US759479A - Automatic lock for elevator-doors. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAY 1o, 1904.

A. B. SEE.

AUTUMATIG LOGKFOR ELBVATOR DOORS.

APPLIUATION PILBDFEB. 23, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

' has been closed.

Patented May 10, 1904;

UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO B. SEE, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND WALTER L, TYLER, OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC LOCK FOR ELEVATOR-DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,479, dated May 10, 1904,

Application filed February 23, 1904. Serial No. 194,648. (No modell) To all w/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO B. SEE, acitizen of the United States, residing at the city oi' New York, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Locks for Elevator-Doors, of which the following' is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the automatic control of elevators, and has special reference to a system of operation wherein the condition of the doors at the various landings determines whether the elevator can be moved or not.

There are various devices in existence `for preventing an electricallycontrolled elevator' from being started until the door of the lande ing opposite which the elevator is standing My invention is an improvement on the known devices of this character intended primarily to avoid the faulty operation ot' the apparatus due to the shrinking or changing of shape or position of the landingdoor upon which the apparatus is dependent for its operation. The most common form of such device is a bolt mounted vertically near the swinging edge of the door, which when the door is closed springs into a socket in the door-frame and actuates a circuit-controller therein, which thus puts the control-circuit o'f the elevator into operative condition, permitting' the elevator to be moved away from the landing. On the arrival lof the car at its destined landing the opening of the door at that point again disables the controlcircuit, preventing further movement of the ear until the door is closed. It has been 'found in practice that by reason of the shrinkage or warping of the door, which, in private residences especially, is usually of wood, throws the end of the bolt out of alinement with the socket in the frame, so that when the door is closed the control-circuit will not be put into operative condition and the ele-` vater cannot be moved.V To avoid troubles oiE this character, I have resorted to the plan of placing the bolt in a horizontal position on the door and making it of such length as to extend substantially across its entire face from the hinge edge to the swinging edge 5o and mounting it in suitable bearings iixed to the door in which it may slide freely toward and away from the vertical side of the doorframe. The bolt being of metal is not subject to shrinkage, its operative length remains constant, and when it enters the cavity or socket in the door-frame it always projects the same distance thereinto and is always certain to actuate the circuit-controller. It may be added that in the shrinking of a door the 6c hinge edge remains fixed, while the swinging edge draws toward the hinge edge, thus opening a gap between the swinging edge andthe doorframe. The Vertical bolt before referred to being placed near the swinging edge has a movement due to the shrinkage toward the hinges, and s o gets out of line with its socket, whereas with the bolt arranged horizontally, as proposed by me, only the bearing for the bolt which is located near the 7o swinging edge partakes oi' this movement due to shrinkage, the bolt itsell being unatected.

My invention also comprises a lock to hold the bolt, preventing it from becoming displaced a'fter it has once acted upon the con- 75 trolling-circuit by the closing of the door. This lock is automatically released when the, car approaches a landing, so that the bolt can be manually thrown to release the doorand disable the control-circuit.

My invention willbe described more in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation ot part of `an elevator-landing door and door-frame equipped S5 with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical section oiE the door, showing one side ot' the frame in elevation and a portion of theele-y vator-car. Eig. 3 is a horizontal section through the door and frame, takenjust above the horizontal bolt. i

A represents a door at a landing in theelevator-shaft It is hung in a frame B, its hinges being assumed to be located at the leftdiand edge. Across the face of the door at about the elevation where the door-knob usually occurs I mount a horizontal bolt O in bearings c and c', fixed to the door and in which it is permitted to slide. The end of the bolt adjacent to the swinging edge of the door is beveled off, as shown at c2, like an ordinary doorlatch, and the bolt is acted upon by an expanding spring 03, interposed between the bearing o and a collar cion the bolt to normally force the beveled end of the bolt outward, the limit of such movement being determined by another collar 0"; The bolt also carries a socket c, engaged by the end of a crank (l, pivoted to the door at ci and adapted to be swung to the left by either of the knobs (Z2 to withdraw the end c2 of the bolt. In the door-frame is arranged a box f, having its front plate flush with the frame and provided with an opening f', through which the end c2 of the bolt may enter. In this box is pivoted a spring-actuated circuit-controllinglever g, which is adapted to be struck by the end of the bolt when the latter enters the box and to be moved toward the rear wall of the box thereby. On the rear wall of the box are mounted two metal plates z' and e", forming the terminals of a circuit which may be understood to be the control-circuit of the elevator. These plates are adapted to be bridged and the circuit therefore closed when thelever g is pressed against them by the bolt C. The corner of the doorframe adjacent i' the opening f is provided with acurved orinclined surface le, over which the end of the bolt mayride and which forces it inward against the pressure of spring c3 when the door is closed. On'the vertical portion of the door-frame, to which the hinges are applied, I mount a vertical-locking-rod o, which slides at its lower end through a bearing 0 and is there formed with anumber of shoulders 02, graduated in position and facing the end of the bolt C, any one of which will act as a stop for the enf. of the bolt, preventing it from sliding to the left. This rod may be held in its lower position, determined by a collar 03, either by gravity or a spring 0*, ii which position it serves as a detent for the bolt. The upper end of rod 0 is connected with a bell-crank p, pivoted at p', and carrying at its opposite end a roller p2, which projects slightly into the elevator-shaft.

The elevator-car is indicated by R, and to an upright portion thereof in the plane of the roller p2 is fixed a cam 71, adapted to strike the roller and swing it inward when the car passes and while the car. is at a given landing to hold the roller in its depressed or inner position and the rod 0 consequently elevated from its normal position.

The operation is as follows: When the door is closed and the car distant from the landing, the end c2 of rod C is projecting into the casing j and maintaining the control-circuit closed. It is locked in this position by the end of rod 0, which stands behind the bolt C and prevents it from being moved to the left by turning the outside knob cl2. When the car approaches a landing, the cam r strikes roller p2 and forces it inward, thus lifting the locking-rod 0 away from the end of the bolt C, in which position it is held while the car is at the landing. The person in the car then turns the knob Z2 and slides the bolt C to the left, which not only unlatches the door, but allows circuit-controlling lever g to disconnect the two terminals t' and e", and thereby disable the control-circuit of the elevator. The shifting of passengers or freight having been made the door must again be closed before the car can be started. Having closed the door, the bolt pushes lever g into contact with the circuit -terminals and the car is started. As soon as the cam r leaves the roller p2 the locking-rod lowers to a position where one of its horizontal shoulders restsupon the end of the bolt, the corresponding vertical shoulder then standing immediately behind the end of the bolt and preventing any move- Y ment of the latter to the left. It will be seen that the series of graduated shoulders on the end of the rod provides for slight inaccuracies of construction or adjustment and at the same time permits the rod to move accurately to a locking position. If the rod had a squared end, it might strike on top of the bolt, and thus fail of its purpose. On the other hand, if the end of the rod was beveled similarly to the end c2 of the bolt it would not be an eicient lock, since such a cam arrangement would permit either the rod or the bolt to move.

- It will be seen that any changing in the width of the door cannot affect the certainty of operation of the bolt, for its effective length remains constant notwithstanding such changes. The elevator having once left a landing cannot be interfered with by other would-be passengers who might try to open a landing-door, since all doors are locked until the car arrives at a given landing, when only thel door at that landing can be opened.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination with an elevator-landing door, of a bolt mounted horizontally thereon and extending approximately across its entire face, a circuit-controller in the door-frame adapted to be actuated by said bolt, a lock for said bolt and means whereby the position of the elevator-car determines the condition of the lock.

2. The combination with an elevator-landing door, of a bolt mounted horizontally thereon and extending approximately across its entire face, a circuit-controller in the door-frame adapted to be actuated by said bolt, a lock for said bolt and means carried by the elevatorcar for controlling said lock.

3. The combination with an elevator-landing door, of a bolt mounted horizontally thereon and extending approximately across its entire face, a circuit-controller in the door-frame adapted to be actuated by said bolt, a lock for said bolt consisting of a vertical rod adapted to be moved into and out of position behind IIO tbe bolt, a lever eonneeted with said rod and series of graduated stops adapted tobe pre- IO a cam on the elevator adapted to aetuate the sented to the end of the bolt.

lever. In Witness whereof l subscribe my signature l 4; The combination Wtl an elevator-landing in presence of two Witnesses.

c oor, of a bo t rnounte uorizonta y t lereon f and extending approximately across its entire ALONO L SEE face, a circuit-controller in the door-frame W'itnesses:

adapted to be actuated by said bolt, a lock for FRANK S. OBER,

said bolt consisting of a Vertical rod havinga WALDo M. CHAPINi

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