Apparatus to be Fitted to Doors to Prevent their Slamming or Swinging.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Feb., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 11th Nov., 1891-Accepted, 12th Dec., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus to be Fitted to Doors to Prevent their Slamming or
Swinging.
A communication from abroad by JAMES NELSON of Las Palmas, Grand Canary,
Engineer.
I, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane, London in the
County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention consists of apparatus to be fitted to doors to prevent their
slamming or swinging and it is more particularly intended for doors in seagoing
vessels which are very liable to slam whenever the vessels roll; it can however be.
applied to other doors.
According to the invention the doors are fitted with a clutching device of any
convenient or suitable form which can by means of a contrivance connected there-
with be either locked or released as required one portion of such clutching device
being on the door itself and another portion on the jamb or frame.
One manner in which the invention can be conveniently carried out is as
follows: Upon either the door or the jamb or frame, say the door is fixed a stem
of angular or oval section in the centre line of the door hinges, and upon either
the jamb or the door, say the jamb, is fixed in the same centre line a cylindrical
box with a vertical groove in its side wall. The stem enters the box centrally. In
connection with these two parts are a number of discs some of which have apertures
to fit the stem while others have tongues to fit the groove in the box. Discs of the
two kinds are placed alternately one above another so as to fill the box or nearly'
So long as these discs are not pressed together the door can swing or move
freely on its hinges the friction between the discs being slight. When however it
is required to fix the door and thereby prevent slamming the discs are forced
together and they thus become bound or locked by the friction between the surfaces
so that the door remains fixed until the binding pressure is released.
80.
The contrivance for locking and releasing that is to say applying pressure
to and removing pressure from the discs may conveniently consist of a sliding
wedge worked by a handle and acting in conjunction with a compression plate.
Other forms of clutching device may be employed in lieu of the arrangement
above described such for example as an ordinary toothed clutch one portion being
on the door and the other on the jamb or frame.
Dated thin 10th day of February 1901
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus to be Fitted to Doors to Prevent their Slamming or
Swinging.
A communication from abroad by JAMES NELSON, of Las Palmas, Grand Canary,
Engineer.
I, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention consists of apparatus to be fitted to doors to prevent their
slamming or swinging.

page_text: With this object the doors are fitted with a clutching device hereinafter described
which can by means of a contrivance connected therewith be either locked or
released as required, one portion of such clutching device being on the door itself
and another portion on the jamb or frame.
The manner in which the invention is carried out is as follows:-Upon either
the door or the jamb or frame, say the door, is fixed a stem of angular or oval
section in the centre line of the door hinges; and upon either the jamb or the
door, say the jamb, is fixed in the same centre line a cylindrical box, with a vertical
groove in its side wall. The stem enters the box centrally. In connection with
these two parts are a number of discs some of which have apertures to fit the stem
while others have tongues to fit the groove in the box. Discs of the two kinds
are placed alternately one above another so as to fill the box or nearly so.
these discs are not pressed together the door can swing or move freely on its hinges
the friction between the discs being slight. When however the discs are forced
together and they thus become bound or locked by the friction between the surfaces
the door remains fixed until the binding pressure is released.
When
The means for locking and releasing that is to say applying pressure to and
removing pressure from the discs preferably consist of a compression plate and a
sliding wedge the latter being worked from the door handle.
The accompanying drawings will serve to illustrate the invention.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of the apparatus.
Figure 2 is a plan of the cylindrical box which in the modification shown is fixed
to the jamb.
a is a hollow stem the exterior of which is shown as being square in section,
though it may be of any form in section which will prevent the turning thereon of
the discs hereinafter described which have apertures to fit it. The stem a is part
of or carried by a casting or box 6 which is screwed to the door (preferably at the
top) so that the stem a shall be in the centre line of the hinges. c is a cylindrical
box fixed to the jamb in the same centre line by means of screws passed through
the projecting wing d. In the side wall of the box c is a vertical groove e. In the
box c and around the stem a I place a number of discs f, g, which are of two kinds
arranged one above another in alternate order. The discs of one kind, one of
which is shown separately in Figure 3, have apertures to fit the stem a and the
discs of the other kind, one of which is shown separately in Figure 4, have a
tongue to fit the groove e. Below the pile of discs and forming a bottom or cover
to the box c is a compression plate attached by means of an adjusting nut i to a
piece that passes througn the stem a and is enlarged above as seen at kk. This
part & carries an antifriction roller m and has a slot n in it so as to permit it to
move up and down without touching a pin p which is fixed to the box 6 and has
upon it another antifriction roller l. Between this roller and the upper antifriction
roller m a sliding wedge q is forced by a spring r thereby lifting the part k and the
compression plate h and thus bringing pressure upon the friction discs.
Normally the discs are thus kept compressed together sufficiently to bind or lock
them by the friction between the surfaces and consequently the door cannot slam
or swing. When it is required to move the door the wedge is caused to move
out so that the part k together with the compression plate h will drop. The
friction between the discs is then so slight that the door will move freely on its
hinges the discs turning with the door while the discs g remain stationary
being held by the groove e. The sliding wedge 9 is connected by any suitable
arrangement of rods, levers, cranks or other like devices to a handle on the door,
this handle being preferably the handle that works the latch, when a latch is used.
If it be found that the friction is either too much or too little when the discs are
compressed it can be diminished or decreased by means of the nut i.
It is obvious that other ways of bringing pressure upon the friction discs and of
removing the pressure therefrom could be adopted but the arrangement above
described and illustrated in the drawings is that which is preferred.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, as communicated to me, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I
declare that what I claim is:--
The improved apparatus hereinbefore described to be fitted to doors to prevent
their slamming or swinging.
Dated this 10th day of November 1891.
J. C. MEWBURN.