Improvements in Railway Car or Carriage or other Door Fasteners.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1898-Accepted, 7th May, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Car or Carriage or other Door Fasteners.
I, WILLARD BLODGETT HOSMER, of 295, Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mas-
sachusetts, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
--
My invention relates to fasteners for railway car or carriage or other doors and
the like (hereinafter called car doors) in which a frangible plate or disk seal is
used in a way whereby the fastener cannot be opened without destroying the seal,
as a means of detecting fraudulent opening, and it consists of improvements in the
construction of the apparatus of the fastener for greater simplicity, cheapness and
durability, as hereinafter described reference being made to the accompanying
drawings in which :-
:-
Fig. 1, is a front elevation of my improved car door fastener closed and sealed.
Fig. 2, is a top view of the fastener with the shell of the sealing apparatus
sectioned on line 2-2 Fig. 1.
Fig. 3, is a front elevation of the shell of the sealing apparatus, the rest of said
apparatus being removed to show the bottom of the shell.
Fig. 4, is a section of the bottom of the shell on line 3-3 Fig. 3.
Fig. 5, is a section of the bottom of the shell on line 3-3 Fig. 3, also of the cam
ring for actuating the seal breaker, and also a plan view of part of the under side
of the said shell.
Fig. 6, is a sectional elevation of the pivot stud for the hook and holder for the
seal, and a side view of the seal breaker.
Fig. 7, is a side view of said stud and holder.
Fig. 8, is a front elevation of the stud and holder.
Fig. 9, is a side view of the cam ring for actuating the seal breaker.
Fig. 10, is a plan of one side of the cam ring for actuating the seal breaker.
Fig. 11, is a plan of the other side of the cam ring.
Fig. 12, is a front elevation of the improved car door fastener adapted for hold-
ing the door closed as usual or partly open for ventilation.
Fig. 13, is a front elevation of the improved car door fastener adapted for hold-
ing the door closed as usual, or partly open for ventilation, and also adapted for
use either right or left handed.
Fig. 14, is a front elevation of the improved car door fastener in a modified form
of construction for holding the door closed or partly open and also adapted for
use either right or left handed.
Fig. 15, is an elevation of the cam ring showing the side on which the ratchet
in the bottom of the shell of the sealing apparatus acts, and
Fig. 16, is a horizontal section of the shell of the sealing apparatus and top edge
view of the cam ring.
A represents an ordinary hasp of any approved form and construction adapted
"

page_text: to be hung on the door frame, or door, by a staple a, or other approved means
and having the usual slot eye for lodging on the staple on the other part rela-
tively to the part on which staple a is secured. d represents the hook or hooks
pivoted on the hasp and having the usual prong e for engaging the staple e to
secure the hasp thereon.
The pivot stud f for the hook is riveted or otherwise securely fastened in the
hasp as at, it is bored centrally and longitudinally for reception therein of a
sliding seal breaking plunger h.
The pivot stud has in its part projecting from the face of the hasp, first, the
section larger than the stem riveted in the hasp and on which the pivot eye j of
the hook fits, second, the larger and longer section on which the cam ring
works, and third, the head m in the face of which is the groove n for reception of
the seals o to be broken.
The hook d has in its pivotal hub the hollow cylindrical shell P coincident with
the pivot eye for enclosing the projecting portion of the pivot stud and the
cam ring, and for retaining the seal o in the groove of the head of the pivot stud,
the depth of said shell being equal to the extent of the projection of the head
of the stud from the face of the hasp, and on the surface of the bottom of the shell
is a series of ratchet teeth q surrounding the eye j, and in the outer end and at
one side of the shell is a notch s which when the hook is turned upright coincides
with the groove n in the head of the pivot stud and permits the seals to be inserted
through the notch into the groove where they are retained by the unnotched part
of the shell when the hook is engaged with the staple for securing the hasp, the
sides of the groove being suitably under-cut for overlapping the edges of the
seal.
Over the ratchet teeth g in the bottom of the shell the cam ring 7 is placed, said
ring being bored to fit and turn on the part of the pivot stud and having other
ratchet teeth u on its side bearing against teeth g of the shell, these two sets of
teeth being so formed that, when the hook is raised to release the prong e from
staple cits teeth q will engage the teeth of the cam ring and turn said ring,
but when the hook swings down its teeth q will not take effect on the cam ring
which will remain at rest.
The other side of the cam ring 7 has cams on two of which stud pins w of the
seal breaker rest, said studs projecting through slots a in the part of the pivot
stud, so that when the cam ring is turned by lifting the hook the seal breaker
will be thrust forward against the seal and will break it before the prong e rises
out of the staple c, and thus will always show when the door has been unfastened,
there being no means of removing the seal without breaking it after the hook has
been engaged with the staple.
Cams are provided in ring 1 at such distance apart that studs w will escape
from those effecting the break on to the next ones before the upward movement of
the hook ceases, to allow the plunger to recede to permit the next seal to be
inserted, and a coiled spring y between the head m of the pivot stud and the
flange of the cam ring keeps the ratchet teeth of the cam ring in engagement
with the ratchet teeth of the bottom of the shell, the plunger being free to be
pressed back readily by the finger when a new seal is to be inserted.
It will be seen that the seal breaking devices are so effectually enclosed that
they are in no way accessible for evading the safe-guard. The seal can be of any
suitable size for being conspicuously visible, and there is no possibility of fraudu-
lently securing the hook at a height that will leave the hasp free to be released
with a scal unbroken.
The line, Fig. 1, indicates the joint between the closed door and the door frame,
the fastener being adapted for fastening the door shut, but it is sometimes desir-
able to fasten the door partly open to leave a space for ventilating as indicated
by lines and for which the hasp and the hook may be extended as in Fig. 12,
and provided with an additional eye b¹ and prong e¹ respectively.
In Fig. 13 I represent a contrivance of hasp and hooks for fastening the door

page_text: partly open or entirely shut, which is also reversible for application alike to right
or left handed doors. In this case the hasp A¹ has the pivot located between the
staple eyes 62 and there are two hooks d¹ projecting in opposite directions respec-
tively from the pivot stud and each having a prong e², said hooks being in the
reverse arrangement whereby they both act alike with reference to the eyes of the
hasp when either one is shifted, so that either eye being lodged on a staple said
staple will be engaged by a hook.
The two hooks balance each other on the pivot and the resistance of the seal
breaking devices occasioned by a seal in place prevent them from jarring open;
one of the hooks may be chained or otherwise fastened against such action if
desired.
It is obvious that this form of fastener is alike applicable for right or left hand
doors.
And in Fig. 14 I represent another modification of double and reversible hasp
and hooks, which differs only from the arrangement of Fig. 13, in that the two
hooks are connected to the shell of the seal holder both at one side of the plane
of the axis of the shell instead of on opposite sides of said plane, and in such way
that both hooks range across said plane in the same direction and engage the
staple by swinging from above downward.
When the hasp A2 is reversed for application to a reversely opening door, the
hooks are turned half way round and set to the upper side same as before, and will
act alike as in the other adjustment.
In the practical use of these seals it is the common practice of an inspector to
walk along the track at the side of the train at each regular stopping place to see
if the seals are unbroken and the hooks are duly engaged with the staples which
is considered satisfactory evidence that the fastener is intact but as the trains are
sometimes very long and the stops are short the inspection is so hurriedly and
imperfectly made that a hook might be purposely set by a dishonest employee of
the road so as to appear all right in such inspection and yet not be actually engaged
with the cam ring for breaking the seal when the hook is withdrawn from the
staple and thus be in condition enabling a confederate further on to open the
car without breaking the seal. To guard against such frauds the cam ring is
when so required constructed as represented in Figs. 15 and 16. On the side next
to teeth q in the bottom of the shell p, it is provided with teeth u¹ in addition
to teeth u, in close proximity to said teeth and of less depth, and on the other
side it has a notch vi at the bottom of each cam v, which lock the cam ring on the
stud-pins w, when teeth q are engaged in teeth u so that the cam ring cannot be
turned backward and consequently the hook cannot be raised out of the staple c,
to release the hasp.
Referring to Fig. 16 it will be seen that were it not for the teeth u¹, if the hook
were fixed and temporarily secured in the position a little short of the actual
locking position as indicated by the points of teeth q resting on the points of
teeth u, the cam ring would not be engaged with teeth of the hook, and so the
hook could be raised and the seal would not be broken, but with these teeth u¹
to engage the cam ring and with the notches locking the cam ring on the stud-
pins w, the hook cannot be raised until it is first turned so far down that teeth
must engage with teeth u, whereby said teeth u being deeper than teeth u¹ the
cam ring will be pushed so far back by the spring y, that notches will no longer
lock the cam ring on the stud-pins w, and thus the lifting of the hook will turn
the cam ring and it will force the plunger out and break the seal.
It will be seen that besides the several advantages apparent in the foregoing
description, the improved seal breaker avoids one operation of other seal fasteners,
that is, breaking the seal before opening, and it avoids the necessity of carrying
a hammer, and it also avoids damage to the fastener which often occurs by the use
of stones for a substitute when the hammer is forgotten, which not being of pro-
per shape often damages the seal holding parts.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:--
1. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
sai hasp, of a seal holder in which the seal is removable intact when the door
is fastened, of a seal breaker and means operated by the hub of the hook to actuate
said breaker by the opening of the hook, and automatically break the seal prior to
the release of the hasp substantially as described.
2. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder located in the axis of the pivotal hub of the hook and in
which the seal is not removable intact when the door is fastened, a seal breaker
and means to actuate said breaker by the opening of the hook, and automati-
cally break the seal prior to the release of the hasp substantially as described.
3. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder located in the axis of the pivotal hub of the hook, and
consisting of a groove in the head of the hook pivot stud, and of the surrounding
shell of the hook, said shell having a notch for admiting the seal when opened,
and in which holder the seal is not removable intact when the door is fastened,
a seal breaker and means to actuate said breaker by the opening of the hook, and
automatically break the seal prior to the release of the hasp substantially as
described.
4. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder located in the axis of the pivotal hub of the hook, and
in which the seal is not removable intact when the door is fastened, a seal breaker
consisting of a sliding plunger located behind the seal, and means to actuate the
plunger by the opening of the hook, and automatically break the seal prior to the
release of the hasp substantially as described.
5. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder in which the seal is not removable intact when the
door is fastened, a seal breaker consisting of a sliding plunger located behind
the seal, a cam for thrusting the plunger forward to break the seal, and means to
actuate the cam by the opening of the hook, and automatically break the seal prior
to the release of the hasp substantially as described.
6. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder in which the seal is not removable intact when the door
is fastened, said holder located in the axis of the pivotal hub of the hook, a seal
breaker consisting of a sliding plunger in said axis, a cam ring turning on the
pivot stud for actuating the plunger, a ratchet in the hub of the hook for turning
the cam ring, and a shell enclosing the ratchet and ring substantially as described.
7. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder consisting of a groove in the head of the pivot stud of
the hook, and of the surrounding shell of the hook, said shell having a notch for
admitting the seal when the hook is opened, and in which holder the seal is not
removable intact when the door is fastened, the seal breaker consisting of a sliding
plunger in the axis of the pivotal hub of the hook, cam ring for actuating the
plunger, ratchet of the hook hub to actuate the plunger, and the retracting spring
for the cam ring substantially as described.
8. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp jointed at one end to
the door or door frame and having one staple eye near the other end and another
staple eye intermediately of said ends, of a duplex hook adapted to engage and
secure a staple in either eye of the hasp substantially as described.
9. In a car door fastener the combination with a hasp jointed at one end to the
door or door frame and having one staple eye near the other end and another
staple eye intermediately of said ends, of a duplex hook pivoted to said hasp
intermediately of the staple eyes and adapted to engage and secure a staple in
either eye of the hasp substantially as described.

page_text: 10. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder in which the seal is not removable intact when the hook
is fastened, of a seal breaker and means operated by the hub of the hook to actuate
said breaker by the opening of the hook, and automatically break the seal prior
to the release of the hasp, also means to prevent false engagement of the hook so
as to open without breaking the seal substantially as described.
11. In a car door fastener, the combination with a hasp, and a hook pivoted on
said hasp, of a seal holder in which the seal is not removable intact when the door
is fastened, said holder located in the axis of the pivotal hub of the hook, a seal
breaker consisting of a sliding plunger in said axis, a cam ring turning on the
pivot stud for actuating the plunger, a ratchet of the hub of the hook for turning
the cam ring, said cam ring having the teeth and notches to prevent opening of the
hook without engagement with the cam ring for breaking the seal substantially
as described.
Dated the 1st day of March 1898
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
Chartered Patent Agent, London, for the Applicant.