IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO HOISTS OR ELEVATORS FOR BUILDINGS, TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS IN THE SAME
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Mangnall at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 31st March 1883.
JOSEPH MANGNALL of Eagley near Bolton, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO HOISTS OR ELEVATORS FOR BUILDINGS, TO
PREVENT ACCIDENTS IN THE SAME."
This invention has for its object the application of cortain improvements to new
or existing hoists or, elevators for Mills, Warehouses and other buildings, whereby
accidents, arising from persons falling down the same are entirely obviated.
To avoid the danger of falling through the open doorways of the several floors, a
door is hinged to each side of each doorway or opening for admittance to the hoist
or otherwise, which door or doors close in the centre or otherwise.
On the inside of the door I place or fix a handle or lover provided with a small
eccentric, the latter working in a suitable clip, which is secured also to the door, on
a fixed centre, thus allowing it to swivel with the motion of the eccentric; having
projections or levers extending on each side, to which are coupled the top and
bottom locking bolts of the doors. On one of these locking bolts is secured an
arm, to the end of which is placed a suitable link or other equivalents, connected
to a lever carried on a fixed centre near the top or otherwise of the door, the end
extending outwardly to a suitable position outside the hoist chamber, and which
is provided with a footstep, in which sits a vertical pin or centre projecting from a
fixing placed loosely on what I term the locking rod, on which all the doors in
one hoist act. Above this fixing on the locking rod I place an adjustable collar,
for the purpose of enabling the locking rod to be lifted by the handle and eccentric
on the door. At the top end or otherwise of the locking rod is placed suitable
rods and lovers, connecting the same to a lever provided with a rack, extending
over the ordinary starting and stopping chain pulley, on which is fixed a suitable
stop or peg to fit between the cogs on the rack, or the rack may be placed on the
pulley, when the stop or peg will of course be placed on the lever, and which
when in contact, entirely prevents the starting of the hoist; which cannot be
released until such times as the doors are closed and bolted, by the action of the
atter the lever and rack or lever and stop pin are raised; when the starting chain
Di 11

page_text: can be operated upon by the person in the hoist; but from no other source can it
be effected.
To ensure the stop pin or peg locking with the rack, I provide the vertical rod
connecting the end of the locking lever, with a spiral spring or other equivalents,
to give the necessary pressure.
To prevent the hoist being started when the doors are open, by anyone pulling
at the starting chain, I provide on the side of the door casing, a suitable fixing
which allows the underside of the extending or projecting footstep lever to pass
over and close to it, thus stopping it from being acted upon by the handle and
eccentric which will have become locked by the opening of the door, and vice-versa
when the door is closed, but will not have released the rack and pin on the
starting pulley and lever until the door or doors are bolted, by the action of the
handle and eccentric previously described.
In the case of folding doors jointing in the centre or otherwise, to ensure perfect
action I provide one of the doors at the top or other suitable position with a sliding
rod fastened to the door with a bracket or other equivalent. This sliding rod
is provided with a suitable slot, which slides on a bolt or pin, put in the under-
side of head jamb, being sufficiently long to allow of the perfect action of the door;
being provided with a hole for the locking bolt or bar on the other door to pass
through when properly closed, in this case it will be evident that unless both
doors are perfectly shut, it is impossible to bolt them with the handle and
eccentric before described, and until such takes place the hoist cannot be operated
upon. To prevent the locking rod sticking, and not perform its work effectively,
I provide it with a suitable spiral spring or other equivalents, with the necessary
appliances for fixing same.
To provide against any possibility of the doors being opened while the hoist is in
motion, I fix a suitable lever and pin or other suitable means, in any convenient
position so as to be worked from the end or otherwise of the ordinary brake lover,
the end of which is provided with a suitable bowl or centre which works against
an inclined plane on the aforesaid lever, thus when the hoist is started and the
brake released, the brake lever falls, when the bowl or pin actuate the lever on
the inclined plane, either inwardly or outwardly, thus bringing a stop or projection
under a collar on the rod working the rack or stop lever, keeping the same in
position until such times as the hoist is stopped, and the brake lever raised, when
the lever is pulled sideways or otherwise, by a spiral spring or other equivalents.
To provide against the hoist being tampered with when the doors are closed, and
prevent anyone from lifting the extended lever from behind the door, I provide a
suitable stop, placed on the upright spindle which operates on the locking rod.
In case of the hoist being filled with goods, so as to prevent the attendant from
going with it and closing the doors, it can be accomplished by looscing an
adjustable collar provided for the purpose, when the doors can be operated upon as
usual if desired
In case an accident should arise to the hoist, it is quite necessary that some
method will be required to gain admittance, and which I accomplish by making
the centres of the eccentric and clip project through the door to the outside, being
secured by a nut or nuts, which can be taken off, and the centres driven out,
when the eccentric and clip will fall out, when the locking rod which extends outside
from the bottom to the top of the hoist or otherwise, can be operated upon, and
thus release the doors and start the hoist if it should be stopped at any point
between the openings or doors.
The novelty of this invention is the simple means employed, to effect the desired
purpose of making a hoist perfectly safe, so that it is impossible for anyone to
fall down the same, by which the hoist cannot be started from the inside, until the
doors are bolted as well as closed; also that the doors cannot be opened while the
hoist is in motion; and that in case of folding doors both must be closed and
bolted.
Another feature is that the hoist can be started or the doors opened in case of

page_text: accident to the cage or other parts from the outside; also that it can't be tampered
with so as to be set in motion from the outside when the doors are closed or open.
Another is that every door in the entire hoist must be closed and bolted from the
inside before it can be started, thereby ensuring perfect safety against anyone
falling down, as the only door that can be opened is the one opposite where the
cage is stopped.