US985855A - Indicator. - Google Patents

Description

LE. A. TARIEN & 0. P. WERTH.

' INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR.11, 1910.

985,855. Patented Mar.7, 1911.

2 sfinnrs-snnm 1. Ii I1],

N v .YZ /Tien and WW I CTFVVri/V,

ITE SATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMEE A. TARIEN AND CHARLES E. WER'IH, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ELMER A. TARIEN and CHARLES F. WERTH, citizens of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. 7 I This invention relates to improvements in street car indicators, and has for its object to provide a very simple device of this (than acter which is adapted to be operated by the motorman or conductor of the car, to suecessively indicate the names of the streets upon the route over which the car runs.

A further object resides in the provision of suitable means for operating the indicator whereby the movement of the indicating rolls may be readily reversed upon the return trip of the car.

A further object is to provide an indicator of the above character which is highly efficient in operation, is of very simple construction, and may be manufactured at a low cost.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the car, showing our improved indicating device arranged therein; Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the operating mechanism; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevation of the indicator casing showing the rolls arranged therein, one side of the casing being removed, and Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates a substantially rectangular casing which is adapted to be arranged within a car in any convenient manner, but is preferably disposed above one of the end doors thereof, as shown in Fig. 1. This casing is provided with a glass panel in one side, and is adapted to house and protect the movable indicating curtain or belt 6. This curtain is secured at its ends to the rollers 7, which are journaled in metallic bearings secured in the opposite ends of the casing 5. Av

plate 8 is supported. from the back of the a casing over which the indicating curtain is disposed. This plate presents a smooth fiat surface, and as the rolls are rotated in a manner to be later described, the curtain carrying the names of the various streets will be drawn taut across the plate.

Upon one end of each of the rollers 7 a bevel gear 9 is secured. These gears mesh with similar gears 10 arranged upon the ends of a vertically disposed shaft 11 mounted in the bearings 12 secured to the end of the casing 5. Thus the curtain carrying rolls are rotated in unison and the liability of the curtain slipping upon either of the rollers is thereby prevented.

In the vestibule of the car, an operating shaft 13 is vertically mounted in the bearlngs 14 which are suitably secured to the car frame. Upon one end of the shaft a gear 15 is secured which meshes with the bevel gear 16 secured upon the end of a longitudinally extending shaft 17 mounted in the bearings 18, secured to the roof of the car. The on posite end of the shaft 17 also has a bevel gear 19 secured thereon which in turn is in meshing engagement with the teeth of the gear 9 secured to the end of the lower cur tam carrying roller 7. The operating shaft 13 extends downwardly adjacent to the motorman at one side of his position, and is preferably arranged in close proximity to the car brake handle so that it may be conveniently actuated by the motorman. The operating means comprises a disk 20 which is rigidly secured upon the shaft 13, and is provided with a plurality of openings 21. In the present instance three such openings are shown which are adapted to receive a locking pin 22 carried by a resilient latch bar 23. This locking pin 22 also extends through an operating lever 24: which likewise is loosely mounted upon the shaft 13. Upon the bearing 14 angularly disposed arms 25 are formed. Each of these arms has fixed in its outer end a vertically disposed stop pin 26 which is adapted to limit the movement of the operating lever, and the latch bar 23.

In the actuation of the operating means, the motorman grasps the operating lever Patented Mar. *7, 1911. it

and compresses the latch bar 23 until the pin 22 carried thereby is disposed opposite 7 the operating lever the disk 20 is rotated,

' rollers.

whereby movement is imparted to the shaft 13, and through the shaft 17, and the connecting gears to the curtain rolls 7, whereby the curtain is moved to indicate the proper street.

Owing to the constantly varying size of the rollers caused by the accumulation of web on one of them and the lessening amount on the other, the web will consequently be wound upon one roller faster than it is given off by the other thus causing a variation in the angular movement of the To overcome this difficulty we pro vide the compensating device illustrated in Figs. 4: and 5 of the drawings. This compensating device is one of general application and forms no part of the present invention. In order, however, to afford a clear understanding ofthe operation of our device, this compensating gearing may be described as follows: The beveled pinion 10 upon the upper end of the shaft 11 is carried by a sleeve 10 loosely mounted on said shaft. A beveled gear 1O is also formed upon the lower end of this sleeve. A similar gear 10 is mounted upon the shaft 11 for independent rotation. A spider 11 is fiXed upon the shaft 11 and carries the beveled pinions 11 which mesh with the gears 10 and 10 It will thus be obvious that when the two rollers 6 are rotating at sub stantially the same speed, the pinions 11 will be locked with the gears 10 and 10 but when the web is drawn from the upper roller so as to cause its increased rotation, the sleeve 10 carrying the gear 10 rotates at a greater speed than the shaft 11, the gear 10 moving upon the pinions 11*. Then the lower roller rotates at a greater speed than the upper roller, the reverse of this action takes place and the pinions 11 move upon the gear 10, the gear 11 being movable independently of said pinions.

As shown in the drawings, the position of the stop pins 25 limits the movement of the lever 24, to an arc of 120, and upon the return movement of the lever one of .the openings 21 is disposed in pro-per position to receive the pin 22 when the latch bar is released, thus again locking the lever and the driving disk. The lever 24 is provided in its longitudinal edges with a notch at to receive the stop pins 26. The motorman with each actuation of the indicating device moves the lever 24 the entire distance between the stop pins which will move the curtain 6 a full distance to dispose the street designations upon the face of the board or plate 8 successively, in order that they may be readily observed through the glass front of the casing. When the end of the run of the car is reached, the motorman simply reverses the direction of movement of the lever when it is locked with the driving disk, whereby the curtain is moved in the opposite direction so that the street designations will be properly displayed. 1

From the foregoing, it is believed that the construction and operation of our indicator will be readily understood. The device is comparatively simple, may be constructed at a low cost and is highly durable and efficient in operation.

Vhile we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that the same is susceptible of many minor modifications without materially departing from the essential features or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In an indicating device of the character described, the combination with a casing having rollers mounted therein, a curtain secured to and movable between the rollers, gearing connecting said rollers for unitary rotation, of a vertically positioned operating shaft, a shaft disposed between and geared to the operating shaft and the roller gearing, a driving disk fixed on the operating shaft, a lever loosely mounted on said shaft, a resilient latch bar movably engaged with said lever and adapted to lock the disk and lever together, and stops for limiting the movement of said lever whereby the curtain is moved a predetermined distance.

2. In an indicating device of the character described, the combination with a casing, rollers mounted in said casing, an indicating curtain secured to and movable with said rollers, gearing connecting the rollers for unitary movement, of a vertically positioned operating shaft geared to one of said rollers, a driving disk rigidly secured on said operating shaft, an operating lever loosely mounted on said shaft, a resilient latch bar loosely mounted on said shaft, a pin carried by said latch bar movable through the lever, said disk having a plurality of openings therein to receive one end of said pin, whereby the lever and disk are locked together, and stop pins adapted to limit the movement of said lever, whereby the indicating curtain is moved a predetermined distance.

8. In an indicating device of the character described, the combination with a casing, rollers mounted in said casing, an indicator secured to and movable between the rollers, a shaft extending between said rollers and geared thereto, of an operating shaft, bearings for said shaft, a shaft geared to said operating shaft and to one of said rollers, a driving disk secured on the operating shaft, an operating lever loosely mounted on the shaft, a resilient latch bar, a pin carried by said latch bar movably disposed through the lever, said disk having a plurality of openings therein equally spaced apart, one end of said pin being held in one of said openings by said latch bar, whereby the In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix lever and disk are locked together on the our signatures in the presence of two lit 10 shaft, diverging arms formed upon one of nesses.

the shaft bearings, having stop pins ar- ELMER A. TARIEN. ranged on their ends adapted to engage said CHARLIE F. WERTH. lever and limit its movement, whereby the indicating curtain is moved a predetermined distance.

Witnesses:

JACOB BAUMANN, EUGENE A. DEIMENT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

Images