US1110757A - Trolley-retriever. - Google Patents

Description

G. I. EARLL.

TROLLEY RETEIEVER.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.13. 1907.

1,1 10,751 Paienhe Sept. 15,1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

W! Ill/E5555.-

ii/WENTOX Q 14 Q M /W/Wj 0, I EARLL.

TROLLEY RETRIEVER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914v 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: 14. &

C. I. l-JARLL.

TROLLEY RETRIEVER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.13, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Tm. lliiFi l A TEZJLLEY-EIETRIETI'ER.

fisecificstion of Letters Estezit.

Application :tilcti September 13, 1807. Serial No. 392,783.

1 '0 all who) 2 may cones/ n:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. EABLL, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of the city, county, State of New York have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Retrievers, of which the following is specification.

My invention relates to trolley retrievers. In devices of this class there i a drum adapted to receive the trolley rope, a rela tively light spring adapted to act upon the drum to cause it to take up the slaclr in the trolley rope and to produce only slight tension therein, a heavy power or retrieving spring normally. in a set or 'ained condition and adapted to be put into action automatically to rotate the drum and wind up the rope thereon and thus pull the trolley down when the trolley jumps the he power spring relaxes or Lin-winds the act of pulling down the trolley and in order to restore it to its normal condition so that it will be ready when called upon to act again, it is necessary to rewind c t it. T his is usually accomplished by the rope from the retriever; action (it the power spring, means own crovidecl to hold one end or" the spi' rotation and to cause the (she-r enl return with the drum while the rope is lieu ulled out from the retriever. in some retrisvers the amount or degree. to which the power spring" wound up is left to the oi the operator, who may wind it or little or not at all; in others 1.. spring must be woundup to a pre amount or degree before thefrolley can be released so as to operate b11161 the action of the tension spring.

My present invention relates more particularly to the second class of retrievers which may be termed the class of compulsoryretrievers. This of retriever-s hr advantage that the conductor or ope-ittor cannot neglect o properly reset or rewind the power spring and thus run the retrieverin an inoperative condition. The power required to pull the trolley down. varies .qreatly on different trolley roads. lri some iiistances the pressure of the trolley: upon the trolley wire is as low as tweli'e to sixteenpounds; in others it high as fortyfive to fifty pounds. Heretofore it has been necessary to provide powersprings of (lifferentstrengths meet the ysrious redui Agai the power spriiigs freoueiitliz weaken site they have been in service ior sometime, when it is necessary them with new ones.

It is one of the .objects oi'my inventi n to produce means in a compulsory-set retriever; whereby the amount which it is necessary to wind up the power spris may to replace be adjusted by merely changing the reation of certain parts without the necessity of substituting different power springs or other pares.

Retrievers are especially useful for cars operated at high speeds and in order to be efiective in preventing the trolley from striking the overhead structure when it "jumps from the wire the retriever must act very quickly. To do this a power spring must be provided of sufficient strength to over-come the inertia of the trolley pole trolley wheel and pull them down to a safe distance below the overhead structure in a very short interval of time during which the trolley acquires a momentum which carries it to a point below that at which. the power spring of the retriever and the trolley base springs which press the pole upward and oppose the power spring of the retrievers, are in equilibrium, and there is tendency for the pole to rebound upvvard.

it is one of the objects of my invention to provide means which shall operate to prevent or retard the tendency of the trolley to rebound after it has been retrieved.

Another object of my invention is to provide a trolley retriever which shall be especially simple and effective "1 its construction and operation.

My invent-ion consists in the novel conuction and arrangements hereinafter illustrated. and described and partlcclarly firth in the claims.

In the drawings accompanying and fornipert oi this specification, Figure 1 is a c ntral section through the axis of the shafton which the drum rotates. taken on line a-a of 2. Fig. 2 is a rear view showingtheback sectioned on line 5-7; of Fi' 1 andthe other-parts unsectioned. Fig. i is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing all the parts in section on line 5 6 of Fig. 1;

The reference characters-are used in the same sense throughout the drawings and specifications.

Numeral 1 representstheback and 2 the front part the case, i tlie gir um on which the trolleyrope. is wound, 4 the shaft on gin the back, the power spring will exert its which the drum rotates, 5 a disk or plate secured to the shaft, 6 a thumb nut on the end of the shaft opposite to the plate 5,

7 a tension spring which is secured to the- The disk 5, the shaft 1 to which it is seecl'lred, and the thumb nut 6. serve to clamp the shell 2 and the back 1 together; and these parts also serve to hold and adjust the inner end or" the tension spring. The intermediate member 10 has three studs or journals, 11, 12, and 13, respectively, made integral mith or secured to it. The lock pawl 14. is pivotally mounted on the stud l, the bell crank 15 on the stud 12, and the set pawl 16 on the stud 13. A centrifugal pawl 17 is pivotally secured to the lock pawl 14:. The tension spring being connected at. its inner end to the inwardly projecting hub of the plate 5, which'is stationary, and at its outer endto the drum, tends to rotate the drum in the direction opposite to the arrow 0 with a power only suflicient to take up theslack in the trolley rope 1S, and to permit the rope to be drawn out under slight tension as the trolley pole rises and falls due to the varying height of the trolley wire above the tracks. The power spring or retrieving spring, 8, having its outer end secured to the drum and its inner end to the hub 9 of the intermediate member 10, tends when wound up, to rotate the drum in the direction opposite to. arrow 0, that is, in the direction to wind up trolley rope on the drum, and to rotate the intermediate memher in the opposite direction. The drum ,is.

provided with an annular flange having teeth 19 formed thereon, which pro ect out- '\,\'ar .lly from the face of the drum into the plane occupied by the lock pawl 1 1, the bell crank 15, the set pawl 16 and the centrifugal pawl 17. The lock pawl 1 is adapted to engage the teeth 1?) of the drum to prevent the unwinding o" the power spring, and it is also adapted to engage the teeth 20 of the back 1 to lock the intermediate member to the ba k and prevent it from t|!rni11g under the action of the power spring. It will therefore be obvious that, when the power spring is wound up and the lock pawl engages a tooth 19 of the drum, the inter- -mer.liate member and the drum will rotate together and the power spring will have no eflect upon the rotation of e ther; it will also be, obvious that, when the lock pawl is released from the drum and engages a tooth full effect in tending to rotate the drum ,in a direction opposite to the arrow (1, that is, in the direction to wind up the trolley rope on the drum.

The strength of the power,

1 spring is sufiicient to overcome the upward pull of the trolley.

When the power spring has been Wound up to the predetermined degree for which the retriever has been adjusted, the parts will occupy the positions shown in Fig. 2; the lock pawl 14. the centrifugal pawl 1'7 and the set pawl 16 will all be in their inner positions and will revolve with the drum clear of the teeth 20 formed in the hack 1. The drum will then rotate freely sion spring 7, as the trolley rises and falls due to the varying height of the trolley wire. 7

The spring 21 secured to the. lug 22 on the centrifugal pawl and to the lug 23 on the intermediate member, tends to hold the centrifugal pawl against the drum. and also to keep the .lock pawl 11 in engagement with the teeth 19 en the drum while the power spring is being-wound u p. lVhen the trolley jumps the wire the sudden. rotation imparted to the drum in the direction of the arrow 1: Fig. 2, causes the centrifugal pawl to lly outward and engage one of the teeth 20 in the back. The continued movement of the drum-after such engagement forces the lock pawl 14 out of engagement with the drum and into engagement with one of the teeth 20 of the back, thereby releasing the intermediate member from the drum and locking it to the back. leases the power spring and puts it into retrieving action to rotate the drum and wind up the trolley rope and pull the pole down. As the lock pawl 14 passes into full engagement. with the teeth 20 'of the back, the con-- trifugal pawl 17 is lifted slightly'out of engagement with the teeth of the back and. brought back to the teeth of the drum by the spring 21. The centrifugal pawl 17 is provided with a hook tooth 24 at its end adapted to engage the teeth 19 when the lock pawl engages the teeth 20, the purpose of which is to pull the lock'pawl 14 out of engagement with the teeth 20 of the back at the first turning of the drum in the direction of arrow 0 after retrieving action has taken place, i. e: when the operator starts to pull out the rope to rewind the power spring. As soon as the lock pawl is released from the tooth 20. the spring 21 will bring it into engagement with the teeth 19 on the drum. While the drumis rotating during the retrieving action (in the direction opposite to the arrow 0) the hook tooth 24 at the. end of the centrifugal pawl will ride over the teeth 19 of the drum, the cen tri'liugal pawl being held elastically against said teeth by the spring 21. The centrifugal pawl 17 is provided with a flange 25 having a cam 'sur aee 44: formed thereon, which extends over theteeth 19 on the drum,'the contour of this can. surface an'dfiange being back and forth under the action of the ten This operation remince? 9 when, after gagement with the teeth 19 of the drum as above described and the intermediate memher is held from rotating by means presently to be described, drum is rotated in the direction or" the arrow by pulling out the trolley rope to rewind the power spring.

When the retrieving action has taken place and the lock pawl has been restored to engagement with the teeth 19 on the drum by a pull on the trolley rope, as above described, it is necessary to provide some other retaining'means than the lock pawl to prevent the intermediate member from turning (in the direction of the arrow 0) while the rope is being pulled out to rewind the power spring, as otherwise the intermediate memher would turn with the drum and it would be impossible to wind the spring. This means consists of the set pawl 16 and the parts which control and operate in conjunction with'it, including means to limit the winding of the power spring, which I will now describe, A controller 30, preferably made of flat spring steel, having a curled end formed to fit a hole 27 in the drum and having its free end 31 resting upon and pressing inwardly against the outer coil of the power spring 8, extends outwardly beyond the face or the power spring into the plane of the controller ratchet 32, The controller is so formed as to press elastically against the outer coil of the power spring, and I prefer to make it of such form and material that one end may be secured fixedly b0 the drum while by virtue of its own elasticity the other end will maintain its engagement with the power spring and at the same time have suliicient strength to operate the controller ratchet 32; it is obvious, however, that the detailed construction of the controller may be varied Without departing from the scope of my invention, the essential characteristic of the controller being that it is a member elastically pressed against the outer coil of the power spring, so that it will move inwardly as the power spring is wound up and move outwardly as said spring nnwinds and by such movements be brought into and out of engaging position to operate the desired elements of the mechanism at a certain time in the winding or unwinding, as the case may be, of said power spring. When the power spring is relaxed it will expand until it fills the opening in the drum and-in doing this it will force the controller 30 outward against the inner periphery of the drum and out of engagement with the controller ratchet 32; as the power sprin is wound up the coil will decrease in diameter and the end 31 of the I controller 30 will follow in and engage one troller being carried by the drum will partele of the rotatire movement of the drum during the winding of the power spring and thereby actuate the controlled ratchet. The controller ratchet 32 is rotatably mounted on the hub of the disk The disk 38 is s cured in the end of the drum between the )ower spring 8 and the intermediate member and it has a portion, indicated by the dotted lines i0 Fig. 2, cut away to permit the controller to extend through said cut away portion to engage the ratchet 32. The ratchet 32 is provided with a lug 33 adapted to engage the arm 3i of the bell crank 15, so that as the ratchet 32 is turned b the controller 30, the lug 33 will rotate the bell crank causing the bell crank to come into ongugcn'ientwith one of the teeth 19 on the drum, thereby preventing the further turning of the drum and winding up of the power spring.

lVhen the parts are in their normal positions, with the power spring wound up, as

in Fig. 2, the controller is in engagement with the ratchet 32, which it holds in the position in which the engagement of the lug 33 with the arm 3% of the bell crank holds the arm of the bell crank in its inner position. The spring 35 secured at one end to the set pawl 16, is coiled around the hub of said set pawl and engages a lug 36 of the bell crank. This spring tends to press the end 37 of the set pawl againstthe arm 15 of the bell crank, the end 37 being extended so that it will contact thcarm 15 of. the bell crank between the lug 36 where the spring 35 engages the bell crank and the center of the stud 12, on which the bell crank is mounted. So long, therefore, as the bell crank is held by the controller ratchet and the controller, in its inner position, the spring will tend to keep the set pawl 16 in its inner position out of engagement with the teeth of the back, at the same time, because of the fact that the point of contact between the end 37 of the set pawl and the arm 15 is between the point of application or engagement of the spring with the lug 36, and the stud 12, the spring 35 tends to turn the bell. crank and the set pawl together in the direction of the arrows e and (Z respectively and will so turn them when the controller ratchet is released from the controller, as takes place immediately after the lock pawl has been released from the drum and the drum begins to rotate under the action 01" the power spring to wind up the trolley rope. \Vhen the cont lier ratchet is thus freed from the COIltI'Ol; the spring- 35 will cause the bell crank and set pawl to turn together as above described until the set pawl ou ages the teeth 20 in the back. The set PZHVI willtherefore hold the interpulled out to rewind the power'spring after the retrieving action. 'When the 'power spring has been wound up to a predetermined amount the controller will follow in and engage the controller ratchet and turn the same until the lug 33 engages and turns the bell crank to the position where the end of the arm 15 of the bell crank will engage a tooth 19 of the drum as shown in Fig. 3. The pressure of the end of the set pawl against the tooth 20 which it engages during the rewinding of the power spring is such as to prevent the set pawl from being pulled away from the tooth 20 by the spring 36 until the pull on the rope is relaxed. As the arm 15 of the bell crank makes contact with the tooth. 19 of the drum at the completion of the winding up of the power spring, the lock pawl 1-1 will drop behind a tooth of the drum witha slight clearance, then as the pull on the trolley rope is relaxed. the drum will rotate slightly to take up the clearance between the tooth 19 and the lock pawl and then the further relaxation of the pull on the trolley rope will relieve the pressure on the set pawl and permit it to drop back to engagement with the bell crank under spring The end of the hub 39 of the drum has a groove 11 formed in it and a spring 42 has one end formed to fit in this groove while the other end is secured by a lug -13v on the intermediate member. This spring *2 tends to force the intermediate member against the drum and toproducea friction which resists the relative movement of the intermediate member and drum.

The purpose of creating a frictional resistance between the intermediate member and the drum is to retard the tendency of the trolley to rebound after the retrieving action has taken place. I have found that a comparatively slight frictional resistance between thesetwo members acts effectively to prevent or materially reduce such rebound. At the same time it does not materially decrease the effectiveness of the retrieving spring in pulling the trolley down or materially increase the power required to wind up the retrieving spring.

Thc'operation of the mechanism is as follows: The parts are shown in a normal position with the power spring wound up in -Fig. 2. \Vheu there is a sudden pull on the trolley rope, as when the trolley jumps the wire, the drum is rapidly rotated in the direction of the arrow 0 Fig. 2; the centrifugal pawl 17 is thrown out until it engages one of the teeth 20 in the back; this engagement forces the lock pawl 14 out of engagement with a'tooth 19 on the drum and into engagement with a tooth 20 in the back; the intermediate member is then unlocked from the drum and the power spring turns the drumin a direction opposite to the arrow 0 the action of the and winds up the trolley rope and pulls the trolley down. During this operation, while the lock pawl 14 is still in engagement with the tooth 20, the free end of the centrifugal pawl has dropped back to an engagingposi tion with the teeth of the drui During the unwinding or relaxation of the power spring, which takes place while the trolley is being pulled down, it expands and the end 31 of the controller is forced out of engagement with the controller ratchet. As soon as the controller ratchet is freed from the controller; theaction of the spring 85, connecting the set pawl 16 and the bell crank 15, will force the set pawl out into engagement with the teeth .20.

tricver the engagement of the hook 524 of the centrifugal pawl with one of the teeth 19 of the drum will pull the lock pawl out of engagement with the teeth 20 and the engagement of the set pawl 16 with the teeth will prevent the intermediate member from turning so that as the rope is further pulled out from the retriever the efiect will be to rewind the power spring. If the trolley rope is pulled down before the power spring is fully rewound, the engagement of the lock pawl 14 with the teeth 19 will prevent the power spring lrom unwinding and the drum and intermediate member will turn together in the direction opposite to the arrow 0, the set pawl riding backward over the teeth 20. In this way the power spring maybe wound up by lltflPl'OCtltll'lg the rope up and down or back and iorthinto and out of the retriever. lVhen the power spring has been wound up to an amount or degree which permits the controller 30 to engage the ratchet 32. the turning of the ratchet 32 will cause the lug 33 on said ratchet to bring the bell crank to the position shown in F ig. 3 where its end will strike one of the teeth 19 of the drum and act as a stop to prevent the further winding cr setting of the power spring. At this point the lock pawl 14 drops in between the teeth on the drum with a slight clearance as shown in Fig. 3; then when the pull on the trolley rope is relaxed this clearance will be taken up. the lock pawl will engage the tooth and hold the power spring from unwinding TheIi as soon as rope is pulled out from the re-f and the set pawl, as soon as the pressure between it and the tooth 20 which it engages is relieved. will drop back to its normal position on the bell crank. The outer coil of the power spring while it is being wound up is eccentric to the hub of the intermediate member and to the cylindrical recess which it occupies so that the amount or degree to which the power spring must be wound up in order to permit the controller to follow in and engage the controller ratchet. depends upon the location of the controller.

By shifting the position of the controller. I.

am thus enabled to change or vary and adjust the amount to which the power spring must be wound up before the controller ratchet will be operated. In practice I generally provide four holes, as 26, 27, 28 and 29, into any one of which the coiled end of the controller may be inserted and each giving a diilerent action of power spring.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In trolley retriever the combination with two relatively movable members one constituting a drum and the other a normally stationary membeigan intermediate member and a power spring secured to said intermediate member and to one of the other or said members, ofa ratchet and pawl connection between said intermediate member and the other of said ,members to which said power spring is attached, and means actuated by turning the drum in a direction to wind up the power spring to bring said ratchet and pawl connection into engagement.

2. In a trolley retriever, the combination with two relatively movable members consisting respectively of a drum adapted to receive the trolley rope and a norma y stationary member, of an intermediate member, a power spring connecting said intermediate member with one and a releasable 'lock connecting it with the other" of said relatively movable members during the winding of the power spring, of a stop mechanism adapted to limit the amount to which said power spring may be wound up, and means mounted on the member to which the outerend of said power spring is connected en gaging said power spring intermediate its ends .0 actuate the said stop mechanism.

3. In a trolley retriever the combination with two relatively movable membersconsisting respectively of a drum adapted to receivethe trolley rope and a normally stationary member, an intermediate member, a power spring connecting said intermediate member with one and a releasable loch connecting it withthe other of said relatively movable members during the winding of said power spring, ofa lock releasing mechanism adapted to release said releasable lock, and means mounted on the member to which the outer end of said power spring is connected engaging said power spring intermediate its ends to operate said lock releas ing mechanism.

4. In a trolley retriever the combination with t o relatively rotatable members and a retrieving spring connecting said members, of means adapted to press said relatively rotatable members together with a predetermined pressure to produce a frictional re sistance to their relative rotation.

' 5. In a trolley retriever the combination with two relatively rotatable members consisting respectively of a drum adapted to receive the trolley rope and a normally stationary member, and a rotatable intermediate member, of a power spring connecting said intermediate member with one of said relatively rotatable members, a locking mechanism adapted in its normal position to lack said intermediate member to the one of said relatively rotatable members to which said power spring is connected to retain the spring from unwinding, and to lock said intermediate member to the other relatively rotatable member to put the power spring into retrieving action, the said locking mechanism including means engaged by the drum to restore said locking mechanism to its normal position when the drum is first turned in the direction to unwind rope therefrom after said retrieving action.

6. In a trolley retriever the combination with case provided with internal teeth, of a drum provided with teeth and an intermediate member concentrically and rotatably secured to said drum and to said intermediate member, a lock pawl mounted on said intermediate member adapted to engage alternately the teeth in said case and the teeth on said drum and a centrifugal pawl mounted on said lock pawl having a hook tooth adapted to engage the teeth on saiddrum when the lock pawl is in engagement with said case and a surface which engages said drum and prevents the engagement of said hook tooth with said teeth when the lock pawl is in en agement with said teeth on said drum ration with a spiral spring ing the spri' drum engc adapted a member mounted in said I a coil of said spring and V ilow inwardly toward the cen spring as said spring is being ctatable members and the spiral spring having its outer end connected to one and' its inner end to the other of said me bers so that their relative rotation winds] or unwinds said spring, of a member mounted on the member to which the outer end oi said springis connected adapted to press elastically against the outer coil of said spring and thereby to remove inwardly. as said spring is wound up.

'9. The combination with two relatively rotatable members of a spiral spring having its inner end attached to one and its outer end to the other of said members, and acontroller mounted on one of said rotatable members adapted to press inwardly against the outer coil of said spring whereby it is moved into its operative position by its en,- gagementwith said spring.

10, The combination with two relatively ,rum and means for windmounted in said case, a retrieving spring rotatable members, of a spiral spring having its inner end attacl d to one and its outer end to the other oi said members, and a spring pa wl mounted on one of said members and adapted to press elastically against the outer coil of said spiral spring.

]1. The combination with two relatively rotatable members, of a spiral spring having its outer end connected to one and its inner end to the other of said relatively rotatable members. a stop mechanism mounted on one and adaptedv to engage the other of said members to limit the winding of said spring, and a controller mounted on one of said members and engaging a coil of said spring and adapted to operate said stop medianism.

12. A lock pawl for trolley relrievers having a hole adapted to receive a stud at one end and a centrifugal pawl provided with an abutting end and a hook, pivotally secured near its other end.

13. In a. trolley retriever the combination with a retrieving spring, a member secured to the outer end and a member secured to the inner end of said retrieving spring, a lever mounted on said second member, a ratchet provided, with a lug adapted to engage said lever and a controller mounted on said first member adapted to engage said power spring intermediate its ends and to engage said ratchet when said power spring is Wound up a predetermined amount.

14. In a trolley retriever the con'ibination with a drum, a retrieving spring and a retrieving spring retaining mechanism adapted to retain the retrieving spring atintervals while it is being wound up, of a connection between said retaining'mechanism and the drum for throwing the retaining mecha nism into action, actuated by the turning of the drum in the direction to wind up said spring.

1.5. In a trolley retriever the combination with a case provided with internal teeth, a drum, an intermediate member and a retrieving spring connecting said drum and said intermediate member, of a lock mounted on said intermediate member adapted to alternately engage said case and said drum and a centrifugal pawl connected with said lock adapted to en age said case to release the look from the drum and to engage the drum to release the look from the case.

16. Th'ecombination with a pair of pawls mounted on'pivots at a distance apart less t an the combined lengths of said pawls, vone of said pawls being adapted to engage the other at a point between its end and its pivot, of a spring tending to press said pawls together secured to one and engaging the other of said pawls at a point removed from the point of contact between said pawls, whereby the pawls may be separated against the action of 'said spring, and when in contact said spring tends to turn them in opposite directions.

17. In a trolley retriever the combination with a drum and :1 power spring adapted to be wound up by the turning of the drum, of a stop mechanism to limit the winding of said power spring, and a controller adapt d to actuate said stop-mechanism mounted in fixed relation to the outer end and elastically engaging the outer coil of said power spring.

in a trolley retrie er the combination with a drum, a tension spring and a power spring, of a controller mounted a fixed distance from the outer end of the power spring adapted to engagev a coil of said power sp n intermediate its two ends and means eng up; said controller to limit the winding o1" said power spring.

19. In a trolley retriever the combination with three relatively rotatable members one constituting a drum for the trolley rope, another a normally stationary member, and the other an int-erisiediate member." and a retrieving spring having one end secured to said intermed ate member and the other end to one of the other of said meinbers. conllOCLlUIlS between said intermediate member and the member not attached to the re riev ing spring adapted to lock said intermediate member and said member together during the winding of the spring, and a controller mounted on the member to which the outer end of the retrieving spring is secured, and pressed elastically against a coil of said spring and means engaging said connections and engaged by said controller adapted to cause the disengagement of said connections when said retrieving spring has been wound a predetermined amount.

20. In a trolley retriever the combination with a drum, a stationary member, an intel-mediate member, and a power spring secured to said intermediate member and to said drum, of a ratchet and pawl connection between said intermediate member and said drum ind means actuated by the turning of the drum in the direction to wind up the power spring to bring said ratchet and pawl connection into engagement.

21. In a trolley retriever the combination with a drum, a stationary member, an intermediate member, a power spring connecting said intermediate member with said drum and a releasable lock connecting said in mediate member with said stationary memher during the winding of the powerspring,

22. In a trolley retriever the combination with a drain a stationary member, an interof a stop mechanism adapted to limit thel nediate member and a releasable look adapted to connect said intermediate member with stationary member during the Winding said power spring, of a lock releasing nechanism adapted to release said releasable och, and means mounted on said drum en- 'a ung said power sprin intermediate its 11 s adapted to operate said releasing mechanism.

23. in a trolley retriever the combination with a case provided with internal teeth, of a drum presided with teeth and an intermediate member concentrically and rotatably mounted in said case, a retrieving spring secured to said drum and to said intermediate member, a lock pawl mounted on said mediate member and adapted to enwith of a drum and an intermediateniemher rot tab. trleinig spring u mounted in said case, a re- I connecting sa1d drum and said intermediate member, a lever pivotaliy mounted on said intermediate member and adapted to engage said drum to oppose the relative rotation of said intermediate member and said drum, a ratchet Wheel having a lug adapted to engage said lever mounted concentrically with said drum and a controller mounted. in said drum engaging said retrieving spring intermediate its ends and adapted to engage and actuate said ratchet Wheel when said retrieving spring has been wound up a predetermined amount.

25. In a trolley retriever the combination of a casing, a retrieving spring mounted therein, a slack-absorbing spring in the easing, a rotatable trolley rope reel, means for winding'and locking the retrieving spring against action, the Winding operation being effected by the unwinding of the trolley rope from said trolley rope reel, and means elastically engaging the outer coil of said retrieving spring for limiting the Winding of said spring.

In testimony whereof, l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

' CHARLES I. EARLLZ.

l/Vitnesses: I

(I. A. COULAN, Enxns'r MILLER.

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