US3242536A

US3242536A - Door structure

Info

Publication number: US3242536A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas C Soddy
Original assignee: American Seal Kap Corp of Delaware
Current assignee: American Seal Kap Corp of Delaware
Priority date: 1963-09-03
Filing date: 1963-09-03
Publication date: 1966-03-29
Anticipated expiration: 1983-03-29

Description

March 29, 1966 T. c. SODDY DOOR STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Qriginal Filed April 22, 1959 NOE Fluli March 29, 1966 T c. SODDY DOOR STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 22, 1959 E ma m 3 m2 L a 3 5 8 3 ma Q March 29, 1966 T. c. SODDY DOOR STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed April 22, 1959 United States Patent 3,242,536 DGGR STRUCTURE Thomas C. Soddy, Downers Grove, 11., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Seal-Ka a Corporation of Delaware, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No. 808,191, Apr. 22, 1959. This application Sept. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 306,372

11 Claims. (Ci. 2l)24) This application is a continuation of my application Serial No. 808,191, filed April 22, 1959 for Door Structure, now abandoned in view of the present application.

This invention relates to doors of the type installed in railway cars, such as insulated box car doors and refrigerator car doors, although adapted also for highway trailer transports, walk-in refrigerators, ship lockers, etc. More particularly, the invention relates to supporting and locking means for a sliding door which moves transversely of a wall into a wall opening at the end of the door closing movement, and out of the wall opening at the beginning of the door opening movement.

The invention is particularly concerned with a type of door which is supported by a pair of upright rotary mounting shafts journaled on the outside of the door adjacent to the ends of the door. The shafts have crank arms with their swinging ends supported on means which ride along the wall. Such a door, when closed, may be subjected to relatively high internal thrusts tending to push it outwardly. For example, in a railway car loaded with barrels of merchandise, the barrels may wedge against the inside of the door. Also, it is important that the door he supported at the proper elevation for entry in the door opening.

The present invention has for a particular object to provide a single lock operating mechanism utilized for securing or locking a sliding door and which mechanism controls locks adjacent to the corners of the door and preferably at the top and bottom and at the front and rear, so as to have high resistance to internal pressure or internal loads tending to push the door outward and wherein the door locking mechanism is independent of the door supporting means so that the door supporting means is not subjected to forces resulting from internal loads or pressures applied to the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide mechanism by means of which ready vertical adjustment of the door may be effected for entry into door opening.

Still another object of the invention is to provide in a sliding door construction of the character stated, elongated upright locking members movably mounted on the outer face of the door adjacent to each end thereof and having end portions adjacent to the upper and lower edges of the door with keepers on the side wall adjacent to said locking member end portions for receiving the latter when the door is positioned in the door opening, with a single manually operable element supported upon the door for rotation on an axis perpendicular to the door and for simultaneous movement longitudinally of the rotary axis whereby to effect, through novel linkage mechanism, the rotational movement of the said upright locking members to effect their engagement with, or disengagement from the said keepers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide locking mechanism wherein said elongated locking members are moved longitudinally by said single manually operable element and linkage means.

A still further object of the invention is to provide locking mechanism for a sliding door of the character stated wherein the said linkage mechanism connecting the single manually operable element with the elongated upright ice locking members includes bell crank elements which, in one embodiment of the invention effect reciprocatory movement of parts of the linkage, in a plane parallel with the door to rotate the locking members and wherein, in another embodiment of the invention longitudinal actuation of the elongated locking members is effected to engage such members with or disengage them from keeper means.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention as applied to a railway car door. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a side wall of an insulated box car with a door equipped with supporting and locking means of this invention, the door being shown in closed position.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and on a larger scale with parts broken away.

FIG. 2A is a vertical section on line 2A2A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section on line 33 of FIG. 1 and on a larger scale.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4-'i of FIG. 1, being a continuation of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views similar to FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrating the door in a position swung out from the door opening and moved partly toward its fully open position.

FIG. 7 is a detail vertical section on line 7-7 of FIG. 1 and on a larger scale.

FIG. 8 is a vertical section on line '88 of FIG. 1 and on a larger scale.

FIG. 9 is a vertical section on line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a View similar to FIG. 1 illustrating another form of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a detail vertical section on line 1111 of FIG. 10 and drawn to a larger scale.

in FIGS. 1-6 the car side wall 1 has a door opening 3. A sliding door 5 is adapted to occupy a closed position in opening 3 substantially flush with the side wall. At the bottom of door opening 3 is an inclined threshold 7 located outside a bottom stop 9 (FIG. 2). At the top of the door opening is a header 11, At the left and right ends of the door opening (as viewed from the outside of the car) are door posts 13 and 15 (FIGS. 3-6).

Door 5 comprises a rectangular wood frame 17, a sheet metal outside panel 19 and a plywood inside panel 21. Frame 17 has a rabbet 23 all around the door edge. Rubber strips 25 are provided around the frame on the inwardly facing surface of rabbet 23 for sealing engagement with stop 9, header 11 and

posts

13 and 15 when the door is closed. The thickness of the door, as shown, is the same as the thickness of the car wall and, when the door is closed, with the rubber sealing strips compressed, its outside face is flush with the outside of the car wall and its inside face is flush with the inside of the car wall. The door has a hand hold 27 at its right end.

Door 5 is part of a door assembly A including first and second vertical

rotary mounting shafts

31F and 31R journaied on the outside of the door and in upper, lower and

intermediate brackets

37, 39, 41. Shaft 31F is located near the front end P of the door, and shaft 31R is located near the rear end R of the door. The front end of the door is its end which leads and the rear end of the door is its end which trails as the door slides in closing direction, which is toward the left as viewed in FIGS. 1, 3, 6. Fixed on the upper and lower ends of each of

shafts

31F and 31R are

crank arms

43 and 45. Extending longitudinally on the outside of the car side wall below the door opening is a track 47. Extending longitudinally on the outside of the car side Wall above the door opening is a top retainer or guide 49 of inverted J-section providing a downwardly opening channel 56. Each of the lower crank arms 45 has a roller carriage 51 vertically pin-connected at its free end at 53, whereby the crank arms may swing horizontally on the vertical axes of the pin-connections. Each carriage 51 is mounted on rollers 55 riding on track 47 and has hook portions 57 (FIG. 2) which extend under the track. Each of the upper crank arms 43 has a roller 59 on a vertical pin at its free end, the roller riding in the channel portion 50 of guide 49. When the door is in closed position (FIGS. 1-4) upper and

lower crank arms

43, 45 of the

mounting shafts

31F, 31R extend from the shafts longitudinally of the car in opposite directions,

arms

43 and 45 of shaft 31R extending in the direction of opening movement of the door, which is toward the right as viewed in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. To open the door, it is necessary to swing it out of door opening 3,

crank arms

43 and 45 swinging to outwardly extending lateral positions. Then the door may be moved longitudinally on the outside of the car to a retracted position clear of the door opening by rolling the entire door assembly A to the right on track 47.

Door assembly A includes means for adjusting door vertically for proper positioning thereof with respect to door opening 3. Each

mounting shaft

31F and 31R consists of an upper tubular part 61 and a lower solid rod portion 63 welded together end-to-end as indicated at 65 (FIG. 2). Lower rod portion 63 is externally threaded at 67 and has its lower end welded at W to the respective crank arm 45 (FIG. 2A). Threaded on rod portion 63 is an adjusting nut 69. A thrust bearing 70 is interposed between the lower face of each lower bracket 39 and the upper end of its adjusting nut 69. Bearing 70 comprises steel Washers 71 and a bronze washer 73 therebetween (FIG. 2A) positioned on rod portion 63 and secured by a lock nut 74. Nuts 69 for

shafts

31F, 31R may be screwed up or down to raise or lower the door on the shafts to position the door properly relative to door opening 3.

Brackets

37, 39, 41 and the door body to which they are secured, are readily slidable on

shafts

31F, 31R for this purpose.

Door assembly A further comprises first and second rotary vertically elongated locking

shafts

75F and 75R in upper, intermediate and lower bearings 77 on the outside of the door and supported on the lower bearings by bushings 78 welded to the shafts. Locking shaft 75F is near the left hand end of the door and front mounting shaft 31F. Locking shaft 75R is near the right hand end of the door and rear mounting shaft 31R. Each locking shaft has an eccentric lug 79 at each end. For each locking shaft, there is a pair of keepers 81 on the car side wall, one above and the other below the door opening. Each keeper 31 has an angled slot 83 (FIGS. 3-6) for receiving the respective lug 79 whereby upon rotation of a respective locking shaft in one direction (clockwise for shaft 75F and counterclockwise for shaft 75R as Viewed from above), the door is forced closed and locked, and on rotation of the locking shafts in the opposite directions, the door is unlocked and forced in the direction out of the door opening. The locking shafts are rotatable independently of the mounting shafts and are raised and lowered with the door, and relative to the keepers, when adjusting nuts 69 are actuated, to adjust the height of the door (and lower bearings 77) as previously described.

Operating mechanism indicated in its entirety by reference character 85 is provided for rotating

locking shafts

75F and 75R in unison. This mechanism comprises a mounting 87 fastened on the outside of door panel 19 in position generally centered between the locking shafts and adjacent the bottom of the door. This mounting, preferably a casting, has a tubular guide or sleeve 89 extending outwardly of the door at 91 and inwardly of the door at 93 through an opening 95 in panel 19 (FIGS. 3, 5, 8). Portion 91 of the guide 89 has a screw 97 threaded therein. Fixed on the outer end of the screw is a hand lever 99. A slide 101 has a hub 103 mounted on screw 97 inward of the hand lever, the screw being freely rotatable in hub 103. Keys 105 (FIGS. 8, 9) extend inward of the door from slide 101 and are slidable in keyways 107 formed integrally with mounting 87 above and below guide portion 93 for preventing rotation of slide 101 while allowing it to move in and out. Lever 99 has fingers 109 (FIGS. 3, 5, 8) extending into an annular groove 111 in hub 103 of slide for moving the slide in and out upon turning lever 99 and screw 97 in one direction or the other. Outward movement of the slide is limited by the engagement of ears 113 (FIG. 8) at the inner ends of keys with pins 115 (FIGS. 8, 9) extending across the outer ends of keyways 107.

Mounting 87 is formed at the left with vertically spaced outward-1y extending

horizontal flanges

117 and 119 and at the right with

similar flanges

121, 123. A bell crank is pivoted on

flanges

117, 119 by a vertical pin 127, and a similar bell crank 129 is pivotaliy mounted between

flanges

121, 123 by a vertical pin 131. Slide 101 has radial arms 133, extending horizontally over the bell crank. A pin 137 extends up from the bell crank 125 into a slot 139 in the left slide arm 133, and a pin 141 extends up from the right bell crank 129 into a slot 143 in the right slide arm 135.

The front or left locking shaft 75F has a crank arm 145 fixed thereon and the rear or right locking shaft 75R has a crank arm 147 fixed thereon. These crank arms are located generally in the horizontal plane of bell crank levers 125 and 129. A link 149 connects crank arms 145 and bell crank 125 and a link 151 connects crank arm 147 and bell crank 129. Link 149 has a curved end portion 153 extending outward away from the door having a pin connection at 155 to crank arm 145. Link 151 has a similar curved end portion 157 extending outward away from the door having a pin connection at 159 to crank arm 147. The other ends of

links

149 and 151 are pin-connected as indicated at 161 and 163 to bell cranks 125 and 129.

Each mounting

shaft

31F and 31R has a handle 165 pivoted at 167 to swing vertically. When door 5 is closed and locked, these handles occupy positions generally flat against the outside of the door and inclined downward from their pivots 167, and with their ends received between vertical flanges 169 formed on bracket slide arms 133, 135. These handles are provided for rotating

shafts

31F, 31R to swing crank

arms

43, 45 to move the door in or out of the door opening.

For each of the mounting

shafts

31F and 31R, there is a stop 171 (FIGS. 1, 2) restricting the rotation of the shaft in door-opening direction to approximately 90, and thereby limiting the rotation of the

crank arms

43 and 45 to approximately 90. Each stop 171 comprises an arm on the respective shaft engageable with the outside of the door when the shaft is rotated from its doorclosed to its door-open position. Bumpers 173 (FIG. 1) on side wall 1 limit sliding of the door in opening direction. Latch means 175 of any suitable construction on side wall 1 (FIG. 1) hold the door in fully open position.

Operation is as follows: When the door is closed and locked, screw 97 is moved to its inner limit, and slide 101 is at its inner limit of movement and in engagement with mounting 87. Bell cranks 125, 129 occupy an angular position with

links

149, 151 projected toward the ends of the door, thereby holding

locking shafts

75F, 75R in locking position with locking lugs 79 locked into slots 83 in keepers 81.

To open the door, handle 99 is turned to unscrew the screw 97 and thereby move slide 101 outward. As slide 101 moves outward, it rotates bell crank 125 clockwise and bell crank 129 counterclockwise as viewed from above (FIGS. 3, 5). Bell cranks 125, 129 act to pull

links

149, 151 inward toward one another. Link 149 acts through crank arm 145 to turn locking shaft 75F counterclockwise and link 151 acts through crank arm 147 to turn locking shaft 75R clockwise. This swings locking lugs 79 on shaft 75F counterclockwise from the FIG. 3 position and swings locking lugs 79 on shaft 75R clockwise from the FIG. 4 position. As a result, all the lugs are released from all the keepers 81 and the door is forced outward to some extent but evenly at both front and rear. Then the door may be completely swung out of the door opening by operation of levers 165, and rolled rearward manually to a completely open position clear of door opening 3. To close the door, the operations are reversed.

FIGS. and 11 illustrate another form of the invention wherein locking at four corners of the door is effected by vertically movable locking bars instead of rotary locking shafts and additional locks are provided at the side edges of the door between the bottom and top of the opening. The keepers 181 are formed with recesses 183 for receiving the ends of vertically movable locking bars 187, 193 at the left, and 197, 203 at the right. Upper keepers 181 above door opening 3 have their recesses opening downwardly, and the lower keepers below door opening 3 have their recesses opening upwardly. The recesses may extend through the keepers, particularly in the lower keepers, to facilitate drainage. The opposing faces of the bar and recess are inclined as shown at 185 (FIG. 11) to facilitate entrance to the keepers and to thrust the door inwardly against gasket 25 as the bar moves downwardly.

The upper left hand locking bar 187 is slidable in

bearings

189, 191. The lower left hand locking bar 193 is slidable in bearing 195. The upper right hand locking bar 197 is slidable in

bearings

199, 201. The lower locking bar 203 is slidable in bearing 205.

A first rocker 207 is pivoted on the outside of the door at 209 near the adjacent ends of locking

bars

187, 193 and has pin and

slot connections

211 and 213 to the lower end of locking bar 187 and the upper end of locking bar 193. The adjacent ends of

bars

187, 193 are curved for connection to the ends of the rocker. The pin and

slot connections

211 and 213 permit vertical movements of

bars

187 and 193 upon rocking of the rocker. When rocker 207 is rocked clockwise, locking bar 187 is moved down in unlocking direction, and locking bar 193 is moved up in unlocking direction, and vice versa.

A similar rocker 217 has pin and

slot connections

221, 223 to the adjacent ends of locking

bars

197, 203 and when rocked in the opposite direction to rocker 207, actuates its locking bars in like manner.

Each of locking

bars

187, 193, 197, 203 has its outer end tapered as indicated at 225 for bar 203 in FIG. 11 for wedging engagement with the wedge surface 185 of the recess in the respective keeper 181. As the outer ends of the bars move into the keepers, the door is wedged tightly into door opening 3 for compression of rubber sealing strips 25. Rocker 207 has an upwardly extending arm 227, and rocker 217 has an upwardly extending arm 229. A link 231 connects arm 227 and bell crank 125, and a link 233 connects arm 229 and bell crank 129, and the rockers are rotated to slide the bars vertically by the reciprocation of

links

231, 233 by operating mechanism 85 as previously described.

Locks are provided at the front and rear of the door in addition to the top and bottom locks.

Links

231, 233 are extended at 235, 237 respectively and are projected beyond the rear and front edges of the door into keepers 239, 241 respectively at the same time the

bars

187, 193, 197, 203 are projected into their keepers. The front and rear locks cooperate with the lower locks particularly to prevent bowing out of the lower portion of the door which is likely to have a heavier load to withstand than the upper portion of the door. Keepers 239, 241 are deep enough vertically to accommodate vertical adjustment of the door by nuts 69 as previously described.

Operation of the FIG. 10 construction is as follows: To open the door, handle 99 is turned to move slide 101 outward and rotate bell crank 125 clockwise and bell crank 129 counterclockwise as viewed from above (in the same manner as described above in relation to the FIGS. 1-9 construction), and the bell cranks pull the

links

231, 233 toward one another. Link 231 rocks rocker 207 clockwise to pull locking bar 187 downwardly, lockin g bar 193 upwardly and extension 235 to the right. Rocker 217, rocking counterclockwise, pulls locking bar 197 downwardly, locking bar 293 upwardly and extension 237 ot the left. Then the door may be swung out of the door opening by operation of levers and the door rolled rearward to a completely open position clear of door opening 3. To close the door, the operations are reversed.

In both disclosed embodiments of the invention, multiple locking of the door is obtained at points adjacent the corners of the door, so as to provide high resistance to internal loads tending to push the door outward. In each instance, the multi-point locking is independent of mounting

shafts

31F and 31R, so that the latter are not subjected to forces resulting from internal loads on the door. In each instance, the door may be readily adjusted vertically to position it properly for entry in the door opening simply by adjusting the nuts 69. Handles 165 may be omitted if automatic kick-ins are provided as described in applicants earlier application Serial No. 730,624 filed April 24, 1958, now Patent No. 2,979,787.

Accordingly each embodiment achieves the several objects of the invention and attains other advantageous results.

If it is desired to equip doors in buildings, refrigerators, vans or other installations with similarly constructed and operating locks, the sizes and other details of the structure may be varied substantially without departing from the spirt of the invention and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

I claim:

1. Supporting and securing mechanism for a sliding door of the type which closes in a rectangular door opening in a wall of a material container substantially flush on its outer side with said wall, comprising, in combination, track means on the outer side of said wall below the door opening, means supporting the door on said track means for moving the door into and out of said opening and for sliding movement parallel with said outer side of said wall when the door is out of said opening, and mechanism for securing the door in the door opening comprising keeper elements secured to said wall on the outer side thereof adjacent to the top and bottom of said opening, elongate, vertical locking members mounted on the exterior surface of the door and having keeper engaging end portions adjacent to the keeper elements and which end portions are shifted by the locking members to engage and disengage said keeper elements when the locking members are moved in opposite directions, and mechanism for moving the locking members in the said opposite directions comprising a lever, means pivotally supporting the lever on the outer side of the door for turning on an axis perpendicular to the plane of the door, a hell crank pivotally supported on the door on each of two opposite sides of the turning axis of the lever, means operatively coupling the lever with the bell cranks for effecting turning of the bell cranks in opposing directions upon the turning of the lever on its axis, and pull links operatively coupling the bell cranks with the said locking members for imparting movement to the latter upon the turning of the lever.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein said bell cranks turn on vertical axes, means for effecting movement of the crank longitudinally of the turning axis simultaneously with the turning of the crank, and the said means operatively coupling the lever with the bell cranks also moving longitudinally of said axis for turning the bell cranks on their axes.

3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein said bell cranks are supported for turning on vertical axes, the said means pivotally supporting the lever on the outer side of the door comprising a screw having an outer end to which the lever is secured and a sleeve carried by the door and having an outer end interiorly threaded to receive the screw, whereby said lever when rotated moves longitudinally of its rotary axis and the said means coupling the lever with the bell crank comprising laterally projecting arms swivelly coupled with the lever and being movable longitudinally of said axis while being maintained against rotation with the lever and screw.

4. The invention according to claim 1, wherein each of said locking members comprises a shaft and the mounting for said shaft comprising upper and lower bearings on the door, the said shafts forming the locking members being rotatable in said bearings, said shafts carrying an eccentric lug upon the upper and lower ends thereof and said keepers having angled slots for receiving said lugs, an outwardly projecting crank arm carried by each of said locking member shafts, and the said pull links, operatively connecting the bell cranks with the locking members, being pivotally attached to the said outward-1y projecting crank arm levers.

5. The invention according to claim 1, wherein each of said vertical locking members comprises an upper bar part and a lower bar part, said upper and lower bar parts having adjacent end portions, a rocker member pivotally supported upon the door adjacent to the end portions of said bar parts of each locking member and having oppositely directed portions each having a loose pin and slot connection with one of the said adjacent ends of the bar parts whereby the rocker when turned on its pivot imparts up and down sliding movements to the bar parts connected therewith, the remote ends of said bar parts of each locking member being engageable in and detachable from adjacent keeper elements, and the said linkage connected with the bell cranks having pivotal connection with the said rocker members for imparting rocking movement to such rocker members upon the turning of the said lever.

6. The invention according to claim 5, wherein the said linkage extends horizontally beyond opposite vertical side edges of the door and is movable substantially parallel to the plane of the door, and additional keeper elements secured to the said wall at opposite sides of the door opening for receiving outer ends of the linkage simultaneously with the engagement of the said remote ends of the locking member bars with their respective keepers.

7. In combination, a material container having a wall provided with a rectangular door opening and locking member keepers on the exterior face of the Wall located adjacent to the four corners of said opening, track means paralleling said exterior face of the wall and secured to the wall in fixed relation thereto, carriage structure mounted on and movable along said track means length vise of said wall, a door above the level of said track means and having front and rear ends, upright door supporting shafts journaled on the exterior face of the door and having cranks with pins at their outer ends pivotally mounted on said carriage structure, said door being movable along said track means with said carriage structure and being movable transversely of said wall and track means into and out of said door opening to fit in and close the opening, by the pivoting of the crank pins on the carriage structure, door locking means comprising elongate, vertical locking members mounted on the exterior face of the door adjacent to the said front and rear ends of the door and having keeper engaging means adjacent to the four corners of the door, which keeper engaging means are shifted by said locking members when the latter are moved in opposite directions, to engage and disengage respectively individual ones of said keepers, and manually operable means for moving said locking members comprising a lever, means supporting the lever on the outer face of the door for turning movement on an axis perpendicular to the plane of the door and bell crank actuated links coupling said lever with said locking members for actuating the locking members upon the turning of the said lever.

8. The invention according to claim 7, wherein each of said upright door supporting shafts includes a thrust bearing and adjusting nut means for effecting vertical adjustment of the door on the shafts to position the door properly relative to the door opening.

9. The invention according to claim 7, wherein the said means supporting the lever on the outer face of the door comprises a threaded screw having an outer end to which the lever is secured, a sleeve carried by the door and having an interiorly threaded outer end in which said screw is threadably engaged whereby rotation of the lever also effects a movement of the lever in the direction of its rotary axis, a slide member having a hub portion encircling the outer end of the screw and also encircling and rotating upon an outer end portion of the sleeve, a swivel coupling between said bell crank actuated links and the forwardly projecting outer end portion of said slide member hub, said slide having oppositely directed arms, the bell cranks for said links being supported for turning on vertical axes and each bell crank having an arm loosely connected with an adjacent arm of said sleeve and said links each being connected with another arm of the bell crank.

10. A door structure for closing a Wall opening and provided with spaced upright mounting shafts with crank arms for supporting the door on roller carriages traveling along a horizontal track on the wall, upright locking bars movable independently of said shafts mounted on the outside of the door near each end of the door and spaced from each mounting shaft for up-and-down movement and adapted for entry of their upper ends into keepers on the wall near the upper corners of the door, other locking bars mounted on the outside of the door independently of but near the mounting shafts for up and-down movement and adapted for entry of their lower ends into keepers on the wall near the lower corners of the door, rockers pivoted on the outside of the door and each connected to the lower end of one of the first mentioned upright locking bars and to the upper end of one of the other locking bars for simultaneously moving both of the locking bars to which the rocker is connected vertically into said keepers and for simultaneously moving both of said locking bars to which the rocker is con nected out of said keepers, an operating member movably carried by the door and located between said rockers, and elongated links connecting said operating member and said rockers for operating the latter in unison upon movement of said member.

11. Supporting and locking means for a sliding door according to claim 10, which includes keepers on the wall fore and aft of the door opening and the elongated links extending to the front and rear edges of the door respectively are projectable and retractable by the operating member to engage and disengage the latter-mentioned keepers.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 966,195 8/1910 Golden. 1,600,140 9/1926 Riepen 292-36 2,140,570 12/1938 Young. 2,765,501 10/1956 Beauchamp 2023 2,975,490 3/1961 Beauchamp 2023 2,979,787 4/ 1961 Soddy 2023 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Examiner.

A. I. BREIER, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. SUPPORTING AND SECURING MECHANISM FOR A SLIDING DOOR OF THE TYPE WHICH CLOSES IN A RECTANGULAR DOOR OPENING IN A WALL OF MATERIAL CONTAINER SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH ON ITS OUTER SIDE WITH SAID WALL, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, TRACK MEANS ON THE OUTER SIDE OF SAID WALL BELOW THE DOOR OPENING, MEANS SUPPORTING THE DOOR ON SAID TRACK MEANS FOR MOVING THE DOOR INTO AND OUT OF SAID OPENING AND FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT PARALLEL WITH SAID OUTER SIDE OF SAID WALL WHEN THE DOOR IS OUT OF SAID OPENING, AND MECHANISM FOR SECURING THE DOOR IN THE DOOR OPENING COMPRISING KEEPER ELEMENTS SECURED TO SAID WALL ON THE OUTER SIDE THEREOF ADJACENT TO THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF SAID OPENING, ELONGATED, VERTICAL LOCKING MEMBERS MOUNTED ON THE EXTERIOR SURFACE OF THE DOOR AND HAVING KEEPER ENGAGING END PORTIONS ADJACENT TO THE KEEPER ELEMENTS AND WHICH END PORTIONS ARE SHIFTED BY THE LOCKING MEMBERS TO ENGAGE AND DISENGAGE SAID KEEPER ELEMENTS WHEN THE LOCKING MEMBERS ARE MOVED IN OPPSITE DIRECTIONS, AND MECHANISM FOR MOVING THE LOCKING MEMBERS IN THE SAID OPPOSITE DIRECTION COMPRISING A LEVER, MEANS PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING THE LEVER ON THE OUTER SIDE OF THE DOOR FOR TURNING ON AN AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THE DOOR, A BELL CRANK PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED ON THE DOOR ON EACH OF TWO OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE TURNING AXIS OF THE LEVER, MEANS OPERATIVELY COUPLING THE LEVER WITH THE BELL CRANK FOR EFFECTING TURNING OF THE BELL CRANKS IN OPPOSING DIRECTIONS UPON THE TURNING OF THE LEVER ON ITS AXIS, AND PULL LINKS OPERATIVELY COUPLING THE BELL CRANKS WITH THE SAID LOCKING MEMBERS FOR IMPARTING MOVEMENT TO THE LATTER UPON THE TURNING OF THE LEVER.