, being confined therein in any suitable manner, and, as shown, the working or rear edge of said bar is, as to its extremities, forwardly abated or inclined, as at y, thereby avoiding any liability of being obstructed or impeded as the ladder runs7 due to any inequality in the adjustment of the rollers CZ.

What we claim as our invention is- 1. The combination, with a pair of rollercarriers adapted to run upon a trolley-track and each of said carriers supporting a hanging bar, and a bar horizontally ranged under and longitudinally parallel with the track, which is supported and confined upon said hanger-bars, of a ladder provided with sockets at its upper portion, whereby it is engaged with and supported upon said horizontal bar, and set screwsor bolts for confining the said ladder upon said bar.

2. The combination, with an overhead trolley-track and a counter or ledge therebelow, the edge of which is parallel with, but in a different vertical' plane from, that of the said trolleyftrack, a pair of roller-carriers adapted to run upon the track and each carrier supporting a pending bar, and a bar horizontally ranged under vand parallel with the track, which is supported upon said hanger-bars, of a ladder having by its upper portion a supporting engagement with said horizontal bar and thence downwardly obliquely extending, and so maintained by being .supported upon the front edge lof said counter, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a pair of :rollercarriers adapted to run upon a trolley-track and each of said carriers supporting a hanging bar which at its lower end is suitably formed and horizontally apertured, the bar L, engaged with said hangers and ranging under and parallel with the track, and the confining-screws g g, of a ladder having at its top soekets,through which the said bar L engages, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4;. In combination, an overhead trolleytrack and two carriages J J thereon, Ieach of IOO IIO

which consists of two pairs of axle-united an overhead trolley-track which is parallel with, but in a different vertical plane from, that of the front edge of said counter, a carrier movable upon said track, and a ladder which by its upper portion is connected to the said carrier and which by its lower portion has a bearing,r against the said counter edge, the said ladder having a lower vertical portion and an upper oblique portion, and a connecting-joint casting, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. A ladder having each side rail thereof consisting of two sections m and Zand a jointing-

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