US843954A

US843954A - Hitching-post.

Info

Publication number: US843954A
Authority: US
Inventors: Burton R Long
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1906-10-02
Filing date: 1906-10-02
Publication date: 1907-02-12
Anticipated expiration: 1924-02-12

Description

' PATENTBD PEB. 12, 1907.

B. R. LONG. HITCHING POST. 'APPLIoATIoN FILED oom. 1906.

A NOR/v5 V5 rus Mamas PEfL-Rscv.. wAsNlNaroN. D. c.

BURTON R. LONG, OF PUEBLO, COLORADO.

HlTCHlNG-POST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed October 2, 1906. Serial No. 337,093.

To A1f/ZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, BURTON R. LONG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pueblo, in the county of Pueblo and State of Colorado, have invented anew and useful Hitching-Post, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a hitchingpost of that type in which the post proper is adapted when not in use to be contained 1n a socket or housingsunk in the sidewalk, curb, or roadway, so as not to present an obstruc tion.

The invention has for one of its objetos to provide a hitching -post of this character which is of simple construction and capable of easy and reliable operation.

A further object is the employment, in connection with a weighted hitching-strap mounted within the hollow of the post, of a simple and eflicient means for automatically holding the strap in its fully-drawn-out position against the action of the weight tending to return the same.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a hinged cover for the socket or housing in which the post proper is mounted, which cover is provided with a locking means whereby only authorized persons can use the hitching-post, thus rendering the hitchingpost especially adapted for use in private residences and other similar places where the right to the use of the post is to be restricted.

With these objects in view and others, as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention comprises the various novel Jfeatures of construction and arrangement of parts, as will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

In lthe accompanying drawings, which illustrate one of the embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device, showing the same when not in use. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the hitchingpost proper locked in its elevated position. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the upper end of the hitchingpost proper, drawn on an enlarged scale, and showing the hitching-strap in its fully-extended position. Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing the bitchingpost stored away in its housing, the upper end only being shown.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the body portion of the housing, which is preferably a galvanized-iron tubing or the like and having a head 2 at its upper end forming an enlarged casing or chamber, the said head being threaded on the upper end of the tube 1 or otherwise suitablysecured and also made of galvanized iron. The housing or socket is sunk in the sidewalk, curb, or roadway to such a depth as to place the top of the head about flush with the sidewalk, and it may be desirable to embed the housing in cement or concrete. The top of the head is open for the purpose of permitting the hitching-post proper to be raised and lowered in the housing, and this open end is adapted to be closed by a cover 3, hingedly connected with the head at 4. The cover is preferably provided witha lock 6, the bolt 7 of which is adapted to engage with a lip S or similar means on the inside of the head. The keyhole 9 of the lock is furnished with a plate 10, which excludes the entrance of dirt to the lock. The lock will be preferably of that type which will automatically lock when the cover is slammed closed. By thus furnishing the cover with a lock the hitching-post is accessible only to.

authorized persons having a key for unlocking the hitching-post.

The hitching-post proper comprises a tubular member 11, which is fitted for longitudinal movement within the tubular part 1 of the housing, and on the upper end of the member 11 is a removable cap 12, threaded or otherwise suitably secured thereto. The cap 12 on its top surface is equi ped with a ring 13 or other suitable handho d, by which the post is gripped for raising the same out of the housing or dropping it into the latter. The hitching-post proper is supported in its elevated position b y means of diametrically opposite lugs or pins 14, which engage in lone gitudinally-extending slots or ways 15 in the tubular member 1 of the housing, the pins 14 being arranged on the inner tubular member 11. The upper ends of the slots 15 are open laterally at 16 and terminate in pockets 17. In other words, the ways in which thepins travel are each in the shape of an inverted L. By this means the pins 14 ass upwardly through the slots 15 as the hitching-post is elevated, and after the upper ends of the slots and passes under the same.

are reached the bitching-post is given a partial rotary movement so as to engage the pins in the pockets 17, thereby locking the hitching-post in its raised position.

The hitching-strap ,18, which may be of leather, woven wire, or of any other substantial material, is arranged to be drawn in and out of the hitching-post, a weight 19 being attached to the inner end. To the upper or outer end of the hitching-strap is secured a spring-snap 20, adapted lor attachment to the bridle of the harness. The strap passes through a slot 2 1 in the cap 12 of the hitchingpost proper, which slot is of such size as to prevent the snap from passing through when the strap is drawn in by the weight. The snap thus serves as a stop for suspending the strap in its indrawn position. In the cap 12 is arranged a roller 22, over which the hitching-strap moves. Arranged in cooperative relation with the roller and bearing on the hitching-strap is a detent 23, the same being journaled in the cap 12 on the side of the strap o posite from the roller and inclined upwar ly with respect to the latter, so that the upper free end 24 ofthe detent is prevented from falling past the roller by the roller itself-that is to say, that the arrangement is such that the free end of the detent is free to move upwardly, but is incapable of falling past the roller. Adjacent the lower end oi the hitching-strap is secured a stop 25, which at the time the strap is almost entirely withdrawn engages the free end 24; of the detent A'lter the stop has traveled by the detent the latter falls by gravity and catches in back of the stop, and thereby revents the hitching-strap from drawing back into the hitching-post proper under the iniiuence of the weight 19. The detent 23 is provided. with a releasing device in the nature of a crank 26, Fig. 2, by which the detent can be raised so as to release the stop 25 and permit the bitching-strap to move inwardly when the point is no longer to be used. Thus by turning the crank 26 the detent 23 is moved to the dotted-line position, Fig. 3, andthe hitching-strap is indrawn until the rsnap arrests the movement by coming to the position shown in Fig. 2. The snap is next placed in the position shown in Fig. 4, so as to permit the hitching-post proper to be dropped into the housing. To do this, the hitching-post proper is raised suliciently to lift the pins 14 out ofthe pocket 17, and then by giving the post a partial turn, so as to bring the pins in alinement with the slots 15, the post can be dro ped into its closed position. The stop 25 o* the hitching-strap is large enough to revent its being pulled out of the slot 21 an by means of the same coming in contact with the cap 12 the outward movement of the stra is limited.

Since the hitc ing-strap 18, roller 22, and

detent 23 are supported on the cap 12, they can be removed from the post with the cap whenever desired. By this means a new strap can be readily substituted, or anv other necessary repairs made when required.

l have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the apparatus which l now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, but l desire to have its understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative, and that various changes may be made when desired are within the 'scope of the invention.

l/Vhat l claim is- 1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a stationary housing, a post mounted for vertical movement therein, a hitching-strap arranged within the post and adapted to be drawn therefrom, means on the strap for drawing the same into the post, a stop on the strap arranged to prevent the latter from being completely withdrawn from the post, and a detent mounted in the post and arranged to engage the said stop to hold the strap in its normal operative position.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a post having a slot at its upper end, a hitching-strap movable through the slot, a weight on one end oi the strap tending to draw the latter into the post, a snap on the outer end of the strap forming the sole means Vfor preventing the strap from passing completely into the post, a stop on the strap for limiting its outward movement, and a gravity-acting detent arranged in the path oi' the stop and. adapted to engage behind the saine for preventing the weight from drawing the strap into the post.

ln a device of the class described, the

. combination of a post having a slot at its upper end, a hitching-strap movable through the slot, means on the inner end of the strap tending to maintain the strap within the post, a fastening device on the opposite end of the strap which limits the inward movement of the latter, a roller arranged to guide the movement oi" the strap, a detent pivoted at one side ol the roller and inclined upwardly over the same in coperative relation with the strap, and a stop on the strap whichnear the outward limit of the movement of the strap engages and passes by the detent to permit the latter to interlock behind the stop.

4l. ln a device of the class described, the combination with a post, a removable cap thereon having a slot, a strap arranged within the post and movable through the slot, a weight on the inner end of the strap, a fastening device on the outer end of the strap which limits the inward movement of the latter and normally suspends the same on the cap, a roller arranged in the cap and removable therewith for guiding the move IOO IOS

ment of the strap, a detent pivoted within l In testimony that I Claim the foregoing as the cap and removable therewith which is my own I have hereto aixed my signature arranged in coperative relation with the in the presence of two witnesses.

strap, and a stop on the strap arranged to be BURTON R. LONG. engaged by the detent for preventing the Witnesses:

strap from moving inwardly under the action JOI-IN D. LONG,

ot' the said weight. MYRTLE F, LONG.