An Improved Automatic Door or Gate for Protecting Wellholes of Lifts.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 4th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 13th Feb., 1892
TRUVIDIUNAL DIUINICATION.
An Improved Automatic Door or Gate for Protecting Wellholes of
Lifts.
I, ROBERT GILGOUR HISLOP, of 7 Pitt Street, Edinburgh in the County of
Midlothian, North Britain, Bellhanger, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :-
This invention which relates to an improved automatic door or gate for protecting
wellholes of lifts, consists of an apparatus for unlocking and opening and closing
and locking the doors or gates by means of the cage, and has for its object to
prevent people from accidentally falling down the wellholes.
In carrying ont my said invention provide for each wellhole door or gate a
cylinder or half-cylinder having a spiral rib or groove traversing through an angle
of 45 degrees up to the centre of the cylinder and re-traversing through a similar
angle up the remaining part of the cylinder, the said cylinder acts as a
hinge when
the doors or gates, are ordinary opening ones, and where they are raising or
lowering doors or gates the said cylinder communicates its motion to them through
the medium of pulleys, or segments of pulleys, and cords or chains, and in order to
give the said cylinder its motion, I provide one or more friction rollers on the cage,
which rub against the rib or run in the groove of the cylinder by the movement of
the cage the said friction rollers being so arranged and mounted that they may be
put into gear at any floor at the proper moment, when an attendant is in the cage,
by means of a suitable hand lever, thus allowing the cage to travel up or down the
well without opening any door, except the one desired. The said friction rollers
when in gear, also actuate the locking or unlocking devices of the doors.
The arrangement for throwing the said friction rollers into gear, when there is
no one in the cage is preferably composed of moveable rubbers of wood, having
their ends chamfered and shod with metal, and fixed opposite to each door or gate,
the said rubbers being connected by wires or cords, cranks and pulleys to the
various floors in such a manner that on the cord or wire being pulled the
corresponding rubber is moved outwards and so on the cage arriving at this point
pushes the friction rollers into gear, the said rollers being mounted on a spindle
having another friction wheel or roller at its other end which acts upon the above
moveable rubber, and provided with a suitable spiral or other spring so as to
withdraw the friction rollers out of gear when the rubbers are withdrawn, which
may be done by the cage itself through the medium of one way acting tongue
pieces.
In cases where there is only one storey, or where it did not matter whether the
doors opened every time the cage went up or down or not I may fix the said
friction rollers to the cage in such a manner that they would always be in gear.
Dated this 3rd day of March 1891.
JOHNSONS,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Petitioner's Agents.

page_text: An Improved Automatic Door or Gate for Protecting Wellholes of
Lifts.
I ROBERT GILGOUR HISLOP of 7 Pitt Street Edinburgh, in the County of
Midlothian, North Britain, Bell-hanger, 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:—
This invention which relates to an improved automatic door or gate for
protecting wellholes of lifts has for its object to provide means whereby the
vertical motion of the cage unlocks and opens and closes and locks the doors or
gates of the wellholes and therefore lessens the risk of people accidentally falling
down the wellholes of lifts.
But in order that my said invention may be more readily understood and easily
carried into effect I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the
accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention as applied to a luggage lift
or hoist.
Figure 1 is an inside or back elevation of a lift door.
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the same and also part of the cage, and
Figures 3 and 4 are part elevations of a detail.
Referring to the said drawings I provide for each wellhole, door or gate A a
cylinder or half cylinder B, having a spiral groove or rib C traversing through an
angle of 45 degrees up to the centre and re-traversing through a similar angle up the
remaining part of the cylinder B. Parts of this rib at top, bottom and centre are
left straight and parallel with the axis of cylinder, said cylinder being provided
with a pivot b top and bottom. In the case of ordinary opening doors as shown
this cylinder acts as the hinges. In order to actuate the said door A, that is to
open and close it I mount one or more, preferably two, friction rollers D on the
cage E which rub against the sides of the rib C or groove, by the up or down
movement of the cage E. The said friction rollers D are so mounted and arranged
as shown that they are held always out of gear by means of spiral spring ¹ but
may be thrown into gear at any floor when desired by means of the moveable
rubbers of wood F (Figure 3) which have their ends chamfered and shod with
metal; there being one of such rubbers fixed opposite every door or gate with the
exception of the top floor which may have only a fixed rubber F¹ (Figure 4)
provided. The wires or cords G connected to the lower end of the rubbers
actuating rods, are continued to convenient positions on the various floors by
means of cranks or pulleys if necessary in such a manner that on the cord or
wire G being pulled the corresponding rubber F is thrown out into position as
shown by means of the said rods forcing them out by means of the levers and
guide rods, and so cause the rubbers to come in the path of a friction roller H
which is mounted on the back end of a horizontal spindle, which has the friction
rollers D mounted at its other or front end as shown and so cause them to be put
into gear with the rib C. The said rubbers, on the doors being closed, are thrown
back by the cage itself through the medium of one way acting tongue pieces J,
provided at top and bottom of each of the arrangements for operating the rubbers F,
this being assisted by means of the springs 3. The cage may be raised or lowered
by any convenient power.
In adapting my said invention to a passenger lift I dispense with the
rubbers For Fand their connections and I substitute therefor a suitable pivoted
locking lever, which is mounted within the cage and connected to the friction
rollers D in such a manner as to enable the attendant to throw them in or out of
gear with the spiral rib C or groove as desired.
My said invention may also be applied to double doors or gates in which case
each door would be provided with spiral rib and rollers and their connections or it

page_text: may be applied, to raising or lowering doors in which case the cylinder B
communicates its motion to them by means of pulleys or segments of pulleys and
cords or chains. Also in cases where there is only one storey or where it did not
matter whether the doors opened every time the cage went up or down or not, I
may fix the friction rollers D to the cage in such a manner as to be always in gear
with the rib C or groove.
In order to retain the doors in their shut position I provide them with a locking
device K, preferably composed of a spring actuated bolt k, which is provided at its
other end with an oblong or elongated hole into which the one ends of two
pivoted rods work; the said rods being provided at their other ends with
suitable bearing surfaces 3 (which are kept in position by suitable staples *)
which are acted upon by the friction rollers D or their carrier d so as to open the
said lock or bolt before the door is started to open.
The whole arrangement is such that supposing the cage is desired to stop at the
second floor the wire or cord G which is connected to the second floor's rubber F
is pulled so as to bring it into position and so cause the door on the cage arriving
opposite it to be unlocked and opened by the friction rollers and spiral rib or
groove, and when the cage is sent either down or up the friction roller H or its
holder automatically throws the rubber out of position by coming in contact with
the one way acting tongue pieces J, so that the cage may pass and repass this door
without opening it until such time as the cord G is pulled again. The cage on
arriving at the top floor the door is unlocked and opened by means of the fixed
rubber Fit being found that the cage never goes to the top unless when
required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is,
1st. In combination with a lift's wellhole door or gate the employment and
arrangement of a spirally ribbed or grooved cylinder or half cylinder and friction
rollers all substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and shown in
the accompanying drawings.
2nd. The general arrangement and construction of the various parts whereby the
said friction rollers and spirally ribbed or grooved cylinder or half cylinder are
thrown into or out of gear with each other whether it be a luggage or passenger
lift, all substantially as and for the purposes herein before described and shown in
the accompanying drawings.
3rd. The arrangement and combination with the foregoing of a locking device K,
all substantially as hereinbefore described and shown in the drawings.
Dated this 3rd day of December 1891.
JOHNSONS,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Agents.