Year: 1885

page_text: I, JAMES MAXWELL, of Dundee Foundry Dundee, in the County of Forfar,
North Britain, Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be
as follows that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object to improve the construction of locks or
fastenings which are especially suitable for railway-carriage doors although also
advantageously applicable for other doors when a self-fastening action is required
with the closing of the door.
In a lock made with my improvements the main latch is a broad plate at right
angles to the spindle of the handle and projecting from one side of a boss which
has a square hole made through it for the spindle. A volute spring is applied to
the boss to turn the latch down into the horizontal locking position, and the
handle has to be turned a quarter round to fully open the fastening.
The
With the main latch there are combined a holder which retains the main latch
when opened and is released by the closing of the door, and in addition an ordinary
bevil-nosed sliding latch which is acted on by a spring and which engages itself in
the ordinary way when the door is closed. A square heel or projection is formed
on what may be termed the lower outer corner of the main latch when this latch
is in its turned-up open position, and when the latch is so turned up the acting
part of the holder is moved by a spring under the heel of the latch and prevents
the latch from being turned down by its spring until the door is closed.
holder is in the form of a small lever centered near the back of the lock so as to be
movable transversely and the spring for pressing it under the heel of the latch may
be a blade spring fixed to the outer side plate of the lock. A notch or slot is
formed in the inner side plate of the lock and a projection is formed on the striking
plate of the door frame in a position to enter the notch when the door is being
closed. The projection on the striking plate encounters the holder in the lock and
as the door is being closed causes the holder to pass from under the heel of the
main latch which is thereupon instantly turned down by its spring into its closing
position. When the main latch is turned up for opening the door its upper inner
corner encounters a projection on the underside of the sliding latch and thereby
draws that latch inwards.
With the improved arrangement herein before described there is a double auto-
matic fastening action on closing the door, so that if one part should be out of
order the other part will act, whilst it is unlikely for both holding parts to be out
of order at the same time.
Dated this twenty first day of December 1885
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Locks or Fastenings for Railway-carriage
and other Doors.
I, JAMES MAXWELL, formerly of Dundee Foundry, but now of 8 Craigie Terrace,
Ferry Road, Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, Accountant and
Maker of Carriage Door Locks, 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, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object to improve the construction of locks or
fastenings which are especially suitable for railway-carriage doors although also
advantageously applicable for other doors when a self-fastening action is required
with the closing of the door.
.In a lock made with my improvements the main latch is a broad plate at right
angles to the spindle of the handle and projecting from one side of a boss which
has a square hole made through it for the spindle. A volute spring is applied to
the boss to turn the latch down into the horizontal locking position and the
handle has to be turned about a quarter round to fully open the fastening.
With the main latch there are combined a holder which retains the main latch
when opened and is released by the closing of the door, and in addition an ordinary
bevil-nosed sliding latch which is acted on by a spring and which engages itself in
the ordinary way when the door is closed. The improved arrangements are such
that there is a double automatic fastening action on closing the door, so that if one
part should be out of order the other part will act, whilst it is unlikely for both
holding parts to be out of order at the same time.
A railway-carriage door lock as made with my improvements is shown on the
accompanying sheet of explanatory drawings, figure, 1, being a side elevation of
the lock with the cover plate almost entirely removed and with the main latch in
the open position, whilst figure, 2, is a corresponding front or end elevation, and
figure, 3, is a plan of the holder. Figure, 4, is a plan of the bevil-nosed sliding
latch, and figure, 5, is a side elevation showing the main latch in the closed position.
Figures, 6, and 7, are a horizontal section and an elevation of the striking plate
which is fixed in the door frame. In these drawings the same reference numerals
are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
The main latch or fastener, 8, is formed with a boss, 9, made with a square
hole, 10, to receive the spindle of the handle, 11, (the positions of which are
indicated by dotted lines in figures, 1, and 5,) the boss also having cut in it a
notch to receive the inner end of a volute spring, 12, the outer end of which is
looped and held upon a stud, 13, cast on the back plate of the lock. A nearly
square heel, 14, is formed on the main latch, 8, in such a position as to be at the
lower outer corner when the latch is turned up as shown in figure, 1; and when
the latch is thus turned up the outer part of a holder, 15, gets under the heel, 14,
and retains the latch, 8, in its opened position. This holder, 15, which is shown
detached in figure, 3, is a small lever centered on a pin, 16, at its end this pin
being screwed up vertically through the bottom of the lock, so that the lever or

page_text: holder, 15, moves horizontally; and the holder is pressed inwards by a blade
spring, 17. A notch or opening, 18, is formed at the inner side of the lock case and
facing the outer acting end of the holder, 15, and the striking plate, 19, is made
with a projection, 20, which, when the door is moved inwards to close it, enters the
opening, 18, and acting on the holder, 15, causes it to move from under the latch, 8,
whereupon the latch is turned completely down by its spring, 12, and securely
fastens the door.
'
At the upper part of the lock there is fitted a sliding bevil-nosed latch, 21, which
is guided partly by the opening made for it in the front part of the lock casing,
and partly by a small block, 22, fixed to the back of the lock so as to be inside of
a slot formed in the latch, 21. A helical spring, 23, is inserted between the
block, 22, and the outer end of the slot in the latch, 21, for the purpose of pressing
the latch outwards. The sliding latch, 21, is made with a projection, 24, on its
underside, and this projection is encountered by a corner of the main latch, 8, when
this latch is turned to open the door, the sliding latch, 21, being thereby drawn in
at the same time, as is required to allow the door to open.
The striking plate, 19, is made with openings or sockets, 25, 26, for the main
and sliding latches, 8, 21, and with bevilled or inclined parts, 27, 28, for the corner
of the main latch, 8, and for the nose of the sliding latch, 21, to encounter when
closing the door. The inside of the cover plate of the lock, and which is supposed
to be removed in figures, 1, and 5, has a curved flange cast on it so as to be in the
position indicated by the dotted lines, 29; and this flange is applied as a guard to
the volute spring, 12, and for the purpose of limiting the displacement of that
spring should it be broken or loosened.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1-The improved self-closing lock or fastening in which are combined, 1, a main
latch with a volute spring arranged to turn it completely into the closing position,
2, a horizontally moving lever holder pressed by a spring so as to enter under a
heel or projection on the main latch and retain the same when opened, and arranged
to be displaced by a projection on the striking plate so as to release the main latch
on closing the door, and 3, an ordinary bevil-nosed sliding latch, arranged to be
drawn in by the main latch when opening the door, all substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2-The improved device for retaining the main latch in the open position
and consisting of a horizontally moving lever placed below the main latch
and engaging under a heel or projection formed for the purpose on the main latch
substantially as herein before described.
Dated this fourteenth day of September 1886
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent,