US852860A - Mail-bag catcher and deliverer. - Google Patents

Description

No. 852,860. PATENTED MAY 7, 1907.

D. R. WAY. MAIL BAG GA'TGHER AND DELIVERER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26. 1906.

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PATENTED MAY 7, 1907.

" D. R. WAY.

MAIL BAG CATGHBR AND DELIVERER.

AIIIPLICATION FILED BB 20. 1906.

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' Inventor" m: NORRIS PETERS co, -wAsmuc1-nu, uv c4 PATENTED MAY 7, 19,07.

. D. R. WAY.

MAIL BAG OATGHBR AND DELIVERER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 2a. 1906.

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lrwez DAVID R.,WAY, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA. I),

MAIL-BAG CATCHER AND DELIVERER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 7, 1907.

Application filed December 26,1906. Serial No. 349,517.

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID R. WAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson, and in the State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Mail-Bag Catcher and Deliverer, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a mail bag catcher and deliverer of simple, durable and inexpensive construction so arranged that the operator may conveniently and easily place any desirable number of mail bags onthe support within the car and then manually move the support to position projecting through the car door opening, and further to provide a device to be attached to a stationary support at the side of a railway track designed to support a mail bag in the path of the device carried by the car and to provide a swinging arm on the stationary support provided with means for catching the mail bags supported by the device within the car and as soon as the bags are thus delivered, the said arm will swing against a yielding pressure until the momentum of the bags has been overcome, whereupon the arm with its mail bags will slowly and gradually drop to the ground and remain some distance away from the track.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter'more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the complete mail bag catcher and deliverer embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows a detail view of a portion of a car and a part of my device that is carried by the car in position therein with a mail bag supported thereby. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged detail sectional view illustrating the means for adjustably supporting the arms for engaging the lower ends of the mail bags carried by the device within the car. Fig. 4 shows a detail plan view of the upper arm carried by the standard within the car. Fig. 5 shows an enlarged 'detail sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 shows a detail plan view of the outer end portion of the arm on the stationary standard. Fig. 7 shows an enlarged detail view partly in section illustrating the hooks on the upper arm carried by the standard in the car and their arrangement with relation to the shield and the eccentric shaft. Fig. 8 shows an inverted lan view of the rear portion of the arm carried by the standard at the side of the track. Fig. 9 shows a plan view of same. Fig. 10 shows an enlarged detail sectional view through a part of the standard at the side of the track and through the arm mounted on said standard, and Fig. 11 shows a detail perspective view of the automatic clamping member at the forward end of the arm carried by the standard at the side of the track.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I shall first describe the part of the device that is arranged at the side of the track.

The reference numeral 10 indicates a post or standard provided with a brace 11. At the top of the standard 10 is an arm 12 pivoted to swing in a vertical plane and having its forward end extended to a point adjacent to a railway track. On the rear end of the arm is a weight 13 designed to elevate the forward end of the arm when said forward end is free. However, when a mail bag is placed on the forward end, the weight thereof'will overbalance the weight 13. A rope 14 is attached to the rear end of the arm 12 and to the bottom of the standard 10 for supporting the said arm in a horizontal position.

vA rope 15 is also attached to the arm 12,

whereby its forward end may be drawn downwardly. On the forward end of the arm 12 is a hook 16 designed to support a mail bag.

At about the central portion of the standard 10, I have mounted a rotatable collar 17, its downward movement being limited by the stationary collar 18 on the standard. Keyed to the standard above the collar 17 is a ratchet wheel 19. Fixed to the rotatable collar 17 is an arm comprising two members 20 and 21 spaced apart and extended horizontally. The outer ends of these members are connected by the bolt 22. This arm is normally held in a position projecting straight forwardly toward the track by means of two springs, the upper one 23 being fixed to and wound upon the standard 10 and provided with a forwardly projecting arm 24 to engage one side of/said arm and the lower spring 25 being fixed to and wound upon the standard 10 and provided with an arm 26 engage the opposite side of said arm. 1

end of the arm member 32.

this arrangement, it is obvious that the swinging arm may have a pressure'exerted upon it from either side that will cause it to yield and swing upon the standard. The tension of the spring toward the side to which it is moving will increase as the arm moves away from the track. The advantage of this arrangement is that when a number of heavy mail bags are delivered from a car to the said arm, the arm will yield and swing around on the standard and gradually and slowly come to a standstill. In this connection it is desirable that means be provided for preventing the swinging arm from returning to aposition adjacent to the track. For this purpose, I have provided on each of the parts and 21 a sliding rod 27 mounted in the supports 28 and each provided with an extensible coil spring 30 fixed at one end to the rod 27 and its other end engaging one of the supports 28. Connected with each rod 27 is a pawl 31 to engage the ratchet wheel 19. Both of these pawls are normally held in such position that the swinging arm may move from position adjacent to the track around the standard toward the side opposite from the pawl that is in engagement with the ratchet wheel, but the said swinging arm will be prevented from returning by the pawl engaging the ratchet wheel. Obviously the arm could not swing if both pawls were in engagement with the ratchet wheel. I have, therefore, provided means for automatically holding either one of said pawls out of engagement with the ratchet wheel as follows: Mounted between the arm members 20 and 21 is a central arm member 32 pivoted to the bolt 22 and normally standing between the arm members 20 and 21, its forward end being projected a considerable distance beyond the arm members 20 and 21. The downward movement of the rear end of the arm 32 is limited by a cross piece 33 fixed to the rearportions of the arm members 20 and 21. An adjustable weight 34 is mounted on the rear On the forward end of the arm member 32 are two bearings 35 in which a rock shaft 36 is mounted. The forward end of this rock shaft is provided with mail bag gathering and delivering devices, hereinafter more particularly described.

On the rear end of the rock sh aft is a laterally projectin arm 37. Mounted on the forward end of each of the members 20 and 21 is a bell crank lever 38 having the rods 27 attached to their upper ends and having their lower ends extended to position to be engaged by the arm 37 so that when the rock shaft is at one limit of its movement, it will engage the downwardly projecting portion of the bell crank lever 38 on one side of the arm and leave the other lever free and the lever that is thus engaged will be held in position with the pawl on the same side out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 19. For instance in Fig. 9 of the drawings, the arm 37 is shown to be in'engagement with the bell crank lever 38 at the bottom of the figure thus holding the pawl 31 at the bottom of the figure out of engagement with the ratchet wheel. This will permit the swingingarm to have its forward end move downwardly as shown in said figure, but not upwardly, while if the arm 37 were reversed and placed in engagement with the bell crank lever 38 at the top of said figure, then the upper pawl will be held out of engagement with the ratchet and the lower pawl permitted to engage the ratchet Wheel, thus allowing the swinging arm to move upwardly, as shown in said figure, but not downwardly. At the forward end of the rock shaft 36, I have formed a mail bag receiving hook and also a mail bag supporting hook.

The mail bag receiving hook is indicated by the numeral 39 and comprises two sides converging toward the closed end of the hook and at the outer extremity of the hook 39 is a mail bag supporting hook 40 extended substantially at right angles to the shaft 36 and arranged to stand directly beneath the hook 16 on the arm 12. I have also provided means for automatically clutching and re taining mail bags within the hook 39 as follows: Slidingly mounted on the arm member 32 beside the shaft 36 is a rod 41 having a forked forward end provided with trunnions 42 extending in opposite directions. Pivotally mounted upon these trunnions is a bag engaging device formed of a single piece of wire having a curved portion 43 to overlap the closed end of the hook and a part 44 to stand adjacent to the rear member of the hook formed on the forked end of the rod 41 is a lug 45 to engage a lug 46 on the rock shaft 36. A coil spring 47 is mounted on the rod 41 with one end in engagement with the rod and the other end in engagement with a stop fixed to the arm 36, said spring tending to project the rod forwardly when released. The parts are so proportioned that the lugs 45 and 46 are normally in engagement and the mail bag engaging device normally stands in the position shown in Fig. 6. When a mail bag enters the hook it will strike the part 43 and move-it toward-the closed end of the hook. This will cause the rod 41 to spring sufficiently to permit the hook 45 to pass forwardly beyond the hook 46, which being forced forwardly by the spring 47 and on account of the pivotal arrangement of the mail bag engaging device on the rod 41, the entire device will press the mail bags firmly against the forward side of the hook 39, thereby firmly retaining the mail bags in the hook. Two supporting rods 48 are fixed to a rotatable collar 49 at the upper part of the standard 1.0 and are attached to the forward ends of the swinging arm members 20 and 21.

IEO

In practical use with this portion of the' device and assuming the parts to be arranged as shown in Fig. 1, it is obvious that when a car carrying mail bag catch device passes the stationary standard, the mail bag supported on the hooks 16 and. will be caught and removed by the mail bag catcher on the car. As soon as it is removed the forward end of the arm 12 will swing upwardly out of the way, thus avoiding the possibility of accident to passengers on the cars. At the time mail bag is caught by the car. one or more mail bags from the car will be forced into the open end of the hook 39. When they strike the loop 43, they will cause the mail bag retainer to automatically grip or clutch the mail bags in the hook 39. The momentum imparted to the swinging arm by the mail bags will cause the swinging arm to. bodily move in the same direction as the car from which the bags were received and away from the track. This movement will be opposed by one of the springs 23 or 25 so that the swinging arm will move around on the standard 10 until the momentum of the mail bags is overcome by the spring delivering this movement. The arm member 32 will drop downwardly because the weight of the mail bags is greater than the weight 34 on the rear end of said mail member and the mail bags will slowly descend to the ground at a point distant from the car tracks. The ratchet device on the swinging arm and upright will prevent the swinging arm from returning to position adjacent to the track. Assuming that the device is to be set to receive mail bags from a car coming in the opposite direction, then the operator manually turns the shaft 36 so that the open end of the hook 39 stands in the opposite direction from that shown in Fig. 1. This turning of the hook will automatically operate the ratchet devices in such a way that the arm may have a swinging movement in the opposite direction and will be prevented from returning to normal position after such movement.

I shall next describe the device carried by the mail car.

The reference numeral indicates a base to be attached to the car floor and provided with a ball bearing groove in which are the bearing balls 51. A tubular standard 52 is mounted in said base with its lower end in engagement with said bearing balls. At the upper end of the tubular standard is a standard member 53 telescopically connected with the part 52 and made adjustable by a set screw 54. Attached to the top of the car is a bearing plate having a projection 55 to receive the upper end of the part 53. By this means the standard may be quickly and eas ily removed from or attached to the devices on the car. I preferably provide each car with base plates 50 and bearing devices 55 near each side of each doorway in the car and I remove the standard 52 to any one of these attaching devices as the nature of the case may demand. a handle 56 by which the standard may be rotated.

Fixed to the top of the standard is a bracket 57 having thereon a hook 58 designed to receive a mail bag supported upon the stationary device. At the outer portion of the hook 58 is a mail bag supporting device, hereinafter fully described. The hook 58 is provided with a device for retaining a mail bag thereon. This retaining device comprises a sliding shaft 59 on the bracket 57 having a coil 60 at its outer end and a loop 61 to project across the closed end of the hook 58. A contraetible coil spring 62 is fixed at one end to the rod 59 and at its other end to a part of the hook 58 to normally project the retainingloop 61 across the hook 58. Formed on the bracket 57 is a lug 63 and on the rod 59 is a mating lug 64. These lugs are normally in engagement and keep the loop 61. in the position shown in Fig. 4. However, when a mail bag enters the hook 58 and. strikes the loop 61, it will bend the-rod 59 enough to permit the lug 64 to pass the lug 63 and thus permit the loop 61 to be projected by its spring 62 across the hook 58 and against a mail bag contained within said hook.

The device at the outer end of the hook 58 for supporting a number of mail bags comprises a tubular casing 65 extended substantially at right angles to the bracket 57 and in a horizontal plane. This casing is provided with a number of slots 66 and eccen rically pivoted within the casing is a shaft 67 having a rib 68 extended longitudinally of it. Mounted within the casing 65 is a series of hooks '69, each having a ball 70 thereon and an arm 71. These hooks are projected through the slots 66 of the casing and the balls 70 engage the interior of the casing, thus providing for universal movement of hook 69. The arm 71 normally projects inwardly into engagement with the shaft 67 and also in engagement with the rib 68 thereon. Obviously when this shaft 67 is held in the position shown in Fig. 5, all of the hooks 69 are supported in the position shown in said figure ready to receive a mail bag. Furthermore if the shaft 67 is moved on its pivot in a direction to move the rib 68 upwardly, then the hooks 69 will be lowered. to thus permit a mail bag thereon to he discharged. Furthermore the ball support for the hooks Pivotod tothe standard 52 is provides means to permit a slight lateral movement of each hook to thereby avoid the possibility of a mail bag catching and. engaging the hook when it is inclined downwardly as required to discharge the bag. I have provided for automatically actuating the shaft 67 to release the hook 69 at the proper time as follows: Pivoted to the outer end of the hook 58 is a trip lever 72 extending across the open end of said hook. Pivoted to this lever 72 is a rod 73 having its other end pivoted to a lug 74 on the shaft 67. When the lever 72 is engaged by a mail bag previous to its entering the hook 58, said mail bag will operate the trip lever 72 and cause it to push upon the rod 73 and thus raise the rib 68 on the shaft 67 and permit all of the hooks 69 to move downwardly. In Fig. 7 of the drawings, the dotted lines show the limit of lateral movement of the hooks 69 on the support balls thereof, said movement being limited by the width of the slots 66 through which said hooks project.

The means for supporting the lower ends of the mail bags upon the standard within the car comprising a bracket 75 fixed to the standard 52 and having two horizontally ar-' ranged bars 76 and 77 thereon. A brace 78 is connected to the casing on the upper bracket and also to the upper horizontal bar 76 for the purpose of bracing said parts. Supported between the bars 76 and 77 is a number of vertical rods 79. On each of these rods is a mail bag supporting arm capable of being adjustably secured on said vertical rod as follows: As shown in Fig. 3, I have provided a sleeve 80 slidingly mounted on the rod 79. Within the collar is a pivot pin 81 and mounted upon the pivot pin 8]. is an arm 82- having a cam shaped end 83, said end being designed to engage the rod 79. By means of this device, the arm 82 when extended below a horizontal line will hold. the cam 83 in such position that the sleeve 80 may be freely moved up and down on the rod 79. When the arm 82 is at or near a horizontal position, then the cam 83 forcibly engages the rod 79 to such extent as to firmly hold the sleeve 80 in position. In practical use the portion of the apparatus that is carried by the car operates as follows: \When it is desired. to prepare the delivering apparatus for delivering a number of mail bags, the operator first places the hooks 69 in the position shown in Fig. 5. This is done by manually moving the trip lever 72 to position with the pivot point of the rod 73 past the pivotal center of the lever 72, as shown in Fig. 4. This will hold the hooks 69 firmly in position until the trip lever 72 is released. The standard 52 is in position with all of its attachments contained wholly within the car so that the operator may easily place a mail bag on the first of the hooks 69, then he grasps the corresponding arm 82 and places its lower end in engagement with the mail bag and then moves it downwardly until the mail bag is tightly stretched so that it cannot be accidentally removed from its supports by the wind or the movement of the car. All of the mail bags to be delivered. at the next sta-. tion are attached to the hooks and arms in the same manner. Then when approaching the stationary part of the apparatus, the operator grasps the lever 56 and swings the mail bags to the position shown in Fig. 1. When the car reaches the stationary part of the apparatus, the mail bag held on said stationary apparatus will first strike the trip lever 72. At about the same instant, the mail bags on the hooks 69 and arms 82 will be received into the hook 39 of the stationary device. The mail bags received in both of the hooks 39 and 58 will be automatically gripped and held therein and the standard in the car' will turn inwardly on account of the impact of the mail bag received thereon. At the same time, the swinging arm onv the stationary device will move away from the car and the arm 12- will be elevated so that the entire stationary device will be held in such position that itwill not be dangerous topassengers on the train and the mail bag caught by the car will be moved into the interior of the car where it can easily be detached from the catching device.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, therefor is 1. In a device of the class described, the combination of an arm arranged to swing in a horizontal plane, means for normally holding the arm in one position and for permitting it to swing under yielding pressure in either direction and a ratchet device capable of being set to position for locking the swinging arm against movement in either direction.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of an arm arranged to swing in a horizontal plane, means for normally holding the arm in one position and for permitting it to swing under yielding pressure in either direction, a stationary ratchet wheel,

two spring actuated pawls carried by said arm to engage the ratchet wheel and means for holding either of said pawls out of engagement with the ratchet wheel.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of an arm mounted to swing in a horizontal plane, a reversible mail bag receiving hook carried by said arm and means automatically actuated upon a reversal of the hook for locking the arm against movement in a direction toward the open end of the hook.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, an arm mounted on the standard, and capable of swinging in a horizontal plane, two springs arranged to rotate the arm and opposed to each other, a ratchet wheel fixed to a stationary support, two spring actuated. pawls engaging opposite sides of said ratchet wheel, a reversible mail bag receiving hook carried by the arm and means actuated by reversal of the hook for throwing one of the pawls out of engagement with the ratchet wheel.

5. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a standard, an arm rotatably mounted thereon, two springs arranged to rotate said arm and opposing each other, a ratchet wheel on the standard, two spring actuated pawls on the arm engaging opposite sides of the ratchet wheel, a bell crank lever connected with each pawl, a reversible mail bag receiving hook mounted on the arm and an arm connected with 'hookand designed to engage either of said bell crank'levers and operated to move its pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, an arm member pivoted to said standard to swing in a horizontal plane, a second arm member pivoted to the first to swing in a vertical plane and of such length that when its outer end swings downwardly it will strike upon the ground or base to which the standard is attached and a mail bag catcher supported on the outer end of the said second arm member.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, a swinging arm rotatably mounted upon the standard and comprising two arm members spaced apart and a third arm member pivotally mounted between them to swing in a vertical plane, means for limiting the downward movement of the rear end of the latter arm member, an adjustable weight attached to the inner end of the latter arm member, a reversible mail bag receiving hook mounted on the latter arm member, a crank arm connected with said hook, two springs arranged to rotate the swinging arm in opposite directions, a ratchet wheel on the stationary support, two spring actuated pawls carried by the swinging arm and designed to engage opposite sides of said ratchet wheel, a bell crank lever connected with each pawl, said lever designed to be engaged by the crank arm on the mail bag receiving hook.

8. In a device of the class described,the combination of a standard, an arm pivoted to the top of standard to swing in a vertical plane, a weight on the rear end thereof and a mail bag receiving hook on the forward end thereof, a rope attached to the rear end of the arm and to a stationary support and a rope attached to the forward portion of the arm.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bag supporting arm, a hook pivotally connected therewith and having points extended in opposite directions said hook formed with a notch on one side of its pivotal point and a spring in said notch. normally holding the hook in position.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bag receiving hook, a clutching and retaining device, a spring for normally forcing same across the hook and a trip member normally extended across the hook to be engaged by a mail bag in the hook and designed to release the spring when so engaged.

11. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bag receiving hook, a

rod slidingly mounted adjacent to the hook, a

spring normally forcing said rod toward the hook, a trip device normally holdlng the spring under tension and the mail bag clamping and retaining device attached to said rod and having a part thereof extended across the hook to be engaged by a mail bag and to re lease the spring when the trip device is so engaged.

, 12. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mail bag receiving hook, a rod slidingly mounted thereon, a lug on said rod, a lug on the hook, a spring normally holding the rod toward the hook and a mail bag gripping and retaining device encircling the closed portion of the hook and arranged adjacent to one side of the hook and pivoted .to the said rod, said parts so arranged that when a mail bag enters the hook and engages the clutching and retaining device it will disengage said lugs from each other and permit the spring to force the mail bag clutching and retaining device across the hook.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination of a base plate having a ball bearing chamber therein and open at its upper portion, a ceiling plate having a downward projection thereon, a tubular standard designed to enter the base plate and engage the bearing balls, an adjustable tube in the top of the standard to receive said projection in the ceiling plate.

14. In a device of the class described, the combination of a base plate having a ball bearing chamber therein and open at its upper portion a ceiling plate having a down ward projection thereon, a tubular standard designed to enter the base plate and engage the bearing balls, an adjustable tube in the top of the standard to receive said projection in the ceiling plate and a pivoted handle on the tubular standard.

15. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, an arm thereon, a series of hooks arranged in the same horizontal plane and carried by said arm, a. bracket connected with the standard below said arm and a corresponding series of mail bag engaging arms on said bracket.

16. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, an arm thereon, a series of hooks arranged in the same horizontal plane and carried by said arm, a bracket connected with the standard below said arm and a corresponding series of mail bag engaging arms on said bracket, and means for vertically adjusting said mail bag engaging arms independently.

17. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard, an arm thereon,

a series of hooks arranged in the same horizontal plane and carried by said arm, a bracket connected with the standard below said arm and a corresponding series of mail bag engaging arms on said bracket and means for automatically tilting said supporting hooks.

18. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard to be carried by a car, a mail bag receiving hook carried by the standard, a number of pivoted mail bag supporting hooks connected with said receiving having a rib to engage said hooksand support them in position for holding mail bags and means for automatically tilting the shaft to simultaneously release and drop said hooks.

20. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard to be carried by a car, a mail bag receiving hook carried by the standard, a casing supported by said hook and provided with a series of slots, a number of mail bag supporting hooks projected through said slots and each formed with a ball within the casing and an arm projected inwardly from the ball, a shaft pivoted eccentrically within the casing and having a rib to engage the inwardly projecting arms, a trip arm pivoted to the casing and projected across the mail bag receiving hook and a rod connecting said trip arm with the said shaft for automatically locking the shaft when the trip arm is moved.

21. In a device of the class described, the combination of a standard-to be carried by a car, a mail bag receiving hook carried by the standard, a casing supported by said hook and provided with a series of slots, a number of mail bag supporting hooks projected through said slots and each formed with a ball within the casing and an arm projecting inwardly from the ball, a shaft pivoted eccentrically within the casing and having a rib to engage the inwardly projecting arms, a trip arm pivoted to the casing and projected across the mail bag receiving hook and a rod connecting said trlp arm with the said shaft for automatically locking the shaft when the trip arm is moved, said trip arm and connecting rod so arranged that the rod will pass the pivotal point of the trip lever when in osiitlion1 projecting across the mail bag receiving '22. I11 a device of the class described, the combination of a standard to be carried by a car, a bracket thereon, a series of vertical rods carried by the bracket, a sleeve 011 each rod, a pin in each sleeve and an arm pivoted to each pin and having a cam thereon to engage the rod and clamp the sleeve thereto when the arm is extended in a substantially horizontal position.

DAVID R. VVAY.-

I/Vitnesses S. F. CHRISTY, J. RALPH ORWIG.

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