USRE942E - Improvement in dispensing with switches on railroads - Google Patents

Description

' and exact description of the saine, reference strncted as regards the said inclined rails, and

' On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figurel rails of the siding.

' able distance beyond the same its upper sur- I UNITED f STATESl PATENT Grricn.v

WILLIAM WHARTON, JR., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT I N' DISPENSING WITH SWITCHES ON RAILROADS.

Specification forn'ling part of Letters Patent No. 26,454, dated December 13, 1859; Reissue No. 942, dated I April 3,

.T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM WHARTON, Jr., ot' the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Transferring Railway-Gars from One Track to Another; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to a mode of dispensare used for transferring cars from one track to another, and whichrequire the services of an attendant; and my invention consists in the employment, in connection with turn-outs or sidin gs, ot' supplementary inclined or raised the latter being so arranged as regards'the rails at the siding or turn-out that the wheels may be elevated above and free from the con trol of the rails of one track and be placed under the control of those of another track, as fully described hereinafter.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will now proceed to describe the manner in which I carry it into ett'ect.

is a perspective view of part of a railway track and siding or turn-out, illustrating my improvement, Fig. 2, a modification of Fig. l; Fig. 3, a sectional perspective view on the line l 2, Fig. l; Fig. 4, a sectional perspective view on the line 3 4; Fig. 2, Figs. 5 and 6, side views of the track, Fig. l looking in the direction of the arrow l and illustrating my improved mode. ot' transferring the cars from the main track to the siding; and Figs. 7`and 8, edge view of the wheels used on the cars for carrying out my improvement.

On reference to Fig. 1, A and A are the two rails of the m ain track, and B and B' the two The rail B' tapers gradually to a comparatively sharp edge toward the point where it meets the rail A of the main track, at which point and for a considerface is elevated above that of the rail of the main track, as will be bes-t observed onrefen' ieco. g y

ence to the sectional perspective view Fig. 3. On the inside of the rail A is a supplementary rail, 0, the latter being a sufticient dis tance from the former to allow the langes ot' the wheels liberty to pass freely between the two rails. It will be observed that the tread of this rail G at the point opposite to the termination of the rail B is on the same level as the tread of the latter rail, both being elevated to the same height above the tread of the main rail A. From this point the supplementary rail C is curved .outward in the. direction of the rail B of the siding, its tread terminating at the point a where it is elevated above the main rail A to the same extent as the rail B. The tread of the rail C, however, from a point about opposite to the termination ot' the rail B inclines gradually downward toward its inner termination, t, at

which point it is on the same level as the tread of the main rail A.

serves to direct the wheels of the car toward.

the siding or turn ont. 0n the oppositeside of the track the rail B oi' the siding' has a tapering end, which is as close to the' inside of the main rail A as a free passagi for the flanges of the wheels will allow, the altitude of the tread of this rail above the main rail A being the same as the height of the tread of the siding-rail B above that or" the rail A. This rail B is provided with the usual guidingflange, h, for the same purpose as that on the supplementary rail c. The supplenientary rail D is secured to the track onrtlie inside of the rail A, and at such a distance from the latter that the iianges of the wheels can pass freely between the two. AThis rail D is slightly curved inward toward its outer termination, which projects beyond the Atermination of the rail B, the tread of the rail at this its outer termination being on a level with that of the rail B the tread of this supplementary, however, int-lining gradually downward toward its inner termination, y, where it is on a level with the tread of the main rail A, its inclination coinciding with that of the supplementary rail c. Now, supposing a car furnished with ordinary wheels, such as are seen in Fig. 7, to be on the rails A and A of the main track, and that it is traversing in the direction of the arrow 2,

This supplementi Fi l, it will be evident that there isa clear i ary rails may be made so gradual that the asl passage for the flanges both between the rails A' and supplementary rail (has Well as between the rail A and the supplementary rail D, also between the saine yrail A and the end of' the rail B, the ear will take a direct course.

- along the rails A and A of the main track.

Supposingithe car, however, to be provided with Wheels similar to those shown in Fig. 8-

that is, with tao treads, one tread on the inside of that required for traversing the main rails A and A of thetrack, and the two treads being separated by a Vilange--in this case the car would traverse the main track, the wheels bearing on t-he rails of the same until it reached the inclined supplementary rails C and D, upon which the inside tread of the wheels would bear, and, a^cendin g the inclined planes, would elevate the outside treads free from Y contact with the main rails A and A', as Will their flanges are elevated above the main railsv Y A and A and are consequentlybeyond the control of these rails, so that by the time the front wheels arrive at the position shown in Fig. 6 the outer tread ot'one ofthe near wheels will be bearing on the tapering' ends of the rail B and the inner tread of the same wheel on the curved end of the supplementary rail C, while the outer tread ofthe far wheel is bearing on the tapering end of the -rail B and the inner tread on the curved end of the supplementary rail D, the anges of both wheels being elevated free from contact with the treads of the main rails of the track. As the wheels continue to move they will leave the supplementary rails and continue to traverse With their outer treads one wheel on the rail B and the other on the rail B of the sliding or turn-out, the nange li of the rail B and the flange ot' the supplementary rail U tending to guide the wheels laterally on to the rails of the siding as they leave the supplementary rails.

It will be seen without further explanation that the cars are transferred from the main track to the siding by gradually raising their another, for the inclination of the supplementcent is scarcely perceptible, and the ends of the supplementary rails at the point where they overlap the ends of the siding-rails, being on the same level as the latter, the traverse of the Wheels at this point must be as even and as free from all sudden jars as though they traversed an ordinary straight rail. Precisely the same result is accomplished in the modicatien illustrated by Fig. 2, i n which the rails A and A are curved and the rails B and B ofthe siding take a direct course in aline with the main rails.

Y It willbe readily seen that the cars furnished. with the wheels Fig. 7 will takerthe direction a will be Observed that while ai@ same principle of inclined supplementary rails for raising the cars and transferring them from one track to another is maintained, they may be considerably modified as regards their disposal and arrangement, and that the eonstruction of the wheels for acting in conjunction with these supplementary rails may be also modified, so that instead of two treads on the same wheel, separate supplementary wheels, or wheels with more than two treads and treads ot' different diameters, may be used. I therefore do not desire to confine myself to the precise arrangement and construction cf parts herein described; but

I claim and desire to secure by Letters v WM. WHARTON, JR.

Witnesses Y HENRY Howsoiv, CHARLES D. FREEMAN.

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