US269963A

US269963A - John scanlan

Info

Publication number: US269963A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 1900-01-02

Description

c UNITED STATES VI )ILITitIvT OFFICE.

JOHN SCANLAN, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, ASSIGNOR T HIMSELF AND DAVID HOIT, 0F ALBANY, N. Y.

CAR-DOOR FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 269,963, .dated January 2, 18 3. Application iledeptember23,1882. (No'mot'lelll i .To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN SGANLAN, of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented au Improvement in Car-Door Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

Robberies of freight-cars on railways are` of frequent occurrence, and it has been found Vthat the Vrobber usually jumps on the freightl ro trainl while going comparatively slowly up grade, climbs upon top of the car, lies down, reaches over the side, drives a spike into the side of the car, lowers himself dowuthereby, and witll a hammer breaks the hasp or catch holding the padlock, opens the door, passes in and closes the same after him, selects the articles wanted, opensthe door and pushes them out at the spot pre-arran ged With confederates, andjumps off. zo To prevent robbery of this kind is the object of the present invention; and it consists 1n the combination, with the sliding ear-door, of a bolt acting from the top of the 'ear vertically so asto pass in behind the top corner of the door, and a lever above the top of the" car for actuating suclrbolt, and means for securing the same in place. This device, being y on the top of the. car, can be seen by the conductor or engineer, and if the same is raised .y 3o so that the door can be opened, it remains in an elevated position, because the bolt rests on the top of the door when open, and should the robber pass into the car the said bolt, being automatic inits action, locks the person into the oar, making him a prisoner.

1n the drawings, Figure l`is anhelevation of the upper part of a car-door and the bolting device, and Fig. 2 is a plan'of the same.

rEhe car is made in any usual manner. A 4o portion of the side aand top b are shown. The door c rests at the bottom upon slideways, and' usually is provided with rollers, and at `the top there Iis the overhanging guide-rail c, that keeps the top of the door in place. A 4 5 locking-has upon -thedoor and a staple, g, upon the door-frame are provided, as usual.

Upon the top of the car is a lever, It, pivoted at one end in the jaw 7c, that is firmly secured to the top of the car, and there is a bolt, l,

`5o connect-ed at its upper end bya joint to the lever 7L and passing vertically, ornearly so, Y

a through a mortise that is behind and. *above the back edge of the door, so that when the bolt is depressed it comes behind the door. When -the bolt is raised it is above and may '55 rest upon the top edge of the door as it is slid along beneath it. V

Any suitable locking device may be used for holding down the lever h. I have shown the jaw m and cross-bolt n, adapted to receive a 6o lock or seal. A hole may be madethrougll the bolt to receive a pin that holds up the bolt when raised,so as to keep it out of the way While the car is being loaded up.

By the foregoing construction it Will be evident that when the car-door i's open or partiallyopen the lever h will be in an elevated position, and can be observed by the engineer or train-hands, and will indicate that the door has not been closed orV is partially open. If 7o the robber succeeds in opening both fastenings and getting into the car, and to prevent detection hecloses the door so that the lever h falls, the bolt, beingautomatic, holds the doo .and makes the robber a prisoner. 75

This improvement is also useful with empty cars, because the bolt keeps the car-doors closed and avoids the resistance to the movement of the train resulting from thetwind entering the car when the door becomes open. 8o

It will be evident that a handle, or a screw, or a link may be combined with the bolt in place ofthe lever for raising or lowering such bolt and forming a visible indication ot' the position of the bolt.

1 claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the sliding cardoor, cfa vertical bolt above the back part of the door, and mechanism above the car for operating such bolt, substantially as set forth. 9o

2. The lever It, pivoted at one end above the top ofthe ear, thebolt connected to the lever and passing vertically,or nearly so,in behind the door of the car, and means tor locking the lever and bolt, substantially as set forth. ,65

Signed by me this 21st day of September, -A. D. 1882.

JOHN SCANLAN.

Witu esses:

HAROLD SERRELL, WILLIAM G. MoT'I.