Improvements in Doors for Lifts or Elevators and Means for Operating the same.
Year: 1891

page_text: COME HELP OFFCITICATION.
Improvements in Doors for Lifts or Elevators and Means for
Operating the same.
I, WILLIAM N. ANDERSON of B and 3rd Street, San Rafael, in the County
of Marin, and State of California, United States of America, 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:-
My invention relates to improvements in that class of doors for lifts or elevators
which swing vertically to close the well, and in means for operating the doors, and
the object of my invention is to provide attachments for the cage so that when
raised or lowered it will automatically open and close the doors.
To this end, my invention consists in certain features of construction and com-
binations of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and then pointed out in
the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the views.
Figure 1 is a broken side elevation, showing my attachments as applied to an
elevator well and cage;
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same, on the line 2-2 in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an enlarged detail section on line 3-3 in Figure 4, showing the gear
and rack mechanism for operating a door;
Figure 4 is a front sectional view of the rack and gear mechanism;
Figure 5 is a broken detail elevation of the bearing for one end of the pinion
shaft;
Figure 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6-6 in Figure 2, showing the arrange-
ment of guides and one of the sliding bars;
Figure 7 is a broken, enlarged detail side elevation of the pinions which mesh
with the sliding racks, and which actuate the doors, partly in section on the line 7-7
in Figure 2;
Figure 8 is a horizontal section on the line 8-8 in Figure 7;
Figure 9 is a detail perspective view of the outer and longer of the sliding
bars;
Figure 10 is a detail perspective view of the inner and shorter of the sliding
bars;
Figure 11 is a detail perspective view of the arm and catch which is secured
to the elevator gate, and which operates the sliding bars; and
Figure 12 is a broken vertical section of the same.
The elevator well is formed by the usual corner posts 10, and at intervals the
posts are connected by cross beams 11, at the floors of a building, and opposite the
respective floors are vertically-swinging gates 12, which are halved at their
inner edges, so that they will close tightly together, and the centre posts 10°, of
the elevator well are recessed, as shown in Figure 2, so that when the doors are
opened they will close into the recess and allow the elevator cage to pass.
On the under side of each door 12, and at one end, is a depending plate 13 which
terminates in a segmental rack 14, and the rack meshes with a pinion 15, pivoted
on a support secured to one of the cross beams 11, and the pinion 15 meshes with a
similar pinion 17, which is fixed to one end of a transverse shaft 16; the pinions 15
and 17 are geared together near one edge, as shown in Figure 4.
The shafts 16 are arranged at each floor and on opposite sides of the elevator
well, the shafts turning in suitable bearings, and the end of each shaft adjacent to

page_text: the pinion 17, has a disk 18 secured to it, which disk is held between two bars 20,
which are pivoted at the top and which are concave at the inner sides so as to fit
closely on the disk, and the bars are held together by means of a bolt 21, which
passes loosely through the bottom of one, and screws into the bottom of the other,
and which has a washer 22, bearing against one of the bars; and it will be seen
that by turning the bolt, the bars may be made to fit closely or loosely upon the
disk 18, thus making the bearing of the shaft 16 adjustable.
The opposite end of the shaft 16 is provided with a pinion 23, which meshes
with one of the sliding rack bars, and which turns in the recess 10%, of the corner
posts, and immediately below this pinion is a similar pinion 24, which meshes with
the pinion 23. The pinions 23 and 24 mesh near one edge, so that the central
portions of the pinions will not vertically align, and the pinions project from the
inner surface of the corner post so as to engage the sliding rack bars, and there are
two of these bars, one for each pinion, so that when the pinion 23 is engaged by
one bar, the shaft 16 will be turned in one direction and will move the pinion 15,
rack 14 and door or gate 12, and when the lower pinion 24 is engaged, the move-
ment will be reversed and the gate or door moved in the opposite direction.
The corner posts on one side of the elevator well adjacent to the pinions 23
and 24 are provided with slideways 25, and in these slideways are rack bars 26
and 27, which are held to move vertically, and which are separated by a guide
strip 28, as best shown in Figure 8. The bars 26 and 27 are each provided with
side wings 29, which fit in corresponding grooves in the slideways, as shown in
Figure 8, with similar flat portions 30, which move within the slideways, and with
similar longitudinal ribs 31, which are rounded at the ends, as shown at 32. The rack
bar 26, is provided with a projecting strip 33, which aligns with the rib 31, and
which terminates in a square shoulder at each end, and a similar strip 34, is
produced on the rack har 27. The rack bars 26 and 27 have each also on their
inner edge, a rack 35, and the racks are arranged in the slideway, so that the rack
on the inner bar 26 will engage the inner pinion 23, and the rack on the outer bar
will engage the outer pinion 24.
A cage 36, which may be of any approved construction, is held to move in the
elevator well, and is operated by means of a cable 37, and secured to the upper and
lower portions of the cage adjacent to the corner posts, are plates 38, which are
bent to project from the side of the cage, as shown at 39, and the projections
terminate in vertical arms 40, which arms are held to move with the elevator cage,
and are adapted to come opposite the rack bars on the corner posts. Each arm 40
is provided near one end with a projecting block 41, which serves as a catch and
which is held to move laterally in a recess 42, and the block has a shank 41", which
extends through a perforation in the arm and impinges on a spring 43, which is
secured to the arm. The arms 40 are attached to the elevator cage so that the
upper arm will align with the inner rack bar 26, and the lower arm will align with
the outer rack bar 27, and it will be observed that there are two rack bars and two
arms for each door 12.
The operation of the invention is as follows:
We will suppose that the doors or gates are closed and that the elevator cage is
moving upward; as it ascends, the block or catch 41 on the upper arm 40 strikes
the shoulder at the lower end of the strip 33 on the inner rack bar 26, thus raising
the rack and turning the pinion 23 and shaft 16, and this, by means of the con-
necting gear mechanism described, raises the door or gate 12, and closes it against
the centre post 10". As the elevator cage continues to ascend, the rack bar will be
stopped at the upper end of the slideway, and the catch 41 will be forced inward so
as to release it from the strip 33, and after the elevator cage has passed the floor or
cross beam 11, the block or catch 41 on the lower arm 40, engages the lower end of
the strip 34 on the outer rack bar 27, thus raising the rack bar and causing it to
engage the lower and outer pinion 24, and the pinion in turning, will turn the
pinion 23 and shaft 16 in the opposite direction to that in which they have been
already turned, thus closing the doors or gates 12. When the cage descends, the

page_text: operation will be reversed, the lower catch first engaging the outer rack bar and
raising the cages or doors, and the upper catch following after and engaging the
inner rack bar and closing the doors.
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. In doors for elevators or lifts and means for operating the same, the combination,
with vertically-swinging doors having segmental racks on their under sides, of
pinions pivoted to the elevator posts and connecting with the racks, transverse
shafts geared to the pinions and to adjacent pinions near the opposite ends of the
shafts, rack bars held to slide on the corner posts and adapted to engage the pinions
on one end of the shafts and the adjacent pinions, and catches at the upper and
lower ends of the elevator cage to engage shoulders on the rack bars, substantially
as described.
2. The combination, with swinging doors of elevators or lifts having their inner
edges halved together and having depending segmental racks on the under side, of
pinions pivoted in the elevator well to mesh with the racks, transverse shafts
pivoted on the sides of the elevator well, and having pinions at each end, the
pinions on one end meshing with the rack pinions as described, pinions pivoted to
supports so as to mesh with the pinions on the transverse shaft at the ends opposite
the rack pinions, sliding rack bars mounted on the posts of the elevator well and
adapted to independently engage the pinions on the shaft and the adjacent pinions,
and catches at the upper and lower portions of the elevator cage to engage
shoulders on the rack bars, substantially as described.
3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination, with transverse
shafts geared to the elevator doors as described, and provided with reversing
pinions as set forth, of sliding rack bars mounted on the corner posts of the
elevator well and arranged to independently engage pinions on the shafts and the
reversing pinions, arms or supports secured to the upper and lower ends of
the elevator cage, and spring-pressed catches secured to the arms and adapted to
independently engage the shoulders on the rack bars, substantially as described.
4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination, with a transverse
shaft having a disk secured at one end, of a pair of adjustable arms pivoted
opposite the disk and provided with concave inner faces to fit the disk, substantially
as described.
Dated this 91st do of Anvil 1901
WILLIAM N. ANDERSON.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark.