US827407A

US827407A - Switch mechanism for railways.

Info

Publication number: US827407A
Application number: US31407506A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas Bamford
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1906-04-27
Filing date: 1906-04-27
Publication date: 1906-07-31
Anticipated expiration: 1923-07-31

Description

No. 827,407. f PATENTED JULY 31,1906.

,T, BAMFORD. SWITCH MECHANISM FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 27 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' W1 TNESSES;

A TTORNE VS 1m: ucnmsps sns cc., WASHINGTON, b. c.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTBD JULY 31, 1906.

JJ A rro'lezvys BAM FORDY SWITCH MECHANISM FOR RAILWAYS. APPLIUATION FILED APLR'T, 1906.

s PETERS c mechanism forms in connection with .street tuate t TrioMAs BAMFORD, or LEBANON, ILLINOIS.

SWI'TCH'ME'OHANISM-FOR RAILWA'YS.-

To; wlflwhom it. may concern/. v

Be it known. that I, Tr oMAsBAMFoRD, a

citizen of the United States, residin at Leba non, in the county ofSt. Clair'an State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Switch Mechanism for- Railways, -.ofwhich "the following is a specification.

The present invention relates, to a switch and interurbanrailways of that type adapted to be mounted; on the cars, so that the motor man or'engineer can throw the switch without sto ping the car and .dismounting to .ac-' fie track-switch, as has been hitherto necessary'..

a The'objects of the invention are'to provide aswitchsthrowing mechanism of the character which is of simple and inexpensive con- 8171 110131011" and WlllC is positive and reliable moperation.

Furthermore, lt-is an aim of the invention to soccnstruct the switch-throwing m echanism that it can-beyapplied to cars of standard construction without any alteration being necessary'and' to equip the'track-switch with the necessary" means cooperatingwith the switch throwing mechanism carried by the car: for moving the switch without any subst'antial change tion I o With these and otherzobjectsin view the invention consists of the various features of construction and arrangement of parts, as will; be hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out with particularity in the claims ap. ended hereto.

in the regular track construcn the: accom 'anying. drawings, which illustrate one em odiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a front portion" of'an-electric car with the switch-throwin -mechanism applied thereto. si eelevation, on an enlarged scale, of the said mechanism: Fig. 3' 1s a front view thereof, andFig. 4 is a plan view of the track and switchtherefor. 7

Referring to the drawings, l re resents one of the trucks of thecar, on whic is supported the body 2'. The-car can, however, be of the singe -truck type.

V In either case the switch-throwing mechanisms arepreferably mounted on thetrucks. When the car. is'of .the double-ended constructionthat is to say, having the necessary controlling apparatus at both ends, so that the .car can be operated from either-four throwingmechanisms Specification of'Letters Patent.

Application filed April 27,1906. Serial No. 314,075.

Fig. 2 is a v main trac I tion is-of standardvdesign; Disposedat the.

Patented July 31, I906.v

are provided,so1thatany desired switchcan I i be operated by-the motorm'an I Each switchthrowing mechanism: com= prises a vertical, shaft 3, which is mounted so" asto have a combined longitudinal andoscillatory movement, and for this. pur ose is arranged in a bearing-sleeve'e, suitab su to which the guiding=sleeve4 may b.e mount. ed, and the entirestructure is supportedon the" truck 1. The outer :end of the' upper arm J6 The-ups j i-PAT NT ra 9 arm 6, which serves as an operating crank and as a wiperv cooperating withan nclined surface 7, so that as the crank is turned 1e11,, gitudinal movement is imparted to the rod;

This inclinedsurfa'ce is carried by a'frameS, 7 5

is connected by a link 9 with an operating lever 10, which is mounted on the floor ofthe carat the front platform and adaptedtobe v operated by the foot.

If. desired, apush-button to be operatedby the foot may be employed, inwhich case the link is connected with the push-button by a- The parts are held in. their normal position I bellecranklever, as willbe readily understood anda'rereturned thereto after being actuated?" I by means of ahelical?compressionsspring 11', arranged on the upper end of the push rod? and held between anabutment 12 onitherod and the upper end'of theguide-sleeve.'- When the parts are'in.normalpositiongithe switch throwing finger 3- is-raised' and project outewardly in a lateral directionwith' respect to v 9 5;

the axis of-thepu'sh-rod. When the switch-- throwing mechanism is actuated: by the 'mo*- torman, thefinger is depressed and :simulta neously turned to extend: rearwardly, as

shown in dot-ted lines, Fig.2, so as to be or I erative position to cooperate withthe' mec anismon the track for throwingthe switch;

of amain line, and 14 .the'rail's of a-turnouit",

crossover, or Y track, and 15 the. switch for controllin the tracks 14 with-relation to'the As shown, the-track construe outside of the-rails 13 are springs 1.6,,with

Referring to Fig. 4", 1i3-representsthe rails I ,which the fingerson the lower ends'of the 1,1 0

. there is Considerable clearance between them and the adjacent sides of the rail 13. On the surfaces adjacent the rails the springs are provided with inwardly-projecting actuatingrods 19 and 20. The rod 19 engages the switch and moves it to a closed position, whereas the rod 20 engages the switch to move it to an open position. These rods are guided in openings in the webs of their adj acent rails 13. The opening for the rod 19 is a sufiicient support for its free end ;.but in the case of the rod 20 its free end is supported in an opening 22 in the other rail. On the rod 20 is a shoulder, adjustable nut, or other device 23 ,which engages the switch and moves it to its open position. The rod 20 passes freely through an opening 24 in the switch, so that if the switch has been moved to its open position the rod can be retracted by its spring witho ut drawing the switch closed. So,

also, the push-rod 19 is not mechanically connected with the switch, so that after it has moved the latter closed it has no tendency to open it.

The operation is as follows: Assuming the car is approaching the switch and it is desired to pass through the same, the motorman actuates the operating-lever of the left-handswitch-throwing mechanism at a suitable time before the switch is reached, and causes the finger on the end of the drop-rod to move to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The finger thus moves along the outside of the left-hand rail and wipes along the convex surface of the spring 16. The spring yields to the finger and causes the switch to close so that the wheels pass through the switch in the usual manner, it being assumed that the switch was previously in its open position. Should it be desired that the succeeding car should pass through the switch to the rails 14, the motorman operates the lever of the righthand-switch-throwing mechanism, so that the rod 20 is movedinwardly by the finger of the right-hand mechanism passing over the spring 16 of the right-hand rail, so as to move the switch into its open position. The switch is thus opened so that the car can freely pass withoutstopping from the main rails 13 to the rails 14.

Flanking each of the spring-plates 16 are guides 25, supportedon ties for the rails or in any other desired manner,which serve to retain the springs in position and prevent destruction thereof by traffic in the road. The inner surfaces of these guides are concaved to conform to the convex surface of the springs so as to enga e the latter and prevent the collection of dirt and other foreign matter between them, and thus interfere eration of the apparatus.

I have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative, and that the invention can be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a switch-throwing mechanism, the combination of a longitudinally movable and oscillatory member, a crank for oscillating the same, a stationary means cooperating with the crank for moving said member longitudinally when the crank is actuated, a spring which returns the said member to its inoperative position, and a switch actuated by said member.

2. In a switch-throwing mechanism, the combination of a longitudinally movable and oscillatory member, an arm for oscillating the same, a stationary inclined surface cooperating with the said arm for moving the member longitudinally, a compression spring which oscillates and moves the member to its initial position, a switch, and means on said member for operating the switch 3. In a switch-throwing mechanism, the combination of a longitudinally movable and oscillatory rod, a sleeve for supporting the same, a crank on the upper end of the rod, an inclined guide cooperating with the said arm for producing longitudinal movement of the rod, a s ring on the rod which abuts a ainst the en of the sleeve, a crank on the lower end of the rod, a finger carried by the latter crank, an 'actuatin mechanism connected with the upper cranIr, and a switch adapted to be operated by said finger.

4. In a switch-throwing mechanism, the combination of a truck, and a switch, with a switch mechanism mounted on the truck for actuating the switch, said mechanism comprising a rod, a crank for oscillating the rod, means for supporting the rod on the truck, a frame supported on the truck which is provided with an inclined surface with which the crank cooperates to move the rod longitudinally, a lever connected with the crank for actuating it, and means on the lower end of the rod for operating the switch.

5. The combination of a car-truck, and a switch throwing mechanism arranged on each side thereof, with a switch, track-rails, a means adjacent one of the rails and actuated by one of said mechanisms for opening the switch, and an independent means adjacent the other rail and actuated by the other mechanism for closing the switch.

with the op- 6. The combination of a car-truck, a switch-throwing mechanism on each side of the same, and an operating-lever for each mechanism on the platform of the car, with a switch, ameans on one side of the switch which is operated by one of said switchthrowing mechanisms for moving the switch ed to be operated by one of said mechanisms,

and means for opening or closing the switch when the springs are actuated.

8. The combination of a car-truck, a switch-throwing'mechanism arranged on opposite sides thereof, and means on the platform of the car for operatin said mechanismv independently, with a switc a pair of rails,

a spring arranged on the outside of each track and flexed outwardly, and a rod attached to each spring and adapted to engage the said switch for actuating it.

9. The combination of a car-truck, a switch-throwing mechanism arranged on opposite sides thereof, and means on the platform of the car for operating said mechanisms independently, with a switch, a pair of rails, a spring at the outside of each rail disposed with aportion thereof on the approach side of the switch, means for securing the spring at its approach end to the rail, and a rod on each spring which extends through the adjacent rail and engages the switch for operating it.

10. The combination of a car, and a switchthrowing mechanism thereon,,with a switch, rail, a member located at the outside of the rail and arranged to be actuated by the switch-throwing mechanism, and means 00- 4 operatin with the said member for actuating the switci.

' 1 1. The combination of a car, andia switchthrowing mechanism thereon, with a switch, rail, a spring normally flexed outwardly from the side of the rail and secured at one end to the latter and free at its opposite end, and an inwardly-extending member attached to the said spring for actuating the switch.

12. The combination of a car, and a switchthrowing mechanism thereon, with a switch,

rails, a spring convexed outwardly from the outside of the rail with one end secured to the latter and the other end free, a uard 'disposed along the outside of the spring, and a rod attached at substantially the middle of the spring and extending inwardly through the adjacent rail to engage the switch.

13. The combination of a car, independent switch-throwing mechanisms mounted there.

on, and means for operating the same, with a switch, a pair of rails, anoutwardly-curved spring extending along the outside of each rail, means on the spring adjacent the switch for moving the latter in one direction, and a a rod on theother spring for moving the switch in the opposite direction which is guided at one end in-the adjacent rail and at its opposite end in the other rail. l In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

, THOMAS BAMFORD. Witnesses:

CHAs. REINHARDT, HENRY REINHARDT.