Folding car-step.

Application filed June 10.1912. Serial No. 702,810.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, John S. Blake and Fred D. Blake, citizens of the United States, residing· at Charlotte, in the county of Meek-. δ lenburg, State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Folding Car-Steo,· of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to folding car steps^:for use in connection with the ordinary fixed 10 steps of passenger cars, one of the objects! of the invention being'to provide folding! car steps which can be applied readily to! the fixed steps ordinarily in use and which^:have means whereby the steps will be auto- ! 15 maticaliy folded out of the way when the: car to which they are connected is moved I a predetermined distance in either direction. |

A further object is to provide a folding at-! tachment of this character which is simple I 20 in construction and which, consequently will not get out of order. ’^;

A further object is to provide improved; means whereby the foldable steps are held : in proper relation to each other while sup- 25 ported in active positions, said means serv- i ing to prevent the foldable steps from sagging while in use.

Another object is to provide step actuating means so constructed as to remain ex30 tended after the car has been set in motion i provided one or. more persons occupy the ! steps, the operating means, however, joeing ^;adapted to allow the steps to slightly lower under these conditions so that the occupants ^J35 of the steps will thus be warned to leave! them.

With the foregoing and other objects in j view which will appear as the description i proceeds, the invention resides in the com- : 40 bination. and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter de- । scribed and claimed, it being understood ' that, changes in the precise embodiment of ! the invention herein disclosed can be made : 4θ within, the scope of what is claimed without : departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown. . In the drawingsFigure 1 is a side eleva°o tion of a portion of a car structure having the present improvements combined therewith, the foldable steps being shown extended for use. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a portion of the car, that portion of the 55 structure constituting the present invention j being· shown partly in section and partly in elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a porθ. P . step operating mechanism.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A designates a portion of a car structure to which are connected fixed steps

-,, TF⁶ P^lati⁰™ ^{of ti!e car} is provided wita the usual form of hinged trap door C which is adapted to swing upwardly against the wap _of _th? structure so as to be out 65 or the way while the steps are in use. Pivotally connected to the bottom of the lower step B at each end thereof are two parallel hangers 1 the lower ends of which are pivotally connected to a substantially horizontal 70 side strip 2. Secured between the outei end portions of the side strips is the lower step 3 of the attachment. Side strips 4 are extended between and pivotally connected to the hangers 1 at points equidistant from the 75 ends of the hangers and these side strips 4 are secured to the ends of the upper step 5 of the loldmg attachment. Links 6 are pivotally connected to the outer ends of the side strips 4 and are similarly connected to 80 the strips 2 at points preferably midway between the outer ends of the strips 2 and the outermost hanger 1. Thus it will be seen that the lowermost step 3 is supported by the Myo links 6 and by the four hangers 85 1 while the upper step 5 is supported by the four hangers. Obviously, therefore, the two steps of the attachment are held positively against sagging relative to each other and to the fixed steps and a durable structure is 90 produced. As. the hangers 1 and the links 6 are parallel it will be apparent that, when desired, the steps 3 and 5 may be folded together and under the lowermost step B lhe mechanism provided for this purpose 95 will now be described.

Extending back of one of the steps B and parallel with the back edge thereof is a shaft ( having a bevel gear 8 which meshes with another gear 9 secured to the lower 100 end or an actuating shaft 10. This last named shaft is preferably vertical and extends upwardly above the car platform and is provided, at its upper end, with a radial arm 11 to which a handle 12 is pivotally con- 105 necled, this handle normally hanging downwardly, as shown in Fig.' 2. An arm 13 is fixedly secured to and extends radially from the shaft and is connected, by means of a link 14, to a rod 15 which connects the 110

1,063,643 catch 20 is elevated the steps would not, of course, fold upwardly as hereinbefore described because the weight 17 would not be sufficient to operate them. Instead, the movable steps would swing backwardly un- 70 til the hangers 1 are brought to vertical or substantially vertical positions, this movement of the steps being intended to warn the occupants of the steps of the fact that they should leave them. 75

As hereinbefore stated the cam 28 contacts with the rim of wheel E when the movable steps are extended. As a result of this arrangement, should the operator, as a result of neglect, or for any other reason, fail 80 to depress the rod 31 or lower the trap door C, the steps will be automatically elevated. This automatic operation results from the rotation of the wheel E and the consequent rotation of cam 28 and, as the cam is eccen- 85 trically mounted, such rotation will result in the actuation of lever 23 and the elevation of the shoulder 19 from engagement with pin 18. Thus the weight 17 null be released and the steps folded as hereinbefore de- 90 scribed. As the weight is connected to arm 21 by the flexible connection 22 it will be seen that during the downward movement of the weight, said arm will be pulled downwardly and the catch 20 thus held elevated. 95 Lever 23 is in turn supported by the elevated catch and the cam 28 supported out of contact with the wheel. The cam 28 is limited in its movement relative to the frame 25 by a laterally extending-pin 36 and by a strip 100 37 which is mounted in the frame 25 and in the path of the pin. By providing the yoke 30 and the slidable sleeve 27 it will be seen that, when the truck D and wheel E shift laterally relative to the car body, as when 105 the car is traveling along a curve, the shaft 26 will slide within the sleeve and thus permit relative movement of the frame 25 and the cam so that the said cam will be maintained constantly in engagement with the 110 wheel rim.

Importance is attached to the fact that in the structure herein described it is unnecessary to employ any springs and that the foldable steps and their operating media- 115 nism can be applied readily to cars already in use.