CARRIERS, MECHANICAL. 



95 



magnitude as to justify some account of the 

 various systems. 



Carriers as used in store-service naturally 

 divide themselves into two classes cash-car- 

 riers, which are intended merely to expedite 

 the making of change, and parcel-carriers, 

 which do double duty, carrying the money to 

 the cashier and the goods purchased to an "in- 

 spector," who checks off the items of the pur- 

 chase, and wraps the parcel for delivery. In 

 large establishments, particularly in great cities, 

 the advantage of such service is obvious, as it 

 does away with the necessity of much running 

 to and fro of messengers, which must neces- 

 sarily interfere with the convenience of cus- 

 tomers. The less costly systems are coming 

 into use in small stores, and are found of almost 

 equal advantage. The systems at present 

 in use are, if not as numerous as the patents 

 themselves, at least too many for descrip- 

 tion here; but the general mechanical prin- 

 ciples involved are common to nearly all 

 of them, the difference being in minor details 

 of construction, which, however, are often of 

 vital importance iu enabling a merchant to de- 



C' 



A PRIMITIVE CARRIER. 



cide which system is best adapted to his special 

 requirements. A large retail establishment in 

 New York has lately spent about $15,000 in 

 setting up a store-service system ; and where 

 such an amount of money is involved, great 

 care is naturally exercised to adopt only the 

 best and simplest devices. 



The rudimentary type of carrier is the school- 

 boy contrivance already referred to, namely, a 

 box or a basket sliding back and forth upon a 

 horizontal cord. The lirst improvement is the 

 substitution of a smooth wire for the cord, 

 with the basket or car running upon wheels, 

 and an arrangement for keeping the wire per- 

 manently tight. Such a system is indicated in 

 Fig. 1. A B is the wire passing over a fixed 

 pulley at A, and kept taut by the weight W. 

 C is the car hanging on the wire ready for use, 

 and C' an end view of the same showing the 

 shape of the wheel attachment. Hand-power 

 is used, a smart push or pull sufficing to send a 

 properly-constructed car fifty or sixty feet. 

 Such contrivances are used to advantage in 



stores of moderate size where there is not apt 

 to be an overwhelming rush of customers. The 

 hand propulsion is, however, awkward and 

 uncertain, and the next step is the introduction 

 of the gravity-car, which appears in different 

 forms and at frequent intervals throughout the 

 Patent- Office reports. Fig. 2 shows it in one 



A REVERSIBLE GRADE. 



of its simplest forms. A B is the wire, C the 

 cashier's desk, and S the salesman's station. 

 At B the main wire is attached to an endless 

 band running over two pulleys, and provided 

 with a tension- spring at C. Obviously, by re- 

 volving the band B D upon the pulleys the 

 point B can be raised or depressed as much as 

 is necessary to change the angle of inclination 

 of the wire and cause the car to run in either 

 direction. In practice it is found that a rise of 

 T 5 ^ of an inch to each foot is enough to carry a 

 properly-constructed car. Much ingenuity has 

 been expended in devising methods of changing 

 the level of wires. Fig. 3 shows one of the 

 simplest and most effective (patent No. 271,- 

 895). The triangles (which may be simply 

 arms) are pivoted at C C, and wires A B are 

 stretched from one to the other. By reversing 



Fi&. 3 



REVERSIBLE DOUBLE WIRE. 



the position of the triangles or arms, the in- 

 clination of the wires is changed as indicated 

 by the dotted lines. 



In Fig. 4 (patent No. 304,585) the necessity 

 of raising and lowering the car is recognized. 

 The wire A B passes over a fixed pulley at C, 



