US1395927A - Car-door opener - Google Patents

Description

D. WIMILLSAPS.

CAR DOOR OPENER. APPLICATION min Nov. 24, 1911. RENEWED MAR. 2

Patented Nov. 1, 192 1.

I figlf 46 I CAR-DOOR OPENER.

Application filed November 24, 1917, Serial No. 203,810. Renewed March 24, 1921.

To all who met may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL W. MILL- SAPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenville, in the county of Greenville and State of South Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Openers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved handle or opener for sliding doors, such as the doors of railway freight cars, and it is an improvement on the device of this class for which Letters Patent of the United States, No. 973,773, wereissued to me on October 11, 1910.

One object of the present invention is to produce an improved construction whereby the pole which constitutes the door handle will be held steady during operation preventing the pole from bending when made of light material.

A further object of the invention is to provide the pole with an anti-friction roller to facilitate the movement of the pole along its supporting rod when desired, the lower end of the rod being usually swung down ward with respect to the door when such change in position has to be effected, said roller serving also to prevent the lower end of the pole from swinging outward with respect to the door.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear, as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists-in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited. but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims maybe resorted to when desired.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation'of a portion of a freight car and the door to which the invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of a portion of the supporting rod showing also, partly in section, a portion of the pole sup- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

Serial No. 455,327.

ported thereon, said pole being in tilted or inclined position.

Fig. 41 is a view in side elevation showing a portion of the supporting rod and a portion of the pole, the latter being in perpendicular position.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 in Fig. 4. i

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view of the retaining clip or clamp used in connection with the invention.

- Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

As shown in Fig. 1 the freight car 15 is provided with the usual and customary upper and lower tracks 16, 17 on which the car door 18 is adapted to travel. Secured upon the door near the upper end thereof is a rod 19, said rod being approximately horizontally disposed near the top of the door from the face of which it is properly spaced. 20 designates the operating pole which is provided near its upper end with an eye 21 engaging the rod 19 along which the pole may thus be moved. The pole is of such length that it will extend below the bottom of the door and preferably also below the bottom of the car, said pole being bent at the lower end thereof to form a loop 22 constituting a handle whereby it may be conveniently manipulated. The pole at the upper end thereof has a spindle 23 that extends above the rod 19 and on which an anti-friction roller 24; is journaled, said roller engaging the face of the door above the rod 19. r

A retaining device for the pole 20 is provided, said retaining device being in the nature of a sleeve 25 best seen in Fig. 6, said sleeve having divergent resilient wings 26 each of which is provided with'sharp teeth 27 formed by serrating the edges thereof. As seen in Fig. 6 the device may be formed by bending a plate of resilient metal so as to form the sleeve 25 and the wings 26 integral therewith, the sleeve thus constituting a resilient clamp which, when mounted on the pole 20, will be frictionally retained thereon in properly adjusted position.

When the invention is applied to a car door and the pole 20 is tilted as seen in Fig. 1, the upper and lower edges of the eye 21 will engage or bite into the rod 19 so that when the lower end of the pole 20 is pushed in the proper direction, there will not only be a slight lifting action on the door, but the latter will also be pushed in the proper direction for opening without danger of the pole 2O slipping along the rod. The pole will also be retained in the proper position and bending of the pole will be prevented by the action of the clip including the sleeve 25 which may be readily adjusted to the most convenient position for successful operation. The clip will also prevent the lower end of the rod from swinglng or swaying in a.

plane parallel to the face of the door while swinging of the lower end of the pole outwardly from the car door is prevented by the engagement of the anti-friction roller 2% with the face of the car door above the rod 19. The clip will be held in engagement with. the vface on the car door by reason of the angular relation of the Wings 26 of such clip, as the serrated ends of the wings will be forced into the door under the pressure on the rod in moving the door. When it shall be desired to change the position of the pole with respect to the rod, the lower end of the pole is moved slightly outward from the door to disengage the clip after which the anti-friction roller will facilitate the traveling of the pole along the support-- ing rod 18. It is obvious that when the door is to be closed the pole will be moved to a tilted position opposite to that shown in Fig. 1 while, when the car is traveling, the pole is preferably moved to a perpendicular position shown in Fig. 4;.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. The combination with a horizontally sliding door, of a rod secured across said door in a substantially horizontal-position near the top, a pole having an eye engaging the rod said pole having its upper end eX- tended above the rod and provided with a spindle, and an anti-friction roller journaled on the spindle and engaging the door.

2.'The combination with a horizontally sliding door, of a rod secured across said door in a substantially horizontal position near the top, a pole having an eye engaging the rod and a sleeve slidable on the pole and having divergent resilient-serrated wings engaglng the face of the door.

3. The combination with a horizontally sliding door, of a rod secured across said door in a substantiallp horizontal position near the top, a pole having an eye engaging the rod, door engaging means on the pole above the rod, and door-engaging means 'on the pole below the rod, both said means providing that the portions of said pole above and below therod will be forced outward with respect to the face of the door, thereby a clamp adjustable on the pole below the rod, said clamp having serrated wings engaging the face of the door.

5. The combinatlon with a horizonatlly shdmg door, of a rod secured across said door near the top in a substantially hori-' zontal position, a pole slidably engaging the rod, and extending above and below the same, an anti-friction roller at the upper end of the pole engaging the face of the door and a resilient clamping sleeve adjustable on the pole below the rod, said sleeve having divergent resilient wings provided with serrated edges engaglng the face of the door.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

DANIEL wQ MILLSAPS.

Images