US857720A - Package-carrier. - Google Patents

Description

J. w. CLARK. PACKAGE CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.Z6, 1906.

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J. W.'GLARK.

PACKAGE CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, 1906. I

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JAMES W. CLARK, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN.

PACKAGE-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1907.

Application filed September 26,1906. Serial No. 336,247.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, JAMES W. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Janesville, in the county of Rock and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Package-Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a package carrier adapted to be used in stores and has for its object the provision of a device of this character constructed in such manner that simple and efficient means are provided for elevating the basket well above the head of the clerk after the parcels have been placed therein, together with means for holding said basket in an elevated position until it reaches its des tination and means for releasing said basket to permit it to descend upon its arrival at its destination.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which now follows:

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a package carrier constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrating the basket in its lowered position, Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation looking from the opposite side ofthe device and illustrating the position the parts lie in just before the carrier reaches the end of its travel, and, Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the carrier with a portion of the carrier frame broken away.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates a longitudinally extending bar. Mounted upon the end of this bar are the brackets 6, which carry bearings 7. Mount ed in these hearings are grooved pulleys 8 which travel. upon a trolley wire 9. Depending from the brackets 6 are end plates 10. Longitudinally extending tie rods 11 and 12 extend between these end plates and complete the frame of the carrier. Journaled in these end plates is a shaft 18 upon which drums 14 and 15 are secured' Cords 16 which are wound upon these drums pass over pulleys 17 which are slidably and rotatably mounted upon the rod 11. The lower ends of these cords are secured to clamps 19, said clamps being in turn secured to bars 20 which support the package carrying basket 21. The clamps 19 carry eyelets 22 which are adapted to receive the lower pointed ends 23 of the end plates 10 when the basket is in its elevated position, these eyelets serving to prevent excessive swinging of the basket during its movement. The brackets 6 are covered with felt or like yielding material as at 24, the ends of said brackets being adapted to enter between yielding buffer plates 25 when the carrier reaches the end of its travel, said buffer plates serving to bring the carrier to a stop without undue jar. One end of the shaft 13 passes through the end plate 10 and is flattened as at 26. A drum 27 is mounted upon a shaft 28, said drum being located beneath the buffer plates and at the end of the travel of the basket toward the clerk. Secured to this drum is a bell mouthed thimble 29. This thimble has an opening formed therein which is angular in cross section and is adapted to receive the flattened end 26 of the shaft 13.

It will of course be understood that one of the drums 27 may be located at each end of the travel of the basket if desired, but this is not ordinarily required where the cashier and bundle wrappers are located above the main floor of the store from which the goods are sent, for under these circumstances it is not necessary to lower the basket at the cashiers desk, but it is only necessary to lower it at the clerks end of the line. The use of. the flattened portion 26 of the shaft 13' and the rectangular opening 30, is to provide means for forming a coupling or connection between the shaft and the drum 27. In order to do this, some means for causing the flattened portion 26 of the shaft to register with the opening 30 must be provided. In order to provide such means, I pivot a latch 31 as at 32. When the flattened portion 26 of the shaft is received in the recess 30, this latch is held in the elevated position by a screw or pin 33 which. lies beneath the outer end of said latch. A bracket 34. guides and aids in supporting this latch. iVhen the carrier leaves the clerks end of the line under the influence of a propelling mechanism, not shown, and which forms no part of the present invention, the pin is withdrawn from beneath the outer end of the latch 31 and said latch is permitted to drop into engagement with a notch 35 formed in one of the flanges 36 of the drum 27 When this notch is in engagement with the latch, the recess 30 is in a ver-' tical position. In order to maintain the flattened portion 26 of the shaft 13 in a vertical position that it may readily enter this recess, I provide two notches in the flange 37 of the IIO . drum 14.

A pawl 38 is pivoted as at 39 to one of the end plates and is adapted to engage in these notches. This pawl extends over the top of the shaft 13 and its free end overlies an arm 40, said arm projecting from a second arm 41 which is offset from the arm 40 by a portion 42. The portion 41 is journaled in a bracket 43 and is connected to a downwardly extending rod 44, the lower end of said rod being formed into an eyelet 4.5 through which a cord 46 passes, said cord being wound upon the drum 27. A handle 47 is secured to this cord.

The operation of the device is as follows: with the parts illustrated in Fig. 1, a package and the money in payment for said package, is placed in the basket 21. The salesman then grasps the handle 47 and pulls the cord over to such position that by virtue of the fact that said cord passes through the eyelet 45, the portion 41 of the rod 44 will be rocked in its bearings to thereby lift the portion 40 of said rod. This will in turn lift the ratchet 38 out of engagement with the notch formed in the flange 37 of the drum 14, leav ing said drum free to rotate. The salesman then pulls down upon the cord 46, thereby rotating the drum 27 and consequently rotating the shaft 13 for the flattened end 26 of said shaft is now engaged in the recess 30. This rotation of the shaft results in rotating the drums 14 and 15 and in winding the cords 16 thereon. The basket is accordingly elevated, the lower pointed ends 23 of the end plates 10 entering the eyelets 22 as has been hereinbefore described. As the drums 14 and 15 are rotated and as the cords are wound thereon, the pulleys 17 travel along the rod 11, thereby aiding in winding said cords tightly upon the drum and centering the basket in order that the eyelets 23 will register with the lower ends of the end plates 10. The cord 45 is now permitted to swing back to permit the pawl 38 to again engage the notch of the flange 37, the drum 14 being rotated until this pawl engages in the notch. The carrier is now started upon its travel by a suitable propelling mechanism, not shown, the flattened end 26 of the shaft 13 being withdrawn from the recess 30 when this is done. The screw 33 being withdrawn by this movement-of the carriage from beneath the pawl 31, it follows that said pawl will be permitted to drop. The weight of the cord 46 and handle 47 will now cause retrograde movement of the drum 27 until the latch 31 falls into the notch 35 of the flange 36. It will now be seen that both the flattened end 26 of the shaft 13 and the recess 30 of the thimble 29 are held in such position as to register with each other.

In the form of the device here illustrated, it is not necessary as has been before stated, to lower the basket when it reaches the cashier 0r bundlewrapper, for it is intended to propel the basket to, such a point that such lowering will not be necessary. The return of the basket to the salesmans sta tion, is by gravity, the yielding buffer plates serving to bring the carrier and the basket to a stop without undue jar. As the carrier moves into position, the pin 33 lifts the latch 31 from its engagement with the notch 35 of the flange 36, leaving the drum 27 free to revolve. This drum, however, will be held against rotation by virtue of the fact that the flattened end 26 of the shaft 13 is now in engagement with the angular recess 30 of the thimble 29. The salesman by grasping the handle 47 and actuating the portion 40 of the bar 44 through the medium of the cord 45, lifts the pawl 38 from engagement with the notch of the flange 37, thereby releasing the shaft 13 and permitting the basket to descend.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that simple and eflicient means are herein provided for accomplishing the obj ects of the invention, but while the elements shown and described are well adapted to serve the purposes for which they are intended, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, but includes within its purview such changes as may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim, is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with an overhead trolley, of a carriage adapted to travel upon said trolley, a shaft mounted longitudinally of said carriage, drums mounted upon said shaft, a receptacle, cords adapted to be wound upon said drums, the lower ends of which are connected to said receptacle, and eyelets carried by said receptacle, said eyelets being adapted to receive depending portions of the car riage.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with an overhead trolley, of a carriage adapted to travel upon said trolley, a shaft mounted longitudinally of said carriage, drums mounted upon said shaft, a receptacle, flexible members connected to said receptacle which are adapted to be wound upon said drums, a rod parallel with the shaft and forming a part of the carriage, and pulleys mounted for rotation and bodily endwise movement upon said rod, said pulleys receiving said flexible members and serving to center the receptacle with relation to the carriage.

3. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a carriage, of a rotais adapted to receive the end of the shaft, manually operable means for releasing said r0 manually operable means for impartlng rodrums when the carriage reaches a sales statatlve movement to sald drum, means for t10n.

holding said drum against movement when In testimony whereof I affix my signature the carriage is in transit, means for autoin presence of two witnesses.

matically releasing said drum when the car- JAMES WV. CLARK. riage reaches the sales station, means for Witnesses:

holding the drums of the carriage against r0- JOHN CUNNINGHAM,

tation when said carriage is in transit, and HORACE MOELROY.

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