Improvements in Jacks.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 15th June, 1897-Accepted, 17th July, 1897
Improvements in Jacks.
I, GEORGE FOSTER PEARSON, of No. 347 Westford Street, City of Lowell, in the
County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the United States
of America, Commercial Traveller, 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:
My invention relates to jacks of that kind which are adapted to raise a heavy
body and then to be canted to move said body laterally, and which may be used
to place derailed cars upon their rails.
Said invention consists in the devices and combinations hereinafter described
and claimed and has for its object to furnish a strong portable jack capable of
raising, for instance, a car body resting upon the head of the jack, and having
also means for connecting the car-truck to said head and raising said truck
simultaneously with said body.
In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a jack, provided
with my improvement, with chains attached; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the
upper portion of said jack, partly in vertical section, on the line 22 in Fig. 3, the
chains being omitted; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section on the line 33 in Fig. 1,
the chains being omitted and the head and the upper part of the upper sleeve being
in front elevation; Fig. 4, a plan of the ratchet-wheel, double pawl and stop and
ratchet-wheel case, with the cover removed; Fig. 5, a reduced front elevation of
said jack with chain and hook, the jack being inclined.
The jack consists of a right and left hand screw A, provided, midway between
its ends, with a double ratchet-wheel, secured thereto or integral therewith, the
right hand thread a' and left hand thread a of the screw A being of equal
diameter and length.
The wheel a has hubs a³, equal in diameter to that of the screw A on the screw
thread, and the ratchet wheel case B and its cover B have openings large enough
to receive said hubs a³ which allows of the body of the ratchet-wheel case B
being passed over one of said screw threads, while the cover B of said case B is
passed over the other of said screw-threads until said case and cover meet as shown
in Fig. 1.
The case B contains a reversible or double acting pawl C, pivoted, at e, and
having two teeth, either of which may be thrown into engagement with the
wheel a, to turn the screw in either direction, and said pawl C is kept in either
position by a bolt D, the conical inner end d of which is forced against one or
the other of two inclines on the back of the pawl C, by a spiral spring E.
compressed between a shoulder on said bolt and the closed outer end of the
recess b, in which said bolt is arranged. The cover B is secured to the case B
by screws and said case is provided with a socket 6', to receive a hand spike F
or equivalent device (Fig. 5), to assist in turning the screw. The parts above
described are of usual construction.
The internally screw-threaded sleeves G G¹ are alike (except that the thread
of one is left handed and the other right-handed) and the end of each is closed

page_text: by the segment g g of a cylinder, the axis of which is at right angles to the axes
of the screw A and sleeve G G¹.
The head Hand foot H' of the jack are each provided with a recess which
is a segment of a hollow cylinder, of the same radius as the corresponding
cylinder y org but of less angular measurement, to receive the corresponding
cylinder-segment g g', to enable the lower sleeve G to turn upon the foot H' and
the head H to turn upon the sleeve G.
The bearing surfaces of the head H and foot H', respectively, are each
provided with parallel ridges or teeth, the sharp edges of which lie in the
same plane parallel with the axis of the corresponding cylinder-segment g 9².
The head and foot H are secured to the corresponding sleeves G G¹ by
screws which, however, are not intended to support any part of the weight
of the body being lifted by the jack, but merely to keep said head and foot in place,
said screws passing through ears 18 19 on said head and foot, respectively, into
the ends of the corresponding cylinder segment g or gl. Figs. 1; 2 and 3.
The head H and foot H are represented as alike, except that the ears 18 are
continued beyond the screws to form claw-hooks or forked hooks 0, the
forks of which receive links i of chains I, said links being placed edgewise
in said forks and the links a next above resting upon said hooks. The lower ends
of the chains I are preferably provided with hooks 2 (Fig. 5) to engage the wheel
hanger or other part of a car-truck, when a derailed car is being replaced by the
jack herein described.
In such cases, the jack is placed vertically under the sill of the car with the
axes of the cylinder-segments g g parallel with each other and with the rails
and, when the car-body and truck are raised sufficiently, by turning the screw,A,
the chain being previously attached to the truck, as above described, the jack is
inclined over and drops the car upon the rails. In this operation one or more
jacks are used according to the weight of the car.
In the same way, other heavy weights may be lifted and moved laterally.
When the chain hooks are not needed or are in the way, the head H may be
replaced by a head precisely like the foot H', after removing the screws h
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a jack, the combination with the screw, of the internally threaded sleeve
having an outer end which is a segment of a cylinder and having a head which
is provided with a recess which is a segment of a hollow cylinder and which fits
and turns on said sleeve.
2. In a jack, the combination of the head and hooks secured to said head and
adapted to engage a chain.
3. In a jack, the combination with the screw, of the internally-threaded sleeve
having an outer end which is a segment of a cylinder and having a head which is
provided with a recess which is a segment of a hollow cylinder and which fits and
turns on said sleeve, and hooks secured to said head and adapted to engage a chain.
Dated this Eighteenth day of May, A.D. 1897.
Dated this Eighteenth day of May, A.D. 1897.
GEORGE FOSTER PEARSON,
By Herbert Haddan & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.