US642124A - Steering apparatus for sleds. - Google Patents

Description

No. 642,!24. Paiented- Jan. 30, I900. J. HULDSWURTH.

STEERING APPARATUS FUR SLEDS.

(Application filed June L2, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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r'rhio STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSHUA IIOLDSIVORTII, OF WOONSOOKET, RHODE ISLAND.

STEERING APPARATUS FOR SLEDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,124, dated January 30, 1900. Application filed June 12, 1899. Serial No. '720,31'7.- (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSHUA HOLDSWORTH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Woonsocket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island,have invented a new and useful Steering Apparatus for Sleds, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to sleds, and more particularly to steering apparatus therefor, the object of the invention being to provide animproved apparatus of simple, cheap, durable, and efficient construction, adapted for ready attachment to all kinds of sleds, whereby the course of travel of the sled can be governed with rapidity and precision without the necessity of applying the feet of the occupant to the ground.

With this object in view my invention consists in the improved construct-ion, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention most nearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sled equipped with steering apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof, the position of the shaft being partly indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is an inverted perspective view of the rubber-holding box detached, the handle-lever being broken away. Fig. i is a detail perspective view of the rubber detached. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation thereof.

Like numerals of reference indicate the same parts wherever they appear in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 6 6 indicate the runners, and 7 the top, of a sled of any ordinary construction. Secured in and passing through the runners at or near their mid-length is a' shaft 8, projecting beyond the runners at each side and serving as points for the pivotal attachment of a handlever 9 on each side, said levers being prevented from slipping off the shaft by any suitable means. The sockets 10, in which the ends of the shaft are secured, are punched out of the metal of the levers, which are preferably made of heavy sheet metal and formed at their rear ends into boxes 11 to receive rubbers 12. The rubbers are made of any suitable size and material, are provided with teeth 14 on their under surfaces, and are cut away on each side to form ribs 15 to receive the curled under side edges 16 of the box. The metal of the box is also turned down at the rear, forming flanges 17 to prevent the rubbers sliding out of place rearwardly.

18 indicates stops secu red in the runners on each side near the front to serve as rests for the forward ends of the levers to prevent them from dropping or being pushed into contact With the earth, snow, or ice, and the levers are normally held down upon the stops by springs 19, in this instance illustrated as rubberbands, although other styles of springs may be used to prevent the forward ends rising and dragging the rubbers.

In practical operation, by the raising of the forward ends of the levers, the rubbers will be brought into more or less violent contact with the snow or ice on which the sled is running, and the application of either rubber will cause the course of the sled to be turned to that side.

The levers, including the rubber-holding boxes, as before stated, may be easily and cheaply made of heavy sheet-iron, the sockets for the shaft being punched out, and when the box and rubber are constructed as described the rubber when worn down may be slid out at the front and a new one slid into its place, so that with ordinary use the rubbers will be the only parts needing to be renewed. 7

While I have illustrated and described what I consider to be the best means now known to me for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the exact forms of construction shown, as many slight changes therein or variations therefrom might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic, all of which would be clearly included within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The herein-described rubber consisting of a block of suitable material, provided with teeth on its under surface and hollowed out on its sides forming attaching-ribs, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described rubber consisting of a block of suitable material, provided with teeth on its under surface and hollowed out on its sides forming attaching-ribs in combination with a holder or box provided with downwardly-turned under sides embracing the ribs, and a rear downwardly-turned flange to prevent rearward displacement, substantially as described.

A lever for steering apparatus for sleds, provided with a horizontal socket to engage over a shaft and a rubber-holding box having downwardly-turned under sides and a downwardly-turned rear end flange, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a sled of a shaft extending horizontally through the runners with its ends projecting beyond them, of le vers provided with rubbers, and journaled on the ends of the shaft, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a sled, of a shaft extending horizontally through the runners with its ends projecting beyond them, of levers, provided with sockets journaled on the shaft ends, boxes carried at the rear ends of JOSHUA HOLDSVVORTH.

Witnesses:

HENRY G. HUBBARD, GEORGE MASON.

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