CA1286134C - Adjustable width safety gate apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Adjustable width doorway safety gate apparatus of this invention discloses a gate comprised of two segments slidably adjustable to variable width doorways and hinges mounted on outer vertical edge of one gate segment, with the hinges con-sisting of hinge pins pointed downward and fitting in hinge pin sockets mounted on a spring loaded pole or on a doorway pillar and the two gate segments are locked to width by means of a lock spool segment extending through aligned holes in slots in center bar of gate segments, and the center bars ride on offset grooVes and matching runners of the center bars, and gate locking upper and lower U latches acting in concert, activated by release of gate lock flexible lever release.

Description

i~8~

This invention pertains to a sa~ety gate mounted in a g doorway, and is of great value in protecting of babies, ~y not o allowing them through doorways in which the gate is mounted.
This invention can be iden-tified as ~adjustable width doorway 2 safety gate apparatus".
13 The above mentioned previous application disclosed a gate 14 of two segments, each segment of which is mounted on hinges attached to the pillars o~ a door ~ralue and adaptable ~o various lG doorway widths, by overlap of the two segments.
17 This present application is to disclose an adjustable width 18 safety gate of t~o segments adjusted to the width of a doorway l9 and fastened each to the other, hinged on one edge and locking means on the edge opposite the mounting hinge.
21 Further disclosure is ~ade of mounting an adjustable width 22 doorway safety gate on a hinge segment attached to a spring 23 loaded pole, mounted adjoining a doorway pillar and a closing 24 latch attached to the safety gate Yertical section on the gate 26 end opposite the hinged Yertical gate end, 2~

P~ge ~ 1286134 FILI~ Jo 4 86 ¦ PAPER #
I BRI ~1~ SUMMARY OF I NVENTION
2 l 3 ¦ This present invention for "Adjustable Width Doorway Safety 4 ¦Gate Apparatus" discloses safety gate apparatus comprised of two ¦gate halves adjustably ~itted together by means o~ fasteners 6 ¦ extending through horizontal slots in center bar segments of each 7 ¦ gate half, The total gate width is adjusted to doorway width 8 ¦ by means o~ releasing finger lock extending through aligned 9 ¦ expanded portions called holes, in slots in center bar segments.
¦The gate apparatus is mounted on a hinge attached to a vertical ¦side o~ the gate, The hinge is comprised of downward pointing 2 ¦finger pins attached to the vertical side o~ the gate and these ¦downward pointing finger pins fit in finger pin bearing sockets 4 ¦ mounted on the door frame pill~r. There are many instances where ¦the door frame pillar is not suitable for ~ounting of the finger 6 ¦pin bearing sockets, and in Yie~ of this, disclosure is made of 17 ¦mounting the finger pin bearing sockets on a $pring loaded pole 18 erected in the door frame, The spring loaded pole comprises a 19 compression spring mounted in the pole section and adjustment of the compression spring is so made that the pole is rigidly 21 held in the doorway, to support the gate mounted on the hinge 22 attached to the pole. The assembled gate is held in closed 23 position by upper and lower gate lock U latches joined together 24 by a leg joining the upper and lower latches, and a gate lock flexible lever release to actuate the gate lock U latches. The 26 gate lock U latches straddle either the doorway pillar or a 27 spring loaded pole mounted at the vertical edge of the swinging 28 gate, Pa~ 2 ~X86134 PRIOR ART PERTAINING TO THIS INVENTION

U.S. Patent #139,232 to Boughton for "Nursery Gates" -This patent discloses an expandable gate which locks on one end.
U.S. Patent #141,677 issued 8/12/1873 to Tuttle for "Nursery Gates" - This patent discloses an adjustable width gate which is raised to open and lowered for closing - no hinges are involved.
U.S. Patent #4,492,263 to Gebhard for "Infant Security Door Gate Assembly" - This gate is an assembly of two segments, expandable by sliding on telescoping rods.
U.K. Patent #2,041,051 to Adams for "Baby Gates" - This is for an adjustable width gate, hinged on one end and lock-ing on the opposite end.
U.S. Patent #942,502 issued on 12/7/1909 to Jablonovsky for "Adjustable Window Grate" - This discloses two pairs of grate sections, with the two pairs to be fitted together.
French Patent #1,236,542 to Perrier - See Figs. 1-7 -This barrier does not swing free.
Other patents of interest are: U.S. Patent #2,662,242 to Hess; U.S. Patent #4,465,262 to Itri; and U.S. Patent #4,566,222 to Hatvany.
None of the above patents touch the disclosure of this invention as described below.

~ DATE
1~86134 PAPE~l #
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTIO~J

3 ¦ One of the objects of this invention is to disclose a 4 ¦ doorway safety gate, mounted on a removable ~rame, adjustable ¦ to fit in any width doorway, said doorway safety gate comprised 6 ¦ o~ two gate segments attached together to attain a width to span 7 ¦ a doorway.
8 ¦ Another object of this invention is to disclose an adjust-9 ¦ able width doorway safety gate comprised of two overlapped ¦ segments attached together to attain a suitable width to span ll ¦ a doorway, and mounting of the overlapped segments attached 12 ¦ together on a hinge consisting of downward pointing fingers or 13 ¦ pins on one vertical edge of the safety gate and the fingers or 4 ¦pins fitting in pin bearing sockets mounted on the door frame 15 ¦ pillar.
6 ¦ Another objec-t of this invention is to disclose an adjust-17 ¦ able width doorway sa~ety gate comprised of two overlapped 18 ¦segments attached together to attain a suitable width to span lg ¦ a doorway, and mounting of the overlapped segments attached 20 together on a hinge consisting of downward pointing fingers or 21 pins on one vertical edge of the safety gate comprised of the 22 overlapped segments, and the fingers or pins fitting in pin 23 bearing sockets attached to a spring loaded vertical pole, 24 mounted adjoining the door frame pillar.
Another object of this inventàon is to disclose a doorway 26 safety gate comprised of two gate segments, said gate segments 27 slidably adjustable to fit in Yarious door frame widths and 28 mounted on hinges consisting of downward pointing ~ingers or 29 pins on edge of gate end, said fingers or pins fitting in pin Pa~e 4 ll FILE ~ Jo-4-86 1286~34 DATE
¦ PAPER
1 ¦bearing sockets ~ounted on vertical spring loaded pole located 2 ¦ in doorway and the pole extending from threshold to top of door 3 ¦ frame.
4 ¦ Another object of this invention is to disclose.a doorway 1 safety gate comprised of two segments, adjustable to fit in 6 ¦ variable width door frames, the gate segments mounted on the frame 7 ¦ by hinges of downward pointing finger pins attached to a vertical 8 ¦ side of gate end and the downward pointing finger pins fitting 9 ¦ in pin bearing sockets mounted on a vertical spring loaded pole ¦ positioned in the door ~rame and the pole extending Irom the 11 1 threshold to top oI door frame casing.
2 ¦ Another object o~ this invention is to disclose a doorway ¦ safety gate comprised of two segments, the gate segments attached 14 ¦ together and adJustable to fit in variable wid-th door frames 1s ¦ the gate segments mounted on the frame by hinges of downward 16 ¦ pointing finger pins attached to an outer vertical side of one 17 ¦ gate segment edge and said downward pointing finger pins fitting 18 ¦ in pin bearing sockets ~ounted on vertical spring loaded pole 19 ¦ mounted in door frame, ¦ Another object o~ this invention is to disclose an adjustable 21 ¦ frame comprisillg spring loaded vertical pole having mounted 22 ¦ thereon pin bearing sockets, said pin bearing sockets to 23 ¦ accommodate gate hinge section comprising downward pointing 24 ¦ finger pins ,a,ttached tv the gate edge section.
¦ The doorway safety gate assembly can also be hung on a 26 ¦ doorway pillar by means of hinges comprised o~ downward pointing 27 ¦ finger pins attached to an outer vertical edge of the gate and 28 1 the finger pins fitting in pin bearing sockets mounted on door 29 frame pillar.

Pa~e 5 I FILE ~ Jo-4-86 l ~X86134 DATE
l PAPER #
1 ¦ Another object of this invention is to disclose adjustable 2 ¦ width doorway safety gate apparatus comprising two gate segments 3 ¦ slidably attached each to the other by means of a flanged spool 4 ¦ segment extending through slots in center bars of gate segments ¦ and flanges Otl the spool segment extending beyond the width of 6 ¦ the slots and a locking and release means extending through the 7 ¦ slots and flanges of the locking and release means extending 8 ¦ beyond the width of the slots and a flexible reed attached ¦ on its end to the flange of locking and release means to lock the lo ¦ two gate segments slidably attached each to the other by means 11 ¦ of a lock spool section attached to the flexible reed end 12 ¦ opposite the end attached to flange of the locking and release 13 ¦ means and the lock spool section extending through aligned holes 14 ¦ in the slots in the center bar segments, to rigidly lock the two ¦ gate segments together and hinges mounted on outer vertical edge 16 ¦ of one gate segment and gate lock latches comprising upper and 17 ¦ lower gate lock U latches mounted on outer vertical edge of gate 1B ¦ opposite the hinges and the upper and lower gate lock U latches 19 ¦ connected together to act in concert by means of a connecting ¦ leg and a notched gate lock release lever attached to flexible 21 ¦ section of gate lock lever release mounted on pivot fastener 22 ¦ bearing and the notched gate lock release lever attached to the 23 ¦ upper gate lock U latch and the gate-assembly mounted in a door-24 ¦ way.
¦ ~ further object of the invention is to disclose an adjust-26 ¦ able width doorway safety gate apparatus wherein the improvement 27 ¦ comprises center bars of gate seg~ents which are flush with one 28 ¦ surface of the outer periphery gate segments and the center bars 29 ¦ ride on off set grooves and matching runners o~ the center b~r ¦ segments.

I P~ 6 .

1~86134 According to the above objects, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides an adjustable width doorway safety gate apparatus. The improvement in the safety gate apparatus comprises two gate segments slidably attached each to the other by means of an idler flanged spool segment extending through slots in center bars of gate segments and flanges on the spool segment extending beyond the width of the slots and spaced apart from the idler flanged spooi segment. A locking and release means extends through the slots and flanges of the locking and release means extending beyond the width of the slots and a flexible reed is attached on its end to the flange of the locking and release means. Means is provided to lock the two gate segments slidably attached each to the other by means of a lock spool section attached to the flexible reed end oppo-site end attached to the flange of the locking and release means. The lock spool section extends through aligned holes in the slots in center bar segments to rigidly lock the two gate segments together. Hinges are mounted on the outer vertical edge of one gate segment and gate lock latches and comprising upper and lower gate lock U-latches mounted on the outer vertical edge of the gate opposite the hinges.
The upper and lower gate lock U-latches are connected together to act in concert by means of a connecting leg. A
notched gate lock release lever is attached to the flexible section of gate lock lever release mounted on pivot fastener bearing. The notched gate lock release lever is attached to the upper gate lock U-latch and rotatable 90 degrees back and forth to activate upper and lower gate lock U-latches to straddle and release a gate stop pillar for locking of the safety gate mounted in a doorway.

- 6a -1;~86134 1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRA~YINGS
2 Fig. l. Showing safety guard gate segments in front 3 elevation Yiew Fig. 2, Showing safety guard gate components in front elevation view Fig. 3. Enlarged eleYation view of hinge pins fitting in 6 hinge pin sockets 7 Fig. 4. Enlarged plan view of hinge pin socket 8 Fig. 5. Elevation view of hinge pin socket mount plate g attached to doorway pillar Fig, 6, Plan view of hinge pin socket mount plate attached 11 ¦ to spring loaded pole and safety gate mounted thereon, 2 Flg. 7. Elevation view of safety gate unlt mounted on 3 ¦ hinge attached to spring loaded pole.
14 ¦ Fig. 8, Elevation Yiew of safety gate unit mounted on hinge 1 attached to spring loaded pole and locklng latch oi swlnging 6 gate end engnging stop on spring loaded pole.
17 Fig. 9, Elevation yiew of safety gate unit mounted on hinge 1a attached to clamp on unit fastened to door frame pillar.
19 Fig. lO. Elevation view o~ safety gate apparatus mounted on hlnge attached to door frame pillar.
21 Fig. ll, Elevation Yiew of locking and release mechanism 22 fltting in and joining slots in center bars of gate segments.
23 Fig. 12. Plan view of release mechanism fitting in and 24 joining slots in center bars of gate segments wherein:
Fig. 13. Showing enlarged elevation end view of slots in 26 ¦ center bars of gate segments as held in position by flanged 27 spool, 36 assembly of Fig, ll, 28 ~ig. 14. Idler flanged spool.
29 Fig. 15. EleYation view of slots in center bar segments 32 - 6b -t.~86134 1 ~ Fig. 16. Elevation of spring loaded pole 2 ~ Fig. 17. Plan view of center bar of gate segments 22 and 3 ¦ 22' attached together adjusting gate to selected width 4 Fig. 18, This is isometric eleyation view of gate locking section oi gate apparatus 6 ~ Fig. 19, Elevation Yiew of mechanism to lock and unlock 7 gate with the mechanism shown in the locked position 8 Fig, 20, Elevation view of mechanism to lock and unlock g gate showing the gate lock leyer release in ~lexed unlock o po.sition Fig, 21, Elevation vlew of mechanism to lock and unlock 2 gate showlng the gate lock lever release latch in flexed unlocked position, and rotated 90 degrees to release gate lock U lever 14 ` latch from gate stop to allow gate to swing open 15 ! Fig, 22, This is section B-B of Fig, 1, showing configuration 6 of periphery of gate sections 17 Fig, 23, This is an exploded enlarged elevation end view of Fig, 13 assembly showing tongue and groove prior to fitting 9 together of the center bar segments 2~

~~286134 DATE
~UPER ~
1 DESCRIPT~ON OF DRAWIN~S

3 Fig. l. Showing safety guard gate segments in front 4 elevation view where1n:
2 - Grill of gate segments .
6 5,5' - Gate segments 7 9 - Hinge pins ~ingers 8 7,7' - Slots in gate center bar segment 9 20 - Gate sag bumpers 22,22' - Center bars of gate segment 1134,34` - Slot holes in slots in gate center bar segment 1242 - Upper gate lock U latch 1345 - Lower gate lock U latch 1447 - Button to actuate gate lock lever release 15Fig. 2, Showing sa~ety guard gate components in front 16 elevation view wherein:
171 - Door ~rame pillars 1a2 - Grill o~ gate segments 193 - Doorway threshold 215,5' - Gate segments 228 - Hinge pin sockets 239 - Hinge pins 24 . lO - Hinge pin socket mount plate 2620 - Gate sag bumper 2722,22' - Center ~ars o~ gate segments .
28 28 - Scxews ~or mounting socket mount plate to door 29 pillar Pa~9 7.

. . _ . . , ~ ~X~613~ FILE ~ Jo-4-86 DATi 1 ¦ 34,3~' - Slot holes in slots in gate center bar segment 2 ¦ 38 - Idler flanged spool assembly (see Fig. 14) 3 ¦ 39 - Locking and release mechanism of center bars 4 ¦ (see Fig. ll) 5 ¦ 42 - Upper gate lock U latch 6 ¦ 45 - Lower gate lock U latch 7 ¦ 47 - Button to actuate gate lock lever release 8 ¦ Fig. 3. Enlarged elevAtion view o~ hinge pins fitting in 9 ¦ hinge pin sockets wherein:
0 ¦ 5' - Gate segment section ¦ 8 - 13inge pin socket 2 ¦ 9 - IIinge pin 13 ¦ lO - Hinge pin socket mount plate 14 ¦ 16 - Hinge pin key 16 ¦ 17 - Ghost lines of hinge pin leg groove keyway slot 16 ¦ Fig, 4. Enlarged plan view of hinge pin socket wherein:
17 ¦ 8 - Hinge pin socket 18 ¦ lO - Hinge pin socket mount plate 19 1 17 - 11inge pin groove keyway slot 20 ¦ Fig. 5, Elevation view of hinge pin socket mount plate 21 ¦ attached to doorway pillar wherein:
22 ¦ l - Doorway frame pillars 23 ¦ 8 - Hinge pin sockets 24 ¦ lO - Hinge pin socket mount plate 25 ¦ 3 - Doorway threshold 26 ¦ 28 - Screws to attach hinge pin socket mount plate 27 ¦ to doorway frame 28 ¦ ` Fig, 6, Plan view of hinge pin socket mount plate attached 29 to spring loaded pole and safety gate mounted thereon, wherein:

Pa~ 8 , . .

ll FILE ~ Jo-4-86 ~X861~4 DA~I~
' PAPI~R ~
1 1 - Doorway frame pillar 2 5 - Gate segment 3 6 - Spring loaded pole 4 8 - Hinge pin socket 9 - Hinge pin finger 6 10 - ~inge pin socket mount plate 7 38 - Idler ~langed spool assembly (see Fig. 14) 8 39 - Locking and release mechanism o~ center bars 9 (see Fig. 11) 10 ~ig. 7. Elevation view o~ safety gate unit mounted on hinge attached to spring loaded pole.
1 - Door frame pillar 3 2 - Grill oi gate segments 4 5,5' - ~ttached gate segments 6 - Spring loaded pole 6 7,7' - Slots in center bar oi each gate segment 17 8 - ~linge pin socket 18 9 - llinge pin finger 1~ 10 - ~inge pin socket mount plate 20 20 - Gate sag bumper 21 .22,22' - Center bars of gate segments 22 34,34' ~ Slot holes in slots in gate center bar segment 23 38 - Idler ~langed spool (see ~ig. 14) 24 39 - Locking and release mechanism o~ center bars 25 (see Fig. 11) 26 42 - Upper gate lock U latch 27 45 - Lower gate lock U latch 47 - Button to actuate gate lock lever release 28 Fig. 8, Elevation Yiew of safety gate unit mounted on hinge 29 attached to spring loaded pole and locking latch o~ swinging Pd~e 9 12 8 6 ~34 DATE
I PAPER It 1 ¦gate end engaging stop on spring loaded pole.

3 ¦2 - Grill of gate segments 4 ¦5,5' - Attached gate segments 5 16 - Spring loaded pole 6 ¦ 7,7' - Slots in center bar of each gate segment 7 ¦ ` 8 - Hinge pin socket 8 9 - Hinge pin g lO - Hinge pin socket mount plate ll - Spring loaded stop pole 1 20 - Gate sag bumper 12 22,22' - Center bars of gate segments 3 34,34' - Slot holes in slots in gate center bar segment 14 38 - Idler flanged spool (see Fig. 14) 39 - Locking and release mechanism of center bars 16 (see Fig. ll) 17 42 - Upper gate lock U latch 18 45 - Lower gate lock U latch 19 47 - Button to actuate gate lock leYer release.
Fig. 9, Eleyation Yie~ of safety gate unit mounted on hinge 21 attached to clamp on unit Iastened to door frame pillar.
22 l - Door frame pillar 23 2 - Grill of gate segments 24 5,5~ - ~ttached gate segments 7,7' - Slots in each gate segment 26 8 - llinge pin sockets 27 9 - Hinge pin fingers 28 lO - Hinge pin sucket mount plate 2 - ll - Socket mount plate clamp P,~lO

~ 86134 Fl~ ~ Jo-4-86 DAIE
P~PEI'I
1 ].2 - Clamp holding bolts 2 20 - Gate SQg bumper 3 22,22' - Center bars of gate segments 4 34,34' - Slot holes in slots in gate center bar segment 38 - Idler flanged spool (see fig, 14) ~ 39 - Locking and release mechanism of center bars 7 (see Fig. ll) 8 42 - Upper gate lock U latch 9 45 - Lower gate lock U latch 47 - Button to actuate gate lock lever release 11 Fig. lO, Elevation view of safety gate apparatus mounted 12 on hinge attached to door frame pillar.

13 5,5' - Gate segments 14 7,7' - Slots in center bar of gate segment 8 - IIinge pin socket 16 9 - Hinge pin fingers 17 22,22' - Center bars of gate segments 18 34,34' - Slot holes in slots in gate center bar segment 19 38 - Idler flange spool (see Fig. 14) 39 - Locking and release mechanism of center bars 21 (see Fig. ll) 22 42 - Upper gate lock U latch 23 45 - Lo~er gate lock U latch 24 47 - Button to actuate gate lock leYer ~elease 25 Fig, ll, Elevation vie~ of locking and release mechanism 26 fitting in and joining slots in center bars of gate segments.
27 13 - Fastener joinin~ flanges 32 to body 31 28 14 - ~lexible reed 29 15 - ~lange 18 ~ Spool section Pa~

~ ¦¦ 12861~4 FIL~ ~ Jo-4-86 DATE
PAPER
1 ¦ 19 - Finger grip on flexible reed 2 ¦ 31 - Body section 3 ¦39 - Elevation view of assembled locking and release 4 ¦mechanism Iitting in slots and joining center 5 ¦bars of gate segments.
6 ¦Fig. 12. Plan view of release mechanism fitting in and 7 ¦ joining slots in center bars of gate segments wherein:
8 ¦13 - Fastener joining flanges 32 to body 31 9 ¦14 - Flexible reed 1015 - Flanges 1118 - Spool section lock 1219 - Finger grip on flexible reed 1331 - Body section 14 Fig. 13, Showing enlarged elevation end view of slots in 15center bars of gate segments as held in position by flanged 16spool, 36 assembly of Fig. 11, 175,5' - Gate segments 187 - Slots in center bar segments 1915 - Flanges on spool segment 2022,22' - Center bar of gate segment 2134 - Slot holes in slots in center bar of gate 22segment (see Fig, 15) 2336,36' - Tongue on slide of center bars of gate segments 2437,37' - Groove for tongue on slide of center bars of 25gate segments 26 Fig. 14. Idler flanged spool, 2721 - Flanged spool segment 2832 - Spool section between flanges 2935 - Fastener pin 3~ 1~p,3~l2 ¦ 1~86134 FlLE ~ Jo-4-86 tlATE
PAPER ~
1 38 - Edge elevation view of Idler ~langed spool 2 asse~nbly joining center bar segments.
3 Fig. 15. Elevation view of slots in center bar segments 4 wherein:
5,5' - Gate segment 6 7,7' - Slots in center bar of gate segment 7 22,22' - Center bar of gate segment a 34 - Slot holes in slots in center bar of gate segment 9 Fig. 16. Elevation of spring loaded pole wherein:
10 23 - Spring anchor ~astener 11 24 - Compression coil spring 12 25 - emale pole segment 13 27 - Spring wind pin 14 29 - Male pole segment 15 30 - Rubber end bumpers of pole ends 16 33 - Assembled spring loaded pole 17 Fig. 17. Plan view of center bar of gate segments 22 and 18 22' attached together adjusting gate to selected width wherein:

19 5,5' - Gate segments 20 13 ~ Fastener joining flanges 32 to body 31 21 14 - Flexible reed 22 15 - Flanges 23 l9 - ~inger grip on flexible reed 24 21 - Flanges on spool segment 25 22,22' - Center bars of gate segments 26 31 - Body section of fastener of center bars of gate 27 segments 28 Fig. 18, This is isometric elevation view of gate locking 29 tion o:l' gate apparatus wherein 3~ ~ p,~ 9 11~86134 FILE ~ Jo-~-86 PA~eR ~
1 5 - Gate segment 2 7,7' - Slots in center bar o~ each gate segment 3 22 - Center bar of gate segment 4 34 - Slot holes in slots in center bar o~ gate segment 41 - Pivot fastener bearing upper 6 42 - Upper gate lock U latches 7 45 - Lower gate lock U latches .
8 46 - Leg joining upper and lower gate lock U latches 9 48 - Pivot fastener bearing ~or lower U latches 50 - Center web of gate segment 51 - Rims of periphery of gate sections joined by 12 center web, 13 Fig, l9, Elevation view of mechanism to lock and unlock 14 gate with the mechanism shown in the locked position, wherein:
15 5 - Gate segment 16 41 - Pivot fastener bearing 17 42,42' - Upper gate lock U latches 18 43 - Notch in gate lock lever release 19 44 - Flexible section of gate lock lever release 21 46 - Legs joining upper and lower gate lock U latches 22 47 - Button to actuate gate lock flexible le~er release 23 Fig, 20. Ele~ation view of mechanism to lock and unlock 24 gate showing the gate lock lever release in fle~ed unlock position, wherein:
26 5 - Gate segment 28 41,41' - Pivot fastener bearings 29 42,42 - Upper gate lock U latches Pa~ 1 4 ~286134 FILE # Jo-~-86 PAPEF~ 1 1 43 - Notch in gate lock lever release 2 44 - Flexible section of gate lock lever release 4 46' - Legs joining upper and lower gate lock U lever latches, 6 Fig. 21, Elevation view of mechanism to lock and unlock 7 gate showing the gate lock lever release latch in flexed unlocked 8 position, and rotated 90 degrees to release gate lock U lever g latch from gate stop to allow gate to swing open, wherein:
105 - Gate segment 1241,41' - Pivot fastener bearings 1342,42' - Upper gate lock U latches 444 - Flexible section of gate lock lever release ~
1646 - Legs joining upper and lower gate lock U latches.
17 Fig. 22, This is section B-B of Fig. l, showing configurati~
18 of periphery o~ gate sections wherein:
19 50 - Center web of "H" section 51 - Rims of periphery of gate sections joined by 21 center web, 22 Fig. 23, This is an exploded enlarged eleyation end view of 23 Fig. 13 assembly showing tongue and groove prior to fitting 24 together of the center bar segments ~herein:
255,5' - Gate segments 267,7' - Slots in center bar segments 2715 - Flanges on`spool segment 2822,22' - Center bar oI gate segment 2934 - Slot boles in slots in center b~r of gate segment 30(see Fig. 15) Pa~

~ ~Z86134 FILE ~ Jo-4-86 DATE

1 ¦ 36,36' - Tongue on slide of center bars of gate segments 2 ¦ 37,37' - Grooves ~or tongues on slide of center bars of gate segments, 28 .

Pa~a 1 6 ~ 86134 FILE ~ Jo-4-86 DATE
PAPER
1 DETAILED DESCRIPT10~ OF INVENTION

3 ~djustable width doorway safety gate apparatus of this 4 invention comprises two gate segments 5 and 5' fastened together 6 by means o~ release mecllanism fitting in and joining overlapping, 6 7 grooves in each gate segment, These grooves in each gate 7 segment 7, are located in 22,22' center bars of gate segments.
8 The release mechanism of Figs. 11 and 12 fitting in and joining 9 overlapping gate segments, is positioned in the slots 7, located in center bars of gate segments 22,22', 11 The release mechanism is comprised of fastener 13 joining 12 flanges 15 to body section 31, and flexible reed 14 fastened 13 on one end by means oi 13 fastener joining flanges 15 to body 14 31, On the flexible reed 14 on the end opposite the fastener 13 there is finger grip 19 on flexible reed end, and this finger 16 grip 19 is set at an angle of about 45 degrees, The spool section 17 18 is attached to Ilexible reed 14, such that as flexible reed 18 14 is raised by lifting the end 19 the spool section 18 is then 19 withdrawn from matching slots 7,7' and holes 34 and 34' in center bars 22, 22' o~ gate segments, to allow the gate segments 21 5 and 5' to be adjusted for suitable doorway width, 22 The hinges are comprised of hinge pin fingers 9 pointing 23 downwards, and rigidly attached to the outer vertical edge of 24 gate segment 5' for example, and these hinge pin fingers 9 are inserted in hinge pin sockets 8, hinge pin sockets 8 are mounted 26 on hinge pin socket mount plate lO, and hinge pins 9 are held in 27 hinge pin sockets 8 by means o~ hinge pin keys 16, The hinge 28 pin keys 16 can be withd~awn through hinge pin socket 8 only when 29 the hinge pins are aligned with hinge pin grooYe keyway slots 17, Page , 1 7 . .,"~

~ lZ86134 ~ILE ~ Jo-4-86 C)AT ~ _ 1 The hillge pin l~eys 16 are so aligned with the gate hal~ 5 that 2 ¦ the keys 16 can be aligned with hinge pin groove keyway slot 17 3 ¦only wllen the gate halves are full open, or 90 from closed.
4 ¦ Gate sag bumper 20, prevents the hinge pin fingers 9 from ¦being damaged when the gate is stressed downward, such as by a 6 ¦youngster crawling on top of the gate segments.
7 ¦ The adjustable width safety gate apparatus of this inven-8 ¦ tion may be hung or mounted, see Fig. 7 and 8, by attaching the 9 ¦hinge pin socket mount plate 10 to a spring loaded pole 6, then ¦mounting the width adjusted ~ate segments 5 - 5' with the hinge 11 ¦pin fingers 9, attached to an outer vertical gate edge, in hinge 12 ¦ pin sockets 8, 13 ¦ The sprillg loaded pole 6 comprises a male pole segment 29 14 ¦ and a female pole segment 25 and a spiral compression coil ¦ spring 24 firmly attached at one end of the spring 24 to a spring 16 anchor fastener 23 at the closed end of the female pole segment 17 25, capped by a rubber end bumper 30 at the female pole end. The 18 end oi the spiral compression coil spring 24, opposite the end 19 attached to the spring anchor 23 will.extend lnto the male pole segment 29 and be threaded around spring wind pin 27 to adjust 21 the compression of the spring 24 to rigidly hold the assembled 22 spring loaded pole 33, having rubber end bumpers of pole ends 23 30 at each end (top and bottom) of the assembled pole.
24 The adjustable width gate can be mounted on a spring loaded pole, as disclosed aboYe, or the mounting can be made on the 26 doorway pillar frame as shown in ~ig, 9, which discloses in 27 elevation view, of safety gate unit mounted on doorway frame 28 pillar 1, wherein attactled gate segments 5 - 5`, with hinge pin 29 fingers 9 attached to the outer vertical edge of segment 5~, FILE ~ Jo-4-86 ~ 8~;134 DAtE

1 and the hinge pin Iingers 9 are mounted in hinge pin sockets 8, 2 and hinge pin sockets 8, attàched to hinge pin socket mount plate 3 is rigidly attached to socket mount plate clamp ll, the socket 4 mount plate clamp ll is rigidly attached to door frame pillar l by means of clamp holding bolts 12.

6 To adjust the gate segments 5,5' to the proper width, to 7 fit in a doorway opening, the slots in center bar of gate seg-8 ment 7,7' are aligned and in side to side contact, as shown in 9 Fig, 14 and are fastened together by means of idler ~langed spool comprising a flanged spool segment and wherein the body portion 32 of the flanged spool segment is of such dimension to freely 2 slide in slots 7 in center bars of grate segments and the flanges 13 21 extend beyond the width of the slots. In addition to above 14 r flanged spool segment or idler flanged spool the gate segments are further held together in side to side contact by means of 16 elongated spool body section 31, which is of such thickness to 17 slide freely in slots 7,7' in center bar of gate segments 5,5'.
18 On tightening the flanges 15, the gate segments 5,5' are held 19 rigidly ad~usted to width, when spool section 18 is inserted in slot holes 34 in slots in center bars of gate segments.

21 To adjust the width of the gate segments 5,5', before 22 fastening the flanges 21 on the spool sections 32 fitting in 23 slots in center bar of gate segment, the flexible reed 14 24 fastened on one end to flange 15 and the opposite end of the flexible reed has mounted thereon a spool section 18 which is of 26 such diameter to fit in the slot holes 34,34' of the aligned 27 slots in center bar of gate segments 7,7'. See ~ig. ll legend 28 36, locking mechanism.
29 The slot holes 34,34' mentioned above axe enlaxged areas of the slots 7,7~.

~ 86134 FIL~ # Jo-4-86 DATE
¦ PAPER J
1 ¦ On the spool end section of -the flexible reed 14 is a 2 ¦finger grip l9, which serves to provide a grip to raise the spool 3 ¦section 18 out of the holes 34,3~' to adjust the gate segments 4 15,5' to the proper width, then the finger grip l9 is released to ¦drop the spool section 18 into aligned holes 3~,34' in slots 6 122,22'.
7 ¦ In regard to latching the assembled gate segments in a door-8 ¦way, reference is now made to Figs. 18, 19 and 20, The latching g ¦mechanism comprises gate lock flexible lever release 44, actuated ¦by pushing button 47 outward to release notch in gate lock lever 11 ¦release 43 from gate segment 5, see Fig, 19, and flexible lever 12 ¦release 44, is rotated back and fortll 90 degrees on pivot 13 ¦~astener 41, and upper gate lock U latches ~2,42' and lower gate 14 lock U latches 45,~5' connected together by legs ~6,~6' are raised upward as shown in Fig. 20 to release the latches from 16 the locked position to allow the gate to swing open, The gate 17 lock U latches are lowered to straddle the gate stop pillar or 18 spring mounted pole by rotating flexible leYer release 40 counter 19 clockwise, In all of the above discussion when legends with the prime 21 (') are used, this indicates similar con~iguration to the same 22 number but without the prime(').
23 Further description of the invention may be described as an 24 adjustable width doorway safety gate apparatus comprising two gate segments, 5,5' slidably attached each to the other by means 26 of an Idler flanged spool segment 38 extending through slots in 27 center bars 22,22' of gate segments and flanges 21 on the Idler 28 spool se~ment 32 extending beyond the width of the slots 7,7' 29 and spaced apart from the Idler spool segment, a locking and Pa~2 0 ~ . ....

~ FILE ~ Jo-4-86 1286134 DAtE
l PAPEfl #
1 ¦ release means 18 extendin~ through slot holes 34 and flanges 15 2 ¦ of the locking and release means extending beyond the width of the slots and a flexible reed 14 attached on its end to the flange 4 ¦ 15 o~ locking and release means to lock the two gate segments 15,5' slidably attached each to the other by means of a lock spool 6 ¦section 18 attached to the flexible reed end 19 and the opposite 7 ¦end of the reed attached to flange 15 of the locking and release 8 ¦means and the lock spool section 18 extending through aligned g ¦slot holes 34 in the slots 7 in the center bar segments Z2, to ¦rigidly lock the two gate segments 5,5' together and hinges 9 11 ¦mounted on outer vertical edge of one gate segment 5' and gate 12 ¦lock latches 42,42' and ~5,45' comprising upper 42,42' and lower 3 145-45' gate lock U latches mounted on outer vertical edge of 4 ¦ gate 5 opposite the hinges 9 and the upper and lower gate lock ¦U latches connected together to act in concert by means of a 16 ¦connecting leg 46 and a notched gate lock release le~er 47 17 ¦ attached to flexible section 44 of gate lock lever release 47 18 ¦ mounted on pivot fastener 41 bearing and the notched gate lock 19 release le~er 47 attached to the upper gate lock U latch 42,42' and the gate assembly 5,5' mounted in a doorway.
21 The gate assembly may be hung or mounted on hinges attached 22 to a doorway pillar, or the hinges may be mounted on a spring 23 loaded pole and the assembled gate hung thereon, 24 The above disclosed ad~ustable width doorway safety gate apparatus comprises center bars 22,22' flush with one surface of 26 the gate outer periphery 51 o~ the gate segments ~nd the center 27 bars 22,22' ride on o~.fset grooYes 37,37' and runners 36 and 36' 28 tsee Fig. 23), The abo~e then allows the gate segments to be 29 molded of thermoplastic and the tongue and grooves then mesh together on in~erting one ga-te segment so that the mirror image 31 of the center bar segments fit together.

I p~,21

Claims (3)

1. Adjustable width doorway safety gate apparatus wherein the improvement comprises:
two gate segments slidably attached each to the other by means of an idler flanged spool segment extending through slots in center bars of gate segments and flanges on said spool segment extending beyond the width of said slots and spaced apart from said idler flanged spool segment, a locking and release means extending through said slots and flanges of said locking and release means extend-ing beyond the width of said slots and a flexible reed attached on its end to said flange of locking and release means and means to lock the said two gate segments slidably attached each to the other by means of a lock spool section attached to said flexible reed end opposite end attached to flange of said locking and release means and said lock spool section extending through aligned holes in said slots in center bar segments, to rigidly lock the two gate segments together, and hinges mounted on outer vertical edge of one gate segment, and gate lock latches comprising upper and lower gate lock U-latches mounted on outer vertical edge of gate opposite the hinges, and said upper and lower gate lock U-latches connected together to act in concert, by means of a connecting leg, and a notched gate lock release lever attached to flexible section of gate lock lever release mounted on pivot fastener bearing, and said notched gate lock release lever attached to said upper gate lock U-latch, rotatable 90 degrees back and forth to activate upper and lower gate lock U-latches to straddle and release gate stop pillar for lock-ing of safety gate mounted in a doorway.

2. Adjustable width doorway safety gate apparatus of claim 1 of two gate segments slidably attached each to the other, wherein the improvement comprises:
center bars of gate segments and said center bars are flush with one surface of said gate segments and said center bars ride on offset grooves and matching runners of said center bars.

3. Adjustable width doorway safety gate apparatus of claim 1 wherein the improvement comprises:
two gate segments slidably attached each to the other, and hinges mounted on outer vertical edge of one gate segment, said hinges consisting of hinge pins pointed down-ward and mounted on edge of one gate segment, and said hinge pins of gate segment mounted in hinge pin sockets mounted on spring loaded pole in doorway and keyways in said hinge pin sockets and hinge pin key segments on bottom end of said hinge pins.