US1141849A - Gate-operating means. - Google Patents

Description

M. A. STICKLEY.

GATE OPERATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30.19I5.

' Patented June 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NORFI/S PETERS 60.. PHlTC-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D C.

M. A. ST!CK LEY.

GATE OPERATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30, I915. 1,141,849. Patented June 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

7H5 NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, O, C.

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MARCUS ALLEN STICKLEY, OF STRASBURG, VIRGINIA.

GATE-OPERATING MEANS.

Application filed January 30, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARCUS ALLEN STICK- LEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Strasburg, in the county of Shenandoah and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gate- Operating Means, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in gates, and more particularly to operating mechanisms for that type of farm gate designed to be opened from a distance.

The main object in view is to provide a mechanism of this character which is a unitary structure of itself susceptible of being manufactured at a minimum expense and supplied to the trade for attachment to the conventional gate constructions, thereby eliminating the necessity of dispensing with the gate with which one may be already provided as is usual in equipping with devices of this type, where the operating mechanism forms a part of the gate structure.

To the end of accomplishing the forego ing object, the invention consists of operating mechanism comprising in essential characteristics a toggle oint arrangement adapted for disposition adjacent to a gate, one of the members of which is connected to said gate for opening and closing the same, operating members being provided for actuating the toggle either at a distance in any direction with respect to the gate, or from the gate itself, the operating members including a shifting lever adapted to coact with lifting arms formed on the toggle, the cooperation being such that the gate will not have any tendency to stop at dead center whether or not given sufficient momentum to pass by dead center.

In addition, a shifting stop member is provided for cooperation with the lever aforesaid and so arranged with relation thereto as to insure the coaction of the lever with the proper lifting arm according to whether the gate is in open or closed position whereby the maximum leverage for actuating the toggle members is secured.

Furthermore it is contemplated to employ, as hereinbefore premised, auxiliary means for actuating the operating mechanism, comprising an independent lever carried by the toggle which is operativelyconnected to the gate latch bar as will hereinafter be more fully set forth.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1-915.

Serial No. 5,292.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gate provided with the operating mechanism forming the embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the operating mechanism, parts being broken away and shown in section. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the operating mechanism in the position assumed thereby at an intermediate point of the swinging of the gate. Fig. 4: is a view similar to Figs. 2 and '3 with the. operating mechanism in the position assumed when the gate is fully opened. Fig. 5 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view more fully disclosing the guide means for the operating members of the invention.

Referring to the drawings and specifically describing my device, the numeral 1 refers to a gate of conventional form pivotally swung upon the gate post 2 and abutting with the opposite gate post 3, said gate being provided with a pivoted latch bar 1 adapted to engage the dog 5 on the post 3 when the gate is in closed position.

It will be understood that the invention as now to be more specifically described is designed to be applied to any usual type of gate of this character and by reason of its special construction it is unnecessary that the gate posts be removed and inset from their ordinary position adjacent to a road into which the road closed by said gate leads. It is usually necessary that this be done when special gate actuating means are employed, in order to obtain the proper disposition of the operatingcords or cables for swinging the gate, but this objection has beenpurposefully overcome in the construction of my device which consists in essential characteristics of a toggle lever comprising the jointed sections 6 and 7 pivotally connected at 8. The extremity of the section 7 is pivotally and loosely connected to the gate 1 asindicated at 9, while the corresponding end of the lever section 6 is pivoted to a suitable anchoring post 10 located adjacent to the gate and at one side thereof.

It'will be observed that the section 6 is preferably formed of double strap construction clearly shown in Fig. 5, the lower pivoted end of which is spread open to engage at opposite sides of the post 10. Adjacent to the opposite end of the section 6 said section is formed with laterally extending lifting arms 11 the extremities. of which arms are bent laterally again as indicated at 11, for a purpose to be more clearly understood as this description proceeds.

The section 7 of the toggle is formed with a rearward extension 7 offset from the main portion of the section so as to normally lie upon the coacting lever section 6 when the toggle is in extended position, as when the gate is closed. This extension 7' limits the pivotal movement of the toggle sections as will be clearly understood by reference to the drawing. Furthermore it will be noted that the section 7 is disposed between the spaced upper extremity of the coacting section 6. Pivotally secured on the laterally extending stud 12 carried by the section 6, directly adjacent to the lateral arms 11, is the lever 13 which forms one of the operating members provided for actuating the toggle sections 6 and 7 to thereby open and close the gate 1. This lever is freely movable on its pivot in a vertical plane and is of a suflicient length to provide the necessary leverage for easily operating the device. One of the advantages of my special construction is the ability to make this lever of suflicient length to accomplish the desired result with minimum exertion, the said lever is adapted to coact with the lateral lifting arms 11 in breaking the toggle to open and close the gate. The arm with which it coacts is controlled by means of a shifting stop member let which is pivotally secured as indicated by the character 15 at the upper end of the section 6. The stop member 14 is of double-armed formation at its opposite extremity, as denoted by 16, the spaced corresponding arms being adapted to cooperate with the pivoted end of the lever 13. The coaction between the stop member 14 and the lever 13 depends upon the position of the toggle sections. In Fig. 2 is disclosed the position of the device when the gate is closed, the stop member in this position being in its gravitative or lower position with its upper arm directly adjacent to the pivoted end of the lever 13 so as to engage it at one side when an upward pull is exerted against the said lever 13. This insures the cooperation of said lever with the lateral projection 11 of the lowermost lifting arm carried by the section 6. Obviously if the stop member 14: were not employed it would be possible for the lever 13 to swing in the direction away from the lower arm 11 and actuation of the toggle would be defeated. For this reason it is desired that the stantially spent.

movement be in the direction of the arrow in said figure.

As shown in Fig. 3V-the toggle members when they reach a point in which the gate is at its intermediate swinging position where the extremity of the lever 13 and the lower pivot of the section 6 are in a true vertical plane, equivalent to dead center, the greater portion of the elements of the device are disposed at one side of this vertical line and naturally the tendency is to drop or gravitate and continue to pull the gate open even though the momentum when the gatereaches the intermediate position, is sub- The mechanism on the continuance of opening movement falls into the position shown in Fig. 4: wherein the lever 13 has fallen to its lowermost position and the stop member 14 has likewise gravitated to permit its other armed extremity to lie adjacent to the opposite side of the lever from that of its normal position shown in Fig. 2.

It may be noted at this point that the stop member 14 is formed with laterally extending stop fingers 14 at each side of its arms 16 which limit the shifting or swinging movement of said stop member by contact with the section 6 adjacent to which it lies.

In closing the gate it will be apparent that the stop member 14: by reason of its cooperative position with respect to the lever 13, insures that said lever will swing on its pivot in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1 so as to lift against the proper lateral arm 11 which will be the opposite arm to that acted upon in the opening operation of the gate. The special advantage of this arrangement lies in the fact thatby this lever movement the same advantage of leverage is present in the opening and closing actuations of the toggle which is not true with respect to prior arrangements involving toggle members for operating gates of this type.

The operating members for actuating the lever 13 consist preferably of a guide member or rod 17 pivotally connected to the lower extremity of the lever 13 at one end and passing through a guide ring 18 carried near the top of a supporting post 19 located directly adjacentto the anchor post 10 and the gate post 2.. The ring 18 not only guides the rod 17 but is also provided with one or more pulleys 20 through'which pass operating cords or cables 21,.the latter being connected at one end to the rod 17, as inclicated at 17'.

Any number of operating cords 21 may be employed and the arrangement described enables these cords to be extended in any direction from the gate so that it is possible to have a suflicient number to supply not only the road closed by the gate but the road into which the gate road leads. The free extremity of the cords 21 may be suitably Weighted or provided with grip members for pulling, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

In order that the pedestrian may open the gate without employing the operating cords 21, I provide preferably auxiliary operating means for actuating the toggle sections as now to be described. The forward extremity of the section 6 at one side is bent back upon itself as shown at 6 in Fig. 1 and between the rebent end is pivotally mounted a lifting lever 22 extending toward the gate. To the free end of said lifting lever is secured an operating cord 23 passing around a pulley 24: on the gate at an intermediate point and around a second pulley 25 near the opening end of the gate. The operating cord may, if desired, be connected to the latch bar 4 so that when the gate is in closed position said latch will be moved into locking engagement with the inverted dog 5, being drawn up into such engagement by the descent of the lever 22 in the closing of said gate. When the gate is opened the lever 22 assumes the position shown in Fig. 4, the initial opening action allowing the latch bar t to drop out of engagement with the dog as will be obvious. The operating cord 23 may be removed from the latch bar i and attached to the pin 26 if so desired. as when it is unnecessary to provide against possible pressure against the gate from the side opposite to that on which the operating mechanism is arranged. One of the purposes for employing the guide rod 17, aside from its guiding function, is to insure the proper shifting of the lever 13 when the pressure on the operating ropes 21 is released, it being apparent that the weight of said rod will cause the lever 13 to always drop about its pivot into proper position for coacting with the lifting arms of the section 6 in actuating the toggle for opening or closing the ate.

g One of the advantages incidental to the use of the bar 17 is that it enables the operating cords to be arranged in a position where they would be unlikely to become entangled by stock in moving about the apparatus resulting perhaps in the pulling of the gate open or breaking of the operative connections. I have also particularly pivoted the lever 22 with a view to maintaining this lever when the gate is open in a position where said lever will not project rearwardly and be subjected to bending by stock running against the same and possibly injuring themselves.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising a lever connected at one end to the gate and at its other end fixed adjacent to said gate, said lever consisting of jointed sections, one of said sections having a lateral arm, operating means for actuating the lever sections to thereby operate the gate comprising a shifting lever adapted to cooperate with the arm aforesaid, and means adapted to coact with the shifting lever to insure cooperation of the latter with the arm.

2. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising a lever connected at one end to the gate and at its other end fixed adjacent to the gate, said lever consisting of jointed sections, one of said sections having opposing rigid lifting extensions, operating means for actuating the lever sections to thereby operate the gate comprising a freely pivoted lever adapted to abut with said extensions, and means coacting with the pivoted lever to insure cooperation of the same when actuated with one of the extensions in one position of the gate, and with the opposite extension in another position of said gate.

3. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising a lever connected at one end to the gate and at its other end fixed adjacent to the gate, said lever consisting of jointed sections, one of said sections having opposing rigid lifting extensions, operating means for actuating the lever sections to thereby operate the gate comprising a freely pivoted lever adapted to abut with said extensions, and a stop member arranged adjacent to the shifting lever and adapted to engage the same when actuated at one side to cause movement in one direction in one position of the gate and at the other side to cause movement in the opposite direction in another position of the gate.

4. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointed sections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected to the gate and another fixedly secured adjacent thereto, lateral arms formed on one of the toggle members, a lever pivoted adjacent to said arms for coaction therewith when actuated to lift against said arms, an operating member connected to one end of the lever, and a double-armed shiftable stop member arranged adjacent to the pivoted lever and engageable with its other end to cause cooperation of the lever when actuated with the proper arm according to the position of the gate.

5. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointed sections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected to the gate and another fixedly secured adjacent thereto, lateral arms formed on one of the toggle members, a lever pivoted adjacent to said arms for coaction therewith when actuated to lift against said arms, and operating means for actuating said lever including a guide member connected thereto at one end, said guide Awm . (fop ies of this patent inay be obtained for .member normally maintaining the lever in coacting position with respect to the arms aforesaid.

6. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising ointed sections formposition with respect to the arms aforesaid, r

and a flexible operating cable connected to the guide rod.

7. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointed sections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected to the gate and another fixedly secured adjacent thereto, lateral arms formed on one of the togglemembers, a lever pivoted adjacent to said arms for coaction therewith when actuated to lift against said arms, operating means for actuating said lever including'a guide rod connected thereto at one end, said guide rod normally maintaining the lever in coacting position with respect to the arms aforesaid and a flexible operating cable connected to the guiderod,-and a two-armed stop mem- 'ber pivoted adjacent to the pivoted lever for holding the same in position to cooperate with the'proper lateral arm when actuating the toggle me1nbers.

8. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointed sections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected to the gate and the other fixed adjacent thereto, means for actuating the toggle membersincluding a freely piv-;

oted lever carried thereby, an operating rod connected to the lever and normally maintaining said lever below its pivot in open and closed positions of the gate, and a cable for actuating the rod, guide means for said rod disposed adjacent to the gate, and

movable cable supporting means carried by and movable about said guide means for enabling actuation of said cable from any direction with respect to the gate.

7 9. The combination with a gate, a latch bar therefor, of operating mechanism for said gate comprising a lever consisting of jointed'sections, main actuating means for "said sections for opening the gate from a distance and EIUXlllfiIVttCtHELtlIl means for said sections comprising a lifting lever extending longitudinally of and pivotally connectedto one of said sections, and a flexible operating cable connected toathe lever at one end and having its other end disposed adjacent to the opening'end of the gate for lifting the'lever to actuate the jointed lever sections, one of'said sections having a rebent extremity to which the lifting lever is pivoted and against which it abuts for lifting action. g 7

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARCUS ALLEN 'srIoKLEY.

lVitnesses: v a

G.- L. H M, 1 LILLARE FUNK.

five cents each, by addressing the-Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i I

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