US645053A - Hinged dashboard. - Google Patents

Description

No. 645,053. PatentedMar. l3, 900. A. H. ALEXANDER &. T. A. REYNOLDS.

HINGED DASHBOARD.

(Application filed Nov. 22, 1899.)

("0 Model.)

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1TB S ATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED H. ALEXANDER AND THOMAS A. REYNOLDS,

OF \VEST HOBOKEN,

HINGED DASHBOARD;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,053, dated March 13, 1906. Application filed November 22, 1899. Serial No. 737,852. (No model.)

To all whom) it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED H. ALEXAN- DER and THOMAS A. REYNOLDS, citizens of the United States, residing at West Hoboken,

in the county of Hudson and State of New:

Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hinged Dashboards; and we 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'itappertains to make and use thesame.

Our invention relates to dashboards for 'wheeled vehicles; and the object of the same is to provide simple and efficient means for hinging a dashboard to the body of the buggy or other vehicle in order that the shafts or tongue may be thrown up into substantially a vertical planewhen the vehicle is not in use.

It has been the practice in stables and carriage-houses to prop the shafts or tongues of vehicles when not in use by means of a board of the required length to hold the shafts or tongue at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the floor. This practice is injurious to both the shafts and the dashboard, as the cross-bar which connects the shafts bears against the dashboard and mars it and the board or prop is liable to scratch and disfigure the shafts. Moreover, the shafts are not held entirely out of the way by means of the prop and the prop is liable to be knocked out from under the shafts, letting them drop with considerable force to the floor and oftentimes causing considerable injury to. them. In places where alarge number of carriages are to be stored economy of space is a matter of considerable importance; and with the rigidlysecured dashboards in present use much floorspace is occupied by the projecting shafts, since the cross-bar between the shafts comes in contact with the rigid dashboard and the shafts cannot be swung upward far enough to permit another buggy-top under them. In some cases the shafts are permitted to lie on the floor and other wagons are run over them, often marring them, and then much difficulty is experienced in getting the wagon out, the

shafts being in the way.

It is the principal object of our invention to provide simple, reliable, and quickly-opbody,

erated means for holding the dashboard firmly in two positions namely, in an upright posi tion when in use and in a backWardly-inclined position when it is desired to throw the 5 5 shafts up out of the way to occupy a space only within the area occupied by the vehicle body and wheels.

We attain the objects and advantages referred to by means of the construction shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a buggy having a hinged dashboard and the shafts thrown back out of the way. Fig. 2 is aside view of our dashboard hinge and catch. 3 is an edge view of the members of our hinge. Fig. 4. is aperspective view of the hinge memhers.

Like numerals of reference designate likeparts in the different views.

Fig.

The numeral 1 designates a dashboard of usual construction, and 2 is a hinge constructed in accordance with our invention and attached to the dashboard and to the buggyas will be described. This hinge consists of the two members 3 and 4. The mem her 3 has a shank 5, provided with bolt-holes 6 for the bolt for attaching it to the vehiclebody. At the upper end of this member spaced lugs 7 7 are formed, and said lugs are provided with alined apertures 8 8, which serve as bearings for a pintle 9. The member lot the hinge consists of a casting having a boss or enlargement '10, provided with an aperture 11 for the pintle'9, said boss being of a size to fit between the spaced lugs 7 7,

and the pintle 9 is passed through the apertures in the boss and lugs and may be secured in place by a nut 12. Projectingoutward from the boss 10 is a toe 13, which serves as a stop to limit thepivotal movement of the members 3 and 4. and also as an abutment for a spring-catch 14., secured to the shank. 5 by the bolt 15. The boss and toe are formed on the outer end of a plate 16, which conforms 5 in width to the shank 5 and has shoulders 17 at the sides of said boss. At the opposite end of the plate 16 an ear or flange 18 extends at right angles to said plate and a bolt-hole 19 is formed in said car. A bolt 20 passes through the dashboard and through the hole 19, and a nut 21 fits the threaded end of the bolt for clamping the dashboard firmly to the ear 18.

The spring-catch 14: consists of a suitable piece of spring metal secured to the shank 5, as previously described, and provided at its upper end with a wedge-shaped metal piece 22 and a knob or handle 23.

It will be noticed that the bottom wall or surface 24, between the lugs 7 7, serves as a stop for the toe 13 when the hinge is operated in one direction, and the metal piece 22 performs a like office when the hinge is swung in the reverse direction.

Two hinges are usually employed, one at each end of the dash, upon the inside of the vehicle, as shown.

The device is operated as follows: When the dash is to be held in avertical or upright position for use, as shown in Fig. 2, the toe 13 rests upon the upper end of the piece 22 and is firmly held in this position by the spring-catch 14-. hen the vehicle is to be placed in the stable, the knob or handle 23 is grasped and pulled outward until the piece 22 clears the toe 13, and the dash is then thrown backward. The knob or handle is then released and the spring presses the piece 22 against the opposite side of the toe 13 and holds the dash in the inclined position. (Shown in Fig. 1.) The shafts 25 are then thrown upward in a vertical or nearly-vertical position and entirely out of the way, as shown in Fig. 1. When the vehicle is to be used again, the shafts are brought down and the dash is straightened up, the piece 22 then riding over the toe 13 and snapping under it when the dash is in vertical position.

It will be understood, of course, that for some classes of vel1icles--sucl1 as surreys,

phaetons, rookaways, &c.--the hinge will require slight modification to conform to the construction of the dash and the vehiclebody. Such alterations fairly fall within the spirit and scope of our invention, and we do not wish to be understood as being limited to the precise construction disclosed.

Having fully described our invention,what we claim is-- 1. A hinge for dashboards consisting of two members, one of which is attached to the vehicle-body and the other to the dash, aprojecting toe on one member and a springcatch on the other member, designed to bear at opposite points on the toe for holding the dash in two positions and a knob or handle on the spring for operating it, substantially as described.

2. A dashboard-hinge consisting of a plate or shank secured to the vehicle-body and having at its upper end spaced lugs, and forming one member of the hinge, the other member consisting of a plate having an ear secured to the dash, and at the opposite end a boss, a pintle passing through perforations in the lugs and boss, a toe projecting from the boss, and a spring-catch having a knob for operating it, said spring having a metal piece at its upper end designed to bear at opposite points on the toe for holding the dash in two positions, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED H. ALEXANDER. THOMAS A. REYNOLDS.

Witnesses:

H. M. JOHNSON, ELEONORA S. Horn.

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