Improvements in Means and Apparatus or Arrangements for Unfastening the Doors of Theatres, Concert Rooms, and other.s
Year: 1887

page_text: COME ELE DI MULLICATION.
Improvements in Means and Apparatus or Arrangements for
Unfastening the Doors of Theatres, Concert Rooms, and other.
Places.
I GUSTAVE DENYS of Brussels (24 Rue Montagne aux Herbes-Potagères) in the
Kingdom of Belgium Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :—
The object of my invention is to provide improved means for unfastening the doors
of theatres concert rooms and other places and my said invention consists of the
apparatus or arrangements hereinafter described by which the said doors are unfastened
either automatically by the weight of the people assembled before them or by the
closing of an electrical circuit or electrical circuits at one or several points of the
building or by both these means simultaneously.
According to this invention a recess is made in the floor before the inner face of the
door which recess is covered over by a plate made of cast iron or other suitable
material the said plate being placed so that its upper face is on a line with the floor
and forms a continuation of the said floor or pavement. One end of the said plate is
hinged or jointed to the floor and to its opposite end which is next the door are
attached the ends of two bent levers or claws the other ends of which may be provided
with rollers and engage in two small recesses made in the lower part of the door to
receive them. The said levers or claws are connected together by an oscillating shaft
of section the said shaft has affixed to it a vertical arm extending upwards along
the inner face of the door and the top of the said vertical arm is cupped and forms a
seat upon which rests the lower end of a rod or fastening. The upper end of the said
rod which may be provided with rollers engages in a small recess provided in the
frame above the top of the door.
The oscillating plate before the door rests upon one or more coiled or other springs
placed within the recess covered by the said plate. The power of the said springs is
capable of adjustment by means of a screwed plate on a screwed rod by which the
power required to bring the mechanism into action is regulated. The rod or fastening
is also provided with a spring which tends constantly to force the said rod down out
of the recess in which its upper end is engaged.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said invention I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying drawing the means of carrying the same into
effect. Figure 1 is a sectional elevation and Figure 2 a plan partly in section of the
mechanism applied to folding doors.
In these Figures A is the plate made of cast iron or other suitable material one side
or edge of which is capable of turning upon pivots B imbedded or otherwise fastened
in the flooring or pavement C are the springs upon which the plato A rests the power
of which springs is regulated by screwing or unscrewing the adjustable screwed plato D
on the screw rod E. F are the bent levers or claws one end of each of which is
fastened to the plate A and the other end which may be provided with rollers engages
into the recesses G in the door. H is the shaped shaft connecting together the two
levers or claws F the vertical arm I of which shaft is ended by a cupped part I'. Jis
a rod or fastening the lower end of which boars upon the head or cupped part I of
the arm I while its upper end L which may by preference be provided with a fork
fitted with rollers engages in a small recess M made in the framing of the door. A
spring K forces downwards the rod J upon the arm I. Suitable guides P fastened to
the door are arranged to keep the rod J and arm I in their respective positions.
The working of the mechanism is as follows.
When the plate A is depressed or oscillates round the pivots B by the action of a
weight sufficient to compress the springs C the said plate draws down with it the bent
levers or claws F the ends of which levers are thus withdrawn from the recesses G G
in the door. The shaft H connecting the levers or claws F is also brought down and
carries down with it its arm I. The rod J being no longer supported falls through
the action of its own weight and of the spring K and withdraws its upper end L from
the recess over the door. The door may then be thrown open either by pushing it or
by means of ordinary door springs.
The oscillation of the plate may also be produced by the action of an electro-magnet
arranged within the recess beneath the said plate and actuated by a current from an
electric battery or other source of electricity and which may be worked from several
parts of the building.
Instead of the two levers or claws F represented one single lever or claw may be
used provided with a vertical arm to support the vertical rod J the spring K of which
may also be omitted if the weight of the rod be sufficient to insure its working.
The recesses in which the ends of the bent levers and the upper end of the rod J
engage may also be replaced by metal boxes or pieces of metal or other suitable
material fastened to the bottom of the door and to the framing at the top of the door
respectively.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
The combination with an oscillating plate or part placed before the door and resting
on springs of one or more bent levers or claws one end of which levers or claws is
fixed to the plate while the other end of the said lever or levers engages in a recess
provided in the lower part of the door and of a rod or fastening the end of which
engages in a recess made in the framing over the top of the door while its lower end
bears upon the top of a vertical arm either jointed directly to the lever or claw or
forming part of a 1 shaped oscillating shaft the horizontal arms of which connect
together the levers or claws the whole being constructed and disposed substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Doted this Savanth day of November 1887
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agents for the Applicant.