US532360A - Safety attachment foe cabs - Google Patents

Description

no Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1L R. BUSTIN.

, SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR (mas.

No. 532,360. Patented Jam 8, 1895.

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SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR CARS. No. 532,360.- 7 Patented Jan. 8, 1895.

NITED STATES omen.-

ROBERT BUSTIN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TOJOHN R. MCCONNELL AND JAMES A. VAN WART, OF ST. MARYS,

FREDERIOTON, CANADA.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,360, dated January 8, 1895. Application filed June 4:, 1894-.- Serial No. 513,423. (No model.) 7

I, To all whom) it mayconccrn} n.

. Be' it known that L'BQBERT liviisulljt, a sub ject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Boston, in the countyof Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Attachments for Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to safety attachments [O for railway-cars operated by cable traction, or

electrical propulsion, the-purpose thereof being to provide a car-fender having an improved and simplified construction and arrangement of parts, whereby its efficiency, strength, and durability shall be materially increased, the number of the parts diminished, and a practically unlimited capacity given to the fender to withstand heavy and sudden strains. 7

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide means whereby the stretcher-bars of the fender shall receive support when extended, at two points, one of which shall be the point of pivotal attachment to the car platform and the other the forward extremity of each bar; the arrangement being such that the weight of said bars, when no further strain is imposed, shall be practically sustained at the points where they are pivotally connected to the car, the strain produced by a weight imposed upon the netting being 'dividedbetween the points last named and the attachments by which the lateral stretchers are connected to the end-guards of the cars.

It is my purpose, also, to provide a carfender having flexible lateral sustaining devices which support the sides of the net; to combine therewith novel and simple means whereby the netting maybe secured thereto, 40 as well as totheupper and lower sustaining bars, andtoprovideimproveddevices whereby 'the lateral stretchers may be secured to the end-guards of the'car and to the lower, forward sustaining-bar, which connects the for- 4-5 ward ends of the stretcher-bars.

My invention also comprises the provision .of improved means for giving elastic support ,tothe forward end of the extended fenderframe, when surface inequalities, or sudden 5c and steep grades are met, or in case the frame should be sprung downward by an unusually heavy weight; the purpose being to avoid the, possibility of the elastic concussion roll, which forms the forward extremity of the fender-frame, from coming in contact with the roadway.

I The invention consists, to these ends, in the several novel features of construction and in the partsand newcombinationsof partshereinafter'fully descri-bed and then pointed out and defined in the claims which follow this specification.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and to make and use my said invention, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being had for such purpose to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1, is a perspective view of a street railway car provided with my invention,

which is shown in position for use. Fig. 2, is

a side elevation showing a portion of the car, theextended and collapsed positions of the fender being shown in full lines and dotted lines, respectively. Fig. 3, is a detail perspective, showing one of the lateral stretchers and the means for securing the netting thereto.

The reference numeral 1, in said drawings,

' indicates the body of a street railway-car of the type which is propelled by cable traction, or by electrical energy.

The form and construction of the car require no explanation, as they have no bearing upon my present invention, which is applicable to cars of various change.

Upon the platform 2, of the car, at the end and near the sidesthereof, are mounted brackets 3, which hang below said platform, the lower ends of said brackets being bifurcated and curved forward, each bracket being provided with a rearwardly projecting lug 1, the lower edge, or shoulder of which, is in line with the point where the arms 5 of the fork spring from the bracket. 5

Between the arms 5 of each fork is pivoted a stretcher-bar 6, one end of whichextends rearward and projects'beneath the shoulder formed by the lug 4, while the bar itself projects forward for a suitable distance and is I00 patterns, without iIO ' limbs.

supported, with a slight downward inclination, by the engagement of its rearward end with the lug 4, as described. The forward extremities of the stretcher-bars are provided with suitable bearings in which lie the journals of a roll 7, which is formed of suitable elastic material, to enable it to yield when the roll is brought into contact with the body, or limbs, of a person upon the track, and thereby avoid bruising the flesh, or fracturing the A little in rear of the bearings for the journals of this roll, separate supports are provided for the journals of a second roll 8, of greater diameter, which lies immediately behind the roll 7, its size being such that it will engage the surface of the roadway, should irregularities or sudden and steep grades be encountered, before the roll 7 can make such contact. The roll 8 is preferably of a suitable elastic material, or it may be covered, or shod, with such material, but it may, also, be formed of wood, or of any other suitable substance, and for the sake of reducing the weight it may be a hollow, cylindrical body.

The journals of the roll 7 project somewhat upon the outer sides of the stretcher-bars, and engage eyes 9, in the ends of arms 10, which form part of a stretcher-bar 12, which lies near the surface of the roll 7 and parallel therewith. At or near, the points where the arms 10 unite with the stretcher-bar 12, are formed loops 13, which provide attachment for the ends of the lateral sustaining devices, each of which consists of a .rope, or large cord 14, (Fig. 3) provided at one end with a snap-hook 15, which-is engaged with one of the loops 13. At the other end a ring 16 is permanently secured, and a snap-hook 17 engages therewith, said hook being provided with a cord, or rope 18, which is drawn through a loop 19, at't'he end of a sustaining-bar 20, which is mounted upon and extends over the front of the endguard of the car, a little below the upper edge of the latter.

Each of the lateral sustaining devices lat is inclosed by a covering, or sheath 21, of canvas, leather, or other flexible material, the edges of which are united to form a narrow attaching strip 22, which is provided with a series of eyeleted openings 23. The stretcherbar 12 and sustaining bar 20, are each provided with a similar inclosing sheath, having a like attaching strip. These strips provide an attachment for the netting 24, which is simply laced to them, either by separate cords passed through the marginal interstices of the net, or by a series of short lacings forming part of the net. This construction provides and inexpensive and extremely convenient means of attachment, as it permits the removal and replacement of the net with little trouble, and it also enables me to dispense with the use of separate attaching rods, or pieces, to which the net is permanently secured.

The elevation at which the roll 7 is carried may be adjusted by means of the ropes, or

cords 18, and the fender may be collapsed, or folded against the end-guard of the car, without detaching any of the fastenings. ,When the car is not in use, the folded position may be maintained by merely disconnecting the snap-hooks 17 from the rings 16, and hooking them into the loops 13.

The flexibility of the lateral sustaining devices allows the net to yield readily and perfectlyto the form of any object caught by the fender, and thus avoids the danger of bruising the face, or other parts of the body, which may happen when the net is sustained by rigid devices. Their strength is such, however, asto enable'them to sustain any weight imposed upon the fender, while their flexibility enables the fender to be raised and dropped without any previous detachment, or attachment, of any of its parts, or connections. Moreover, by being perfectly'flexible, withoutelasticit'y, any'weightimpo'sed upon the net will cause them-to yield and approach each other to a limited degree, therebypursing the net, and raising the forward end of the fender, whereby the person, or object, caught will be safely retained and all danger of its rolling, or sliding, down the inclined surface of the not will be whollyavoided.

The construction described is extremely simple, consists of the minimum number of parts, and is manufactured at an extremely low cost.

What I claim is 1. In a railway-car fender, the combination with hanging brackets having forked lower ends, of stretcher-bars pivoted in said forks and extending rearward beneath lugs proj ecting from the rearward sidesof'saidbrackets, and a netting connected to sustaining bars at the forward endsof the stretcher-bars, and on the end guard, substantially as described.

2. Inarailway-ca'r fender, the combination with stretcher-bars of'fiexible, lateral sustaining devices, each consisting of a ropehav'ing a snap-hook permanently secured to one end and a ring to theother, said rope being'inclosed in a sheath, or covering, of canvas or other flexible material, and provided with an attaching strip having a'series of apertures, short ropes having snap-hooks engaging the rings and secured to loops in a sustaining bar on the end-guard of the car, a sustainingbar connecting the forward ends of the stretcherbars and'having loops which are engaged by the snap-hooks on the sustaining devices, and a netting laced to the attaching strips of the latter, substantially as described.

3. Ina railway-car fender, the combination with stretcher-bars pivoted in forked brackets hanging from the car platform, of a concussion-roll journaled in the forward ends of said bars, a sustaining bar parallel with the surface of said roll and having arms at its ends provided with eyes which engage the projecting ends of the journals of the concussion-roll, lateral, flexible sustaining devices detachabl'y connected to loops on said sustaining bar and secured to a second bar on the end-guard of the car by short ropes having snap-hooks engaging rings on the sustaining devices and a netting laced to attachingscrips which form part of sheaths, orcovers, inclosing the sustaining devices substantially as described.

and bars,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal in presence of two subscribing witnesses. I ROBT. BUSTIN. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

JAMES L. NORRIS, THOS. A. GREEN.

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