US1794938A - Door - Google Patents

Description

March 3; 1931. c; J. WUNDERLICH 3 DOOR Filed June 20, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l i inuemh'm I EJWundEfliuh 1 end of the same.

Patented Mar. 3, 1931 TES PATENT OFFICE CHRISTIAN J. WUNDERLICH, OF MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA DOOR Application filed June 20,

This invention has for its object the provision of doors for closed vans and deliver trucks which will effectually close the truc or van and may be very easily operated to open the door whenaccess to the van, is necessary. jThe invention. also provides novel means whereby the doors are arranged to open in two sections, one section swinging upwardly and the other downwardly and may be-firmly held in the open position and so connected that movement of either section of the door willcause. a corresponding movement of the other section. While the invention is intended primarily for use upon der livery trucks and closed vans-and is herein after more particularly described as so applied, it is to be understood that doors embodying the inventionmay be provided upon freight cars or other types of vehicles. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and will be hereinafter fully described, thenovel features being particularly pointed out in the appended claim. a

In the'drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a door embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, the open position of the door being shown by dotted lines; a

Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing another embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

- In the drawing, the reference. numeral 1 7 indicates the top of a truck or van and 2 the floor of the same, while 3 indicates the sides thereof, the door being arranged at the end of the van body. The door comprises an upper section 4 and a lower section 5 of similar form, the upper section being connected by hinges 6 to a rail 7 secured between the sides ofvthe vehicle body immediately adjacent the top thereof, and the lower section being connected by hinges 8 with the floor of the body at the The hinges may be of any known or approved construction and are so disposed that the door sections may swing outwardly to'any desired extent but their inward movement will be limited by the hinged edges thereof abutting the lower edge of the 1928. serial No. 286,907..

rail 7 and the upper surface of thevfioor 2 re 2 utilized as'a skid or unloading platform over which to move the contents. of the vehicle when withdrawing the same.

A latching lever 9 is pivoted between its ends, as at 10, upon the lower door section and is adapted to bridge. the meeting ends of the sections whereby to prevent accidental opening movement of the sections, and the upper end of this latching lever is adapted in closed position to engage under a keeper 11 secured upon the. upper door section portion is adapted to engage under a keeper 12 secured upon the lower door section, these keepers being arranged in reverse relation so that, when the latch is swung about its pivot 10, it will simultaneously move into engagementwith the two keepers or out of engagement therewith in an obvious manner. If desired, any known form of seal or look may be provided upon either keeper so as to maintain the latch in engagement with the keepers unless the seal be broken, and tampering'with the contents of the vehicle by unauthorized persons will thus be detected. It is also to be noted, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1, that the lower end of the latch member is enlarged, as indicated at 13, whereby it will be overweighted and the latch will constantly tend to assume the vertical position shown in the drawing tobridge the meeting edges of the door sections. In order to assist in maintaining the latch bar in the closed position and prevent vibration of the latch bar with resulting accidental opening of the door, a retractile spring 14 is secured at one end upon the lower door section and has its opposite end engaged in a notch 15 in the lower end of the latch lever, as shown and as will be understood.

A bracket 16 is secured to the lower door section adjacent the edge thereof and pro jects laterally from said section in position to bear against the end edge of theside wall of the vehicle body or the door frame. This bracket is equipped at its outer end with; an

eye 17 in which is secured one endof a cable while its lower V therefrom and to the outer endofthis bracket.

is secured a lever 21 which extends upwardly therefrom and to the free end of which the end of the cable 18 is secured, as shown at} causes it to swing toward the vertical position as the lower door member swings upwardly andthe lever may then be very easily 22. If the lower door section be swung'outwardly, the pull exerted thereby upon the;

cable 18 will be transmitted to the upper iree end of the lever 21and said leveriwill -b'e pulled downwardly at its upper end so that the upper 'door section will be; swungjup wardly, as indicated by thedotted lines fiuence upon the upper door section will be Fig. 2. The weight of the lower fdoo'r' section from the vehicle will prevent movement otthe said section towards'its closed position, and inasmuchas the lever 21 is thus heldin a downwardly extending position, as indicated by the dotted lines,the upper door section will be held open. flit, however, the lower doorsection be swung upwardly to permit the same to close, the restraining inrelaxed and saidsection may simultaneously swing downwardly to its closed position. Of course, if desired, the'well-known stay chains may' 'be employed to prevent the lower door dropping too low,

I In the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 a bracket 23 carrying an outwardly projecting post Qlis secured upon the rail 7, the'post having an idler roller or pulley 25 mounted its outer end, and on the inner side of the upper door section is secured a post 26, which inthe closed position ofthe door will extend close to the top of the vehicle body and-is' there equipped with an idler roller 27,1-as shown mostclearly in Fig.4. Other idler rollers'28 and 29 are mounted upon the side of the vehicle body within the same and a cable or other flexible element 30 is attached at one end to the lower'door. sectionQas by .an eye 31, and passes therefrom overftlie pulleys :and 28 to'then ride over'the idler and pass out'through an opening .32 at; ;the top of the vehicle body to ride over the pulley% and depend from said pulley. The end of the When it is desired to again close the door, it is necessary merely. to push the lower section upwardly, the upper section automatically following the movement and closing. This form of the inventionis well adapted to use upon freight car doors, and it is to be understood that the mechanism maybe provided in duplicate and applied toboth sides of the door. i V

The overbalancing ofthe latching lever engaged withithflzeepers '10 and 11 and be again secured. V

From the-foregoingdescription, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, it will be seen; that I have-provided an exceedingly simple door which will completely close'the'door' opening and which, when opened, will provide a platform' or skid to fa cilitate the withdrawal of objects from the vehicle while the upper door section will serve asa-root' or canopy'to-protect-the contents-of the vehicle-from the effectsof the 3' :U- IE, I -I- Having thus described the invention, I claim': 'The; combination with top, bottom and spaced side members defining door opening, and 'adoor for the opening comprising-upper and lower sections hinged to the said top and bcttom m mb rs respectively, to swing in opposite directions, of brackets carried by the'door sections and projecting laterally therefrom aeross'the side members'to limit the closing of the doorand position thes ections, levers extending along the side members in an upward direction and secured at theirlower ends to the brackets attached to the upper door section, a flexible connection attached at one end to the upper'end of a lever and at its'otherendto a bracket of the lower door section, and a guide elementior eachflexible connection disposed somefdistan c-e fronrthe plane of thefdoor and about opposite the meetin g edges of the'door sections.

In testimony whereof I aflix' my signature.

' CHRISTIAN J. WUNDERLICI'L [L s.]

cable is fastened to the upper door member, 7' as indicated at 33. As'sumingthe door to be closed, as shown in the drawing, to permit opening of the door, the latch bar 9 is swung out of engagement with'the keepers 10 and 11 and caused to assume a position entirely clear of the keepers. The door sections may then be swung. respectively upwardly and downwardly by merely pulling down on the lower section, and as the upper section swings upwardly the post 26 will swing therewith I i so as to assume a substantially horizontal po sition, whereupon the parts will be held in I the positions to which they have been moved.

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