US1538545A - Releasing handle for vestibule curtains - Google Patents

Description

Ma 19, 1925. v

- P. G. EMERY RELEASING HANDLE FOR VESTIBULE CURTAINS Filed Jan. 25, 1924" tion of the same, such as will enable others Patented May l9, litdlit'".

- ascensunirao srarns IPA rem reins.

rna're Earner, or entrance, InnI-nors.

iennnasrne nznnntze iron VESTIBULE cements.

Application filed January 25, 1924. -."3 oria1-1 l0.688,.4t-16.

To cZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PLATO G. EM-ERY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Releasing Handles for Vestibule Curtains, and declarethe following to. be a full, clear, and exact descripskilled in the art to, which it pertains to make and use: the sa1ne,.reterence being had i to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification. The present invention relates to handles for automatically releasing the vestibule guard curtains of railway cars separated from each other sufficiently to endanger the safety of the curtains; particularly handles of the type in which there is a movable line.

ger, bail, or other hook-engaging element that is held in its normal working position by spring means whose. resistance must be overcome in order to release the handle; On

various railways, and under (littering conditions, the resistance'that must be overcome to release the handle, or in other Words, the pull which shall be cllective to release the handle varies considerably. One otthe objects oi the present invention is, therefore, to produce a snnple and. novel yielding hold- 7 ing device for the movable elen' ent tor the handle of the character described, which may read-11y be setor ad usted to cause the handle automatically to release when any desired pull is exerted. The nature and use of these release handles are such that the handles are comparatively light and trail and, if they are roughly used by traininen or shopmen, they may become distorted and release under a lesser or greater pull than that which is intended A further object of the present invention is to produce a simple and novel construction. and arrangement whereby, when the movable or release nieniberol the handle is brought into its working position, it will compensate for any small distortion or bending of parts of: the handle which would otherwise affect the adjustment of the catch device,jwhereby tlie handle will always be enabled to release when apredetel-mined pull is exerted thereon. A further,

object of the present invention is to produce a simple and novel tripping device, operated by a chain or other member "for releasing a handle of the character above specified,

without depending on the curtain to exert a su-flieien tpuill to detach the handle from the hook with which it is engaged. i

The variousteatures etnovelty whereby nay invention is characterized will hereinafter he pointed out-with particularity in the claims; but, for a f understanding of any invention and of its objectsand advantages, reterence may be had to the following detaileddescription taken. in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig-ure 1 is a si'deelevation of a. handle arranged in accordance with a preferred form of my invention; Fig. 2' is a section taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 1

and Fig.3 is a section taken approximately on line 38 o l Fig. 1-. Referring to the drawing, that the body, of the handle comprises a: U-

shaped-member consisting of a vertical piece it will be seen that is adapted to fit'over a yieldingly-held i plunger which conveniently takesthe form of a ball 8 loosely arranged in. and projecting out of the top eta: vertical socket 9 in the arn'113. The ball issupported and yieldheld in its working position by a spring 10 underneath the same. The spring rests on a plug ll screwed into the lowerend of the socket 9 so that, by adj ustingtlleplug,

the degree of compression of the spring may a be varied. Therefore, slnce the lower-end of the bar can be released from its working position in which its lower end lits over the upper "portion of the ball only by pressing the ball down against'the resistance of its supporting spring and since the resistance of the spring may "we varied, the handle may be adjusted so as to releasea'vhenthe pull thereon reaches any desired predetermined lnaxii'num. H

If the body of the handle or the bar 5 should become bent or distorted somewhat,

but noteno'ugh to preventthe swinging bar from swlnging into 1tswork1ng posltlon, 1t might happen thatthe ball could exert only a very slight holding influence and, upon I putting the handle into service, it would reany distortion which will interfere with the proper engagement of the free end of the bar 5 with the ball, the forcingof the prongs of the fork into the notches, during the operation of swinging the bar into its working position, will bring about a counter-distortion such that the ball and the bar will be properly engaged with each other.

' In case it is desired to release the handle by a pull exerted through a chain or other element than the curtain itself, this may conveniently be accomplished by mounting on the arm 3 a cam or lever 14 attached to one end of a chain or other flexible device which will not interfere with the roll ing up and unrolling of the curtain, but -will come into play .to operate the member 1a to disengage the free end of the bar 5 from the arm 3 whenever the curtain has been unwound to a, predetermined degree. In the arrangement shown, the member lt is a simple flat dogpivoted between its ends, as indicated at 16, to the arm 8; the operating chain being connected to one end, and the other end being made camshape or eccentric for engaging with the bar 5 and gradually forcing the lower end thereof outwardly when the dog is turned. If desired, a stop or projection 17. may be located on the upper side of the arm 3. in rear of the dog, to limit the swinging movement of the latter.

The fork 13 is shown as'forming part of a plate 18 riveted upon the arm 3, the dog 14: being also mounted on this plate. While this is a convenient arrangement, for manufacturing purposes, my invention is of course not limited to this-particular detail.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact details thus'illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements that come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims. v

I claim:

1. A device of the character described, comprising a U-shaped bodymember, a bar hinged to the free end of one of the arms of said member and having in its free end a seat, the other arm of said member having a socket opening out of the top thereof, a spring in said socket, a catch element resting on said spring and projecting outof the socket to engage in said seat in said bar, and means for adjusting said spring to vary the pressure on said element.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a U-shaped body member, a bar hinged to the free end of one of the arms of said member and having in its free end a seat, the other arm of said member having a socket opening out of the top thereof, a spring in said socket, a catch element resting on said spring and projecting out of the socket to engage in said seat in said bar,

and a support for the lower end of the spring adjustable lengthwise of said socket to vary the initial compression of the spring.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a U-shaped body member, a bar hinged to the free end of one of the arms of said member and-having in its free end a-seat, the other arm of said member having a socket opening out of the top thereof, a spring in said socket, a catch element resting on said spring and projecting out of the socket to engage in said seat in said bar, and a dog movablymounted on said member adjacent to said socket for engaging with said bar near the free end of the latter and forcing it laterally out of engagement with said catch element.

l. In combination, a handle comprising a body member and a bar hinged at one end to said body member, said bar having in the free end a seat, said body member having a socket aligned with said bar when the latter is in its working position, a ball arranged in said socket and adapted to project therefrom into the seat in said bar, and a spring in the socket below said ball. I

5. In combination, a handle comprising a body member and a bar hinged at one end to said body member, said bar having in the free end a seat, said body member having a socket aligned with said bar when the latter is in. its working position, a ballfarranged in said socket and adapted to project therefrom into the seat in said bar, a spring in the socket below said ball, and a support for said spring adjustably screwed into said socket below the spring.

6. In combination, a handle comprising a body men'iber and a bar hinged at one, end to said body member, means for detachably holding the free end of said bar to said body member in thewo'rking position. of the bar, and said bar andmember having shoulders adapted to engage with each other when the bar is swung into its working position and cause the free end of the bar always to assume the same relation to said holding means regardless of slight distortions of the handle.

. 7. In combination, a handle comprising a body member and a bar hinged at one end to said body member; said bar having a seat in its free end, said body member having a socket aligned with said bar when the latter is in it's working position and adjacent to the free end of the bar, a ball mounted in said socket andyieldingly held projecting beyond the socket in position to engage with said seat in the bar, and said bar and said body in its free end, said body member having a socket aligned With said bar when the latter is in its working position and adjacent to the free end of the bar, a ball mounted in said socket and yieldingly held projecting beyond the socket in position to engage with said seat in the bar, a two-pronged fork on said member lying near to and having its prongs lying on opposite sides of saidball, and said bar having in the sides thereof near its free end notches adapted to receive said.

prongs. I e

In testimony whereof I sign this specification.

PLATO G; EMERY.

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