US374337A - becker - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1. F. L. BECKER.

DOOR CHECK.

' (No Model.)

No. 374,337. Patented Dec. 6, 1887 (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

F. L. BECKER.

DOOR. GHEGK.

No. 374,337. Patented Dec. 6, 1887.

III.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS L. BECKER, OF NEYV YORK, N.

DOOR-CHECK.

$PECIFICATJZQN forming part of Letters Patent No.374,337, dated December 6 1887.

Application filed July 27, 1887.

T0 at whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS L. BECKER, ofthe city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Door-(Jheck, of which the following is a specification.

These improvements embrace- First, adoor-check in which the latter part of the closing movement of a door, actuated by a door-closing spring, is controlled by a brake acting upon the periphery of a buffer in the form of an eccentric or scroll cam, which, by means of a spring or its equivalent, is made to present its longer radius for initially engaging the brake. The brake may be aflixed to the door and the buffer mounted upon the jamb,

. or the buffer may be mounted upon and carried by the door and the brake be aifiXed to thejamb. In either case the buffer, by contact with the brake, is rocked upon its axis, and the door is permitted to conclude the latter portion of its closing movement by the gradual diminution in radius of the part of the buffer in contact with the brake.

Secondly, the combination ofa door-check of the character described with a door-closing apparatus containing a spring which is automatically charged and locked during the opening movement of the door, and is unlocked at a prescribed stage in the closing movement of the door, and thereafter exerts its force to finish or assist in finishing the closing movement of the door.

Thirdly, certain features of adjustability by means of which the apparatus is given the capacity of adaptability to doors of different sizes and weights.

The accompanying drawings are as follows: Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of adoor and door-frame to which is affixed door-closing and door checking apparatus embodying these improvements. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the line a: w on Fig. 1, affording a top view of such door-closing and doorchecking apparatus, showing the door closed. Fig. 3 illustrates a modification in which the scroll-cam-shaped buffer of the door-checking apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is pivotally mounted upon a bracket supported upon the door-frame, instead of upon the door. 7

The door-checking apparatus consists of a Serial No. 245,408. [No model.)

pivoted buffer, A, having the form of a scrollshaped or wiper cam, and a spring-brake, B, for receiving the impact of the buffer at the desired stage in the closing movement of the door. The buffer is pivotally mounted upon the bracket 0. A spring, D, exerts its strain upon the buffer in the direction of the curved arrow (1, and the buffer is thus made to normally present its larger radius for initial contact with the brake.

The brake is simply a spring-bar presenting its free end for engaging the buffer.

In the construction shown in the drawings the bar I) is centrally supported upon the expanding spiral spring I), and is held in position thereon by the screw 12 loosely inserted through a hole in the bar I), and through the spiral spring I), and screwedinto the objecteither the door or the jamb, as the case may beupon which the brake is mounted. An other screw, I), is loosely inserted through a hole near one end of the bar b, and is screwed into the same object. Each of the screws b and b affords a means for adjusting the brake toward or from the direction in which it approaches or is approached by the butter, and of adjusting the angle of the surface of the brake relatively to the path of movement of the door. By changing this angle in one direc tion the surface of the buffer slides more easily upon the brake, and thus less resistance is op: posed to the closing movement of the door. By changing the angle in the opposite direc' tion the surface of the buffer slides less easily,

and thus more resistance is opposed to the closing movement of the door.

\Vhile the door-check is operating the bulfer is being turned upon its axis in opposition to the force which the spring D exerts upon it; hence when the door is so far opened that the buffer and brake are disengaged fromeach other the tension of the spring D causes the buffer to turn back upon its axis to its normal position, at which it is arrested by the collision of the adjustable screw-stop a with its cushion a. In the construction shown in the drawings the screw-stop a is inserted into the heel of the buffer, and its cushion a is affixed to the bracket 0. It will of course be seen that the screw-stop can with like effect be inserted in the bracket and be provided with a cushion affixed to the heel of the buffer. The efiect of varying the projection of the adjustable screwstop a, is to vary the radius of the part of the buffer which initially engages the brake, and hence to vary the range of that part of the closing movement of the door during which the checking operation is being performed. This feature of adj ustability, within certain limits, adapts the door-checking apparatus for employment in connection with doors of different weights. By means of the brake-baradjusting screws 1)" and b the brake-bar is so adjusted when the door is fully closed that the free end of the brake-bar occupies its normal position and exerts little or no pressure upon the buffer. 7

To prevent noise and to increase the frictional hold of the brake upon the buffer, it is desirable to apply a leather cover to the face of the buffer, or to the surface of the part of the brake-bar against which the buffer bears, or to both.

In the drawings the face of the buffer is represented as covered with a strip, a,which may be composed of leather or any other suitable semi-elastic material.

It will be seen that the operation of the doorchecking apparatus requires the existence of a force tending to impart the closing movement to the door. This force may be supplied by any form of door-spring; butit is preferred to employ,in combination with the door-checking apparatus, a supplemental door-closing spring of the character of that shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 354,087, issued to Francis L. Becker December 14-, 1886. The peculiarity of the said supplemental door-closing spring is that it is automatically distended or charged and locked in its distended'position during the first portion of the opening movement of the door,and at a prescribed stage in the closing movement of the door is unlocked, and thus set free, to exert its force in finishing or assisting to finish the closing movement of the door. It thus supplies the force required to overcome the friction of the brake upon the buffer during the latter part of the closing movement of the door while the checking apparatus is in operation.

For the sake of compactness in construction,

the supplemental door-closing spring E is arranged with its axis in a plane parallel with the plane of motion of the actuating bell-crank lever F. The spring E is connected at one end to the adjusting-screw e, and at the other end to the lower part of the rocker e. The upper end of the rocker e is connected by the pitman G to the shorter arm f of the bellcrank lever F. The concave side of the curved arm f of the bell-crank lever F, during the first portion of the opening movement of the door, bears against the roller H. By this bearing the bell-crank lever is rocked upon its pivot F, and the crank-pin g, to which the pitman G is connected, is rocked across the center of the pivot F by the time the door has so far opened as to withdraw the end of the curved arm f from the roller H. WVhen the parts are in this position, the supplemental door-closing spring E is distended and locked, and thereafter exerts no force tending to close the door, until at a prescribed stage in the closing movement of the door the convex side of the curved arm f is brought into collision with the adjustable tripper I, by contact with which the bell-crank lever F is rocked backward until the tension of the door closing spring E, exerted through the rocker e and the pitman G upon the shorter arm f of the bell-crank lever, pulls the concave side of the arm against the roller H, and force is thus exerted in a direction tending to close the door.

As represented in the drawings, the tripper I is a simple screw, the head of which is pre sented for theimpact of the curved arm of the bell-crank lever. The adjustable tripper is especially useful, because it affords an opportunity of suitably varying the stage in the closing movement of the door at which the supplemental door-closing spring is unlocked and its force brought into action to increase the impetus of the door to the extent which may be required for the most effective operation of the door-checking apparatus.

The system of levers by which the force of the supplemental door-closing spring is ap plied to close the door is substantially similar to that shown in the hereirrreferredto Letters Patent of the United States, No. 354,087, and hence does not here require any more elaborate description in detail. The adjustable tripper, however, is new, and has an especially useful relation to the door-checking apparatus, as has been described. As the supplemental door-closing spring E is not brought into action until near the closing movement of the door, it is assumed that a spring or other equivalent instrumentality is employed to impart the initial closing movement to the door. As represented in the drawings, the closing movement of the door is initiated by means of the main door-closing spring K, one end of which is connected with the door and the other With the jamb.

The drawings represent the brake as affixed to the jamb and the buffer and the supplemental door-closing spring'and its actuatinglever as mounted upon and carried by the door. It will of course be seen that the position of the parts may be reversed without departing from the inventionthat is, the buffer and the supplemental door-closing spring and its actuating-lever maybe mounted upon thejamb and the brake and roller H be mounted upon and I carried by the door.

What is claimed as the invention is 1. Apparatus for checking the closing movement of a door, composed, essentially, of a yielding brake and a pivoted scroll-shaped buffer provided with a spring for normally rocking the same, after its disengagement from the brake during the opening movement of the door, into the position in which it presents its longer radius for re-engagement with the brake at a prescribed stage in the closing movement of the door.

2. In door-checking apparatus of the character described, a pivotally-mounted scrollshaped buffer, a spring for rocking the buffer upon its axis in one direction, and an adjustable stop for limiting the range of rocking movement imparted by such spring to the buffer.

3. In door-checking apparatus of the character described, the combination, as herein set forth, of a pivotally-mounted scroll-shaped buffer with an adjustable yielding brake-bar.

4. The combination, as herein described, of the buffer A, the spring D, the adjustable stop a, and the yielding brake B, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, as herein described, of the buffer A, the spring D, the adjustable stop a, the brakebar b, and the brakc-bar-adjusting screws 1) and b, as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination, as herein described, of door checking apparatus, composed, 'essen- 25 tially, of a scroll shaped buffer pivotally mounted upon the door and a brake affixed to the jamb, with the supplemental door-clos ing spring E and the lever system connected with said supplemental door-closing spring, as 0 and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination, as herein described, of door checking apparatus, composed, essentially, of a scroll shaped buffer pivotally mounted upon the door and a brake affixed 5 to the jamb, with the supplemental door elosing spring E, the lever system connected with said spring, and the tripper I, as and for the purposes set forth.

FRANCIS L. BECKER.

\Vitnesses:

F. V. BRIEsuN, \VILLIAM PARTINGTON.

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