US1143560A - Aerial-ladder truck. - Google Patents

Description

R. J. VOELKER. AERIAL LADDER TRUCK. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1913- Patented June 15, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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R. J. VOELKER. AERIAL LADD ER TRUCK. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, I913.

Patented June 15, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PETERS C0.. PHOMLITHOA. WASHINGTON D. C.

RICHARD J. VOELKER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

AERIAL-LADDER TRUCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1915.

Application filed June 30, 1913. Serial No. 776,568.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD J. VoELKnR, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and use I ful Improvements in Aerial-Ladder Trucks,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to motor-driven aerial ladder trucks, and provides means whereby the main and fly ladders can be elevated either by hand or motor power.

' Another object is to provide improved means whereby the fly ladder can be raised by hand or motor power independently of the main ladder.

A further object is to provide means whereby the ladders can be turned and positioned during the ladder elevating operation.

()ther and further objects will appear in the specification and be specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings exemplifying the invention, and in which,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the forward portion of a truck, adjacent the ladder base, showing the ladder elevating gearing. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line IIIIII,

. Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings: 1 designates the side members of the truck which constitute the main frame. Mounted in between said side members at a point therebelow is a motor 2. Mounted on said sidemembers adjacent their forward ends is a base plate 3 on which is turnably mounted a turntable 4. Mounted on the turntable 4 are a pair of frames 5 in which is loosely mounted a horizontal shaft 6. Mounted on said shaft between said frames is the main ladder 7. Se curely mounted on said shaft, centrally of the side members 8 of said main ladder, is a segmental ear 9. The side members 8 of said ladders are preferably constructed of channel members so the side members 10 of the fly ladder 11 can be suitably mounted in said side members 8. Mounted in the center of the turntable 4, and in a central bearing 12, is a bevel gear 13. Mounted on the end of a vertical hollow shaft 14 secured to the under side of the hub of said bevel gear 13 is a clutch member 15. Loosely mounted on said hollow shaft 14, adjacent said clutch member 1.5., is a gear 16, said held against lateral displacement on'said gear having formed on one side thereof a clutch 17. Meshing with the gear 16 is a gear 18 securely mounted to a stub shaft 19, said stub shaft being held in bearings 20. Secured to' said stub shaft 19, below said gear 18, is a worm gear 21 meshing with a worm 22 mounted on the horizontal shaft 23. Secured to the under side of the gear 16 is a shift member 24.

Securely mounted to the shaft 14, below the gear 16, is a clutch member 25 which is adapted to be engaged by a clutch 26 formed on one side of a gear 27, said gear being loosely mounted on said shaft 14. Engaging said gear 27 is a shifting member 28. Meshing with said gear 27 is a gear 29 securely mounted to the stub shaft 30, which shaft is held in bearing members 31. Meshing with the gear 29 is a pinion 32 that is mounted on the stub shaft 33. Said pinion 32 meshes with the gear 68 mounted on the stub shaft 69, said stub shafts 32 and 69 being supported in the bearing members 31.

Securely mounted to the lower end of the stub shaft 69 is a bevel gear 70, said bevel gear meshing with a pair of bevel gears 71 and 72. Said bevel gears 71 and 72 are oppositely disposed from each other and are loosely mounted on the horizontal shaft 34, said shaft being held in bearings 35 which are suspended from the side members 1. Said bevel gears 71 and 72 are held against lateral displacement on said shaft 34 by pins 73 which are mounted in the hubs of said gears 71 and 72 and engage annular grooves 74 formed in said shaft 34. Slidably mounted on the shaft 34 between the bevel gears 71 and 72 is a clutch member 75 having clutch teeth 76 and 77 formed thereon. Said clutch member teeth 7 6 are adapted to engage clutch teeth 78 formed on the bevel gear 71,

and said clutch teeth 77 are adapted to engage with the clutch teeth 79 formed on the bevel gear 72 when said clutch member 7 5 is shifted by manipulating the shifting member 80.

Loosely mounted on the shaft 34 is a drum 36, said drum adapted to be shifted laterally on said 'shaftby the shifting member 37. Formed on one side of said drum is a clutch 38, and on the opposite side is a clutch 39. Securely mounted to the shaft 34, adjacent the clutch 39, is a clutch member 40. Loosely mounted on the shaft 34, adjacent the clutch 30 of the drum 36, is a worm gear 41 which shaft by a pin 42 engaging a groove 43, which groove is formed in said shaft 34. Formed on one end of said worm gear 41 is a clutch 44 which is adapted to be engaged by the clutch 38. Meshing with said worm gear 41 is a worm 45 mounted on the shaft 46.

Slidably mounted on one end of the shaft 34 is a bevel friction 47 having a hub 48. Carried by said hub is a shifting member 49... Alining with the horizontal shaft 34 is a motor shaft 50, said motor shaft having mounted thereon a motor fly wheel 51. Formed in said fly wheel is a concave face 52 which is adapted to be engaged by the bevel friction 47. Secured to one end of the main'ladder 7 is a cross bar 53. Mounted Y centrally thereof is a groove pulley 54 which is mounted on the cross bars 53.

Secured to one of the rungs of the fly ladder 11 is a cable 56, said cable extending rearwardly and passing around and engaging a pulley 54, then returning toward the end of the main ladder 7, passing under a roller 57 mounted on one of the rungs 55. Said cableris then brought over a series of rollers 58 mounted in the hub 59 of the segmental gear 9. Said cable passes downwardly and engages a roller 60, then through the hollow shaft 14 to the drum 36 to which it is secured at its end opposite to the end that is secured to one of the rungs 55. Meshing with the bevel gear 13 is its matching gear 61 which is securely mounted to the horizontal shaft 62. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the segmental gear 9 has formed therein a circumferential slot 63 forming tworows of teeth 64 on said segment. Securely mounted to said shaft 62 is a double faced pinion 65, said pinion being in mesh with the teeth 64.

In the operation of this improved device, when all the operative parts are at rest, they are in the positions shown in the drawings. If it is desired to raise the ladders by motor power, the shifting member 49 is engaged, and the bevel friction 47 is engaged against the concave surface 52 of the fly wheel 51. This operation will transmit motion to the shaft 34. Then the clutch member 75 is shifted by manipulating the shifting member 80 until the clutch teeth 76 engage the clutch teeth 78 of the bevel gear 71. As said clutch member 75 is turnable with the shaft 34, power will be transmitted to the bevel gear and gear 68 mounted on the stub shaft 69, and to the pinion 32which is in mesh with the gear 29. The shifting member 28 of the gear 27 is then engaged, said gear being shifted upwardly on the shaft 14 until the clutch 26 engages the clutch member 25. This clutch member 25 being securely mounted to the shaft 14 will actuate the shaft 62 through the bevel gears 13 and 61. Andthe spur gear 65 mounted on said shaft 62 will aotu ate the segmental gear 9. As this segmental gear 9 is secured to the main ladder 7, said main ladder and fly ladder 11 will be elevated. After said ladders have been elevated to their desired positions, the clutch 26 is thrown out of mesh with the clutch member 25 by actuation of the shifting member 28. If it is then necessary to elevate the fly ladder, the drum 36 mounted on the shaft 34, is shifted by manipulation of the shifting member 37 until the clutch 39 engages the clutch member 40. Then said drum 36 will be revolved and the cable 56 will be wound around said drum, thus elevating said fly ladder. lVhen the fly ladder has been raised to the desired height, the clutch 39 is shifted from engagement with the clutch member 40 and the pawl 66 carried by said fly ladder being spring-actuated will engage against one of the rungs 67 of the main ladder, thus holding said fly ladder in position. When it is desired to lower the ladder, it is preferable to first lower the fly ladder before the main ladder has been lowered so the fly ladder will slide down into its normal position by gravity. This is done by releasing the rung clutch 66 of said fly ladder. As the cable drum 36 is loosely mounted on the shaft 34, the lowering of said fly ladder will unwind the cable from said drum. In order to lower the main ladder after the fly ladder has been lowered and telescoped therein, the clutch member is shifted toward the bevel gear 72 until the clutch teeth 77 and 74 of said clutch member and gear 72 engage. This will give the bevel gear 7 O, and its parts geared to the gear 27, a reverse motion. The shifting member 28 is then manipulated until the clutch teeth 26 engage the teeth of the clutch member 25 which is mounted. on the hollow shaft 14. A reverse motion will then be transferred to the segment 9 of the main ladder 7. In order to elevate the ladders by hand power, the handle 81, which is mounted on one end of the worm shaft 23, is manipulated and motion is transmitted to the worm gear 21 from the worm 22, and to the gear 18 and gear 16, which is in mesh with said gear 18. The shifting member 24 is manipulated and the clutch teeth 17 of said gear 16 will mesh with" the teeth of the clutch member 15, which clutch member 15 is mounted to the hub of the bevel gear 13. This elevating motion will be applied to the mechanism and the ladders will be elevated. The clutch teeth 17 are then shifted out of mesh with the clutch member 15. The shifting member 37 of the drum 36 is manipulated to one side until the clutch teeth 38 of said drum mesh with the teeth 44 of the worm gear 41. Then the handle 83 mounted on one end of the worm shaft 46 is manipu lated, and the worm 45 mounted on said shaft 46 will actuate the worm gear 41, the drum 36 will be turned, and the cable of the fly ladder will be wound on said drum until the fly ladder has attained the desired height. The position of the hollow shaft 14: relative to the drum 36 and shaft 62 allows freedom of movement to the turntable 4., and at the same time does not hamper the working of the cable 56 which is positioned in said hollow shaft and between the teeth of the double pinion 65 and the slot 63 of the segmental gear 9.

,What I claim is:

1. In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder having a segmental gear secured to one end, a pinion mounted on a horizontal shaft meshing with said segmental gear, a hollow shaft arranged at right angles to said horizontal shaft, gears operatably connecting said shafts to each other, a fly ladder carried by said main ladder, a revolubly mounted drum located adjacent one end of said hollow shaft, and a cable secured to said drum and said fly ladder, said cable passing through said hollow shaft.

2. In an aerial ladder truck, a drum shaft, a main ladder mounted on said truck having a segmental gear secured to one end thereof, a pinion mounted on a horizontal shaft meshing with said segmental gear, a hollow shaft arranged at right angles to said horizontal shaft, gearing from said drum shaft to said hollow shaft and from said hollow shaft to said horizontal shaft a fly ladder carried by said main ladder, a drum loosely mounted on said drum shaft, a cable secured to said drum, and said fly ladder, said cable passing through said hollow shaft, and means for releasably securing said drum to said drum shaft.

3. In an aerial ladder truck, a turntable, a vertically arranged hollow shaft adapted to serve as a pivot to said turntable, a main ladder mounted on said turntable, having a segmental gear secured to one end thereof,

a fly ladder carried by said main ladder, a revolubly mounted drum shaft located adjacent one end of said hollow shaft, gearing from said drum shaft to said hollow shaft, and gearing from said hollow shaft to said segmental gear, a drum mounted on said drum shaft, and a cable passing through said hollow shaft secured to said drum and said fly ladder.

4. In an aerial ladder truck, a turntable, a frame mounted on said table, a horizontally arranged shaft, mounted on said frame, a main ladder having one end mounted on said shaft, a segmental gear secured to said shaft and said ladder, a pinion having two sets of teeth meshing with said segmental gear, a shaft for said pinion, a fly ladder carried by said main ladder, a hollow shaft located adjacent said pinion, gearing from said hollow shaft to said pinion shaft, a drum shaft having a drum loosely mounted thereon, a cable secured to said drum and said fly ladder adapted to pass between the sets of teeth of said pinion and through said hollow shaft, and means for intermittently securing said drum to said drum shaft.

5. In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder and a fly ladder, a pair of segments for actuating said ladders, a pinion having two sets of teeth meshing with said segments, and a cable for elevating said fly ladder passing between the sets of teeth of said pinion and said pair of segments.

6. In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder, a fly ladder slidably mounted to said main ladder, spaced segments for elevating and lowering said ladders, a pinion having two sets of teeth in mesh with said segments, a hollow shaft operatably connected to said pinion, and a cable for actuating said fly ladder relative to said main ladder, said cable passing between said spaced segments and said sets of teeth of said pinion and through said hollow shaft.

7 In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder, a fly ladder slidably mounted to said main ladder, spaced segments for elevating and lowering said ladders, a pinion having two sets of teeth in mesh with said segments, a hollow shaft operatably connected to said pinion, a cable for actuating said fly ladder relative to said main ladder, said cable passing between said spaced segments, said sets of teeth of said pinion and through said hollow shaft, and a revolubly mounted drum for operating said cable.

RICHARD J. VOELKER.

Witnesses M. C. HAMMoN, H. G. FLETCHER.

G'opies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of' ratenta. Washington, I). G.

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