US898812A

US898812A - Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.

Info

Publication number: US898812A
Application number: US43402908A
Authority: US
Inventors: James Wood
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1908-05-21
Filing date: 1908-05-21
Publication date: 1908-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 1925-09-15

Description

J'.' WOOD. MAIL BAG OATGHER AND DELIVERBR.

APPLIOATIOH IILED- MAY 21, 1908.

Patgnted Sept. 15, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

JNVENTOR. James Wood.

ATTORNEY.

lllllllla WITNESSES:

THE NORRIS PETERS co., wasumcmu, B4 c.

J. WOOD. MAIL BAG GATGHEE AND DELIVBRER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1908.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

a sHBETs-HEET 2.

R m m V 0 O O W S m V1 mB WITNESSES.-

h @JWM ATTORNEY.

J. WOOD.

MAIL BAG GATGHER AND DELIVBRER.

. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1908.

898,812. Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- WITNESSES.- IN VENTOR. 3 James Wood. Jl/L BY ATTORNEY.

rm: NORRIS PEf-TRS 1:1 WASHIRG101\, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. JAMES WOOD, OF NOBLESVILLE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN OWEN, OF NOBLESVILLE, INDIANA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

Application filed May 21, 1908. Serial No. 434,029.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs W001), of'Noblesville, county of Hamilton, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Mail-Bag Catcher and Deliverer; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to improve the construction of means for receiving and delivering mail bags.

The novel features of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a post beside the railway for receiving and delivering mail bags, two mail bags being shown thereon, and a vertical transverse sec tion of a portion of a mail car and railroad on which the same is running. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the post and its attachments, as shown in Fig. 1, without any mail bags thereon, the different position of the bag receiving arm being shown by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the upper part of the post and its attachments shown on an enlarged scale and showing a mail bag in position to be picked up by a passing car. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the lower bagholding arm the latter being in idle position and parts broken away. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 3 with the mail bag omitted, the horizontal position of said lower bag holding arms being shown by dotted lines and partly broken away. Fig. 6 is a front elevatlon of the upper part of the post and its attachments. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the arm on the car. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the same shown in position ready to drop one bag and pick up another. FigQlO is a plan view of the same shown in position when the mail bag is picked up.

The post 10 beside the railway 11 has a casting 12 secured to the upper end which is provided with a horizonta ly extending upper plate 13 and a lower horizontal Cplate 14 spaced apart to receive the inner en 8 of the bars 15 which form a part of the bag-receiving arm and are fulcrumed by bolts 16 which project vertically through the

plates

13 and 14.

As shown in Fig. 2, the bars 15 are parallel and at their outer ends are pivoted by vertical bolts 17 to an upper horizontal bag-receiving bar 19 that projects in both directions from the ends of the bars 15 and have upwardly turned catches 20 on its upper side at its ends. There is also a plate 21 mounted on the bolts 17 at their lower ends, as shown in Fig. 3 that has a rearward projection 22 in which one end of the spring 23 catches. The other end'of the spring is caught in the perforated lug 24 on the under side of the plate 14. The spring 23 and the

lugs

22 and 24 are located under a line midway between the plates 15, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, so that in whichever direction the bag-receiving arm may be thrown by the impact of the bag received from a passing car, as shown in Fig. 2, the same will be returned to the normal position by the spring 23. The car 25 has a bagdelivering arm 26 fulcrumed to the side of the door casing at 27 so as to swing horizontally and hold the mail-bag 28 in position to be caught by the bag-recelvmg arm mounted on the post 10. The bag is carried, as shown in Fig. 3, by a ring 30 having a downwardly extending hook 31. The arm 26 has on its outer end a projection 48 for picking up a mail bag from a post beside the railway which extends at a right angle with the arm 26 and has a heel 46 provided with a notch 49 to receive the rectangular shank of the hook 31 which is gripped and held by the heel 52 of the bar 50, said heel having notch 53 corresponding with the notch 49. The bar 50 is fulcrumed by the pin 51 on the arm 26 and is held in position to clamp a mail bag by the trip 60 fulcrumed at 61 on the bar 48 so that the inner end of the bar 60 will engage a shoulder 62 on the bar 50. They will also hold the bar 50 away from the receiving end of the bar 48 when in position to receive a bag.

The parts mounted on the arm 26, as shown in Fig. 9, are in position to discharge a mail bag or receive another. As the car passes the post, the trip 60 will engage one of the trip actuating bars 35 which projects out from the post and be thrown from the position shown in Fig. 9 to that shown in Fig. 10. This movement of the bar 50 is caused by the spring 54 which is fastened at 55 to the arm 26 and to the heel 52 of the bar 50, but separates the heels of the

bars

48 and 50 and frees the mail bag which is to be left on the post and at the same time the bar 48 picks up the bag which was on the post as will hereafter be explained and at the same time the spring 54 causes the bar 50, the end of which is hooked, to close in with the bar 48, like shears, and hold the ring 30 of the mail bag caught and prevent its escape.

There are two of the trip bars 35', one on each side of the post 10 and fulcrumed at 36 to the casting 12. They are held in their upper horizontal positions by pins 37 projecting through downwardly extending ears 38 from the plate 14. The purpose in having two trip bars 35 is to accommodate the device to catch bags coming in both direc tions. The outer ends of the bars 35 are turned downwardly so as to extend vertically in position to be engaged by the trip 60. When the pin 37 is withdrawn, the bar 35 supported by it will hang downwardly.

Turning now to the means for holding the bagon the post to be picked up by the car, there are two oppositely-extending short fingers on the plate 21 on which the ring 30 of the bag is hung and it is held thereon temporarily by the lower bag-holding arm 71' and the parts connected therewith. The arm or bar 71 is pivoted in the bracket 72 by a vertical pin 73 so that bar will have a horizontal movement as indicated in Fig. 5 by dotted lines. The bracket 72 is fulcrumed to the bracket 74 secured to the post 10 by a horizontal pivot 75 so that said bracket will oscillate vertically and enable the bar 71 to hang downwardly as shown in Fig. 4, when not in use. A stop 76 projects upwardly, from the bracket 72 so as to limit the upward movement of the arm 71 to the. horizontal position. The arm 71 at its outer end has two upwardly extending ears 77, one on each side, as shown in Fig. 5, through which a horizontal pin 78 extends for fulcruming the bell crank lever 79, which has a long rearwardly extending end provided with a downwardlyprojecting guide rod 80 that is curved concentrically with the pin 78 and is guided by a hole in the bar 71 through which the rod 80 projects. Spiral spring 81 surrounds the rod 80 between the bars 71 and the lever 79 so as to tend to hold the lever 79 in the position shown in Fig. 3. A fork 82 is swiveled in the other end of the bell crank lever 79 so as to project outwardly as shown in Fig. 3 and engage the hook 31. Thearm 71 is so mounted and arranged that the fork 82 will, through the connection of the spring 81, press downwardly on the hook 31 and thus hold the top of the friction ring 30 on the pin 7 0. As the car passes the finger 48 enters the ring 30 and dislodges it from the pin 70 and at the same time the arm 71 will move to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 5 by reason of the impact and the fork 82 being swiveled will turn somewhat so as to readily release the mail bag holder and permit the same to be picked up by a passing car.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for delivering mail bags to passingcars which includes a mail bag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of arms projecting therefrom one above the other, a pin on the upper arm for supporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, and means connected with the lower arm releasably engaging said mail-bag holder and tending to hold the mail bag holder on said p 2. Means for delivering mail bags to pass ing cars which includes a mail bag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of arms projecting therefrom horizontally one above the other, a pin on the upper arm for supporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, and means connected with the lower arm releasably engaging said mail bag holder and tending to draw it downwardly and thus hold it temporarily on the pin on the upper arm.

3. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mail bag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a

pair of arms projecting therefrom horizontally one above the other, the lower of said arms being laterally movable, a pin on the upper arm for supporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, and means connected with the lower arm releasably engaging said mail bag holder and tending to draw it'down wardly and thus hold it temporarily on the pin on the upperarm.

4. Meansfor delivering mail bags to passing carswhich includes a mail bag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of-arms projecting therefrom oneabove the other, a pin on the upper arm for supporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, means on the outer end of the lower arm for engaging said mail bag holder, and a spring acting-on said means to cause it to press downwardly'on the mail bag holder.

5. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mail bag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of arms projecting therefrom one above the other, a pin on the upper arm for supporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, and means connected with the lower arm releasably engaging-said mail bag holder and tending to hold the mail bag holderon said pin, said lower arm being mounted so as to oscillate both horizontally and vertically, substantially as set forth.

6. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mail bag holder to porting the upper part of the mail bag holder, means connected with the lower arm releasably engaging said mail bag holder and tending to hold the mail bag holder on said pin, said lower arm being mounted so as to oscillate both horizontally and vertically, and a stop engaging said post for limiting the upward movement of said lower arm to the horizontal position, substantially as set forth.

7. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mail bag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of arms projecting therefrom one above the other, a pin on the upper arm for supporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, means connected with the lower arm releasably engaging said mail bag holder and tending to hold the mail bag holder on said pin, a bell crank lever fulcrumed in the outer end of said lower arm so as to be vertically oscillatory, a fork swiveled in one end of said lever in position to engage the mail bag holder, a guide for guiding the vertical movement of the other end of said lever, and a spring tending to elevate the last mentioned end of the lever whereby said fork may press downwardly upon some part of said mail bag holder.

8. Means for holding and delivering mail bags to passing cars including a post, a horizontally disposed arm for holding the mail bag and that is pivoted to the post and extends outwardly therefrom, and a spring for normally holding said arm in its outward position and resisting lateral oscillation thereof.

9. Means for delivering mail bags to a passing car including a post, an arm formed of two parallel bars fulcrumed to said post and projecting horizontally outwardly therefrom, a plate pivoted to the outer ends of said bars, a spring extending from said plate to the post and located in a vertical plane between said bars and under tension so as to return said bars normally to an outwardly extending position, and means on the outer ends of said bars for catching the mail bag.

10. Means for receiving mail bags from a passing car which includes a post beside the railway on which the car may move, an arm extending from said post towards the rail way, a mail bag holder, means projecting from the car for holding said mail bag holder in a position to be received by the arm projecting from the said post and provided with a trip for causing it to release the mail bag holder, a trip bar fulcrumed to said post and adapted when in horizontal position to engage said trip and cause the release thereby of the mail bag holder, and means for supporting said trip bar in its horizontal position.

11. Means for receiving mail bags from a passing car which includes a post beside the railway on which the car may move, an arm extending from said post towards the railway and provided with oppositely extending bars for catching bags delivered from a passing car, a mail bag holder, means projecting from the car for holding said mail bag holder in a position to be received by the arm proj ecting from the said post and provided with a trip for causing it to release the mail bag holder, a pair of trip bars fulcrumed to said post one on each side thereof and adapted when in horizontal position to engage said trip and cause the release thereby of the mail bag holder, and means for separately supporting said trip bars in their horizontal positions.-

In witness whereof, I have hereunto a'liixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

JAMES l/VOOD. lVit11esses LOUIS B. DARRAH, WILL BROWN.