US583350A - white - Google Patents

Description

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UNTTED STATES PATENT @Prion IVILLIAM RICHARD IVHITE, OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 583,350, dated May 25, 1897.

Application filed March 24, 1897. Serial No. 629,065. (No model.)

To all wtont it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RICHARD VHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bloomington, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in swinging gates; and it consists, substantially, in such features of construction, arrangement, and combinations of parts as will hereinafter be more particularly described.

The invention has reference more particularly to that class of swinging gates in which the gate is operated to be opened and closed through the medium of hand-levers and suitable devices connecting the same with the gate. As distinguished from a number of former patents granted me on this subject the present invention comprises a longitudinally-movable latch-bar that is normally in a retracted position when the gate is closed and locked, instead of the reverse, and it therefore becomes necessary in the present instance to so construct and arrange the operative connections that the said latch-bar will be caused to be projected to release the gate instead of retracted for that purpose. I will not attempt to enumerate the advantages of a latch-bar thus disposed, but Will simply state the object of the present invention to be to provide means whereby while the gate is always securely maintained in a locked position it requires the exercise of but little force or strength to release the latch-bar in either position of the gate.

The present invention comprises a special form and arrangement of movable lever for operating` the latch-bar and for transferring the pulling strain upon the gate from said latch-bar to the laterally-projecting frame on the gate which supports or holds the said lever. The parts are so disposed that the movement of the latch-bar is always in a direct line, and no strain is exerted thereon other than the small amount required to move the same longitudinally for releasing the engaging end thereof from the catches. Immediately the bar is released the strain is directly received by the lateral frame and indirectly by the gate itself, and in virtue of the exceeding lightness of the structure the inner ends of the operating hand-levers are not required to be made so heavy as heretofore.

- In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a View in perspective of a swinging gate em` bodying my improvements, a part of the laterally-projecting frame on the gate being broken away to more clearly indicate the construction and arrangement of the operative parts. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the rocking oscillating lever detached.

While my present invention is a special form of device for operating the latch-bar, it will of course be understood that it is capable of change or alteration in immaterial respects in order to meet the requirements or exigencies of any particular case. Thus in the drawings l represents the gate, which is shown in its closed position and which, it will be understood, may be constructed in any suitable way. I have shown the same constructed of a number of fiat bars 2, united and held at suitable distances apart by the duplicate vertical strips 3 and rivets or bolts 4.

Arranged on one side of the roadway and in alinement with each other are the posts 5, 6, and 7, held together` by a cross-piece 8 and braces 9 l0, so as to give steadiness to the structure. The gate is mounted to swing on hinges Il l2, secured to the post 7, and opposite the said post 7 on the other side of the roadway is another post 13, against which the gate closes.

The operating hand-levers are designated at 14. 14., one being fulcrumed on the side of the post 5 and the other on the side of the brace 10; and the inner ends of said levers are movably joined together in any suitable way, so as to be capable of rising and falling together at their inner ends whenever they are pulled upon at their outer ends to open or close the gate. Some form of guide is necessary for said levers, and I have shown a simple rectangular wire guide l5, fastened to the side of the central post G.

Projecting from the side of the gate at the hinged end thereof adjacent to the movablyconnected ends of the operating hand-lever is a lateral frame 20, preferably of an approximately triangular shape in plan View, althou gh it could be modified in different ways IOO as regards its particular shape. Said laterally-projecting frame is secured to the gate in any suitable manner, preferably a short distance above the movable latch-bar 22, and it is braced in position by means of the braces At the point where the two side portions of the lateral frame meet or intersect itis desirable to provide some means for supporting and limiting the movements of the rocking oscillating lever 25, that operates the latchbar, and while different means could be employed I preferably construct the frame at the point mentioned with a three-sided offset or box-like extension 2G,` the sides 27 thereof serving between them to limit or stop the movements of the rocking oscillating lever, as well as to receive the pulling strain necessary to either open or close the gate, while the third or outer side 2S thereof is provided with an opening` 29 for receiving the outer end of the lever as a bearing therefor. Connecting the two sides of said frame is a strip 29, having an openinOP 29".

The movable latch-bar 22 is supported to move longitudinally between the duplicate vertical strips 3 of the gate, and at its outer end the said bar is constructed in any suitable manner to be engaged by a shoulder 30 on the catch 3l, that is secured to the post 13. To be so engaged, the end of the latch-bar could be provided with a |sl1aped portion or else with a loop of either a round, oblong, or other preferred shape, or instead of this the'latch-bar could be slotted or else provided with a substantial hook or other engaging device. Y In fact, so many different constructions could be resorted to that it is unnecessary to mention them all, but as a convenient construction I employ a simple rectangular loop 32 of a height sufficient to engage the catch at whatever vertical adjustment to which the gate may be mounted. At or near its outer end the said latch-bar is in movable connection with the upper end of a short rod 33, the lower end of which is pivoted at or near the outer end of the lower bar of the gate. Other means than this could vbe provided as a swinging support for said latch-bar, but the present one has been employed by me in several former instances, and I have found the same to be simple and convenient. At a suitable distance from the inner end of the latch-bar an opening 34E is formed, which is arranged slightly nearer the hinged end of the gate than is the opening 29" of the connecting-strip 29 of the laterally-projecting frame.

The laterally-projectin g frame is preferably arranged higher than the latch-bar, so that the outer end of .the rocking oscillating lever 25 is carried up high enough to be out of the way of small stock, and also for the purpose of imparting to said lever a certain degree of inclination, by which the desired eiect is produced upon the latch-bar with but slight movement to the lever. Thus the said lever 25 is bent or formed at its upper and outer end with an eye or loop 35, and also with a short member 3G', that is inserted through the opening 29 of the offset or extension 2G of the lateral frame, it being noted that the said eye or loop 35 is in movable connection with the lower end of the connecting-bar 38, the upper end of which is in movable connection with the inner end of one of the operating handlevers. The said eye or loop 35 and member 3G of the lever are so proportioned that the former is elevated above the upper edge of the limiting-stop of the lateral frame, and in this way the connection with the connectingbar is never prevented from working properly, and the short member 3G is permitted to rock from side to side, so as to impart the proper oscillating movement to the longer arm or member 4.0 of the lever. This said longer arm of the lever passes down through the slightly-enlarged opening 2f of the connecting-strip 29 of the frame on the gate, and the end of the same enters the opening in the latch-bar. As thus disposed the lever is inclined downwardlyin the direction of the side of the gate, as well as having its inner end inclined slightly in the direction of the hinged end of the gate7 or to an extent suiiicient to impart movement to the latch-bar necessary to release the same.

The post 5 is also provided with a catchplate 50, having a shoulder by which the latchbar is engaged when the gate is opened, and while in'its open kposition the latch-bar is in its projected or advanced position in virtue of the fact that the position of the rocking oscillating lever and the connecting-bar is then reversed.

On pulling upon one of the hand-levers to open the gate the latch-bar will be projected forward by a simple rocking of the shorter member of the lever from one side to the other of the stop or extension on the lateral frame, the longer member being oscillated by this movement. The pulling strain is then tal-:en almost entirely from the lever and imparted to the gate indirectly through the frame. On closing the gate the reverse is the action, as is obvious.

As distinguished 'from either a rocking lever or an oscillating lever per se, it will be observed that the lever 25 combines both movements, in that the shorter vertical arm or member thereof simply rocks in itsbearing, while to the end' of thelonger arm thereof an oscillating movement is imparted in `the direction of length of the latch-bar.

Tithout limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, what I claim as my invention is l. In a gate, the combination of a movable latch-bar, operating hand-levers for the gate, a combined rocking and oscillatinglever for operating the latch-bar, and connections between said lever and the operating-levers, substantially as described.

2. In a gate, the combination of a movable latch, operating hand-levers for the gate, 'a combined rocking and oseillatinglever for IIO operating the latch-bar, a stop for limiting the movements of the lever in both directions, and for receiving the pulling strain upon the gate, and connections between said lever and the operating-levers, substantially as described.

3. In a gate, the combination of a movable latch-bar, a laterally-projecting frame on the side of the gate, operating hand-levers for the gate, a combined rocking and oscillating lever having a longer inclined arm in movable connection with the latch-bar and a shorter vertical arm movably supported by the frame, and connections between the lever at the union of its two arms, and the handlevers, substantially as described.

4. In a gate, the combination of a movable latch-bar, a laterally-projecting frame on the side of the gate, and constructed with a connecting-strip having an opening and a threesided offset or stop extensiomoperating handlevers for the gate, a combined rocking and oscillating lever having a longer inclined arm passing through the opening in the connecting-strip and being in movable connection with the latch-bar, and a shorter vertical arm having its bearing in said stop extension, and a bar connecting the lever at the union of its two arms and being in movable connection with the inner end of one of the 0perat' ing-levers, substantially as described.

5. In a gate, the combination of a movable latch-bar, operating hand-levers for the gate, a frame on the side of the gate, a lever constructed with one arm to rock in the frame and another arm to oscillate the latch-bar, and connections between said lever and the hand-levers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VILLIAM RICHARD lVI-IITE.

Vitnesses:

G. C. WHTE, CHAs. F. RrEcKHoFF.

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