US876036A - Electrically-controlled releasing device. - Google Patents

Description

"Nasr/6,036.

PATENTED JAN. 7, 1908.

R. P. BARNES. ELETRICALLY OONTROLLED RELEASING DEVICE.

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INVaNTmR APPLICATION FILED APRJ, 1907.

RALPH F] EIARNEE Ufa RALPH P. BARNES, OF SOHENECTADY, NEW YORK.

ELE C TRICALLY-CONTROLLED RE LEASING DEVICE Speeicatonrof Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. '7, 1908.

Application tiled April 1| 1907. Serial No. 365.772.

T o all whom 'it may concern:

. Be it known that l, RALPH P. Barinas, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrically Controlled Releasing Devices, ol which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of de-A vices which are adapted to be controlled 'from a distance to release horses from their stalls, unlock doors, or the like 3 such devices either serving as the securing means for the thing to be released or else operating simply to control some other securing means 5 and the object of my invention is to produce such a device which shall be simple and compact in construction, neat in appearance, and quick and reliable in operation.

To the above end my invention comprises a novel construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and pointed out with particular-ity in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side eleva-tion oi' a panel having mounted thereon a device constructed in accordance with a preferred form of my invention, the parts being in locking positions; Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1, the parts being, however, in their releasing positions; Fig. 3 is a view looking toward the left in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a view looking upward in Fig. l.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates a flat metal bracket mounted upon a panel 2 of wood or other material.

3 is a bolt slidably mounted in guides 4 and 5 secured to the bracket. The bolt may be operated to set the device by means of the handle 3u.

6 and 7 are tension springs arranged on opn posite sides of the bolt and connected at one end to a cross-bar S carried at the inner end of the bolt. At their other ends the springs are secured to the panel. `When `tree to do so, the springs draw the bolt inward until it rests upon a stop 9 secured to or 'forming part of the bracket. To the outer end of the bolt is attached one end of a chain or cable 10 which is connected in any suitable way to the lock or catch which is to be released upon the operation oi the bolt.

l prefer to control the locking ol the bolt in a position wherein it is out Ol engagement with the stop by means oi' an electromagnet which may readily be energized or denergized by pressing a push-button or opening or closing a switch in any manner at point .which may be lar removed from the panel. '.lherel'orel l have devised an arrangement oi parts whereby the bolt may be securely held out of engagement with the stop against the tension olt the strong actuating springs by means of a small electromagnet, while at the same time a quick and sure release is cllected upon the operation ol the controlling switch. An arrangement ol this character which has operated very satisfactorily in practice is shown on the drawing, 11 being the magnet which is illustrated as being double and having its two cores rigidly se cured at one end to a 'ilange 12 on the bracket.

Thus, when the bracket is made of magnetic material, it serves not only as the supporting means for the magnet but also as part ol the magnetic circuit thereol". r.lhe magnet is preferably, but not necessarily, arranged to operate on closed circuit and this is the l'orm in which it is illustrated. ln Fig. 1 l have shown conventionally a battery 13 and a normally closed switch 14 which respectively supply the current and control the circuit through the magnet.

15 is the armature of the magnet and 16 is a spring which tends to draw it out ot the 'lield olE the magnet.

17 is a hook pivoted at 1S on the guide plate a and engaging normally with a pin 19 .arried by the bolt and having a loose sleeve 2O surrounding it. One end of the hook is pivoted to one end of a toggle 21 which is in turn pivotally secured at its other end, as at 22, to the bracket. W'hen the toggle is straightened as shown in Fig. 1, the hook is locked in the position wherein it engages with the sleeved pin on the bolt to hold the bolt in its outermost position against the tension of the springs. A bell-crank lever 23 is pivotally secured to the bracket, as at 24, at one side of the toggle. One arm ot the lever extends toward the toggle and has a cam 25 which lies directly beneath the joint ol the toggle, Then the lever is oscillated, the cam engages with the toggle and presses the center slightly out ol alinement with the pivots at the ends. '.lliereupon, the rigid support for the hook being removed, and the hook being slightly oscillated, the actuating springs tor the bolt,

operating through the bolt, force the hook laterally and completely out of engagement with the sleeved pin. The bolt is now free position when free to do so.

The magnet, controls the' hook, through the mechanism just described, by means oi a lug 27 on the armature; this lug normally resting under a lug 28 on the free arm of the bell crank lever and holding the lever in such' position that the cam allows the toggle to be straightened. The lugs 27 and 2S register only when the armature is `drawn against the end of the magnet, so that, when the magnet is denergized and the spring 16 draws the armature outward, the lug 27 is moved from under the lug on the lever and the actuating spring Jfor the lever becomes free to oscillate it and thereby break the joint of the toggle; whereupon the bolt is released and withdrawn in the manner previously described.

To set the device, the lever 23 is moved from the position indicated in Fig. 2 to the normal position shown in Fig. 1. 1f the switch 14 is in its normal position, so that the magnet is energized, the lever will be locked in the position to which it has been moved. The bolt 3 may then be actuated against the tension of the springs, and the toggle lever straightened until the hooks 17 and the member 19 on the bolt are brought into locking engagement with each other so as to hold the bolt in the position shown in Fig. 1. The device is now ready to operate in the manner previously described upon the deenergization of the magnet.

It will be seen that by reason of the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts illustrated and described, a neat, compact, powerful and reliable releasing device is prohook in place when the two members of the toggle are brought into alinement with each other, a pivoted cam lever arranged to engage with the toggle and break the joint thereof so as to trip the hook, an actuating spring for the cam lever, an electromagnet, and an armature for said electromagnet having a shoulder for holding the cani lever in its inoperative position against the tension of its actuating spring.

2. A releasing device consisting of a iiat bracket, a spring actuated bolt slidingly mounted on said bracket, a locking hook for said bolt pivoted to said bracket, a toggle pivoted at one end to the hook and at the other end to the bracket, the toggle when straightened being substantially at right angles to the stem of the hook, a cam lever pivoted to the bracket at one side of the toggle, a spring for operating said cam lever to break the joint of the toggle, and an electromagnet rigidly supported by the bracket for normally holding said cam lever in an inoperative position against the tension oi the operating spring.

In witness whereof, AI have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of March, 1907.

RALPH l). BARNES.

lVitnesses y EDWARD WILLIAMS, Jr.. LLOYD C. BUSH.

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