US495468A - Platform-gear for wagons - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. H. BAKER. PLATFORM GEAR FOR WAGONS.

No. 495,468. Patented Apr. 18, 1893.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. H. BAKER. PLATFORM GEAR FOB. WAGONS.

Patented Apr. 18, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. BAKER, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

PLATFORM-G EAR FOR WAGONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 495,468, dated April 18, 1893.

Application filed November 4, 1392. Serial No. 450,976. (No model.)

bearing and springs broken ofi of a three spring gear. Figs. 1 and 1 are sections on various lines of Fig.1; Fig. 1, an end view of arm with rivet by which arm is attached to spring. Fig. 1 is an end view of the swivel bearing. Fig. 2, is a plan of blank from which I make the platform showing in dotted lines the center and the lines on which I roll out the arms. Fig. 3, is a View of same after the arms have been rolled out. Fig. 4, is a section on line aco3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is a side elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 6, is a side elevation of the swivel bearing. Fig. 7, is a section on line n, n, of Fig. 6. Fig. 8, is a part elevation and part section showing attachment of spring to arm. Fig. 9, is a side eleva-' tion of platform truss. Fig. 10, is a plan of upper platform circle and two trusses. Fig. 10, Fig. 10 and Fig. 10 are sections at various points on Fig.10. Fig. 11, is a front elevation of Fig. 10 and Fig. 12, a perspective of a modified form of upper platform.

My invention relates to improvements in platform wagons, and particularly to that part, which is used to support the front part of the body on the axle, or on the springs fastened to the axle. This part is usually called a gear. These gears are in two parts; the lower part rising to the circle irons and center coupling, and the upper part extending from that point to the body. I take for illustration, the gears where springs aroused, in the form of half of an elliptical spring. It is customary to set one each of these half springs center downward on the axle, next to the shoulders, and to hang another half springs center upward across from point to point of the rear ends of the axle springs. Then pieces of wood strapped with iron are run from the forward points of the axle springs, inwardly and backward to near the center of the tops of the cross spring. On these pieces are placed cross pieces of wood to support the circle irons and also a cross piece of wood to fasten the center coupling attachment. This form has to be braced and 1roned to give it the requisite strength and necessitates the use of a large number of pieces, bolts, and rivets. Being rigidly fastened to these points, any inequality in loading or in the road bed which causes one of the axle springs to give down more than the other, causes a twist to occur in the platform which is destructive to its life. In pleasure carriages having two elliptical springs only, in the front gear, the fifth wheel is often supported by a wrought metal frame. But since this form of platform gear is comparatively simple,except for ornamental designs, myinvention relates more especially to wagons having three or more springs in the front gear, and to wagons having no springs, which therefore require a large amount of building up at that point, although it may be used with the two spring construction. Some efiort has been made to have metal platform gears used on the three spring gears, but they are too complex and expensive.

The object of my invention is to dispense with a large number of the pieces, and to change the formof construction, so as to make it better and cheaper, and to relieve the structure from torsional strain by placing a swivel in the cross spring connection.

I will now describe how to apply my invention to a front gear of a wagon having three springs placed in such a position as to have three points of bearing to transmit the load to the springs asshown in Fig. 1.

The blank may be cut from plate metal, but to avoid waste I take a piece considerably thicker than the blank is to be shaped, and in eccentric rolls I roll it toward the points aa from the circle I) in Fig. 2. As the rolling forces the metal nearly all in one direction the piece takes the shape of Fig. 3 having a thick center. This thick part I form up into a center bearing connection 2 in Fig. 1. This bearing center is very important in forming a substantial king bolt coupling, though this center bearing may be a separate piece. Then cutting the blank to correct shape I press it into the spider shape of Fig.

1, having the sections seen at Figs. 10, 10, and give the center any elevation desired. The arms should decrease in size toward their ends, but if they make any bend for attaching to the spring they should be made heavier at that bend to resist torsional strain as seen at 0c00 in Fig. 1. I prefer to separate the arms as at 3-3, Fig. 1, so that the circle iron may have more bearing points. When the platform is for heavy work, I next press the lower edge of the flange at about right angles. I now press the rear arm channel section into a hollow round section, as seen at 14. I now press up a hollow spring block 4, of plate metal, to rest upon the center of the rear or cross spring and put grooves across its top as seen in Fig. 6, to receive the spring clip bolts, and a large hole 5 in the center to receive the arm. Into this hole I insert a piece of tubing not shown, and rivet it at each end for a bearing around the end of the arm. This gives the perfect three point bearing. Another advantage of this connection is that the spring block 4 can be allowed to slide endwise on the rear arm, and thus equalize the difference in length made by the depression of the side springs.

For most work it is better to place a memher 6 in the form of a truss, seen in Fig. 9, in detail, across the front uniting the two points, or ends of the arms of the platform. The shaft connecting irons may be attached to this, or directly to the ends of the arms. When a tongue is wanted, I place the supports for it at 13 in this truss and under the circle iron at the front edge of the center plate as at 13 in Fig. 5. The circle iron I rivet to the arms equidistant from the center. Where extra elasticity is needed, stub leaf springs can be secured to the arms just outside of the circle iron, and attached to the ends of the springs proper by suitable fastenings. The main thing is to have a substantial central piece or central connection to carry the projecting arms, and to connect to the upper platform and to so proportion the whole that the bending moment will not localize at one point. Plain channel sections crossing each other in the center would do if the flanges of one channel were kept continuous. But the arms in this case also would have to be tapered at the ends or the structure would bend short at the point of greatest load. For this reason rolled sections are obj ectionable though they might be made to answer better by trimming and so adapted to be substituted for my spider. But they could only be partially tapered in the flanges and not in the width of the channels. There is bound to be some give in the structure, and if this is not distributed, the platform would be too heavy in proportion to its strength. Or again, the outer edge of the center plate could be made to form the circle iron, or this center plate can be made smaller in proportion than shown.

A platform gear having four arms can be made on the same plan and other variations without departing from my invention. But no weak lines must be allowed across the direction in which the strains of the load hearing points are carried toward the center or toward each other. The arm should be strongest just under the circle iron; hence I make deep flanges at this point, as seen at Fig. 1. For a platform gear having no springs, two of the arms will extend downward, and rest on the axle,and one arm in the rear be secured to a brace going to the axle. The other arm may be united to the tongue. But in this case the two arms extending to the axleshould be much the stronger.

The four arm platform shown in Figs. 10 and 11 for the top, can be adapted for a lower one, and a three arm platform shown in Fig. 1, can be used for the upperone if desired.

The four arm platform 10, shown in Fig. 10, is made in the same way as thelower one, except that Iturn the ends outwardly at 77, so as to receive the cross-bars 8-, 8, under the body. When the body is of suitable construction the arms may support it by simply changing the upper surface near the ends. The coupling connection 9, in the center of the upper platform, is the complement of the lower center piece. The body cross-bars are seen at 8, 8. But for the upper platform I prefer to use three pieces 11, 11, of plate metal, cut into suchformand pressed up, as will form a channel in section,with thewidth of the channel decreasing from the circle iron toward the ends; these pieces I rivet to the circle iron. This construction is shown in Fig. 12. The center piece will contain the king bolt or center pin attachment. The form of these channel pieces may assume a round cornered inverted V section toward the ends. The ends of these pieces can receive the body cross-bars. Where the elevation of the ends is great, I tie them together by a bolt or bar 12, thus forming a truss and allowing them to be lighter in the center than if, not so tied. The advantage of this tie rod is such that even a flanged arm without taper would make a fair construction. Any of the arms in the above constructions may have instead of the channel section, a T or other section.

The advantages of myinvention area strong, light, durable and neat structure at a reduced cost.

I claim-- 1. A blank for a metal platform gear having a thick center and thinner arms radiating from said center but integral therewith, substantially as described.

2. A metal platform gear consisting of a center, flanged arms integral with said center, radiating therefrom, and a circle iron supported thereon substantially as described.

3. A metal platform gear, consisting of a center, flanged arms integral with said center radiating therefrom, and a coupling bearing in said center, substantially as described.

4. A metal gear platform consisting of a center, flanged arms, integral with said center and radiating therefrom, and a circle secured to said platform, substantially as described.

5. A lower metal platform gear swiveled at its connection with the cross-spring, so as to permit the platform to-turn in a vertical plane parallel with the line of the axles, substantially as described.

6. A metal platform gear consisting of a center, and flanged arms divided where they receive the circle, substantially as described.

7. A metal platform gear consisting of a center and channel arms reinforced at their lower edges by bending inwardly radiating therefrom, substantially as described.

8. An upper metal platform gear consisting of a circle iron, channel arms attached thereto with the width of the channel tapered from the circle outwardly, substantially as described.

9. An upper metal plat-form gear consisting of a circle iron, flanged arms attached thereto and tie rods joining the ends of said arms, sub 2 5 stantially as described.

10. A lower metal platform gear having a spring block arranged to slide back andforth upon the end of the rear arm of the platform, substantially as described.

11. A metal platform gear consisting of a center and channel arms tapering in horizontal section outwardly radiating therefrom, substantially as described.

12. A lower metal platform gear with flanged arms tapering in horizontal section outwardly radiating therefrom, substantially as described.

13. A lower metal platform gear consisting of channels united to each other and tapering in horizontal section outwardly, substantially as described.

Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of October,'A. D. 1892.

JAMES H. BAKER.

Witnesses: A

WILLIAM BEAL, WM. L. PIERCE.

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