Improvements in Door Checks and Closers.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE BLOUNT MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
186, Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
Improvements in Door Checks and Closers.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent Agents
45 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, 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 improvements are particularly applicable to door-checks in which oil,
glycerine, or other liquids are employed, though parts of the invention may be used
in connection with other kinds of door checks.
It is the object of the said improvements to enhance the efficiency of door-checks,
simplify their construction, and reduce the cost of their manufacture.
The invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in detail, and
pointed out in the appended claims.
Reference is to be had to the drawings hereunto annexed, and forming a part of
this Specification, in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention showing it as applied to a door
casing and door.
Figure 2 is an end view of the same, the portion of the door casing and door
shown being represented in section.
Figure 3 is a front view.
Figure 4 is a top plan view.
Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 4.
Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 5.
Figure 7 is a front end view of the piston.
Figure 8 is a side view of the ratchet sleeve.
Figure 9 is a front view, parts being represented as broken out, showing the
piston in a different position from that in which it is represented in Figure 5.
Figures 10 and 11 are sectional details in plan of the piston and a part of the
means for actuating the same.
Figure 12 is a side view of what is shown in Figures 10 and 11.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
In the drawings:
a designates a door casing; b, the door; and c, (in dotted lines) the hinges of the
door. is a bracket, secured to the lower face of the upper cross frame of the door
casing, so as to depend therefrom. The casing e, comprising the spring and liquid
chambers, and supporting the operative parts of the apparatus, is secured to the
lower end of said bracket.
f designates a bracket secured to the door, and to which the inner end of the
adjustable lever g is pivoted, the opposite end of said lever being pivoted or jointed
to the outer end of the lever h, which is pivotally connected at its opposite end with
the shaft which extends vertically through the spring chamber ;, into the liquid
chamber k, as is best seen in Figure 5.
7 is a sleeve, having a groove m formed in its side, and provided upon its upper
end with a ratchet wheel n engaged by a pawl o, pivoted upon the lever h.
The inner end of the spring p in the spring chamber is bent into the form of a
hook so as to engage the groove m in the sleeve l, the other end of said spring being
attached to the side of the spring chamber j.
y designates the piston in the liquid chamber which is elongated in form and
provided at its rear end with a bearing which substantially fits the interior of the
chamber, as does the front ends which constitutes the piston proper. The body of

page_text: the piston intermediate of the front and rear ends is turned down or reduced in
size or diameter, as at t, to avoid unnecessary friction in the operation of the
piston.
u designates a crank connected with the lower end of the shaft i, and v is a pitman
or link rod, pivoted at one end to the crank u and at the opposite end to the piston,
so that when the door is opened, the crank will be operated through the medium of
the levers g and h and shaft i, to draw the piston back from the position in which it
is represented in Figure 5, to that in which it is shown in Figure 9, the movements
of the crank and pitman being clearly indicated in Figures 10 and 11.
The piston proper, s, is provided with a port w controlled by a valve a, to freely
admit of the passage of the liquid in the rear of the piston to the front of the same,
as indicated by the arrow 2, (Fig. 9) when the door is opened as aforesaid, an
aperture or port y being provided in the rear end of the piston to permit the liquid
to flow to and fro therethrough.
When the door is closed, as it will be by the action of the spring p, in a well-
known way, the valve will close and the fluid will be forced from in front of
the piston to the rear of the same through the passage = communicating between
the front and rear of the piston proper. This passage is controlled by a
valve a¹ to govern the flow of the liquid and the extent of the resistance of the
same to the door-closing operation of the spring p.
The operation of the invention, in the opening of the door by personal effort
or force, and the closing of the same by the operation of the spring p, slamming
being prevented by the resistance offered by the liquid to the operation of the
piston, will be understood without further description.
Any suitable efficient bearing and packing may be provided around the shaft i
between the spring and liquid chambers. As is herein shown, the bearing consists
of a thimble offset at c¹ for the reception of the packing d', which thimble is
screw threaded on its exterior, as at e¹, and screwed into an aperture formed in
the top of the fluid chamber. A follower, screw threaded upon its exterior,
is fitted to be screwed down into the interiorly screw threaded thimble upon
the packing.
By making the fluid chamber as an elongated cylinder arranged horizontally
beneath the vertically arranged spring chamber, arranging the oscillatory shaft
in the spring chamber so as to extend through into the liquid chamber and
connected with the piston in the manner described I am enabled to provide a
construction which is exceedingly simple, not liable to get out of order, certain
in its operation, and compact in form.
66
My improvements render the check capable of being readily changed from
right" to "left" hand arrangements, and adapt it to being applied to the door
casing and door, at the hinge side, as shown in the drawings, so that the check
will operate to pull the door to closed position in contradistinction to pushing it
shut, the bracket d secured to the lower face of the upper cross piece of the door
frame contributing materially to this end.
It is obvious that changes may be made in the form and arrangement of parts
comprising my improvements without departing from the nature or spirit thereof.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. The combination, with a door and door casing, of the depending bracket d
secured to the lower face of the upper cross-piece of the door frame, the door
check comprising a liquid chamber, piston and spring-actuated shaft, connected
with said bracket and the check-actuating levers connected with the door at the
hinge side thereof, and with the said spring-actuated shaft, as set forth.
2nd. A door check embracing in its construction a closed spring chamber and
its spring, a closed cylindrical liquid chamber, arranged at a right angle to the
spring chamber, a valve adapted to operate longitudinally in said chamber, an

page_text: oscillatory shaft extended through said spring chamber into the liquid chamber,
and a crank and pitinan connecting the shaft with the piston, as set forth.
3rd. A door check embracing in its construction a closed spring chamber, a
liquid chamber below said spring chamber arranged at right angles to the spring
chamber, an oscillatory shaft extending through said spring chamber into said
liquid chamber, a piston longitudinally movable in said liquid chamber at a right
angle to the axis of said shaft, the latter being connected to the said piston to
operate the same, as set forth.
4th. A door check comprising in its construction a vertically arranged spring
chamber, a closed liquid chamber arranged at a right angle to the axis of the
spring chamber, an elongated piston in said liquid chamber adapted to operate
longitudinally of said liquid chamber and provided at its front and rear ends with
bearings to substantially fit the interior of the chamber, a shaft extending through
the said spring chamber into the liquid chamber, and connected with the piston to
operate the same and to be operated thereby, as set forth.
5th. A door check comprising in its construction a closed spring chamber and
its spring, a closed elongated liquid chamber arranged at a right angle to the axis
of the spring chamber and in juxtaposition thereto, an elongated piston in the liquid
chamber reduced in size intermediate of its ends, an oscillatory shaft in the said
spring chamber and extended into the liquid chamber, a crank and pitman con-
necting the shaft with the piston and arranged to operate intermediate of the ends
of the latter, as set forth.
6th. A door check comprising in its construction a separately-closed spring
chamber, an elongated and separately-closed liquid chamber arranged at a right
angle to the axis of the spring chamber and in juxtaposition thereto, as set forth.
7th. A door check comprising in its construction a closed spring chamber, and
a closed liquid chamber arranged centrally below the spring chamber and at a right
angle thereto, as set forth.
8th. A piston for the liquid chamber of door checks having front and rear ends
adapted to fit and to be guided by the interior of the chamber, and having its
central portion intermediate of its ends reduced in diameter or size, as set forth.
9th. The combination with the spring and liquid chambers, and the oscillatory
shaft passing from one chamber into the other, of the packing located between the
chambers consisting of the thimble 6', offset at c, the packing din said offset
portion, and the follower f¹ screwed into the thimble above the packing, the
thimble being screwed into the casing of the chambers, as set forth.
Dated this 25th day of August 1891
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.