US794132A - Hitching-weight holder. - Google Patents

Description

PATBNTED JULY 4, 1905.

H. H. TOTHILL.

HITUHING WEIGHT HOLDER.

APPLIOATION FILED OOT.'13, 1904.

INVENTOR 4J1rbe1'ifi70 #:ZZZ

ATTORNEY tl NTTnn STATns Patented July 4, 1905.

PATENT Orrrcia.

HERBERT H. TOTHILL, OF LOOKPORT, NEW' YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO HOMER M. ALBERTY, OF LOOKPORT, NEW YORK.

HlTCHING-WEIGHT HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,132, dated July 4, 1905. Application filed October 13, 1904, Serial No. 226,355.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT H. TOTHILL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Lockport, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved l Iitchingeight Holder, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for supporting a horse hitching weight on a delivery-wagon or other vehicle, an object being to provide a supporting device of simple construction, by means of which the weight when not in use may be suspended from the footboard or other portion of avehicle in such manner as to be readily lowered to the ground or raised by a person sitting in the vehicle.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the general description.

I will describe a hitching-weight holder embodying my invention and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view of a hitching-weight holder embodying my invention, showing the same as attached to awagon. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation of the holder. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan, partly in section; and Fig. 4: is a section on the line 4 1- of Fig. 2.

The device comprises a casing 5, which is open at the bottom and at the top. It is provided with a forwardly-extended flange 6 at its upper end and with a rearwardly-extended flange 7, these flanges being provided with holes through which bolts may pass to secure the device to the under side of the vehiclefootboard, as indicated, or to any other suitable place on the body. The front wall of the casing at the inner side is inclined upward and outward, as indicated at 8, and arranged at the inner side of the rear wall is a wear,- plate 9, which to prevent its falling out has its upper end turned over the upper end of said rear wall, and the lower end of the wearplate is curved outward underneath the lower end of said rear wall, and the plate is adjusted inward to compensate for wear or for different thicknesses of a supporting-strap 10 for the weight 11 by means of a thumb-screw 9.

The suspending-strap 10 passes through an opening 12 formed in the footboard, and while it is not absolutely necessary to secure the upper end when the weight is in its uppermost position I have here shown the upper end as provided with an eye 13 for engaging with a hook attached to the seat or to any other part of the vehicle, and the strap is prevented from passing entirely through the opening 12 by means of stops 15 secured to said strap.

The means for gripping the suspendingst'rap and pressing it against the wear-plate 9 consists of a metal ball 16, which when moved downward by gravity will be forced closely against the strap by means of the inclined wall 8, and to increase the frictional engagement of the gripping-ball with the strap I provide said strap on its gripping side with a roughened portion 17, consisting of Webbing or the like.

Arranged within the casing and upon which the ball 16 freely rests is a plunger 18, the lower end of which is pivotally connected to a lever 19, mounted to swing on the lower end of the front Wall of the casing, and from the outer end of this lever an actuating-rod 20 passes upward through an opening in the footboard, and between the foot-plate 21 on said 'rod and the footboard is a spring 22, which serves to move the rod upward, and consequently moves the plunger 18 downward to permit the ball 16 to fall.

From the weight 11 an ordinary hitchingstrap 23 extends to the bridle-bit. When it is desired to lower the weight, the rod 20 is to be pushed downward, which will move the gripping-ball 16 upward, so that the strap may readily pass downward until the weight reaches the ground. Then upon releasing the foot-pressure the ball 16 will again come into gripping action. The strap being thin at this point will run through to the stop 15, said stop being preferably placed on the strap to correspond with the height of different vehicles, so that if the horse backs the weight will be drawn back with the vehicle, keeping its proper distance from the head of the horse, and this will also result should the horse start forward, drawing upon the hitching-strap 23, and therefore there is no danger of the device becoming entangled with the horses legs.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A hitching-weight holder comprising a casing, having an inclined wall, a gripping device movable in the casing against said inclined Wall, and a spring-pressed plunger for moving said gripping device out of gripping position.

2. A hitching-weight holder comprising a casing adapted to be secured to the body of a vehicle and having an inclined wall, a metal ball arranged in the casing and adapted for engagement with said wall, a plunger upon which the ball freely rests, a lever with the inner end of which said plunger has pivotal connection, and a spring-pressed operatingrod extended upward from the outer end of said lever.

3. A hitching-weight holder comprising a casing adapted to be secured to the bottom of a vehicle, said casing having its front wall inclined upward and forward, an inclined adjustable wear-plate extended along the inner side of the rear Wall, aball-Weight loosely arranged in the casing and adapted for engaging with said inclined wall, a plunger in the casing on which Said ball rests, a lever pivoted to the casing and having its inner end pivoted to said plunger, and a rod extended upward from the outer end of said lever.

4:. A hitching-weight holder comprising a casing adapted to be secured to the under side of a vehicle-footboard, the said casing having an inclined front wall, a wear-plate adjustable inward of the rear wall and having a portion engaging over the upper end of said wall, a metal ball arranged loosely in the casing and adapted for engagement with said inclined Wall, and a spring-pressed plunger in the casing for moving said ball in one direction.

5. A hitching-weight holder comprising a casing, a gripping device movable freely in the casing in vertical direction, the said gripping device being movable downward by gravity, and a plunger for moving the gripping device upward.

6. A hitching-weight holder comprising a casing, open at its upper and lower ends and adapted to be secured to the bottom ofa footboard of a vehicle, said footboard having an opening, a gripping device movable in the casing, and a Weight-suspending strap having a roughened portion for engaging with said gripping device, the said strap being passed over the opening in the footboard and through the opening in the casing.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERBERT H. TOTHILL.

Witnesses:

HOMER M. ALBERTY, DAVID Gr. THOMPSON.

Images