A STATION INDICATOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 20, 24 January 1903, Page 3

A STATION INDICATOR.

As American inventiin for use in rail _ road and tramway cars, and designed to exhibit to passengers the name of 'he approaching station, has tnen adopted in some parts of the Uni'ed States. It should ba brought under the notice of our pr-grfssive Minister of Railways Tha apparatus is contained in a ne.it cising which may be secured to the side of thi car. Wi'hiu the casing and mounted on a roller at the bottom is a web of paper on which the station or street names are printed. The *eb passes up over two idlats at the centra of the indicator, and thence to a take-up relUr a 1; the top. The portion of the web between the two idlers is displayed through a window in the front of the casing. The take-up roller is loosely mounted on a shaft, to which is fastened a ratchet whfel adapted to engage a spring-pressed pawl fulcrumed on the end of iha takeup roller, so that th°. Utter moves with the shif-. when the paper is being wound up, but is independent when the motor-spring is being wound up, or when (he pi par is b-iog wound bickaud resit. A g?ar wheel is loosely naouuced on one end of the shaft, and is connected to it by means of a pawl and ratchet whereby the ge r is caused to turn in the d'rction in which the paper is wound, b it is station iry when the shaft is turned in the opposite direction to wind up the nuto* spring. Thi spring is secured to and coiled about the shafr, its outer end being attached to th 9 casing. the periphery of tho geir nheel n a slot adapted to receive a piu which ke pa the whe 1 frona turning. By pressw g the button nair the top of th* indicator, this locking p'n can be withdrawn, thu3 permitting lha whfel to rotate until it has ma in one complete revolution, wh>n the pin, under tension of a spring, soars again into iha slit and locks the mechan sin. A s litable escapement u eoonec'ed wi'h the gear whe I*o govtrn its motion. In operating this indicator the attendant of thi cir needs merely to press the butt >n and the mechanism will automatically wind up, the web stopping wh'-n thi roller has made one complete revolution, which will bring the next station or street name into viaw. The web is long enough to have the return stations ind'ca'ed on the unrolled ! alf. A thumb-nut '8 attached to the shaft cf tha lower roll-r, by the turning of wh : ch th« web can be wound back and reset. Th« motor - sprig may 1-e wound up by a k y or crank applied to thi tquare end of the taks-up roller shaft.