US755872A - Car-fender. - Google Patents

Description

No. 755,872. PATENTED MAR. 29, 1904. J. T. HERON & J. J. CROWLEY.

OAR FENDER.

: APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 6, 1904. 10' MODEL.

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UNITED" STATES Patented March 29, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES T. HERON AND JOHN J OSEPH CROWLEY, OF NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,872, dated March 29, 1904.

Application filed January 6, 1904 i To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J AMES T. HERON and JOHN JOSEPH CROWLEY, citizens of the United States, residing at New Bedford, in the county of Bristol .and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Fenders; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in fenders for cars or other vehicles; and the object is to provide asimple, inexpensive, and

' durable fender which may be folded or colplatform of the car.

lapsed and stored beneath the platform of the car when it is not in use and which when projected in front of the car may be maintained in. an operative position by suitable means, which will be more specifically pointed out hereinafter. 1

The invention consists in the novel construction, combination, and operative aggroupment of the parts, all as will be more fully described hereinafter, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims. 7

In the drawings, "Figure 1 is a side eleva. tion of one end of the platform of a car with our improved fender applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the fender as it appears when in inoperative position. Fig. 3 is a front elevation or end view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the fender, showing it in an inoperative position and stored beneath the Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line a: m of Fig. 2, showwhen partly collapsed.

Making renewed reference to the drawings, wherein similar reference notations indicate corresponding parts appearing in the several illustrations, 1 designates the platform of a car mounted upon a suitable truck 2. Depending from the platform in front of the truck and at each side thereofare a plurality mg in dotted lines the position of the partsv Serial No. 187,942. (No model.)

of hangers 3, each having inwardly-directed flanges 4, which form guides for and support the side bars 5 of the fender-frame. There will preferably be three of these hangers, as shown in the drawings, in which case the intermediate one will be provided with an inwardly-directed lug 4:, which will be disposed parallel with the flange 4 and between which and the flange the side bars 5 are adapted to slide, so that the weight of the fender will prevent the same from tilting on its supports .or hangers.

The fender consists of a frame the front and sides of which are preferably formed of a continuous strip, which is bowed at a point approximately intermediate its ends to provide a front curved portion 6. The side bars 5 are braced near the ends of the bent portion and at some distance in the rear thereof by suitable stays 7 and 8, which may be riveted, bolted, or otherwise secured to the side bars. The frame thus constructed is substantially rectangular in shape with a curved front end, and extending longitudinally thereof is a guide-rod 9, one, end of which is secured to the curved front portion 6 and the other end to the stay 8. The platform constituting that portion of the fender on which a person or object would be lodged if the car should collide therewith is formed of resilient metal strips 10, which preferably extend longitudinally of the frame with one end secured to the curved front edge of the frame and extending upwardly above the same to lie substantially in a plane parallel therewith and with their other ends secured to a bowed rib or member 11, the ends of which arepivoted to the side bars 5, adjacent to and in the rear of the stay 7 From the description thus far given it will be seen that an open or grille work platform is provided, and the resilient strips of which it is constructed are preferably secured, as at 12, to the forward stay 7. These resilient strips and the stay 7 are bowed form of the car, as shown in Fig. 4, the pivoted member 11 will lie flat between the side bars 5; but when the fender is projected in front of the car and in an operative position the bowed member 11 is elevated and forms an obstruction to the passage between the side bars and the platform of the car, so that a person or object falling upon the fender will be prevented from rolling off the platform. The means whereby the bowed rib is raised and lowered and maintained in the former position comprises a supporting leg or strut '13, the upper end of which is pivoted to the center of the bowed rib, and the lower end is provided with a grooved roller 14, which engages with the guide-rod 9 of the frame. By pivoting this support or strut to the rib 11 the former may be brought forwardly to lie flat beneath the resilient strips 10, and this may be accomplished by means of a lever or bar 15, one end of which is pivoted to the strut near the lower end thereof, and the other end is formed with a handle 16, which extends laterally from each side of the lever a sufficient distance to engage the upper edges of the central strips 10, so that the handle cannot pass between the strips. The bandle is therefore always above the platform. Vhen the bowed rib 11 is to be lowered, the bar 15 is pulled forward to bring the strut 13 beneath the resilient strips 10, and the bar 15 and its handle 16, which have now been proj ected upwardly between the two central strips 10, may be folded back fiat upon the platform with the bar resting upon theedge of the rib, as shown in Fig. 4E. The downwardly-springing tendency of the resilient strips 10 will hold the rib 11 down and the fender-platform extended. When the rib is to be raised to bring the fender into an operative position, a reverse operation of the bar 15, which acts upon the strut 13, will cause the rib to assume an elevated position, and the tendency of the resilient strips 10, exerting a pressure downwardly upon the rib against the bracing position of the strut 13, will hold the roller 14 in engagement with the guide-rod 9, but will be prevented from dislodging said strut by reason of the engagement of the handle 16 with the upper surface of the two central strips 10, and this bracing position is further maintained by means of a stop or lug 17 on the bar 15, the said stop projecting from one side of the bar and engaging with the strut 13 when the rib is elevated, as shown in Fig. 5.

It is to be understood that many changes in the form, proportion, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A fender comprising a platform havinga portion thereof movable and adapted to be elevated, and means carried by said portion for maintaining it in an elevated position.

2. A fender comprising a platform having a portion thereof movable and adapted to be elevated above the other portion, and also having means operating thereon for holding it in either an elevated or a lowered position.

3. A fender comprising a frame, a member pivotally connected with the frame, a platform connecting the frame and the pivoted member, and means for holding the pivoted member elevated to raise one end of the platform.

4. The combination with the platform of a car, of a fender slidably mounted beneath the platform and adapted to be projected beyond the end thereof, or retracted beneath the same, and having a platform, one end of which is capable of being raised above the other end. and means for maintaining such end in a raised position.

5. A fender comprising aplatform having a portion thereof movable with relation to the other portion and adapted to be raised thereabove, and said platform constituting means for normally holding the movable portion lowered, and means on the movable portion for maintaining it in an elevated position.

6. A fender comprising a frame having a platform, one end of the platform being movable relatively to the frame and capable of being elevated thereabove, means including the platform for normally holding the platform lowered, and means operating on the movable portion of the platform for maintaining it in an elevated position.

7. The combination with the platform of a car, of a fender slidably mounted beneath the platform, said fender comprising a frame having a platform, a member pivoted to the frame and supporting one end of the platform, and means operating on the pivoted member and the platform for holding it elevated.

8. A fender comprising a frame, a rib pivoted to the frame, and resilient strips connecting the end of the frame and the pivoted rib and constituting a platform for the fender.

9. A fender comprising a frame, a bowed member pivoted to the frame, means carried by the bowed member for holding it elevated above the frame, and a resilient platform connecting the front of the frame and the bowed member, and constituting means fordnormally holding the bowed member lowere 10. A fender comprising a frame, a guiderod extending longitudinally thereof, a rib pivoted to the frame, a strut pivoted to the rib and having a roller adapted to engage with the guide-rod, a lever connected to the strut for operating the same to raise the rib, and a resilient platform connecting the rib and one end of the frame.

11. The combination with a car having hangers depending from the platform thereof, of

a fender-frame slidably mounted upon the hangers and capable of being projected beyond the end of the platform or retracted beneath the same, said frame having transverse stays, a guide-rod extending longitudinally of the frame,a bowed rib pivoted to the frame, a plurality of resilient strips secured at their opposite ends to the front of the frame and the bowed rib, and also connected with one of the stays and constituting a platform for the fender, a strut pivoted to the rib and having a grooved roller in engagement with the guiderod, and a lever pivoted to the strut and having a stop, substantially as specified.

JAMES T. HERON. JOHN JOSEPH CROWLEY.

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. HASKELL, JOHN F. GOGGIN.

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