US1450234A - Combined door closer, starter, and lock - Google Patents

Description

Apr. 3, 1923. 1,450,234

' A. E. SMALL COMBINED DOOR CLOSER, STARTER, AND LOCK Filed May16, 1921 2 sheets-shegt l fweniof Small 4florne z Apr. 3, 1923.

A. E. SMALL COMBINED DOOR CLOSER, STARTER, AND LOCK Filed May 16, 1921 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Apr. 3, 1923.

UNITED s "TE OFFICE.-

ARTHUR E. SMALL, oroHIcAGo, ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR ,To WALTER r. MURPHY, or

CHICAGO,

' ILLINOIS.

COMBTNED DOOR CLOSER, STARTER, 'AND LOCK.

Application filed May 16,

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, ARTHUR E. SMALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Combined Door Closers, Starters, and Locks, of which the following is a specification Thisapplication relates toimprovements in side doors for freight cars, and more particularly, to a combined door closer, starter and lock.

It is the object of this invention to provide a device of this character which may .7 be readily attached to freight car side doors now in use which will positively close the door completely, start the opening of the closed door, and when the door is in closed position, provide a means for'readily locking and sealing the door.

There is considerable difiiculty experienced with side doors of freight cars in service inmaking a complete closure of the door by hand and the same difficulty is experienced when the car reaches its destination to start the opening of the closed door. The proposed device is applied to the door in such a manner that as the door approaches the closed position the device may be operated by the train man to complete the closure without the necessity of the exertion of extraordinary effort or the application of any additional means. As this device employs the principle of the lever the initial impetus of opening and closing the door may be imparted by the train man without the exertion of extraordinary force. Another advantage of this device is that when the door is open it lays back out of the Way and when the door is closed it willalso act as a door lock.

While the preferred form of this invention is illustrated upon the accompanying sheets of drawing, yet it is to be understood that minor detail changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof.

In'the drawings, Fig. lrepresents aportion of the side of va freight car illustrating 1921. Serial No. 470,080.

a side door thereon in closed position, with parts broken away, to which this improved device has been applied and in dotted. lines inend' elevation of a bracket employed for engagement with the door closer and starter lever when the side door is not supported upon rollers at its bottom.

The side door 1, as illustrated, is of a usual construction having a 'Z-bar 2-along its bottom which travels over rollers 3 mounted in brackets 4L secured to the side 5 of the car and provided with interlocking sections -6 and 7 along its top edge and car side walls respectively and having a customary form of weather and spark-strip 8 which embraces the vertical edge of the door when the door is closed.

The combined door closer, starter and look as contemplated by this'invention -comprises a base plate 9 secured to the bottom edge of the'door preferablyrabove one of the intermediate bottom supporting roller brackets when the door .is in closed position, which base plate is preferably provided with longitudinal flanges adapted to embrace and engage the outside flange of the'Z-bar 2' alongthebottomof :the door. An operating lever having a boss 10 is mounted on a pivot extending'horizontally and centrally from the base plate, said lever having an upwardly .extending operating handlell from the boss 10 which is sufficiently spaced apart from the side of the door to be readily grasped by the handof train manand a downwardly extending portion 12 in line with the operating handle but preferably in a plane adjacentthe side of the door which is adapted toen'gage a stop and enter into apocket extending outwardly from the side wall of the car.

This stop is preferably formed integral with the bracket 4 of the door rollerdirectly under the device when the door is in closed position, and, as illustrated, Figs. 1 and 2, consists in the provision in the bracket casting of a pocket 13 and a stop 14 on the exterior of the bracket, the stop let preferably being formed by an upward extension of the pocket wall on the side adjacent the vertical edge of the door in closed position and the pocket being of such dimensions and so arranged as to receive and engage the end portion 12 of the operating lever, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

To form a door lock and seal the upper extremity of the operating handle 11 is provided with spaced apart parallel perforated lugs 15 extending in the direction of the closed edge of the door adapted when the door is in closed position and the operating lever swung to a vertical to embrace between them a perforated lug 16 carried on a base plate 17 secured to the side of the door which base plate is also provided with an upper perforated lug 18 for mounting a locking pin 19 which, when the door is closed and the operating lever in the vertical, will pass through the four perforated lugs 18, 15 and 16 extending therebeyond with an aperture provided in the lower extremity for the passage of a car sealing strip.

This device is illustrated, in full lines in Fig. 1 in the closed and locked position of the door. The operating lever is in the vertical with the upper extremity locked and sealed, the lower extremity extending into and engaged by the pocket 13. To open the door the seal is broken, the sealing strip removed, the lock pin lifted, the operating handle 11 grasped by the train man and pulled down to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. This movement will cause the lower end of the operating lever to engage and fulcrum against the side wall of the pocket 13 and extension 14 thereof mounted On the -side wall of the car and through its pivot upon the car door impart an initial impetus to the opening movement of the door which when once started may be concluded by hand in the usual manner. It is preferable to secure the base plate 9 by bolts passing through outwardly extending bosses 20 arranged on each side of the pivotal boss 10 and so formed that they will be engaged by and limit the amount of swing of the lower portion of the operating lever, as shown in dotted lines on Fig. 1, the weight of the operating handle being sufiicient to maintain the lever in this position while the door is open. To complete the closure of the door after it has been closed by hand until the edge is adjacent the spark and weather strip 8 which will bring the lower free end of the operating lever over the pocket 13 the operating handle is grasped by the train man and forced upwardly to the vertical, the lower portion engaging as a fulcrum the rear wall of the pocket 13 and ,will complete the closure of the door.

While this invention is illustrated as applied to a bottom supported door it may be readily applied toa top hung door by the application of the bracket shown in Figs. 3, 4L and 5 to the side of the car under the position occupied by this device when the door is in closed position. This bracket comprises a base plate 21 adapted to be bolted or otherwise secured to the side wall of the car having a horizontal extension 22 provided with an opening 23 extending therethrough and surrounded by the de pending walls 24 to form a pocket corresponding to the pocket 13 on the roller bracket with one wall extended upward to form the stop 25 corresponding to the stop 14 on the roller bracket illustrated in Fig. 1. The operation of the device in connection with this bracket is the same as above described. The curved upstanding lug 26, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, a and 5, may be employed in connection with a top hung door having the same form of Z-bar along its bottom edge, as shown in Fig. 1, and the lug 26 will act as a guide for the lower flange of the Z-bar to maintain the.

bottom of the door against the door sill.

lVhat I claim is:

1. A freight car side door closer and starter comprising a lever having a. perforated boss pivotally mounted therethrough to the door adjacent itsbottom edge, said lever comprising an operating handle extending upwardly from said boss and spaced apart from the door surface and a portion depending handle and adjacent the door surface, and a stationary engaging member secured to the car side comprising a bracket having an extension providedwith an aperture adapted to receive the free end of the depending portion of the lever with the side walls of the aperture acting as a fulcrum for the lever when the lever is moved about its pivot.

2. A freight car side door closer, starter and lock comprising a lever having a perforated boss pivotally mounted therethrough to the door adjacent its bottom edge, said lever comprising an operating handle extending upwardly from the boss and spaced apart from the door surface and a portion depending from the boss in line with the handle and adjacent the door surface, a stationary engaging member secured to the car side comprising a bracket having an extension provided with an aperture adapted to receive the free end of the depending portion of the lever with the side walls of the aperture acting as a fulcrum for the lever when the lever is moved about its from the boss in line with they pivot, a lock pin slidably mounted in peris in closed position, said lock pin adaptforated lugs extending outwardly from a ed to pass through the perforations insaid base plate secured .to the car door and lugs and extend therebelow with the lower 10 spaced apart perforated lugs extending extremity of said lock pin having a slot 5 from the extremity of the handle portion therethrough adapted 'to receive a sealing of the lever adapted to receive between them strip. one of the lugs of the lock pin when the door ARTHUR E. SMALL.

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