US857232A - Door-operating apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

N0. s57,232. P-ATENTED JUNE 18, 1907.

P. R. FORMAN. DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED OUT-27 1905.

3'BHEETSSHEET 1.

\A v A FII PA'I ENTED JUNHIB, 1907 P. R. FORMAN DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS.- APPLIQATION FILED OOT.27, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\ No. 857,232. PA'TENTED JUNE 18. 1907.

P. R; FURMAN.

DOOR OPERATING-APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED 001257, 1 w v 905 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

"-TIN OF ILLINOIS.

O FICE.

I rinse. FORMAN, or enIcAe -ILLI oIs, ASSIGNOR T0 URD TT-ROWN TREE MANUFACTURING COMPANL} or CHICAGO, LLIN Is, A coRPoRA.

To a, whom it may concern! Be it'known that L'Pnnrs R. FORMAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicage, in thocounty of, Cook and State of Il1i'-' nois, have invented a new and. useful 'Improvement in Door Operating Apparatus, of

. which the followingis a specification.-

- My invention relates .to power operating-' a para-tus for doors, and one off-its objects is t e provision of simple, and efficient means for operating doors"quickly and bringing the same to rest without'slamming.

-More particularly it is the object the present invention to acceleratea door when started from Its open or OlOSBd pOSltlOIl and i to retard the motion of the door toward the endof its travel-.

Other objects of'the present invention will appear hereinafter, the novel combinations 2o 0 elements being pointed'out in the claims. In the ;accompanying drawings, Flgure 1 represents my invention applied to the door of a railway car; Fig. 2 is a similaryiew showing the door in open. position; Fig. 3 is a plan' view of the. operating apparatus, Fig. A 4 is a -sectional viewofa portion of Fig 1 on the line a-a and looking in the direction of the arrows; and Figs.,5 and'fi aredetaillviews of one form of automaticcatch for retaining the door'in closed position.

' Various means have by a door operated by pressure, such as air pressure, can be cushionedvan'd brought, to rest without slamming. One of such means partially closes thevalve as the door nears the end of its travel, thereby retaining a poriylinder to par;

tion of the exhaust air in the 'tially retard the motion of e' door. I Another means used is to connect the door byf'a connecting rod'to a crank-arm 'or wheel-having a semi-circular motion thereby slowing? 1113p the door by the motion of the crank-arm. xperience has shown, ,7 however; I that a crank-arm deviceis successfulin properly cushioning-the door only where certain and steady motion is-given to :the crank-arm, as,

for example, when the crank-arm isdriven by a motor operating at a fixed speed which fixed speed is not a preciably affected by the momentum of the oor. My invention comprises means for eush ioning the door by means of a crank arm mobeen designed jvhere-j DOOR-OPERATING APPA RATUS.

operating only toward the end of the travel ohthe door and a constantly varying actuat ing ressure j I 1 3A thouglil have er'ein shown one embodication, it lsobvious that, those's killed in the art may make slightvariations in-the details from the spirit and scope} of my inyention,

precise construction'- of apparatus herein .shown and described. I I Referring to the drawings, in Figs. i1 and 2.

car body (providedwith a door-way 3",which is adapte I Secured to .the left of the door, I have shown a bracket 4 to which is pivoted at'5 a link 6 of.

tion shown in Fig. 2, the pivotal point 5 will be in alinement'with the ivotal oints7 and 9 as it is also when'the oor is [c osed. The

fixed to t 'e segment-gear); 'This segment the bearing .9 which is suitably securedto some'fixed part ofthe car-body. In mesh supported in substantially horizontal position by the'bracket 12 andpivoted at '13 'to thejpiston rod 14. A' piston 1'5 which is adapted to move in the c linder 16 is connectedto the left-hand cm of the piston rod 14 and is moved in one direction or the other by means of some fluid power, such as steam or'air. 17 designates the valve mechanism .for controlling the flow of fluid to and from the cylinder 16, this valve mechanism'being connected by the stem .18 to an arm 19 whic 1 in-tnrn-is"conne'cted by a system oflinks and levers to an operating-leverft preferably at "the extreme end of the car'w ere'thesame may be accessible fro'mxin'side or outsidethe car. Preferably the operating levers 40'are placed 'just' outsidef'of the'car, so that'in a levers at the same time, one wlth each hand, .so as to effect the opening of two car doors, one in the car at his left and the other in the car at his right. The lever 40 is connected by a link 39 to the bell-crank 38 which is con- .to be closed by'the sliding door link fi is' ivoted at 7 to the arm S -which is.

with the segment-gear 10 is a rack-bar L11 h "SpecificationofLetters Patent. i'atezited June 18, 1907. Applicaticniile'd Gumbel-2 7, 1905 Serialll'o.284,594; I I I i I,

tion: incombinati'on with a, retarding device m nt of, my invention to illustrate its appli and arrangement of'parts withoutdeparting I I desire, therefore, not-to be limited to the p I have-shownin dotted lines 1' one end of the such shape that, when moved into the-posif gear and the arm 8 are rotatably mounted on train a guard or operator may actuate two cylinder 16; The valve mechanism 17 is not.

easily p notedthat the pivotal pomts 5, 7 and 9am In 4o substantial alinement with each (fr m; Lsof is usally kept wide open. 0

The latter lever thebell-crank 3 32, and the link 20, .to the arm 19. Ri idly attached tothe'stenr18 so asto move't iere-' with is the U-shaped projection 21' which isadapted to.. 'abut against the stop22 on the herein shown in detail, since it is not espccially concerned with my invention. Anv suitable valve mechanism may be employed, such. for example, that illustrated in the patent to H. Rowntree, No. 596,946, J anuary' 4, 1898, Closure controllingapparatus or in the patent to ll; l towntree, No. 619$. 50, February 4, 1899, Door operating mechan-' ism.

Although any suitable source of 7 power may he used, I ,haveherein shown a tank 24 containinq' CUIIIPIGSSBL'l air, said tank being connected by the pipe23 through the valve 30 and pipe 22 to the valve mechanism 17.

26 designates a pipe or passage which establishes coi'nnnmieation between the cylinder 16 at the leftot "the piston 15 and the ex-- haust pipe through the valve mechanism 17. The supply pipe 23 and the exhaust pipe "25 areprovh ed with adjustable valves, 30 and 31, respectively, but that in the pipe 23 isnearly closed, while that in the exhaust The purpose thisarrangen'ient will be explainedhereinafter.

it wil be vided at its u ired that the door-3 isproier right-hand portion with by tliel'atch 42., sothat t i'e loor can that it would be diilieult to open the door even though therewere no cateh to retain the door in closed position.

The latch mechanism is illustrated in do tail in Figs. -5 and 6. wherein it will be seen I that the hook or latch 42 is pivoted on an ,in-.

lows:

lease the catch 41.

wardly-extcruling pin46 which is secured to" the upper end ofthe lever36. This latch 42 is held against-the lever, 36 and also against the screw-threaded rod 4.3, by means of a roiection 46. 'lhe l 43 are so arranged, that when the lever 36 is rotated to a certain extent in a clockwise direction, the lever 36 and the lateh42 will be moved along the rod 43 so as to release the latch 42 from the. catch 41..

screw-threads on the I()( Theo eration of my invention. is as to]- the operating lever 40 is moved to the position shown in Fig, 2. -'l.he lever 36 is thus rotated in a clockwisedirection to ell'ect a movement of the latch 42 ()tltWttIilly to re lhe door now Presto be moved by the power operating-metal]an square inch.

Then it is desired to move the door from its closed position as shown I11 Fig. 1,

ism. At the same time that the lever 36 is oscillated, the arm 19 is moved to-the left until the projection 21 strikes against the lug 22. The valve mechanism 17 'will thusbe .o erated to admit the compressed air t rough the restricted opening in thevalve 30 to the cylinder 16 at the right of the piston 15.. At the same time, theexhaust ipe 25 is -b'rougl'it into communication with t e 'cyli11 der 16 to the leitof the )iston 15 through the valve mechanism and the pipe 26. ton 15 will now be moved to the left toforci- The pis- 'hly actuate the rack 11 and thus rotate the speed, and therefore the door is not properly cushioned. To obviate this, I use an adjustable aperture such as the valve 30 for admittingair under pressure to the cylinder. The instant the valve mechanism 17 is operated to admit air under pressure, the air rushes .into the right-hand end of-the cylinder 16 and starts to force the piston to the other end.

of the cylinder, thus putting the door in motion. The inertia oi the door which has to be overcome, and the smallness of the available space to the right of the iston 15, allows the pressure to run up to ii ll operating pressure, which may be about 70 lbs. per

door a good start. The adjustable aperture or valve 30 is so' arranged that the speed of the piston as it moves in operating the door sufficient to materially reduce the operating pressure in the cylinder. The operating pressure steadily falls therehire from 70 lbs. per square inch to perhaps somethu'lg like 20 lbs. per'square inch. Fiu'therlnore, a weight or spring such as that indicated at t may be connected to the car hody zit--19 and to the leveror' arm 8 at 47. lrel'erably the connecting point 49 is in sul'istant-ial vertical.

This high 1.)ressu're gives the' al-ine'ment with'the projection iii-hearing: 9. i

The spring 48 operates to accelerate the motion of the door or piston during the first half of the trai'el in either direction and to retard the motion during the second half of the travel. I The operationof the spring, therefore, consists in causing the operating pressure to fall (llll'lllg the first hall of thostroke of the'plston l5, and by retarding the motion ol'the door in' the latter part of the stroke 'it enables the operating pressure to rise again The retarding toward its lull pressure. power of thesprmgaetmg through the medium of-thccranlearm 8 is suilicient to resist sting pressure behind it, but as thcoperating pressure builds up toward its. normal presnsure it exceeds the resisting power of the door in opening or. closing, the operating pressure in the cylinder is less than the re tardmg power, 1f the door 1s moving ra idly, but-the operating pressure rises ab ove t 1e retar-ding, pressure ii the door is moving slowly. Ii -this way I obtain-an accurate self-cushioningdevice which in practice needslit'tle or nql ttention or adjustment I I v -.Erei erably,- the fluid motor and the connections between the same and the door are ar-" rangedunder and back of the seats in the car,-

but obviously they may'have any other-desired location. Instead of controllingthe operation of one door from the lever 40, I may control theoperation of a. plurality of gldoors, as, for example, by connecting an adzgj tional rod similar to to the bell-.crank 3 k [iia'ndthus actuating an additional vertical rod at the middle similar-to that designated 33 to operate valve mechanism adapted tojmovea. door portion of the bodyof the car or elsewhere. I

The'valve mechanism v17 may have only so ex jaust positions and also a stop position. When the do] r is in open position as shown in Fig. .2, the ivotal points 5, 7 and Bare in substantial aiinement with each other, so that the door can notbe" moved bysorne outside force applied directly to'the' door. Pref tion in the and exhaust osi tions, "so that the doorvvi be held open y; ain'press re'fagainst-th'e action of the spring 48. when it is desired to close 'the'door, the lever,5=0;is moved into the osition shown in Fig, 1. ':I n s'uplfc'ase; the etch 42 will bemo vc e(;l i'nt its original osi path of the;catch4 1"on-'the' oor, but inasmuch as the latch 42 ispositively held from inovementin a lefthanddirection only, the door may be; fully closed. In this operation, the, catch 41 will engage the latch- 42 on its left-hand side and move "the same against the action of the spring 45 until the latch snaps into theposition shownlin Fig. 1 to assist in holding the door in closed tion.

What I claim and desireto have protected by Letters Patent of the United States-is:

1. The combination with a door, of a inc-- tor for operating said door, and means for effecting a variation of the operating pressure peed at which erably, the'valve' mechanism has only supply 1 J posi- 1n lnverse proportion to the s the door is moved. I

2. The combination with a door, of a fluid ressure motor connected to operate said door, a source of fluid pressure supply, means ply and exhaust positions, or supply and" for; controlling said motor from a pointfad the do(Jr-way, and means to effect a variation of the operating pressure in the motor in inverse proportion to the speed-at -.which the door is moving.

3. The'combination with a door, of'a no- ,tor connected to open or close said door,

means for retaining said door in closed-p'o'si p tion,- controlling-mechanism for said motor a single-means for actuating sa1d-reta1n1ng-.

means ,and said controlling "means, and.

means to'vary'the operatingressure in inverse proportion to the spec door is moved. 4; Thecombination with a door, of pressure apparatus formoving'said door,

a which themeans for varying the operating-pressure in said fluid==pressure apparatus 111 nversepro portion "to the speed at which the door is f moved, controlling mechanism for s'aidfiuidpressure apparatus, latch-mechanism for retaining the door in closed position, and.a,sin'-- gle means for operating said latch-mec'han controlling --mec hanisrn' to effect amove'- merit of the door to open position. 1

ism to release the door and foractuating said 5. The combination with'-'a door, of a fluidpressu're motor, connections between-said motor and-the door; a source of fluid-pressure supply for said-motor, means forfvarying' the operating r'essure" therein" in inverse proportion to t e speed at whichthe door is moving, automatic latch-mechanism for retaining the "door .in closed position when" 'close'd, controlling means for the motor, and

manual Ineans'for actuating said latch-meoh'- anismto release the door and for operating with a door, of an op- I said controlling-means to effect theopening cylinder and the door, a retardin device,

meansfor rendering said retardingevice in} operative during the firs't partof-the motion. 0

the door, and means for varying theoperating-pressure therein inf-inverse proportiqn to the speed at which'the door islrnoved.

7. The combination with a door, of an 0E- crating-cylinder, a iston therein, a cran arm, a; connection' etween said crank-arm and thedoo'r, means actuated saidpiston for moving said crank-arm, a retarding device, ineans for"render1n the retardingdevice inoperative during t e first art of the motion of the door, and means or varying the operatin -pressure'therein in inverse proportion. to t e speed at which the door is moved. 3

8. The combination with a .door, of a cranlg-arm, a connection between said crankarm and the door, a fluid-pressure motor for actuating cr :ik-arm to efiectan opening or closing of the door, a retarding device, means for rendering said retarding device inoperative during the first part of the motion of the door, and nheans for varying the operating-pressure therein in inverse proportion to the speed at which the door is moved.

9. The combination with a door, oi an opcrating-cylinder, a piston therein, connections between said piston and the door, means for assisting the pressure applied to said piston during the first part of the motion of the door and. for resisting such pressure during the latter part of the motion of the door to effect a cushioning thereof, and means for varying the operating pressure therein in inverse proportion to the speed at which the door is moved. I I 10. The combination witha door, of an operatin cylinder, a piston therein, connections ietween said piston and the door, a

' spring acting on said connections to assist the pressure applied to said piston during inder, a piston in the first part of the motion of the door and to resist saidpressure during the latter part of the motion of the door, and means for varying the operating-pressure therein in inverse pro- 'portion to the speed at which the door is moved. I 1 1. The combination with a door, of a cylinder, av piston in said cylinder actuated by the fluid-pressure, connections between the piston and the door, said connections com.- prising a crank-arm, means for accelerating the speed of the door during the first part of its motion and forretarding the speed of the door during the latter part of its motion, and means for varying the operating pressure in the cylinder in inverse proportion. to the speed at which the door is moving.

12. The combination with a door, of a fluid-i pressure motor connected to operate said door, means for accelerating the speed of the door during the first part of itsmotion and for retarding the speed thereof during the latterpart of its motion, and means for varying the operating pressure' inth'e motor in in-. verse'proport on to the speed at which the door is moving;

13. The comblnation with a door, of a cylpisspeed of the door during the first partof its name to this specification said cylinder; connections, comprising a crank-arm, between sald ton and the door, means for accelerating the l motion and for retarding the speed of the door during the latter part oi its motion, a source of fluid-pressure supply, and means for cmitrolling the ilow of fluid to and from said cylinder to effect a variation of'the opwrating-pressure in the cylinder in inverse l proportion to the speed at which the door is IllOVlIl 14. lhe combination with a door, of a fluid-pressure motor,- connections, comprising a crank arm, between said motor and the door; a spring acting on said crank-arm to accelerate the speed of the door during the first part of its motion, means for controlling said motor, and means to effect a variation of the operating-pressure therein in inverse moving.

15. The combination with a door, of fluid pressure apparatus for operating said door, means for acceleratin the speed of the door l during the first part 0% its motion and for retarding the speed of the door part 0 its motion, latch-mechanism for retaining the door in closed position, means for pressure apparatus in inverse the speed at which the door is moving, con trolling-mechanism for the motor, and means for actuating said latch-mechanism to release the door and for operating said controlling mechanism to effect the opening of the door.

16. The combination with a door, of a motor, a pivoted crank arm connected to the motor, a link pivotally connected between the door and said crank arm, means for controlling the operation of said motor to bring the pivotal oints of said arm and linkin siibstantial a incment both whenthe door is open and when the door is closed, and means operable from a point adjacent the door to be operated for actuating said motor-controlling means.

, ln'testimony, whereof I have signed my in the presence of witnesses. v

PARIS R. FORMAN.

two subscribing Witnesses:

' T. D. CHRISTOPHER,

M. A. BERG, Jr.

proportion to the speed at which the door is during thelatter varymg the operating-pressure 1n sa d flu d I proportion to;

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