Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating the Number of Vacant or Disengaged Seats in a Passenger Carriage.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 15th Feb., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating the Number of Vacant
or Disengaged Seats in a Passenger Carriage.
I, ALBERT NEINERT of 4 Raupachstrasse, Berlin, Merchant, do hereby declare
the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The apparatus hereafter described has the purpose of showing to the passengers
at the outer side of the carriage the number of free seats in each compartment.
Fig. 1 shows the apparatus in combination with the compartment of a railway-
carriage.
Fig. 2 shows the inside of this compartment, in which, for sake of clearness of
the drawing, the cushions or top-plates of the seats are removed. A. are levers,
C supports, in the form of fixed pulleys, under which a chain B runs (the dotted
line) J is another chain, L is a counter-weight.
The second place of the right seat and the fourth place of the left seat are to be
occupied.
The places are subdivided and in such a way moveable, that by sitting down on
them they are pressed down at the front side for about of an inch through the
weight of the person.
If for instance someone sits down on the second place of the right seat (Fig. 2)
the longer end of the double-armed lever A (shown also in Fig. 5), will be lifted
about 5 inches, the leverage being 1:20. Through this the chain, which passes
over the end of the lever A and is held otherwise down by the fixed pulleys C, which
latter lie about 25 inches from one another, is moved forward about 2 inches. This
chain can be also a wire-rope or steel-ribbon or be composed of several of them.
It is fastened at D and E to the frame of the seats, so that the movement of the chain
through lifting the lever A is transmitted over the fixed pulleys F and G to the
moveable pulley H. This latter is pulled downwards about 1 inch, and turns
through this by means of the chain J the wheel K for th of its circumference.
To latter a dialplate is fastened.
As soon as the person gets up from the seat, the cushion or topplate is pressed
upwards by a spring, the lever moves downwards and the counterweight L pulls
the moveable pulley H upwards. Through this the dialplate is turned backwards
again forth of its circumference.
In Fig. 3 is the dialplate, the moveable pulley H and the counterweight L shown
more distinctly.
Fig. 4 shows a modification of the dialplate M, N, O, P, which is moved sidewards.
Through turning the wheel K for about 1 inch the three times larger toothed-
wheel which matches with the rack of the dialplate, moves the latter for about
3 inches sidewards.
A is the lever with
Fig. 5 shows in side elevation the arrangement of the seat.
a leverage of 1:20, R is a rod for pressing down the lever, S is a plate for covering
the slit, so that by pressing the topplate down clothes may not be squeezed in.
Between the single places are provided at the back of the seat small and narrow
elevated pieces which divide the places from one another. These elevated pieces
let the passengers set themselves on a certain place and prevent, that one person
Dresses down two seats at once.

page_text: If one would use a shorter lever, for instance with a leverage of 1: 14 the longer
arm of the lever only would be pressed upwards for 3 inches. The movement of
the chain would be in this case, if the fixed pulleys stood the same distance of
25 inches from one another euly 1 inch. One can however get a movement of the
chain of 2 inches with the same lever, if one puts the fixed pulleys 11 inches from
one another.
If the apparatus thus described is to show the number of free places at both sides
of the compartment, one must use a second chain, which is fastened so, that each
lever and each fixed point carries 2 pulleys. One can also transmit direct the
movement of the wheel K to the other side of the compartment.
Figs. 6, 7 and show a modification of this apparatus operated by electricity.
At the side of, or under the moveable seats switches or cut-outs are arranged,
which are connected to metal or other kind of resistances.
These switches are operated by the downward movement of the topplate of the
seats, when someone is sitting down on them, and cut out (Fig. 6) or put in (Fig. 7)
resistances, which are all of the same size. The electric current passes through
these resistances to a solenoid with a movable core, which acts upon the dialplate,
which shows through a window, as shown in Fig. 1 to the passengers outside the
number of vacant seats. The solenoid can be connected in two different ways to
the switches and resistances.
Fig. 6 shows the arrangement of the switches K₁-K10 On the fourth place
of the left seat and on the second place of the right seat someone is sitting. The
other eight seats are to be free. The resistances W1, W2, W2, W, W, W., W8
and W10 are joined up hereby parallel in the circuit of the solenoid. As the two
resistances of those places, on which the persons are sitting, are cut out, the core R
is not pulled into the solenoid with its full strength. By putting in or cutting out
these resistances (the series in which they are put in is of no importance) different
positions of the core in the solenoid are obtained, which are transferred by a rack Z
and pinion T to the dialplate M.
In Fig. 8 the position of the core coincides with the number 8 of the dialplate,
which shows that 8 places are still free.
Are all places filled in the carriage, so all the resistances are cut out and with
them the whole battery, so that no current flows through the solenoid and the core R
goes up to its zero-position, as only the spring Facts upon it. The dialplate shows
hereby in the opening S the number 0.
In Fig. 7 the connections are made thus, that different to Fig. 6 the switches are
shut as soon as someone sits down on the place. The effect hereby in the solenoid
is the same only the numbers must be written on the dialplate in opposite way to
those in Fig. 8.
If the apparatus is to show the free seats at both sides of the compartment, one
only needs to shunt the second solenoid parallel to the first. If the dialplate is
made of boneglass with the numbers painted on it, it may be lit up in the night
through the light inside of the carriage.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be perforined, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Improvements in apparatus for indicating the number of vacant or disengaged
seats in a passenger carriage, consisting of moveable seats, pressed down by the
weight of the persons, sitting in them in connection with levers A which act through
a chain upon a dialplate and so shows at the outer side of the carriage the numbers
of free seats.
2. Improvements in apparatus for indicating the number of vacant or disengaged
seats in a passenger carriage, consisting of moveable seats, pressed down by the
weight of the persons sitting on them in combination with electric contacts putting
in or cutting out resistances in a circuit of a solenoid with a moveable core, the

page_text: latter acting through a rack and pinion on a dialplate, which shows the number of
free seats at the outer side of the carriage.
Berlin. 1st December 1895.
ALBERT
NEINERT,
Kaufmann, Raupach Strasse, 4.