US227421A - Hatchway-door mechanism - Google Patents

Description

W. I. ELY. Hatohway Door Mechanism.

No. 227,421. Patented May 11,1880

Mrs TATES WILLIAM I. ELY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

HATCHWAY-DOOR MECHANISM.

SBECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 227,421, dated May 11, 1880,

Application filed November 25, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM I. ELY, of Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mechanism for Automatically Opening and Closing Hatchway-Doors; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention consists in the combination of devices and appliances, as hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the elevator either in its ascent or descent, just above the hatchway Fig. 2, as it appears after having passed below the hatchway, and showing in dotted lines the elevator ready to descend. Fig. 3 represents the door as assisted to start from its horizontal position; Fig. 4, the same as assisted by the same mechanism to start from its vertical position.

In the drawings, A represents the difi'erent floors; B, the uprights or ways along which the elevator slides as it rises and descends. G is an elevator.

It is immaterial what construction of elevator is employed, as my invention is designed for ready application to any elevator mechan- D represents one of the hatchway-doors.

I will now describe my opening and closing mechanism.

E is a suitable shield or arm attached to or forming part of the carriage, and is so arranged as to press against and lift the hatchway-door D on its hinges d as the elevator rises. F is a suitable cord or chain, attached to the door at f, passed thence about the pulleys f and f and from the latter down and attached to the periphery of a wheel or segment, G. From I this wheel or segment extends an arm, Gr, provided, preferably,with an anti-friction roller, g, at its extremity. The operation of this portion of my hatchway-door mechanism will now be understood.

As the elevator rises it opens the door D by the pressure of the elevator cage or shield E. At the same time the door, in opening, slacks on the arm G rests against the side of the cage or against a suitable cheek-piece, 0, attached to the cage, thus preventing the door from fallin g shut by keeping the cord or chain F taut.

As the elevator rises past the wheel 9 the latterrides in beneath the elevator, thus gradually permitting the arm G and its wheel or segment to revolve and unwind the cord or chain F, and thus permitting the door D to close gradually down to its place. The same operation is repeated precisely at the hatchways above, the mechanism for each door being entirely independent of the others. On the descent of the elevator the operation is reversed. The arm G, standing at its highest point, is struck by the elevatoras it descends. The arm G is thrust down, thus turning its wheel or segment G and drawing upon the cord F, which, in turn, opens the hatchway-door beneath. After the elevator passes the arm G it is already adjacent to the hatch way-door, which is prevented from closing by the cage itself or the shield E. In the further descent of the elevator the door, continuing to rest against the cage or shield, drops slowly into its closed position as the elevator passes down through the hatchway.

It is evident that as the elevator rises its greatest efiort in opening the door above is expended in starting the door from its horizontal position, since in that position it resists with its greatest leverage. So, also, in the downward motion of the elevator, the greatest strain upon the cable or chain F is exerted in starting the door from 'its horizontal position. On the other hand, it is apparent that as the door rises on its hinges it is liable to come up with a jerk against the side of the casin g, and if its gravity were the sole agent for closing it, it might fail to start and close after the elevator had passed.

I provide a simple expedient to overcome all these difficulties. It consists of a cable or chain, H, attached to the top of the door, passed thence over a pulley, h, at a distance above the floor equal to the distance from the point of attachment h to the hinge d, more or less. The cord passes thence downward through the floor, at which point it suspends a weight, H. This weight is almost sufficient of itself to lift the door from its horizontal position, and serves to assist the elevator in thus starting the door, whether in the ascent or descent of the elevator. So, again, when the door is partially raised this cord and weight operate in the reverse direction, or in a direction to close the door, so that when the cage has passed it forces the door shut as rapidly as the cord F is unwound from the wheel or segment Gr. Another effect of the cord H and its weight is to hold all the parts on atension, and thus prevent them from rattling, and affording a smooth, steady, and positive action of the doors.

I do not limit myself, in the employment of my invention, to hatchway-doors composed of a single leaf hinged at the side or rear, but it is equally applicable to hatchways having two doors which are closed in the middle. In the latter case all that is necessaryis that the doors be each provided with similar opening and closing mechanism.

The bottom of the elevator may or may not be provided with anti-friction rollers to reduce to a minimum the wear upon it by the arms G. So, also, there may or may not be provided anti-friction rollers D on the under side of the hatchway-door to receive the wear occasioned by the elevator-cage or its shield E.

What I claim is- The combination, with a downwardly-closin g door of a hatchway, of a weight, H, cord or chain H, and pulley h, said cord or chain having the said weight attached to its free end,

while its opposite end is attached to the'door' between its hinged and free ends, the cord or chain passing over the pulley h, located above the door, and between its hinged and free ends, to cause the weight to assist in opening and closing the door, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM I. ELY.

Witnesses:

WM. M. PORTER, W. O. BELLOWS.

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