US827544A - Indicator. - Google Patents

Description

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PATENTED JULY 31, 1906. M. LIGHTY & A. BETTS.

INDICATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED Nv. 16, 1905.

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INDICATOR'.

APPLIOATION FILED Nov.16, 1905.'

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"UNITED sTATEs PATENT onirica.

INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

lratented July 31, 1906.

Application led November 16, 1905. Serial No. 287,608.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MILFORD LIGHTY and ANDREW Bnr'rs, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Homestead, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in indicators for cars; and the inventoin has for its primary obj ect the provision of novel means in connection with the indicator for detecting the fraudulent practices of conductors.

Our invention aims to combine a camera, such as a kodak, with an indicator, said camera to be automatically actuated by an indicator to take a number of pictures of the interior of the car.

To this end the invention is adapted to ree produce pictures of the interior of the car which when assembled will represent approximately the personswho have entered the car during its passage over a prescribed route. yThe camera may be actuated each time the indicator is operated but we preferably actuate the camera at every iifth or tenth operation of the indicator. The pictures robtained by the camera, when developed and printed, enable the officers of the company operating the carin which the indicator is used to determine the number of persons carried by the car during its travel, and thereby determine if the proper number of fares have been registered in the indicator. lt will also be possible for the officers of the company to determine any act that may occur within the car when the films of the camera are exposed, and in this manner it may be possible to detect many an act that would otherwise be unobserved. The device which we have invented not only protects the company operating the car from fraudulent practices, but protects the passengers from pickpockets and such persons, it being a wellknown fact that criminals and the like have often been recognized and detected from a picture taken of a crowd in whichthey appear. t

With the above and other objects in view,

which will'more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings accompanying this application, like numeralsof reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view ofour improved device, illustrating the mechanism thereof in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation, partly broken away, illustrating the mechanism of the device. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the device, illustrating the camera-shutter. Fig. 5 is a novel form of ratchet movement used in connection with the device, and Fig. 6 is a detail view of the grooved pulley used in connection withthe indicator.

To put our invention into practice, we employ a substantially rectangular casing 1, consisting of side walls 2 2, a front wall 3, and a central horizontal partition 4, said partition dividing the casing into two compartments 5 and 6. ln the compartment 5 is mounteda conventional form of indicator 7, said indicator being adapted to register each person traveling upon a car in which the indicator is mounted, the number of passengers carried upon one trip of the car being exposed through a sight-glass 8, mounted in the front wall 3 of the casing, while the total number of passengers carried and registered by the indicator is exposed through the sight-glass 9, also mounted in the front wall 3 above the sight-'glass 8. We do not care to confine ourselves specifically to the type of indicator used, but simply employ a portion of the mechanism thereof for actuating our camera, which is mounted in the compartment 6 below the central partition 4, said partition serving to exclude the light from the sightglasses 8 and 9, and thereby form a dark compartment which will preserve the ilms carried within said compartment. The shaft 10, upon which the main drum 11 of the indicator 7 is mounted, is provided with a ratchet 12, and the main shaft 10 is adapted to protrude outside of the casing, as at 14, to permit of a key or handle being placed upon the shaft to reverse the indicator when the end of the route upon which the car is traveling has been reached and a new record is to be obtained by the indicator 7.

The side wall 2 adjacent to the ratchetwheel 12 is provided with an outwardly-extending bracket 15, and in said bracket and the rear wall 16 of the casing is journaled a shaft 17 The one end of this shaft is provided with a star-wheel 18, adapted to mesh with the ratchet-wheel 12 of the shaft 10 of the indicator. Upon the shaft 17 is loosely mounted a grooved pulley 19, said pulley being adapted to rotate the shaft 17 when rotated in one direction and when rotated in the opposite direction is adapted to revolve freely of said shaft. To accomplish this, a conventional form of ratchet mechanism 20 is used in connection with the shaft 17 and the pulley 19, and the spring 21 is mounted upon the shaft 17 for returning the grooved pulley 19 to its normal position after it has been actuated. To actuate the pulley, two cables 22 22 are attached to the periphery of said pulley, and these cables are adapted to pass through the side walls 2 2 of the-indicator and extend along the sides of a car to the rear end thereof, similar to the ropes at present used in connection with indicators. The cables 22 22 are adapted to be pulled by the conductor of the car to operate the indicator, a pull upon either cable tending to rotate the wheel 19 in the same direction, thereby operating the indicator each time one of the cables is pulled.

Mounted upon the shaft 17 is a beveled gear-wheel 23, which is adapted to mesh with a horizontally-disposed beveled gear-wheel 24, carried by the upper end of a shaft 25, journaled in the horizontal partition 4 of the casing. The lower end of the shaft 25 is provided with a beveled gear-wheel 26, adapted to mesh with a beveled gear-wheel 27, mounted upon a shaft 28, journaled in the side walls 2 2 of the compartment 6. Upon the shaft is mounted a disk 29, carrying a segment-shaped lug or cam surface 30, said surface representing approximately one-tenth of the periphery of the disk. 30 is provided with a projection 31, the object of which will be presently described.

Journaled transversely within the side walls 2 2 of the compartment 6 are rollers 32, 33, and 34. The roller 32 is mounted in close proximity to the shaft 28, and upon said roller are mounted two disks 35 35, one of said disks being in alinement with the disk 29 of the shaft 28, whereby the cam-surface 3() will engage said disk and rotate it a part of a revolution each time the cam-surface engages said disk. Upon the roller 34 is mounted a roll of sensitized paper or Yfilms 36, and the end of the paper contained upon the roll is passed downwardly beneath the roller 33 and upwardly to be attached to the roller 32,

The cam-surface whereby each time the cam-surface 3() actuates one of the disks 35 of the roller 32 the sensitized paper or film will be moved a predetermined distance, the object of which will be presently described.

The lower front edges of the side walls 2 2 are cut away, and the front wall 3 of the casing which covers the compartment 6 is inclined, as at 37, and a portion of the front wall is hinged, as at 39, to form a door 40, said door being retained in closed position by pivotally-mounted spring-clips 41 41. The inclined portion 37 of the front wall is provided with an opening 42, the axis of said opening being in a line with the center of the car, and thus permitting light to enter said opening from approximately the entire interior of the car.

Upon the inclined portion 37 of the 'front wall of the casing adjacent to the opening 42 are mounted guides 43 43, and between said guides is slidably mounted a shutter 44, having an opening 45, adapted to register at predetermined times with the opening 42 of the front wall of the casing.

Mounted between the side walls 2 2 of the casing is a rod 46, upon which is pivotally mounted a lever 47, said rod being held in its normal position by a coiled spring 48, having its one end attached to the rod 46, while its opposite end is attached to said lever. The ends of the lever 47 are connected by cables 49 49 to the bottom and top edges of the shutter 44, said cables passing` over pulleys 50 50, mounted adjacent to said shutter. ,T he upper end of the lever 47 lies in the path of the projection 31, carried by the disk 29 of the shaft 28, and said projection is adapted to actuate said lever to open the shutter 44, while the spring 48 returns said lever, together with the shutter, to its normal position.

In order to permit of the conductor or operator of the car reversing the indicator without actuating or reversing the camera device, we employ a clutch-and-ratchet mechanism in connection with the shaft 17, this mechanism being clearly illustrated .in Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawings. The shaft 17 is formed in two parts, the part 51 carrying the star-wheel 18, while the part 52 carries the grooved pulley 19 and the beveled gear-wheel 23. The end of the bracket 15 is provided with an annular interiorly-screw-threaded flange 53 and with a central pierced boss 54, through which the part 51 of the shaft passes. The end of the shaft 51 within the .flange 53 is provided with a ratchet-wheel 54', and engaging said ratchetwheel are spring-pressed pawls 55 55, connected to a disk 56, carried by the end of the part 52 of the shaft 17. This part of the shaft, together with the disk 56, is retained in engagement with the bracket 15 by a screwthreaded gland 57, adapted to engage within,

the annular flange 53 of the bracket, the part IOO I'IO

52 of the shaft 17 passing through said gland, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawings. This construction permits of the part 51 of the shaft 17 being rotated independently of the part 52, this rotation taking place when the indicator is reversed by the conductor or operator of the car rotating the shaft IO.

In operation each time the indicator is operated by pulling upon one of the cables 22 the disk 29 of the shaft 28 will be partially rotated, and as the cam surface or lug 30 travels around and engages one of the disks 35 the roller 32, upon which said disks are mounted, will be rotated. As said roller is rotated the sensitized paper or film 36 will be moved a prescribed distance, the movement of the sensitized paper or film carrying the exposed portion of the paper upwardly upon the roller 32, and a new uneXposed surface will be brought in front of the opening 42 of the casing. As the projection 31 strikes the lever 47 the shutter 44 will be instantly opened and closed, permitting rays of light to enter the opening 42 and affect the sensitized paper 36, positioned in alinement with said opening. Sufficient paper is placed upon the roll 34 at the beginning of each trip of the car, and at each tenth operation of the indicator a picture is taken by the camera, the pictures taken upon the route of the car being adapted to represent a complete record of the persons entering the car and the actions of said persons within the car.

It will be noted that we have employed a novel form of photographic apparatus embodying a movable roll of sensitized paper and means for exposing the paper at predetermined times.

As heretofore stated, we do not care to confine ourselves to any specific indicator mechanism,- neither do we care to limit ourselves to the position of our device wi thin a car, and such changes in the construction and operation as are permissible by the appended claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the character described the combination with indicator mechanism including a two-part actuating-shaft, connections between the two parts of said shaft permitting one part thereof to be actuated independently of the other part, a casing inclosing the mechanism and having a dividingpartition, a shaft mounted in said partition, a beveled gear on said shaft, and a beveled gear on the actuating-shaft meshing with the first-mentioned beveled gear, a beveled gear on thev lower end of said shaft, a plurality of rollers mounted in the casing below said partition, a disk carried by one of said rollers, a roll of sensitized paper carried by one of the rollers and movable over another of the rollers onto a third roller, a transverse shaft journaled in the casing and carrying a beveled gear engaging the beveled end on the lower end of the shaft mounted in said partition, a disk carried by said transverse shaft and having a lug on its periphery to engage the firstmentioned disk, a projection carried by said lug, a shutter mechanism actuated by said projection. f

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casing having a partition, an indicator mechanism mounted in the casing above the partition and including an actuating-shaft, camera mechanism mounted in the casing below the partition,

and comprising rollers carrying sensitized paper, a transverse shaft, gearing mechanism between the transverse shaft and the actuating-shaft of the indicator, a disk on .one of said rollers, a disk on the transverse shaft to engage and actuate the first-mentioned disk, a projection carried by said disk, a shutter mechanism actuated by said projection as the disk revolves.

3. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a casing having a partition dividing the same into an upper and a lower compartment, indicator mechanism mounted in the upper compartment and including an actuating-shaft, a camera mechanism mounted in the lower compartment of the casing and comprising rollers carrying sensitized paper, a transverse shaft in the lower compartment geared to the actuatingshaft of the indicator mechanism, means on said transverse shaft to actuate the rollers carrying the sensitized paper, and shutter mechanism actuated by the said first-named means.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casing provided with a partition separating the casing into an upper and a lower compartment, an indicator mechanism mounted in the upper compartment and including an actuatingshaft, means for actuating lsaid shaft, a camera mechanism located in the lower compartment of said casing and comprising rollers carrying sensitized paper, a disk on one of said rollers, a transverse shaft in said lower compartment geared to the actuating-shaft of the indicator mechanism, means on said transverse shaft for engagement with said disk to actuate the rollers, shutter mechanism, and means for actuating said shutter mechanism as the transverse shaft is actuated.

5. In a device of the character described, a casing divided by a partition into an upper and a lower compartment, an indicator mechanism mounted in the upper compartment and including an actuating-shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a camera mechanism mounted in the lower compartment and com- IOO IIO

prising rollers carrying sensitized paper, In testimony whereof We affix our signameans geared to the actuating-shaft ot the 1ntures in the presence of two witnesses.

a .i L o. dic tor iol opcrfttmC the iolleis simnltanc MILFORD LIGHTY ousiy with the operation of the indicator,

Y ANDREV BETTS. shuttei mechanism, and means earned by said inst-named means for actuating the /Vitnesses: shutter mechanism, si1bsta11tia11y;`;as de K. H. BUTLER.

scribed. y E. E. POTTER.

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