US827772A - Electric railroad-gate. - Google Patents

Description

APPLICATION FILED APB.. 7.1906.

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PATENTED AUG. 7, 1906.'

A. C. WORLAND. ELECTRIC RAILRAD GATE.

APPLIGATIONFILE'D-APB.7,1906.

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ANDRFM'v C. VVORLAND, OF JASPER, INDIA-NA. ELECTRIC RAILRoAD-GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 7, 1906. Serial No. 310.568.

lPatented Aug. 7, 1906.-

To all whom t indy concern.- y Beit known that I, ANDREW C. WonLANn, a citizen of the United States, residing at yJas er, in the county of Dubois and State of In iana, have invented certain'newa'nd useful Improvements in Electric Railroad-Gates, of which the following isa s eciication.

l This invention Contemp ates certain new and useful improvements in gates, and is particularly intendedfor .use in connection v with railroad-crossings.

The object of my invention is to provide an im roved gate of this character which is mova le in a perpendicular plane to both closed and open osition by means of a weight, and it em odies improved electrici ally-controlled-means for holding the weight- -ftion and accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is aside elevation of my improved gate and includes also `a diagrammatic view of some ofthe circuits employed. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the gate.- Fig. 3 is a perspective view of aportion of the weight-actuated mechanism for thel gate. Fig. 4 is a detail side viewof a portion of said mechanism and art of thc electrically-controlled devices. ig. 5 is a detail sectional 'view illustrating some of the contacts employed. Fig.

mechanism that may be employed for actulating the gateby. means of suitabley devices located in the engine-cab.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in; the following description and indicated reference characters.

in all thewiews of the drawings by the same Referring tothe drawings, the numeral 1 designates a supporting-framework, of which one u right or standard constitutes the support or the vertically-movable gate 2, which ispivoted thereto intermediate its ends and is provided at its rear' end with a counterbalance 3 in the form of a heavy iron ball or I the like and with a lug 4 beyond said counterbalance. `That upright of the framework 1 which carries the gate directly is preferably extended'in an upward direction andconstitutes the post5. To the post 5 is connected the revoluble shaft 6, carrying at one end a. spur-pinion '7 and at its other end having `a crank 8 connected to the gate 2 by means ofI .le

the link-pitman 9. The pinion 7 is meshed with agear-wheel 10, mounted at the u per end of the framework 1, and on the sha the wheel 10is wound a cord or cable' 11', ex-

tending up over a pulley 12 on the upright 5' and carrying an actuatin -weight 13 at one end. A. rathet-and-paw device 10*L is provided to wind up the weight 13.

- The parts are so arranged that' when per` mitted to do sothe descent of the Weight 13 will capse the wheel 10' to turn and likewise the pinion 7, vwhich will revolve the crank 8. The crank 8 and its connection 9 lwith the gate2 areso roportioned thata complete revolution of t e crank will effect alowering v of the gate from a substantially perpendicular position to a closed horizontal osition and back again, approximately' one ha fof the revolution beingsufiicient to lower the gate Y and the other half of its revolution being sufte to thc openor perpenicient to raise the gel order to hold thegate in dicul'ar position.

such positions andto maintain the 4weight 13 in an inoperative condition, I have-provided the lug 4 on the rear extremity of the gate, be yond the couirterbalance 3, and in connection with said lug 4 latches 14- 14', that are mounted on-the framework in the proper position to be pressed by their springs 15 15 into engagement with the lug 4 at the upper and, lower movements of the gate, respectively. The

normal rposition of these latches. is that in which t ey hold thee gate from movement, and in order to release the latches so that the weight 13 may act to swing'the gate I provide 'electroma nets 16 16, one j for each latch. The' latc es 14 14 are within the magnetic fields of the magnets 16 16 and constitute virtually armatures therefor, so that when the circuits of which the ma scribed, the `energization' of the magnets Will attract the latches and release them from the lug 4. The magnets are included in electric circuits of which the main source of supplyis ets form a part are closed, as will be hereinafter de- IOC a battery 17 or the like, which for convenience may be located upon the post 5 of the framework, the circuits extending from said 'post in opp'ositedirections fromA the crossing where the gate is applied by means of overhead Wires 18 to te eaph-poles or'similar poles, and -thence'to t e ground and to circuit-closing switches 20, located between the rails. These switches 2() may be located at any desired distance from the crossing and are preferably actuated toclose the circuits by means of the cow-catcher of the locomotive or suitable devices depending from the latter and preferably under the c on'trolof the engineer.

In the practical operation of my improved gate for railroad-crossings as a train a proaches the crossing the switch will e automatically actuated to close the circuit in which is included the .electromagnet 16, that will attract the latch 14, holding the 1u 4 vwith the gate in its raised or perpendicu ar osition. Hence the said latch will be reeased from the lug 4 of the gate, and the weight 13 will be ermitted to act'to lower the gate. When t e ate has been lowered, the other latch 14 wi engage the lug 4 and hold the gate in lowered and closed'position. As the train passes the crossing the o posite switch 20 wi be actuated, which wi l, as is manifest, close the circuit designed to release that latch which holds the gate in closed position, and the weight will then be permitted to continue its downward motion to complete the revolution of the crank 8 and can swing the gate to the raised or open position.

In connection with the actuating means before described I have provided means for insuring the safety of a vehicle that hapi pens to be contiguous with the crossing or between the gates at the time the approaching train automatically starts the gates to close. Such means comprise an auxiliary'latch 21, which is in the present instance mounted upon the curved bar or brace 22 ofthe framework 1, between the latches 14 14 and preferably "close to the lowermost latch. The auxiliary latch 21 is moved either to a positionwhere 4 it will lie in the pathof the upwardly-swinging lug 4 and. prevent the further closing movement of the gate or to a posi- 45 -tion where it will not obstructthe free closing movementfof the gate in such, manner by means of t`wo 'electromagnets 23, thatare included in two different circuits 24, of which. the circuit-closing devices are respectively locatedat points close to the track-rails on both sides of the same and at two other points a sufficient distance from the track-l rails te -insure safe assage of the vehicle-in either direction. n the present Ainstance these circuit-closing devices consist of boards- 25, laid across the roadway approaching the track. l From the fore oing it will be understood that as the vehic e moves across one of the boards 25 thatHare very close to: the' track-rails one of; the circuits will be `cl9sed and one magnetenergized to throw the auX- iliary latch 21 into the ath of the lug 4 and momentarilyprevent tliie further movementy v ofthe gate toward the closed position. Then ..6 5 as the vehicle passes od the middle boards onto the outermost boards controlling the circuit devices for the circuit of the other magnet the said other magnet willdraw theyauxili'ary latch 2l out of the path of the lug 4 and permit the gate to be closed. ,It is to be noted j that both of the circuits for this safety mechanism are initially closed to effect their functions by means of contact-plates or brushes26 and 27, located, respectively, on the gate near the pivot-point thereof and some adjacent stationary support. IHence these circuits can never be closed until the ate starts toward its lowered position, and y this means the" circuits are under normal conditions held open, and the electric current is not wasted, 8o as it is only in effect when the train is approaching and the gate has been started toward its closed position. -Under other conditions vehicles may pass freely across the boards .25 Without closing either of the ciri cuits for the auxiliary latch 21.

' Itis to be understood that, while I have shown the gate 2 and its correlated parts asv on only one side of the track, in actual prac-4 tice under ordinary conditions two of said 9o gates are prcvided-one for each side of the track. When'this is understood, the need of my safety device is at once apparent, for y they effectivelyprevent the entra ping of ra cuit in an obvious manner, and each switch. is

also provided with an Vupwardly-projectingV arm 30, `with which an actuating-roller 31 is j designed to contact`I to swin the switch in l one direction or the other to c ose the circuit. fro The roller 31 may be carried u' onthe beam 32, ivotally suspended from .t e floor35 of the ocomotive-cab and actuated by means 'of a foot or other lever 33, which may be locked in operative position by means of a catch 34, I r 5 'or it is obvious that the roller L31 may be carried by the cow-catcher of the locomotive. Preferably the brushes rshown in Fig. 6 un derneath the tw-o `arms 29 are yleldably mounted so that they Awill 'yield when en- 12o gaged by either arm 29 should the latter be pressed farther than is necessary.

'Havi thus described the invention, what is claime as -new is--. y

1. In gate mechanism for railroadf-crcss-l m5 ings, the vcombination of a support, a gate mounted on said support, Ameans for autot matically openin and closing said gate,l electrically-contro led -means for overning'4 .theopening and closing means an electricr3.9!

ally-controlled means for automatically ar restlng said gate temporarily in its closing' contro led means for automatically arrestingsaid 4gate temporarily in its closing movement, and meansyvhereby as the gate be ins to close it will close the circuit for the e ectrically-controlled arresting means.

3. The combination of a sup ort, a vertically-Swingin@r counterbalanced) gate pivotally mounted thereon, a weight-actuated gear-wheel mounted on said support, a shaft also mounted on said support and provided at one end with a pinion and at the other end with a crank, a wei ht-actuated cord winding on said shaft, a lin lconnection between the gate and said crank, the gate being provided with a lug at its rear end, latches designed to engage' with said lug to hold the gate in o en and closed positions, electromagnets c esigned to retract saidlatches, and means for energizing saidv electromagnets at a distance.

4. The combination of' asupport, a vertically-swinging counterbalanced gate mounted thereon, weight-actuated devices designed to .both close and open said gate, springpressed latches designed to hold said gate in both closed and open position, electrically- 35 controlled means for retracting said latches, and an electrically-controlled auxiliary latch designed to temporarily stop said gate in its downward movement.v

5. The combination 'of a support, a vertically-swinging counterbalan'ced gate mounted thereon, means for automatically closing and opening said gate, latches designed to lock the ate in both closed and open position, electrica ly-controlled 'means for retracting said latches, an auxiliary latch and means for automatically actuating said auxiliary latch first to arrest and then to allow the closing of the gate.

6. In a gate mechanism for railroad-crossings, the combination of a support, a gate mounted on said support, means for automatically opening and closing said gate, electrically-retracted latches designed to lock said gate in both open and closed positions, an electrically-controlled auxiliary latch designed to arrest the closing movement of said gate and means whereby as it begins to close the gate will close the circuit for the auxiliar atih automatically, substantially as speci- 6o In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW C. WORLAND.

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