Mail-Pouch Catcher Page: 2 of 3
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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
- JOHN W. PEPPLE, OF HILLSBORO, TEXAS.
MAIL-POUCH CATCHER.No. 874,234.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, JOHN W. PEPPLE, a
citizen of the United States, residing at Hills-
boro, in the county of Hill and State of Texas,
5 have invented new and useful Improvements
in Mail-Pouch Catchers, of which the follow-
ing is a specification.
This invention relates to mail pouch
catchers, and one of the objects thereof is to
10 provide a catcher which shall be simple in
construction, strong, durable, efficient in its
use, comparatively inexpensive and readily
set up.
Another object of the invention is to pro-
15 vide the catcher of such length as to permit
of the crane being positioned four or five
feet, or a greater distance, from the side of
the track so there will be no liability of any of
the train crew being injured by the crane or
20 the pouch as would be the case if the crane
and pouch were arranged in close proximity
to the sideof the track; and, further to pro-
vide the catcher with means which will per-
mit, after the pouch has been caught, to be
25 shifted towards the car so that it can be con-
veniently grasped by the postal clerk and
drawn within the car.
With the foregoing and other objects in
view, the invention consists of the novel con-
30 struction, combination and arrangement of
parts hereinafter more specifically described
and illustrated in the accompanying draw-
ings, wherein is shown the preferred ernbodi-
ment of the invention; but it is to be under-
35 stood that changes, variations or modifica-
tions can be resorted to which come within
the scope of the claims hereunto appended.
In describing the invention in detail refer-
ence is had to the accompanying drawings,
40 wherein like reference characters denote cor-
responding parts throughout the several
views, and in which-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the
catcher showing the same attached to the
45 door frame of a car, the latter being broken
away. Fig. 2 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. .
4. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the catcher
arm. Fig. 4 is a front, and Fig. 5 a rear view
of a pouch-shifting arm.
50 The catcher embodies a supporting plate
16 which is secured to the door frame in the
manner as shown by hold-fast devices ex-
tending through the opening 17. The plate
16 is formed with outwardly extending aper-
55 tured lugs 18, 19 which are suitably spaced
apart. The reference character 20 denotes a,Patented Dec. 17, 1907.
catcher arm which is hinged to the lugs 18,
19 and provision for the hinging of the arms
20 is had by providing such arm with a bi-
furcated end to form the extensions 20a and 60
20b. The extension 20a is provided with a
pin, not shown, which is mounted in the
apertured lug 18, the extension 20a being
seated upon the lug 18. The extension 20b
is mounted upon the lug 19 and through such 65
extension and such lug a pintle 20c extends.
The catcher arm 20 is hinged to the plate 16
in such a manner that the necessary clear-
ance will be had when swinging the arm 20
towards and away from the car. 70
Slidably connected to one face of the
hinged arm 20 is a pouch shifting member 21
which is of less width and of less length than
the arm 20 and is attached to the arm 20
through the medium of a tongue and groove 75
connection. As shown the tongue is indi-
cated by the reference character 21a and
forms a part of the arm 20. The groove is
designated by the reference character 22 and
is formed in the inner face of the member 21. 80
The tongue and groove connection between
the arm 20 and member 21 is in the form of a
dove-tail. The position of the lugs 18 and
19 with respect to each other is such as to
form a space through which the member 21 85
can pass when shifting the pouch from the
outer end of the arm 20. The outward
movement of the shiftable member 21 is ar-
rested by a stop 22a provided on the arm 20
near the outer end thereof. 90
To enable the member 21 to engage the
pouch so as to carry the pouch inwardly
when the member 21 is shifted towards the
car, said member 21 is formed of a hook-
shaped end 24 and to prevent the pouch 95
from catching or hanging on the outer end of
the arm 20 when the pouch is struck by the
catcher and the top half of the pouch falls
over the catcher, the outer end of the arm 20
is flattened as at 25. A handle 26 is pro- 100
vided for the catcher. Said handle is se-
cured to the arm 20. The handle 26 is
adapted to be grasped by the postal clerk
during the act of catching the pouch to offer
the necessary resistance and said action will 105
prevent the catcher with the pouch rebound-
ing so as to strike the side of the car and in-
jure the mail in the pouch.
It will be assumed that the pouch is sus-
pended by the crane in a manner as shown in iii
Fig. 1. The catcher coming in contact with
the pouch will dislodge it, the catcher strik-Specification of Letters Patent.
Application filed August 12, 1907. Serial No. 388,188.
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Pepple, John W. Mail-Pouch Catcher, patent, December 17, 1907; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth515004/m1/2/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.