Improvements in Doors for Use in Ventilating Mines and for other Purposes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Dec., 1898-Accepted, 27th May, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Doors for Use in Ventilating Mines and for other
Purposes.
I, JOSEPH ALDA, of Weberstrasse, Essen af Ruhr, in the Empire of Germany,
Inventor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly descubed and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
--
The present invention relates to an airing door for shafts or galleries of mines
so constructed that it will open automatically to admit of the passing of the
wagons whilst again closing behind these latter.
In the same manner these doors open automatically upon the occurence of an
explosion of fire-damp in order to allow the strong current of air which results from
it to pass, and again closing so as to retain the stifling gas (choke-damp)
And in order that my invention may be thoroughly understood I now proceed to
describe the accompanying drawing thereof, reference being had to letters and
figures marked thereon.
Figs. 1, and 2, represent respectively a front view and a transverse section of the
improved door.
Figs 3, and 4, represent details of construction seen respectively in side elevation
and plan
Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, show another method of opening the said door
The door a 18 arranged in the ordinary manner in the frame b by means of pins
01 bolts etc A flat band or plate centers into a groove or slot & which guides it
and which is formed in the side of the door which carries the pivots, as is shown
on Fig 2
The band or plate c 18 constantly moved outwardly by the springs f
so as to obtain an autight closure of the door on that side A similai band oi
plate g, also guided in a groove or slot d on the side of the lock of the door and
moved towards the exterior by the springs of serves to form an airtight closure
on that side of the door
This band or plate g 18 provided with a roller h which replaces the ordinary
closing bolt, and which when it is in its position for closing the door, enters into a
recess in the frame b, the said roller being moreover guided by the mortises
or projections k
In order to admit of the door being opened automatically this latter is pro-
vided with a mechanism which, by means of a suitable governing arrangement
from the one or the other side of the door, causes the band or plate g to move into
the interior of the door, in such a manner that the roller h will leave the recess
and thus render the door free to open
This mechanism consists in a semi-cncular disc 7 shown in Fig 3, this disc
being provided with two sliding sockets m and being capable of tuiming on the axis n
upon the airing door In each of the grooves or sliding sockets m of the disc 1
18 passed a cord o and p, attached to the stem q which is connected to the
band or plate g.
When the disc is placed in communication through the pin or projection z

page_text: with a rod or stemr passing through the door a, as is shown in Figs 1, 2, 3, and 4,
of the annexed diawing, the displacement of the above mentioned rod or stem r,
for example in the duection indicated by the arrow, by a wagons which engages
with it, will cause the disc to move as is indicated by the dotted lines in Fig 3,
and the band or plate g to be drawn back, which thus forces the door to open by
the simple butting action against the stem or rod r, either from the one or the
other side of the said door
As soon as the wagons has passed through the door, this latter will again close
under the action of the springs t
Figs 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, show an arrangement allowing of opening the door
before the wagon has arrived at it The aangement 18 symmetrically provided
on both sides of the door, to allow of opening the latter from both sides When
the wagon becomes engaged upon the movable rising rail this latter will be moved
downwards which action will depress lever-arm u¹ Fig 8, whereby the lever arm u
provided with a balance weight u', will be raised and the arm of ciank lever v
moved upwards through the agency of chain and hook u² This displacement or
movement will be transmitted by the long level-aim and the cord wl, to the
lever w, pivoted to the frame of the door, and which opens the sliding-bolt g and
afterwards the door by drawing on wie Fig. 2 After this, the door will be
held in position by a pawl 2 pivoted to the door-frame 6 Fig 7, an eye or
equivalent 4 secured to the door, engaging the bevelled forc-part of the said
pawl 2 (when the door opens) to raise it, and said pawl then dropping again
upon said-eye to be locked in position When the wagon has passed the doo,
it disengages the pawl as follows Said pawl 2 has an extension 21 which is con-
nected with one aim of a crank level 3 by means of a 'cord or wie The other
arm of said crank lever 3 is connected by means of a cord on wue with the
arm of a crank-lever, secured to the end of a journaled rod or
shaft, whilst the other end of said shaft is turned at night
angles with it and vertically arranged on the inner edge of the track-1ail
A balance-weight serves to compensate for the resistance produced by friction.
When the wagon comes from the door and passes before the end, the wagon
wheel moves the latter towards the weight and therefore pulls the cord', which
in turn pulls the extension 21 of the pawl 2 through the agency of the crank-
lever 3 Thus the pawl 2 will disengage the eye 4 of the door which will be shut
by the action of spings Fig 1 When the wagon moves towards the door the
shaft end will be tuined over in the direction of the cold or wire, whereby the
latter will be slacked so that the arrangement or the various parts thereof are not
actuated.
When the door is opened by the action of the explosion of gas, it must be
shut immediately and not held in its open position This result is obtained as
follows. The lever 18 connected with a pin 1, which when said lever is in
inoperative position, slides with its bevelled end under the aforesaid pawl 2 to
raise the same. And when said lever is pulled by the cord w, it draws the
pin 1 back so that the pawl is enabled to operate Now when the door 18 opened
by the explosion of gas, the pawl is held in raised position since said lever to does
not operate
The cord or wire to 19 provided with coiled springs or any other elastic
medium for the purpose which will presently appear When, for instance, the
door has been opened from the left side, cord to will be stretched or pulled on
this side and the door rotated to the right whereby the right side cord w will also
be pulled, since the door actuates the left hand lever w also When the wagon has
passed the left rising rail, the cord w¹ will be slacked on the left side, the balance
weight Fig 3, raising the parts again But the right side cord will be held
stretched, the door being held open When the wagon passes over the right 118ing
rail, the lowering of the latter produces on the right side cord to an additional
tension, taken up by springs w³ These latter are sufficiently strong to perfectly
transmit the necessary tension without stretching.

page_text: The arrangement of the movable rising rails may be omitted and the following
apparatus substituted therefor. Between the device for disengaging the above
named pawl and the door I provide a straight two armed lever y¹ pivoted to a
suitable support or frame y, and one end of which carries a roller y, said end
extending into the track, so that it can be engaged and rotated by a wagon coming
along the track Said roller y serves to reduce friction to a minimum
The other end of said lever y¹ 18 connected by means of a cord, wire or equiva-
lent y³, with the above named spring w. Now when a wagon engages lever y¹,
the lever wo will be pulled through the agency of cord y³ and w, whereby the
same result will be obtained as with the aforegoing arrangement of the movable
track rails u.
It is preferable to round off the edges of the recess formed in the frame b
of the door, and to arrange the roller A so that it will only enter for a depth of about
one third into the said recess, so that the said roller may be free to leave the
recess i with ease in the event of an explosion of fire-damp taking place, and
under the almost instantaneous pressure which results from it, and the door may be
able to open automatically without difficulty, whilst the springs t will again close
it and thus keep back the suffocating gas (choke-damp)
It will readily be seen that the above described arrangement for opening an
airing door could be equally advantageously applied to other doors
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 I
claim is:-
An airing door for mines etc, characterized by bands, plates, or strips c, g
arranged upon the vertical edges of the door, and capable of being moved into this
latter, and being acted upon by springs, these bands, plates, or strips serving to
obtain the airtight closing of the door, the band plate or strip g which is located
at the side upon which the locking device of the door is placed, acting as a locking
bolt by engaging in a recess formed in the fiame b, and this band or stip being
connected through intermediary organs q, o, p, to a disc or organ 1 rotatably
mounted upon the pivot n and which in its turn, engages through a pin or projec-
tion z a bolt or spindler, movable from both sides of the door, and perpendicularly
to this latter, in such a manner that the displacement of the said bolt or spindler
will communicate a rotary movement to the disc l, movement which 18 transmitted
to the one or the other of the organs o or p, which causes the closing band or
strip to become disengaged from the recess, substantially as hereinabove
described and represented in the annexed drawing
Dated this 30th dow of December 1808
JP BAYLY,
18, Fulham Place, London, W,
Agent for the Applicant