Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Closing Doors.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 24th June, 1889
Complete Specification Left, '24th Mar., 1890-Accepted, 24th May, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Closing Doors.
I, HENRY INKSON HARRIS, of 61 Ossory Road, Old Kent Road, in the County of
Surrey, Electrician, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:-
The main object of my invention is to provide improved means of opening and
closing the doors in theatres, or other public buildings, but my said invention is
also applicable to doors in private houses or other buildings of any description.
The doors which I employ in connection with my invention are sliding doors,
sliding back either into the thickness of the wall, or into a casing provided outside
the wall, as may be most convenient. The door may be in one piece, or preferably
in halves, sliding back right and left.
I provide two or more rollers in the bottom and two or more rollers in the top of
each sliding door, the said rollers running on top and bottom rails. The top rail
being provided with means of adjustment to ensure the door sliding freely without
being able to jam.
A vertical sliding bolt with a bevelled upper end is fitted in the floor, and pressed
upwards by a spring or weighted lever, so that when the door is pulled out to close
it, the said bolt enters an aperture in the door and locks it. The said bolt may if
preferred be placed at the top of the door, or at both top and bottom. A rubber,
coiled wire, or other suitable spring is attached to the inner edge of the door and
the recess into which it enters when open, so that when the door is closed the
spring is stretched and held in tension, and on the withdrawal of the aforesaid
bolt or bolts, the said spring automatically opens the door by pulling it back into
the recess.
A soft iron armature is attached to the lower end of each bolt and an
electro-magnet placed in such position as to act upon the said armature and with-
draw the bolt when a current is sent through the magnet.
In a theatre or other public building where, in case of panic from an alarm of
fire or other cause, it is desirable to have the power of instantly opening all the
doors, the various electro-magnets are all placed in circuit, and switches provided
in different parts of the building so that on operating any one of the said switches, the
circuit will be closed, the bolts all simultaneously withdrawn by the electro-magnets
and the doors automatically and instantly opened by the aforesaid springs, thus
affording free means of exit to the persons within the building.
To open any one of the doors independently, I provide a lever or other suitable
device to each sliding bolt, operated by foot or hand to withdraw the said bolt.
It is obvious that although the principal object of my invention is to afford means
of automatically opening the doors of a public building in the event of panic or
otherwise, my invention is equally applicable to doors in private houses or buildings
of any other description.
The electric opening devices may open all the doors, or only certain doors, as
desired, by arranging the switches and connections in accordance with the particular
requirements of the building.
Dated this 24th day T1000
AMBROSE MYALL,
21, Cockspur Street, S.W., Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: 4
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Closing Doors.
I, HENRY INKSON HARRIS, of 61 Ossory Road, Old Kent Road, S.E. in the
County of Surrey, Electrician.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:-
The main object of my invention is to provide improved means of opening and
closing the doors in theatres, or other public buildings, but my said invention is also
applicable to doors in private houses, or other buildings of any description.
The doors which I employ in connection with my invention are preferably sliding
doors, sliding back either into the thickness of the wall, or into a casing provided
outside the wall, as may be most convenient. The door may be in one piece, or
preferably in halves, sliding back right and left. I provide two or more rollers in
the bottom, and two or more rollers in the top of each sliding door, the said rollers
running on top and bottom rails. The top rail being provided with means of adjust-
ment to ensure the door sliding freely, without being able to jam.
A vertical sliding bolt is fitted in the floor and pressed upwards by a spring or
weighted lever, so that when the door is pulled out to close it, the said bolt either
enters an aperture in the door, or rises behind the door and locks it. The said bolt
may, if preferred, be placed at the top of the door, or at both top and bottom. A
rubber, coiled wire, or other suitable spring is attached to the inner edge of the door
and the recess into which it enters when open, so that when the door is closed the
spring is stretched and held in tension, and on the withdrawal of the aforesaid bolt or
bolts, the said spring automatically opens the door by pulling it back into the recess.
A soft iron armature is attached to the lower end of each bolt, and an electro-magnet
is placed in such position as to act upon the said armature and withdraw the bolt
when a current is sent through the magnet.
In a theatre, or other public building, where in case of panic from an alarm of fire,
or other cause, it is desirable to have the power of instantly opening all the doors, the
various electro-magnets are all placed in circuit and switches provided in different
parts of the building, so that on operating any one of the said switches, the circuit
will be closed, the bolts all simultaneously withdrawn by the electro-magnets, and the
doors automatically and instantly opened by the aforesaid springs, thus affording free
means of exit to the persons within the building.
To open any one of the doors independently, I provide a lever, or other suitable
device, to each sliding bolt, operated by foot or hand, to withdraw the said bolt.
In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in
section, shewing a sliding door in halves with my invention applied thereto; Figs. 2
and 3 are cross-sections, through the lines X X and Y Y respectively on Fig. 1.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.
A A' are the two halves of the door, sliding back into the recesses B B¹, forned
within the thickness of the wall, but they may, if preferred, be arranged to slide into
casings provided outside the walls. Each door is furnished with grooved rollers CC,
at the bottom and D D at the top. The rollers CC travel upon a rail E, which takes
the weight of the door, and a similar rail F is provided to engage with the upper
rollers DD, to act as a guide. This top rail F is preferably provided with means for
vertical adjustment, to allow the doors to slide with the necessary amount of freedom,
without being able to get out of position and jam.
HH are bolts, attached to soft iron armatures J J, sliding vertically on guide
pins K K K K. Springs L L L L, are provided to force the bolts upwards, in the
position shewn in the drawings. M M are springs, formed of rubber, or other
suitable material, attached at one end to the inner edges of the doors, and at the other
end to the casing or recess.
In the position shewn in the drawings, the doors are closed, and the bolts HH

page_text: being forced up by the springs L L L L, rise behind the edge of the doors, and lock
them in such closed position.
NN are electro-magnets placed underneath the armatures J J. When a current is
sent through the said magnets, the said armatures, with the bolts H H are drawn down
sufficiently far, to clear the lower edges of the doors, when the said doors are
immediately drawn back into the recesses by the springs M M. A slot P is formed
in the top of the bolts to permit the passage of the pulleys C C.
As it may be required to open a door independently of the electrical arrangement,
especially in cases where many doors are placed on one circuit and it is only desired
to open one of them, a spring bolt Q, operated by a lever R, is provided to
mechanically depress the armature J and bolt H. In the drawing a hand lever is
shown, but, if preferred, it can be arranged on the floor to be operated by the foot.
The lever can also be arranged to be secured by a lock, to prevent the door being
opened by unauthorised persons.
Several modifications may be effected in the mode of carrying my invention into
practice, over the arrangement shewn in the drawings, without departing from the
principle of the same; thus for example a weighted lever may be employed to raise
the bolts HH, instead of the springs LLLL; the bolts may enter apertures in the
doors, instead of rising behind them; and in place of the weight of the door being
borne by the lower rail, it may be suspended by wheels or rollers from a rail at the
top, also in place of the spring for pulling back the door when released, a weight
hung by a cord, or chain, may be used.
It is obvious that although the principal object of my invention is to afford means
of automatically opening the doors of a public building, in the event of panic or
otherwise, my invention is equally applicable to doors in private houses, or buildings
of any other description.
In cases where it is not convenient to employ a sliding door, it is obvious that my
electric bolt may equally well be applied to an ordinary hinged door. Any suitable
form of spring being employed to open the door, when released, if desired.
The electric opening devices may open all the doors, or only certain doors, as
desired, by arranging the switches and connections in accordance with the particular
requirements of the building.
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. The combination with a sliding door, of a bolt H, operated by an electro-
magnet N, to lock and release the said door, substantially as herein set forth.
2. The combination with an ordinary hinged door, of a bolt operated by an
electro-magnet, substantially as herein set forth.
3. The combination of a series of doors, constructed as set forth in the first or
second claims, and all arranged to be opened simultaneously by an electric current,
substantially as herein set forth.
4. The combination with the bolt H, of a rod P, or other suitable device for
opening the door without employing the electric current, substantially as herein set
forth.
5. An arrangement for opening a door by means of an electric current, constructed
substantially as herein described and shewn with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
AMBROSE MYALL,
21, Cockspur Street, S.W., Agent for the Applicant.