AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING COMMUNICATION AND THE TRANSPORT OF CASI OR OTHER ARTICLES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SHOP, WAREHOUSE, OR OTHER BUILDING cominunicated to me from abroad by Gilbert
Year: 1883

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th August 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltino, Lako, & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings London, "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR FACILITATING COMMUNICATION AND THE TRANSPORT OF CASI OR OTHER
ARTICLES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SHOP, WAREHOUSE, OR OTHER
BUILDING cominunicated to me from abroad by Gilbert Ruggles Elliott, of
Boston, Massachusetts United States of America.
"
This invention relates to a method of, and apparatus for, affording in shops, or
the like, rapid and casy communication between the various salesmen and the
persons for receiving money and doing up the parcels.
The said invention consists essentially in providing one or a series of level wires
between the different salesmen and some central point, the said wire or wires, if
desired, being adapted to have one end raised and lowered, instead of being fixed,
wheeled carriers adapted to travel on theso wires, and arresting stops near each
ond of each wire to catch and retain the said carriers; and holders for parcels,
cash books and money, adapted to be readily attached to, or taken from, the
carriers.
In the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation showing a single level wire having a carrier and
arresting stops, and extending from a counter to a cashier's desk or the like.
Figure 2 is a plan illustrating one arrangement of several wires.
Figure 3 is a similar view illustrating another arrangement.
Figure 4 is an elevation showing one taut wire and the means for moving one
end to cause the carrier to travel in either direction.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 illustrate a parcel holder to be suspended from the
carrier and
Figures 8 and 9 illustrate a holder for account books, money and small articles.
In Figure 1, A indicates a salesman's counter, and B a cashier's desk near which
is located a counter C where the purchases are inspected and made up into
bundles.
D indicates a wiro secured at one end above the counter A, and at the other
end above the cashier's desk B. This wire is strained to a level by any well
known appliance, attached near one end of the wire.
Near each end of the wire D is secured an arresting stop d, and a carrier F on
wheels is suspended from the wires.
In the arrangement illustrated in Figure 2 a number of counters A are shown

page_text: cach of which has a wire D in connection with a counter common to all of them.
The wires Dare each provided with stops and a carrier, as above described with
reference to Figure 1.
The carriers F can be readily propelled over the level wires, in either direction,
between the arresting stops, by a push of the hand.
In Figures 3 and 4 each of the wires D is stretched taut between a slide c
mounted on a guide c¹ near each salesman's counter, and a fixed support c³ near
the point B. Each wire D has its own carrier F and suitable arresting stops &
The fixed support c² may be arranged in any suitable manner, that is to say it
may be secured to a bracket fixed to the wall when the point B is at one end of
a building, or to an arm extending down from the ceiling when the point B is not
near the wall.
Each wire D is secured at its end near the salesman's counter to a slide c
movable up and down on a guide c¹ which is fastened to a suitable support c³.
The guides, when the wire is comparatively short, are curved to a radius equal to
the length of the wire. The said slides may be provided with friction springs to
hold them at any point on the guides, or they may be provided with catches
to retain them at the highest and lowest points of the guides, or be so mounted as to
fall by gravity when left free, so as to keep the wire normally in the position to
cause the car to run by gravity to the saleman's counter. A cord E passing
over a pulley is attached to the slide c, by means of which the salesman can
raise the slide at pleasure and cause the carrier to run by gravity to the point B.
A cord E' is suspended from the slide c and enables the salesman to lower the
said slide and thereby reverse the inclination of the wire and cause the carrier to
travel by gravity to his counter.
7
A parcel holder or carrier is shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7, in which G indicates
a roller mounted in a framo H and carrying within it a spring, not shown, by
means of which the said roller may be revolved in a well known manner.
As shown in Figure 5 a notched disc g is secured to one end of the roller G and
a spring-controlled catch g' is pivotted at g to the upper bar h of the frame so as
to engage with a notch or tooth of the disc g when left free, to hold the roller.
A web I of suitable material, or a sheet of leather or the like, is folded at its
middle and secured at both ends to the roller G, or one end may be secured and
the other be adapted to be hooked on. A rod i, longer than the frame H is
secured near the middle of the web and serves as a stop to prevent an accidental
unwinding of the spring.
When a parcel is enclosed in the web I, the catch g¹ is withdrawn from the
notch in the disc g, so as to allow the spring to roll up and coinpress the web
around the parcel so as to securely retain it during its transportation over the
wire D.
In Figure 6 the web I is shown as attached at one end to a spring-controlled
roller G, and at the other end to a roller G¹ provided with a toothed disc or
wheel g³, which engages with a similar disc g on the spring-roller G, whereby the
spring in the roller G causes both rollers to revolve and roll up the web I. The
rod is, in this arrangement, fixed in the lower part of the frame H. A catch g'
is provided as in the single roller holder, and the operation will be readily
understood from the above description.
The holder is suspended by the upper bar h of the frame H, on hooks attached
to the carrier F. In operation, the salesman places the articles to be transported,
in the holder which he hooks on to the carrier, and propels the carrier and holder
by a push of the hand or by the slide c to the inspector's counter. The
inspector receives the carrier, detaches the holder, removes its contents, passes the
money to the cashier and the goods to the packer, and returns the goods when
packed and the change, if any, to the holder, which he attaches to the carrier
and returns to the salesman as above described.
Checks or slips, enclosed for the purpose, indicate the holder and carrier to which
the different parcels belong.

page_text: A holder, more especially adapted for books, cash and small articles, is shown in
Figures 8 and 9 in which is a spring-controlled roller, to which is attached by
one end a web I. The other end of this web I, is provided with a pocket ¹ adapted
to carry any ordinary account book or other small article. A ring or handle is
provided, by means of which the web may be drawn down to receive an articlo.
The roller G is mounted inside a box or casing k into which box the web and
the contents of its pocket are drawn as the web is rolled up by the spring.
The box is provided with two uprights J J', one at each end. These uprights
carry wheels adapted to run on the wire D. A cross bar binds the two
uprights J J together and prevents any bending or yielding when the holder is
propelled by a push of the hand or arrested by the stops.
Among the advantages arising from the use of this system in a shop or public
building are;-Its simplicity and the facility with which it may be applied, the
small space occupied by the wires and the consequent unobstruction to light, the
adaptability of the system to places where the height of the ceiling and lack of
roon will not admit of more complicated systems, and the regulation of the incli-
nation of the wire by the salesman only, whereby the cashier or inspector is
relieved from all care and trouble in returning the carrier and its contents to the
salesman.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I am aware that two tracks inclined in opposite directions have been employed
in shops, but this, besides occupying double tho space, necessitated the shifting of
the carrier from one track to the other, I am also aware that a wire rope track has
been used in which a carrier has been caused to travel in either direction by
gravity by inclining the track in the proper direction by simultaneously raising
one end and lowering the other, I do not therefore claim such as any part of this
invention, but I claim
First The method herein before described of establishing communication between
the various attendents and a cashier or other person in a shop or other building,
which method consists in arranging wires in a level position between the said
persons, which wires are fixed at both ends so that a carrier may be pushed along
them by hand, or fixed at one end only, the carrier in this case being caused to
travel along the wire by raising or lowering the movable end thereof, substantially
as described.
Second A wire or wires stretched taut between fixed supports and each having
two arresting stops secured to it, in combination with a carrier adapted to be pro-
pelled from one stop to the other, in either direction, by a push of the hand, or by
raising and lowering one end of the said wire, substantially as, and for the purposes,
set forth.
Third The holder, hereinbefore described, consisting of a spring-controlled roller
or rollers mounted in a frame or box, in combination with a web or sheet adapted
to be wound up by the said roller or rollers, substantially as, and for the purposes,.
set forth.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this fourteenth day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.