IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO HOISTS OR LIFTS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Barker, James Barker, Thomas Barker and
Daniel Barker all of Park Street Ironworks Oldham in the County of
Lancaster Millwrights for an invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING
TO HOISTS OR LIFTS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Barker, James Barker,
Thomas Barker, and Daniel Barker at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents on the 3rd March 1883.
JOHN BARKER, JAMES BARKER, THOMAS BARKER and DANIEL BARKER all of
Park Street Ironworks Oldham in the County of Lancaster Millwrights.
IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO HOISTS OR LIFTS
"
Our invention relates to hoists or lifts which pass through several floors or
rooms in a warehouse or other building and the object of our Invention is to
construct hoists so that the doors to the well may be under the control of the
attendant in the hoist cage.
In performing our Invention we fix a vertical hollow pillar near the hoist well
on each floor: a shaft passes through the pillar and is keyed or secured to it: the
lower end projects through the pillar and forms a footstep: to the upper end of
the shaft is keyed a bevel wheel or we may make the hollow pillar and shaft in one
piece.
We cut a spiral groove in or through the pillar extending from end to end:
for one half its length the groove is right hand and the other half is left hand :
each groove passes once round the pillar, a short space in the middle and at each
end may be straight or parallel with the axis of the pillar.
The bevel wheel on the upper end of the shaft or pillar drives a bevel wheel
secured to a short shaft. Another bevel wheel is fixed on this short shaft which
drives by a bevel wheel another short shaft on which is secured a grooved pulley:

page_text: a weight or weights (heavier than the hoist well door) may be suspended from
this pulley or in place of using bevel wheels spur wheels or friction wheels may
be used
To the hoist cage we fix a bracket fitted with a spring or sliding finger or stud:
this finger has a handle at one end and a bobbin or collar at the other under
control of the attendant who can press the spring finger and thus bring the bobbin
into the spiral groove in the pillar when required to open any one of the hoist
well doors.
The operation is as follows:-When the cage is ascending and the hoist well
doors are closed, the attendant in order to open the door upon any one floor
presses the spring finger which brings the bobbin or collar into the groove of the
vertical pillar and causes it to revolve, the two pairs of bevel wheels give notion
to the shaft and grooved pulley which latter raises the weights which are attached
to it and the door, thus allowing the door to descend by gravitation and open a
passage into the cage as it comes up to the level of the floor.
On the cage proceeding upward the pillar is caused to revolve in the opposite
direction (by the groove which is cut right and left hand) by this means the balance
weights are lowered by the gearing on the pillar and the door automatically raised
thus closing the entrance to the hoist well
This action would be the same if the cage were lowered instead of raised
because the bobbin attached to the cage would give the reversed motion to the
pillar in that case also.
0
The bobbin or collar may be held in gear with the grooves by a spring or in any
convenient manner and drawn back by the attendant so as not to interfere with
any door at which he does not require to stop.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Barker, James Barker, Thomas Barker and Daniel Barker
.in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st September 1883.
+
JOHN BARKER, JAMES BARKER, THOMAS BARKER and DANIEL BARKER, all of
Park Street Ironworks, Oldham in the County of Lancaster Millwrights
IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO HOISTS OR LIFTS
SE
"
Our invention relates: to hoists or lifts which pass through several floors or rooms
in a warehouse or other building and the object of our Invention is to construct
hoists so that the doors to the well may be under the control of the attendant in
the hoist cage.
In performing our Invention we fix a vertical hollow pillar near the hoist well
on each floor: a shaft passes through the pillar and is keyed or secured to it: the
lower end projects through the pillar and forms a footstep: to the upper end of the
shaft is keyed a bevel wheel; or we may make the hollow pillar and shaft in one
piece.
We cut a spiral groove in or through the pillar extending from end to end: for
one half its length the groove is right hand and the other half is left hand: each
groove passes once round the pillar, a short space in the middle and at each end
may be straight or parallel with the axis of the pillar.
The bevel wheel on the upper end of the shaft or pillar drives a bevel wheel
secured to a short shaft. Another bevel wheel is fixed on this short shaft which
drives by a bevel wheel another short shaft on which is secured a grooved pulley:
a weight or weights (heavier than the hoist well door) may be suspended from this
pulley or in place of using bevel wheels, spur wheels or friction wheels may
be used.
-
To the hoist cage we fix a bracket fitted with a spring or sliding finger or stud:
this finger has a handle at one end and a bobbin or collar at the other under control
of the attendant who can press the spring finger and thus bring the bobbin into
the spiral groove in the pillar when required to open any one of the hoist well
doors.
The operation is as follows:-When the cage is ascending and the hoist well
doors are closed, the attendant in order to open the door upon any one floor presses
the spring finger which brings the bobbin or collar into the groove of the vertical
pillar and causes it to revolve, the two pairs of bevel wheels give motion to the
shaft and grooved pulley, which latter raises the weights which are attached to it
and the door, thus allowing the door to descend by gravitation and open a passage
into the cage as it comes up to the level of the floor.
On the cage proceeding upward the pillar is caused to revolve in the opposite
direction (by the groove which is cut right and left hand) by this means the balance
weights are lowered by the gearing on the pillar and the door automatically raised
thus closing the entrance to the hoist well.
This action would be the same if the cage were lowered instead of raised
because the bobbin attached to the cage would give the reversed motion to the
pillar in that case also.
The bobbin or collar may be held in gear with the grooves by a spring or in any
convenient manner and drawn back by the attendant so as not to interfere with
any door at which he does not require to stop.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect we will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation and Fig a plan, partly in section of a hoist to which our
Improvements are applied
a a is the framework in which the hoist well door slides or travels: 6 is one of

page_text: the hollow or solid pillars with a spiral groove b¹ cut in both directions from the
centre, once round the pillar to the right and once to the left hand: the pillar is
free to turn in the footstep 6 and upper bearing 6³: c is one of the hoist well
doors which is shown raised: the door is connected by the straps d d³ which pass
over guide pulleys e e¹ see Fig 1, to the weight ea in the box of part of the
frame a this weight is also connected to the grooved wheel ƒ by a belt f¹. To
the upper end of the pillar b is keyed or secured a bevel wheel g which gears into
a wheel g¹ keyed to the short shaft h which is supported by the bracket i which
also forms the upper bearing for the pillar b: to the other end of the short shaft h
is keyed or secured another bevel wheel j which gears into a bevel wheel k secured
on the shaft to which the grooved pulley f is secured: all the above parts are
required on all the floors except the top and bottom ones of the building.
The bracket is secured to and travels with the cage m: a stud or finger l
passes through the bracket to operate the pillar b when it is required to open or
close the hoist well door c: we prefer to use a bowl on the stud l.
The operation is as follows:-The drawing shows the hoist well door c raised
into position to guard the hoist well, the finger & being out of gear with the
groove 6' in the pillar b see Fig. 2. When the cage m is set in motion in either
direction the attendant can open the door of the well at any floor where he
requires to stop by pressing the finger l¹ so that it will come into the groove in,
and turn the required pillar: the motion of the pillar 6 is communicated by the
bevel gearing to the grooved pulley f which is connected to the weight e and
causes the door c to be raised or lowered according to the direction in which the
pillar turns and when the cage m arrives on a level with the floor and stops, the
hoist well door will be open and remain so until the cage is again put in motion,-
the simple action of putting the cage in motion either to ascend or descend will as
the finger is still in the groove of the pillar b cause the pillar to turn in the
required direction to raise the hoist well door c.
This arrangement is such that the hoist well doors are always closed unless the
attendant has lowered one of them by pressing the finger into the groove of the
pillar b; but in case he passed without stopping the cage, the door would still be
caused to raise and close the hoist well again as the cage passed it.
In case the attendant should leave the finger l' so that it would turn the pillars
as the cage passed upward and downward: still though the doors of the well would
be lowered and opened as the cage reached them yet the pillars having a groove
cut both right and left hand, the doors would be automatically raised and closed as.
the cage passed.
Having stated the nature of our Invention and described a convenient manuer
of performing the same we wish it to be understood that we do not limit ourselves
to the exact details given as they may be varied or modified without departing
from the main features of our Invention and
We declare that we claim
1. The apparatus for automatically opening and closing hoist well doors substan-
tially as herein shown and described.
2. The application of a pillar 6 with a right and left hand groove in it for the
purpose shown and described.
In witness whereof I the said John Barker for myself and on behalf of the
said James Barker, Thomas Barker and Daniel Barker have hereunto set my hand
and seal this thirty first day of August One thousand eight hundred and eighty
three.