US1859180A - Trolley for bathing beaches - Google Patents

Description

May 17, 1932- H. A. THIEL TROLLEY FOR BATHING BEACHES Filed NOV. 11, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 17, 1932- H. A-. THIEL 1,859,180

TROLLEY FOR BATHING' BEACHES Filed Nov. 11, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES HENRY A. THIEL, on cHARLnsronsoU'rI-I CAROLINA TROLLEY FOR BATHING- Application filed November 11, 1929. Serial No. 406,454.

This'invention relates to a novel trolley device for use at bathingbeaches to enable life guards, at the beach, to reach bathers 'in distress, ina mere fraction of the time which is ordinarily required under conditions where the life guard must swim to the one in distress or employ a row boat to reach the p.erson;. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a trolley device for the purpose stated including a watch tower which is erected on the shore and from which the life saver may Observe the bathers, together with trolley units which radiate from the top ofthe towerand any one of which may be'employed by the. life guard, depending upon the location of the person in distress in the water.

The invention contemplates, as stated, the erection of a tower upon the shore, at the top ofwhich the life guard is seated until his assistance is needed, and the invention contemplates the erection of piles at diiierent points in the water, in combination with cables radiating from the tower and which extend to respective ones of. the piles, and carriers, each assembled with a respective one of the cables and constituting means from which the life saver may swing and thus travel down the selected cable,'and the invention has a further object to provide in connection with'the carrier, a brake for frictional engagement with the cable, so that the. life saver mayslackenhis speed of travel and completely arrest the passage of the car- "rier atwa point most convenient for him to reach "the person in peril, when he releases his hold upon the carrier-and drops into the water. j g -'5 Another object of the invention is to pro vide, uponeach cable, near the respective pile to which it is connected, 2. cushioning means which will automatically arrest and cushion the carrier in the event the life saver should fail to apply the brake of the carrier before reaching the respective pile and thus avoid the injury which he might otherwise incur.

Another object of the invention is to pro- Figure 4 is a view partlyin elevation and .at one side of the tower.

andwound, and a spring adapted to be tensioned asthe cableis unwound so that when the life saver drops from the carrier into the water, the carrier will be automatically returned to the tower, thus enabling other life savers to follow suit if more than one person is in peril, or if the first life save appears to need assistance. r

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings: and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like-or corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which-:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the trolley embodying the.- invention.

Figure2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section illustrating that end of the trolley which is associated with the tower.

Figure 3 is'a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line '33 of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. I

partly in, section illustrating the end of the cable which is attachedto the respective: pile and the buffer or cushioning means which is associated with the cable,

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates .in general a tower which is erected at quite an elevation, upon the shore and which supports at its top a platform 2 upon which one 901' more life savers may be stationed, the;

platform being reached by a ladder 3 mounted The numeral 4 indicates a number of piles which are erected in the river or sea bed at different points along the beach and therefore indifferent directions and at different distances from 1 the tower 1. V

The numeral 5 indicates a cable which isconnected at its upper end as at 6 to the platform'2 and. is led downwardly and an-' I chored as at 7 to the upper end of a respective one of the piles 4.

The carrier, above referred to, is indicated in general by the numeral 8 and the said carrier comprises a plate 9 which is of Oblong rectangular form and provided at its ends with a downwardly extending handle 10 which may be readily grasped by the life saver so that he may hang from the carrier. The carrier is provided at its longitudinal edges with upstanding bracket portions 11 joined at their upper ends by a connecting portion 12 and a pulley '13 is mounted upon aspindle 14, in turn, mounted at itsends; I H we V 31, this spring being colled or arranged 1n such a mannerthat when a cable 35, which is in the said portions 11.

This pulley rests upon the respective cable 5 as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings and in order that the downward travel of the carrier along the cable may be slackened and totally arrested, at the will of the life saver, a brake,indicated in general by the numeral 15 is mounted upon the carrier. This brake comprises a brake arm 16 provided at its upper end with a brakeshoe 17 designed to frictionally engage the under "side of the cable 5 and positioned directly beneath the pulley 13, the brake arm being pivotally mounted between its ends as at 18 between the upstanding side portions 11. A stop pin'19 is mounted between the side portions 11 and is engageable by the upper side of the arm 16 below its pivot 18, and in this postion of the arm, the brake shoe 17 is out of engagement with the cable, being held in this position by a compression spring 20 which is'arranged at one end against the under side of the arm '16 below the pivot 18 and at its other end against one end wall 21 of a slot 22 formed in the plate 9. The numeral 23 indicates a hand lever which has a 'pin and slot connection, indicated the numeral 24 with the lower end ofthe brake arm 16, and the handle end' of this lever,

indicated by the numeral 25, is located close to one of the hand grips; 10 so that the life saver may conveniently manipulate the lever 2 3 to apply the brake.

'- set screw 27, to the cable 5 at a point suitiably spaced from the pile 4. A compression spring 28 is fitted upon the cable and v bears at one end against the collar, and a coland is engageable by the brake shoe 17 and the pulley 13 of the carrier in the event the carrier travels downthe cable a suflicient distance to reach the collar 29. It will be evident that this provides for a sudden arresting of the travel of the carrier andthat this is ac complished with acushioningettect so as not to subject the life saver to any undue strain upon his arms.

As previously stated means is provided for returning the carrier automatically to the tower, and this means comprises a drum 30 which is rotatably mounted upon a shaft 31 fixed at its ends in brackets 32 upon the platform 20f the tower,thejdrum being hollow connected to the drum and which, is wound thereon, is unwound from the drum, the spring will be tensioned; or wound.

The other end of thecable is connected to an eye 36 mounted upon the connecting portion 12 of the carrier, and, it will be under-3' stood that when the life saver has grasped the carrier and descends along the cable, and drops from the carrier, the spring 33, in res winding will wind up the cable 35 and thus cause the carrier to travel upwardly along the cable 5 vuntil it assumes its normal position, as shown in Figure 2. r

v What I claim is z y 1. In a beach trolley for the use of life savers in quickly reaching a person in peril 1n the water, a shore tower, a pile erected in the water bed, a cable extending fromrthe tower to the pile, a carrier supported for travel upon the cable, hand grips upon the carrier to be grasped by the life saver,,and a manually operable brake upon the carrier for coaction with the said cable, 1 j V 2. In a beach trolleyrfor the use otlife savers in quickly reaching a person inpperil in the water, a shore tower, a erected in the water bed, a cable extending vfrom the tower to the pile, a carrier-supported for travel upon the cable, hand gripsup'onwthe carrier to be grasped by the life saver, and

m eans for automatically returning the car rier along the cable to its original position,

when the carrier is released. 7

3. In a beach trolley for the use of life savers in quickly reaching a person gin-peril in the water, a shore tower, a-pileerected in the water bed, a cable extending from the tower to the pile, a carrier supportedc'for travel upon the cable, hand grips upon the carrier to be graspedby the life saver, and

means for automatically returning the carrier along thecable to its original position, when the carrier is released, the said means comprising a rotary drum upon the tower, a cable connected with the carrier and wound about the drum, and a coiled spring within the drumfto be tensionedupon paying out'of the cable from the drum, said drum constituting means for rewinding the cable when the carrier is released.

4. In a beach trolley, for the use of life savers in quickly reaching a person in peril in the water, a shore tower, a pile erected in the water bed, a cable extending from the tower to the pile, a carrier supported for travel uopn the cable, hand grips upon the carrier to be grasped by the life saver, and means for arresting the downward travel of the carrier on the cable and cushioning the same, said means comprising a fixed abutment upon the cable in spaced relation to the pile, a movable abutment slidably mounted upon the cable, and a compression spring upon the cable between the abutments. 5. In a safety apparatus for bathers, the combination of a life guards station located on the shore beyond the normal high water level, a plurality of posts in the deep water,

a plurality of radiating cable tracks extending from said life guards station to said posts, and means for conveying the life guard to the extremities of said cable tracks, said 5 cable tracks being so arranged that the conveying means will run by gravity to the eX- tremities of the cable tracks.

6. In a safety apparatus for bathers, the combination of a life guards station located on the shore beyond the normal high water level, a plurality of posts in the deep water, a plurality of radiating cable tracks extending from said life guards station to said posts, means for conveying the life guard to the extremities of said cable tracks, said cable tracks being so arranged that the conveying means will run by gravity to the extremities of the cable tracks, means whereby said conveying members may be stopped at any desired point on said cable tracks and means for bringing said conveying means back to said life guards station. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HENRY A. THIEL.

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