US1274309A - Automobile-signal. - Google Patents

Description

DE WITTE T. NEIL.

AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3!. 19m.

1 274,309. Patented July 30, 1918.

INVENTOH @EZZ BY DE WITTE T. NEIL, OF HOMER, LOUISIANA.

AUTOMOBILE-SIGNAL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DE Wrrrn T. NEIL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Homer, in theparish of Claiborne and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile-Signals, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention is a signal of that type adapted for'use on motor vehicles whereby the driver may indicate a contemplated turn to either the right or the left, and the primary object of the invention is to avoid the necessity for removing one hand from the steering wheel and sticking it out at the side of the ear to serve as a signal. Another object is to simplify the structure of this device and render it applicable to automobiles of a variety of types, especially if they are provided with wind shields. Still another object is to render the signal waterproof as far as possible, and simple in construction so that it will not get out of order.

These and other objects are carried out by constructing the signal in the manner more fully hereinafter described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of the signal, taken from a position inside of the car looking forward toward the wind shield.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through one end of the signal tube, showing the left-hand signal displayed or opened out. F Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of Th Fig. 1 of the drawings I have illustrated as much of a left-hand drive automobile as is necessaiy to give a clear under standing of this invention and its location thereon. That is to say, S is the steering wheel at the upper end of the steering tube T, C designates the cowl dash, U are uprights from the latter, and W is the ordinary wind shield carried by the said uprights. No invention is claimed for these details and they are shown in this view merely to ive the relative position of the signal itself.

Coming now to the present invention, the numeral 1 designates a horizontal tube disposed across the inside of the wind shield and connected with and supported by no rights U, and this tube will doubtless be made ornamental by nickle plating or brass plating, or the like, so that it will present a neat appearance. It is shown in Fig. l as Specification of Letters Patent.

Applicationfiled January 31, 1918.

Patented July 30, 1918.

Serial No. 214,676.

interrupted at a point just forward of the steering wheel S, and the interruption may be complete as illustrated or it may be only that the tube is here provided with a slot or'a pair of slots through which the actuating mechanism projects as described below. Each end of the tube is reduced by preference as shown at 2, and a cap or closure 3 is provided adapted to overly the end of the tube and close it in a substantially waterproof manner. The numeral 4 designates the signal proper, which may be a fabric flag, preferably colored, or it may be, and is herein shown as consisting of an accordion fan which opens when projected from and closes when retracted into the tube in a manner well known to those who have seen these fans. The numeral 5 designates a rod leading from the closure 3 into the reduced end 2 of the tube 1, and on this rod is mounted an enlargement 6 which constitutes the handle of the folding fan as will be clearly understood. The rod 5 extends inward, and is preferably carried through a guide 7 within the tube 1, and within the interrupted portion of the latter the rod is also provided with an upstanding pin or other device 8 serving as means by which it may be actuated, since this device projects beyond the tube toward the driver as far as desired. If the entire tube is secured to the uprights U as has been above suggested, the actuating device or pin 8 may be long enough to permitthe operator to manipulate it with his foot, or it may be made long enough to extend close to the steering wheel S so that the operator may manipulate it by hand without moving the hand from the wheel. It will be understood that a similar arrangement exists with relation to the right-hand signal which in Fig. 1 is'not shown as displayed, and therefore the operator is at liberty to move either signal outward, according to the direction in which he is about to turn, and if the signal is of the type of fan suggested above it will open as it is moved outward and close again as it is brought inward, the closure 3 finally protecting it thoroughly from the elements. One advantage arising from the use of an automobile signal of this type is that it may be applied to any of the standard automobiles now in use, either at the time the machines are built or subsequently; and if the machine should be a right-hand drive, instead of a left-hand drive as shown, the

tube 1 would merely have to be reversed so that its interruption Wouldcorne at the right side instead of at the left side. As above suggested, the interruption might be complet-e, or it may be that the tube need only be slotted so that the actuating devices shall project through the slot within reach-of'the operators foot or hand according to their length. I do not wish to be limited to the detailsof construction further than as set.

forth below. V 7 What I claim as new is I r y r In an automobile signal, the combination with a tube adapted to be fixed forward of the steering mechanism, interrupted in its ,length byan opening,'and having its end reduced. in size, and a guide within. said copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the *Gomm WasmngtomD G.

tube; of a rod movable longitudinally along the axis of the tube and through said guide and having an enlargement moving within the reduced portion of the tube, a folding signal carried by the enlargement and at- I M DE WITTE T. EIL Witnesses: I j i FRED F. MEADOWS,

T. T. LARED.

issioner of'latenta, l w

Images