USRE11346E - mehlina - Google Patents

Description

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J. A. MEHLING. STREETUAR.

No. 11,346. I Ressud June 20,1893.. A

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J. A. MEHLING.

STREET GAR.

No. 11,346. Reissued June 2o, 1893.

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J. A. MEHLING. STREET GAR.

Reissud 'J-une Z0, 1893.

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@MW 'i iff/f? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ANDREW MEHLING, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, AssIGNOR 0F ONE-'HALE To s. D. DODGE, OE SAME PLACE.v

STREET-CAR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Reissued Letters Patent No. 11,346, dated J' une 20, 1893.- Original ITO.`4B1,800, dated August 30, 1892. Application for reissue tiled February 2, 1893- Ser'ml No. 1460,816.

To aZZ whom it may con-cern.;

Be it known that I, JOHN ANDREW MEHL-` ING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohi,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCars; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,- clear, and

`. exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled i'n the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

In order to meet the demands of the public and to providethe comforts which are generally regarded as necessities by the patrons ofl 'streetrai1ways,the companies are now obliged to provide two complete equipments of carsto wit, t he open cars, which' are used inthe summer, and the closed cars, which are used rest of the year.

The principal object of, my inyention is to provide a car which may readily be converted from a closedi car to an open car, and vice versa", whereby the cost of the equipment and maintenance of the rolling-stock of a streetrailway may be reduced in a large degree.

Another object of my invention is t9, provide a car intojand from which passengers may pass in less time and with less discomfort to themselves and their fel low-passen gersv thanwith the cars-now in general use.

- hese are the .principal objects of my in` vention, which consistin the `construction and combination of parts hereinafter described,

" and pointed out definitely in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are elevati-ons of opposite sidesof a 'street-car embodying my invention. `Figf3 is a horizontal section of the carin the? plane indicatedv by line 8 3 of vFig'. l, showing the relative arrangement of the seats, the aisle, bei In these three figures just described a supposed to bebroken away for the purpose of reducing the size of'v the figures. Fig. 4 is` an end elevation of the car, and Fig. 5 isa perspective view of one of the removable panels.

` In all large cities the street-railwaysage for v the most part constructed with double tracks,"

and the cars run in one d irection on one track and in the opposite direction onf/theI other track.` A car constructed as hereinafter'described is of greatest utility on roads cfg/this.

'character when rthe two tracks are connected by a loop or .when a turn-table is provided at theends of the line. i

Referring again to the drawings, A repre- 55 sents the floor of the car, and B the roof.

C C represent upright posts arranged at in terv'als along the sides of. the car, extending from the fioor to the roof and secured firmly to both, thereby supporting the roof.

VE and E represent panels, which extend' from the iioor to the roof `and are wide enough to extend from the middle line of one post to the middle of the next post. These panels are secured to the posts by bolts c, and when a'65 snicie'nt number of such panels are sosecured to the posts they close the entire side of the car on which they are placed.

Either side of the car or both sides might,

'if desired, be constructedin the above-. de-"'ypg scribed manner, and if both sidesareso'constructed alli the panels' may be'removed 1eav i-ng nothing at the sides except the upright posts, substantiallylike the open cars in or dinary use." I prefer, however, to construct '75 only that side of the car which in traveling 'runs next to the other track with removable panels, as above explaizied, for the reason that I propose to put one or more sliding dOOrsI) in the opposite side of the car,.in Order that 8o even when the car is closed for winter use theseI doors may,I when desired, be used by the passengers in getting into or from the car. When this side of the car ,is constructed, as shown in the drawings, with a door in every, 85 other space between posts, it is, I think, un? necessary tohave the intermediatepanelsd removable,becau'se when all the doors are-open on that'side and all the panels on the other side are removed the c ar is suciently Open 9o tov give free circulation of air through it. It, is, moreover, in-m/y 'opiniombetterthatthey should not be removable onthis side, because when permanently secured in place they brace that side of the car and by making it stiier 95 render the action of the doorsmore smooth and certain.

I employ sliding doors, which are, hung on A snitabl rollers either from theft'op or bottom,.

or both. These doors are arranged to slide roo 'outside of'fthe stationary panels d, and each 1 is `pAi/Ovided with a vertical hand-rail d', which passengers riding on the Ifoot-board I when the car, as shown in Fig. 3. The ends of the the car is being used open may take hold of. These doors are provided with a latch F of any suitable construction, adapted to hold" the doors closed; but I believe the car will be safer if the handles for operating the latch are placed only on the outside of the door, because thereby the conductor may, if he chooses, when the car is crowded open any of the side doors and permit a passenger to pass through it into or from they car; `but there will be no'danger of passengers in the car opening' the door and stepping ont before the car has stopped. A foot-board or step I extends entirely along the outside of the car, as shown,

from one platform to the other on that sideY which is farthest from the other track.

In order to make it possible to close the doors tightly, s'o that when closed very little'.

air will be admitted at the sides, I bevel the vertical edge l of the door and provide on the back side of the door a beveled vertical shoulder 2. The two posts C C between which the door extends are provided with vertical edges 3 and 4, with which the beveled 'sur faces 1 and 2 on the door engage.

An aisle extends the entire length of the car next. to that side thereof on which the doors are placed. The seats G extend transversely from this faisle to the other side of car are provided with doors H, placed at one side of the center and in line with the aisle.

These doors are provided with windows h, which may be lowered, and the ends of the car are likewise provided with Windows h', vwhich may be removed or lowered when the car is turned into an open car.

Whena car constructed as described has l its panels E secured in place andis being used as a closed car, its seating capacity is considerably greater than that of the closed cars of ordinary construction with seats'along the sides. At the same time the aisle room is snicient to permit at least as many passengers to stand comfortably in it for th"e reason pri-ncipally that it is not in part eeen-- pied by `th`e feet of the passengers who are sitting. Whenthe aisle is clear, passengers can quickly get out of the car through the end doors, because they have'a free passageway unobstructed bythe passengers feet.` If

the car is crowded time may be saved `by letting them into and off the ca r througlr the side doors.

To change the. car to a. substantially open Acar, the panels are removed; the side-doors are fastened bac-k, and the qepd doors and windows opened. A wire guard .I of ordinaryv construction may be secured a,long that side of 'thc-car next the others rails to prevent passengers from getting onto or from the car on that side. In Fig. 2 a broken section of the wireguardis shown lto indicatejts p0- sition whenl secu-red tothe'car.

.5 to be of the following constructionz- Upon each side of each panel are two vertical ant glo-irons e, secured together and to an interposed strip of wood e', having ar tongue e2, by rivets. Across the top and bottom are two fiat iron plates, which are riveted to the anis held in place by two similar strips e5e5, secured to the other angle-irons. Any sortof bolts c may be employed to fasten the panels E=tofthe posts C; but I prefer to employ bolts having a T-head,as shown in Fig. 5. The shank of the bolt lies in a groove in the edges of the panels. The panels rest onl the floor of the car and the T-heads of the bolts set over the edges of both panels. 'A vertical strip of molding C" issecnred tothe edge of one panel, so that it overlaps the edge ot the adjacent panel and hides\the space between the two panels. i

I would have it understood lthat my inven- .tion broadly embraces a street-car 'having 'seats 'arranged transversely of the car with `separated :af-suitable distance from that side of the car to form an aisleextending from end to end of the car.

I am aware that cars have heretofore been 4made with an aisle on one side extendingthe either sliding or stationary, between the seats and the respective side of the car, and I desire to have it, therefore, understood `that I do not broadly claim a car having an aisle upon one side extending the entire length of lthe car-body.

Having thus described my invention, what lI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A street-car having seats arranged transversely of the car, a foot-board on one side, .an aisle at that side extending practically or approximately the entire length of the carbody, and one or more doors leading from the foot-board into said aisle, the aisle being formed by the one end of the seats on one side and the side-wall of the .car-body on the other side, without the interposition of a partition or dividing, wall substantially as set forth.

j 2; A car havingC a side wholly or partially removable, and, to that extent, forming-a convertible open and` closed car, seats arranged transversely of the car, said seats, at one end,

the ends of the seats, at one side of the cail` ,entire length of the car-body but, in every in' stance, the aisle was formed by a partition,

gle-irons. This makes a metallic frame, which l In the upper part are secured to the angle-irons, and the blind IOO IIO

The removable panels Eare shown in F-ig.- being separated such a distance from one side l,

of the car 3. A .street-car having a side wholly or partially removable and to that extent forming a convertible open and closed ear, a footboard along one side, seats arranged transversely of the car, said seats, at one`end5being separated 'such a distance from the side of the car at which the foot-board is located, so as to form an aisle at that side, and one or more doors in said side, substantially as setforth.

4. 4A convertible open and closed street-car having one" side which is composed of vertical posts and, removable panels, a foot-board along one side, one or more sliding doors in the I,side on which the foot-board is placed, an aisle next to said side and extending from one end tor the other, and seats arranged transversely on the door and extending from the aisle to the other side of the car, substantially as set forth. 5. In a convertible open and closed streetcar, the combination of vertical posts arranged along one side of the car, removable panels Vto form .an aisle at that side,-

having metallic frames, and bolts for securing said panels to said posts, substantially-as set forth.

6. A panel for a convertible street-car having sides, which are formed of two vertical angle-irons and an interposed wood strip hav-` ing a vertical tongue, metallic cross-pieces at top and bottom, Wood' facings to the lower parts of said panels, anda vertically-movable window and -bliud adapted. to close the upper part of said panel and lying on opposite sides of said; wood strip, substantially as set forth.

7. In a street-car, a sliding door in one side, having beveled vertical edges, combined with vertical posts having inclined vertical edges adapted to engage with the vertical edges on the door, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I sign this speciiication, in the presence of two witnesses, this 3d day of January, A. D. 1893.

JOHN ANDREW MEI-ILING. Witnesses.

C. Il. DORER, ELLA E. TILDEN.

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