IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CATCHES OF DOOR LOCKS OR FASTENINGS
Year: 1885

page_text: We, ANDREW CAMPBELL., Gentleman, and JAMES ASH, Naval Architect, both of
36 Pembury Grove, Lower Clapton, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CATCHES OF
DOOR LOCKS OR FASTENINGS" to be as follows:-
Our invention relates more especially to the catches of door locks or fastenings
for railway carriages, but is also applicable to the catches of other door locks or
fastenings. It is well known that the handles of the door locks or fastenings of
railway carriages are generally placed in positions where it is not convenient for
passengers inside the carriages to reach them. Sometimes however, handles are
placed inside the carriages within reach of the passengers, but handles so placed
are a source of danger by reason of their liability to be turned by accident or by
children, whereby the doors are unfastened and passengers thereby placed in danger
of falling out of the carriages. The object of our invention is to provide a means
of unfastening the door from the inside without liability to the abovementioned
danger. In order to effect this we employ a moveable catch in the door frame for
the bolt of the lock or fastening to engage with instead of a fixed one as heretofore;
this moveable catch is adapted so that it can be moved upwards, downwards or
sidewise or be rotated so as to release the bolt of the door lock or fastening without
turning the outer handle of such lock or fastening. The desired movement of the
said moveable catch is effected by means of a suitable handle placed at such a
height and in such a position as to be not only out of the reach of children but
not liable to be moved otherwise accidentally, such handle being connected to the
moveable catch by a bolt, rod or other suitable device, and a spring or springs may
be provided to return the said moveable catch to its normal position when its
operating handle is released, so as to be ready to engage with the bolt of the lock
or other fastening when the door is again closed. By the means above described
the door can be unfastened from the outside by turning the external handle so as
Price 1

page_text: to withdraw the bolt of the lock or fastening from behind the catch in the usual
way, and the door can also be unfastened from the inside by operating the internal
handle so as to withdraw the moveable catch from the front of the bolt as before
described.
ANDREW CAMPBELL.
JAMES ASH.
Per W. H. Beck,
Agent,
115, Cannon Street, London.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Catches of Door Locks or Fastenings.
"
46
We, ANDREW CAMPBELL, Gentleman, and JAMES ASH, Naval Architect, both of
36 Pembury Grove, Lower Clapton in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of our said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CATCHES OF DOOR
LOCKS OR FASTENINGS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the accompanying sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures
marked thereon :---
Our invention relates more especially to the catches of door locks or fastenin for
railway carriages, but is also applicable to the catches of other door locks or
fastenings. It is well known that the handles of the door locks or fastenings of
railway carriages are generally placed in positions where it is not convenient for
passengers inside the carriages to reach them. Sometimes however, handles are
placed inside the carriages within reach of the passengers, but handles so placed
are a source of danger by reason of their liability to be turned by accident, by
children, or otherwise inadvertently, whereby the doors are unfastened and
passengers placed in danger of falling out of the carriages. The object of our
invention is to provide a means of unfastening the door from the inside without
liability to the abovementioned danger. In order to effect this, we employ a
moveable catch in the door frame for the bolt of the lock or fastening to engage
with, instead of a fixed one as heretofore; this moveable catch is adapted so that
it can be moved upwards, downwards, or sidewise, or be rotated, so as to release
the bolt of the door lock, or fastening, without turning the outer handle of such
lock, or fastening. The desired movement of the said moveable catch is effected
by means of a suitable handle, placed inside the door frame, at such a height, and
in such a position, as to be not only out of the reach of children, but not liable to

page_text: be moved otherwise accidentally; such handle being connected to the moveable
catch by a bolt, rod, or other suitable device; and a spring or springs may be
provided to return the said moveable catch to its normal position when its
operating handle is released, so as to be ready to engage with the bolt of the lock,
or other fastening, when the door is again closed. By the means above described,
the door can be unfastened from the outside by turning the external handle, so as
to withdraw the bolt of the lock or fastening from behind the catch in the usual
way, and the door can also be unfastened from the inside by operating the internal.
handle so as to withdraw the moveable catch from the front of the bolt, as before
described.
The drawings hereto annexed illustrate one method of carrying our invention
into effect. Figure 1 is an external elevation of part of the lock-stile and corre-
sponding door post of a railway carriage door with our improvements applied
thereto. Figure 2 is an internal elevation of same, Figure 3 is a side elevation of
the door post, Figure 4 a section at line 1-1 of Figure 3 and Figure 5 a section
at line 2-2 of Figure 3. A is the ordinary bolt or fastening operated by the usual
external T, or other shaped handle A', on the lock stile A2 of the door, B is the
moveable catch, arranged in this case to slide up and down in a casing or box C let
into the door post C, B¹ is an inclined part of the catch B over which the bolt A
is free to ride when the door is closed while the catch B is down in the position
shown, B³ is a recess at the back of the inclined part B₁ of the catch B into which
the bolt A falls after passing over the inclined part B1, B3 is a bolt or rod con-
necting the catch B with an operating handle D placed inside the carriage at the
upper part of the door post C. The handle D turns on a fulcrum pin at G in a
casing or box F secured to the door post C¹, and has an arm E to which the bolt
or rod B³ is pin jointed. The arm E is provided with two inclined planes E Es,
and H is a pin or stop fixed to the door and acting on the inclined planes E² and E³
to ensure the fall of the catch B as the door is opened or closed, as will be here-
after described.
The action of the above described arrangements is as follows:-
When it is required to open the door from the outside, the external handle A¹ is
turned, so as to raise the bolt A from its normal position (indicated by dotted lines
in Figure 3) sufficiently to allow it to clear and pass over the inclined part B¹ of
the moveable catch B, and the door can then be opened.
When the door is closed by slamming, the bolt A comes in contact with, and rides
over, the inclined part B¹ of the moveable catch B' until it falls, or is forced by
its spring, into the recess B2 at the back of the inclined part B¹.
When it is desired to open the door from the inside, the handle D is pulled
downwards, turning on its fulcrum G, into the position shown in dotted lines in
Figure 3; this raises the bolt or rod B³ and with it the moveable catch B, so that
the part B' is removed from the front of the bolt A, and the latter is then free to
leave the recess B' when the door is pushed outwards. On the handle D being
released, the moveable catch B and its rod B³ fall back into their normal positions
by the action of gravity or a suitable spring, but in the event of the rod B³
sticking in its groove or the catch B in its casing or box C, or should the person
inside the carriage retain the handle D in its depressed position, the fixed pin H on
the door, acts, as the door is pushed open, on the inclined plane E on the tail end E
of the handle D and forces the said tail end E, the rod B³, and the catch B, down-
wards into their normal positions ready to receive and secure the bolt A when the
door is slammed or otherwise closed. If, while the door is open, the handle D is
drawn down into its depressed position by accident or otherwise, and the rod B³
and catch B fail to return to their normal position before the door is closed, the
pin H acts, when the door is being closed, on the inclined plane E³ on the tail
end E and forces the said tail end E, the rod B³, and the catch B, downwards into
their normal position, in the same manner as described with reference to the inclined

page_text: plane E³, so that the possibility of the catch B remaining elevated, when the door
is being closed, is obviated.
It is obvious that, instead of the catch B being arranged to slide up and down
in order to release or to secure the bolt A, it may be arranged to effect that object
by sliding to and fro sidewise, or by partly rotating on a centre, the mechanical
devices for connecting it to the internal handle D and for effecting those movements
being of course modified accordingly.
:
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
In combination with the bolt or other fastening of door lock, a moveable catch
connected to, and operated by, a handle placed inside the door frame, whereby the
said bolt, or other fastening of the door lock, may be released from the inside,
substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the drawings hereto
annexed.