US1448957A - Railway-switch stand - Google Patents

Description

,Mar. 20,1923.

B. T. GIBBIS, JR.V RAILWAY SWITCH STAND.

.FILED 059.15 i922 2 SHEETS-SHEET l. v

@medici f" Mar'. 20, 1923.. 1,448,957., Bx T1 JR. RAILWAY SWITCH STAND.

'FILED BELG, l5. '1922. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented lidar. Z0, i923.

llitll'i i lalaei BENDICT T. GIBBS, JR., OF CHCAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T lVIO'tDEN FROG @n CROSSING VORKS, OF CHICAGO, LLINOVIS, A CORFORATION OF ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH STAND.

Application filed December 15, 1922. Serial No. 607,032.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, Bninnicr T. Gines, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residii'ig Chicago Heights, in the county of `Cool: and State of illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway Switch Stands, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway switch stands, specifically those of the type con ventionally installed across two ties at the side of a switch to operate the switch point.

For a variety of reasons, well understood in the art unnecessary to enumerate here, it is desirable in such a stand to provide a certain amount of intentional lost motion, as distinguished from `objectionable loosen'ess found yin improperly built or seriously deteriorated mechanisms.

The object of this invention is to provide a conventional form of switch stand with such an intentional lost motion device, which is so located that it is easily built and readn ily accessible when the stand is in use, for repair or replacement.

The invention consists in mechanism for attaining the foregoing and other objects and in many features and details of construction which will be hereafter' more fully set forth in the specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals designate the same parts through' out the several views: i

Figure 1 is a sectional plan view, taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 2, illustrating this invention in its preferred form.

Figure 2 is a side elevation largely in section, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a similar view at right angles to that of Figure 2, taken on a line of Figure 1. i

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the es sentialV detail `parts entering into' this invention, removed from the switch stand proper. i

Figure 5 is a side view and Figure 6 a plan view of an alternative form of construction of the part shown in Figure 4. i

Figure 7 is a bottom view of the crank mechanism of Fig. 2.r

The switch stand,y case of conventional form to which this invention is applied, including a base portion 10 and a cover 12, secured in place by any suitable means, as, for instance, bolts 14, is shown applied to two railroad ties 16 and 18 by any suitable means, as, for instance, the spikes 20, in such a position that the conventional switch rod 22, operated by the device, can extend away between the ties to the switch point, not shown, to be controlled.

Journaled in the switchy stand case in the obvious manner is a shaft 24, conventional as to all except its lower portion, the same carrying the segmental gear 26 meshing` with another gear 28 on a horizontal shaft 30, evtending outside the case, and there carrying a conventional operating lever 32 equip `ped at its end with the usual weight 34, adapted to be rocked in a vertical plane between the position shown in Fig. 1 and a corresponding position 180O therefrom, in which it rests upon member 36 on tiel6 as distinguished from member 38 on tie 18. The upper end of shaft 24 is con/ventionallyprovided withl the target or lantern holding :mn-circular end 40. A

The rotatable shaft 24 is in the preferred construction provided with the nonfcircular lower end 42, adapted to receive the cylindrical hub 44 of a non-'circular nut 46, the

samebeing detachably secured in `place by i any suitable means, as, for instance, the pin and cotter construction48 of Figure ,3.

interposed between the bottomk portion v10 l of the stand case and the non-circular parts 46, heretofore referred to, and journalledfon the hub 44, is the cylindricalhub 49 of two oppositely disposed crank arms 50 and 52,

,each selectively attachable to the switchfrod 22 by any suitable means, for instance, the bolt 54. `The inner connecting portion 56 of these twol crank arms 52 and 54 is provided with an elongated recess 58 of substantially the same contour but slightly larger than the noncircular nut portions 46,

with the result that when the parts are assembled as shown inthe drawings with the nut members 46 in the recess 58, there is just .the right amount of play or lost motion between members 46 and 563` 'n ylhe construction describedhas the distinct advantage that, by removing cotte-r pin 48, the nut member 46 may be dropped out of the lever mechanism 50-`52 and replaced by a new one of the same sizeor Va ldifferent size, as may be requiredfor the switch constructing opera-tion, without its being necessary to in any way disturb` the rest ofthe switch stand. Furthermore, these adjustloo able parts are so located that they are in large measure protected by the body of the stand from access by rain or snow and yet the stand, itself, does not have to be opened in order to reach them for replacement or repair, as described..

In the alternative construction of Figures 5 and 6, the lower end of vertical shaft 24 is provided'with an integral cam or nut 60 of approximately the shape of member 46, while the lever arm mechanism 62, corresponding to device -52, is arovided with an open-topped recess 6a loosely enclosing member with just suliicient clearance to give lthe desiredamount of lost motion in the entire mechanism. In this construction, the lever device 62 is detachably secured to the bottom of shaft 2d below cam 46 through the agency of an elongated slot 6G and pin 68 connectionV of conventional form, so shaped and adjusted as to allow the necessary amount of pla-y between the members 60 and 62 to give the desired lost motion effect.

In this alternative construction, most of the advantages of the preferred construction are present and, in addition, there is only one loose part, viz: the crank mechanism 62, which is separated from the switch stand when the pin 68 is removed, instead of two parts as in thev preferred construction. This reduces the danger of accidental loss of parts. In the alternative construction of `Figure 5, the hub 70 of lower case member 10 s split vertically, at a point not shown, to permit the insertion of shaft 24 to the position shown.

Attention is called to the fact that by completely enclosing the non-circular members in the crank arm and its hub, the height of the stand is kept at a minimum.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Iietters Patent is:

l. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; a crank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular opening entered` by said shaft, and a non-circular member, non-rotatable on the shaft, carried by the shaft, loosely fitting, by a predeter mined amount, in said non-circular opening for the purposes set forth.

2. In mechanism of the class described, i combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; a crank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular opening entered by said shaft, and a non-circular member non-rotatable on the shaft detachably carried by the shaft loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount, in said non-circular opening, for the purposes set forth.

3. In mechanism of the class described, in

combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; a crank arm attached to the con necting rod, having a non-circular opening entered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crank arm, and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft carried by the shaft loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount, in said non-circular opening for the purposes set forth.

4. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; ay crank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular opening entered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crank arm, and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft, detachably carried by the shaft loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount, in said non-circular opening, for the purposes set forth.

5. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft, a crank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular opening entered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crank arm, and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft, detachably carried by the shaft loosely litting, by a predetermined amount, in said non-circular opening, the non-rotatable member being at the end of the shaft and assisting in holding the crank arm on the shaft.

6. In mechanism of the class described, a shaft having a non-circular end and a bearing portion adjacent thereto for rotation in a case, a crank arm enclosing the end of the shaft having a non-circular opening freely entered by the non-circular end of the shaft and a non-circular member' detachably carried by the non-circular end of the shaft, having a part constituting a journal bearingl for the crank arm and having a part fitting loosely by a predetermined amount in! the opening in the crank, the entire non-circular 'member beingwithin the body of the crank, and means detachably securing all the parts in operative position.

7. In` mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; a crank armattached tothe connecting rod, having a non-circular opening ent-ered by said shaft, and a non-circular member, non-rotatable on the shaft, carried by the shaft, completely enclosed in the crank arm, loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount, in said non-circular opening for the purposes set forth.

S. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft, means. for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by .lli

the shaft; a crank arm attached to the con'- necting rod7 having a non-circular opening entered by said shaft, and a non-circular member non-rotatable on the shaft, having a hub detachably carried by the shaft completely enclosed in and forming a bearing for the crank arm, said non-circular member loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount` in said non-circular opening, for the purposes set forth. v

9. In mechanism of the class described, in combination With a shaft, means for rotatingit and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; a crank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular opening` entered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crank arm7 and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft carried by the shaft loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount7 in Said non-circular opening, the mounting for the non-circular member on the shaft constituting said journal bearing, for the purposes set forth.

10. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; a crank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular opening entered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crank arm, and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft, detachably carried by the shaft loosely litting, by a predetermined amount, in said non-circular opening, the mounting` for the non-circular member on the shaft constitut ing said journal bearing, for the purposes set forth.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

BENEDICT T, GIBBS, JH.

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