US690155A - Stage-pocket. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Dec. 3|, |90I.

...lill

J. l. C. KING.

STAGE PUCKEVT. (Animation mea Aug. 26, 1901.)

Hill

(No Model.)

UNrTnD STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN I. C. KING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STAGE-POCKET.V

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,155, dated December 31, 1901.

` Application iiled August 20, 1901. Serial No. 72,664. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, it ntay concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHN I. C. KING, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and 'useful Improvements in Stage- Pockets, of which the following is a specification.

The object of myinvention is to provide a stage-pocket for theaters wherein thecircuits for various lamps or light effects can be quickly and readily changed,while at the same time the contacts will be protected and the movement of people upon the stage will not be interfered with.

The invention comprises contacts supported beneath the stage-floor, a movable plug or complement-al contacts for the rst-mentioned contacts and forconnection with the line leading to a lamp, and a movable cover adapted to close an opening leading to the first-mentioned contacts and provided with means for carrying said plug into connection with the first-mentioned contacts and maintaining it in such position, and whereby when the plug is to be removed said cover will open and after the removal of the plug will close to .protect said opening.

The invention further consists in the novel details of improvement, that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, wherein- Figu rel is a plan view of a stage-pocket ernbodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section thereof on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section through the plug, showing it in position between the permanent contacts.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral views.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates a plate or support which is adapted to be placed over an opening in the floor of a stage of a theater or in any other desired location, and the plate 1 is provided with au opening 1 and with a cover -2 for said opening, which is preferably hinged near one edge, as on a pivot or rod 2, so as to swing upwardly, as in dotted lines in Fig. 2, a suitablevledge 2b being provided forthe cover to rest upon, so that it will be about iiush with the top of plate 1,

and the latter will preferably be placed flush with the stage-floor. 3 4 are contacts of any suitable construction, preferably supported by plate 1, as upon interposed insulation 5, and 6 '7 are conductors leading from a source of current-supply to the contacts 3 4, respectively. The contacts 3 4 depend from plate 1 in position to receive a plug or contacts between them, Fig. 3 showing the plug in position between the contacts 3 4, the latterY being shown inverted from their position in Fig. 2. The cover 2 is provided with a support'for the plug, so as to swing the latter into engagement with and ,away from the contacts 3 4, and for this purpose I have provided the cover with a pair of depending arms 8, connected by a cross-bar 9, from which bar an arm 10 extends, which arm is provided with an eX- .tension 10 to receive a socket in the plug.

As shown in full lines in Fig. 2, when the cover 2 is closed the extension 10a passes between t-he contacts .3 4, and lies-about horizontally, and the 'extension is'shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 when the cover is raised, being thus in position in line with the opening 1 and extending vertically thereunder.

The plug for making electrical connection between the contacts 3'4 and the lead-out wires or cable 11 11iL consistsof a body 12, preferably of insulating material, upon the exterior of which contacts 13 14 are secured and respectively adapted to engage contacts V3 4. The contacts 13 14 are respectively connected with the wires 11 11, as by terminals 11b, screwed tothe contacts 13 14, and the outer end or stem of the body 12 is provided witha transverseopening12, through which the wires 11 11'L pass in opposite directions or cross, whereby as the cable is drawn upon the wires will be firmly clamped to and will draw upon the body 12, and yet can be readily disconnected therefrom.

15 is a sleeve` surrounding the connection of the Wires 11 11FL with the plug, and the sleeve 15 is preferably connected to said plug by means of screw-threads 16. The sleeve 15 protects the connection between the wires 11 11",and the plug, and servesas a brace for the Wires when the plug is being withdrawn from its support l0.

The inner end of body 12 is provided with ss t IOO

a socket 12b, in which clamping-jaws or the like 17 are located, and they are preferably made of spring metal to clamp the extension 10a. The arrangement I have shown is such that the clamping-jaws 17 are to be forced upon the extension 10 to firmly hold the plug upon the latter.

When connection is to be made, the cover 2 is raised, thereby bringing the extension 10lL in line with the opening l, and the plug is pushed upon the extension 10 in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The cover is then closed, and as it swings on its pivot 2a it carries the plug between the contacts 3 4, causing electrical connection to be made between said contacts and the contacts 13 14, and the wires or cable 1l will extend through an opening 2d provided to receive it, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. When the plug is to be removed and inserted in another pocket,it is merely necessary to pullupwardly on the cable 11, whereupon the latter will cause the cover 2 to lift, and thereupon the plug will be swung away from the contacts 3 4, and will be brought into line with the opening 1, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. l and 2. The plug can then be readily withdrawn from extension 10, and thereupon the cover 2 will fall back over the opening l From the foregoing it will be observed that the normal tendency of the cover 2 is to remain closed to protect people on the stage from the opening l in plate 1 and also that when connection is made between the contacts 3, 4, 13, and 14 they are concealed and protected.

I do not limit my invention to the details of construction shown and described, as they may be varied without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A device of the character described comprising a pair of contacts, a pivotally-supported member adapted to swing toward and from the same, contacts to coact with the first-mentioned contacts, a carrier for said contacts, means for detachably connecting said carrier with said member, and conductors connected with said contacts and with said carriers, substantially as described.

2. A device of the character described comprising a pair of contacts, a movable member adapted to travel toward and from the same, a plug having contacts to connect with the first-mentioned contacts, and means for removably connecting said plug with said member, substantially as described.

3. A stage pocket comprising a plate, a movable cover, a pair of contacts, a plug having contacts to engage the latter, and means for removably connecting the plug with said cover, substantially as described.

4. A stage-pocket comprising a plate provided with an opening, a movable cove'r to close the same, a pair of contacts, a plug having contacts toengage the latter, a support for the plug carried by the cover, and means for removably connecting the plug with said support, substantially as described.

5. A stage-pocket comprising a plate provided with an opening, a movable cover to close the same, a pair of contacts, a-plug having contacts to engage the latter, a support for the plug carried by the cover, and an extension and socket between said support and the plug to hold the latter upon the former, substantially as described.

6. A stage-pocket comprising a plate having an opening, a movable cover therefor, an extension carried thereby, a pair of contacts, and a plug having contacts to engage the latter and provided with a socket to receive said extension, substantially as described.

7. A plug of the character described comprising a body having an Opening, a pair of contacts, and conductors respectively connected therewith and passing in opposite directions through said opening, substantially as described.

8. A plug of the character described cornprising a body having an opening, a pair of contacts, and conductors respectively connected therewith and passing in opposite directions through said opening, and a sleeve surrounding said opening and conduct-ors andv connected with said body, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 6th day of vAugust, A. D. 1901.

JOHN I. C. KING.

Witnesses:

T. F. BOURNE, M. MANNING.

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