US542918A - Street-car fender - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

W. BARKER. STREET GAR FENDER.

Patented July 16, 1895. 4

FIG I WITN ESSES William Barker UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE,

' WILLIAM BARKER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STREET-CAR FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,918, dated July 16, 1895.

Application filed June 11, 1894.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Fenders for Street-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention consists of a fender intended especially for application to street-railway cars and constructed with the view of attaining the following objects: first, to strike, trip, and catch a person standing or walking in front of a moving car in such manner as to prevent injuryat least serious injury-to said person; second, to pick up and deposit in a place of safety and without material injury a person who may be lying prostrate in front of an advancing car and to lift and move 'out of danger the limb or limbs of a person lying across the track; third, to prevent injury to the fender by paving-stones or other objects projecting above the normal line of pavement between the rails of the track. These objects I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being bad to the ac companying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of part of a streetcar having a fender constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of said fender with the supporting device therefor shown in section. Figs. 3 and 4: are sectional views illustrating the operation of the fender'under different circumstances, and Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a modified construction of part of the fender. v

A'represents part of the base-frame or sill ofa car, having in front forked depending brackets or hangers a, each havingtransverse rollers a", the rollers of each bracket serving as guides for alever B, hung to the car-body at the rear end by means of links b, that portion of the lever which is guided between the rollers a being inclined upwardly from the rear to the front. The opposite levers B are connected at suitable points by transverse rods or bars (1 and at the front end by a bar D, so as to constitute a stiffly-braced frame, that portion of said frame which projects in front of the platform of the car being provided with an apron F of wire-gauze or other material of sufficient strength to prevent Serial No. 514,200. (No model.)

injury thereto by a person rolling or falling onto it.

The transverse front bar D of the frame serves as a guide for a pair of rods f, acted upon by springs f, tending to project them to an extent limited by suitable stops or collars f these rodsterminating at their front ends in suitable heads, to which are pivoted lugs formed on the yielding bulfer and pickup bar G, which is normally maintained in a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, by the action of a spring g, excessive forward movement of the upper end of'said pick-up bar being prevented by lugs f on the heads of the rodsf, but the bar being at all times free to swing rearward at the upper end when sufficient pressure is exerted upon it to overcome the pressure of the spring g.

Each of thelevers B in the rear of the guidi-ng-snpports a is divided, the two parts of the lever being pivoted together att' and each part of the lever having an upwardly-projecting arm 2", an interposed spring 2' acting upon the upper portions of said arms and tending to separate the same.

A spring m is connected at the front end to a suitable support n, depending from the car-' frame, and at the rear end to the rear transverse rod d, which connects the opposite levers B of the fender-frame, this spring tend ing to draw said fender-frame forward and at thesame time, owing to the inclined portions of the levers B, lifting the front'buffer-bar D and pick-up bar G of the fender-frame to the proper distance above the track, this distance being limited to a few inches, so that the limb of a child cannot pass beneath the said pickup bar. More than one spring m maybe used,

if desired.

A person standing or crossing the track in front of an advancing car will be struck by the pick-up bar G close to the ground, and said bar will be forced rearward, so as to compress the springs g and f prior to the rearward movement of the whole fender-frame as the pressure becomes great enough to overcome the tension of the spring m, this movement being accompanied by adepression of the front end of the fender-frame owing to the rearward movement between the guides at of the inclined portions of the levers B.

The upward swing of the lower ends of the hanger-links b as the levers B are moved rearward also tends to throw the front end of the fender-frame downward, and these links may sometimes be relied upon for the performance of this duty in place of the inclined portions of the levers. The person will therefore be tripped, so as to fall onto the catchapron F without any serious injury, the springs which project the fender-frame and pick-up bar preventing any such forcible contact of said pick-up bar or frame with any part of the person as to cause serious bruises. \Vhen a person is lying prostrate upon the track in front of an advancing car, the body or limbs will come in contact with the upper portion of the pick-up bar G, which will be forced rearward, so as to bring forward the lower portion of the bar under the body, as shown in Fig. 3, thus tending to lift the person from the track and cause a rearward roll onto the catch-apron F, there being at the same time the rearward yield of the pick-up bar and fender-frame and the downward drop of the front end of said frame, as in the former case, so that no serious injury to the person is likely to be caused. The bottom of the pick-up bar is so close to the track that even the arm of a child cannot pass beneath the same, and the contact of any of the limbs with the pick-up bar will cause the rearward and downward movement of the same and of the fender-frame, so as to throw the obstruction forward out of the way.

In case there is a projecting paving stone or other obstruction above the normal line of paving between the rails of the track, tending to lift the front end of the fender-frame, such movement is permitted owing to the division of the levers in the rear of their guides and the provision of said divided portions of the levers with the interposed springs 41 this provision permitting the rise of the front portion of the fender-frame, as shown in Fig. 4, such rise effecting the compression of the springsfi.

The fenderframe may, if desired, be so balanced that the outer end of the same will have a natural tendency to descend. Hence very little backward pressure will be sufficient to cause the inclined portions of the levers B to slide backward in their bearings, so as to permit such descent, and the springs which project the pick-up bar G may be such as to permit the ready yielding of said bar on the fender-frame, so that a sensitive, but positive, movement of both parts when in action is insured, while the shock of collision is reduced to a minimum.

If desired, the front of the pick-up bar may be padded in any suitable manner, and both the pickup bar and the transverse buffer-bar D, or either of them, may, in some cases, be provided with rollers on the underside in case they descend so far as to come in contact with the track and so as to ease their movements over obstructions above the normal line of the pavement between the tracks. It willbe evident, also, that instead of forming inclined portions upon the levers B the reverse construction may be. adoptedthat is to say, the levers may have projections adapted to inclined slots in the hangers a, as shown, for instance, in Fig. 5-the result being the same in either case.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patout-- 1. A street car fender having rearwardly projecting levers, fixed guides therefor, one of said parts having inclined portions engaging the other, whereby the front end. of the fender will be depressed as the same is forced rearward, and aspring for projecting the fender aud causing its front end to rise, substantially as specified.

2. A street car fender having rearwardly projecting levers, fixed guides therefor, one of said parts having inclined portions engaging the other, whereby the front end of the fender will be depressed as the same is forced rearward, and. links whereby the rear ends of the levers are suspended from the car body and are caused to rise as the levers are moved rearward, substantially as specified.

3. A car fender having rearwardly projecting levers, guides in which said levers can move backward and forward, and suspending links for the rear ends of the levers, said levers being divided in the rear of the guides, and said divided portions being connected by pivot pins and provided with projecting arms with interposed springs, whereby a yielding joint is formed which permits of the rise of the forward end of the fender, substantially as specified.

4. The combination of the fender frame having a transverse buffer bar at the front, a pickup bar, rods guided in the buffer bar and having pivotal connection with said pick up bar, springs for projecting said rods, a

spring for maintaining the pick-up bar in the vertical position, and stops on the guide rods for restricting the movement of the pickup bar under the action of said spring substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM BARKER.

Witnesses:

WILL. A. BARR, FRANK E. BECHTOLD.

ICC

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