8TER Improvements in and connected with Cage and Platform Lifts.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application; 25th Mar., 1891-Accepted, 25th Apr., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION:
8TER
Improvements in and connected with Cage and Platform Lifts.
I, RUDOLF LATTAU, of Soest in the Kingdom of Westphalia and German
Empire, Merchant, 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 :-
Serious accidents frequently occur through attendants and other persons neglect-
ing to let down the safety bar in front of the openings to the well-holes of
hoists, shafts of coal-mines, and other places where cages and lifts are employed,
during the time when the cage or lift is elsewhere than at the opening.
FIL
The object of this invention is to avoid such accidents, and, for this purpose, these
improvements consist in the construction arrangement and operation of devices
whereby the safety bar is automatically let down when the cage or lift leaves the
opening. These devices may be applied at any opening, either at the top or at the
bottom of the well or shaft, or at any intermediate opening.
I will proceed to describe my said improvements with reference to the accom-
panying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 a front view, and Figure 3 a plan; the apparatus
being, represented as applied to an upper opening.
The safety bar which is arranged in front of the opening to the well or shaft
consists of a strong. metallic bar a bent to a U-shape as represented, and pivoted
at the sides of the opening. This pivoting may be simply effected by bending the
upright, members of the safety bar at right angles and inserting them in staples or
sockets secured to the framing c as shewn at b. With the existing arrangements,
this safety bar has to be let down by the attendant before or as soon as the cage
or lift leaves the opening, for example after the truck represented in the figures has
been wheeled upon the platform g. In Figures 1 and 2 the safety bar is shewn in
the upper position in full lines and in the lower or closed position in dotted lines. In
the latter position the safety bar would prevent a second truck being rolled into the
opening, and it would also prevent any person from accidentally falling into the well
or shaft.
2
The lowering of the safety bar is effected automatically by the system of
levers d' d' f¹f which are connected with each other and which have their fulcra
at do and at fo upon which they are arranged to turn freely. These two levers are
situated one below the other and they may be arranged upon the right hand or
upon the left hand side of the opening. If the levers are arranged upon the
right hand instead of upon the left hand side as shewn in the drawings, the
lower lever would be cranked to the left instead of to the right as shewn in
Figure 2.
The upper member d¹ of the upper lever d² is arranged behind the safety bar in
such a manner that it presses against the bar if the lower member of this lever is
moved towards the well or shaft. The contiguous ends of the two levers are
jointed or articulated preferably by means of a stud or pin passing through slots
in the ends of the levers. The lower member of the lower lever f¹ is bent or
curved in such a manner that it projects into the well or shaft when the safety bar
is in the upper or open position.
If, when the safety bar is in this upper position a truck is rolled into the cage
or upon the platform g, and the latter descends, it comes into contact with and
presses upon the bent or curved portion of the lever f¹ which consequently moves
through an arc of a circle, and moves the upper lever with which it is jointed in the
opposite direction, so that its upper member d' pushes the safety bar outwards and
lets it down automatically.

page_text: If the apparatus is at an opening where the lift or cage ascends or may ascend,
the system of levers is arranged in the reverse direction, so that the lever
arm which moves the safety bar, is at the bottom and the lever arm f
which is moved by the cage or lift-is at the top. When the cage or lift both
ascends and descends from an opening, two sets of. the levers may be employed,
-one direct as represented in the drawings, and one reversed as herein before
described: -
The levers d¹ d² f¹f should be arranged in such a manner that they will retain.
the positions given to them either by the lifting of the safety bar or by the action
of the cage or lift.
It may be advisable as an additional precaution to secure a grating such as / in
the opening above the safety bar at such a height that the attendant cannot, by
bending forward, incur any risk of falling into the well or shaft. This grate should
be of such a height also as to allow the trucks or persons to enter the cage or lift
when the safety bar is lifted.
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. A pair of jointed levers constructed arranged and operating substantially as
and for the purpose hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
2. The combination and arrangement with the safety bar of a cage or lift open-
ing, of a pair of jointed levers actuated to lower the safety bar by the motion of the
ascending or descending cage or lift while leaving the opening; substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 24th day of March A.D. 1891.
WILLIAM E. HEYS,"
Agent for the Applicant.