Beam locking mechanism

Sept 10, 1935

2,014,277

A. BOUSFIELD

BEAM LOCKING MECHANISM

Original Filed March 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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INVENTOR

Alfred Bousfield by

ATTORNEY

Sept 10, 1935.

2,014,277

A. BOUSFIELD

BEAM LOCKING MECHANISM

Original Filed March 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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INVENTOR

Alfred Bousfieud by

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ATTORNEY

Patented Sept. 10, 1935

2,014,277

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,014,277

BEAM LOCKING MECHANISM

Alfred Bousfield, St. Jolmsbury, Vt., assignor to E. and T. Fairbanks and Company, St. Jonnsbury, Vt., a corporation of Vermont

Original application March 19, 1931, Serial No. 523,804. Divided and this application August 25, 1934, Serial No. 741,431 (Cl. 265—49) readily adjusted so that the free end of the beam may be securely held between the buffer 13 and the upper beam stop buffer 4, when the beam locking rod 9 is raised to its operative position. The lower end of the rod 9 is provided with opposed o channeled portions 15, and a tongue 15α on which is pivotally mounted actuating mechanism including the upper members or arms 16 of a toggle joint il, its lower member or arm 18 being pivoted in the bracket 19. At the jointure of the 10 arms (6 and 18 of the toggle joint (7 a connecting member 20 is pivotally connected, haying one end of a connecting rod 21 secured therein, while the other end is fastened in a connecting member 22 pivotally mounted on an arm 23 fixedly attached 1&amp; to a shaft 24, mounted in the boss 25 on the front plate 26 of the shelf 2.

Attached to the shaft 24 is an operating crank 27, which is located outside the shelf 2, and by turning the crank downwardly movement is imparted by the connecting rod 21 and intervening parts 20 and 22 to the toggle joint arms 16 and 18 of the toggle joint 17, causing the arms to swing outwardly and thereby raise the movable beam locking rod 9, when it is desired to lock the beam, Zo In order to unlock the beam I for a weighing operation the crank 27 is turned upwardly, which draws the connecting rod 21 forward and causes the pivoted toggle joint arms 16 and (8 to swing inwardly, thereby retracting the beam locking rod »0 9 and freeing the beam.

In order to lock the tubular bushing I i securely in position in the tubular standard 10 a lock nut 28 is attached to the threaded lower end of the bushing and is turned to engage an annular o flange 29 depending from the tubular member 10.

Further, a longitudinally disposed set screw 30, adjustably mounted in a lug 31 extending laterally from the bracket (9, is adapted to be adjusted so that its end 32 will engage the lower 40 toggle joint arm 18 and thereby control and limit the upward movement of the beam locking rod 9, as well as to prevent the toggle joint arms 16 and 18 from moving inwardly to a point where they would be rendered inoperative.

The beam stops 4 and 5 are transversely disposed with their buffers 6 and 7 above and below the beam respectively and are secured between lock nuts 33 carried by spaced posts 34 adjustably mounted in spaced standards 35 attached to the shelf 2. By employing this adjustable means the position of the beam stops with relation to the beam and the beam locking rod 9 may be properly adjusted, so that the movement of the beam during the weighing operation may be properly con- °

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in beam locking mechanisms and particularly to relatively heavy beams used on plate-fulcrum railroad track scales, as shown in my co-pending 5 application, Ser. No. 523,804, Weighing scale beam, filed March 19, 1931, of which this application is a division.

The principal object of the invention is to provide means for locking and securely holding the 10 beam in its inoperative position.

Another object is to mount the beam locking rod on pivotally connected co-acting actuating members adapted to function to raise and lower the beam locking rod.

Another object is to provide manually operated mechanism for operating the locking means, which is readily controlled by the operator from the front of the scale shelf.

With these and other objects in view the in20 vention consists in the novel features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts as hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,—

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a weighing scale beam, partly in section, embodying a preferred form of my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-section on the line 2—2 of Fig. 1. ...

In the drawings I designates the weigh beam of a railroad track scale, which is mounted on a plate-fulcrum attached to a standard, as shown in the above-referred to co-pending application, the standard being secured to the shelf 2, which is mounted on spaced pillars 3. Disposed on suitable supporting posts on the shelf 2 at the free end of the beam are spaced upper and lower adjustable beam stops 4 and 5, between which the beam moves, and they are provided with leather 40 buffers 6 and 7 respectively for engaging the beam. , _

Mounted on the shelf 2 is a beam lock 8 comprising a movable beam locking plunger rod 9, which is mounted in a tubular standard 19 having 45 a bushing I! and having adjustably mounted on its upper threaded end a head portion 12. Within the head portion i 2 is formed a central frustoconical opening, in which is inserted a frustoconical shaped leather buffer S3, held in position 50 by an annular plate !3a fastened by screws to the head portion (2, and adapted to engage the lower edge of the beam. Below the head portion I2^is located a check or lock nut 14 for locking the head portion 12 in position. Thus the position 55 of the head portion 12 and the buffer 13 may be

2,014,277 trolled and the co-operating parts relieved of any undue strain in being placed in their locked position.

In operating the beam lock the crank 27 is 0 turned downwardly by the operator to the right the arm 23 pushing forward the connecting rod ? . which swings the arms IS and 18 of the toggle J°mt ¹7 so as to push upwardly the beam locking m w°+H%^CT^rying?^{e buffer 13 int0} engagement 10 with the lower edge of the beam, which is raised । thereby to engage the upper buffer 4, and thus securely lock tne beam in a fixed position. When unlocking the beam preparatory to weighing th» crank 27 is turned upwardly to the left the connecting rod 2i likewise moving to the left and carrying forward the toggle joint arms 15 and 18, thereby lowering the beam locking rod 9 2.°^ ^e”^ga.^gement with the beam and freeing the beam. It is evident, therefore, efficient and readJL°?^{CTable mechanism} is provided for locking ^an,^d/^r,^{eemg a relativ}ely heavy beam.

While the preferred embodiment of the inventn fuifiiw? ^shpwn_A^and described is well adapted ^{Of tbe in}vention, it is to be tavention fn ^{13 nOt intsnded} to confine the d ί ^tb^ ^{precise f01}'m of construction herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of modiflcaonhTinvent^Uion°^rmS’