Patent GB-191217061-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Transferring Mails to or from a Moving Train.
Inventor: BOULT ALFRED JULIUS
IPC: B61K5/06
Filed: 1912-07-22
Granted: 1912-11-07
Abstract: 17,061. Boult, A. J., [Millsaps Mail Exchange Co.]. July 22. Transferring articles to or from, trains in motion.-The train portion of a mail-bag exchanging-device comprises a vertical plate which can be placed at an angle to the train side so as to deflect mail bags into the car, and an arm which can be swung out of the car and from which mail bags may be detached irrespective of the direction of motion of the train. The track portion comprises a box with inclined shoots and delivering-arms, the whole arrangement being mounted on a track so as to be moved automatically away from the rails after the exchange has taken place. Fig. 7 shows the train portion in plan view. The vertical plate 1 forms part of a frame comprising upper and lower parts 9 hinged to a vertical rod 10. When the plate 1 is flush with the walls of the car the rod 10 is raised and its lower end thrust inwards, the members 9 being hinged at 21 to allow this to be effected. The parts remain in the collapsed position due to a dead-centre action. Pivots 14 at the corners of the plate 1 are retained by spring latches in recesses 17 in the door frame when the door opening is closed. The plate 1 can be swung out, turning about one pair of pivots 14, the other pair passing out through arcuate narrow slots 16 having for their centres the recesses 17 on the other side of the opening. When the plate has been swung out, the pivots that remain in the recesses 17, having been correspondingly turned, are unable to pass through the slots 16. The outward swing of the plate 1 is limited by lugs on the part 9 which engage with the door frame. Upper and lower plates 22 are fixed to the parts 9 and, with the plate 1, form a shoot which deflects the mail bags into the car. The bags to be delivered from the train are carried by hinged pins 39 which can swing over slots 38, in a bar 32, in either direction under the influence of springs 41. The bar 32 is held at right-angles to the arm 28 by a spring latch 34 but can be folded along the arm 28. By means of a latch 31 the arm 28 is held extended from the car into which it can be turned. An additional delivering-arm 42 is also provided. Buffers 23 are provided to cushion the impact of the bags received. The track portion comprises a box 50, Fig. 13, with a perforated base 59 and a floor with drainage holes 58. Two shoots 54 with cushioning-boards 56 incline upwardly from the box which has doors and a lock. The box is mounted on wheels 65 running on an inclined track 63. The box is placed at the highest part of the track adjacent the rails and is retained in position by a sliding rod 75 engaging a weighted pawl 77. The rod 75 is connected to the arm 71 carrying the bags to be delivered. When the weighted end 73 of the arm 71 falls, due to the bags having been caught, the rod 75 is raised from contact with the pawl 77 and the box moves away from the rails. The shoots 53, 54 are supported by struts 60 which abut against stepped portions of the track when the device is in the operative position.