Improvement in Safety Suspending Apparatus for Lifts.
Year: 1898

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Safety Suspending Apparatus for Lifts.
I, GUSTAV BAUER, Sawmill Owner, of Hemer, in Westphalia, Germany, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
This invention relates to automatic safety devices for the cages or platforms of
lifts, to prevent them from falling in case the rope or chain from which they are
suspended breaks.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a side view of a safety device embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a
section along line o-p of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan of the same; Fig.
is a side
view of the same, after the rope has been broken and the mechanism has been set
in action; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section along line m―n of Fig. 5.
The apparatus chiefly comprises a wrought iron frame which is open at the top
and has elastic sides a, a, provided at the top and at the bottom with guides b, 6.
These may be metal plates rivetted to the sides a at right angles right and left of
the vertical guide posts A which extend the entire height of the lift or mine shaft,
and the upper guides b enclose ribbed or roughened plates c facing the guide posts
and serving as brake shoes.
The free ends of the elastic sides a are connected with each other by two pairs of
links e hinged at both ends, and long enough to form with each other an obtuse
angle, as shown by Fig. 1, the outer ends being connected with the sides c by
bolts d, as shown by Fig. 4, while the inner ends are connected by a bolt f which
passes through a short vertical link connected with the lower end of the rope B
serving to suspend and wind up the cage.
The open metallic frame mentioned above contains a board i, which limits the
mobility of the sides a towards each other, and is connected with the links e, e by
a pair of upright stays h, h hinged at both ends. The board i also serves to
suspend the lift cage F by means of a bolt k and a rope or chain, as indicated in
Figs. 1 and 5 by dotted lines.
The apparatus works as follows:-
As long as the winding rope remains intact, the various parts occupy the
position represented by Fig. 1. If the rope breaks, the weight of the cage
suspended from the board i causes the links e to open, so as to occupy almost a
straight line; the roughened face plates at the upper ends of the sides a are
therefore pressed against the guide posts A, and the whole apparatus is jammed
fast between the same, so as to prevent the cage from falling.
The links e should, of course, be so long, that they neither reach nor pass beyond
the horizontal position, but form a more or less obtuse angle with each other, and the
excessive extension of the links may also be prevented by making the board i
deep enough, to abut against the base of the frame before the links become
horizontal.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A safety suspending apparatus for the cages and platforms of lifts, comprising
in its construction an open metallic frame having elastic sides provided with
guides and brake surfaces, a set of inclined suspension links hinged at their free
ends to the sides of the frame, and a board situated within the said frame and
secured to the said inclined links, the said board being adapted to suspend the lift
cage or platform and to limit the motion of the elastic sides of the frame,
substantially as described.
2. A safety suspending apparatus for lift cages and platforms, substantially as
described and illustrated by the drawings.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents, 37 and 39, Essex Street, Strand, London.