IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SECURING THE LIDS OR COVERS OP GAS RETORTS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Raphael Herring at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
December 1874.
I, RAPHAEL HERRING, of Alexandria Terrace, St. Helen's, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SECURING THE LIDS OR COVERS
OP GAS RETORTS," to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to novel and simple apparatus to be com-
bined with the lid or cover of a gas retort to afford the means whereby
the same may be securely locked or fastened when closed, and may be
readily released and opened, the closing and locking of the lid or cover
being effected by one movement of a lever forming part of the said
apparatus, and the releasing and opening of the said lid or cover by
another movement of the same lever.
The said apparatus is constructed and applied to the lid or cover of a

page_text: gas retort as follows:-To the front of the said lid of cover and at or
near the centre of the same I fix projecting jaws or lugs of wrought iron
or other suitable metal. These jaws are formed to receive a cross bar,
which is pivotted in the said jaws. One end of the said cross bar is
jointed or hinged to a lug or projection on the mouth-piece of the retort
at one side of the lid or cover. This pin or joint of the said cross bar
forms the hinge or pivot whereon the lid or cover is supported and turns
in opening and closing. The other end of the said cross bar extends to
and over a catch or hook fixed on the mouth-piece, and projecting there-
from just clear of the edge of the lid or cover. Between the outside of
the said lid or cover and the aforesaid cross bar I place a taper sliding
bar or long wedge. This bar or wedge passes through or between the
said jaws, and is capable of sliding to and fro therein and upon a plate
upon which the said jaws are formed or fixed, which plate keeps the said
bar or wedge clear of the surface of the lid or cover. This sliding bar
extends entirely across the lid or cover and over the aforesaid catch. It
is operated by a lever or handle, which is fulcrumed or pivotted in the
cross bar, and is connected to the said sliding bar by a pin joint. I form
a number of holes in the said cross bar and sliding bar, so that the said
lever may be adjusted to compensate for the wearing of the surfaces of
the said bars. The aforesaid catch has on its side adjacent to the edge
of the lid or cover an inclined or sloping lip, and on the under side of
the sliding bar is a projection, which, when the said bar slides toward
the catch, passes up the said inclined lip.
The lid or cover is closed by means of the said lever, and the cross bar
then drops into the aforesaid catch. The door is then secured or locked
by continuing to press upon the said lever, and thereby moving the
sliding bar or wedge toward the hinge or joint of the said cross bar. As
the said sliding bar is thus adjusted it bears with one edge upon the
aforesaid plate on the lid or cover, and with its other edge upon the
inner edge of the cross bar, and by reason of its taper or wedge-like form
it exerts great pressure upon the said cross bar, thereby binding it
tightly and securely in the catch.
When the lid is to be opened the said lever is operated to move the
sliding bar in the opposite direction. The pressure upon the cross bar is
thus relaxed, and as the projection on the said sliding bar rides over the

page_text: inclined lip of the catch the cross bar is raised out of the catch, and the
lid or cover is then free and may be opened by pulling the said lid or
cover outward. A stud or stop fixed on the said lever comes in contact
with the outer edge of the cross bar, and prevents a too great movement
of the wedge in either direction.