Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating the Names of Stations or Stopping-places, for Displaying Advertisements and the like and for similar purposes.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 19th July, 1899-Accepted, 2nd Sept., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating the Names of Stations or
Stopping-places, for Displaying Advertisements and the like and
for similar purposes.
I, THORVALD HANSEN, of 23, West First Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 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 a display apparatus particularly well adapted, among
other uses, to be employed as a station- or stopping-place-indicator. It may also
be used for displaying advertisements and the like and for similar purposes. In
the embodiment of the invention preferred by me, a plurality of card-supporting
frames are carried by a reciprocating carriage movable relatively to a lifting
mechanism, which is adapted to elevate and lower a selected frame in the same
vertical plane, the lifting mechanism being automatically stopped for a given
time, when the supporting frame has reached its elevated position as will be
described.
..
These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claim at
the end of this specification.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation with parts broken out, of an apparatus embodying
this invention.
Fig. 2, a side elevation with parts broken out of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.
looking toward the right.
Figs. 3, 4 and 5, details to be referred to.
Fig. 6, a rear elevation of the upper portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 7, a section on the line 7-7, Fig. 6, looking down.
Fig. 8, a sectional detail on an enlarged scale to be referred to, and
Fig. 9, a sectional detail to be referred to, taken on the line 9—9, Fig. 7.
The display apparatus hereinshown as embodying this invention, is especially
adapted for use as a station indicator, and to facilitate description, it will. be
hereinafter referred to as such.
The apparatus is provided with a plurality of frames a, each designed to carry
a card having thereon the names of a number of stations. The frames « are
preferably made of tin or other metal and have extended from their opposite
sides pins or projections b, adapted to rest upon the upper edges of the side bars c
of a support or carriage, having front and rear side bars e, f, extended beyond
the side bars c, and resting on suitable supports or bars g, h, (see Figs. 1 and 2)
forming part of the framework of the apparatus.
The bars g, h may be grooved on their upper edge to form a track and receive
suitable projections or runners i (see Fig. 1) on the under side of the carriage.
The carriage is designed to be moved back and forth on the track or side
bars g, h, and this may be accomplished as hereinshown, by link chains j, k, at
opposite sides of the machine and having their ends fastened to the sides of the
carriage and passed about sprocket wheels 7, m, n, o, at opposite sides of the appar-
DQ17

page_text: atus. The sprocket wheels are mounted on the ends of a shaft 2 (see Fig. 1),
provided with a gear or pinion which meshes with a pinion on a shaft s
extended from one side of the apparatus to near the center of the same, where it
is provided with a bevel gear 2 in mesh with a bevel gear 3 (see Figs. 1 and 8),
which is fast on a sleeve 4 attached to a circular casing 5, inserted in a circular
hole in a table or platform 6 forming part of the framework. The casing 5 is
provided with a series of knobs or handles by which it may be turned to rotate
the bevel gear 3 and thereby rotate the shafts so as to cause travel of the link
chains j, k, and thereby move the frame-supporting carriage back and forth to
bring a selected card-frame into position to be elevated as will be described.
The circular casing 5 is provided with an inwardly extended annular flange 10
forming a dial and having graduations or marks, shown in Fig. 4, as letters,
which correspond to the card-frames, and the said casing contains a stationary
frame consisting of two disks 13, 14, having hubs 15, 16, joined together, the
hub 15 being extended up through the casing 5 and provided with a nut 17 which
serves to retain a glass 18 on the stationary frame.
The hubs 15, 16 receive the sleeve 4, and the latter has extended through it a
spindle 20 provided with a head 21, which shoulders on the sleeve 4 when
depressed. The spindle 20 has a slot or opening 22 into which projects the enl
of a lever 23, pivoted at 25 to an arm 26 attached to the disk 14, the said lever
having a stud or pin 27 indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 8, which enters a socket
in a rod or bolt 28 movable vertically through the disk 14 and adapted to enter
one of a series of holes or openings 29 in the bottom 30 of the circular casing 5,
there being a hole 29 for each indication on the dial, so that, when the frame
carrying carriage has been moved into its proper or selected position, it will be
locked in said position until released by the withdrawal of the pin or bolt 28
from the hole in the casing as will be described.
From the above description, it will be seen, that rotation of the selecting device
which in the present instance is the casing 5, brings the selected card-frame into
position to be elevated, and this may be effected as will now be described.
The elevating and lowering mechanism hereinshown consists of two endless
link chains 32, 33, passed about sprocket wheels 34, 35, on shafts 36, 37, having
bearings at the top of the frame-work of the apparatus, and also passed about
pulleys or wheels 38, 39, mounted on shafts 40, 41, having bearings in the forked
lower end of levers or arms 42, 433, having their upper ends forked and hung
upon the shafts 36, 37. The levers or swinging arms 42, 43, are hung so that
normally the endless chains fall or come outside of the pins or projections bon
the card-frames, to thus permit movement of the frame-carriage back and forth
on its track. The levers, 42, 43, may be moved toward the carriage to thus engage
the chains 32, 33, with the pins or projections b on the card-frame a in line with
said chains, by toggle levers 50, 51, pivoted at their outer end to the chain carry-
ing levers and at their inner end to a link 52, (see Figs. 1, 3 and 4) connected to
one end of a lever 53 fast on a rock-shaft 54 and having its other end pivotally
connected to the lower end of the spindle 20, so that when the said spindle is
depressed, the rock-shaft 54 is turned and the link 52 elevated, which lifts the
toggle levers 50, 51, and draws in the lower ends of the chain carrying levers 42,
43, until the pins b on the selected card-frame extend into a link of the said
chains, and when the chains are in the position just described, they are set in
motion so as to clevate the selected card-frame into position to be displayed,
which as shown in. Fig. 1 is behind a glass door 56 at the upper portion of the
apparatus.
The card raising and lowering chains 32, 33, are intermittently actuated as
will be described by a sprocket wheel 60 (see Figs. 2 and 6), about which is passed
a link chain 61 connecting said sprocket wheel with a smaller sprocket wheel 62
on a shaft 63, suitably supported in the framework at the upper end thereof and
having mounted on it a gear 64 (see Fig. 2) in mesh with a gear 65 on the shaft 36.
the shaft 63 being connected with the shaft 37 as shown in Fig. 6, by a link

page_text: chain 66 passed about a sprocket wheel on the shaft 63 and not hereinshown,
and about a sprocket wheel 67 on the shaft 37.
The sprocket wheel 60 has fast to it a pinion 70, which meshes with a rack-
bar 71, provided with an elongated slot 72 engaged by an eccentrically located
pin or stud 73 on a gear 74 fast on a cam shaft 75. The sprocket wheel 60 and
pinion 70 are loose on the shaft 69, having loose on it a disk 76 provided with a
rim 77, and a hub to which is secured a pinion 78, which drives the gear 74.
The shaft 69 is supported in suitable bearings in the framework and has fast on
it a disk 79 forming one member of a clutch mechanism, which will be herein-
after referred to as the auxiliary clutch mechanism, the disk 79 having project-
ing from its face adjacent to the disk 76 a stud or pin 80, which is adapted to
engage the inner end of a cross bar 81 on the end of a lever 82 pivoted at 83 to
the inner side of the disk 76, the said cross bar extending through a slot 84 in
the disk 76 to the outer side thereof, where it is adapted to be engaged by a
crank or arm 85 fast on a rock-shaft 86, provided with a second crank or arm 87
co-operating with a cam 88 on the cam-shaft 75. The lever 82 is acted upon by
a spring 89 to normally force the cross bar 81 toward the periphery of the disk 76
and into the path of movement of the stud or pin 80 on the disk 79. The disk 79
is loosely encircled by a worm gear or ring 90 attached to a disk 91 which is
loose on the shaft 69 (see Fig. 9) and which is provided as shown with teeth 92
which co-operate with like teeth on a disk 93 keyed to slide on the shaft 69 and
forming the movable member of a main clutch. The disk 93 is provided with a
grooved hub 94 which is engaged by a forked lever 95. The shaft 69 has fast
on it a pinion 96 which meshes with a gear 97 fast on the cam shaft 75. The full
periphery of the cam SS acts on the clutch 87 to turn the rock-shaft 86 in such
direction as will move the crank 85 toward the center of the disk 76, and thereby
carry the cross bar 81 out of the path of movement of the stud or pin 80 on the
disk 79, thereby rendering the disk 76 and the parts driven by it stationary,
until the reduced portion of the cam SS permits the crank or arm 85 to be moved
away from the center of the disk 76, to thereby place the cross bar 81 into the
path of movement of the stud or pin 80. The worm gear 90 and its disk 91 are
designed to be continuously rotated, which may be effected as hereinshown by
means of a worm 960 on a shaft 97º, Figure 2, attached to or forming part of the
armature shaft of an electric motor 98 suitably supported by the framework and
which may be of any usual or suitable construction.
In the normal condition of the apparatus, that is, with the card-frames lowered
and at rest, the lever 87 engages the reduced portion of the cam 88 about its
center or near the point 300, Fig. 5, and the clutch disk 93 is disengaged from
the worm gear 90 and its disk 91, which are thus free to be continuously rotated
by the worm shaft 97° without effecting movement of the shaft 69, the disk 76
and the parts actuated by them. The clutch member or disk 93 is adapted to
be moved longitudinally on the shaft 69, so as to engage the said clutch with
the worm gear 90, by the spindle 20, and for this purpose the rock shaft 54 at
one end or side of the machine has fast on it a crank 100 (see dotted lines,
Fig. 2) joined by a link 101 to a crank 102 fast on a rock-shaft 103, having bear-
ings in the framework of the machine and provided with an upright arm 104,
which is forked to engage a rod 105 pivotally connected to the clutch lever 95.
The arm 104 is movable between the front and back stops 108, 109, on the
rod 105.
From the above description, it will be seen that when the spindle 20 is
depressed into the position shown in Figs. 2 and 8, the rock-shaft 54, through
the crank 100, link 101, crank 102, will rock the shaft 103 so as to move the
arm 104 forward or in the direction indicated by arrow 200, Fig. 2, thereby
moving the clutch member 93 into engagement with the normally loose worm
gear 90 and setting the shaft 69 in motion, and the said shaft through the secon-
dary or auxiliary clutch mechanism previously described, and consisting of the
pin 80 and cross arm 81, will effect rotation of the gear 74, and the movement

page_text: of the gear 74 for one half its rotation will produce longitudinal movement of
the rack-bar 71 in the direction indicated by arrow 201, Fig. 6, so as to rotate
the sprocket wheel 60 in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon and thereby
cause the chains 32, 33, to move in such direction as to elevate the selected
frame from its normal or lowered position into the position shown in Fig. 1.
During the rotation of the cam-shaft 75 in the direction indicated by the
arrow, Fig. 5, the stud or pin 80 is in engagement with the cross bar 81 while the
portion of the cam 88 from the point 300 to the full periphery is moving under
the crank 87, and when the full periphery of the cam is brought under the said
crank, the latter is moved, so as to carry the crank 85 toward the center of the
disk 76 into substantially the position shown in Fig. 5, so that when the cross
bar 81 in the rotation of the disk 76, is brought into engagement with the
crank 85, the said cross bar will be disengaged from the pin 80, thus rendering
stationary the disk 76 and the parts driven by it, while the disk 79 being fast
to the shaft 69, continues to rotate with said shaft. The elevated card-frame
is thus held in its lifted position, until in the rotation of the cam shaft 75, the
full periphery of the cam has passed from under the crank 87, and the reduced
portion of the cam is brought into engagement with the said crank, which re-
duced portion permits the cranks 87, 85 to move away from the center of the
disk 76 and thus permit the spring 89 to move the lever 82 and place the cross
bar 81 into the path of movement of the pin 80, which latter, in the rotation of
the disk 79 engages said cross bar and again clutches the disk 69, thereby moving
the gear
half revolution and causing the rack-bar 71 to move in the direc-
tion opposite to that indicated by arrow 201, so as to rotate the sprocket wheel 60
in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow thereon and thus lower
the elevated frame into its normal position on its carriage.
74 a
The card-frame reaches its lowered position at or about the time the point 300
of the reduced portion of the cam 88 engages the crank 87, and at or about this
time the main clutch 93 is disengaged from the worm gear 90 and its disk 91.
The main clutch may be automatically disengaged by a releasing device, shown
in the present instance as a lug 110 pivoted in a recess in the face of the gear 97
and acted upon by a spring 113.
The lug 110 co-operates with a crank or arm 114 fast on the rock-shaft 103,
the crank 114 having its upper end curved on its under side and projected into
the path of movement of the pivoted lug 110, which latter in the revolution of the
disk 97 engages the crank or arm 114 and forces the latter backward or in
the direction opposite to that indicated by arrow 200, which movement rocks
the shaft 103 and, through the arm 104 engaging the stop 109, moves the rod 105
and the clutch 93 backward into their inoperative position with the clutch 93
disengaged from the worm gear 90. The lug 110 is made movable and spring
actuated so as to ensure the disengagement of said lug from the crank or arm 114,
and thus avoid the machine stopping until the clutch 93 has been positively dis-
engaged from the worm gear 90. The shaft 69 is thus rendered stationary but
the worm gear loose thereon continues to be driven by the motor.
The rock-shaft 103 may and preferably will be yieldingly held in its operative
and inoperative positions, and for this purpose the rock-shaft is provided with a
V-shaped lug or projection 121, engaged by a correspondingly shaped end of the
spring arm or bar 122 (see Fig. 2).
The operation of the machine may be briefly summed up as follows:—Assu-
ming all the card frames in their lowered position, the operator first moves the
selecting device or casing 5, so as to bring the indication on the dial correspond-
ing to the card to be selected, to the zero point shown in Fig. 4. The rotation
of the selecting casing as above described, moves the carriage carrying the card
supporting frames, so as to place the selected frame into line with the lifting
devices or chains, and the operator then depresses the spindle 20, which effects
three distinct operations as hereinshown, namely, it locks the selecting device
by means of the lever 23 and bolt 28 (see Fig. 8); it operates the toggle mechan-

page_text: ism so as to engage the elevating chains with the pins or projections on the
selected card; and it also rocks the shaft 54 so as to engage the main clutch 93
with the worm gear 90. As a result, the shaft 69 is rotated, which through the
pinion 96 and gear 97 operates the cam shaft 75, and the cam SS permits the
disk 76 to be clutched to the disk 79, and this engagement of the auxiliary clutch
rotates the disk 76, pinion 78, and gear 74, thereby producing movement of the
rack-bar 71 and proper movement of the elevating chains, which carry the selected
card from its lowered position up into its elevated position, represented in Fig. 1
as behind the glass door 56. While the frame is being elevated, the reduced
portion of the cam 88 is in engagement with the crank arm 87 as above described,
and when the selected card frame has been elevated, the full periphery of the
cam engages the crank arm 87 and disengages the cross bar 81 from the pin 80,
thereby disengaging the auxiliary clutch and rendering stationary the disk 70
and the pinion 78, while the worm gear 90 and the shafts 69, 75 continue to
revolve.
The selected card is thus displayed to view and remains exposed while the
full periphery of the cam 88 is in engagement with the crank or arm 87, and
when the reduced portion of the cam again engages the arm 87 as above des-
cribed, the disk 76 is again clutched to the shaft 69, and the pinion 78 is rotated
to lower the card frame into its normal position, and at or about the time the
card-frame is lowered, the clutch releasing device 110 engages the arm 114 and
rocks the shaft 103 so as to disengage the clutch 93 from the worm gear 90,
thereby rendering the said worm gear loose on the shaft 669 and permitting it to
be rotated without producing movement of the shaft 69. At the same time, the
spindle 20 is restored to its normal position by movement of the clutch lever 106
in the direction opposite to that indicated by arrow 20, Fig. 2.
The operator may then by depression of the spindle display the same card a
second time or more if he desires, or he can by rotation of the selecting device
select a new card to be displayed.
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:-
1. An apparatus of the class described comprising a movable support or car-
riage, a plurality of frames supported thereby and movable therewith, lifting
devices normally disengaged from said frames, means to move said carriage to
bring a selected frame into position relative to the lifting devices, means to
engage said lifting devices with said selected frame, and means to actuate said
lifting devices, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. An apparatus of the class described comprising a reciprocating support or
carriage provided with side bars, a plurality of card frames suspended between
said side bars and supported thereon to move therewith, means to reciprocate said
carriage, and means to lock said carriage in a selected position, substantially
as described.
3. An apparatus of the class described comprising a card supporting frame,
mechanism to elevate and lower said frame in the same vertical plane, a shaft
rotatable in one direction, and intermediate mechanism actuated from said shaft
to intermittently operate said lifting and lowering mechanism and elevate the
card frame, hold it in its elevated position, and then lower it while the said shaft
continues to rotate, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. An apparatus of the class described comprising a card supporting frame,
mechanism to elevate and lower said frame in the same vertical plane, a shaft
rotatable in one direction, and intermediate mechanism to actuate said elevating
and lowering mechanism and comprising an oscillating gear connected with said
elevating and lowering mechanism, a rack-har meshing with said gear, a rota-
table gear actuating said rack-bar, and means to rotate said gear, substantially
as described.

page_text: 5. An apparatus of the class described comprising a card elevating and lower-
ing mechanism, a continuously rotatable shaft, a second shaft, a gear normally
loose on said second shaft and driven from the first shaft, an oscillating gear or
pinion connected with the card elevating and lowering mechanism, a clutch con-
trolling the rotation of said second shaft, and an auxiliary clutch mechanism
controlling the oscillation of the said gear or pinion and the operation of the
elevating and lowering mechanism, and means to control said clutch mechanisms,
substantially as described.
6. An apparatus of the class described comprising a reciprocating support or
carriage, a plurality of frames supported thereon and movable therewith, a rota-
table selecting device, and mechanism to connect said selecting device with said
carriage, substantially as described.
7. An apparatus of the class described comprising a card-supporting frame,
carriers to elevate and lower said frame in the same vertical plane, pivoted levers
or supports for said carriers, mechanism to normally disengage said carriers from
the card-supporting frame, and means to actuate said mechanism and engage said
carriers with said supporting frame, substantially as described.
8. An apparatus of the class described comprising a reciprocating carriage
movable in a substantially horizontal plane, a plurality of frames supported
thereon, and mechanism co-operating with said carriage to engage a selected
frame and elevate it from said carriage, hold it elevated a predetermined time,
and then lower it again upon the said carriage, substantially as described.
Dated this 10th d.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 and 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 and 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.