US391529A - Station-indicator - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.4

H. HELLAND & P.- MATZOW.

' STATION INDICATOR. N0. 391,529. Patented 00's. 23, 1888.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. HELLAND 8v P. MATZOW.

STATION INDIGATUR. No. 391,529. Patented Oct. 23, 1888.-

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H. HELLAND &: F. MATZOW.

STATION INDICATOR'. No. 391,529l` Patented 0011. 23, 1888.

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STATION INDICATOR.

No. 891,529. Pai-.611898008 28, 1888.

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"Artnr rrlfllo HANS HELLAND AND FRANTZ MATZOVV, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS.

STATIONHINDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,529, dated @ctober 23, 18188.

Application filed February 7, 1888. Serial No. 263,255.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HANs HELLAND and FRANTZ MATZOW, of Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Station-Indicator, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to an improvement in station-indicators, and has for its object to provide an apparatus which will indicate to the passengers of railway or street cars when the car is approaching, standing at, or leaving a station, the station or street naine, distance from the last station passed or to the next station, or any point upon the line that may be desired, and wherein all of the above data may be displayed simultaneously or any one or more items.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters and gnres of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section through a car having our device attached. Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section through the same. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are detail views. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the body of the indicator, and Fig. Sis a longitudinal vertical section through the same. Figs. 9 and 10 are vertical sections through the body of the indicator, illustrating a modification thereof for circuitous routes. v

It is the prime object of this invention to provide a device which will be of great benelit to the traveling public, especially to foreigners or people hard of hearing, for the brakemans calling out77 is often entirely inadequate to convey the desired information.

,Referring to the drawings, upon the axle 10 of the car-wheel a sproeketwheel or grooved pulley, l1, is keyed or otherwise secured, which wheel is connected by an endless chain, 12, with another sprocket-wheel or grooved pulley, 13, journaled between the car-bea1ns or the iloor-beains, as is best adapted to the construction of the car. The bearings of the wheel13 are movable, and consist of a suit- (Xo model.)

able arm, 14., hinged to a metal support, as shown in Fig. 4, which hinged arm, upon either side near the top, isuinited to the support by strong spiral or coiled springs 15, the object of the said springs being to neutralize the springs upon the truck. As shown in Fig. 3, the journal of the wheel 13 is connected by a universal joint with a short horizontal shaft, 16, and a second horizontal shaft, 17, carrying a worin, 18, is universally connected to the aforesaid shaft, the latter shaft, 17, being held to turn in suitable bearings. The worm 18 diminishes the motion of the wheel or pulley 13 and communicates the reduced motion to a wornrgear, 19, secured at the lower end of a vertical shaft, 20. .The shaft 20 is projected through the car-floor along the inside wall, preferably between said Wall, the closet, and door-frame, to a point in the clear story above the bellAcord aperture. The upper end ofthe shaft 20 is provided with a worin, 2l, to further diminish. the motion from the sprocket 13,whichwor1n meshes with a gear, 22, keyed to a two-part horizontal shaft, 23, as illustrated in Fig. 8. rllhe twopart shaft extends through the casing 24 of the indicator proper and is journaled in brackets 25 and 26, the brackets and casing being both secured to the wall of the car. The preferred position of the casing, as indicated in Fig. l, is in the clear story at one end of the car. The section c of the two-part shaft carries the worm gear-wheel 22 at its outer end, and within the casing is provided with a reduced rectangular inner end,over which the hub of a gear-wheel, 27, .is slid and secured. The abutting end of theinner section a is also squared and provided with a socket adapted to receive the reduced end of section c, the aforesaid hub of gear 27 constituting a sleeve for the joint and uniting the two sections when in the position illustratedin Fig. 8. The section oi of the two-part shaft passes through and is secured to a roller, 28, which roller extends longitudinally of the frame at the bottom. The said shaft-section,projecting beyond the rear end of the roller, is projected beyond its bearing through the case and provided with a hand-wheel or button, 29.

In the upper end of the brackets 25 and 26 a second horizontal shaft, 30, is journaled par- ICO allel with the lower shaft-section a and carrying a roller,3l,similar in length to the roller 28. That end of the shaft passing beyond the bracket 26 projects through the casing, and to the extremity a hand-wheel or button, 32, is attached, aligning the wheel 29. Upon the opposite end of the shaft 30, which projects beyond the bracket 25 and within the casing, a gear-Wheel, 33, is keyed, which gear' is adapted, under circumstances hereinafter ex plained, to mesh with the under gear, 27. A. strip or curtain, 34, of fabric of suitable width and alength adapted to the purpose,is attached at its ends to the upper and lower rolls, respectively, and wrapped upon said rolls in such manner as that a smooth unbroken outer face Will be presented, as shown in Fig. 8.

Near the longitudinal edges of the curtain, at suitable distances apart, figures are produced upon the outer face, and between said figures the name of a station, the figure upon one side indicating the distance to the next station and the figure upon the opposite side the distance from the last or from the first station on the road. Motion is communicated from one roller to the other and the curtain compelled to wind smoothly thereon by means of endless elastic bands 35, embracing the curtain and both rollers near the end, asillustrated in Fig. 8. Upon the curtain, also, between the figures and the name of the station, the fractions of a mile may be indicated, as at d in Fig. 7. The front of the casing is pro- 'end, the words To7 and From are produced, and at the other end the same words reversed. Thus when the word From 7 is op posite one aperture the word Tol appears at the other, and vice versa. These words refer to the numbers below them-as, for in stance, if the next station were Newark and the iigurel() were below the word From,77 it would signify that the train at that time was ten miles from the last station passed or indicated, andthe number 14 being under the word To would indicate that the distance from that point to Newark. was fourteen miles. Within one margin of the main opening apointer, 4l, is produced, in front of which the fractional indications pass, and when the mark indicating a mile comes opposite this finger the numbers at each side of the station-name change, thesame or the next station, as the case may be, ap pearing.

In order to reverse or throw the gearing out so that the rolls may be turned by hand, a shifting device is employed. This shifting device consists of a substantially U shaped lever, 42, fulcrumed in the bracket 25, one member, 43, of which extends downward parallel with the front of the casing and is provided with a shanked button, 44, which button, passing through a segmental slot, 45, in the casing, is free to move in the same. The other member, 46, of the shifting-lever is provided with a bifurcated extremity, which, spanning the hub of the gear 27, is secured thereto, as shown in Fig. 5. Vhen the gearing is meshed, as shown, the under roll is revolved and the curtain wound thereon from the top roll. To reverse, the shiftinglever is carried to the outer end of the segmental slot 45,Which motion causes the gear 27 to slide upon the shaft-section c, and thereby uncouple the sections a and aof the two-part shaft 23, and the gear 27 to mesh with the gear 33, whereby motion is communicated direct to the upper roller. When from any cause the curtain is to be shifted, the shifting-lever is carried to the center of the segmental slot, which motion uncouples the two-part shaft, yet does not cause any of the gears to mesh, whereupon the rolls may be manipulated by means of the buttons att-ached to their shafts.

When the cars are run in a circuit or belt route, the station-name belt will be an endless one, as illustrated in Fig. 9, in which 28 and 31 indicate the rollers, and above said main rollers friction felt or rubber covered rollers e are journaled, and between the said friction and main rollers the apron or name-beltpasses. To the rear of the main rollers, at top and bottom, two horizontal series of smaller rollers, b and b', arejournaled in plates d and d', which plates are attached to the brackets of the indicator,as shown in Fig. 6. The small rollers b have upon one sideasmall rubber cylinder, b2, acting as a friction-roller, which is given motion ICO by the anges of the main rollers. The rollers brun loosely in the direction with the canvas, and are provided with loose friction-wheels b, adapted to turn in Opposite direction to the said rollers b in order to transfer motion to the rollers b. The lowerjournal-bearings are stationary, and the upper one is movable in slots e, and adapted to bev secured by a setscrew to suit the length of the belt or apron. rlhefriction-wheels b2 and b3 prevent stretching of the canvas, and in short routes may be dispensed with and the rollers b b run loosely.

Another modification is illustrated in Fig. 10, which is only practical on cars run in one direction. The rubber belts or bands 35 do not surround other rolls than the main ones 28 and 31, and in this instance are applied on the rolls under the curtain, and preferably made to run in a spur in the said rollers. If found desirable, instead of the rubber band or belt, a pinion intervening the main rollers may be lemployed, engaging suitable gear upon the rol s.

In Fig. 10 a reservoir, 51, is placed to the rear of the main rollers, provided with a slot, 52, in its front face at the bottom and top, the curtain passing from the rollers through said slots and into the reservoir,where it falls from the top downward in regular folds, the curtain being drawn from the bottom of the reservoir.

It will be observed that whenever a divisionline giving distance passes the hand or pointer 41 the car is that distance from the last stationthat is, the distance indicated to the left below From, the number to the left below To, giving the distance to the next station. The indicator by containing an additional row of numbers would give distances from any one point desired-for instance, terminal stations.

Having thus fully described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The combination, with a two-part shaft, one section being provided with an actuatinggear and a roller mounted upon the other, a toothed sleeve uniting said gear, and a shifting device connected with said sleeve, of a shaft parallel with and above the two-part shaft, provided with a gear adapted to mesh with the sleeve, a roller mounted upon the upper shaft, a curtain carried by said rollers and endless belts passing around the rollers, and curtains, substantially as shown and described.

2. rlhe combination, with a two-part shaft, the outer section provided with an actuating-gear, a roller mounted upon the inner section, 'a gear sliding on the outer section and coupling the said sections, and a shifting device attached to said coupling-gear, of a shaft parallel with and above the two-part shaft, provided with a gear adapted to mesh with the coupling-gear, a roller mounted upon said upper shaft, an indicatingcurtain carried by said rollers, and endless belts passing around the rollers and curtain, and means, substantially as described, for actuating the two rollers from the two-part shaft, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with a two-part shaft, the outer section being provided with an actuating-gear, a roller mounted upon the inner section, a gear coupling the said sections and turning with the outer one, and a shifting device attached to said coupling-gear, of a shaft parallel with and above the twopart shaft, provided with a gear adapted to mesh with the coupling-gear, a roller mounted upon said upper shaft, a curtain carried by said rollers indicating the station and distances, a belt passing around said rollers and curtain-knobs secured to one outer end of said shafts, and means, substantially as described, for actuat ting the two-part shaft from the axle of a car, essentially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the axle of a car, a pulley upon the axle, a pulley beneath the carbod y mounted in spring-actuated bearings, an endless belt connecting the two pulleys, a horizontal shaft universally connected with said latter pulley and carrying a worm, and a vertical shaft carrying a worm-gear at one end and a worm at the other, of a twopart shaft actuated from said vertical shaft, a roller mounted upon the inner section of the two-part shaft, a second shaft parallel with the latter shaft, a roller mounted upon the second shaft, a curtain uniting the two rollers, an endless band passing over the rollers and curtain, and means, substantially as described, for actuating the rollers from thetwopart shaft, essentiall y as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, with the rollenshaft of an indicator and the axle of a car, of a pulley mounted upon the axle, a pulley mounted in spring actuated bearings beneath the carbody, a horizontal shaft universally connected with said pulley carrying a Worm at one end, and a vertical shaft provided with a gear at its lower end meshing with said worm, and having a worm at the upper end engaging a gear upon the roller-shaft, and combined to operate substantially in the manner specified.

6. The combination, with the roller-shaft of an indicator and the axle of a car, of apulley mounted upon the axle, a pulley mounted in spring actuated bearings beneath the carbody, a horizontal shaft universally connected with said pulley, and gearing uniting said shaft with the roller-shaft, substantially as specified.

7. The combination, in a station-indicator, with the parallel rollers 3l 28 and the endless band 35, passing around them, of the rollers above and below the rollers 3l 28, and an indicating-curtain, 34, passing between each pair of rollers and along the front side of the band 35, substantially as set forth.

HANS HELLAND. FRANTZ MATZDW. Vitnesses:

J. G. P. SUMNER, N. C. MUNGER.

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