US771410A - Stage-pocket. - Google Patents

Description

N0 MODLL` PATENTEDA OCT. 4, 1904.

B. BEERWALD.

STAGE POCKET.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30, 1903.

UNITED STATES Patented october 4, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN BEERWAL'D, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH FRANK GEORGE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STAGE-POCKET.

sPEcIrIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,410, dated october 4, 1904.

Application led November 30,1903. VSerial No. 183,133. (No model.) l

To all whom zit may concern.:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN BEERWALD, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, temporarily residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Stage-Pockets, of which the following is a specification.

I use the term "stage-pocket to cover the recesses in theaters, ordinarily so called, and analogous parts of other buildings and constructions. The improvement will be described as applied in theaters. It'takes the place of the corresponding pocketwhich is now in general use for controlling the electric currents atA will in lighting different prearranged portions of the stage and accessories. It avoids the diiculty heretofore experienced in such pockets in consequence ofv their liability to accident. It .excludes foreign substances without interfering with the action or interposing diliculty or delay in the working. The pocket may be in the position most exposed to such accident-in the Hoor of the stage. p

The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention. The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure lis a vertical section on the line l i in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan view, and Fig. 3 a section corresponding to Fig. l with the plug holding the doors open.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iigures Where they appear.

A is the receptacle or pocket of a long-approved form. There may be several in different positions easily accessible-sunk in the floor of the stage, in the Wings, or otherwise concealed from the audience. B is the slate insulation held upright therein.

C and D are the contacts,and C. and D the binding-screws carried on the insulation, which latter may be in all respects of the ordinary construction, except that the upper edge of the slate is chamfered, as indicated at l), to receive the inclined ways or guides on the cover to be presently described. The electrical connections to the binding-screws and the provisions for giving and receiving currents through them are of the ordinary character and need no further reference.

I .will designate the cover by the letter E, using supernumerals when necessary to indicate special parts thereof. I provide the ordinary rectangular apertures e in the top, which receive the plugs and allow their withdrawal by the ordinary obvious ve rtical movements.

E E' are inclined guideways forming the upper sides of the ways for the doors. These are connected by webs E2 with the parallel lower inclined guideways E3, which stand under 'the doors and form strong supportingways therefor.v I have shown these strong inclined transverse ways for four pairs of doors. v

G is a transverse plate extending across the outer end of each of the ways andsecured to the webs E2 by screws. The plates are provided with holes receiving the rods I.

F F are the doors, having their main bodies adapted to be supported and strongly guided laterally by the webs E2 and in the vertical plane by the upper ways E and the lowerl ways E3. The inner ends are beveled and present plane level faces on the upper sides. These faces are arranged to lie flush with the upper surfacev of the cover when in the closed position. The shallow inner ends F2, which abut together, one from each side, are beveled, as indicated in Fig. 2. Each door is hollow on the under side and equipped with a transverse web F. Each door is pressed upward and inward by a helical spring H, which exerts a distending force and loosely incloses a rod I, extending from the web F' loosely outward and downward through the corresponding holes g, and these pins 1 guide the spring and limit the traverse of the door by'the aid of transverse pins 1 I2, which may be split keys.

M is a wood insulation-plug having a main body of hard {ine wood, supernumerals being employed when necessary to indicate special portions. M is a wedge-shaped end, and M2 the ordinary wide portion above. The latter corresponds to the minimum spread of the copper contacts M3. These contacts are of the ordinary construction and extend up and down the plug and are, as usual, elastically and electrically connected together and to the ordinary lamp-wire M5. I have shown the upper end of the plug as formed with a convenient knob M, which extends above the cover E when the plug is in use; but this knob may be omitted and the plug allowed to' terminate flush with the upper face of the cover E. In such case the gentle force required to commence the lifting motion of the plug may be imparted by simply pulling upward on the lamp-wire.

The bevel on the abutting ends of the doors of each pair holds the central joint sufficiently open to allow the insertion of the thin wedgeshaped end of the plug without presenting lany suiicient space to receive dirt and induce mischief. The doors spring together promptly on the removal of the plug and effectually close the considerable rectangular openings e, and therebyr forbid the reception of any dirt, which is liable in case of nails or the like to cause disaster by short-circuiting.

The apparatus is operated in all respects in the ordinary manner,'except that care is required to place the wedge-shaped end of the plug correctly by inserting it in the narrow recess provided by the abutting together of the beveled ends F2.

The arrangement insures that each of the transverse pins, which are preferably split keys, I I2, with the washersls, insures that the inward and upward traverse of each door is arrested at the right point, whether the oppositely-moving door which meets it is actuated bya spring of the same force or not.

The strong guidance aorded by the upper and lower ways E and E3 insures that the doors are firmly supported, so that they may be stepped on with any force without derangement.

Modifications may be made. The size of the receptacle A and the number of pairs of doors F and connecting parts may vary indefinitely, according as the lights shall re' quire to be controlled in separate divisions.

I have shown the rods I as detachable at either end and have shown a washer Is under the key or cross-pin I2; but these points may be omitted and other features may be modified without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

The improvementrnay be applied in dwellings, manufactories, and Various other situations. One Very important use is in stations for charging storage batteries, automobiles, and other purposes.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a stage-pocket the guide-webs E2 and inclined Ways E E3., in-combination with doors F guided therein and springs H arranged to serve yieldingly to urge the doors into the closed position, all substantially as herein specified.

2. In a stage-pocket the guide-Webs E2 and inclined ways E' E, in combination With doors E guided therein, arranged in oppositelysliding pairs and with springs H, rods I and cross-pins I I2 for limiting the inward motions of each member, all substantially as herein specified.

3. In a stage-pocket the guide-webs E2 and inclined ways E E, in combination with doors F guided therein and springs H arranged to yieldingly urge the doors into the closed position and with a plug M having a wedge end M', all arranged to serve substantially as herein specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I ax my signaturein the presence of two Witnesses.

BENJAMIN BEERWALD.

Witnesses:

THOMAS DREW STETsoN, M. F. BoYLE. Y

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