Improvements in Means or Apparatus connected with Lifts or like Means for Raising and Lowering Persons or Goods to Prevent Accidents.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 29th May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 28th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 28th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus connected with Lifts or like
Means for Raising and Lowering Persons or Goods to Prevent
Accidents.
I, WILLIAM WHITWORTH NIGHTINGALE, of 184, Lord Street, Southport, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus for use in connection with lifts or apparatus
for raising and lowering persons and goods in buildings.
The object of the invention is to prevent persons from falling down the lift well
or hoist hole in consequence of doors being left open carelessly where doors are
provided.
According to my invention the motion of the cage effects the closing of the door
or doors guarding the entrances to the lift except when the cage floor is about level
with the landing floor of any storey, thus preventing passage through these apertures
and thereby obviating the danger of the frequent fatal and serious accidents.
It is usual at the present time to have a man constantly in charge of the hoist
to work it and also to lock the doors before moving the cage from one floor to
another, or to have doors which close themselves by a spring and lock at the same
time, these methods if faithfully carried out by the man in charge are fairly
effective, but being in a great measure dependent upon the will and attention of the
attendant, omissions of duty are always likely to occur.
In the use of my invention such omissions of duty are avoided the doors being
only opened at the moment when the cage is nearly or is on a level with a landing
and all other doors are closed and secured against their being opened, being capable
of operation by the motion of the parts connected with the cage as it arrives at the
level of any particular floor.
In carrying out my invention I provide and fix on each side of the movable cage
a toothed rack cach working into a corresponding toothed wheel, and each of these
wheels is keyed securely on to a suitable shaft on the other ends of each of which
are keyed a toothed pinion which works into a rack which may be made after the
style. of the old and well known mangle motion to attain the backward and forward
motion while rotating the handle in one direction. By means of this mangle rack
motion which is attached to the doors by means of pin and joint or other suitable
means the doors can be opened and closed by either the upward or downward
motion of the cage.
The apparatus is operated as follows:
Presuming that the cage is moving upwards then at a short distance from the
Hoor landing the racks gear into the correspondingly toothed wheels and turn their
shaft on each of which respectively is fixed a pinion working into a mangle rack
which being fastened to the doors causes them to open. By the time the cage
has arrived level with the landing the pinions have travelled to the tops of the
mangle racks and the hoist door is wide open ready for the passage of any person
wishing to get in or out of the cage, and by means of the starting and stopping
ropes the movement further of the cage may be arrested.
On setting the cage in motion again the pinions travel down the other side of
mangle rack and thus reverse the action on the doors and so cause them to be
closed.
Supposing however that the cage having been caused to arrive at a particular
Hoor landing and the person operating the elevating means not wishing to go

page_text: forward but to return, the pinions would simply be caused to travel back again and
the doors would be closed in the same way.
The doors may be caused to work either horizontally in two halves or one
piece, or for the door to rise upwards or to move downwards simply by arranging
the mangle rack motion horizontally or vertically or in such position as would be
found most suitable.
In place of the mangle rack an equivalent mechanical motion may be employed
to work the doors.
To avoid friction as much as possible prefer to have the doors moving in a
suitable frame on small rollers or balls and suitably balanced with counter weights
as the different circumstances would require.
Dated the 29th day of May 1890.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus connected with Lifts or like
Means for. Raising and Lowering Persons or Goods to Prevent
Accidents.
I, WILLIAM WHITWORTH NIGHTINGALE, of 184, Lord Street, Southport, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, 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 apparatus for use in connection with lifts or apparatus
for raising and lowering persons and goods in buildings.
The object of the invention is to prevent persons from falling down the lift well
or hoist-hole in consequence of doors being left open carelessly where doors are
provided.
According to my invention the motion of cage effects the closing of the door
or doors guarding the entrance to the lift except when the cage floor is about level
with the landing floor of any storey, thus preventing passage through these
apertures and thereby obviating the danger of the frequent fatal and serious
accidents.
It is usual at the present time to have a man constantly in charge of the hoist
to work it and also to lock the doors before moving the cage from one floor to
another, or to have doors which close themselves by a spring and lock at the same
time, these methods if faithfully carried out by the man in charge are fairly
effective, but being in a great measure dependent upon the will and attention of the
attendant, omissions of duty are always likely to occur.
In the use of my invention such omissions of duty are avoided the doors being
only opened at the moment when the cage is nearly or is on a level with a landing
and all other doors are closed and secured against their being opened, being capable
of operation by the motion of the parts connected with the cage as it arrives at the
level of any particular floor.
In carrying out my invention I provide and fix on each side of the movable cage
a toothed rack each working into a corresponding toothed wheel, and each of these
wheels is keyed securely on to a suitable shaft on the other ends of each of which
are keyed a toothed pinion which works into a rack which may be made after the
style of the old well known mangle motion to attain the backward and forward
motion while rotating the handle in one direction.
By means of this mangle rack motion which is attached to the doors by means of
pin and joint or other suitable means the doors can be opened and closed by either
the upward or downward motion of the cage.
The apparatus is operated as follows:-Presuming that the cage is moving

page_text: Fig. 1 shews a transverse sectional plan of a cage or lift and its well or passage
way with parts operated by the cage to effect operation of the doors which are also
shown in section.
Fig. 2 shews an internal face view of a detail, being the mangle motion operating
the doors.
Fig. 3 is a sectional end view of the detail (Fig. 2).
Fig. 4 is a detail shewing the rack teeth a'.
a indicates the outline in section of the cage or lift itself. a is a plate formed
with rack teeth shewn separately by Fig. 4. a² indicates the opening in the lift
for access thereto. A portion of the lift is shewn broken away for convenience in
the drawing. The racks a' engage the tooth pinions & mounted on the axes b which
rotate in suitable bearings 62 provided for them and carried by suitable standards ³
affixed to the sides of the lift-well e.
On these axes are also mounted other pinions which are adapted to engage
the pins carried by plates 6. Each plate is surrounded by a groove or recess
in each of which run one of the projecting ends 68 of the axes b. Around this
groove is the raised portion 6 and the parts ; b, 66, 67 and 68 forming what is
known as a mangle motion and by being each connected by the ear 10 to one of the
doors c, they in the rotation of the pinions are caused to partake of reciprocating
motion and to draw the doors e to and fro as those pinions 6 are operated through
the axes & and the pinion 1, by the rack a¹ attached to the rising and falling
cage. d are antifriction rollers on which the mangle racks slide to and fro under
the operation of the mangle wheels b¹.
By the operation of the parts as described, as the cage arrives near each opening
or landing the doors guarding the entrance to the well and to the cage are
automatically opened and as the cage passes away therefrom they are again
automatically closed, without necessarily calling for the intervention of manual
labor to effect the operation.
In the drawing I have shown two sets of racks opening with their axes and
supports and mangle racks and doors but in some cases it may be convenient to

page_text: have one door and one set of operating parts to be moved by the lift in its rise and
fall.
Again the parts shewn may be duplicated in the case of a lift approached from
opposite sides.
Should there exist such an amount of play between the cage and the-sides of the
well to call for it, I place guide rollers on the sides of the cage and inclined guide-
ways on the wall thereof adjacent to the door opening and closing gear so that at
the requisite point to steady the cage to the correct position for operation. Or the
parts may be applied vice versa.
In the drawings I have shown positive mechanism for conveying the motion from
the lift to the axis operating the mangle motion, or it may be equivalent
mechanical motion, but in some cases I convey the motion from the lift to the
axis or axes by means of friction gearing particularly for lifts of a light
description.
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,
in means or apparatus connected with lifts or like means for raising and lowering
persons or goods
1. The arrangement or combination of parts for controlling the opening and
closing of the doors guarding the entrance to the lift-well and lift, so that those
doors shall only be opened whilst the cage is adjacent to the opening & shall be
closed as the cage leaves the same by means of positive gearing substantially
as herein before set forth.
2. The arrangement or combination of parts as described in Claim 1 but with the
substitution of friction gearing for conveyance of motion from the cage to the
axis bas set forth.
3. The arrangement or combination and use with a lift-well of a cage a, rack or
racks a¹ or their equivalent, tooth wheel or wheels or equivalent mounted on an
axis or axes carried in suitable supports and carrying toothed pinion or pinions &*
which cooperate with the mangle rack or racks connected to the door or doors c as
set forth.
D
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.