US537319A - Feeding-machine for making ballast - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 4 sheets-'sheet 1.

y J. STUBBS. FBEDING MAGHINB PoR MAKING BALLAST.

10.537.319 Pam ,edApL 1895.

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(No Model.) 4 sheets-sheen 2.

J.A STUBBS. FBEDING'MAGHINE PoR MAKING BALLAST.

' No. 537,319. Patented Apr. 9, 1895 me Medel.) 4 4 sheets-sheen 3.

Je STUBBS. FBBDING MACHINE EUR MAKING BALLAST. No, 527,319.v Patented Apr. 9, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE.

JESSE STUBBS, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA.

Psaume-MACHINE F'oR MAKING BALLAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettere Patent No. 537,319, dated April 9, 1895.

i pplioatilfl filed October 18, 18794. 'Serial No. 526,333- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JESSE STUBBS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of lowa, have invented new and useful Improvements in Feeding-Machines for Making Ballast; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which 'form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of machines designed particularly to afford means for saving labor by automatically feeding to a fire or kiln burning clay in the open air to make ballast, and the like, for rail and other roads, the clay to be dug from the ground along the fire or kiln, thereby forming longitudinally of the kiln'a trench, and conveying the clay thus dug to and depositing it upon the kiln.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a shoe to which is attached the plow or plows, and an elevator, and to 'suspend such shoe from a car body in such manner that the same may be adjusted vertically and laterally and independently from said car body; second, to attach the plow to the shoe by means of a plow beam, so that it (the plow) may be adjusted vertically and laterally independently of the shoe; third, to so attach the plow supporting beam to said shoe as to permit it to be elevated or lowered, or thrown forward or backward, and retained in such position; fourth, to provide a shoe to which the plow is attached, consisting of a skeleton frame provided with guide-plates for convey.

ing the clay to the elevator; fifth, to provide gearings, take-ups,trolleys, &c., for transmitting power fromthe motor seated on a car, for the purpose of conveying the clay to the kiln;V and such other objects as will be hereinafter set forth and specifically claimed. I accomplish these objects bythe mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-y Figure 1 is aside elevation of a flat car, with my device thereon, as also the engines for running the car and the boiler and water tank in side elevation. Fig. 2 is an end view in which the engines and water Vtank are omitted. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the car, a plan view of my device,'a plan view of the engines for running the car and the engines for operating the elevator, and the water tank all arranged on the car. Fig. 4 is a side View of the shoe with a portion broken away to show the plow. Fig. 5 is a front view of one of the idlers, showing the tracks upon which it runs, in section. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the yoke carrying the plow beam, with the beam and shoe in section; and Fig. 7 is atop plan View of the frame-work, consisting of tracks and rails upon which the trolleys run.

Similarletters denote similar parts throughout the several views. e

A represents an ordinary flat car, a, a, the wheels, and a', a', the tracks on which the car runs. A', A', are the engines that propel the car. 'A2, A2, are the engines that drive the gearing to transmit motion to the endless belt on the elevator. B is the boiler and B the water tank. As these features are of the ordinary form and constitute no part of my invention, it is not necessary to enter into a more detailed description thereof.

C is the frame, upon which are mounted the trolleys, gear wheels, pulleys, drums, diro.v

This frame consists of the uprights c, c, tho

vertical tracks c', c', the braces c2, c2, the over- Y head tracks cl3, c3 and c4, the tracks c3, c3 being the two outer ones. The tracks, c3 c3, stand at an angle to the track, c4, and in a lower horilatter one being somewhat shorter than the outer ones. On each side of the middle track, between it and the outer track, and in the same plane, is a beam c5. The cross beams o, c, c6, c6, connect the tracks and beams. At each end of the tracks c3, c3, c4, are pulleys c7, and on the track c4, near its rear end, is an additional pulley ci. Likewise, at each end of the beams c5 are pulleys o8, all for purposes hereinafter specified.

D is theshoe to which the plow is attached. This is of the following construction, viz:

d is the bottom of the shoe and is inthe rform of a runner turned up at both ends.

-zontal plane and c4, the middle track, this S5 IOO (Z2 is a cross beam connecting the two ends of the runner.

d3, cl3, are two vertical supports or braces arranged near the center of the shoe and extending from the runner to the cross beam cl2. Near the ends of the shoe are two tracks or angle irons (Z4, d", which also serve as braces for the shoe. I have shown four of 'these tracks or angle irons,two at each end of the shoe, when only one plow is used, as is the case at present (although I have made provision for two), but two of the angle irons are used of course.

d5, d5 are two plates attached to the outside of the shoe and serve as guides to prevent a portion of the earth turned up by the plow from falling back in rear of the shoe.

E is the plow which is attached to one end of a plow beam c. The other end of the beam is connected to the shoe by the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 6, and which is of the following construction, viz:

e2, e2 are two plates connected together at or near their centers by two rivets. Attached to the back of one of these plates by the same rivets is an arm e3, bent upon itself as at c". At or near the outer end of this arm is attached a yoke e5 of substantially U-shape, in which yoke is loosely housed the front end of the plow beam. The two plates e2, e2, are arranged on the angle irons or tracks d4, d4, in such manner that they be moved up and down on the tracks, thereby raising or lowering the outer end of the plow beam. The plates are adjusted up and down by means of a screw bolt e which extends up from the arm es through the plate d', and is provided with a thumb nut e7, that rests on the plate. Near the forward end ofthe plow beam I attach one end of a cord or rope e8. This rope is then carried up and around a spring drum e, journaled in the upper cross beam of the shoe. It is then carried forward and around a pulley ew, also journaled in the cross beam; then down, and attached to the plow beam near the rear end thereof. Extending up from the drum e, and through and above the plate d', is a rod e, provided on its upper end with a wheel cl2 for turning the drum. On the rod e and adjacent to the plate d', is a pawl and ratchet @13 for controlling the action of the drum. It will be obvious, by reference to the drawings, that by turning the drum in one direction or the other by means of the wheel cl2, the plow may be moved forward or backward as desired. It is to be understood, of course, that where two plows are to be used, the parts above described are simply duplicated.

F is the elevator, which is attached to the shoe D, and extends at right angles thereto, and which is used for conveying the clay from the plow to the kiln. This elevator consists in a frame in which are mounted a series of small rollersf, over which an endless belt travels. At the upper end of the frame is a shaft carrying a roller and upon each end of the shaft esame is a sprocket wheel f', f. Near the lower end of the frame is another shaft carrying a roller and mounted upon each end of the shaft are two sprocket wheels f2, f2, andf-f.

f 1, f4, are two endless sprocket chains that extend from the sprocket wheelsf2,f2, to the sprocket wheelsf,f. One of these chains is upon each side of the elevator and serves to communicate motion to the endless belt by the means hereinafter indicated.

G, G, are two trolleys provided with small rollers that permit them to travel on the tracks c3, c3. Attached to each of the trolleys is a rope g which passes over the pulleys c7, c7, on each end of the tracks c, and down to a hook g on one of the upright beams c. Also attached to the trolleys G is a block and fall g2, which is connected to the elevatoron each side near its upper end. A rope g3 extends from the trolley G around the block and fall to and over a pulley g4 journaled in one of the uprights c of the rear end of the frame C, down to a drum g5 journaled in the upright beams c' at the rear of the frame. This drum is provided with a crank or handle g and a pawl and ratchet gl. By pulling on the ropes g, the trolleys G are moved along the tracks c3, and the elevator is thrown out a desired distance, and by pulling on the rope g3, the outer end of the elevator' is raised or lowered as desired.

G is also a trolley provided with rollers similar to G, G. This trolley travels on the track c4. Attached to one portion of the trolley is a rope G2 for operating the trolley to control the distance at which the plow works from the car track,by means of intermediate devices to be hereinafter described. This rope G2 extends from the trolley to and over the pulley c7 on the rear end of the track c4, and thence to and over the other pulley c7 on the rear end of the track, thence down around a drum G3 and up again to and over the pulley c" back to the trolley G.

The drum G3 is geared to a pinion G" which is rotated, thereby rotating the drum, which winds or unwinds the rope G2 and moves the trolley G forward or backward, as desired. Also attached to the trolley G', and suspended therefrom, is a pulley and block G5, that is connected with the plow, and a hanger GG that is connected with the shoe D. This is the connecting mechanism for controlling the distance at which the plow works from the car track above referred to.

G7 is a differential pulley, for the purpose of raising and lowering the plow, and the hanger G6 has attached thereto a screw-block G8, by means of which the shoe is raised or lowered as desired.

H, I-I, are two sprocket wheels which I term idlers. Each idlerisjournaled in ayoke that slides up and down on the two vertical. tracks c-, arranged at each side of the frame C. Attached to the upper part of each yoke is a rope h. This ropeV extends up to and over ICO the pulleys o8, ce, on each end of the beam c5, down at the rear of the frame G, and has on its end a weight h.

I-I, H, are two other idlers that are journaled in the vertical tracks c', and below these idlers is the shaft of the engine, that operates the belt on the elevator, and on each end of this shaft is a sprocket wheel H2, which is of greater diameter than either of the idlers, and of about the same diameter as the sprocket wheel f3. On each side of the elevator there is an endless sprocket chain which connects the sprocket wheels H2 and f3 and the idlers H and H together, and thereby motion is communicated to the elef vator from the engines'A2, A2 on the car. As the elevator is thrown out and down, the idlers I-I, H, slide down the tracks c', thereby allowing the sprocket chain to extend out and allow the elevator to be adj usted the desired distance from the car, as also the depth. As the sprocket chains H3, H3 descend, they are always kept taut by means of the ropes h, h,

and weights h', h.

The operation of my device is as follows,

vizz-The car containing the machine is placed at the forward end of the kiln, and the plow, shoe and elevator properly adj usted. The engines for driving the endless belt of the elevator are then started and the car is also started forward, andas it advances along the kiln the clay is plowed up and by means of the two guard-plates d5, d5, conveyed to the endless belt of the elevator and thence car' ried up over the elevator and deposited on the kiln. This operation is continued until a trench is dug the length of the kiln, when the car .is run back and the plow shoe and elevator again adjusted to the proper depth and distance from the car; when the operation is repeated.

As has been previously stated, two plows I can be employed, if desired, one for plowing in a forward direction and the other for plowing back, or in the reverse direction, and this can be accomplished by simply duplicating some of the present parts, as, for example, the plow, plow beam, yoke carrying plow beam, adjusting screw, &c.

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

1. In a feeding machine, the combination with the frame, substantially as described, carrying the three trolleys, the pulleys and the ropes attached to the trolleys and to the elevator, of the elevator consisting of the endless belt, the drums carrying sprocket wheels Y on their ends, the sprocket chains for rotating the drums, the rollers upon which the endless belt runs and mechanism for operating the endless belt, all substantially as described and shown.

2. In a feeding machine for making ballast, the combination with the frame, substantially as described, the trolleys, pulleys and ropes, ofthe elevator and mechanism for operating the same, consisting of two endless sprocket chains that are supported and operated by two vertically adjustable idlers, two stationary idlers, two large sprocket wheels journaled on the shaft-of the driving engines,v

the ropes and weights attached to the adj ustable idlers, all substantially as described and shown.

3. In afeeding machine for making ballast, the combination with the elevator, of a shoe and plow attached thereto and means for raising and lowering the shoe and plow, the same consisting of an overhead trolley from which is suspended a pulley and blockattached to the plow and a hanger attached to the shoe and a rope for operating the trolley and a drum to which the rope is attached, all substantially as described and shown.

4:. In a feeding machine for making ballast, the combination with the elevator, of a shoe, and plow adj ustably attached thereto by means of a plow beam, one end of which carries the plow, the other end loosely housed in a yoke supported by an arm bent upon itself and attached to plates that are adjusted vertically on the tracks of the shoe by means of a screw and thumb nut attached to the arm, all substantially as described and shown.

5. In a feeding machine for making ballast, the combination with the elevator and shoe, of a plow and means for adjusting the same forwardly and rearwardly, the same consisting of a drum housed in the upper b'eam of the shoe, the vdrum provided with a rod and button or wheel for rotating it and a pawl and vratchet on the rod, a rope wound on the drum and passed around a pulley journaled in the beam and attached to each end of the plow beam, substantially as described and shown.

6. In afeeding machine for making ballast, the combination with the elevator and plow, of a shoe consisting of a runner, the upper ends of which are connected by a beam upon which rests a top plate or platform, braces extending from the runner to the beam and two guide plates. attached to the runner and center braces, substantially as described an-d shown.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JESSE STUBBS.

Witnesses:

JOHN HoBsoN, R. W. BUCHANAN.

ICO

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