US893139A - Device for operating headlights. - Google Patents

Description

No. 893,139. V PATBNTED JULY 14, 1908.

" W. H. BROWN.

DEVICE FOR OPERATING HBADLIGHTS APlLIOATI ON FILED DEO.14,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1'.

W.,H. BROWN.

, uDEVIGB' FOR-OPERATING HEADLIGHTS.

- APPLIOATION FILED DEO.14.1907.

-PAT ENTED JULY 14, 1908.

WILLIAM H. BROWN, OF NEWARK, OHIO.

DEVICE FOR OPERATING HIEADLIGHTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented July 14, 1908.

Application filed December 14, 1907. Serial No. 406,479.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. BROWN, citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Operating Headlights, of which the following is a specificati on.

This invention relates to improvements in adjustable head lights for street'railway cars and analogous conveyances, and means for o crating the same, of that ty e or class in w ich the head light is arranged to be shifted to one side or the other as the car is rounding a curve, so as to always be maintained pro erly to shed its light directly on the tram z, and the present invention has for its primary object a simple, durable and efficient construction of head light operating mechanism which is adaptable to cars of varying lengths as to the distance between the front end of the car body and the truck to which the operating mechanism is connected, the apparatus being so arranged as to compensate for these varying distances between the truck and end of the car body, not only for the purpose of adapting the device to installations on different cars, but also providing means whereby the shifting movement of the head light may be varied so as to be turned more or less quickly to a greater or less degree, according to the said distance between thefront end of the car body and the truck. And a further object of the invention is an ap aratus of this character, the arts of whlcli are so arranged as to absorb al shocks and thereby protect the head light and operating mechanism from injury.

With these and other objects in view as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, arran ements and combinations of the parts that shall hereinafter fully describe and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention,'

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a street railway car embodying the improvements of my invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the actuating mechanism for the lantern, the car body being omitted; Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating the operation of the mechanism when the car is rounding a curve, the car body being indicated by dotted lines; Fig 4 is a detail perspective view of a modified form or arrangement of parts for supporting the lantern holding bracket; and Fig. 5 is a rear view of the bracket, the hooks of the lantern being shown extending through the eyes orslots of the bracket.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followin description and indicated in all the views 0 the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to thedrawings, the numeral 1 designatesv a portion of the car body, 2 the truck thereof, 3 the vestibule or front platform and 4 the buffer head.

5 designates a vertically disposed shifting rod designed to carry the head light A to the right or left as the case may be, so as to shed its rays always directly along the line of travel, a bracket 6 being secured to the upper end of the shifting rod 5, to directly support the head light. The head light may be secured to the bracket 6 in any desired way as' by hooks on the rear side of the head light entering loops or eyes 7 on the brackets 6. The rod 5 is mounted to turn about a horizontal axis in any desired bearing in the buffer head 4, or in cases where the car is not equipped with a buffer head, it is obvious that the said rod may be journaled in a bracket 8 formed to receive it, and bolted or otherwise secured to the front end of the car, asseen in Fig. 4.

Apreferably angular cross-bar 9 is pivotally connected intermediate of its ends to the lower end of the shifting rod 5, the angularly disposed arm of said cross bar extending rearwardly and slightly downwardly, as clearly illustrated in the drawing, the said .cross bar being mounted to swing about a vertical axis.

Each arm of the cross-bar 9 is formed with a threaded socket designed for working engagement with a screw threaded rod 10. These rods are pivotally connected at their outer ends to link rods 11, and these in turn are connected to one end of compensating springs 12. The rear ends of the springs 12 are connected to relatively small links 13 that are pivotally connected to the outer ends of transversely extending and inwardly projecting screw rods 14.

The screw rods 14 work in threaded sockets in arms 15 that are pivotally mounted at their inner ends on a suitable bracket 16 secured to the under side of the car body 1, and

said arms 15 are pivotally connected to the l bility incident to my improved construction truck 2 by means of the link rods 17, each of l of head light and shifting means therefor is said rods being constructed in front and rear sections adjustably connected together by turn-buckles as shown. It is to be particularly noted that each of the arms 15 is formed with a transversely extending series of apertured ears 18 and that the link rods 17 are designed for engagement with one of the respective series of apertures, so as to vary the throw or movement of the arms 15whenever desired, to increase or shorten, or quicken, or make more slow the shifting movement of the head light to compensate for the varying distances between the front ends of different cars and the trucks to which the link rods 17 are connected. In addition to this adjustment, it is obvious that further adjustment is possible by means of the screw rods 14 in the arms 15, the screw rods 10 in the arms of the cross bar 9 and the turn-buckle connection between the front and rear sections of the link rods 17.

The operation of my improved shifting device for adjustable head lights is obvious.

i similar vehicle, will, when the vehicle reaches a curve, fail to throw the light around the curve as the car body always maintains a tangential relation to the line of travel of the trucks, but with an apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention, it is clear that the )osition of the head lights is controlled entirely by the position of the trucks and the head light will therefore be shifted either to the right or to the left so as to always shed its light between the rails.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a very simple, durable and efficient construction of adj ustable head light and shifting means therefor, which is composed of comparatively few parts that may be readily assembled on the car and in which the parts are so arranged that the device may be adjusted and rendered capable of use with cars of varying distances between the front end of the car body and the truck to which the link rods for actuating the device are directly connected. It will 7 v also be observed that the feature of adjustaimportant in that it renders the device caable of use on car bodies of all varying lengths, because it is well known that with a short coupled car or short car body, the head light would not ordinarily travel with the trucks as fast as it would have to travel when attached to a long coupled car body. The light will have to be adjusted and travel faster on the long car body to throw the light upon the path or center of the track for the reason that the long car body covers more lineal surface of the track than the short car body and as my invention is arranged to be adjusted, as before described, it will be seen that it will meet the requirements of car bodies of different lengths, as well as those in which the distance varies from the truck to the head light.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a car body and truck therefor, of a head light, a laterally shift able support for the head light, swinging arms pivotally connected to the under side of the car body, each of said arms being )rovided with a plurality of apertured ears, link rods connected to the truck and arranged for operative engagement in any one of the apertures of the ears, the said arms being also rovided with threaded sockets extending ongitudinally thereof, and screw rods working in said. sockets and having an operative connection with the shiftable support.

2. An apparatus of the character described the combination with a body and truck of a car, of a head light, a shiftable sup )ort for said head light, swinging arms pivoti lly connected to the under side of the car body, and having longitudinally extending threaded sockets, screw rods working in said sockets and having an operative connection with the shiftable support, and a connection between said arms and the truck.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H BROWN.

Witnesses:

JACOB R. DAVIES, J. R. WARNER.

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