claim:- 1. A mtil b-,tg supportin(x ,16i,ice corj-ipris-@ upper ,tnd lower @trms giligeclly siii-.)poi@tecl f-or moveme7-it i,,,i a horizontil plai,,-, sai-ci arins beiiig iroi,.gble toavarct Or 'Lri@-a -,ach loo otli-Ir, resi.l@jeiit me,,tns urc,,infy the arms ',oeach other, shiftable me.-,ns i'Or liolc'[in said ,i,p--is splle,,td ap,,trt, 111a;l bao9 " t, eng,,).-iiio- devices pivot@,,Ily n-io-Linted Lipoil t-, zn the extreiiities, of the arms, and coil- 105 iiected the're'uo for ti,ipping s,,iid ii3eans as the are o'LT- riiinieaiis. 2. A mail bag slipport comprisiiag -,tn cl lower hingodly siii:)portecl trms L-qov- 110 able vertic,,tlly toivarcl or from each othei,, me,,tns tirging' these ,irms, IL-,oNyird e,,tcli othpr, tipi:)er - tnd lo,,-or iiitil bag members pivotecl upon the irw-s for,l--qoxrement in t 1-iorizontal plaiia, -rnbaiis for holet- i i. .5 in- stid arms sp,,Iced tpart 'Clie tctio-n of tl-ie sprino-s compi@-sjno,, lei7ers, ("qcll IDivoted upon one of sa,@ cl ar,,@iis, one of - 'ulie levers 1-iaving t sholilder with ivhich the ips MO other lever engaues, el uiitecl upoii the 1 20 extremities oi' the i-ino@-eiicjaoino, members and remov- e Lbl therefroin -"Tith the remov-,tl of the rino,, connections betweeii stticl clids acing devices ivhereby upon thE,, tnd the s5@ reiiioval of the iiitil bag the, spacino- de- 125 vices will be disconnected froin epel-I other to perinit the arms to move towarcl eacli other. 3. A mail bag.sul.)porting device comprising upper ana lower hingedly silpported 130

-1,9, iiie, ,,irn iii.s holdi-iig tl-ies(@ ,iTms to-vvarci e,,tch other, -Lipper ,tjid lower pairs of rinu-enuagii-ig el-,ti-iips, pistotally inountle'd -LILi,)on the ex'remity of tn @trm for moirement in ,t horizoi)-tal plane, means T-or holding s,,Lid ,-rids in spteed relition coiyiprisiiio, trippiiio ' , le@,.,ers pivoted to the ,trms, one of stid lever.,.; li,tving ,t sho-Lilcler ,tnd the other having a loop eiigaeiiag the shoulcler, elil)s en-aging 'd el, io over st tiiaps Piicl liolclino- iheiii closed, of the exti--emities of the ,trms, diatronally nr@ections froin ,tnd co s-,tid clil)s to the sp,-Le- (lisposed br,,tces -eiigao@ing stid out-wtrdly g, levers iil-iereby upon the diseiigta,,,ment extending member, ti@cl I'Iail bag encytoing O_r the clips, t@,-e sp--iei,-Llg le-,,ei-s ,vill I-). sliif*@- resilieiat clanips mountecl upon s,,tid b@aces ecl to disengage the spacinty levers to permit aiid liavinq@ otitwardly ttirned exti-emities. 70 1 5 the -,tyiris to -move to-w,,trcl e,,tch othei. T. IV mtil bag s-Lipporting device, coinpris4-. A niail bag siipporting deiice co-.mpi-is- ing upper tiid loiver trins hiiigedly suliporti-ng tipper i-@qcl loiver ,Irms Iiiiigedl3, supporl.- ed for moA7emei-it in a horizont,,tl plane, ,tnd eci for iiiovemeni" iii ,t horizontal plane, tl-ie, for movement to-ward or from e,,tch'other, n-ii0tclle portioias of sctid trms b@-iiig bo-wecl shifttble mea-ns for holdin- said trmr, 75 20 eael-i other, a I)olt passing tliroug isin ,h spretd ,i,,I)art ,tnd compr g levers each the mi,-Iclle portions o-.r' the arms springs pivoted upon one of said ar:ms, one of the oii saild bolt Lirc>-ing (@,he aril'is to-N,@, ,trd eich levers liaving a shoulder with which the oth-,r blit perinitting the ,irn-is to move other IGver eilg,-Les when the levers tre in froiii each othei-, tipper ,Lncl lower pairs lille -witli ea6h,- ,Otl-ier@ said levers beino, 80 25 ;,,P',!iilg elll-@lips I)ivotally moiintecl -Lipon the ,tdapted to be striieli: by the n-iail bag ettehe-7r c,x'@remitieg of the arnis -,or nioven-iont in ,t to disciio,ao-e the levers ,tiid permit the @trms horizontal spacincy levers inoiinte(I to niove to-"Ttrd e,,tch other -Lipper tnd lo)ver -Lipoii th extrernities o'L the arms ,tnct ex- mail bao, rino, eiig@-iging meiiibers pivoted e tendiiig res),eotively above and belo-w the iii,:)on 4. j@, ,he extremities of the ctrms for move- 85 3o arr,-is, one of the spacinff levers beiiipro- n-ient in ,t.horizontal plane, clips detach,,tbly vicleo, ,,,n eye ancftt-ie othar ;ith ,i e-@ig,,i@ging the extreinities of the ring engigshoulcl,-i, aclapted to be engaged with stid in@- m. embei-s and connected to s,,tid levers, eyc,, )ihen the .trms are in a vertic,,tl positioil, )vkepeby -vvheii s,,tid trippino, i3@iembers are, - strtici@: by the M@, clips aclaptecl to be, clisposed over the ex Lil ba(r catel-@er the@ ",ill re- 90 trer-,iities of the spring cl,,tmps biit romovaille the, c,lips f,.oin @he extremities of the by the re-i--novLl of ,t mail bag frol'il the ri.-io- e gtginmembei-s ,tiicl perriit the ret-I n s II-iovlll cl,,iiiips, tiicl coniiectioiis betweeii s,,iicl clip of tbo m,,til b,,tg. iipper ,i,i-id said levers to c.Luse the shiltiiio, of tne 8. il,@ ii-iti-I bag suppoi-@t compzising levers olit of ftli-niii(y relttion to thereby per- a-n.0, lo-weihing--clly s-Lipported ,trins movtble 95 40 i-nit the arms to move toiv,,trd each otlier. i7erticall)7 tow@trd or from eac@ other, upper 5. A n-ttil bag stipi)ort comprising ,t p,,t-ir aii(I lowei- m,@til bag ring eng,,Iging meinof Iiiiio-ed qyms hqvin(y means Oil tlie, ex- bei@s pivotally motinted upon the ari-,is for e I" -@r eng, ino, tr iiiit'es oT the arms i-' tg the - -ti]3- ino-@,ei-iient i'n ,t horizoiit,,i,l plaiie, clips per aiid loiaer eiids of a mal',l btg, ,tiid i-neatis moiinte@d -Lipon the extreinities of the riiiu en- 100 -@'-'or 'toreiiig s,@iid ,trms otit arcl comprisi @7roiii 45 'I't (FltO,lllol @members qncl iqov,,tbl[e theretl U-sli,,,,pecl Meinluer li,,tvinp; legs 1)ivoted to the a-n@l tripping meiiibers niounted upon the -ic7,i@lly dispos(,,cl iiiem,ti:iiis opaatii,ely coiinected to the clips, s,,tid aritis, t v-r@, ber htv@iig eyes thro-,il-i NAhich the legs f trippin- m.@@nibers i-iormi,lly holding sa,id I tn _ 0 n the LI-sh,,tp-d member p,,tss, tiicl ,t - spring @iriiis apai-t biit bein, -,tdftptecl to be str-uck 105 .9 be,,t-cng ig ' -@iiist sq,'d vertic,,,i,l iliemb@-r and by q ctteher aiicl shiftecl from eiigagement the e@ ret-n t \i@ I )T of the U-sh,,tpecl iiiember ai-icl Niith e,,tch other to thereby detacli the clips iirgii-i(,- the U-sliaped iiieniber iii @i clii,e,-tion aiid pei@iiiit the arms to iiioic tow@,urd each cari@3, the ,irms inwtrd. other. 6. The coi--ibj,n,-@tion Y@,ith @i, car ancl m@til Ill testimol-iy Avhereof I here-Liiito affix iiiy 110 55 bt- slipporting arms IiingecII3, motintecl sign,,ttLire. Ilpoi) ,-.he, car and halting ineaiis tt their exRAY PITTMAN. tr emities for ono,,-tgiii(r the tipper and lower Fings of t inail t,,tly to support the mail bag in ,t projected positioia, of meads for removiiig the bao, froi,n s,,tid ,trms compris- 60 iii, ,tn iipriglit h,,tving @in o-LitNvtrdly proje@ting arm clisposed at an -,tctite .-,Lngle to the path of movement of the car tiid extending inw,,trd tow,,trd the patli of movement of the car so as 'to iiitersect the path of movement 65

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, BAY PITTMAN, OF BODE, IOWA. XAII@:BAG I)ELIVERER AND RECEIVEP@ 1,361,1'79. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec,. 7, :tg2o. Application filed November 24, 1919. Serial No. 340,275. l'o all whom ib, ma,@j coiieern: Be it kno-wn that I, RAY PITTMAN, a citizen of the United St,,ttes, residing at Bocle, in the county of Humboldt and State of loiva, halte invented certain ne-w and usefiil ments in M'cLil-B@,Lg Deliverers ,ind, -S of which tl-ie foliowiiig is a specir P P@eepeiovvei fication, reference being had to the ,iccompanyino- dra-wings. tn 10 This _invention relates to devices for delivering ,t in,,Lil b,,tg fr6m 9, rapidly movin(y tr,tin, ancl to meaiis for recei@ving or catchin(y the mail b,,tg, ,tncl the oeneral object of tl-ie invention is to provide ,t mechanism of this 15 el-iaracter so co-iistructed that tl-ie mail baa may be slipported on a movin(r train in such position tlaat tl-ie m,,til bi,g r;@@y be readily taken off the, mftil bag support as it p,,tsses ,t station -vvithout regard to the rapidity tit 20 -which the train is movino, Ai-id a 'urther object is to provide ,t conL strliction of this character which will hold the bag firmly in position, but ivhich will. permit the bag to be reraoved with little 25 possible shock or jar. A further object is to provide a clevice of this char,,teter including two arms, betwee@n which the ruail bag is disposed, and pro-vide clamps for en acing the rings on the 9 - 3o ends of the mail bag, and provide me,,tns for urgiiig the arms ap,,trt so as to stretch the mail b,,tg, said means, however, permittinc, the, arms to move toward each other as the mail b,,tg is beina pulled off the clamp. 35 AD-d another object in;this connection is, to provide cl,,tmps which -will swing in the direction of movei:yient of the train to permit the ready removil of the bag. A further object is to provide MeanS 40 which will hold @@e bag off the around after the bag is ca-Liaht, thus preven@ing the bag. from being dr4ped upon the ground or into ditelies at the side of the ro@d and the coiitents of the mail b,,tg damaged. 45 Otl-ier objects will ,tppear in the course of the follo-vving description. Aly invention is illustrated in the accompanyi-ng drawings, wherein.- Fig-Lire I is a side el6vation of a mail bag 50 exdha4ging apparatus cbnstru6ted in aecordance with my inventlo4; vio, 2 is a. top pla@ @iew of the construetion S%Own in Fi'g. 1; Fi-, 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of t-he.;@@rtion of o@ ca'r door cas'm-a' sh&wiiily the, means for extending or projecting the mail ba holder; 19- 4 s 1,L fr',LgMentary pers-Dective view of the joint between the levers 20 and 22 Fi-. 5 is a, erspe VI el' 16@. p etive 'ew of one 6f the 60 ef erriiig to these drawinos. n , it will be seen that my device comprises an upper and t lower arm 10 whiel, are hinged to the wall of the, car by me,.tns of hinges 11 for move- 65 ment in a horizont,,tl plane. These arms are slightly resilient and are downivardly bowed at their middles and upwardly bowed adjacent their extremities, tnd then extend horizontally ,tt the oxtremities Extending 70 througli the inw,,trdly boived portions of the, arms is t bolt 12 having nuts 13 at their extremities, ancl between the nuts and the arrias are disposed the, springs 14, which act to Lirge the arms to\vard each other. The, 75 extremities of the arms are bifurcated tnd disposecl in the bifurcation of oach arm are, the inner ends or shanks of a ,tir of spring p cl,,tmps, designatect 15. These clamps are 6utw,,trdly bowed at the iniddle of the clamp 80 i,nd then nonnally f-lare outNv,,trd. Normally holding these cl,,tmps closed are clips 16 appi-oxinllately U-shaped in form, and which ,ire slipped over the ends of th-e clamps, a s illustrated clearly in Fig. 1. These cj'-amps 85 ,tre pivotally connected to the extremities of the arms by me,,tns 6f bolts 17 whiel-i permit the clamps to rotate. The extremities of the ,,,rms may be are'Llate in form, as ilIListrated in Fio,. 2 and provicled with -t pltirality of 90 p(,.rf,orations 18 for the passage of a limiting bolt 19 which -will h6ld the corresponding p,,tirs of clamps from ,tll except a limitecl SWjngj'ng MolTeMe@nt. The purpose of tl-iis' constrii@iion will be later described. 95 Pivoted to the tipper arm 10 is a trip lever 20 whose lolwer end is formed with ,t loop. or eye 21, and pivoted to the lower ,trm 10 adj,,tceiit its extremity is a trip lever 22. This trip lever 22 is f6rmed acljacont its end 100 -with a deflected portion 23 forming a shouldet Nvhich cingages with the, loop or eye 21. When. these trit) lei,-ers are so dispo ed, t'he arms 10 are held spre,,td apart against the aeti of the @T)rings 14. When 105 the, 166p 21 is dislcldged from the 23 'or the levers. ur inward, then th6: springs 14 @vill i-irge towatd etiel-i other. The oiiter ends of the)se trip levers are.,resl)ectively, connected to the clev'ises 16 110

1,361,179 by means of chains 24., No-\v when the riiig a on the upper encl of a mail btg A is clisposed between the lower pair of eltmps 15, and the ti,ip lovers 20 and 22 are eno-a(yed with each other, the Lrms 10 iiiii be held apart and the m.,til ba-will Le stretched between the ai-n-is. The catcher, ivhic'il will be hereaft-.i- desci,lbed, engltges tl-ie trip levors 20 and 22, forcing them toward th-. m,,til bag 10 in Fig. I Lnd tlereby witlidi-a-wi-.ig the clevIses 16. This will tlso tend to dr,,tw the ends of the niail blig toivtrd eacli other, and the rino-,s a -will be drawn out throiigh 161-ie clamps. When the citcher strikes these, 1,5 members 20 and 9,2, they will eparete frora s each othor to permit the p,,tss,,tg@e of the catcher, and this tilso permits the arins to move np-arer to each other to ,tecomniodate the folding tip of the m,,til bag as it is 20 cauoght. At the time that the Yfiail, bag is cau oht by the catcher, the spi-inu clips 12 9 wi.11 swin(r on their pivots 17 in th@ direction in which the ti,@%in is going, thus permitting the reidy detachmeiit of the mail bag fror,-i 26 the .trm s,,ipportiiig it. GuarOLs 20a and 22a are providecl to preve-ut the c,@tteher arm froin catching on the ofr-set eii,-Is of the level-S. As before stated, the arms 10 a,re 1-iinged 30 to the side, wall of the car, and 'Lor the purpose of normally holdino, the ai,ms 10 par,,tllel to the side of the car or forcir,,g theso arms 10 out into ,tngultr relttion to thB side Of th6 car, I provide mtpiially opoi-able 35 means for shifting the ,trms coml-;i@ising -, Ushaped yoke 25 having legs passiii,-@ tl-i,-oug!). eyes 26 on the doolr casing. 'L he, exti@epiiti-es of fhese legs are angularly bent, as .it 26, and@engaged'with eyes formed on tlio ,.rms. 4o A sprin 28 bears at one end qgtinst a bolt 29, to @l,@lich the eyes 26 are ,itt,,t6lied, -,his bolt being squ-,tre in cross section for tl-ie gre,,tter portion cif its len,,th and h-,Lvino- its t'@ zn ends formed with trunnions s6 th-cit the bolt 45 is rotatably molinted in the, clool-- c-,tsin(Y. The spring 28, it will be seen, normolly acts to draw the ,trms inaard, but by pLishIng on the end of the yoke, the ai@ms m,,t3, be forced outward to any desired position. r) 0 By remo@ving the pin 19 from the ends of the arms, the claw-ps 15 may be swup-g inward bn their pivots 17 so as to carry the clamps into position through tl-ie door oT- tlie car to permit the fastening of a Tail bag ,tr 65 thereon. When these pins 19 c e in p ace however, they prevent these clam s from p swino,ing inward accidentall Y. Ti@e means whereby the mail bag is re'moved from the support on tha c,,tr is illu s60 tra,ted in Fig. 1. This means comprises t vertical post 30 having extending from it the horizontally disposed arm 31 whose extremity is sligbtly cutved. Angularly di-si)osed braces 32 extend from the post 30 to tl-ie o5 arm 31, These braces are disposed in the s,,tme vertic@il pl,,tne Is the arm 21. The post 30 m,,ty be br-@eecl by a brtee 33 e@xteiid-@ng do-wn to the ground, and b--@,,tces 34 and 35 iu,,,y be used to brac-, the qrin 31 .tg,-,iiist shock. Attachecl to the post 30 tre ,), pair 70 of s,,:)rlng claml:)s 36 Avliieh aie o@iti@vardly bo-@ved alid at their extren-iities ,,,re oLitWLrdl@,, ttirnecl,, The arr@q 31 is disoosecl at an ftngle to the trich with its extren@iti, in tl-ie I-)atli of niovement of .1 b@lg. Now'when ti-ie btg 75 st,@ilies the arm 81, i,', @Vill be reinoved @'rol-YI i.ts eiig").genent ivith '@lie cla,@n-@os 10, @" be-Lore descilibed, ancl@ tl-ie for@vard movemep.,c o@l' the bqg as it is carried -- Por@,vard A,7hile bel'iig (letael-le,-! tonci@ to shift tl-ie bq',o,- lip so the, ,irin 20 ,ind into enuage@-netit )Vi'cli th(@ elii-iips. Thiis, Llie big is cpuglit aiid lield. Of course the i@esiliei@t brtees may be iised to sustain this receii,iiig clevice ,t.gqiiisi-, the -10orel@ Oftho imp,.iet of the bao, peri-qit'kii@g S5 zn) the receiving clovice to yiei'-cl sliahtl3l. n Whil@e I illustr,,,.t-ld iny m,,vil b-,tg lio"Lding -Ievice ,ts motintecl Lipon the car t-nd the, ,trm 20 as beino- P-iotipted ,,i,,)on the groiind at the sicle of ti-ie i-oad, I , iv@.sh it 90 ti--,iclerstoocl that the arm 20 migh'u be rioll-ntecl tildon. the ctr and the mail b' holding device mountecl upon a post or Otil-er supliort without departing f-rom the spiri@t, of tlle invention. 95 I