Year: 1886

page_text: I, CLARENCE LESLIE BARNHART, residing at Flint, in the County of Genesee,
and State of Michigan, one of the United States of America, Mechanic, 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 that class of devices used for moving cars on rails by
hand, and the design of my invention is to afford a simple, strong and efficient
device applicable to the car to propel the same. The invention consists of two
legs strapped to a bar and given a walking motion by means of a lever pivoted to
such bar and connected to one leg by a toothed rack and segment, and to the other
by a roller and cam slot, the vibration of said lever upon its pivot serving to
impart the walking motion to the legs, and thus move the car.
with peculiar rail-gripping devices all as hereinafter particularly set forth and
These legs are shod
claimed. In the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts
are similarly designated,
Figure, 1, is a side elevation of my device in position for action, and,
Figure, 2, is a longitudinal section of the connecting parts of the device on a
larger scale, and,
Figure, 3, is a perspective view of the rail-gripping devices detached.
The bar, a, which forms the foundation of my device, is provided with the
notched end, b, to engage the car at any suitable point, say the rear platform
timbers, and it is preferably beveled on its upper face to give clearance to the upper
working leg. The working legs, c, d, are secured to this bar, a, by metal straps or
loops, e, f, rigidly secured to the bar and surrounding said bar and legs, and
affording working room for the legs. The operating lever, g, for these legs is
provided with a flat plate, h, which is pivoted in a longitudinal slot, i, in the bar, a,
and its lower end is made as a toothed segment, j, which projects into a guide
groove, k, in the leg, c, in the bottom of which groove is a toothed rack, l, with
which the said toothed segment meshes. A cam slot, m, is made in the plate, h,
which engages a roller, n, in a slot, o, in the leg, d. Now it is obvious, that if the
lever, g, be moved back and forth or vibrated upon its pivot the legs, c, d, will be
reciprocated longitudinally of the bar in opposite directions, or be given a walking
motion, and hence, if the bar be placed against a resisting movable body such as a
car and the legs be given a hold against an immovable body, for example the rails,
[Price 6d1

page_text: the vibration of the lever will cause the legs to move alternately step by step and
impel the resisting body. These legs are designed to engage the rails of a railway,
and their ends are shod with the rail gripping devices, p, consisting in this instance
of the casting, r, provided with a socket, 8, to fit the ends of the legs, and forked
to form the jaws, t, and the active faces of these jaws are reinforced with,
preferably, steel plates, u, securely fastened thereto; the jaws and their steel plates
being shaped to fit and engage the head or tread of a railway rail. The straps, e, f,
serve to stiffen and brace the structure, and confine the movement of the legs to a
range co-extensive with the desired movement. The slots in the leg, d, and bar, a,
and the guide groove in the leg, c, serve to brace the lever and keep it in operative
position by insuring a rectilinear movement thereof. The device may be used as a
propeller by engaging the bar with the car in a permanent manner and carrying
the motor lever within range of its platform, and in this way a railway hand car
may be readily improvised.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1st. A car mover comprising a bar, two legs secured thereto by straps fastened
to the bar and surrounding the legs and bar, a motor lever pivoted in a slot in the
bar and having a toothed segment engaging a toothed rack in a guide groove in
one leg and also having a roller in a slot in the other leg, substantially as
described.
2nd. The legs of a car mover each provided with the rail-gripping device con-
sisting of a socketed casting to engage the legs, and a forked end reinforced with
steel plates to engage the rails, substantially as described.
Dated this 27th day of July 1886.