Improvements in Car Fenders.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 18th June, 1895-Accepted, 20th July, 1895
Improvements in Car Fenders.
I, ADOLPHUS DECKER, of Linoleumville, in the County of Richmond, and State
of New York, United States of America, Gentleman, 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 :-
The invention relates to improvements in car fenders.
The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of car fenders,
and to provide a simple and inexpensive one, capable of being readily applied to
cable, electric and other street railway cars, and adapted to catch and cradle a
person to prevent injury to him.
The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement
of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and
pointed out in the claims hereto appended.
In the drawings
Figure 1 is a perspective view constructed in accordance with this invention, the
parts being in position preparatory to catching a person.
Figure 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view showing the position of the parts
after a person has come in contact with the fender.
Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view.
Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of
the drawings.
1 designates a supporting frame composed of sides 2, and connecting cross-bars 3
and 4; the cross-bar 4 is located at the front of the fender and at the bottom of the
sides, and its front edge is beveled; and the rear cross-bar 3 is located at the top
of the sides and has extending from it a rearwardly-disposed attachment bar 5
designed to be secured to a car. The sides 2 are composed of top and bottom bars
and front and rear end bars, and have their rear portions slightly inclined downward
and outward, and are covered with wire netting or similar material.
A rectangular frame or board 6 is hinged near its bottom at its rear face to the
front of the fender frame and forms a tilting fender which is adapted when struck
by a person to swing rearward, lift the person and cause him to fall into a swinging
semi-cylindrical frame or cradle 7, to prevent it from coming in contact with the
ground and being injured by dragging or the like. The tilting fender 6 is designed
to be suitably padded, and is provided at its rear face with eyes 8 receiving a
transverse pintie or shaft 9.
The approximately semi-cylindrical frame is composed of a curved bottom 10 and
segmental sides 11 and is provided at its back with au upward extension 12 forming
continuations of the sides and back of the swinging frame or cradle. This swinging
frame receptacle or cradle is journaled at opposite sides in suitable bearings 13 of
the supporting frame; the sides and bottom of the cradle or receptacle are provided
with wire netting similar to the sides of the supporting frame, and the cradle or
receptacle is designed to be suitably cushioned to prevent a person falling into it
from being injured. The tilting fender is designed to be of the same width as the
track, and its upper portion is normally supported by a transverse roll 14 journaled
on the receptacle or cradle at the front end thereof and permitting the parts to
move freely on each other in the operation of the car fender. The tilting fender is
normally arranged in an inclined position as illustrated in Figure 1 of the
accompanying drawings and when struck by a person the tilting fender and the

page_text: cradle or receptacle assume the position illustrated in Figure 2 of the accompanying
drawings. In this latter position the tilting fender operates as a skid, and causes
the person to fall into the cradle or receptacle and the weight of the person within
the same causes the cradle or receptacle to assume an upright position and to hold the
person and prevent injury to him.
The swinging of the cradle or receptacle is limited by stops 15 and 16 located
above and below the top bars of the sides of the supporting frame and preferably
composed of transverse bars or cleats projecting laterally from the sides of the cradle
or receptacle and arranged to come in contact with the supporting frame.
As the tilting fender is of the same width as the track, a person or other object
on the track will be received within the cradle or receptacle and if a person should
be too close to the side of the track the outwardly-inclined sides of the supporting
frame will prevent him from getting under the wheels of a car.
It will be seen that the fender is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construc-
tion, that it is positive and reliable in operation, and that it is capable of being
readily applied to all kinds of cars having a motive power other than draft
animals.
Changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of construction may be
resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages
of this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination of a supporting frame, a cradle or receptacle journaled
thereon, and a tilting fender located in advance of the cradle or receptacle and
having its upper portion resting upon the front of the same and arranged to form
a skid to cause a person to be thrown into the receptacle, substantially as
described.
2. The combination of a supporting frame, a substantially semi-cylindrical
receptacle journaled on the supporting frame, and a tilting fender arranged at an
inclination and located in advance of the cradle or receptacle and having its upper
portion supported by the front of the cradle or receptacle, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
3. The combination of a supporting frame provided with opposite sides having
their portions inclined and forming shields, a cradle or receptacle journaled between
the sides of the frame, and a rectangular tilting fender hinged near its bottom to
the supporting frame and arranged at an inclination and resting upon the front
of the cradle or receptacle and adapted to swing the same, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
4. The combination of a supporting frame having opposite sides, a tilting fender
arranged at an inclination and located at the front of the frame, and a cradle or
receptacle journaled between the sides of the frame and provided with stops to
Jimit its swing, and having at its front a transverse roll receiving and supporting
the tilting fender, substantially as described.
Dated this 18th day of June 1895.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.