US1733265A - Car-feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Description

-0Ct. 29, 1 929. JOHNSON 1,733,265

CAR FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 28. 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 7 1929. G. M. JOHNSON CAR FEEDING APPARATUS Get;

Filed Jan. 28. 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 GAR FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 28. 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 G. M. JOHNSON ,733,265

CAR FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 28. 1928 Oct. 29, 1929.

. Sheets-Sheet 4 V Ill Ill/ll Ill/Ill ///l ILA T 1 Oct. 29, 1929. G. M. JOHNSON 1,733,265

CAR FEEDING APPARATUS '3 //f l 1 1 1 I I Patented Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE M. JOHNSON, OF JEANNETTE, PENNSYLVANLA, ASSIGNOR TO FORT PITT MINE EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA CAR-FEEDING APPARATUS Application filed January 28, 1928. Serial No. 250,156.

My invention relates to apparatus for feeding cars, and more particularly to apparatus that is especially suited for the caging of mine cars; that is the loading of cars from 5 landings in mine shafts to cages or elevators.

It will be understood however, that the invention is capable of use in various other relations.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved form of loading device that is particularly adapted for use in connection with mine shafts having a pair of cages one of which ascends simultaneously with the descent of the other cage.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved form of car releasing means for each of the cages, which are so inter-connected that one cage in operating car stop horns for releasing cars to permit them to roll upon such cage, Will simultaneously operate certain of the car releasing mechanisms of the tracks over which cars are supplied to the other cage.

Another object ofmy invention is to pro- M vide stop mechanism so arranged that upon movement of a cage to car-receiving position, only one car of a designated number of cars will be released even though the cage be moved up and down a plurality of times while at such position.

Still another object of my invention is to provide car feeding mechanism for each of a pair of associated cages of such form that only one car, or a predetermined number of cars, can be released to one cage until after such cage leaves car-releasing position and has returned from car-discharging position, the associated arm meantime having moved to the car-receiving and discharging positions.

9 A further object of my invention is to provide car stop operating mechanism of such form that danger of accidents through improper releasing of cars is more effectively avoided than in the case of certain mechanisms of the prior art.

Still anotherobject of my invention is to provide car releasing mechanism of such character that operation thereof is effected by a cage during the approach of such cage to 0 car-receiving position, so that when the cage shall have reached the landing or car-receiving position, a car will have had time to advance toward the cage under the action of gravity, thus avoiding the loss of time which would result if the car releasing mechanism was not actuated until the cage was substantially at car-receiving position, and operations had to be suspended until the car had gradually acquired sufiicient momentum to carry it onto the cage.

Some of the forms which my invention may take are shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a plan View of two tramways or pairs of tracks having interconnected car feeding mechanisms; Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line IIII of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale; Fig. 8 is an enlarged view taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a plan View showing one form of apparatus whereby the mechanisms of Fig. 1 may be actuated by mine cagesprevious to the arrival of such cages at their car-receiving positions; Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a view taken on the line VIVI of Fig. 4, and Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing a modified form of apparatus.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 3, I show pairs of tracks 10 and 11 that are preferably slightly inclined so that cars will normally roll thereon under the action of gravity in the direction of the arrows, toward landings or loading platforms 12 and 18 respectively.

Associated with the track 10 are pairs of stop horns 14c and 15. The horns 14 have connection with rods. 16 which are slidably mounted in blocks 17 that are rigidly positioned. Cushioning springs 18 are interposed between the nuts or heads of the rods 16 and the adjacent faces of the blocks 17, so that when the wheels of a car move into engagement with the horns 1 1, the movement of the car will be yieldably checked by compression of the springs 18. The horns 14 have ex tensions or tail pieces 19, each of which is pivotally connected to the inner end of a link 21, the outer ends of such links having pivotal connection with the ends of a crank 22 that is pivotally mounted on a rock shaft 23 and operated by a link 30. It will be seen that as the link 30 is moved back and forth, the horns 14: will be swung to and from position over the rail, to alternately engage and release the wheels of cars that travel on the tracks 10.

The horns 15 are mounted upon rods 24: that are supported and cushioned as are the rods 16, or as shown in my Patent No. 1,372,- 753, of March 29, 1921, for example. The horns 15 have extensions 25 that are connected, through links 26, to the ends of a crank 27 that is secured to the rock shaft Then the shaft 23, as viewed in Fig. 2 is turned in a clockwise direction, the upper and lower links 21 will be moved to the right and the left respectively to swing the horns ilel from their inclined positions to upright position for engagement with car wheels. During this movement, the links 26 will be drawn inward, causing the horns 15 to be swung outward to car-releasing position.

The shaft 23 is provided with a crank 28 that extends beyond the end of the landing 12, in position to be engaged by a descending mine cage and operation of the horns 15 and 3 1 thereby effected. A weighted lever 29 is connected to the shaft 23, so that when the crank 28 is released as upon upward movement of a mine cage out of engagement therewith, the weight will rock the shaft 23 in a counter-clockwise direction, thus moving the stop horns 15 to operative position.

Referring to the car-releasing mechanism associated with the landing 13, stop horns 3i and 35 are mounted, and are connected to a rock shaft 36, in substantially the same manner as are the stop horns 141 and 15. The rock shaft 36 is provided with a crank 37 in p0,.- tion to be engaged by a mine cage, and with a counter-weighted arm 38. The tail pieces 39 of horns 3 1 are connected through links 11 with the ends of a lever li. that is pivotally mounted upon the shaft 36. A link 13 is connected at one end to the lever -12 and its other end is connected to a crank eel that is rigidly secured to the rock shaft 23. The link 30, whose one end is connected to the crank 22, is connected to the crank 15 that is secured to the rock shaft 36.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that when a mine cage has descended and moved the crank 37 to the position shown in F 1 and 3, the horns 35 will be rocked to release position, as shown, to permit a car to roll from the tracks 11 to the mine cage. Simultaneously, the link will be pulled to the right, thus rocking the crank 22 in a counterclockwise direction, thereby pulling the links 21 inwardly and moving the stop horns 11 to their outer postions as shown in Figs 1 and 2. A car will then be permitted to advance from such horns 1 1 into engagement with the horns 15.

lVhen the cage moves upwardly out of engagement with the crank 37, the weighted arm 38 will rock the shaft 36 in the reverse direction causing the horns to swung inward over the rails 11 and moving the link 30 to the left, thus rocking the crank 22 in a clockwise direction (Fig. and returning the horns 1 1 to wheel-engaging position.

During ascent of a cage from the landing 13, another cage will descend until it engages the crank 28, thereupon rocking said crank in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2) and swinging the horns 15 to released position, thus allowing a car to roll to the cage. Simulta neously, the link 13 will be drawn to the left and rock the lever 42 in a clockwise direction to draw the links 11 inwardly and thereby swing the horns 34 out, so that a car can pass to the horns which have been previously moved to car stop position by the weight 38 upon release of the crank 87. When the cage ascends from the landing 12, the weighted arm 29 will rock the shaft 23 to return the horns 1?) to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and to return the horns 3 1 to their operative position, so that both the horns 3i and of tracks 11 are in wheel-engaging position.

It will be seen that if a cage at landing 12, for evample, is moved up and down a number of times while adjacent to such landing, repeated movements thereof will not result in additional cars on the tracks 10 being re leased, for the reason that the horns 1 1 are controlled from the rock shaft 36 and that no car can pass such horns until a cage has descended and operated the shaft 36, thus repeated movements of the horns 15 cannot do any harm. Since the cages are interconnected and move in unison in opposite directions at any given time, the crank 28 will have been released and the horns 15 returned to the wheel-engaging position by the weighted lever 29 before the crank 37 is operated by the other cage. This feature is of particular utility in avoiding accidents, as where the cage operator has to make several efforts in order to bring the ascending loaded cage to rest at the discharge level. Furthermore, by reason of the weights, the horns 15 and 35 are always automatically returned to wheel-engaging position when the cranks 28 and 37 are released, upon upward movements of the cages, thus insuring greater safety. as in case of failure of the horns 14: and S4 to function properly.

Referring now to Figs. 1-, 5 and 6, I show an arrangen'ient whereby cages and 51 may be caused to operate rock shafts 23 and 36 when descending and while at some distance from the landings 12 and 13, so that cars will be released from the horns 15 or 35 as the case may be and begin their rolling movement toward the cage before the cage reaches its car-receiving position at the landing, thus reducing the period of time which the cages have to remain at the landings, since the cars will be advancing during the latter part of the downward movement of the cages.

In this arrangement, the cranks 28 and 37 occupy slightly different angular positions relative to their respective rock shafts so that the shafts will be rocked through horizontal movements of links 52 and 53 which are operated by the cages as hereinafter described, instead of the cages engaging the cranks 28 and 37 directly as in the structure of Fig. 1. The inner end of the link 53 is connected to a crank 54 that is secured to a rock shaft 55. The shaft 55 is journaled in suitable hearings in the landing 13 and carries. a second crank 56. A vertically-extending link 57 is connected at its lower end to the crank 56, and at its upper end has connection with a trip lever 58. The trip lever 58 is pivotally mounted at 59 and is held in either its lowermost position or its uppermost position, as indicated in Fig. 5, by full lines and dotted lines respectively, by a tension spring 61. The outer end of the lever 58 is forked and extends alongside the cage 51 in position to be engaged by an arm 62 that is secured to the side of the cage 51. hen the parts are in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and the cage 51 descending, the forked end of the arm 58 will be moved downward to full line position, thus raising the link 57 and rocking the shaft 55 to pull the link 53 inward and rock the shaft 36 so as to move the horns 35 to release position, thus permitting a car to advance from the horns 35 toward the cage while the cage is descending from its dotted line position to its full line position. After a car has passed onto the cage, the cage is moved upwardly, thus moving the forked end of the trip lever 58 upward to its dotted line position, and thereby rotating the shaft 36 into position to move the horns 35 over the rails 11 and returning the horns 14 (Fig. 1) to wheel-engaging position. Springs 64 and 65 serve to cushion the lever at its upper and lowermost positions and the spring 61 yieldably maintains it in such positions and also retains the rock shaft 36 in proper position. The spring 61 may simply serve to insure that the trip lever 58 will remain in either extreme position for proper engagement with the arm 62 or may also serve to perform the function of the weighted lever 38 which may be dispensed with in this arrangement, if des red. The arm 62 is preferably cushioned by springs 66 that are secured to the side of the cage to avoid excessive shocks to said arm, and to allow limited yieldable movement thereof so that it can yield sufficiently to pass the forked end of the lever 58 in case such lever is prevented by some abnormal condition from moving to either of its extreme positions.

The cage 50 acts through an arm 67, a trip lever 68 and connections to a rock shaft 69, to operate the link 52 and the rock shaft 23 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the cage 51, so that detailed description of these operating connect-ions of the cage 50 are not required.

In Fig. 7, I show a modification of the device of Figs. 4 to 6, wherein the rock shaft 36 is operated through a link 71, a shaft 72, a link 73 and a trip lever 74 that may be of an arrangement similar to the parts 53, 55, 57 and 58 respectively of Fig. 5. In this form of device, I employ a weight 75 instead of the spring 61 of Fig. 5. The weight isconnected to a cable 76 that extends over a pulley 77 and is connected to the lever 74 to hold the same in its raised or dotted line position,when the cage is raised, so that the forked end of the lever 74 will be in position to be engaged by a roller 79 on the side of the cage. It will be understood that when the lever 74 is moved to its uppermost position, the weight 75 will descend, maintaining the cable 76 taut. A cushioning spring 81 is provided in position to be engaged by the weight 75 when it descends.

The lever 74 carries a link 82 that at its lower end is connected toa lever 83. The lever 83 is idle and moves with the lever 74. The link 82 serves as a retaining member to hold the lever 74 in its lower position while the cage is at the landing 13, since its ends are connected to the levers 74 and 83, and such levers serve as strut members. Upon upward movement of the cage, the roller 79 will pass into the forked end of the lever 74, whereupon such lever will be moved upward through movement of the cage or by the weight 75, or other combined action, until it reaches dotted line position whereupon the cage will continue its travel and the weight 75 will hold the lever 74 in dotted line position ready for engagement with the roller 79 when the cage again descends.

For the purpose of moreclearly defining the invention in the accompanying claims. I will designate the stops 15 and 35 as the main stops and the stops 14 and 34 as the auxiliary stops.

I claim as my invention 1. Car feeding apparatus comprising, in combination with a pair of tracks, a rock shaft associated with each track and movable independently of the other shaft, means for ef fecting operation of each shaft by movement of a cage into car-receiving position with respect to its associated track, a main stop horn directly connected to each of the shafts and movable to car-releasing position upon said operation of its associated shaft, an auxiliary stop horn for retarding movement of cars along each track, and an operating connection between each of said auxiliary horns and the rock shaft of the other track, arranged to effect movement of such horn to release position when the main horn of the other track is moved to released position. i

2. Car feeding apparatus comprising, in

iio

comhination with a pair of tracks, a rock shaft associated with each track and movable independently of the other shaft, means for effecting operation of each shaft by movement of a cage into: car-receiving position with respect to its associated track, a main stop horn directly connected to each of the shafts and movable to car-releasing position upon said operation of its associated shaft, an auxiliary stop horn for retarding movement of cars along each track, an operating connection between each of said auxiliary horns and the rock shaft of the other track arranged to effect movement of such horn to release position when the main horn of the other track is moved to release position, and means for effecting"- movement of the main stop horn of each track to car-engaging position upon movement of its associated cage toward a car discharge station.

3. The combination with a pair of tracks and a cage for receiving cars from each track, of a main stop horn for each track, means for effecting movement of each stop horn to. carreleasing position u on movement of a cage toward car-receivingposition opposite its associated track an auxiliary stop horn associated with each track, means for effecting movement of each auxiliary horn to car-1e leasing position when the main horn of the Other track is moved to ear-releasing position, and means for returning the main horn of each track to carengaging position upon movement of the cages from their car-receiving positions the releasing movement of the main stop horns being effected during move-. ment of the cage past a point removed from its car-receiving position.

4. The combination with a pair of tracks and a cage for receiving cars from each track, of a main stop horn associated with each track and an auxiliary stop horn for each track a connection between the main stop horn of each track and the auxiliary stop horn of the other track, for effecting simultaneous operation of said connected horns independ I ently of the other horns, and means for cffecting operation of the main horns of each track upon movement of a cage toward carreceiving position with respect to such track to effect release of a car to the cage, the said operation taking place during movement of a cage past a point remote from its car-receiving position.

5. Car feeding appa 'atus comprising, in combination with a pair of tracks, a rock shaft associated with each track and movable independently of the other shaft, means for effecting selective operation of the shafts a main stop horn directly connected to each of the shafts and movable to car-releasing position upon operation of its associated shaft, an auxiliary stop horn for retarding movement of cars along ea h. track, and anoperatts ee e betwe c o aid xil ry horns and the rock shaft of the other track, arranged to effect movement such horn to release position when the-main, horn of the other track is, moved to. released position.

In testimony whereof I, ,the said GEORGE M. JoHNsoN, have, hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE. M. JOHNSON.

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