Improvements in and relating to Sandboxes for Railway Vehicles and the like.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 31st Oct., 1896
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM EDGAR SIMONDS, of 2 Central Row,
Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America, Attorney-at-Law.]
Improvements in and relating to Sandboxes for Railway Vehicles
and the like.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 an attachment for vehicles, especially those that travel
upon rails, such, for instance, as trolley cars. Its purpose and object is that of
containing sand and, when properly operated, of delivering the sand in front of a
vehicle wheel so as to give it frictional contact and traction.
Referring to the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is in the main a side elevation showing the hopper in central vertical
section.
Figure 2 is a detail side view to an enlarged scale of the flexible outlet tube in
adjustment for delivering sand upon the rail.
Figure 3 is a detail view also to an enlarged scale of that end of the agitator
rod which enters the outlet tube.
a denotes the hopper for holding the sand; it has at the bottom an outlet tube
containing a flexible section preferably of india rubber; the letters and b
denote sections of this outlet tube, the first and last being, by preference, of iron
and the other, by preference, of india rubber. The flexible section has two functions
in that it operates as a hinge to allow the outlet tube as a whole to be angularly
flexed or bent upwardly and when thus bent upwardly it also acts as a valve to
shut off the flow of sand. The position of this tube when it is in adjustment for
delivering the sand is shown in Figure 2; its position when it is angularly flexed
and the flow of sand is shut off is shown in Figure 1.
The letters cc' denote two arms of a cranked lever pivotally attached to the tube
section b; its lower arm is mortised; the mortise is traversed by a pin d which
is attached by a suitable sleeve to the tube-section 2; when this cranked-lever is
in the adjustment shown in Figure 1 it holds the outlet tube angularly flexed and
the flow of sand is shut off but when it is in the adjustment shown in Figure 2
it throws the tube-section into a position approaching the vertical so that the
sand flows freely through the outlet tube.
The letter e denotes a connecting rod running from the upper arm c of the
cranked lever to the lower end of the cranked lever f which is hung on a pivotal
support. The spring 9 tends to hold all the parts in the position shown in Figure 1.
The letter denotes a foot-pin bearing on the cranked lever f; when the operator
desires that sand shall escape from the hopper he puts his foot upon this foot-pin
and pres-es it downward; this throws the parts from the position shown in Figure 1
to the position shown in Figure 2 and when he removes the pressure exerted by
his foot the spring g returns these parts to the position shown in Figure 1.
The letter denotes slats in a series, located within the hopper surrounding the
mouth of the outlet tube and extending well toward the top of the hopper it is
intended that the same be placed within the hopper between its inner wall and
this series of slats to the end that the slats may operate to sift the sand and

page_text: prevent any parts or particles which are, unduly large from reaching the mouth of
the outlet tube.
The letter denotes a bent agitator-rod both ends of which are below the bottom
of the hopper; one of these ends takes hold of the cranked-lever-arm c¹ and the
other end enters into the mouth and upper part of the outlet tube being there
shaped as shown in Figure 3; and it results that the agitator rod moves up and
down in consonance with the variation of the cranked-lever c e disturbing and
agitating the sand and tending to make it enter and move along the inside of the
outlet tube.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a sand-box the combination of the hopper, the outlet-tube provided with a
flexible intermediate section, and means for angularly flexing the said section, all
substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
2. In combination, the hopper a, the outlet-tube composed of rigid sections b bª
and flexible section 61, and means for angularly flexing the tube and retaining it
flexed, all substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
3. In a sand-box the combination of the hopper a provided with the outlet-tube at
bottom, slatted cage i surrounding and protecting the outlet, the agitator rod k with
screw formed terminal extending into the outlet tube, all substantially as described
and for the purposes set forth.
4. In combination, the hopper a having outlet tube at bottom, the slats i
surrounding said outlet tube and the bent agitator rod k having both ends below the
hopper, all substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
5. In combination, the hopper a, the outlet-tube provided with flexible section b¹,
the cranked-lever cc', the connecting-rod e, the cranked-lever f, the spring g,
and foot-pin h, all substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
6. In combination, the hopper a, the outlet-tube provided with flexible section b²,
the bent agitator rod k, the cranked-lever cc, connecting-rod e, cranked lever f
spring 9, and foot-pin h, all substantially as described and for the purposes set
forth.
Dated this 28th day of September 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.