US743291A - Convertible passenger-car. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED- NOV. 3, L903.

A. KIMBLE. CONVERTIBLE PASSENGER OAR.

APPLIGATIUN FILED AUG. 14, 1903.

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A m fiNEYS NITED STATES Patented November 3, 1905 ANDREW KIMBLE, OF ZANESVILLE, OHIO.

CONVERTIBLE PASSENGER-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,291, dated November 3, 1903. Application filed Augustil l, 1903. Serial No. 169.510. (No model.)

useful Improvements in Convertible Passen-.

ger-Gars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement inthat class of passenger-cars which are convertible-that is to say, adapted to be converted or changed from an open or summer car to a closed or winter car, or vice versa.

It is the object of my invention to provide such construction and combination of parts as will enable the conversion to be elfected. with economy of material and with despatch.

In other Words, I aim to employ a minimum number of parts which may be produced at small cost and to adoptsuch construction as will enable the desired change to be effected in a short space of time with little labor.

The details of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts are as hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichi I Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating various features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail section of the lower portion of one of the panels arranged between standards or posts of the car-frame. Fig. 3 is a view illustratinga modified means for locking the panel in place. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail sections illustrating the construction of the upper portion of a removable panel and one of the posts or standards, respectively. Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively perspective and :sectional views of the support for the runningboard.

In Fig. 1, 1 indicates one of the sills or bottom timbers of a car-frame, 2 the top bar or stringer, and 3 vertical posts or standards arranged inte'rmediately of and connecting the parts 1 2. At their upper ends the said standards 3 are provided with tenons which are mortised into the stringer 2, and the same are further secured by means of a narrow steel plate 4, which is arrangedin a rabbet 5 of the stringer and secured by transverse bolts 6. An outer or cap plate 7 is applied to cover both the stringer and securing-bar 4:, as shown. The lower ends of the standards 3 are halved or cut away, as illustrated, thus forming a tenon 3, which enters the corresponding mortise in the sill 1. A broad steel cap-plate 8 is applied to the outer side of the sill 1 and secured by bolts 9, which pass also through the sill and tenon 3, and likewise through a hanger 10, which extends downward and supports the hinged running-board 11, together with a guard-board 12. It will be noted that the cap-plate 8 is constructed in angle form, and thus extends under the base or lower side of thesill 1, so that the latter is greatly strengthened and stifiened and may therefore be made of less thickness and lighter than would be otherwise practicable. The joists or rafters 13 are rabbeted and arranged in corresponding m'ortises in the stringer 2 and secured by vertical bolts, as shown.

14: indicates a portion of the roof proper of the car, which is laid directly upon the joists or rafters 13 and extends over the upper edge of the cap-plate 7.

By the above-described construction and combination of standards, sill, stringer, and the various parts by which the same are socured I form a skeleton frame possessing great strength, stifiness, and lightness and which may be produced at small cost.

It will be understood that for summer use the spaces betweenthe standards and the sill and stringer are not closed, but left entirely free and open, so far as any rigid structure is concerned, curtains only being provided for use in closing the spaces in case of rain. As shown, the posts 3 are provided-with lengthwise grooves 15 and a pocket 15 at the top for receiving a curtain and curtain-roller, which may be arranged andadapted for use in the usual way. When the car is to be closed or converted for winter use, the spaces between the standards are provided with windows 16 17 and panels 18, the details of which will now be described. The left-handstandard is shown provided with a groove 19, which leads upward into an enlarged groove 20,

formed in the upper portion of the post. The

lower terminal of the narrower groove 19 is near the middle of the standard, which is bent outward at that point, so as to form a slight obtuse angle in order to provide for greater spacein the upper portion of the car. It will be noted, further, that the standard is cut away below such point, and therefore the windows 16 and 17 may be inserted at that point and slid upward into their proper places. The narrower and upper window 16 is first slid up and adjusted in the enlarged grooves 20, so as to occupy the front portion of the same and rest upon the shoulders 21. The larger window 17 is then slid up in the grooves 19 until its upper edge or top bar lies inside the lower bar of the upper window, in contact therewith, as shown, and thus serves to hold the upper window in place. A spring of suitable construction or other device is employed in the upper portion of the upper groove 20 for more firmly securing the upper portion of the upper sash 16 in due position. The panel 18 is constructed of a body portion and top and bottom bars 22 and 23, respectively. The top bar 22 (see Fig. 4) is mortised or grooved longitudinally in its under side to adapt it to receive the upper edge of the panel proper, and it is provided on its upper side with lengthwise rib or flange extending upward and serving as a guard-holder for the lower edge of the window 17. The said top bar 22 is further provided at each end with recesses 24 for receiving projections 25, formed on the standards 3 at the lower terminal of the groove 19. It will be understood that the upper bar 22 is secured by suitable means to the body of the panel, which is shown constructed of two thin portions having a suitable construction and ornamentation. These parts may be made of wood or metal or any other preferred material having due rigidity, strength, cheapness, and other qualities required in practical use. The bottom bar 23 (see Figs. 1 and 2) has a downwardly-projecting flange that abuts the corner-ot' the sill l and is also cut away or narrowed from the outer edge to the inner in order to enable the panel to be inserted from the outside by first setting the upper edge to wit, the top bar 22in place and then swinging the lower portion of the panel inward until the flange of the base-bar 23 assumes the position shown in Fig. 2. It is obvious that this movement could not be effected if the bar 23 were not cut away or beveled on the under side, as shown.

I employ means for locking and securing the bar 23 to the sill 1 which consists of a lock 25, having a bolt 26, which may be thrown by means of a key 27, inserted through a holein the outer side of the panel. In place of this device I may employ any other which is suitable for the purpose-for instance, the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 3, which consists of a rotary disk 28, having a central opening forinsertion of a turning bar or key, and two rods 29, which are pivoted to the disk at opposite points, and thus adapted when the disk is rotated to be extended or retracted longitudinally, so as to engage with or disengage from the standards on opposite sides of a panel.

By themeans above described it is apparcut that the conversion of a car from summer to winter service may be easily and quickly eflected by simply sliding the small window 16 upward into place, then adjusting the larger window 17 below it, and next inserting the panel bodily, which is effected by placing its upper edge in engagement with the projections 25 on the standards and then swinging inward the lower portion of the panel until arrested by the flanged bar 23, when the lock is thrown for detachably securing the panel in place. To convert the car from winter to summer use, it is obviously only necessary to reverse this operation.

' In practice suitable receptacles will be provided for storage of the windows and panels, so that they will be duly preserved and kept in readiness for reuse when required.

,In Fig. 2 I illustrate the attachment of a weather-strip consisting of a rubber strip 30, which is secured toa hinged metal plate and thus adapted to lie in contact with the inner edge of the bottom bar23 and with the top of the sill 1, so as to exclude wind and moisture, as will be readily understood. A spring or springs or any other suitable means may be employed for holding the weatherstrip 30 in working position. When the panel is to be inserted or removed, the flexibility of the strip and its projection below the adja cent portion of the bar 23 enables it to yield or move laterally, so as to form no serious obstruction.

In Figs. 1 and 4, 31 indicates a cushionback which is attached to the panel in order to build it out the full width required and to cooperate with a seat-back proper.

It will be understood that when the car is converted the run hing-board or step-bar 11 is attached or detached correspondingly. Thus for winter use it is detached and the hangers 10 are left in place as permanent attachments of the car. The detachable connection of the board 11 with the hangers is eifected as follows: A cruciform hinge-plate 30 (see Fig. 6) is screwed to the under side of the said board and is connected with the eye of the hanger 10 by means of trunnions 31, that project laterally from a lug formed on the upper side of the hinge-plate. The trunnions enter inner slots 32 in the eye 33 of the hangers, the said slots being open at the top, so that the hingeplate 30 may be readily attached and detached by a simple vertical movement, in which case the board is held in vertical position. The plate 30 has a rear extension or toe-piece 34, that abuts the rear projection 35 of the hanger-eye 33 when the'board 11 is in horizontal or working position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. Thus the trunnions 31 are the fulcra of the hinge-levers 30, and the rear extensions are the points by which leverage is applied in supporting the board 11 horizontally. I

I have devised for use in connection with the car-frame an improved form, construction, and arrangement of seats whereby the entire conversion from summer to winter, and vice versa, will be conveniently and cheaply cap-plates applied to the sills and stringers,

respectively, and serving as supplemental means for securing the standards, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a convertible car, the combination, with the mortised top bar or stringer having its outer side rabbeted, of standards having tenons which enter the mortises, a metal bar arranged in the rabbet and bolted in place, and a cap-plate applied over the same andthe adjacent portion of the stringer,substantially as described.

3. In a convertible car, the combination, with the top bar or stringer having mortises and standards having tenons adapted to enter the latter, of a metal plate or bar applied to the outer side of the stringer and secured by transverse bolts in the manner described,

whereby the standards and stringers are secured together as specified.

4. In a convertible car, the combination, with the sill having mortises and standards having tenons extending downward and entering the mortises, of ametal cap-plate applied on the outer side of the sill and secured by transverse bolts, substantially as described.

5. In a convertible car, the combination, with the sill having mortises in its outer side, of standards provided with tenons 3 adapted to lie in said mortises flush with the outer side of the sill, and a metal cap-plate applied to the sill and bolts securing it thereto, the same passing through the tenons and sill as specified.

6. The combination, with the mortised sill and standards having tenons fitted thereto, of the metal angle-plate 8 applied to cover the outer and lower sides of the sill and secure the tenons in place, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the sill having mortises, and standards having tenons fitted in the latter, of a metal cap-plate applied on the outer side of the l sill, hangers for running-boards arranged on the outer side of the cap-plate in coincidence with the tenons of the standards, and transverse bolts passing through the said hangers, cap-plate, tenons, and sill, substantially as shown and described.

8. In a convertible car, the vertical standards provided with grooves in the upper portion for receiving windows, and cut away and thus made of less width in their lower portions, whereby they are adapted for insertion and removal of windows and panels, substantially as described.

9. In a convertible car, the vertical standards having lengthwise grooves which are enlarged in the upper portion and provided with a shoulder as shown, the lower portions of the standards being cut away and thus made of less width than the grooved portion and provided with a downward extension of the shoulder formed at the junction of the wider and narrower portions, as and for the purposes specified.

10. The combination, with standards having a groove in the upper portion and their lower portions cut away on the front side so as to have less width than the upper portions, of windows adapted to be inserted in the grooves, and panels adapted to be inserted in the wider spaces below, and means for securing said panels in place, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with the standards having grooves which are enlarged and provided with a shoulder in their upper portions,

the lower portions being narrowed or reduced in width, of two windows one of which is adapted to be inserted in the upper enlarged portions of the grooves and to be supported by the shoulders thereof, the lower windows being held in the narrower portions of the grooves and with their upper portions alongside of the lower portions of the upper windows, and removable panels filling the spaces between the lower portions of the standards, substantially as described.

12. The combination,with the vertical standards having downward projections at about the middle of their length, the portions below being cut away, of panels adapted to be inserted in the spaces between the standards and to engage the aforesaid projection, and means for securing the lower ends of the panels in place, substantially as described.

13. The combination, with the sill and vertical standards having their lower portions cut away and provided with projections at about the middle of their length, of insertible panels adapted to fit tightly between the cut-away portions of the standards and having topbars provided with mortises for engaging the aforesaid projections, and a bottom bar provided with a flange for engaging the sill, substantially as described.

14. The combination, with the sill and vertical standards, of a panel adapted to be inserted between the latterand having a bottom bar provided with a pendent flange adapted to engage the sill, and a locking device consisting of a bolt adapted to work through the bottom bar and enter a mortise in the sill, substantially as described.

15. The combination, with the sill and vertical posts, an insertible panel adapted to fit closely between the lower portions of the standards, and a bar formingthe' bottom of the panel, of a flexible weather-strip applied at the inner edge of the bottom bar, substantially as described.

16. The combination with the car-frame and pendent hangers having eyes provided with slots opening upward, of the running-board and hinge-plates secured thereto and having trunnions adapted to be inserted in and removed from said slots and a toe-piece extend- 5 ed rearwardly and adapted to bear upward against the hanger, as shown and described. 17 The combination of the sill, the vertical posts, a panel adapted to fit closely between the lower portions of the posts, a hinged plate at the lower edge of the panel, and the TO Weather-strip applied to the said hinged plate, substantially as set forth.

' ANDREW KIMBLE.

Witnesses:

EDGAR E. BAGLEY, PERRY SMITH.

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