Improvements in Door Releasing and Opening Appliances.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 26th June, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Door Releasing and Opening Appliances.
I, CARL KUNKEL, of 19/20 Griebenow Strasse Berlin V, in the Empire of
Germany, Locksmith, 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 apparatus is designed to enable the doors and gates of, for example, a
large building, a theatre, or the like, to be opened from a central place, the
arrangement being, however, such that each door, and, in the case of folding or
double doors, each half of the door, is capable of being used in the usual manner.
The arrangement of the apparatus is further such that should the operating gear
fail at any time then each door, and both halves of cach double door, can be
unlocked by hand, whereupon the door, or the halves of the door, will open
automatically.
In the accompanying drawings,—
Figure 1 illustrates the fittings of the half door adapted to be operated by
means of compressed air.
Figure 2 shows the latch lock in the locked position.
Figure 3 shows the locking lever, which can be unlocked by means of
compressed air.
Figure 4 illustrates an electrically operated apparatus for locking and unlocking.
Figure 5 shows a door strap or hinge with ball bearings.
The locking device for a double door or gate consists of the pivotted latches s
and which are fixed to the disc p. The latch-lock is pressed upwards from
underneath by means of a spring f which bears upon the foot-plate w, and acts
upon the adjusting collar r so that on opening the locking apparatus, the pivotted
latches s and s¹ are drawn out of their sockets or locking holes. The locking of
the latch-lock is effected by means of a nose-spring f3 which is caught by the
lever . On the latch s is arranged an arm having a slot in which is adjustably
fixed a moveable locking plate m¹. This locking plate m¹ is adapted to slide
behind the locking plate proper m.
This latter has, in contradistinction to the
usual arrangement heretofore employed, enlarged locking holes, which are large
enough to enable the bolts of the door lock, even when shot forward to move freely
out of the said locking holes when the door is moved, or when being opened. The
lock is locked by means of the rear locking plate, which, when in its locking
position as shown in Figure 2, projects so as to cover the openings of the locking
plate m to a suitable extent, and thereby retain the locking bolts. For the purpose
of unlocking the latch lock, there is employed, when the apparatus is operated by
compressed air, a lever h which as shown in Figure 3, is arranged so as to be
capable of rotating in a casing k, and projects with its nose from the said casing.
The said lever is supported by a spring and bears against a rubber ball or rubber
bag which is inflated by compressed air and thereby forces the lever out of its
position of rest so that its nose is drawn away from the nose-spring f³.
When the apparatus is operated by means of electricity, the box or case
construction is employed which is shown in Figure 4. In the casing k there are
arranged coils e, in which are inserted iron cores, which latter are capable of
attracting the cranked armature a. There is further arranged a small cylindrical
part n which has a triangular notch, and is also provided with a backwardly-
projecting tappet v. This latter rests under the armature a and prevents the

page_text: piece n from rotating forwards of itself. Upon the horizontal surface of the
notch in this round piece n, there bears the nose-spring 3 of the latch s, thereby
locking the latch lock. By attracting the armature a to the iron cores, the
tappet of the round piece n is released, and the latter is rotated by the weight of
the latches, so that the nose-spring f³ slides from the bearing surface and the
latch-lock is opened.
In order to enable the door, or the folding doors, to be opened at any time, even
in case the operating apparatus should fail to act, an unlocking rod sa is provided,
which has at its upper end either a push plate or a thumb plate or a wedge shaped
finger. By means of this nose or finger, the nose of the lever is drawn away
from the nose spring, or the armature in Figure 4 is pressed up against the coils,
so that in this case the round piece n is released, and the nose spring f³ slides down
from its bearing surface.
The doors are provided with opening-springs f* of any desired construction
which serve to effect the opening of the doors.
In order to ensure permanently the easy opening of the doors, the straps or
hinges of the doors have ball-bearings of the kind shown in Figure 5. The ball-
bearings are situated between the enlarged bearing surfaces of the straps or
hinges, in such a manner as to form a separate intermediate bearing piece, whose
pins are permanently, or removably, but not rotatably connected with the two
parts of the strap or hinge.
The mode of operation of the door opening apparatus is as follows-
As soon as the latch disc p has been brought into the locking position as shown
in Figure 2 by means of a suitable key, the latch s has risen and bears with its
nose spring upon the nose (projecting from the casing k) of the lever h. At
the same time the locking plate m' has been raised under the locking plate m in
such a manner as to cover to a suitable extent the locking holes of the latter.
The latches s and s¹ engage in the corresponding locking holes and lock the doors,
the spring being compressed. The latch or bar for opening by hand is drawn
down and out of operation. If now the nose of the lever h be drawn away from
the nose spring f by means of the compressed air, the latches s and s¹ are moved
back partly through their own weight and partly by the action of the spring so
as to unbolt the door whilst the locking plate m' uncovers the openings of the
locking plate m, so that the locking bolts may move without hindrance out of the
said locking holes, and the doors are caused to open by the springs ƒ ƒ³. For
the purpose of opening the doors, if the compressed air supply should fail, the rod s²
is pushed up, which serves to open the door.
Any desired number of doors can be provided with this apparatus, and can be
opened from a central place.
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-
1. An automatic door opening apparatus having for its object the opening of a
great number of single or double doors from a central place or by hand, characterized
by the fact that a latch-lock is locked in the closed position by means of a moveable
retaining notch or nose and characterized also by a locking plate m', adapted to
slide behind the locking plate proper m and to be operated by the latch-bolt, which
serves to cover or obstruct to a suitable extent the enlarged locking holes, the
arrangement being such that, after opening the latch-bolt, the said openings are
uncovered or unobstructed so that the locking bolts which although pushed
forward, can move or swing freely outwards when the door, or halves of the door,
are opened.
2. In the door opening apparatus specified in Claim 1 the arrangement of a
locking plate m the locking holes of which are enlarged and are adapted to be
suitably covered or obstructed by another locking plate m¹.
3. In the door opening apparatus specified in Claim 1, the arrangement of an

page_text: electrically acting locking device, characterized by the arrangement of a round
piece n which is provided with a notch and with a tappet v, and which is prevented
from rotating forwards by the armature a.
4. In the door opening apparatus specified in Claim 1, the arrangement of door
straps or hinges having ball bearings arranged between the bearing surfaces, the
said ball bearings being either independent or formed in the strap end.
Coruary
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.
Dated this Jun day or
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.