US561397A

US561397A - Flexible safety-guard for street-cars

Info

Publication number: US561397A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1896-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 1913-06-02

Description

(No Model.)

E. E. HIGINBOTHAM.

FLEXIBLE SAFETY GUARD FOR STREET CARS. No. 561,397. Patented June 2, 1896.;

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ELMER E. I-IIGINBOTHAM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FLEXIBLE SAFETY-GUARD FOR STREET-CARS.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561 ,397, dated June 2, 1896.

Application filed July 8, 1895. Serial No. 555,180- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER E. HIGINBOTHAM, a resident of Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flexible Safet -Guards for Street-Cars, of which the following, when taken in connection with the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, is a full and complete specification, sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to understand, make, and use the same.

The invention relates to guards or pilots placed at the forward end of street-cars or motors-as, say, electric, cable, or steam motorsfor the purpose of protecting a person or animal from inj ury if struck by such streetcar or motor; and the object of the invention is to obtain a flexible guard for street-cars and motors which can be folded against the end of the car or motor to which it is attached when such end of the car or motor is the rear end, and to obtain a flexible guard which will pick up and hold a person or animal standing on the track and run down by the streetcar or motor to which the guard is attached, and without injury to the person or animal; and the invention consists of a base which can be secured to the end of a street-car or motor, a folding frame secured to the firstnamed base, and a netting secured to the folding frame, such netting being covered with a material-as, say, rubberadapted to prevent injuries or bruises to the person picked up and carried thereby.

In the drawings referred to, Figure 1 is a side elevation of one end of a street-car or motor and of a safety-guard embodying my invention attached thereto, such safety-guard being open and in position to pick up and carry a person or animal in front thereof. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one end of a car and of the safety-guard, such guard being folded against the end of the car; Fig. 3, a front elevation of a car with the safety-guard attached thereto, such safety-guard being in an operative position, as in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a portion of the netting forming a part of the safety-guard, showing the construction thereof.

A reference-letter applied to a given part is used to designate such part throughout the several figures of the drawings.

A is the outside sill of the car or motor to which the safety-guard is attached.

A is the step to the platform of the car.

13 B are irons having projecting lugs 12 h, aespectively, secured to the sills A A by bolts 13 is a vertical rod or pipe secured in irons B B B is a shoe secured to the lower end of rod or pipe B and B is a shoe secured to the upper end of such rod or pipe.

D D are rods or bars pivotally secured, respectively, by bolts d din shoes B E E are rods or bars which are respectively pivotally secured in the respective shoes B B by bolts 6 6. Shoes B B have lips e e, respectively, which extend along the sides of rods or bars E E a sufficient distance to prevent swaying of such rods or bars when in an operative position.

F F are rods or bars pivotally secured by bolts ff to rods or bars D E, respectively.

G G are rods or bars pivotally secured to rods or bars F F by bolts g g, respectively, and to rods or bars H H by bolts h h, re spectively, and such rods or bars H H are pivotally secured at the other ends thereof to rods or bars D D, respectively, by bolts h h.

To prevent the swaying of the rods or bars D D, such rods or bars are connected together by bars cl d 61 V The several rods or bars D D, E E, F F, G

' G, and H H form the framework of my safetyguard, pivotally attached, as described, to the vertical rods or pipes B 13 which form the base of the safety-guard. This frame can be folded against the end of the car or motor, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

To the frame formed by the rods or bars D D, E E, F F, G G, and H H there are secured the cords I, I, I and 1 respectively, and the netting J. The upper edge of the netting J is secured to "rail K. The rods or bars G H may be omitted from this framework, if desired; but a stronger framework is obtained by their use.

The netting J consists of the chains j j, having thereover the rubber tubes j j, respectively, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

L L are chains or cords extending from shoes 13 13 respectively, to bars or rods D D and secured to such shoes and such rods or bars so as to support the rods or bars in a horizontal, or nearly so, position.

When the safety-guard is in an operative. position, the several parts thereof are in substantially the position illustrated in Figs. 1, and 3, and when such safety-guard is not in an operative position the several parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, or substantially so.

When the safety-guard is in an operative,

position, a person or animalstanding in front of the motor or grip car to which it is attached will be picked up thereby and held therein without suffering bruise or injury.

The rubber covering of the cords or chains of the safety-guard are of great service in the prevention of bruises to the person or animal picked up thereby.

Having thus described the inventionand its manner of operation, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is- 1 1. In a safety-guard for motors and gripcars, a folding frame consisting of horizontal bars pivotally secured to a base, a bar extending between such horizontal bars and pivotally secured thereto, a horizontal bar pivotally secured at one end thereof to the lastnamed and connecting bar, and at the other end to a bar parallel with the connectin g-bar, such parallel-extendin g bar pivotally secured to the lower one of the first-named horizontal bars, with a netting secured to the frame; substantially as described.

2. In a safety-guard for cars and motors vertical rods forming the base of the safetyguard, shoes at the end of the vertical rod, rods or bars pivotally secured in the shoes, a connecting-rod pivotally secured at its ends to the first-named pivotally-secured rods or bars, rods or bars pivotally secured together at one end and to the connecting rod or bar and the lower one of the first-named rods or bars, respectively, at the other end, flexible connections secured to the upper ones of the shoes and to the lower ones of the first-named pivotally-secured rods or bars, whereby such rods or bars are maintained in a substantially horizontal position when the folding frame formed thereby is in an operative position, and a netting secured to such frame; substantially as described.

3. In a safety-guard for motors and gripcars a folding frame on each side of the car consisting of horizontal bars pivotally secured toa base, such base consistin g of a vertical rod or bar attached to the platform of the car, and abar extending between such horizontal bars and pivotally secured thereto, and a rod connecting the frame on one side of the car with the frame on the other side of the ear, with a netting secured to the frame; substantially as described.

ELMER E. HIGINBOTHAM.

In presence of CHARLES T. BROWN, FLORENCE McPHAIL.