US634131A

US634131A - Mail-bag catcher.

Info

Publication number: US634131A
Application number: US72321799A
Authority: US
Inventors: John Garbers
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1899-07-08
Filing date: 1899-07-08
Publication date: 1899-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 1916-10-03

Description

un. s34,|s|. -Patented oef. 3, i899. f J. enanas. y

' MAIL BAG CATCHER.

(A'ppumion med duly a, 1899.)

'rus wams Putas ca. Puo'raufnn. msnmoun, n. c.

f UNITED STATss PATENT OFFICE.'

JOHN GARBERS, ,or CHAPMAN, NEBRASKA.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters zPatnt'nNq. 634,131; dated october s, 1899.

Application nealruiy 8,1399. sensing.' raamt. (numana `and reception of the mail-bags with the least possible wear and tear upon the 'latter and with the greatest despatch and convenience to the clerks and at Athe Sametime to `obviate projecting arms when the apparatus is not in use.

To these ends Athe present kinvention con-v sists in the combination and arrangement of part-s, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out c inV the appended claim, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit or sacrificingshowing the hinged connection therebetween.

Corresponding parts in the several gures of the drawings are designated by like characters of reference.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, l designates the standard ofthe mail-crane, which is arranged alongside of the railroadtrack and carries the apparatus for supporting the mail-bag which is to be transferred to the postal car of a moving train. Pivoted intermediate of its ends and to the upper end of the standard is a supporting-arm 2, provided at its outer Vfree end adjacent to the railroad-track with a cross-head 3, which is bowed downwardly in opposite directions from the arm and hasits opposite ends bent upward, so

as to provide seats 4 for supporting the mailbag which is to be transferred to the postal car. The opposite end of this supporting-arm is `provided. with a pendent coiled spring 5,which is connected at its lower end to the rear side of the standard, so as to throw the 'outer end of the arm upward and out of the way after the mail-bag has been transferred to the postalv car, as shown in Fig. 2. The lower receivingarm 6 is connected to the front face of the standard l by means of a suitable hinge 7, so lthat said arm may be folded downward alongside of thestandard after receiving the mailbagfroni the postal car. At the outer free end of this latter arm there is provided a cross-head S, which is arranged reversely to the upper cross-head 3,bein g bowed upwardly at opposite sides of the arm'and having its outer extremities bent downwardly, so as to provide seats 9 for holdingl said armvin its elevated position to receive a'mail-bag from the postal car. p

4To setthe apparatus for delivering a mailbag to a postal car while in motion, the arms 2 and d are brought into horizontal position and aV mail-bag 10 is suspended therefrom by means of a large ring ll, which is connected to themiddle of the bag in any desired manner and embraces the seats d at the respective ends of the cross-heads 3 and S, it being understood that the bag is located upon that side oi' the frame on which the train is moving. Thus it will be seen that the bag is suspended from the upper cross-head 3 and embraces the lower cross-head 8, so that the two Asup*)porting-arms 2 and 6 are held in a substantiallyhorizontal position in readiness to deliver and receive the maikbags.

The means for transferring the mail-bag from the crane to the postal-car comprises a catcher-arm 12, which is located substantially parallel to the car and is connected therewith by means of a transverse rod or bar 18, proj ecting laterally outward from the car 14. The connecting-bar is carried at its inner end by means of a longitudinally-disposed supportying-bar 15, having its opposite ends journaled at the opposite sides of the car-door and provided With an operating-handle 16, whereby the catcher-rod l2 may be swung into the door way after receiving the mail-bag or when not in use. The rear end of the catcher-rod 12 is kprovided with rearwardly-extending springjaws 17, having their outer free extremities bowed inwardly, as at 1S, so as to form seats for supporting the inail-bag to be delivered to the crane. s As clearly indicated in Fig. 1, the mailbag` 19, which is to be delivered to the crane, is also provided with a large ring 20, as described for the former mail-bag, and this ringembraces the seats of the spring-jaws 17, whereby the mail-bag is suspended from the rear end of the catcher-arm. 4

In the operation of the device, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the connecting-arm 13 is of a length to dispose the catcher-arm 12 intermediate of the crossheads 3 and S, so that said arm is adapted to be received within the ring ll, whereby the mail-bag will be removed from the crossheads when the connecting-bar 13 strikes the ring 1l, and the latter will remain upon the arm. The ring` of the mail-bag 'to be transferred to the crane receives the adjacent end of the lower cross-head S and is removed from the spring-jaws 13 by contact with the adjacent side of the lower arm (i of the crane and remains upon the cross-head. Immediately upon the ring 11 being removed from the crossheads the spring 5 will throw the outer free end of the upper arm 2 upwardly and the lower arm G will simultaneously drop downwardly, so that neither of the arms projects outwardly from the standard when the crane is not in use. It will of course be understood that the relative disposition of the bag 19 from the supporting-rod 13 is such that the ring 11 is not removed from the cross-heads until said bag has been engaged with the lower crosshead, so that a safe and positive transfer of the bag is insured.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the present apparatus provides an exceedingly simple and durable mail-bag catcher, the parts being few in number and positively connected together. Furthermore, there are no spring-catches to become worn and broken or impaired by the effects of the weather, and the arms of the crane are effectively maintained out of the way when not in use.

What I claim isw In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a crane having upper and lower arms provided at their outer free ends with cross-heads, of a mail-bag ring embracing respective ends of the cross-heads, amailbag,` catcher-arm, a supporting-rod carried by a postal car and` spacing the catcher-arm outward from the car, opposite rearwardly-extending spring-jaws connected to the rear endl of the catcher-arm, and having their rear free extremities bowed inwardly and forming seats, and a mail-bag ring embracing the seats of the springs, substantially as and for the Ypurpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing` as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence 0f two witnesses.

JOHN GARBERS.

Witnesses:

SPRAGUE D. Ross, F. W. GARBERS.