US931537A - Cattle-guard for railways. - Google Patents

Description

J. E. WHEELER.

CATTLE GUARD POR RAILWAYS.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 1s, 1308.v

Patented. Allg. 17. 1909 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

JAMES H. WHEELER, OF BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON.

CATTLE-GUARD FOR BAILWAYS.

To all whom it may concern.' A

Be it known that JAMES H. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city of Bellingham, in the State of Washington, in the. United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Guards for Railways, of which the following is a speciiication.

The invention relates to improvements in cattle guards, as described in the present specication, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings that form part of the same.

The invention consists essentially in the novel construction and arrangement whereby a ditch is formed across the trackway to receive the fore feet of the animal, and platforms hinged to the timber forming the rear wall of said ditch are tipped thereinto on pressure from the weight of said animal.

The objects of the invention are to devise a simple and durable mechanism for such devices which will effectually operate under all climatic conditions, and form a barrier to the passage of cattle and other animals on to the property of a railway track, and at the samev time allow animals which may have trespassed on said property through other openings to readily pass over the guard into the public roadway.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional perspective view, showing the road bed of a railway fitted with the guards. Fig. 2 is a cross-sect-ional view through the line A-B in F ig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective detail view showing the under side of one of the trip platforms forming the guard.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each ligure.

Referring to the drawings, 1 are the rails of a trackway spiked as customary to ties 2.

3 is a tie of larger dimensions than the ties 2, and extending to each side of the rails 1 a little beyond the ties 2.

a are hinge members firmly spiked to the top of the tie 3, and having the knuckles thereof along one edge of said tie.

5 are trip platforms preferably formed as here shown of the plate'of metal 6 riveted at one end thereof to the angle iron 8 and at the other end thereof to the strap iron 9. The platforms 5 are strengthened by the iutes 7 extending parallel to and in proximity to the side edges.

10 are hinge members rmly bolted to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 18, 1908.

Patented Aug. 17, 1909.

Serial'No. 449,159.

the under side of the said trip platforms toward one end thereof.

11 are rods inserted through the knuckles of the hinge members 4L secured to the tie 3 and the hinge members 10 secured to the trip platforms 5, and having the split pins 12 inserted through suitable lateral orices toward each end of said rod and immediately outside the hinge members 4. The trip platforms 5 are thus pivotally arranged on the tie 3 at the edge thereof, the said platforms having the shorter ends thereof projecting outwardly over the edge of the said tie 3, and the other and longer ends normally resting of their own weight on the strips 15 and 16 secured to the top of the ties 13 and 14 over which the trip platforms extend. It must be here noted that the ends of the trip platforms resting on the strip 16 do not extend beyond said strip, but lie fiat on the top thereof, consequently currents of air caused by vehiclespassing along the tracks at a high rate of speed cannot get underneath said platforms to raise them from their normal position.

17 is atie approximately equal in size to the tie 3 and immediately in front thereof, the said tie 17 having the triangular-shaped strips 1S extending along the top thereof between and on each side of the rail 1, said strips either forming part of the said tie or securely spiked in position thereon.

The ballast between the ties 3 and 17 is dug away to leave sufficient space for the short end of the trip platforms to be pressed downwardly until the angle iron S stops against the tie 3 toward the bottom of said tie. It may also be here mentioned that the tie 17 is spaced a sufficient distance from the tie 3, so that cattle or other animals will have room to remove their feet from between the projecting' ends of the platform 5 and the tie 17 after they have stepped on the overhanging end of said platform and tripped up the long end of the platform in attempting to walk thereover.

19 are triangular-shaped strips similar to the strips 18 and spiked on three or more of the ties behind the trip platforms, the ballast between these ties being partly dug away.

The combination of the hinged trip platforms andthe ridged ties, as above described, makes an effectual barrier to animals attempting to walk along the road bed, as the ridged tie in front of the trip platforms makes it necessary for the animal to step between the ties, as the slanting sides of the triangular the short end of one of the trip platformsprd.

jecting over the tie 3, the said projecting end isdepressed by the. weight of the animal, and i the rearwardly extendingportion of the plat-` form springs upwardly and strikes the animal a blow, and prevents its further progress along the tracks.

l am awaie that hinged barriers operated by platforms pivotally secured thereto and extending between the 'rails' havey been used heretofore to prevent cattle from passing along trackways, but such devices are quite impracticable in actual use, owing to the numerous working parts and bearings which become clogged and uiiworkable through weather and other conditions such as snow or cind'ers from passingtrains. In my invention, however, thereis no part which can be in Iany way affected by weather or made inoperative through snow, or ice, or cinders falling thereon, as theends of the trip platforms where they project beyond the tie 3 protect the space beneath the said tie and the tie 17 from being iilled in with snow or cinders, thereby insuring thek ready depression of said end on 4the pressure of. an animals foot thereon. Furthermore the sheet metal usedyin the construction of the platforms prevents airaniinal from securing any foothold ,to in any way climb the platform when iii its tipped position.

Another feature ofthe invention is that though, as above explained, animals are prevented -from going in one direction over the guard, they may quite easily walk over the said guard from the other side thereof; that is, if they get through other unguarded openings on to-the property along which the tracks run, they can quite easily and naturally walk over the guard, as the rearwardly extending ends of the platforms rest iirmly on the strips 15 and 16.

Vhat I claiinas my invention is: Y

1. In a cattle guard, the combination with a trackway yof a pair of ties arranged paral- -lel and Vwforming the walls of a ditch extendlow the ballastrlevel of said trackway, and

the forward one of said tics having an inverted `ii-shaped top between and beyond the rails, anda plurality of sheet-metal platforms having iiuted side edges and reinforced ends and hinged to the other of said ties and occupying the space between and beyond the rails, and having their forward ends overhanging apoition of said ditch and arranged Ito reach to the lower end 'of said ditch Vwall Von pressure being brought to bear on said overhanging ends.

2. 1n a cattle'guard the combination with a trackwaynof a pair-of ties arranged parallel and forming the walls of a ditch extending across said trackway, said walls extending downwardly to the bedof said ditch below the -balllast level of said trackway and the forward one of -said ties having an in.- verted V-shaped top between and beyond the rails, a plurality of hinge members spiked to the top of the other of said ties, a plurality of trip platforms formed of sheet-metal havingy the side edges thereof'fluted, angle irons secured to the under side of said trip platforms toward the forward endl thereof where they overhang said ditch, strap irons secured to the underside of said trip platforms at the other end thereof, a plurality of hinge'members secured tothe underside of said strip platforms toward the frontend thereof, a plurality of' rods extending through the knucklesin the hinge members secured to said 4tie and the hinge members secured to vsaid 'trip platforms respectively, and a Vplurality- 0fv pins extendingthrough suitable lateral orifices in said v`rodsron the outside of v'said hinge members.

Signed at Bellingham, lVashington, thisY 15th day of llune, 1908.

JAMES H. WHEELER Inthe presence of- RS. SIMPSON, DAVID E'. LAiN.

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