US397498A - Office - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

z sheew-sheet 1. G. F. HEMENWAY. DEVICE FGR OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS.

Patented Feb. 12, 1889.

' I r f"- 2 N, PETERS. Pholo-Llllmglaphor. Washington. at.

- (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0. P. HEMENWAY. DEVICE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS.

No. 397,498. I Patented Feb. 12, 1889.

Zzw/4% N PETERS. Phaln-Lnhagraphur, Washinglon. 0 c4 UNITED STATES PATENT. FFIGE.

CHARLES F. HEMEN WAY, OF IIO\VELL, MASSACIIUSE'I" S, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF TlVO-THIRDC TO JAMES F. MCKISSOCK, OF

SAME PLACE.

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,498, dated February 12, 1889.

Application filed July 1, 1886. Serial No. 206,755. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. HEMENWAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Devices for Opening and Closing Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for open ing and closing doors, particularly of i'lre-engine houses and hose-carriage houses, the ob ject of these devices being to open the doors autonnttically upon the drawing of a bolt, to hold the doors open for a definite short time, long enough, however, to allow the engine or carriage to be drawn out of its house, and then automatically to close the doors.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an inside elevation of a part of the wall and the doors of such a house, showing my improvcmcnt applied thereto; 2, a diagram or plan showing the front wall in horizontal section at the ceiling, and the weight-shaft, the clock, and the cords and pulleys which draw the bolts and which connect the doors to the weights, the position of the doors when open being shown by dotted lines; Fig. 3, an elevation of the clock and the locking mechanism held in position by the clock, the clock-case being in vertical sec tion on the plane of the face of the lockinglevers; Fig. i, like Fig. 3, except that the lockii'ig-levers are released; Fig. 5, a side elevation of the clock-work, locking-levers, locking-hooks, the lower parts of the rope which connects the door and the weight, the falling of which weightpulls the door open by means of said rope, showing the weight-shaft and clock-case in vertical section; Fig. 6, an isometric view, showing the position when the ropes are let go to allow the doors to close, of the weights and the ropes which draw the bolts and which connect the doors to the weights, parts of the weightshaft being in section and parts being broken away to show said weights and ropes.

A represents the wall of an engine-house; F, the floor; C, the ceiling; D D, the doors, one of which, D, is provided with a strip, d,

which overlaps the inner edge of the other door, I), toclose the crack or space between the doors when the same are closed; (1 (Z the hinges of the doors; B B, bolts secured to the door D and sliding into mortises in or sockets secured to the floor and ceiling; d d, spring-latches which are secured to the door D and enter suitable sockets on or mortises in the edge of the door D, all these parts being of the usual construction and operation.

Secured to the ceiling near the door D is a pulley, P, over which and over another pulley, P, runs a cord or rope, It, one end of which hangs down over the posit-ion occupied by the drivers seat when the hose-carriage or fire-engine is in its usual place .in the house, said end being provided with a suitable ball, '7', adapted to be grasped by the hand of the driver, the other end ot the rope R being at tached to the horizontal arm of a bell-crank lever, Ii, pivoted at Z on the door 1).

Near the inner edge of the door D on horizontal studs (1" d, projecting from said door, turn two grooved pulleys, p 19 over which run from the downhanging arm Z of the lever L two cords or ropes, R R the end of one of these ropes last namedbeing attached to one bolt, I3, and the end of the other rope to thebolt B, so that the driver, when all things are ready, can, without leaving his seat, by grasping theball 0* an d pulling the rope R, draw both bolts of the door and allow the doors to open. This construction is also in common use. It is also common to connect the doors by cords to weight-s suspended at the ends of such cords, so that when the bolts are drawn, as above described, the doors will be opened by the running down of the weights.

I use the ropes R R in conjunction with weights to open. the doors, these ropes being attached at one end to screw-eyes r r at the inner edges of the doors near the tops of the same, and running over pulleys P P (one of the ropes running over another pulley, P rendered necessary by the doors opening in opposite directions to allow ol' the weights both being placed at the same side of the doors,) and over other pulleys, P P, placed immediately above the weights W W. As cominonly used, the ends of the ropes R B would be fastened to the weights \V W, the descent of which would of course open the doors after the bolts were drawn, as above describwl, the weights being at all times suspended when the doors are closed and being raised by the closing of the doors.

weights \V W, l pass said ropes down under groovedpulleysuu", iournaled in ears [1- at,

which project from the tops oi said weights, respectively, and then carry these ropes upward over pulleys 1 P journaled in the front wall of the weight shaft or box in which the weights more, and thence down on the outside or in front oi said weiglrtsshait, the ends oi the ropes last named terminating in loops or links 7' It is obvious that it the links r were rigidly held the falling of the weights \V V would open the doors subst-z'tntially in the ordinary manner, and that it", after the doors had been opened a sul'ticient length ol.- time, the ends of the ropes provided with said links were let go the doors might be closed, the ropes R R slipping through the weights without lilting them.

I use to close the doors door-springs E, of any ordinary construction,but not too strong to pre'jent the falling of the weights, or the doors may be closed by suitably-arranged cords and weights, the weights being smaller, of course, than those used to open the doors.

The apparatus described below is adapted to hold the links and then to release said links after a suiticientinterval has elapsed from the opening of the doors to allow the engine to pass out, one set of locking mechanism to to hold and release the link being used For -each door, this being reiulered nece try by the fact that the door 1) is first closed and then locked by springing the bolts ll ll into their sockets.

The two sets of locking mechanism are precisely alike, except. in the propm-tions and positions ol the locking-levers, so that the following desm-iption applies to either set in all other respects. For convenience the locking mechanism which holds and releases the link oi? the rope R will be lirst described; but the letters of reference will be used to designate corresponding parts oi either locking mechanism, except; the lo( -.king-lever. A vertical plate, Q, is secured to the trout side ol the weight-shalt, and is provided with vertical ears (1, between which turns on a lmrizontal pivot, q, a hook, the t'orm of which is clearly shown in Fig. 5, t hehook being adapted to engage one, 0"", of the links above named,

the pivot of said hook luring back ol the line of d raft of said link, so that; the springs E and the weight \V have a constant tendency to throw the open end of said hook outward and upward into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and to release said link and allow the weight to fall when the door is closed, and to allow the door to be closed by said springs E after the weight \V has fallen.

llelow the hook and secured to the plate Q is a horizontal stud, g, at right angles to the pivot of said hook, on which stud turns a locking-lever, having an upward projection or short arm, q, long enough to reach above the lower end of the hook and to prel vent said hook i'rom beingturned u nvard on Instead of fastening the ropes R R" to theits pivot to release said link. A spring, q, consisting of a spiral of wire one end of which is attached to the plate Q and the other of which bears upon the long arm (f of the lever q", and tends to press said long arm downward and to carry the short arm q of said lever from in front of thelower end of said hook Q2. The free end of the long arm of said lever g rests upon and is prevented from falling by the long arm q of the corresponding lever, q, or a projection, g from said long arm q oi the other set; of locking mechanism, until said arm is allowed to fall by the rotation of the cam K, as described below. The levers q are respectively right-handed and lefthanded, and the lever g turns upon a separate pivot. or stud, g and is actuated by a separate spring, q, just as the lever turns and is actuated. The shape and proportions of the locking-lever q are such that its short arm q extends by the link-holding hook of its set of locking mechanism (when the doors are closed) in one direction farther than the short arm q of the other lockinglever, (1", extends beyond the link-holding hook of the other set in the opposite direction, as shown in Figs. 3 and It results from this construction that the cord R will be released sooner than the cord R" when the free end of the long arm of the lever q is allowed to fall. The free end of the long arm of said last-named lever rests upon the periphery of a cam, ll, the latter turning upon a horizontal shaft, in, and caused to rotate by cloelc work or a train of gears, K, of any ordinary construetion, actuated by a mainspring, it", or weight, and provided wit-h an eseapmnentwheel, M, escapementM, and pendulum lll", also of ordinary construction, except that no bob is used on the pendulum. The cam K. is generally circular,ln1t is provided with a camnotch, 7.5, or depression to allow the long arm of the lever to Fall when the cam revolves. 'lhe clock-work is normally at; rest, and the long arm of the lever g rests upon the eircular part of the periphery of said cam when the doors l) l) are closed, the clock-work at such times being prevented from working-by the pendulum being held from vibration by a rod, N, which iirojects upward thwmgh. a hole, f, in the bottom of the clock-case in the path et said pendulum, and is held fromdropping out of said path by lfriction on the sides of said hole 1" or the sides of a tube or bushing placed in said holes, the rod N preventing the pallets m of the escapementtrom letting go the teeth of the escapement-wheel. The lower end of the rod N is connected to one end of a com d, R, which passes under two grooved pulleys, p 19 the hangers of which,

tom of the cam-notch 7f.

the door 1) is first closed by its springs and locked by the springing of the bolts 1; l, and

p, are secured to the under side of the floor F, and the other end of said cord is connected to the outer end of the horizontal arm of the lever L, so that the cord R is practieally a continuation of the cord R. \Vhen the driver pulls the rope or cord R by grasping the ball 0", he not only unbolts the doors, which then open automatically, as above described, but he also sets in motion the clockwork, which will allow the links 0" to escape from the hooks as above described, and allow the doors tobe closed by the springs it, the time during which the doors will 'remain open after drawing the bolts depending 5 upon the time it talv'es for the outer end of the long arm of the lever q to reach the bot- I t will be seen that that the door l) is immediately after closed and locked to the door D by the spring-latches (Z (.1 above named.

It necessary that the door first closed should be securely fastened. before it can rebound or be blown open by the wind, in or der that the other door may be latched to it at the instant of its closing.

The clock is rewound by turning back the wrench K from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 3, and is held from motion by raising the rod N into the position it occupies in Fig. 3 in the path of the pendulum.

To prevent the links 2" from falling out of the locking-hooks by accident, a latch, (1' is used, pivoted to the plate Q and normally held in a horizontal position, but capable of being pushed upward by said links to admit said links into said hooks.

The pulleys secured to the weights are, of course, only anti-iirietion pulleys, allowing the ropes to slip through the weights with as little wear as possible on the ropes.

Obviously my improvement is applicable to 1 any self-closing door, and it is immaterial which end of the door-opening rope is released to allow the closing of the door, because whenever the rope ceases to be coir nectwl at one point to i he door and at another to a stationary object and between these points to he. held taut by the weight the door will he closed automatically by the spring E, so that the clock-work and other parts of the holding and releasing mechanism 5 might be attached to the door to hold one end 3 of said rope, the other end of said rope being rigidly at tachiial to any fixed object.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The combination of a self-closing door, a rope connect ed at one end to said door, one or more guide-pulleys over which said rope is carried, a weight sliding freely on said rope, a link or loop attachei'l to the other end of said rope, a pivoted hook adapted to engage said link and to be turned upon its pivotby the draft of said rope to release said link or loop therefrom, a lockingdever arranged'in front of the open end of said hook to prevent said hook from turning on its pivot, a spring to turn said lever on its fulcrum, and clockwork arranged to prevent said lever from turning on its fulcrum for a delinite time and thereafter to release said lever, whereby said door may be opened by the falling of said weight and allowed to close thereafter, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a self-closing door, suitable guide-pulleys, a rope connected at one end to said door, a weight provided with a pulley, said rope passing under said last named pulley and over said guide-pulley, a link or loop 'attaehed to the other end of said rope, a pivoted hook adapted to engage said. link and to be turned upon its pivot by the draft of said rope to release said link or loop therefrom, a locking-lever having a short arm adapted when placed in front of the open end of said hook to prevent said hook from turning on its pivot, a spring to turn said lever upon its fulcrum, and a cam provided with a cam-notch and rotated by clock-work, the longer arm of said lever resting upon said cam and holding said short arm in front of said open end of said hook until the free end of said long arm enters said cam-noteh, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of two self-closi n g doors, the inner edge of one of said doors being adapted to overlap the inner edge of the other of said doors when the same are closed, suitable guide-pulleys, two ropes, each connected at one end to one of said. doors, two weights, each sliding freely on one of said ropes, two links, one attached to the other end of each rope, two pivoted hooks, each adapted to ena one of said links and to be turned upon its pivot by the drawing of the rope to which said link is,attaehed to release said link therefrom, a locking-lever having a short. arm, adztpteihwhen placed in front of the open end of one of said hooks, to prevent said hook from turning on its pivot, a sprii'ig to turn said lever upon its fi'ilerum, a cam provided with a cam-notch and rotz'tted by suitable LlOCk-Ulk, the longer arm of said lever resting upon the 'peri jlhery of said cam and holding said short arm in front of said open end of said hook until the free end. of said long arm enters said cam-notch, and another locking-lever having a short arm adapted to 'pre vent the other of said books from turning on its pivot when placed in. front of the open end of said last-namml hook, the free end of the long arm of said last-namedlocking-lever resting upon. the ion arm of said first-named locking-lever or upon a projection which said last-named long arm is provided with and pressed upon the same by a spri n g, an d adapted to release its book before the other book is released by said iirstsnamed locking-lever to allow one of said doors to close before the other of them, and said last-named spring, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of two self-closing doors,

the inner edge of one of said doors being pro vided with one or more latches to engage with the other of said doors, two ropes, each connected at one end to one of said doors, one or more guide-pulleys over which said ropes are carried, two weights, one of which slides freely on each of said r0pes,links or loops attached to the other ends of said ropes, respectively, pivoted hooks adapted to engage said links and to be turned upon their pivots by the draft of said ropes to release said links or loops therefrom, and locking-levers, each arrangedin front of the open end of one of said hooks to prevent the same from turning, springs to turn said levers upon their fnlernms, and clock mechanism arranged to prevent said lovers from turning on their fulernms for a definite time and thereafter to release said levers one after the other to allow said ropes to slip through said Weights, whereby said doors may be opened by the falling of said weights and allowed to close one after the other, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I, the said CHARLES F. HEMENWAY, have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of June, A, D. 1886.

CHARLES 1*. I IEMEN \VAY.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, JosEPH W. PIPER.

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