US765813A - Car-fender. - Google Patents

Description

PATBNTBD JULY 26, 1904.

P. E. CATON.

CAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 27, 190s.

No MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented July 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRED E. CATON, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORIO CATONS FOUNDRIT AND MACHINE CO., OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, A COR- PORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 765,813, dated July 26, 1904,

Application filed October 27,1903. Serial No. 178,668. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t 717/603/ concern:

Be it known that I, FRED E. CA'roN, acitizen of the United States, residing'at San Jose, Santa Clara county, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Fenders; and I do hereby declare the following' to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of fenders or safety-guards for cars in which the front edge of the guard apron or scoop is normally carried above and out of contact with the rails and road-bed, but is adapted to descend to functional position by the operation of a trigger or trip upon coming in contact with an obstructing body. In this class of fenders the apron sometimes consists of a curved or scoop-like frame, composed of ribs and netting, and sometimes it consists of a number of curved resilient arms. It is usually suspended by a connection at its rear upper edge, the major portion of its body eX- tending forwardly and having no support other than that afforded by its rear connection. arms is necessarily somewhat resilient or yielding, (a rigid frame being undesirable,) the front edge is not well carried above the road-bed and rails, but has a considerable shaking movement, due to the movements of the car, which said shaking is the more pronounced where, as in many cases, the fender is carried by the spring-supported car-body and not by the trucks.

rIhe main object of my invention is to remedy this difficulty by furnishing a positive and direct support for the front of the guard apron orscoop, which result I attain by means of the trigger itself, between which and the front edge of the scoop I form a direct trip connection.

Other objects of my invention are to provide for getting the trigger up out of the way after the first operation of tripping the apron or scoop is performed and for positively throwing the apron or scoop downto the roadbed as soon as it is tripped and also to provide simple and effective means for readjusting the parts of the fender after use.

As the frame whether a net or spring- To these ends my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combinations of parts, which I shall now describe and claim by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of my carfender ofthe pivoted net variety, showing it in its normal set position. Fig. 2 is an end view of same, showing by dotted lines its position when called into use. Fig. 3 is an end View showing the apron or scoop of the springarm type, the dotted lines indicating its position when released for use. Fig. 4 is an end view of a similar type of scoop or apron, showing a forwardly-extending trigger and a simple line connection to readjust the parts after use.

A is a portion of the car body or bed in front of the forward wheels B. From the car either from the truck or, as here shown, from the car-body is supported by suitable meansas, for example, by the straps C-the frame D, which carries the fender.

Eis the guard apron or scoop, composed in Figs. l and 2 of suitable ribs and netting, as shown. At its rear upper edge the scoop E has a bar e, which is pivotally suspended by any suitable means-as, for example, by the hooked lower ends of the J-hangers F, which hangers are rigidly connected at their upper ends to the supporting-frame D. It will thus be seen that the scoop E may be turned about its upper rear edge as a center to lift its for- Ward edge above or to allow it to descend to the rails and road-bed.

G is the trigger or trip. It may be a frame of any suitable construction-as, for example, a net-frame, as here shown. It is pivotally suspended by its upper edge by any suitable means, as by the lower ,hooked ends of the d -hangers H, which are rigidly secured at their upper ends to the front of the supportingframe D. From the lower edge of the trigger or trip G' extend backwardly the supporting-hooks I, the rear ends o f which engage with the forward edge of the apron or scoop E and serve to normally hold said edge up and support it above the track-rails and road-bed. The hooks I have suitable braces c'.

As far as described the operation of the fender is as follows: In its set position, ready to be called into use, the trigger or trip G engages, by means of its hooks I, the forward edge of the scoop E and holds said edge above the track-rails and road-bed, so that the front of said scoop is positively supported and will not have any undue shaking movement due to its own resiliency or other want of rigidity, which would tend to make it come in contact with the road-bed. Tf now an obstructing body be met, the contact of said body against the trigger G will cause said trigger to swing backwardly sufficiently to disengage its hooks I from the front edge of the scoop, whereupon said scoop will drop down and its forward edge will rest upon the rails and road-bed in position to prevent the body from getting under it and said body will be received upon the scoop or apron. W'hen the situation is relieved by the removal of the obstructing body, the car attendant can cause thetrigger G and the scoop E to rengage, and the deviceis thereby set once more. This, it will be observed, is the simplest form of the fender, in which the main object of supporting positively the forward edge of the scoop is accomplished, and the device, thus simple, may be used with advantage in those cases where too much expense is not desired; but to effect further objects-namely, to throw the scoop down positively, to get the trigger up out of the way, and to reset the device from the car-the complete construction is as follows: Secured rigidly to and rising from the upper back bar c of the scoop is a lever K, which passes up through the floor of the car in position to be operated by the motorman. Connected with this lever at point Z, relatively high up thereon, is a connecting-rod L, the other end of which extends to and is connected with a crank-arm M, secured to the top edge of the trigger G. A spring is let into these connections in any suitable place for the purpose of throwing them forward to lift the trigger and of positively throwing the scoop down. I have here shown a spring N, bearing behind the lever, its tension being exerted to throw the lever forward. The operation of these parts will now be seen. When the trigger G is pressed backwardly by the obstructingbody, and thereby detaches its hooks I from the scoop E, said scoop will fall, being impelled thereto not only by gravity, but by the spring N. This spring also throws the lever K forwardly, and this movement of the lever, through the connecting-rod L and the crank-arm M, will lift the trigger G in its backward movement high enough to get it out of the way of the obstructing body, which will now pass upon the scoop. It will be seen that Athe point of connection Z of rod L being relatively high up on lever K provides by its extended arc of movement for the required swing of the trigger to lift it fully up out of the way. It will also be seen that the relative positions of the end connections of the rod L both with respect to each other and to the pivotal center of the scoop are such that while the trigger and scoop are connected by the hooks the spring N is powerless to throw the lever K forward, so that the parts remain locked in their normal position; but owing to the resilience or slight inherent yielding in the trigger itself an obstructing body coming in contact with it will cause it to press back far enough to release its hooks from the scoop, whereupon the spring N will instantly act and throw the scoop down and the trigger up. To reset the parts, the motorman has only to draw back the lever K, whereby the scoop E will be lifted and the trigger-frame G will be lowered, and the engagement of its hooks I with said scoop will again take place.

In Figs. l and 2 the apron or scoop is of the net-frame type, suspended pivotally by its upper rear edge. VIn some fenders, however, the scoop consists of spring-arms of a C shape. To apply my invention to this type it is only necessary, as I show in Figs. 3 and 4, to direct the spring of the arms to normally depress the front edge to the road-bed and tracks. Thus the spring-arms E in their shank portions e have a tension so directed that the front edge of the scoop is thrown and held down if not interfered with or supported. Vln this case the hooks 1 of the trigger G engaging the front edge holds said edge up above the rails and road-bed, as shown in full lines; but when the trigger is forced back and trips the scoop the front edge will spring down to functionally operative position, as shown by the dotted lines. In both these iigures the trigger G is pivotally suspended in bearing-arms G', secured to the beam G2, to which the scoop-arms are secured.

In Fig. 4 the arrangement is adapted for a casein which the space between the truckframe and front edge of the car is too short to permit the axis of the trigger to be forward of the vertical plane of the front edge of the scoop, as in the other arrangements shown; but as it is best to have the trigger well in front of the scoop in order to give the latter ample time after the tripping to descend to the road-bed before the obstructing body can reach it or get under it said'trigger is shown in Fig. 4 as being curved or extended forwardly for the proper distance. Also in Fig. 4 I have shown a line g, secured to the for-- ward edge of the scoop and thence extending to a handle g2 within reach of the car operator, said line serving as a simple means to reset the parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is4

l. A car-fender comprising an apron the front edge of which when unsupported rests upon the rails and road-bed, a swinging trig- IOO IIO

ger in front of said apron, a trip connection between the trigger and the front edge of the apron adapted to support'said edge above the rails and road-bed, and to drop it when tripped, and means operated by the apron in dropping, to simultaneously swing the trigger up.

2. A car-fender comprisingl an apron pivotally suspended by its upper rear edge, a swinging trigger in front of said apron, a trip connection between the trigger and the front edge of the apron adapted to support said edge above the rails and road-bed and to drop it when tripped, a lever connected with the rear edge oi' the apron and a connecting-rod between said lever and the trigger adapted to Swing the trigger up' as the apron drops.

3. A Car-fender comprising an apron pivotally suspended by its upper rear edge, a swinging trigger in front of said apron, a trip connection between the trigger and the front edge of the apron adapted to support said edge above the rails and road-bed and to drop it when tripped, a lever connected with the rear edge of the apron, a connecting-rod between said lever and the trigger adapted to swing the trigger up as the apron drops, and a spring' to throw the apron down.

4. A car-fender comprising an apron pivotally suspended by its rear edge, a trigger in ger and the front edge oi' the apron to support said edge above the rails and road-bed and to drop it when tripped, a springcon trolled lever attached to the rear edge of the apron, a crank-arm on the upper edge of the trigger, anda rod connecting said lever and arm.

5. A car-fender comprising an apron pivotally suspended by itsv rear edge, a trigger in front thereof pivotally suspended by its upper edge, a trip connection between said trigger and the front edge ot the apron, to Support said edge above the rails and road-bed, and to drop it when tripped, an uprising lever attached to the rear edge of the apron, a spring acting on said lever to throw it forwardly, a crank-arm on the upper edge of the trigger, and a rod connecting the lever with the crank-arm, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set rny f Witnesses:

LEROY BAILEY, H. LYSLE AUSTIN.

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