US746885A - Fire-door. - Google Patents

Description

- PAIENTED DEC. 15, 1903.

G. E. SIMPSON.

FIRE DOOR.

APPLICATION 31mm mm 15, 1903.

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Patented December 15, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E.- SIMPSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,885, dated December 15, 1903.

Application filed June 15, 1903.

To all whom, it'may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E; SIMPSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Doors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in fire-doors and, as shown, to metallic doors designed for use in divisional walls.

The object of the invention is to provide a fire-door of simple construction having secured thereto means for automatically closing and securely fastening the same when the temperature of the air in the room has reached a predetermined degree.

The invention consists of the matters hereinafter described, and more fully pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention, showing the same in its normal position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the automatic closing mechanism in the act of closing the door. Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation of the trip mechanism in its supporting position. Fig. at is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same, showing the 'trip released. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the catch for the door-latch. Fig. 7 is a'view of a fusible link or thermostat embodied in my invention.

' As shown in my drawings, A indicates a wall of any desired material having an openingtherethrough, toclose which it is desired to provide an au tomatically-closin g fire-door. As shown, said wall is of brick, and said opening is provided with a metallic frame a in a familiar manner. On one side of said frame are secured the in wardly-projecting catches a a rigidly secured in said frame and projecting into the room or compartment in which the door swings. On the opposite side of the frame are provided the apertured lugs a a ia as shown, three in number and located near the middle and near the top and bottom of said frame and each forming one member of the Serial No. 161,437. (No modeLl hinge. The door is provided with an equal number of transverse straps b Z) W, which project beyond the margin of the door and are each provided with a bolt or pin adapted to engage in the aperture in the corresponding lugs a a or a and together therewith form the hinges. Extending beyond the-opposite margin of the door are the latches b 13 the outer or free ends of which are adapted to engage the catches a a Said latches are desirably of considerable length and are pivoted at their inner ends and connected by means of the bar or strap 5 the opposite ends of which are pivotally secured to the respective latches in such a mannerthat movement in one of said latches produces a corresponding movement in the other. A handle?) of any desirable form is preferably secured upon said bar or strap, whereby said latches may be raised in opening the door. For the purpose of automatically closing said door in the event of fire or such a vchange of tempera-' ture as would indicate fire a trip mechanism is provided on one side of said door, near the top thereof, comprising a base E, rigidly secured on the wall and provided at its lower end with the outwardly-projecting lugs e, between which is pivoted the trip-lever E, at the lower end of which is the outwardly-projecting hook e. The upper end of said triplever is provided-with a relatively broad plate e parallel with the base E when the trip-lever is in its supporting position. E indicates an apertured latch pivoted on said base, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and adapted to swing laterally and provided with a spring a which normally holds said latch in the position indicated in Fig. 3. On the rear side of said plate c is rigidly secured the rearwardly and laterally directed arm E having at its outer end a roller which engages on the rear side of said latch when the trip-lever is in its supporting position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that when said latch is moved laterally said arm is released thereby and the trip is permitted to fall. As shown, said latch is provided with an upwardly-extending projection e ,'which engages behind a pin e extending parallel with the top of the base and secured in a lug integral with the base. Said pin acts to support the latch against downwardstrain on the trip-lever. Means are provided for releasing said trip-lever, comprising the pulleys D 1), weight D and thermostat or fusible link D which operate as follows: The chains d d are each secured at one end to said weight D and pass, respectively, over the pulleys D D and are secured to the projection e and the thermostat D and are respectively ofsuch length that said weight is normally supported on the chain d and the thermostat-link alone, while the chain passing to the latch is slack. A Weight F, as shown, is supported by means of the spring fand tackle-blocks c and c on the hook e of the trip-lever. The block 0, as shown, is a double block and the block 0 is single, and the chain or other flexible connection 0 is rove therethrough, the inner end thereof being secured to the strap at the top of the block 0. The other end thereof passes through sheaves c and 0 located to lead the connection toa point above and near the mid dle of the door and is secured on a lug c rigidly secured on the door. The inner end of the supporting-chain is moved upwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, to form a bight which is passed over the hook e of the tripping-lever. As shown, an enlarged ring or link is secured in said chain at said point to afford better means for engaging said hook. As shown, said weight F, the tackle therefor, and the trip mechanism are inclosed in a box or casing to protect the same from injury. The weight F is about a third heavier than sufficient to close the door when suspended over the sheave 0 As shown in Fig. 1, however, the same being supported-on three strands of the line or chain, two of which lead to the trip mechanism, less than one-third of the gravity of the weight iseffective on the door, which is insufficient to close it, and as a result the door will remain in any position in which it may be placed, either open or closed. The door being open and the temperature having risen to a point sufficient to fuse the link D the weight D falls, jerking upon the chain d,and pulls the latch E laterally against the action of the spring e to the position shown in Fig. 5, thereby releasing the upper end of the trip-lever. Inasmuch as the hook 6 projects forwardly out of alinement with its pivot, the gravity of the weight F and the tackle a and o of the chains pulls the triplever downwardly until the bight of the chain slips from said hook, whereupon the weight F and tackleblocks fall to the position indicated in Fig. 2 and jerk violently upon the tween said doors as they close, which in ordinary construction acts to resist the closing of one or both of the doors. The spring f aids in effectively closing against such aircashion, inasmuch as it causes the weight to vibrate up and down, giving a succession of jerks on the chain, said successive impulse aiding materially in closing the door.

As a further improvement I have so constructed the catches a 0. that the upper latch b which is close to the point of attachment with the chain, engages on the catch a before the latch 19 engages on the catch (1 For this purpose said catch a is constructed longer than the catch a and the upper surface thereof is provided with a gradual slope or inclination, so that when the latch b ongages thereon the latch b is supported above the catch a as shown in Fig. 2, and only engages the same when both latches drop into the respective notches in said catches.

Obviously other forms of tripping devices may be employed, if preferred, than those herein described and other form of construction of fusible link or thermostat may be embodied in my invention. The tripping means may be actuated by any familiar means to permit the descent of the weight F. So, too, if preferred, sliding doors may be employed instead of a hinged door with the same effect and for the same purpose, and floor-openings, as well as openings in side divisional walls, may be closed by doors operated in accordance with my invention.

Many details of construction may be varied without departing from the principle of my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. In an automatic closing device for doors and the like a weight normally supported, partly on a door and partly on a trip mechanism, by means of a spring, and when so supported insufiicient to close the door, and thermally operated means to release said trip mechanism whereby said weight is supported wholly on said door and in falling exerts a plurality of impulses.

2. A closing mechanism for doors and the like comprising a flexible connection,engaged at one end upon the door and at the other upon a trip mechanism, a weight supported on said flexible connection and normally in position to close the door, a fusible link, a flexible connection between said link and said trip mechanism, a weight supported thereon normally free from said trip mechanism and adapted when the link is fused to actuate the trip mechanism and release the aforesaid weight and close said door.

3. A closing mechanism for doors and the like, comprising in combination, a trip mechanism, a weight, a flexible connection, reeved about a tackle suspended from the trip mechanism and attached at one end to the door, a weight secured by a spring to the lowermost block of said tackle, automatic means for releasing said trip mechanism and permitting the weights to fall, thereby exerting the entire gravity thereof upon the door and acting to close the same.

4. A self-closing mechanism for doors or the like comprising a trip mechanism, a Weight supported normally free therefrom, a fusible link connected therewith, a flexible connection rigidly secured at one end upon the door and at the other detachably engaged on trip mechanism, a weight movably supported thereon normally partly from the door and partly from the trip mechanism andadapted when said link is fused to exert its full weight upon the door and means for breaking the impact of the fall of said weight.

5. In a device of the class described a trip mechanism, a flexible connection detachably engaged at one end on said trip mechanism scribed my name in the presence of two sub- 30 scribing witnesses.

CHARLES E. SIMPSON.

' In presence of O. W. HILLS, A. C. ODELL.

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