US759934A

US759934A - Automatic railway-switch lock.

Info

Publication number: US759934A
Application number: US5779301A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles Sulfer
Original assignee: INTERNAT RAILWAY SUPPLY CO
Current assignee: INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY SUPPLY CO; INTERNAT RAILWAY SUPPLY CO
Priority date: 1901-04-27
Filing date: 1901-04-27
Publication date: 1904-05-17
Anticipated expiration: 1921-05-17

Description

PATENTED MAY 17, 1904.

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C. SULFER. AUTOMATI RAILWAY SWITCH LOCK.4

ArPLIoATIoN FILED APR.

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CSULTBR. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH LOCK.

APPLICATION Imm ATB. 27. 1901.

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No. 759,984. PATENTED MAY 174, 1904. C. SULFBR. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH LOCK.

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Patented May 1'?, 1904.

CHARLES SULFER, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNA- TIONAL RAILWAY SUPPLY CO., RATION OF ILLINOIS.

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPO- AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-SWITCH LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,934, dated May 1'7, 1904.

Application filed April 27, 1901.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES SULFER, aciti- Zen of the United States, residing at San Antonio, county of Bexar, and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railway-Switch Locks, (Case No. 3;) and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable persons `tively and quickly locked in the position to which the said parts have been so moved.

A further object of my invention is to provide an automatically acting lock for the switch-lever and a supplementary latch, which latter I shall designate the safety device, arranged in the handle in such a position with reference to the other member of the locking device-namely a stud--that the safety-latch will engage with said stud and hold the two parts in position as irmly as if the said parts were positively locked together by the locking mechanism, the arrangement being such that after the switch-lever has been once unlocked with the` key the parts may be temporarily locked together by means of the said safetylatch at such times when it is not desirable to lock the parts permanently together. Finally the two parts may be so pel'- manently locked together by holding the safety-latch leverin such position that the bolt thereof will be withheld from engagement with its respectivemember and by further depressing the lever bodily until the permanent locking or latch bolt is automatically thrown into engagement with its respective member on the said stud.

My invention further consists in the combinations and arrangements of the various Serial No. 57,793. (No model.)

parts, as hereinafter pointed out and specifically claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical section oit' my switch handle or lever, showing the stud permanently locked in the said handle by its engagement with the locking or latch bolt thereof. Fig. 2 is a similar section of my switch-lever, showing' the stud temporarily locked by means of the safety-latch. Y Fig. 3 is a similar section of my switchlever, showing the stud entering the perforation in the handle and depressing the safety-latch. Fig. 4 is a front view of my switch-lever with the covering-plate removed. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the lever and lock. Fig. 6 is a similar section of the lever. The foregoing' sectional views are all taken on the correspondingly-numbered lines of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a side view of the case or frame containing thelocking mechanism of the switch. Fig. 8 is a plate adapted to cover the front side of the lever, which contains the sliding cover for the keyhole of the lock. Fig. 9 is a detail of a supplementary plate adapted to be placed inside of the large plate shown in Fig. 8 for con-v taining the spring and sliding mechanism of the keyhole-cover. Figs. 10 and 11 are detailed views of the latch-bolt.

In all of the views the same letters oitl reference indicate similar parts.

In the drawings, C is a broken-away portion of the switch-shifting lever containing the mechanism of the locking and safety-latch devices.

c is the upper extension of the lever.

c/ is a plate for covering the perfor-ations in the lever in which the mechanism is contained. This plate is chamfered around its edges and is adapted to slip into the said leverfront under the dovetailed portions c and c7 and. to be secured by screws, which are adapted to be inserted in holes 02 and c3 and which pass through the said plate for holding' thesame in position.

01 and c5 are ribs cast within the perforation of the lever for the purpose of guiding the lever and holding it in the desired position with reference to the stud.

D is the safety-latch handle adapted to operate the safety-latch bolt (Zfoperated by means of the stud Z2 of the safety-latch bolt and the fork that partly surrounds the said stud of the handle D. The handle D is pivoted upon a stud CZ, which is attached firmly in the orifice of the lever. Stud CZ passes through the aperture or perforation made into the switch-lever in which the safety-latch handle D is pivoted. The open helical spring (Z3 is adapted to distend the safety-handle D and to raise the safety -bolt CZ. When the handle D is depressed, the safety-bolt CZ is withdrawn from the path of the stud within the aperture of the lever.

e is a quadrilateral frame or case for holding the mechanism of a self-contained lock. By means of said lock the stud Z) is locked and retained within the perforation of the said switch-lever.

e is a spring latch or lock bolt, which is yieldingly held down in its lowest position by means of an open helical spring @2, which for convenience surrounds the upper rounded portion of the said lock-bolt. e3 is a notch made in the said spring-latch lock-bolt, with which a trip-dog e is adapted to engage. An extension e* of the trip-dog cf passes through the frame of the said lock and into the path of the stud A fiat spring' e7 is adapted to exert the necessary pressure against the trip-dog e to hold it in position ready and to cause it to engage with the notch e3 of the bolt e. @s is a pivot upon which the said trip-dog moves. A notch e9 is made into one side of the latchbolt, into which the key passes when the said key is turned for the purpose of raising the said latch-bolt out of the path of the stud b for the purpose of unlocking or disengaging the locking member' of the device. el is the keyhole into which the said key is inserted, and en is the key-stud in the said keyhole, over which the said key passes.

@12 is a lateral extension from the trip-dog e6, and it is this portion of the said dog which is adapted to engage in the notch @3 of the latch-bolt e.

A channel el is made yinto a plate e of the lever C immediately above the keyhole for containing a helical open spring e, which bears against the fixed part of the plate at the upper end and against a sliding keyholecover adapted to slide in said plate at its lower end and retain the keyhole-cover in the position shown in Fig. 3, so as to maintain the keyhole closed by said cover to prevent the entrance of moisture, dirt, and other foreign substances.

e is a front plate, between which and plate el? the keyhole-cover @13 is fitted, so that the latter may be raised against the pressure of the spring el to insert the key into the keyhole el". Small screws e pass from the inside of the perforation to the said lever into the plate e for holding the latter in position.

The use and operation of my device are as follows: Then the lever C, which is pivoted to a switch-shifting mechanism, is depressed upon the stud for the purpose of locking the parts together, the stud b first comes in contact with the safety-latch Z and forces the latter downwardly against the pressure of the spring (Z3. Then the lever C is further depressed, the spring cl3 will force the safetylatch bolt Z into the notch b2 of the stud. By means of this safety-latch the stud Z1 and lever C may be temporarily latched together. Then the handle D of the safety-latch device is compressed, the safety-latch bolt CZ will be withdrawn from the notch b2 of the stud I) and the parts or membersthe lever and the stud-maybe again separated. Then the two elements of the locking device are forced entirely together, so that the latchbolt e will engage with the notch b* in the stud I), then the safety-latch bolt Z and the notch 3 will engage, and the lever C cannot be again operated until the switch-key is used. To unlock the lever C from the stud b, so as to'swing the said lever into position to turn the switch mechanism, the switch-key is first placed under the spring-pressed plate @13 and the said plate raised by lifting the key until the keyhole @lo is uncovered, when the key maybe inserted therein. rlhe key is then turned in the lock until it engages under the shoulder of the notch e9 of the spring latch-bolt e. The said latch-bolt is thereby raised until the end @12 of the trip-dog e snaps into notch e3, and thereby the said latch-bolt is supported, being removed from the path of the stud having .been withdrawn from the notch b* thereof. At the same time the extension e* of the trip-dog @G is lowered into the path of the projection 67 of the stud b. Then the lever and stud are separated, the said projection of the stud again raises the projection e* of the trip-dog e, which action disengages the end @12 of the trip-dog and the notch e3 of the spring-bolt,and the said bolt being again released it descends to the position shown in Fig. 3 to again engage with the notch b* and again lock the two parts together. Then it is desired to temporarily lock the two parts-the lever and the stud-together, the safety device D may be used.

It will be seen that the locking elements of the device are placed so that they will latch together before the engagement of the permanently-locking mechanism.

The safety device may be operated by the manipulation of the handle D.

vTo unlock the permanent-locking members, the use of the separable switch-key becomes necessary.

It will be noticed that my lock contains only two major portions-namely, the safetylatch e and the trip-dogs e-and that the two portions are operative without the springs e2 IOO IIO

IIS

and @7, respectively. These springs, however, are desirable for the purpose of producing a quick action of the respective pieces.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In a railway-switch-locking device, a lock comprising a casing having a stud-receiving recess, a sliding bolt, and a pivoted latch-dog having one end extendingI into the said recess, and its other end arranged for engagement with the bolt, substantially as set forth.

2. In a railway-switch-locking device, a stationary member having a stud secured thereto, a movable member adapted to be moved to receive the stud, and a lock associated with the movable element comprising a latch-bolt, and a trip-dog adapted to control the movement of the bolt having one end extending into the path of the stud, substantially as set forth.v

3. In a railway-switch-locking device, a stationary member having a stud secured thereto, an inclined projection on said stud, a movable element adapted to be moved to engage the stud, and provided with a recess to receive the same, and a lock associated with the movable element comprising a latch-bolt, and a trip-dog therefor having one end extending into the stud-receiving recess and arranged in the path of the inclined projection on the stud, substantially as set forth.

4. In a railway-switch-locking device, a removable locli-case, a latch-bolt adapted to be vibrated therein, a triangular-shaped tripdog pivoted therein, one end adapted and arranged to engage said latch-bolt, and the oth er end extending through the walls of said case, substantially as set forth.

5. In a railway-switch-locking device a removable lock-case, e, provided with an opening in its wall, a latch-bolt, e, adapted and arranged for reciprocation therein, and provided with a notch e, a spring c? adapted and arranged to depress said bolt, a pivoted tripdog e", having an end ei adapted to engage said notch in the bolt when the latter is in raised position, and an end e4 extendingthrough the opening' in the wall of the case e, a spring c7 arranged to tend to move the dog c to position to engage the bolt, means for raising the bolt, and means for coacting with the end e* of the dog to remove the end e5 from engagement with the bolt, substantially as set forth.

6. Ina railway-switch-locking device, a hollow handle in which the locking mechanism is located, and a safety-latch consisting of the handle I) and the latch-bolt CZ adapted to be moved thereby, laterally-extending studs d2 partially incloscd by forks on the handle D, stud d upon which handle D is pivoted, compression-spring d3, and a means such as a plate c' for retaining said safety device within said handle, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specilication, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 25th day of April, A. D.

CHARLES SULFER. Witnesses:

FORE BAIN, M. F. ALLEN.