A SYSTEM OF EXCHANGING MAIL BAGS BETWEEN TWO TRAINS IN MOTION OR BETWEEN A TRAIN IN MOTION AND STATIONARY RECEIVING AND DELIVERING : APPARATUSES PLACED ALONGSIDE A RAILWAY TRACK
Year: 1884

page_text: Railway Track.
I, EUGÈNE CHARLES EDOUARD GALLOIS Civil Engineer of 144 Rue Legendre.
Paris in the Republic of France do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
A SYSTEM OF EXCHANGING MAIL BAGS BETWEEN TWO TRAINS IN MOTION OR
BETWEEN A TRAIN IN MOTION AND STATIONARY RECEIVING AND DELIVERING :
APPARATUSES PLACED ALONGSIDE A RAILWAY TRACK to be as follows:-
"My invention consists of two sets of apparatuses of similar description and
analogous in their working.
One set is fixed, being attached to an iron pole or "pylone" which is erected
alongside and at a convenient distance of the rails.
The other set is moveable, being attached to a travelling carriage or Postal
wagon.
Each set comprises a receiving and a delivering apparatus.
The moveable or travelling receiving apparatus consists of a bayonet armature
mounted on an arm attached to a rectangular frame. The said frame is made of
two strong metal bars and two cross bars, and is provided, at its four angles with
axles and rollers..
These travel inside groves cut in two bars fixed alongside the external wall of
the carriage and at its top so that the frame travels parallelly to the side of the
carriage.
The said rectangular frame is provided, at the cross bar on the near side of the
carriage door with a spring latch which fastens it in its working position, and
allows of its being released by the postal attendant and brought in front of the
door and pushed back so as to prepare for the operation of exchanging the mail
bags.
A catch-lever, mounted on a spring which keeps it constantly vertical, is fixed
on the bayonet, when the saddle of the mail bag to be received passes over the
bayonet, the catch lever bows down against and along the said bayonet, allowing
the bag to pass and, springing back behind it, prevents the bag receeding and falling
on the rails,

page_text: The bayonet is also provided with an arm which prevents the saddle of the mail
bag striking the bayonet in one point thus causing the bag to swing back and
perhaps to fall. This arm catches the bag saddle in two points; and if it was
necessary that it extended farther out than the gauge will allow of, it may be
made to fold so as to be out of the way.
It would have to be brought back in working position at the time of collecting.
The moveable or travelling delivering apparatus.comprises a similar rectangular.
frame, travelling on rollers and provided with the same arrangement of spring
latch for fastening and releasing it. The top bar of the frame is provided with a
bar bent parallelly to the carriage, and the saddle of the mail bag to be delivered
is suspended from it..
A spring clip maintains the said bag in position and the spiral spring of the said
clip is fixed round a pin which is rivetted to the arm so as to prevent any lateral
motion of the said clip.
The postal carriage is provided with a folding lattice frame which is spread out
at receiving, time and prevents the bag damaging by friction or otherwise the side
of the carriage. After the bag has been detached, the said frame is set back flat
against the carriage's side.
The stationary set of receiving and delivering apparatuses are similar to the
travelling ones just described. They are mounted at the ends of two horizontal
oscillating levers or arms. In the delivering one, a counterweight brings the arm
back in the vertical position as soon as it is relieved of the weight of the bag..
The receiving one is secured in the horizontal position by a spring latch working
into a notch. It is so arranged that on the receiving of the bag, the motion of
the catch spring lever above referred to causes the spring latch to be pulled out of
its notch and the counterweight being heavier than the arm the said arm, together
with its weight, falls back in the vertical position where it is secured by the latch
springing into another notch, cut for the purpose, in a corresponding position.
The mail bag instead of hanging down in the usual way, is attached at its
bottom to the "pylone" with, an universal automatic fastener and kept suspended
at an angle away from the carriage so as to be fairly out of the reach of travellers..
The set of moveable or travelling apparatuses may be made folding so that in
the case of a train being fitted with more than one postal carriage any number of
these apparatuses could be thrown out of gear as those of one carriage only
would be required to do the work.
The same system is also applicable to the exchange of mail bags between two-
trains in motion.
The door of the postal carriage is sliding on rollers, so that the postal attendant
can easily bring in front of him and push back in position the sliding rectangular
frames for the purposes of either attaching the mail bags for delivery or collecting
the bags received.
Trinho 1001

page_text: I, EUGÈNE CHARLES EDOUARD GALLOIS Civil Engineer of 144 Rue Legendre
Paris in the Republic of France do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
A SYSTEM OF EXCHANGING MAIL BAGS BETWEEN TWO TRAINS IN MOTION OR.
BETWEEN A TRAIN IN MOTION & STATIONARY RECEIVING & DELIVERING
APPARATUSES PLACED. ALONGSIDE A RAILWAY TRACK 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 improvements in apparatus for exchanging mail bags
between two trains in motion or between a train in motion and some stationary
receiving and delivering apparatuses placed alongside a railway track and it has
for its object to produce a system of apparatus working automatically and with a
minimum of trouble to the attendants and a maximum of security and efficiency to
the service.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures of the annexed sheets of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding figures.
Fig. 1. is an elevation view of that portion of my system which is attached to
the postal wagon.
Fig. 2. is a horizontal section through line 1-2 of fig. 1.
Fig. 3. is a vertical section showing the bayonet which catches the mail bag
suspended from the pylone.
Fig. 4. is another vertical section showing the apparatus from which is suspended
the bag which is to be caught by the pylone's bayonet.
Fig. 5. illustrates on a larger scale the spring latch shown in fig. 1. and
described hereafter.
Fig. 6. is a plane of the stop frame against which strikes the bag caught by the
passing train.
Figs. 7. and 8. are an elevation and a profile showing the metallic stirrup which
is used for the suspension of the bags.
Fig. 9. is an elevation and Fig. 10. a profile of the pylone which is erected at a
convenient distance from and alongside the railway line.
Fig. 11. is a plane view from underneath of one of the arms of the said
pylone.

page_text: In figures 1 to 4, T is a long hollowed rail fastened by means of bolts and nuts t¹
to the carriage's side and in the whole length of which a groove t is cut so as to
allow of the passage of the axles of the rollers d and e belonging to their respective
frames D and E.
The frame D is composed of two parallel bars connected together at one end by
means of the cross bar D¹ and at the other end by means of the spring latch
arrangement illustrated in detail in fig. 5.
The spring latch consists of a cylinder z provided with a trigger z¹ and a nose y
resting on a stop x which belongs to the rail T which maintains the frame in its
working position.
The bayonet B is attached to the frame D; it catches the stirrup H (figs. 7 & 8)
to which is suspended the mail bag S and in order to deaden the blow as much as
possible it is provided at its rear with a certain number of india rubber rings or
buffers.
4
In order to prevent the bag going back and falling on the line I provide the
bayonet B with an articulated catch v which owing to a spiral spring is always
maintained in its vertical or working position. The said catch allows of the
passage of the stirrup, and bends under the weight of the passing bag, but springing
back in its former position after the bag has passed prevents it going backwards.
and falling on the line.
In order to prevent the stirrup H, if striking the bayonet in only one point, from
turning round that point; coming back and dropping the bag on the line, the
bayonet B is provided with a cross arm B¹ which taking the stirrup in two points
prevents the said turning motion and its consequences.
The said cross arm B¹ can be mounted on a hinge so as to be folded back at
resting time and spread out at working time; should its length be so great as to be
objectionable.
a
In order to prevent any damage being done to the side of the carriage through.
the friction of the bag owing to the swinging motion of the train, I provide
folding frame Q (figs. 1, 3 & 6) upon which the said bag presses whilst the train is
in motion.
This frame will have to be folded by the Post office official, in the direction
indicated by the arrows in fig. 3, before he pulls the rolling frame D, with its
suspended bag, in front of his door.
The rollers d travel in the hollows provided in the parallel railings T and T¹.
The delivering apparatus of the moving train is composed of a rectangular
frame E analogous to that D of the receiving apparatus the two long parallel bars
being connected, as in the preceeding case by means of a cross bar E¹ at one end
and of a spring latch arrangement V at the other end.
The frame E is provided with an arm K to which is attached a spring clip P the
under side of which is shaped so as to adapt itself to the profile of the top h of the
stirrup H. (tigs. 7 & 8) The spiral spring r maintains the pressure of the clip and
the spindle round which the spring is wound, acts as a guide to the said clip
preventing any side motion of it.
The arms of the stirrup are terminated at their bottom by a kind of jaw ¹
provided with two apertures through which is passed the strap i used for closing
the mail bag S.:
The square opening at the top of the stirrup might be provided with rollers in
order to diminish the friction. The surface of the said stirrups may also, owing
to the oscillations of the train, be made considerable; its importance will be
determined by practice.
The pylone M is provided with two pivots at one end of which the levers L, L'
are made to oscillate in . The lever L is provided with a bayonet B with or
without the india rubber buffers G, and the lever L'is provided with an arm K on
which a clip P is fitted with a spiral spring as in the case of the delivering
apparatus of the postal carriage.

page_text: The levers L, L', are balanced by means of counterweights and the lever L is
maintained in its horizontal position by means of a latch m (fig. 11) when the
bayonet B is in position for taking up a bag.
The exchange of mail bags is effected at follows:
One bag is suspended from the arm K of the lever L₁ of the pylone (fig. 12)
whereas the other bag is suspended from the arm K of the frame E belonging to
the travelling carriage (fig. 14) the train running in the direction indicated by the
arrows (fig. 1 to 10).
The bag of the stationary delivering apparatus (fig. 12) besides being suspended,
is also attached to a universal hook with an automatic opening so as to hang
obliquely and offer no danger to the passengers travelling in the carriages
preceeding the postal wagon.
The bayonet B of the carriage frame D catches the bag suspended from the
arm K of the pylone lever L', whereas simultaneously the bag suspended from the
arm K of the wagon frame E is caught by the bayonet B of the pylone M as shown
in fig. 13 & 15.
The exchange having thus taken place the official opens his window, folds up the
frame and pulling the trigger 21, releases the spring latch V which allows him of
bringing up the frame D in the direction of the dotted arrow (Fig. 1) so as to bring
the mail bag in front of his window whence it can easily be collected. The roller
frame is afterwards pushed back in its normal position and the folding frame
reinstated as before.
In a similar fashion. the frame E is pulled up in front of the window so as to
allow the official to hang a new bag from the clip P of the arm K.
When the bag hanging from the arm K of the pylone has been caught by the
travelling carriage, the lever L' under the influence of its counterweight is brought
back in a vertical position as indicated in fig. 13, the same result taking place with
the lever L of the bayonet B when the latter has caught the bag of the travelling
carriage.
In order that the bag to be collected from the train should not constitute a
danger for the passengers travelling aft of the postal carriage, the following
automatic arrangement is adopted: (fig. 11): The lever L is maintained in a
horizontal position owing to a catch m being set in a corresponding notch. On the
mail bag being catched by the bayonet B, the spring lever v, bending under the
pressure of the passing weight releases the catch m and the counterweight X pulls
up the lever with its load until the catch m springing into another notch stops the
motion of the lever and maintains it in a vertical position.
The bayonet B as well as the clip P of the postal carriage, are articulated so as
to be raised out of reach in the case of a few postal carriages following each other
so that only one of these should be allowed to operate.
The pylone may also be constructed with only one arm rotating in an horizontal
plane and which, under the action of a counterweight or a spring, pivots upon its
vertical axis so as to take a resting position parallel to the line of rails.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is
1° The system of roller frames for receiving and delivering mail bags by and
from trains in motion as hereinbefore described and illustrated.
2° The bayonet arrangement for receiving mail bags in travelling postal
carriages or fixed pylones, together with the spring lever stopper and cross arms
intended to secure the fastening of the collected bag and prevent its running back,
swinging or falling on the line as hereinbefore described and illustrated.

page_text: 3° The arrangement for delivering mail bags from travelling postal carriages to
fixed pylones and vice versa by means of spring clips and guides as herein before
described and illustrated.
4° The arrangement of metallic stirrup for hanging the mail bags therefrom as
hereinbefore described and illustrated.
5° The arrangement of fixed pylones with one single horizontally or two
vertically oscillating levers for collecting and delivering mail bags from and to
passing trains, together with the automatic arrangement for withdrawing the levers
after the operation has taken place as hereinbefore described and illustrated.