US546859A - Pneumatic dispatch system - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. KONIGSLOW. PNEUMATIG DISPATCH SYSTEM.

No. 546,859. Patented Sept. 24, 1895.

AN DREW EGRAHAM. PHOTOUTHUWASHINGTON. D C.

(No Model.) v I Q 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. 0. KONIGSLOW.

PNEUMATIC DISPATCH SYSTEM. No. 546,859. Patented Sept. 24, 1895.

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NTTnn STATES PATENT Ornrcs OTTO KONIGSLOW, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

PNEUMATIC DISPATCH SYSTEM.

SPEQIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,859, dated September 24, 1895.

Application filed January 24:, 1895.

To ctZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OTTO KONIGSLOW, of Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Dispatch Systems; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in pneumatic dispatch systems for messages, cash, parcels, and other matter, and relates more especially to a pneumatic dispatch system comprising a central or main station, a tube-circuit leading from and back to the central or main station and connecting any number of local or sub stations located along the tube-circuit with the main station.

My invention consists particularly in an improvement in the construction of local station employed, and in means for automatically guiding the carrier of said station from the tubecircuit to the mouth of said station, and in means for automatically efiecting the release of the carrier by the guiding device, as required to accommodate the removal or passage of the carrier from the station at the outer end of the mouth of the station.

My invention also consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

I would here remark that in orderto adequatelyillustrate my invention it is not considered necessary to show more than one local station in connection with the tube-circuit and the carrier of said station.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan, in horizontal section, of a local station embodying my invention, showing the same in the line of the tube-circuit and showing in solid lines the engagement of a dog or laterally-projecting member on the carrier with the carrier-guidin g device of said station preparatory to the travel of the carrier from the line of the tube circuit to the mouth of said station and showing in dotted lines the position of the carrier and guiding device at the time the carrier is automatically released from the guide preparatory to the removal or passage of the carrier from the station. Fig. 2 is a Serial No. 535,992. (No model.)

top plan, in horizontal section, of the local station, showing the manner of delivering the carrier to the station preparatory to the transmission of the carrier to the main or central station. (Not shown.) Fig. 3 isa vertical section on line 3 3, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. dis a vertical section on line 4 4, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5 5, Fig. 1, showing the position of the carrier and guiding device at the time the carrier is released by said guide.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the tube-circuit, and B a local or sub-station located in the line of said circuit, said local or sub station being provided with a chamber or passage-way b, extending from end to end of the station and arranged in line with the tube-circuit. The motive power is obtained in the ordinary manner by any means suitable for creating a pneumatic power through the tube-circuit in the direction indicated by arrows O in Figs. 1 and 2. The tube-circuit is preferably square or angular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 3, and the ends or heads at of the carrier D are correspondingly shaped and fit nicely but easily within the conducting-tube, so that the carrier shall be properly guided during its transmission in the tubecircuit. The body of the carrier comprises a box or receptacle D, that in transverse section (see Fig. 3) is sufficiently smaller than the tube-circuit to enable the carrier to pass around curves in the tube-circuit and to pass around the curves to and from the local station with which the carrier is identified. The box or receptacle of the carrier at the top is provided with a lid or cover cl for access to the box, and the head at the forward end of the carrier is preferably a buffer of the semispherical or semispheroidal variety. Chamber or passage-way b of the local station is enlarged centrally and laterally to' form the mouth I) of said station, the opposing side walls b b of said mouth gradually converging or sloping toward each other from opposite ends, respectively, of passage-wayb to the outer end of the month, said end of the mouth being sufficiently large to accommodate the introduction of the carrier into the station preparatory to the transmission of the carrier to the main or central station and to accommodate the removal or passage of the carrier from the local station upon its transmission from the main station. The side wall 12 of the mouth of the local station-that is, the side wall nearer to the receiving end of said stationis slotted laterally, as at if, to accommodate the location and operation of the swinging guiding-arm E, that at its free end is provided with a depending member e, adapted to be engaged by a dog or laterallyprojecting member D on the carrier upon the entrance of the latter into the receiving end of the station,said dog or member D being suitably shaped to overlap the inner side of member e of arm E, as shown at d Guiding-arm E is pivotally supported, as at E, in any approved manner from any stationary object-such, for instance, as case G, rigid with slotted wall 19 A spring H, suitably applied, acts in the direction to retain said guide in its normal position, wherein the guide engages a stopsuch, for instance, as the inner end wall b of slot b and projects into passage-way b and into the path of dog or member D on the carrierthat is, the relative arrangement of member D on the carrier and member e of guiding-arm E is such that upon the entrance of the carrier into the local station member I) shall come into engagement with member 6, and thereupon, by the momentum of the carrier, the arm E be swung upon its axis outwardly toward the outer end wall I) of slot 1), said movement of the swinging guide leading the carrier to the outer end of mouth I) of the station, as required, preparatory to the removal or passage of the carrier from the station. The outer portion of slot 1/ is shown inclining upwardly and outwardly, as at 11 (see Figs. 3,4, and 5,) and the trend or degree of inclination is such that the free end of arm E upon entering said inclined portion of the slot, during the outward actuation of said arm by the carrier, shall be tilted or actuated upwardly to effect its disengagement from dog or member D on the carrier, thereby accommodating the removal or passage of the carrier from the station at the outer end of mouth 1). Arm E is shown composed of two sections hinged together at E whereby the outer section or free end of said arm is capable of readily tilting upwardly, as desired, to facilitate the release of the same from the actuating dog or member of the carrier.

Mouth 1) of the local station at its outer end is preferably provided with a door or gate I and suitably hinged at one end, as at l, to case G, that, of course, is suitably chambered, as at g, to accommodate the location and operation of arm E and spring H, door I readily yielding to the impact of the carrier upon the latters arrival at mouth I) of the local station from the main station. I would also remark that the peculiar trend of wall 12 of mouth I) of the local station facilitates the passage of the carrier from said mouth to the delivering end of the station when sending the carrier from the local station to the main station, as shown in Fig. 2. I would also remark that the forward end or head of the carrier is suitably recessed or cut away, as at d", to avoid interference with the free end of arm E when the carrier arrives at the local station from the main station.

An important feature of my improved construction consists in the carriers impossibility, when switched from the line of the tubecircuit to the outer end of the mouth of the local station, of turning end for end, by virtue of the tendency of the rear end of the carrier to continue in motion in theline of the tube-circuit and going rear end foremost out at the delivering end of the station, the object just referred to being best attaincd by making wall b of mouth I) concentric with the axis of guide-arm E by locating dog or member D on the carrier centrally between the ends of the carrier and by arranging the parts so that the path of said member on the carrier and the free extremity of arm E in their movement together from the outer end of mouth I) shall be in close proximity to the aforesaid wall, by which construction and arrangement of parts any attempt of the carrier to turn end for end at the time and in the manner hereinbefore described is immediately checked by the engagement or contact of the forward end or head of the carrier with wall b \Vhat I claim is 1. In apneumatic dispatch-system, the combination with the tube-circuit, a local or substation having a passage-way therethrough in line with the tube-circuit, and a carrier for said station, said passage-way enlarged to form a mouth for accommodating the introduction of the carrier into, and its removal or passage from, the tube-circuit at said station, of means whereby the carrier, upon its arrival at the station, is guided from the aforesaid passage-way to the outer end of the mouth of the station, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a pneumatic dispatch system, the combination with a tube-circuit, a local or substation having a passage-way therethrough in line with the tube-circuit, and a carrier for said station, the aforesaid passage-way being enlarged to form a mouth 1) for accommodating the introduction of the carrier into, and its removal or passage from, the tube-circuit at said station, of means for automatically guiding or switching the carrier, upon its arrival at the station, to the outer end of the mouth of the station, and means for automatically releasing the carrier when the latter has been switched or guided as aforesaid, substantially as set forth.

3. Inapneumaticdispatch-system,thecombination with the tube-circuit, a local or substation provided with a passage-way Z) therethrough in line with the tube-circuit, and a carrier for said station, the aforesaid passage-way being enlarged to form a mouth I) suitably constructed to accommodate the introduction of the carrier to, and its removal or passage from, the tube-circuit at said station, of a dog or projecting-member D on the carrier at any suitable point between the heads or ends of the carrier, and means at the station for guiding or switching the carrier from the line of the tube-circuit to the outer end of the aforesaid mouth of the station, said means being adapted to be operatively engaged by the carrier upon the arrival of the latter at the station and being adapted to operatively engage said member on the carrier in such a manner as to cause the carrier to be guided orswitched to the outer end of the mouth of the station, and means for automatically effecting the release of the carrier after the latter is switched or guided as aforesaid, substantially as set forth.

4. In a pneumatic dispatch-system, the combination with the tube-circuit, a local or substation provided with a passage-way b therethrough in line with the tube-circuit, and a mouth 12' communicating with said passageway and having opposing side-walls b 13 converging toward the outer end of the mouth, and a carrier for said station, of a dog or projecting-member D on the carrier at any suitable point between the heads or ends of the carrier, and means at the station for guiding or switching the carrier from the line of the tube-circuit to the outer end of the aforesaid mouth of the station, said means being adapted to be operatively engaged by the aforesaid dog or member on the carrier upon the arrival of the latter at the station, and being adapted to operatively engage said member on the carrier in such a manner as to cause the carrier to be guided or switched to the outer end of the mouth of the station, and means for automatically effecting the release of the carrier after the latter is switched or guided as aforesaid, substantially as set forth.

5. In a pneumatic dispatch-system, the combination with the tube-circuit, a local or substation havlng a passage-way b therethrough in line with the tube-circuit and a carrier for said station, the aforesaid passage-way being enlarged to form a mouth b for accommodating the introduction of the carrier into, and its removal or passage from, the tube-circuit at said station, of a dog or projecting-member D on the carrier, and asWingingguiding-arm E that, normally, extends into the path of the aforesaid member on the carrier, and, at its free end, is adapted to be operatively engaged by said dog or member of the carrier upon the entrance of the carrier into the passage way through the local station from the tubecircuit, means acting to retain said member E in its normal position, the free or engagingends of members D and E being shaped or constructed in such a manner that member E, upon having motion transmitted thereto by the momentum of the incoming carrier shall guide or switch the carrier to the outer end of the mouth of the station, and suitable means for automatically releasing the carrier after the latter has been switched or guided as aforesaid, substantially as set forth.

6. In a pneumatic dispatch-system, the combination with the tube-circuit,a local or substation having a passageway b therethrough in line with the tube-circuit and a mouth 1) communicating with said passage-way and having opposing walls b b converging toward the outer end of the mouth, and a carrier for said station, the wall b of the aforesaid mouth being slotted laterally, as at b, of a dog or projecting-member D on the carrier, and aswinging guiding-arm E that extends through the aforesaid slot and, at its free end, is adapted to be operatively engaged by said dog or member of the carrier upon the entrance of the carrier into the passage-way through the local station from the tube-circuit, the free or engaging-ends of members D and E being shaped or constructed in such a manner that member E, upon having motion transmitted thereto by the momentum of the incoming carrier, shall guide or switch the carrier to the outer end of the mouth of the station, and suitable means for automatically releasing the carrier after the latter has been switched or guided as aforesaid, all arranged and operating substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

7. In a pneu matic dispatch-system, the combination with the tube-circuit, a local or substation having a passage-way b therethrough in line with the tube-circuit, and mouth (1' communicating with said passage-way and having opposing side-walls b b converging toward the outer end of the month, said wall 19 provided with slot 19 that extends or inclines laterally at its, outer end, as at N, and a carrier for said station, of a dog or projecting-member D on the carrier, the swinging guiding-arm E pivoted to any stationary ob.- ject and composed of two sections hinged together, as at E and means acting to retain said member E in its normal position, all arranged and operating substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

8. In a pneumatic dispatch-system, the combination with the tube-circuit, a local or substation having a passage-way Z) and mouth I) communicating with said passage-way and having opposing side-walls b b converging toward the outer end of the mouth, and wall 19 provided with slot 13 that extends or inclines laterally, as at b and a carrier for said station provided with a dog or projectingmember D at any suitable point between the heads or ends of the carrier, of the stationary case G chambered as at g; arm E pivoted, as at E, within said case, and composed of two sections hinged together, as at E said arm extending through the aforesaid slot in wall b suitable means acting to retain said arm in its normal position, all arranged and operating substantially as indicated, and the free or engaging ends of members D aud E being In testimony whereof I sign this specificashaped or constructed in such a manner that tion, in the presence of two witnesses, this 22d member E, upon having motion transmitted day of December, 189i.

thereto by the momentum of the incoming OTTO KONIGSLO'W. carrier, shall guide or switch the carrier along \Vitnesses:

the aforesaid wall 11 of the mouth of the sta- GOTTLIEB GENDER,

tion, substantially as set forth. C. II. DORER.

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