Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Shutting Gates.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Mar., 1893-Accepted. 10th June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Shutting Gates.
1 ROBERT WILLIAM POUND of 3 Imperial Terrace Great Malvern, Worcester-
shire Gentleman 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 :-
The object of this invention is to improve the apparatus by which gates may be
opened by the wheel of a carriage pressing on a bar, platform, or other contrivance
at a reasonable distanco from the gate, and may be shut by the like contrivance;
or made to shut automatically, by the combined action of a catch, a check-cylinder
and a spring, as hereafter described.
For this purpose the rocker-pins fixed to the hanging post are removed, and
instead thereof rocker-pins fixed in a turn plate working on a pivot or centre are
substituted, the heel plate of the gate being adapted to the same.
The weight of a carriage acts upon a chain or wire laid underground and
causes the turn-plate to move round a quarter circle, and so compels the gate to
swing.
In the Specification of my original invention 1106/78 it is set forth that its
object is to "hang gates or doors in such a manner as to enable them to be
opened, and, if desired, also closed without approaching closely to them. For
this purpose the door or gate may be fitted or hung with an upper hinge of
any usual form, (with a certain amount of play) and a lower hinge made to
swing so as to move the gate or door out of its normal' position when closed,
and fitted with lever or other suitable gear for actuating it from any desired
distance. When the aforesaid lower hinge is moved by the aforesaid lever gear,
the gate or door gradually rises until it is unlatched, and then Ewings open of
itself owing to its being thrown out of the perpendicular. A lever or other
appliance may be arranged at each side of the gate so that a person having opened
it on the one side, may after having passed through close it on the other side."
The accompanying drawings illustrate the action of such apparatus and the
improvements which are the object of the present invention.
Figs. 1, 5, represent an entrance gate hung with an ordinary upper hinge and
working on the rocker pius B, B₁, (as seen more clearly in Fig. 5) for a lower
hinge; at A a heel-plate is attached to the gate resting on the rocker pins in the
ordinary way. (Fig. 2 sliows a front view of the fittings with the gate standing
open.) The rocker-pins B are fixed in an iron plate, into which plate is fixed. the
end of a cylinder or tube D (Fig. 11), which pivots on a pin or bolt fixed into a
block of wood or stone F (Fig. 1, 2) or on a rod R fixed in brackets bolted to the
gate post H (Fig. 11). This cylinder or tube with plate attached is turned on its
pivot by means of a short arm T (Figs. 4, 9, 10) at the end of which a circular
plate E is fixed perpendicularly with a rim at its lower edge, all together forming
a quadrant (Figs. 4, 6, 9, 10). To each end of this quadrant is attached a
chain G, G, which is pulled by a lever at a distance from the gate. When it is
desired to open the gate the chain G (Fig. 4), G" (Fig. 9) is pulled, this causes
the whole turnplate DE with rockers B to turn on its pivot towards the spectator,
as it might be, in Fig. 1, and as the further rocker pin is brought round it raises
the head of the gate so that the latch is freed from the catch, and compels the
gate to swing open. The gate can be shiut by reversing the action of the turn plate
and rocker-pins by means of a pull on chain G', (or G Fig. 10).
In order to ensure the proper swinging of the gate on the rockers when it is
used without the above apparatus, as by a person on foot, it is necessary that the

page_text: turn plate E together with the rocker pins should be held in position; this can be
done by a spring clip C fastened to the gato post H behind the cylinder D (Fig. 2)
and gripping the squared portion of the cylinder, so that when force is applied to
the cylinder and it is turned on its pivot to open or shut the gate, the arms of the
spring clip, (the ends of which are seen at C. C. Fig. 2) yield to the square corners,
and clip the cylinder again on the other sides of the squared portion when the
ture is completed. Thus the turu plate D is also held fast in its position when
the gate is open, as in Fig. 10, and the gate must remain wide open until the turn
plate is reversed by the apparatus. In Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11 instead of the aforesaid
clip the turn plate E is held in position by spring catches S S at each end, which
are set free by the first pull on the chains.
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Figs. 3, 4 give an illustration of an improved method of applying the force
needful to actuate the gear. If it was desired to open the gate for a carriage
approaching from the right hand side of the drawing the wheel of the carriage
would be driven on to a suitable platform or board (at the side of the road out of
the line of ordinary traffic) as N, Fig. 3, hinged at one end and with the other ond
attached by an arm to a quadraut I or quarter wheel, working immediately under
it, and enclosed in a suitable box J, laid underground. The circumference of the
quadrant I is grooved and carries a chain G fastened at the corner furthest from
the gate, and with the other end fastened to the further side of the turnplate E.
The weight of the wheel causes the platform N to sink and turn the quadrant I
a certain distance thereby pulling the chain G, which communicates the pull to the
turnplate E, bringing it round to the position seen in Fig. 2 and. so opening the
gate, as described above.
The pull is also communicated to the chain G¹ attached to nearer end of turn-
plate E, and to the further quadrant I', which turns on its centre and so raises
the platform N' to the position indicated by the dotted line. The carriage drives
through the now open gate, the wheel is taken on to the platform. N', which sinks
under the weight and pulls the chain G, thereby pulling the turnplate and
rockers back to their previous position, shutting the gate, and raising the
platform N to its former position.
Fig. 4, gives a plan of the platform, and box, with the grooved quadrant.below,
and of the turn plate E when the gate is shut, H being the gate post.
For a carriage approaching from the other direction other similar platforms
can be provided on the opposite sido of the road for opening and shutting the
gate on the driver's right hand, and connected with the turn plate of the gate
by chains or wires. These chains or wires should be laid in irou tubing under-
ground. The ground level is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 gives a ground plan of an improved arrangement whereby a gate may
be opened as above by a carriage coming in either direction, but may be made to
shut automatically after remaining open long enough to allow a carriage to pass
through. Instead of the weight of a wheel on a platform, the power needful to
reverse the turnplate of the gate may be obtained from a spring attached to the
turnplate in any suitable manner, and in Fig. 6, supposed to be a spiral spring
contained in the cylinder L, when the turnplate E Fig. 6 is turned to open the
gate the piston O is drawn out of the cylinder L, compressing the spring inside;
the gate falls open, and is caught on the catch K Fig. 5, the lever W allows the
gate to pass and falls again into position: the carriage moves on through the gate,
and immediately the weight is removed from platform N', or N", the spring comes
into play and reverses the turnplate E tending to shut the gate; this would be
done at once but for the piston O in the cylinder L now acting as a check: the
cylinder may be filled with water, or may be connected with another vessel of
water, and thus by the insertion of proper valves may resist the return of the
piston, or regulate its return according as the water under pressure can escape.
As the turnplate E is acted upon by the force of the spring, it brings the rocker
pins slowly round, (Fig. 5, B) the gate being held open by catch K on line OQ:
this movement of the rocker pin B nearest to the gate, in the direction of the
"

page_text: gate, causes the head of the gate to rise, and to continue rising until the turn-
plate E has completed the quarter circle; by that time the gate has risen to
line OP high enough to be free of the catch K, and as it now is supported by the
one rocker pin only, it swings shut of its own weight.
Where the ground requires it, and in opening and shutting from opposite
directions, as in Fig. 6, it is necessary to use pulley M, M.
་
In Fig. 7 is shown a plan, in Fig. 8 a side view, in Fig. 11 a back view, of an
improved heelplate to be attached to a gate with rockers resting on the rocker
pins, and a central bearing resting on the vertical rod R. The rookers are formed
of iron bolts with crescent shaped heads (Fig. 12) to fit on the rocker pins B, the
threaded part of the bolt passes through a projecting part of the heelplate. (Fig. 8)
and is provided with nuts so that it can be adjusted and screwed tight at various
distances, as it is desired to raise or lower the head of the gate, or to correct any
deviation from the centre in the hang of the gate. The central bearing Z. (Fig. 7)
is also adjustable by mcans of a taper screw turned from below, and not visible in
the drawing.
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. The use of quadrants or quarter wheels to convey the power from the
carriage to the opening and shutting apparatus substantially as set forth.
2. The use of the spring-clip or spring-catches to hold the turn plate in position
operating as set forth.
3. The use of a heelplate fitted with adjustable rockers combined with an
adjustable central bearing between the rockers.
4. The use of the combined action of the spring, check-cylinder, gate-catch, and
turning rocker-plate, which together make up a regulated and automatic action for
shutting gates hung and fitted as described.
Dated this 15th day of March 1893.
זיז -
R. W. FOUND.
IV