Railway Cattle - Guard Page: 2 of 3
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UNITED
STATES
PATENT OFFICE.
ZEPII WIGGS, OF DENTON, TEXAS.
RAILWAY CATTLE-GUARD.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,050, dated November 23,1897.
Application filed June 28, 1897 Serial No, 642,627, (No model)To all whom, it may co;nce1 :
Be it known that I, ZEPH WIGGS, a citizen
of the United States, residing at Denton, in
the county of Denton and State of Texas, have
5 invented a new and useful Railway Cattle-
Guard, of which the following is a specifica-
tion.
The invention relates to improvements in
railway cattle-guards.
10 The object of the present invention is to
improve the construction of cattle-guards and
to provide a simple, inexpensive, and effi-
cient one which will effectually prevent stock
from passing from one field or inclosure into
15 another by way of a railroad-track, roadway,
or the like.
The invention consists in the construction
and novel combination and arrangement of
parts, as hereinafter fully described, illus-
2o rated in the accompanying drawings, and
pointed out in the claims hereto appended.
In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective
view of a railway cattle-guard constructed in
accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a
25 longitudinal sectionalviewof the same. Fig.
3 is a reverse plan view of a portion of one
of the sections of the cattle-guard, illustrat-
ing the manner of mounting the springs for
supporting the depressible portions or plat-
30 forms normally in a horizontal position. Fig.
4 is a transverse sectional view of the stock-
guard.
Like numerals of reference designate corre-
sponding parts in all the figures of the draw-
35 ings.
1 and 2 designate central and side sections
of a railway cattle-guard designed to be ar-
ranged between the rails 3 and at the outer
sides thereof to prevent stock from crossing
40 from one field or inclosure and entering an-
other.
The cattle-guard, although especially de-
signed for use in connection with railway-
tracks, may also be employed at other points,
45 if desired. Each section consists of a rigid
portion 4 and a hinged platform or portion
5, forming an extension of the rigid portion
and adapted to be depressed by stock. The
rigid portion 4, which is mounted upon the
So adjacent cross - ties, is provided with pro-
jections or spurs 6, preferably formed by
striking triangular portions or tongues upfrom a plate of sheet metal or similar mate-
rial; but obstructions of any other desired
character may be employed. The fixed por- 55
tion may also be constructed of separate
pieces of material, if desired, and it projects
from one cross-tie over the space between
the same and the adjacent cross-tie, the in-
ner edge of the depressible platform being 6o
connected with the same by hinges 7.
The depressible platform 5, which is con-
structed with a smooth upper face, is designed
to receive the stock, which will step upon the
same in preference to treading upon the ob- 65
structions of the fixed portion 4, and when
trodden upon the platform 5 will drop between
the cross-ties and thereby frighten the stock
and prevent them from crossing over the
cattle-guard. As soon as the pressure is re- 70
moved from the platform 5 the latter will be
returned to a horizontal position by springs
8, preferably mounted upon the pintles of
the hinges 7 and engaging the lower face of
the platform, as clearly shown in Fig 3 of the 75
accompanying drawings, but the springs may
be mounted in any other suitable manner.
The projecting portion or edge of the fixed
part of the cattle-guard is supported by longi-
tudinal bars 9, which extend over the depres- 8o
sible platform at the side edges thereof from
the said fixed part 4 to the adjacent cross-tie,
and they also serve to prevent the cross-ties
from slipping laterally and binding against
the free edges of the platforms and interfer- 85
ing with the downward movement thereof.
The depressible platforms abut against the
lower faces of the longitudinal bracing-bars
and have their upward movement limited by
the same. 90
This invention has the following advan-
tages:
The cattle-guard is exceedingly simple and
inexpensive in construction,and it effectually
prevents stock from crossing it. 95
The hinged depressible platforms, which
may be arranged at either or both ends of the
fixed portions, are adapted to be readily ap-
plied to many of the forms of stock-guards
in use on railroads,and such combination will Tco
avoid discarding many of the surface stock-
guards, which are now being removed by rail-
roads from their tracks.
What I claim is--
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Reference the current page of this Patent.
Wiggs, Zeph. Railway Cattle - Guard, patent, November 23, 1897; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth513922/m1/2/: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.