Patent GB-191110151-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for Automatically Operating Locks, Bolts or the like for Various Locking and Interlocking Purposes.
Inventor: SPENCER ALEXANDER
IPC: E05B65/42
Filed: 1911-04-26
Granted: 1912-04-26
Abstract: 10,151. Spencer, A. April 26. Pneumatically-controlled fastenings; railwaycarriage doors, fastening automatically.-Bolts for locking the doors of railway carriages, motor-cabs, &c., or the doors of buildings containing dangerous machinery, are actuated by a piston under liquid pressure which is created by a pump driven off one of the moving parts, and it is so arranged that the locking shall occur only when this part is moving at a predetermined speed, whereby the liquid is pumped to the cylinder at a greater rate than it can freely escape from a leak hole in the connecting pipe. As applied to a railway carriage the apparatus comprises a casing 1, Figs. 1 and 3, which is screwed to the axle-box and serves as a reservoir for oil, and a double-acting pump 37 having an inlet port 44 and outlet ports 49, 50<a> and a plunger 38 on a piston-rod 38<a>, which is connected by a coupling-rod 39 with a pin 40 mounted eccentrically on the end of the carriage axle, the bearings 78, 79 being of the type described in Specification 24,931/07 to allow for lateral motion. The inlet port 44 of the pump is in communication with the oil in the casing 1 and is provided with a ball valve 46; the outlet port 49 is in communication through a ball valve with the outlet port 50<a> and passages 51, 72; the passage 51 leads to the underside of a spring-pressed piston 53, and is provided with a leak hole 55 or a hole 55d, Fig. 6, controlled by a needle valve; the passage 72, Fig. 8, leads to a relief valve consisting of a ball valve 71, which is held on its seating by a spring 73 the pressure of which is adjustable. On its up stroke the piston 38 of the pump takes in oil from the casing 1 through the port 44, and on its downstroke it forces the oil through the port 49 past the ball valve 50<b>, part of it going along the passage 51 and part through the port 50<a> into the upper part of the pump, from which it is ejected on the succeeding upstroke. Until the pump is working at a certain predetermined speed the oil escapes from the passage 51 at such a rate through the leak hole 55 or 55<d> that there is insufficient pressure to raise the piston 53, but, when this speed is attained, such action occurs, and any excess of oil that cannot escape through the leak hole 55 or 55<d> escapes through the relief valve 71. The piston 53, Fig. 7, is connected by its rod 57 to a lever 60 for operating the stems 55<a>, 56<a> of tappet valves 56, 56<e>, which are pressed upwards by springs 68, 69; in the position shown, which is that occupied by the apparatus before the piston 53 has been raised, a passage 66<a> passing through the casing 1 is in communication through a passage 64 and valve 56<e> with an exhaust port 63 which also passes through the casing 1; when the lever 60 is raised by the operation of the piston 53, the valve 56<e> is closed and the valve 56 opened thereby placing the passage 66<a> in communication with the passage 66, which passes out through the casing 1. The passages 66<a>, 66 are in communication respectively with the underside of a piston 7, Fig. 1, and with the source of pneumatic pressure used for the brakes. The piston 7 is connected through links 8, 16, 8<a>, 16<a> with transverse rotary shafts 9, 9<a> respectively; these shafts 9, 9<a> have arms 21, 21<a> respectively, which working in slits operate longitudinal sliding rods 22, 22<a> on each side of the carriage. Beneath each door the sliding rods are provided with an arm 26 which passes through a slot 28, Fig. 13, of a casing 30 and engages in a slot 27 of a sliding bolt 25; on the bolt 25 is a sliding abutment 32<a> for a spring 31, which also engages an abutment 32 adjacent to the bolt head. When the piston 53 is operated, placing the passages 66, 66<a> in communication, pneumatic pressure raises the piston 7 and thereby moves the sliding rods 22, 22<a> from right to left; this causes the arms 26 to bear on the sliding abutments 32<a>, compressing the springs 31 and shooting the bolts. Doors can be shut, after operation of the bolts, through the abutments 32 compressing the spring 31, which again shoots the bolt when the door is closed. The bolts may be placed higher up on the door posts and he suitably connected with the sliding rods 22, 22<a>. When the train slows down, the piston 53 is forced down by its spring and places the pipe 66<a> and consequently the cylinder containing the piston 7 in communication with the air through the exhaust port 63. The piston 7 is forced down by its spring, thereby moving the rods 22, 22<a> from left to right and withdrawing the bolts 25. In the case of a train employing both vacuum and pressure brakes, an automatic change-over valve comprising chambers 78, 79, 80, Fig. 15, is employed, which places either the air pressure supply in communication with a pressure cylinder 6 or the vacuum exhaust pipe communication with a vacuum cylinder 77, which may be arranged to form a continuation of the cylinder 6, as shown. The chambers 78, 80 are of similar construction to the arrangement shown in Fig. 7, except that the cylinder 80 is a vacuum-operated cylinder and has its piston 101 normally retained at the opposite end to that normally occupied by the piston 53. The chamber 79 contains two valves 90, 91 on a rod 92, which forms an extension of the piston rod 101<a>; the valve 90 controls the communication between the vacuum exhaust pipe 96, connected with the vacuum cylinder 77 and the pipe 66<a> of the apparatus in the casing 1, and the valve 91 controls a communication between the pressure supply pipe 100 and the pipe 66<a>. The exhaust port 83<a> of the valve cylinder chamber 78 and the cylinder 80 are connected to the main vacuum pipe 110, the inlet port 87 of the valve chamber 78 is connected to the air pressure chamber 89, and the outlet pipe 87<a> is connected to the pipe 66 of the apparatus in the casing 1; in the position shown, the cylinder 6 is arranged to be operated by compressed air when the train is moving at or above the predetermined speed. When a vacuum is created in the train-pipe 110, the piston 101 descends, closing the valve 91, opening the valve 90, and closing and opening respectively the valves 81, 81<a> of the valve chamber 78; the vacuum train-pipe 110 is then in communication (when the vehicle is travelling at or above the predetermined speed) with the vacuum cylinder 77. The cylinder 80 may be dispensed with and the change-over operated by hand. The piston 53 may be arranged to operate the fastenings direct. The oil pump may be arranged to be driven by dangerous machinery, and the piston 53 arranged to fasten the doors of the building containing it. The apparatus may also be used for securing the doors of taxi-cabs.