96 



CARRIERS, MECHANICAL. 



and over a stationary rest at D. By pulling 

 upon A the car E is raised almost vertically 

 until it is high enough to clear D, when the 

 angle of general inclination is reversed, and 



FiG.4 



would ring a bell and derail itself at its own 

 particular station. This was effected by set- 

 ting the peg or projection at a different height 

 on each car, and providing an inclined plane to 

 correspond at each station. This is indicated 

 in Fig. 6. A B is the inclined track, C and C' 

 are cars, and the round black dots are the pro- 

 jections on each car. D and D' are small in- 

 clined planes fixed just below the main track. 

 Car C in descending the incline will carry 

 its projection clear of D', but will engage I>, 



LOWERING, HOISTING, AND REVERSING. 



the carrier moves toward B. By this or a simi- 

 lar arrangement, the main line from C to B 

 may be kept high enough to be out of the 

 way, while the carrier alone is lowered to the 

 counter. 



The engraving shows only the mechanical 

 principle. In the different systems used there 

 are many ingenious appliances to render the 

 operation of hoisting and lowering certain and 

 easy. (See Figs. 8 and 9.) 



Fixed rails for the transit of gravity-cars in 

 store-service were patented by Joseph C. 

 White, of New York, in 1879 (patent No. 

 221,488), under the title " An apparatus for 

 facilitating payments and delivery of goods." 

 The principle of the invention is shown in Fig. 

 5, C being the cashier's desk, and S S S the 

 stations of salesmen. The cars were of the 

 usual easily detachable type, so that the sales- 

 man could lift his car off from the rails if he 



FIG. 5. 



S 



FIXED TRACKS. 



saw it coming, but the necessity of making each 

 car announce its arrival at its own particular 

 station was at once apparent, and the inventor 

 provided for it by means of projections upon 

 the cars so placed and adjusted that each car 



F.c.6 



DERAILING DEVICE. 



while car C will be stopped by D'. In this 

 this way a considerable number of cars can be 

 made to derail themselves, each falling into or 

 against a suitable receiver. The inventor sub- 

 sequently broadly claimed '' Traveling carriers 

 propelled along ways leading from store-coun- 

 ters to cashier's desk and back to counter 

 through mechanism distinct from the carriers 

 proper." The drawing in the Patent Office 

 shows an endless belt running on suitable SUP- 



BALLS AND DIVERGENT RAILS. 



ports in a horizontal plane, each car being 

 hung upon the belt, ar.d detachable at pleasure. 

 Under this patent the system of stoppages fore- 

 shadowed in the earlier claim was further 

 elaborated. 



Another phase of the gravity system was the 

 early use of ball-carriers. This was the system 

 adopted by Mr. Lamson before referred to, 

 and alleged to have been the first actually in 

 use. It contemplates in general the transmis- 



