Improvements in Tram Car Fenders.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL
Improvements in Tram Car Fenders.
1, PAUL JONES of 24 June Street, corner Winslaw Avenue Cincinnati, County
of Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.A., Artist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates more especially to fenders for motor cars. Underneath
the end platform or platforms are secured brackets upon which the fender frame is
hung. The fender frame folds up on hinges and is held in the folded up position
against the pull of coil springs. The fender frame is in connection through a link
and through a piston moving in a tube with a lever provided with a detent which
so soon as it is withdrawn from contact with the piston will release the fender to
be sprung down to a horizontal position. The operating lever may be worked by
hand or by electricity in which case it is fitted with an armature under the
influence of an electro magnet secured underneath the platform and in an electric
circuit, contact surfaces being provided on the fender frame and held separated by
spring pressure. A wire is led to project from the front of the fender frame and
when this wire strikes any object on the line the circuit through the magnet is
closed retracts the detent and releases the fender frame so that its folding part will
snap down.
Dated this 26th day of May 1896.
THOMAS R. SHILLITO,
89 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
1, PAUL JONES of 24 June Street, corner of Winslow Avenue Cincinnati,
County of Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.A., Artist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to tram car fenders and more particularly to fenders for
cars propelled by electricity. Its object is to provide means by which the scoop,
which in its normal position is held above the roadway is automatically tripped by
a person or object coming in front of it, and rapidly snapped down upon the
line before the person or object is struck by the scoop or front of the fender
proper.
There are appliances in use which are automatically thrown down by striking a
person or object, but when the car is moving rapidly the limbs of a person are
liable to pass under the front end of the scoop before this can reach its lower.
position. In such case the fender is rather an injury than a protection.
In this invention the fender is held in its normal position by a detent projecting

page_text: 1rom an armature in proximity to the core of an electro magnet interposed in an
open circuit, the circuit wires of which tap the main current supplying the current
to the car motor and also means to automatically close the circuit through the
electro magnet, which may be of the well known kind of lifting magnets, against
spring pressure by a tripping device arranged in advance of the fender frame or
scoop.
In the accompanying drawing
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the front end of a car provided with the fender of
this invention.
Fig. 2, a view on.an enlarged scale, and partly in section, of the fender sustaining
device, the armature, and the electro magnet.
Fig. 3, a perspective view of the removable guard to cover the frame which
supports the fender.
Fig. 4, a detail view of the means by which the motor man may throw up the
armature or detent lever and release the fender.
Underneath the front platform A are secured upon each side, brackets or
hangers B, in the forward ends of which are boxes fitted with the vertical
adjustable bearings b carrying the ends of the supports c upon which the fender
frame is hung. This latter consists of the vertical frame C and of the forwardly
projecting scoop C' which parts C, C', are united by hinges in order that C¹ may
fold up against C to economise space when the car is put in the shed. D is a
Y shaped link the forked ends of which are coupled to the rear of each of the side
uprights of the frame C. The rearwardly extending end of the link is coupled to
a lug e projecting from a piston E through a longitudinal slot in a tube F secured
underneath the front platform A.
When the fender is elevated to its normal position, the piston occupies the
position shewn in Fig. 2 and is held in this position by a detent a projecting from
the hinged lever or armature G through a slot in the upper side of the tube F.
So long as the piston is held in the forward end of the tube F the fender will
remain elevated, but so soon as the lever is elevated to withdraw its detent g
out of contact with the piston, the coil springs H which have their forward ends
secured in eyes c¹ in the rear of the upright frame C and their rear ends
hooked into lugs 61 of the hangers B, will rapidly snap the fender to its lowest
position.
с
The electro magnet J has its core j secured firmly to the platform by bolts
which pass through laterally extending lugs or flanges j. The spool is held in
position by a flange j. The wire 1 of the magnet taps one of the wires which
furnish the current to the magnet. The other wire 2 is connected to a binding
post which is in electrical connection with the contact piece e secured upon the
face of an arm c', this latter being secured to the fender support c and insulated
from the binding post. A continuation of the wire 2 is connected to a binding
post which passes through but is insulated from an angle arm of the spring
pressed lever c. This continuation after passing through the fuse box 3 is tapped
is tapped into the opposite wire of the motor. The contact lever c is pivotted at c
between a downwardly extending arm from the fender support c and one side of the
fender frame C, extends upwards at the back of the support e and has a contact
piece which comes opposite the contact piece c³. These contact pieces are
preferably carbon blocks. On the front of the vertical frame of the fender is
secured a latch spring c having an angle arm extending over the pivotted lever c
and normally holding the upper end of the lever against the inner side of the
frame support e thus separating the contact blocks c³, c, and holding the
circuit open.
The side pieces of the frame C¹ have upwardly extending lugs c, c", the former
having pivotted between them two arms C³, passing between the latter, and
extending some distance forward beyond the front of the fender frame. The front
ends of these arms are provided with shoes c2 which slip over the line or ground
when the fender is snapped to its lower position. The arms C³ are held down upon

page_text: the side frames and between the lugs e by flat springs e secured upon the side
bars and their free ends projecting over the top of the arms C³.
K is a wire one end of which is secured at k to a pin passing through the forward
end of one of the arms C3 and from that point it passes round a grooved pulley k²
journalled in the opposite arm C and from there extends up and is connected to
the lower end of the contact lever c. It will be seen that if the wire K should
strike anything on the line when the car is in motion it will be deflected inward;
rock the lever on its pivot and bring the contact blocks c, e, together, thus
closing the circuit through the magnet at which instant the armature block will be
snapped against the core, drawing the detent g out of e ntact with the piston E
when the springs H will throw the scoop to its lower position before the forward end
of the fender would reach the object struck by the wire.
Should the motor man see a person on the line in front of the car in time, the
fender may be thrown down by him without closing the circait through the magnet.
The means by which this is accomplished is illustrated in Fig 4 and consists of a
bar N, pivotted in a hanger secured to the under side of the platform. A link
from one end of this bar is connected to the lever or armature G, and the opposite
end of the bar N is provided with a rod which exten is up through the floor of the
platform and has a head in convenient reach of the motor man's foot. By pressing
down this rod the lever G will be elevated and the piston E released.
The shield O (Fig. 3) cousists of a spring metal fra ne the front o of which, is
curved to present a rounded or convex surface. At its lower end there is a return
bend forming the arms o', which are braced by a cross bar or rod o². The arms o
have downturned hooks o³ at their tops to enter eyes a in the front of the dash-
board and also hooks of at their lower ends to enter perforated lugs which
project forward from the hangers B. When this guard is in position it will furnish
a yielding cushion and prevent anyone being injured by striking against the
fender or car front.
It is obvious that the means for sustaining the fender in its normal position
against a force exerted to throw it to its lowest position may be varied to accom-
modate the invention to well known fenders, and that the peculiar tripping
mechanism to be controlled by an electro magnet influenced by the current which
controls the car motor, may also be varied without departing from the scope of the
invention which embraces all merely mechanical changes which accomplish the
same result by equivalent means.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination of the front platform, fender supporting hangers secured
thereto, the pivotted fender frame supported by said hangers, means to sustain the
fender in its elevated position against force applied to throw it to its lower position,
an electro magnet in the main or line circuit and tripping mechanism to close the
circuit, release the fender sustaining device, and permit the fender to drop to its
lower position, substantially as described and shewn.
2. The combination of the front platform, the hangers secured thereunder at
each side, the fender frame pivotted in said hangers, the coil springs connected to
the hangers and fender frame and exerting their tension to throw the fender to its
lowest position, a support fitted to slide in guides secured underneath the car.
platform, a bar connecting said support to the fender frame, a lever having a
detent to hold said support in the forward position and the fender elevatel, and
means actuated by the line current to release the support and allow the springs to
snap the fender to its lower position, substantially as described and shewa."
3. The combination of the front platform, the fender frame pivotted in hangers
secured to said platform, a guide secured underneath the platform, a piston or
follower fitted to slide in said guide, a link connecting said follower to the pivottel
fender frame, a pivotted lever having a detent to pass, back of the follower and

page_text: hold it in its forward position, the end of the lever extending rearwardly and
having an armature under the influence of an electro magnet, an electro magnet
secured underneath the platforin and in the circuit of the line current, contact
surfaces secured to the fender frame and held separated by spring pressure, arms
on each side of the fender scoop extending in front thereof, and a wire secured at
one end to one of the arms passing around a pulley journalled in the opposite arm
and having its opposite end connected to the movable contact surfaces, whereby
pressure on the wire in front of the fender closes the circuit through the magnet,
retracts the detent and releases the fender frame, substantially as described and
shewn.
Dated this 20th day of February 1897.
THOMAS R. SHILLITO,
89 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.