IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOISTING APPARATUS AND SAFETY HATCHES TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
HOISTING APPARATUS AND SAFETY HATCHES TO BE USED THEREWITH.”—A
communication from abroad by Harriet Osgood, Martha Fink Storer,
and Charles Griffin Keys, all of the City and State of New York,
Tinited States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd February 1872.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
HOISTING APPARATUS AND SAFETY HATCHES TO BE USED THEREWITH," to be as
follows:-
:-
ime for buildings of various

page_text: kinds in which the hoisting car or platform is designed to pass up and
down through a series of floors or rooms one above the other.
The object of the Invention is to construct a safety hatch for use in
connection with a hoisting apparatus that shall be both opened and
closed in a gradual or easy manner by the apparatus as is raised
or lowered from one floor to another.
The Invention consists in a combination with a hinged hatch or pair
of half doors, forming a single hatch to each floor of mechanism
connected with the hinged portion of the hatches, for effecting a gradual
lowering of the hatches after the car or platform has passed up through,
and for opening the hatches in the descent of the car or platform, both
movements being effected by the car or platform acting on levers
connected with such mechanism. The hatches are opened during the
ascent of the car by curved lifters attached to the top of the car or
platform, and provided with rack which gear into sector racks connected
with the hatches. These lifters also serve to gradually lower the hatches
after the car in its descent passes them. In combination with each
hinged half or portion of the hatch there are sectional racks or ratchets
arranged on the under side of the hatch, so that on the latter being
opened or raised the racks form continuations of the safety racks
ordinarily employed up the sides of a hatchway. Safety pawls applied
to the car or platform bite into these racks in case of accident or derange-
ment of the hoisting rope, and thereby support the platform.
The hatches may be formed of two hinged portions divided diagonally
in relation to the hinges, so as to provide for a close fit of the hatch with 2
the uprights or guides of the hatchway. These uprights or guides are
arranged opposite to the angles or corners of the car in hatchways
situated in proximity to two adjacent walls of a building.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: This Invention relates to hoisting apparatus for buildings of various
kinds in which the hoisting car or platform is designed to pass up and
down through a series of floors or rooms one above the other.
The object of the Invention is to construct a safety hatch for use in
connection with a hoisting apparatus, that shall be both opened and
closed in a gradual or casy manner by the apparatus as it is raised or
lowered from one floor to another, whereby all slamming of the hatches

page_text: is avoided, and the hatches (which are hinged) form walls or guards when
raised, and when lowered or shut by the apparatus not only prevent
persons or goods from falling through or down the hatchway, but
exclude draught, so that in case of a fire the risk of its spreading or com-
municating from floor to floor is avoided.
The Invention consists in a combination with a hinged hatch or pair
of half doors (forming a single hatch to each floor) of mechanism
connected with the hinged portion of the hatches, for effecting a gradual
lowering of the hatches after the car or platform has passed up through,
and for opening the hatches in the descent of the car or platform, both
movements being effected by the platform acting on levers connected
with such mechanism. The hatches are opened during the ascent of the
car in a gradual and easy manner by curved lifters attached to the top
of the car or platform. These lifters also serve to gradually lower the
hatches after the car in its descent passes them. In combination with
each hinged half or portion of the hatch there are sectional racks or
ratchets arranged on the under side of the hatch, so that on the latter
being opened or raised the racks form continuations of the safety racks
ordinarily employed up the sides of a hatchway. Safety pawls applied
to the car or platform bite into these racks in case of accident or
derangement of the hoisting rope, and thereby support the platform.
The hatches may be formed of two hinged portions divided diagonally
in relation to the hinges, so as to provide for a close fit of the hatch with
the uprights or guides of the hatchway. These uprights or guides
are arranged opposite to the angles or corners of the car in hatchways
situated in proximity to two adjacent walls of a building.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a sectional elevation
of a hatchway and hoisting apparatus therein, with one form of con-
structinon of improved safety hatches applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a
horizontal section of the same, taken immediately above one of the safety
hatches; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of a hinged hatch divided diagonally,
in relation to its hinges and to the guides or uprights of the hatchway up
and down which the car or platform works.
In Figures 1 and 2 A is a hatchway intersecting floors B, C, and D,
of a building provided with up and down side guides or uprights E, E, in
which a car or platform F of a hoisting apparatus is arranged to travel.
The hoisting rope 6 passes over a drum or pulley cat top of the

page_text: hatchway, and d, d, are safety dogs or levers connected with the hoisting
rope, and serving in case of breakage or slackening of the latter to shoot
into gear with the safety racks or ratchets e, e, arranged up the faces of
the guides E, E, and in continuations on the under faces of the hatches,
as herein-after described.
The hatches G, G, the tops of which may be flush or thereabouts with
the floors B, C, D, are each made up of two portions or halves hinged to
the hatchway on opposite sides of it, and with their dividing line parallel
to the hinges. These hinged hatches open upwards and are preferable to
horizontally sliding hatches by not interfering (as the latter do) with the
joists or main timbers of the floor, also in being easier to work, and in
forming walls or guards when raised. The hinges by which the halves
of either hatch are fastened to the sides of the hatchway are what may be
termed rigid ones, consisting of pivot pins f, f, carried by straps h, h, on the
halves of the hatch, and working in metallic loops i, i, fast to the sides of
the hatchway, so that the pins f,f, work with the hatch when raised or
lowered. On these hinged pins are secured toothed sectors k, k, which
are arranged to gear by means of racks 1, 1, (sliding in guides on the
sides of the uprights E, E,) with similar sectors m, m, fast to horizontal
spindles n, n, disposed at some distance below the floor next above either
hatch, which is the arrangement for the several hatches. Secured to
these spindles n, n, are bent levers q, q, arranged so that when thrown
out they lie under the car F, that occupy a downward position when
thrown back to allow the car to pass them. They are curved at their
outer ends to facilitate their adjustment or operation by the car.
Arranged on the under sides of either divided portion of each hatch G, G,
are racks or ratchets e¹, e', which form continuations of the safety
racks e, e, when the hatches are raised, so that the same protection will
be afforded to the car by the dogs d, d, when passing through the
hatches as when travelling between the floors. H, H, are curved lifters
secured to the top of the car and bearing in a gradual or sweeping
manner on the faces of the rack continuations e¹, e¹, so as to lift the
divided or half hatches in the ascent of the car from floor to floor. The
hatches G, G, when raised fit into recesses in the guides or uprights E, E,
so that the hatches offer no obstruction to the passage of the car, and
whereby they or their rack continuations or strips e¹, e', on their under
side, form continuations of the guides E, E.

page_text: The operation of the several parts is as follows:-As the car F, in
ascending passes a hatch G, G, the lifters H, H, gradually open and
raise it, and in so doing cause the toothed sectors k, k, of such hatch to
operate the racks 1, l, in gear with them and thereby to set in motion
the toothed sectors m, m, forming part of the mechanism of that hatch,
so as to set the levers q, q, in a downward position or to one side, in
order that the car may pass them. Guides r, r, may be applied to the
car to give the levers q their final adjustment in the direction specified,
and to secure a full opening of the hatch. After the car has cleared the
one set of levers q, q, then the divided or hinged portions of the hatch
below them, and with which they are connected by the sectors and racks,
are gradually projected under the car, by the weight of the hatch in
closing, aided if desired by a running counterbalance (applied to the
levers) that by bearing on the under side of the car cause the closing
hatch to shut only gradually, thus doing away with slamming, the
speed at which it closes being commensurate with that of the car.
In the descent of the car F, the same levers q, q, serve to gradually
open the hatch immediately below the car by the latter depressing or
turning the levers to one side, and by the racks and sectors connected
with them causing the hatch to be opened for the passage of the car.
The hatch thus opened is gradually closed again after the car has passed
it by the hinged halves or portions of the hatch following along or over
the curved lifters H, H. In this way or by these means the hoisting car
or platform is caused to gradually open and close the hatches as it
passes up or down through them.
In cases where the guides or uprights E, E, occupy a diagonal relation
to the hatchway, as when the latter is arranged within the corner or
angle of a building, and under other circumstances, then it is preferred to
arrange the dividing line of either hatch G, G, diagonally in relation to
the hinges thereof and guides or uprights E, E, as represented in
Fig. 3 of the Drawing. By this construction of the hatch its divided
or hinged portions are made to hug the uprights in a closer manner (or
so as to leave a diminished opening or gap about the uprights to permit
of the free opening of the hatch) than when its hinged halves or portions
have their divided line parallel with the hinges.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent and having explained the manner of

page_text: carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me
by Letters Patent as aforesaid,
First. The combination with a hinged hatch or hatches of mechanism
for actuating the same, and controlled by the car or platform in passing
up or down the hatchway, whereby the car is made to automatically open
and close each hatch in succession in a gradual or easy manner, as herein
set forth.
Second. The combination of the fast hinges or hinge pins ƒ, ƒ, with
the halves or portions of either hatch G, G, the toothed sectors k, k,
and m, m; the racks 1, 1, and the levers q, q, or their equivalents, as
and for the purpose herein set forth.
Third. The combination with the hinged sections or portions of either
hatch G, G, of the safety rack or ratchet continuations e¹, e', as and for
the purpose described.
Fourth. The curved lifters H, H, in combination with the safety rack
or ratchet continuations or strips e¹, e¹, of either hatch G, G, essentially
as specified.
Fifth. A hatch formed of two hinged parts or portions constructed so
that when closed their edges of junction occupy a diagonal relation with
the hinges, and with the uprights E, E, of the hatchway up and down
which the hoisting car or platform is guided in its travel, as herein
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)