Improvements in Fastenings for Farm and Park Gates.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 18th May, 1887
Complete Left, 20th Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 18th May, 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fastenings for Farm and Park Gates.
I GEORGE WALTER SHIPTON of Woodford, Thrapstone in the County of
Northampton, Farmer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide a fastening for farm and park gates,
whether swing gates or clapping gates, in which the locking will be effected
immediately the gate swings to the clapping post. The head of the gate will be
supported, thereby avoiding strain on the hanging post, and the unfastening may
be readily effected by a person, either on foot or horseback, while the unfastening
by cattle is rendered practically impossible.
In carrying out my invention, I prefer to employ two latches, one of which I place
near the top of the gate, and the other say about half way down, and these two
latches I connect together by a link rod, so that they always act in unison. To the
upper latch I connect a weighted handle, for the purpose to be hereafter explained.
For small gates, one latch will in most cases be sufficient, and this latch will be
provided with the handle.
At about the middle of the gate, and between the two latches, I secure a stud,
on which I may mount a bowl or friction roller.
The catches, of which there may be two to each latch, are placed on the clapping
post, and they may consist of sliding plates suitably mounted, and having inclined
lower edges against which the latches strike so as to cause the plates to rise.-As
only one plate will rise as the gate closes, the other will always be in position to
stop the further swing of the gate, and as soon as the latch has passed the catch,
it will drop by its own weight, and so secure the gate.
Instead of the sliding plates, I may use pivotted catches, which will rise as the latch
strikes them, and fall again directly the latch has passed.
In order that the catches shall move in preference to the latches, I weight the latch
handle as before mentioned, and to such an extent, that under ordinary circumstances,
the catch will have to give way.

page_text: Above the catches I secure an arched piece, which I term a bridge, and over this
bridge the roller carried by the stud pin on the gate passes. As the roller passes
over the bridge, the head of the gate will be slightly raised; thus the weight of the
gate will be taken off the hanging post when the gate is closed, and the strain
caused by cattle rubbing their necks on the top bar of the gate will be avoided.
The handle will be of such a form that it can be readily raised by a person on
horseback by means of a hunting crop, or a stick, to depress the latch in order to open
the gate, but will prevent the insertion, by cattle, of the tip of a horn to raise the
handle to unlock the gate.
The double latch secures the gate at the lower part against the pressure by sheep
or pigs, and the latches being under the catches, instead of above, prevents aged and
experienced cattle from lifting the gate with their horns.

page_text: I GEORGE WALTER SHIPTON of Woodford, Thrapstone in the County of Northampton,
Farmer 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 objects of this invention are (1) to provide a fastening for farm and park gates,
whether swing or clapping gates, in which the locking or securing is independent
of any movement of the latch, and the unfastening by lifting the gate bodily out
of its catch will be prevented; (2) to support the head of the gate when closed so
as to avoid the strain on the hanging post arising from various well understood
causes; and (3) to prevent the gate being burst open when pressure is applied
against the centre of its length to bend or bow the gate sufficiently to draw the
latch away from the catch, and all without placing difficulties in the way of a person
on horseback opening the gate.
In carrying out my invention, I may employ one, two, or more fastenings on each
gate, according to the position and size of the gate, but when more than one
fastening is used, the latches which form part of such fastening are connected together
so that they shall always act in unison.
On the gate head I secure a stud carrying a friction roller which rolls onto a
bridge piece secured to the clapping post. This bridge piece may be formed with a
flange or projection at its front edge, and as the roller passes onto the bridge, the head
of the gate will be slightly raised; thus, the weight of the gate will be taken off the
hanging post when the gate is closed, while the flange will prevent the roller being
pulled laterally off the bridge by the horizontal bending of the gate.
The catches (of which there are two to each latch) are fitted to the clapping post,
and preferably consist of tumblers having inclined planes against which the latches
strike so as to cause the tumblers to rise. As only one catch of the pair will be
raised by the latch as the gate closes, the other will always be in position to stop the
further swing of the gate, and as soon as the latch has passed the catch, this latter
will drop by its own weight, and so secure the gate.
In order that the catches shall move in preference to the latches, I adapt to the
latch or latches weights or springs to such an extent that under ordinary circumstances
the catch will have to give way.
In the accompanying drawing :-
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of part of a gate and the clapping post, with a double
fastening adapted thereto.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the post, showing the two sets of catches in position.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the catch arrangement detached.
Fig. 3 shows in plan view one mode of constructing a lever latch.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6, show modifications in the form of the latch.

page_text: A is the gate and B the clapping post. C is a lever latch, which is suspended from
the top rail, and projects through a mortice in the gate head. This latch is constructed
as shown at Fig. 3*, and its rear end is made heavy or weighted to such an extent
that the catches on the clapping post will move rather than the latch as the gate is
shut. The rear end of this lever latch will be formed to project above the gate in
such a manner that it can be readily raised by a hunting crop or stick. When two
fastenings are used, the second latch C may be of a simpler form, and will be
connected with the first latch by a connecting rod or bar C₁. This latch will be
preferably suspended from a rail of the gate, and will also project through a mortice
in the gate head.
As the latches CC should be below the rails of the gate, I may provide guards,
as C, which may be secured to the underside of the rails, to prevent an animal raising
the rear end of the latch, with its head, to open the gate; or I may adapt a catch a,
which will be raised with the hunting crop before the lever is raised.
To the gate head I secure a stud D carrying a friction roller D', which acts in
conjunction with a bridge picce E' on the clapping post B, to support the head of the
gate when shut, thus avoiding all strain on the hanging post. This bridge piece E¹,
which may have a flange or projection E³ at its outer edge, is cast or formed with a
plate E, to which are pivotted tumblers E3 E to serve as catches. These tumblers
are each formed with an inclined face, against which the latch strikes as the gate
closes, to raise it (see the left hand side of Fig. 3), and as soon as the latch has passed,
the catch falls into its normal position (see the right hand side of Figs. 2 and 3). The
catches E are supported in their normal position by a stop or abutment E* cast on
the plate E. E' is a plate which is suitably secured to the plate E, and partly covers
in the catches E³. It will be evident that other forms of moveable catches may be
employed without departing from the nature of my invention.
In the modification shown at Fig. 4, I employ, in place of a lever, a spring bolt
latch C, which is drawn back by a trigger C*1, or in any other convenient manner.
This latch may be contained within a box C*, and is most suitable for small gates.
In Fig. 5 I have shown another modification of bolt latch, which is more particu-
larly useful for boarded or paled gates, or for yard and other doors. In this arrange-
ment I form my latches of studs or pins G, secured to a rod or bar G¹, arranged to
slide in vertical guides G³, secured to the edge of the gate head. This bar is
maintained in the raised position by a spring or springs secured to the bar and the
gate head, or by the weighted lever G³, which will also serve as the handle to depress
the bar to unfasten the gate, means being also provided to prevent animals rocking
the lever to open the gate. This lever may be forked to pass round the gate head,
or it may pass through a mortise in the gate head; in either case, it will be so
arranged that in its normal position the weight may rest on a bar or rail of
the gate.
The extra latch at the bottom prevents the natural warping of the gate, or the
twisting of the gate, due to the pressure exerted by sheep or pigs, when rubbing
themselves against the lower part of the gate.
In some cases I may use a fixed latch or stud on the gate, and raise the catches by
means of a handle or handles pivotted to the top thereof, and extending either laterally
or vertically therefrom.
Such a modification is shown in Sheet II, Figs. 7 and 8 being a front view and
side view respectively of one arrangement of fastening, and Fig. 9 being a front view
of another arrangement.
EE, as before mentioned, are the tumbler catches on the gate post B, and C
represents the fixed latch or stud on the gate A.
Each
To the upper part of each catch is pivotted one end of a rod r, which projects
upwards through a recess in the bridge piece E¹ (see Figs. 7 and 8). The upper
ends of these rods are pivotted to opposite ends of a double L shaped lever s.
of the rods forms the fulcrum on which the lever rocks to raise the other rod
with its catch,

page_text: "
The lever may of course be dispensed with, and the rods lengthened, so that it
will be only necessary to pull up the rod to raise the catch.
Or both catches may be raised at the same time by means of the plate t carried by
the central rod u (see Fig. 9), which rod u will be simply pulled up by hand. Or
the rod u may be raised by the lever handles w, which project laterally on each side
of the post, as clearly shown in Fig. 9.
It will be obvious that the modes of raising the catches may be varied considerably
without departing from the nature of my invention.
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
1 claim is-
1st. A gate fastening consisting of a latch or bolt on the gate, maintained in its
normal position by a weight or spring; a pair of moveable catches on the clapping
post so arranged that one catch will rise or give to the latch as the gate closes, while
the other will form a stop, a bridge piece above the catches, and a friction roller on the
gate, as set forth.
2nd. In a gate fastening, the use of a bridge piece, as E', on the clapping post,
in combination with a friction roller, as D¹, secured to the gate, as and for the purpose
set forth.
3rd. In a gate fastening, the combination with one or more sets of moveable catches
fitted to the clapping post, and so arranged as to rise on being struck by the latch
or latches as the gate is closed, and to fall behind the latch, of a lever or a sliding
bolt latch or latches on the gate, provided with a counterweight or springs, the said
latch or latches being arranged to maintain their normal position as the gate closes,
and to tip or slide downwards or inwards in order to unfasten the gate, as and for the
purpose set forth.
4th. In a fastening for farm and park gates, the combination with one or more
fixed latches or studs on the gate, of one or more sets of catches on the clapping
post, arranged to rise when struck by a latch or stud as the gate closes, and provided
with a handle or handles by which they can be raised to release the respective latches
or studs, to open the gate, as set forth.
5th. The fastenings for farm and park gates constructed, arranged, and operating
substantially as herein described and shown with reference to the drawing.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
Dated this 18th day of February 1000.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.