IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING CATCHES OR FASTENERS FOR SECURING THE DOORS OF RAILWAY. CARRIAGES, WAGONS OR TRUCks, AND OTHER KINDS OF DOORS OR GATES,
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Smith, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the' Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-ACTING CATCHES OR FASTENERS FOR SECURING THE DOORS OF RAILWAY.
CARRIAGES, WAGONS OR TRUCks, AND OTHER KINDS OF DOORS OR GATES,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Smith at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd August 1875.
I, EDWARD SMITH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING CATCHES OR FASTENERS FOR SECURING THE DOORS
OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WAGONS OR TRUCKS, AND OTHER KINDS OF DOORS AND
GATES," to be as follows:-
-
This Invention relates to self-acting catches or fasteners in which
each has a lever catch working on a pin carried by a plate or bracket
fixed to the body of the wagon, carriage, truck, or other stationary
framing,

page_text: The front end of the lever catch has a lip or tongue which overlaps a
stationary bar or latch on the door to secure it in position when closed,
and the lever catch is prevented from rising by a pawl working on a pin
or stud. At the back of the bracket or at the back of the lever catch I
joint a swing drop or safety guard which passes through a slot in the
lever catch, and has a projecting part passing through a slot in the plate
or bracket, the lower end of the drop being low enough to be acted
upon by the stationary bar or latch of the door or gate when pressed to,
and the upper part to so project that it prevents the pawl from coming
down upon the tongue or lip when the door is open.
When the door or gate has to be opened the pawl is lifted from the
lever catch by hand, and the catch raised from the latch by pushing or
pulling open the door, but when the door is open the catch falls and the
drop comes forward to prevent the pawl from coming down on the
tongue or lip, until by again closing the door the drop is pressed back
by the stationary latch having passed under the tongue or lip, which
then falls down upon the latch, and as the drop is held back the pawl
is free to lock the lever catch, and effectually prevent the tongue or lip
from being lifted until the pawl is raised by hand.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
SMITH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward Smith, Her special
license, that I, the said Edward Smith, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Smith, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SELF-ACTING CATCHES OR FASTENERS FOR SECURING THE DOORS OF RAILWAY CAR-
RIAGES, WAGONS, OR TRUCKS, AND OTHER KINDS OF DOORS OR GATES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Smith, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Figures on the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to self-acting catches or fasteners in which
each has a lever catch working on a pin carried by a plate or bracket
fixed to the body of the carriage, wagon, truck, or other stationary
framing; the object being to dispense with the present mode of
fastening by hand, and enabling it to take place by simply closing the
door or gate.
This Invention will be clearly understood by the following particular
description thereof, reference being had to the figures and letters on
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2 are front
views, and Figs. 3 and 4 are end views partly in section of one of
my improved self-acting fasteners adapted for the end and side doors of
railway carriages, wagons, gates, and other doors; and Figs. 5 and 6
arc front views of a fastener adapted for some side doors for wagons,
trucks and gates; and Figs. 1, 3, and 5 represent the fastener in its
position when the door flap or gate is closed; and Figs. 2, 4, and 6,
its position when the door flap or gate is open or can be opened. To a
strong stationary upright or side a of the body of the carriage, wagon,
truck, or other stationary framing, I fix a plate having brackets c in
which is fixed a pin d carrying a lever catch e, having at its front end
a lip or tongue which overlaps a stationary bar or latch g fixed to
the ordinary handle / on the door to secure it in position when closed,

page_text: and the lever catch is prevented from rising by a pawl i working on
a pin or stud j. At the back of the bracket or at the back of the lever
catch I joint a swing drop or safety guard / which passes through a
slot in the lever catch, and has a projecting part m passing through
a slot n in the plate b, the lower end of the drop being low enough to
be acted upon by the stationary bar or latch g of the door or gate
when pressed to, and the upper part to so project that it prevents the
pawl from coming down upon the tongue or lip when the door is
open.
* When the door or gate has to be opened the pawl is lifted from the
lever catch by hand, and the catch raised from the latch by pushing or
pulling open the door, but when the door is open the catch falls and the
drop comes forward to prevent the pawl from coming down on the
tongue or lip, until by again closing the door the drop is pressed back
by the stationary latch, having passed under the tongue or lip, which
then falls down upon the latch, and as the drop is held back the pawl
is free to lock the lever catch and effectually prevent the tongue or lip
from being lifted until the pawl is raised by hand.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Inven-
tion I desire it to be understood that I claim the improved self-acting
catches or fasteners for securing the doors of railway carriages, wagons,
or trucks, and other kinds of doors or gates, as herein described and
illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the within-named Edward
Smith in the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
EDW³. SMITH. (L.S.)