US799356A - Convertible vehicle-tongue. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1905.

8. V. PLICE.

CONVERTIBLE VEHICLE TONGUE.

APPLIOATION TILED APR. 17,1905.

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PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL VERNON PLICE, OF POLK, OHIO.

CONVERTIBLE VEHICLE-TONGUE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1905.

Application filed April 17, 1905. Serial No. 256,042.

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL VERNON PLIon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Polk, in the county of Ashland and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Convertible Two or Three Horse Tongues; and I 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 it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to poles or tongues for wagons or other vehicles or implements,

but more particularly to a convertible or reversible tongue for use on a wagon or other vehicle or implement to adapt it to be drawn by two or by three horses at will by merely changing the position of the tongue.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as a part of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In said drawings, in which corresponding parts in different views are denoted by the same letters, Figure 1 represents a top or plan View of atongue and hounds with cooperating devices embodying my invention, showing the tongue in position for use with three Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tongue in position for use with two horses. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the stub-tongue shown in Fig. l detached.

The letter a in the drawings denotes a tongue having its rear end pivoted on a bolt d, which passes through the hounds h of a wagon and through a casting g, secured between said hounds, so that a single bolt serves to secure the tongue, hounds, and casting together. The casting g is longitudinally recessed or slotted to provide a seat for astubtongue or bar 0, which is fitted in said recess and may be secured by the bolt d passing through an opening therein. A suitable distance in advance of the pivot-bolt d the stubtongue is attached by a link or links I) to'the rear portion of the tongue a, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the tongue may be supported and maintained in a position parallel with the stub-tongue or, in effect, form a continuation thereof, but ofi'set therefrom at such point of attachment, while permitting the necessary play or rising-and-falling movements of the forward end of the tongue, the stub-tongue and casting rocking upon the pivot (Z. The

said casting 9 may be formed integrally with rearwardly-extending arms or bars 2', or the said arms or bars 71 may be bolted or otherwise secured to said casting, as indicated in the drawings, thus forming the hounds of the tongue, which may diverge rearwardly and fit snugly between the forwardly-converging hounds h of the wagon or other vehicle.

The letter 6 denotes a bolt or pin for securing adoubletree or a whifiietree, or, if desired, an evener with swingletrees attached thereto, as desired, in using two or three horses.

f denotes a hammer-strap or brace connecting the bolt or pin 6 to the stub-tongue for the purpose of bracing and strengthening the draft connections.

The rear end of the tongue a and also .of the stub tongue 0 may have an open slot therein to engage a round or cross-bar 2",, connecting the rear ends of the tongue-hounds, or both tongue and stub-tongue may overlie and rest upon said rounds, and both have apertures therethrough to receive the bolt d, so that the tongue and stub-tongue may be secured interchangeably within the recess or slot extending longitudinally of the casting g. Being thus partially embedded, as it were, in said casting by fitting in such recess, lateral movement of the tongue or stub-tongue independently of the casting is prevented and independent movement in a vertical direction is also prevented, or, in other words, the two parts are firmly united and must move together, the recess or slot in the casting upon which the tongue rests being of suitable length to aflord a firm support and brace for the tongue. Suitable apertures or holes are also formed in the tongue and stub-tongue coincident with the aperture or apertures through. the bottom of the casting g to receive the boltor bolts by which the doubletree or whifiietree and hammer-strap are secured to the casting, as indicated by the letters a and f in Fig. 3.

By these means a doubletree or whifiiletree may be attached along the central line of the hounds of the wagon and the tongue arranged midway between two horses whether two or three horses are used for drawing the wagon or other vehicle or implement, and thus avoid rubbing the center horse, which is so liable to occur when three horses are used abreast in connection with ordinary wagon-tongues, the center horse being badly rubbed by the pressure of the tongue against his side. As

will be understood by reference to Fig. l of the drawings, the tongue rests midway between the center horse and the left-hand horse when used with an ordinary whifiietree orevene'r; but the tongue can be arrangedmidway between the center and right-hand horses, if desired, by merely turning the tongue over and securing it upon the opposite side of the wagon-hounds. When it is desired to use only two horses, the stub-tongue is detached and the maintongue secured to the castingg by the same bolts that secure the stub-tongue thereto. In either position a rocking movement of the casting on the pivot-bolt d is permitted, allowing freedom of movement of the forward end of the tongue in a vertical direction; but lateral movement is prevented, except as the tongue moves with the bounds inturning- 1 Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secureby Letters- Patent of the United States, is

1. A convertibletwo-or three horse tongue, com-prising a detachable main and stub tongue, and a support for the latter pivoted upon a single bolt, means for detachably securing the main tongue and stub-tongue togetherto adapt them to swing or rock in unisonon'said pivot, and means for securing the tongue in the position normally occupied by the stub-tongue,- so as to adapt the structure for use with two or three horses, at will.

the tongue-hounds pivoted therebetween, the

stub-tongue removably secured to the tonguetongue together at a point in advance of said pivot, substantially as described.

3. In combination with the tongue detachably pivoted at its rear end to a fixed support, a stub-tongue detachably and rockingly secured uponthe pivot-bolt of said tongue and also secured to the latter at a point in advance of said pivot to maintain the two parallel'with each other, and means for securing said tongue in the positionnormally occupied by the stubtongue, to provide a tongue for two or three horses, at will, substantially as described.

a. A convertible two and three horse-tongue comprising a support pivotally secured between the hounds of a vehicle, a detachable tongue having its rear end pivoted at one side of said hounds, and connected infrontthereof with said support, and means for securing said tongue along the median line of said support, substantially as described.

5. In combination with the vehicle-hounds and tongue-hounds, the casting supporting the latter having a slot or recess-extending longitudinally thereoflastub-tongueor bar detachably secured in said slot or recess, a tongue detachably pivoted to said vehicle-hounds at one sidethereof, and means for securing said tongue and stub-tongue or bar together at a point in advance of said pivot; said tongue and stub-tongue being adapted to be secured 1 interchangeably in said slot or recess. '2. In combination with the vehicle-hounds, i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two w1tn esses.

SAMUEL VERNON PLICE.

Witnesses:

F. N. PATTERSON, B. M. WELTY.

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