US1769195A - Gate and door opening device - Google Patents

Description

J. TENBROOK GATE AND DOOR OPENING DEVICE Juiy 1, 1930.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 8, 1928 dbkomaq July 1, 1930.

J. TENBROOK 1, 69,195

GATE AND DOOR OPENING DEVICE Filed Dc. 8, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July '1, 1930- JOHN TENBROOK, OF GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO GATE AND IDOQR OPENING DEVICE Application filed December 8, 1928. Serial No. 324,700.

This invention relates to mechanism for automatically opening and closing gates or doors and particularly to automatic door or gate operating mechanism of that character wherein an approaching vehicle will open the gate or door automatically without the necessity of the driver descending for this purpose or operating any levers, pull rods or the like. I

; The general object of this invention is to provide a gate or door opening mechanism which is very simple, which maybe cheaply constructed, which has been found to be easily operated in actual practice and which isis adapted for opening doors or gates of all kinds whether these doors or gates swing horizontally, vertically or move bodily upward or laterally.

A further object is to provide a structure of this character wherein the gate ordoor is operated by two connected levers or guides operatively supported inthe roadway normally at an obtuse angle to each other and extending alon the ground oradjacent the read and normally disposed so as to project into the path of movement of a wheel of the vehicle, these levers or guide members being so connected to the gate or door, that'as they are forced into a position parallel to the roadway, they will cause the gate or door to swing open, the gate or door closing by I gravity as will hereinafter appear.

A still further object is to provide means whereby the 911E601" door may be opened either automatically or whereby it may be opened by hand from a distance without the driver leaving the wagon or by someone walking and whereby Whenso opened, the

gate or door will stay open until. the gate operating device on the opposite side is p ate a Another object is to provide means in connection with the operating levers heretofore referred to whereby a vehicle must strike the lev rs on approaching L116 gate. Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. 7

My invent-ionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings,-wherein: I Figure I is a perspective view of my gate movable gate;

ble gate with my invention applied thereto.

opening mechanism applied to one form of gate showing the gate closed; a

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing the means for rockingly and slidingly connecting the two actuating levers; Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation ofthe latch lifting means on the free end of the gate;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional View through the gate at its pivot endand showin the operative connection between oneof the levers and the gate;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; v a

Figure 6 is afragmentary top plan view showing the. manner in which my invention may be applied to a collapsible or vertically Figure 7 is a sideelevation of a collapsi- It is to be understood that the operating mechanism which I am about to describe is applicable for the purpose of opening either doors or gates. I have illustrated two forms of gates to which my opening mechanism is applied and I will hereafter, in describin g the structure illustrated in the drawings, describe the application of the device to gates properly so called but I wish it distinctlyunderstood that it may be applied to ea doors and that by the word gate wherever used, either in the description or in the claims, that I use it as covering any closure having the character of a gate or door. While I have illustrated two forms of gates i to which the device may be applied, it is to be understood that it is equally applicable bodily or shift laterally bodily or in other 'words to sliding gates or doors, whether these ates or doors slide vertically or horizontally. I

Referring to Figure l, 10 designates 0 gate post upon which the gate '11 is operatively hinged for swinging movement in .a horizontal plane 'as by pivoting the gate upon a pintle 10 operatively supported at its upper end upon a cross bar 10 and at ce its lower end by being mounted upon a suitable footing.

Swingingly'mounted upon the post 10 is a lever 15. This lever is preferably supported by an angular yoke 16 extending over a nail, eye or any other fulcrum 17 on the post. This lever tends by its own gravity to swing outward or toward the road. Operatively connected to the lower end of thisv or guide plank 18 is disposed at an acute.

angle to the margin A of the roadway.

' Goacting with this lever 18 is another long guide plank or lever 20 which at its end is loosely pivoted to a post 19 corresponding to the postv 19 but on the other side of the gate.

The. lever 20 is mounted upon a post 21 in the same manner as is the operating lever or guide plank 18, that is, there is an upwardly and outwardly inclined supporting lever 15 having the yoke 16 passing over a pin 17 on the post 21. Under the action of gravity, this lever tends to swing outward, toward the road and slightly upward. The two levers 18 .and 20 are slidingly and rockingly engaged with each other at the point 18 so that these levers may be pushed inward approximately parallel to the surface of the road until they lie along or parallel to the margin A of the road.

Disposed along the other margin B of the road are one or more guide planks or poles 22 which are of sufficient height above the ground as to form an abutment over which the car or vehicle will not pass and which will thereby compel the car or vehicle to travel along the road C in such a manner that the forward wheels of the vehicle will strike the operating lever 18 when the car or vehicle is moving in one direction and the operating lever 20 when the car or vehicle is moving in another direction.

Pivoted to the lower end of the lever 15 for swinging movement in a. horizontal plane is a link 23 which at its outer end has a pin or equivalent member extending into a slot 24 formed in the lower bar 25 of the gate. The slot 24 is to permit this link 23 to move a distance, as for instance, say'two inches before the end of the link 23, will strike the end of the slot 24 and move the gaged to a lever 26 pivotally mounted upon the frame of'the gate, this lever in turn being connected to a flexible connection, wire,

chain, cord or the like 27 to the link 23. It will be obvious, therefore, that as the lever 18 is moved inward or toward the side A of the road, the link or member 23 will move toward the gate and particularly along the slot 24. This movement will pull upon the cord 27 or other connection and this, through the lever 26, will release the latch from the keeper 13. When the link 23 has reached the end of the slot 24, it will exert pushing force upon the gate and the gate will swing upon its hinges in the direction of the arrow in Figure 4 until the levers 18 and 20 are approximately parallel to the margin A of the road, when the gate will be fully opened. 7

After the vehicle has passed the levers 18 and 20, the lever 15 with its sling 16 will tend to swing toward the center of the road under the action of gravity acting upon the projecting arm of the lever 15 and also by reason of the weight of a depending link 28 pivotally engaged at its upper end with the arm or lever 15. This link 28 ma carry upon it a weight or it may be of sufiibiently heavy stock so as to act as a weight itself. Furthermore, this link at its lower end is connected to an operating lever 29.

This lever 29 is unequally pivoted so that that end of the lever 29 which is connected to the link 28 is heavier than the other end ofthe lever so that this will also tend to pull the link 28 downward and swing the lever 15 toward the center of the road.

A like lever 29 is connected by a link 28 to the arm or lever 15 on the post 21. The purpose of the lever 29 (or 29*) is to provide means whereby the gate may be opened by walkers or by the drivers of vehicles like hay wagons, harvesters, threshers, etc., who wish to pass through the gate without having the gate swing to before a relativel} long vehicle such as a hay wagon has passed through. To this end, the lever 29 (and the same applies to the lever 29 at its end remote from the link 28 has a pull cord 30 attached thereto having a ring 31 at its lower end. Disposed slightly beyond the ring of the depending pull cord is the post 19 having thereon a pin 32with which thering is adapted to engage when the lever 29 has been pulled down. The lever 29 is mounted upon a post 33 which carries upon it the detent 34 formed to engage the tooth 35.

The cord 30 is connected to the end of the lever 29 by means of a shortarm '36 which is pivoted to the lever 29 and from this short arm extends a rod 37 which is pivotally engaged with the latch 35. If now the cord 30 be pulled toward the gate 11, it will not only swing downward upon the outer end of the lever 29 but it will also act to force the lever 35. over toward the post 33 and as the lever 29 moves downward, the latch will move downward and eventually engage with the keeper 3a.

The downward movement of the end of the lever 29 remote from the gate will act to lift up on the link 29 and this will lift up on the upper end of thearin or lever 15, thus swinging the lower end of the arm 15 rearward or toward the post '10 and, of course, acting to openthe'gate in'the same manner as if the wheel operated levers-18 and 20 had beenactuated. The latch will, of course, hold the gate in its opened position and the gate will remain open until the driver reaches the post 19 where he pulls the rope 30 after his team has passel through the gate, thus tilting the gate hack slightly more which acts to release the latch 35 which swings open or to a depending position. Then upon the release of the rope, the gate swings to by gravity.

If the operator pulls downward on the gate and engages the ring 31 witl the pin 32, the tension exerted by gravity will tend to hold the ring 31 on the pin but the minute the other rope 30 is pulled at the post 19, for instance, this will slacken up slightly on the tension exerted'by the cord 30 and the ring 31 will swing laterally under the action of gravity away from the pin it will thus be seen that the gate may he operated either by contact with the wheels of the vehicle with the operating levers or guide planks 18 and'EZO or by operating the levers 29 and 29 and that the latches and 85 may he used to latch the gate in its open position or that the rings 31 may be used for the same purpose. I

In Figure 6 I have illustrated the manner in which these long guide planks may be applied to operate a collapsible gate, that is, a gate which swings in a vertical plane and is composed of pivotally connected horizontal bars 11, these being pivoted atone end to a post 88.

The opposite end of the gate passes down between two posts 89. In this case the two operating levers 18 and 20 do not have to be slidingly and hingedly connected to each other as illustrated in Figure 6 but from each of these operating levers extends a link 40 which is pivoted to the corresponding operating lever and pivoted to one of the gate bars 11. Thus as either operating lever is forced toward the side of the road, the gate will beturned upon its pivots into a vertical position and when the pressure is released on the operating levers 18 or 20 the gate will fall by its own weight. Thus, as a vehicle approaches the gate and engages one of the'operating levers, as for instance the operating lever18, the gate will be gradually forced upward and as the vehicle asses the gate and moves along the gate will gradually close. I have not illustrated my gate as applied to a vertically or laterally sliding gate or door but it will be obvious that it may bevery readily applied tiereto to secure theoperation of the same and that it is within the purview of my invention to so apply it.

Thus my invention may be readily 'applied to the sliding doors of garages or to the'swinging doors thereof. Again I reiterate that I do not wish to be limited to any particular form of gate which is adapted to be operated by my gate opening and closing mechanism nor to any materials as the may be made of wood or metal or a combination of wood and metal, the draw-- The length of the levers 18 and 20 will depend upon the circumstances of operation. These levers or guide planks should not be shorter than thirty feet for any gate or door but can he one hundred feet long if it is desired to permit a rapidly moving car to open the gate without opening the gateto fast. here a lever is disposed within a garage or in connection with a door such as a garage door, the levers will not be ofsuch length. If a door opens outward, the inside guide plank or lever constituting the movement thereof must be twelve inches longer than the car. If the door opens inward, this inner guide plank must be three feet longer than the car but, of course, the outside guide plank can he of any length desired. it is to be also understood that the levers 29 may he of any desired length but I wish it to be particularly understood that while I have stated certain practical lengths for the levers 18 and 20 or for these levers when they are disposed to open a garage door or like door, I distinctly do not wish to be limited to any length for the lovers 18 or 20 or the levers 29 or 29 as the levers 18 and 520 may be made short where a driver is willing to reduce his speed before engaging these levers 18 or 20. The longer the levers 18 and 20, the more rapidly the driver can approach the gate and open it without causing the gate to open too rapidly or close to rapidly as the driver .is leaving it. The shorter the levers 18 and 20 the more the driver will have to slow down in approching the gate.

Very long levers or guide planks such as 18 and 20 would'have to be reinforced, as for instance, by a reinforcing beam so that these levers would then be T-shaped in cross section as illustrated in Figure 5. other hand, long poles may be substituted for these planks and will operate in the same way without any likelihood of the poles giv- On the a It will be noted that in Figure 1 the operating lever 18 has been shown as broken away and that the cross bar 10 has also been broken away. This is to indicate that the operating lever 18 may be of any desired length and extend beyond the gate 11 to any desired extent. The gate 11 in swinging open should not extend beyond the joint 18 as otherwise it will be likely to be struck by vehicle approaching from the direction of the post 19*. In other words, when a car approaches along the operating lever 20, the car would be likely to catch on the endof the gate before it is fully opened. The slip joint 18 is spaced from its pivotal center 1O a distance equal to the length of the gate. It will be understood that a Ford car with 30 X 3 tires will not open the gate as quickly as a car with five or six inch tires and the abutment planks or posts 22 must be set the correct distance on opposite sides of the road to cause the gate to fully open before a 30 x 8 tire can reach the joint 18. Cars with a greater spread of tire will open the gate more than fully open and it will be noted that there is nothing to stop the gate from going through the opening between the posts as far as necessary to allow the levers 18 and 20 to recede far enough to pass a full width car. The abutment 22 is to be set to fit a narrow wheel base without pushing the levers 18 and 20 clear over to the posts. This allows room for the wider cars to push the levers 18 and 20 further over and the gate more than fully open.

It will be understood from the above, therefore, that the drawings do not show the exact proportions of the parts, but merely illustrate the principle of the invention.

An operating mechanism of this kind may be used for large farm gates or relatively smaller gates.

The operating mechanism does not sustain the weight of the gate at all and'the operating levers are so balanced by the swinging arms or levers 15 that a very easy'operation is secured.

This construction can be cheaply made, easily set up, involves no material which is not commonly found on farms, and has been found thoroughly effective in practice.

l Vhile I have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangements of parts, I do not wish to be limited to these nor to any particular material as many minor changes might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

These gates can be made of materials which may be found anywhere and by anyone handy with tools. The gate may be built for less than half the cost of an ordinary gate, will work in all kinds of weather and for all kinds of cars, farm wagons, hay Wagons, and teams. This device will open almost any kind of gate or door and obviously, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular character of the gate or door. r

V I claim 1. in a gate or door operating mechanism, a gate, two vehicle actuated levers having sliding and rocking engagement with each other at their adjacent ends and pivotally supported at their remote ends, one of said levers extending beneath the gate and said levers when the gate is closed being disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and projecting into the roadway, means operatively connecting the gate to said. levers whereby as the levers are forced toward the post, the gate will open, means urging the gate to a closed position, manually operable means disposed on opposite sides of the gate and at a distance therefrom and operatively connected to the actuating levers whereby the gate may be manually operated, a member having a keeper disposed on theside of the roadway, a latch on the gate adapted to engage the keeper to hold the gate closed, means operated. by and operatively connected to the actuating levers whereby the latch shall be disengaged from the keeper upon an initial movement of the actuating levers, and including a lever operatively connected to the latch and a flexible connection from said lever to one of the actuating levers.

2. In a gate or door operating mechanism a supporting element, a gate carried thereby, a latching post having a keeper, a latch mounted upon thegate and engageable with the keeper, two vehicle operated levers having sliding and rocking engagement with each other at their adj acent ends and pivotally supported at their remote ends, one of said levers extending beneath the gate "and said levers when the gate is closed bedisposed at an obtuse angle to each other and at an acute angle to the marginof the road and projecting thereinto, a link operatively connecting one of said levers to the gate, the link having limited sliding movement with relation to the gate, means yieldingly urging the levers to a projected position but yielding to :permit the move ment of the levers toward an alined position when engaged by a vehicle, and an operative connection between one of said levers and the latch whereby to cause the lifting of the latch as said l ver is initially moved under the action of the vehicle.

8. In a gate or door operating mechanism a supporting element, a gate mounted there- 'on, two vehicle operated actuating levers pivotally supported at their remote ends, said levers when the gate is closed being disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and projecting into the roadway, a support for one of said levers pivoted upon the post and swinging inward toward the middle of the road under the action of gravity, and an operative connection from said lever to the gate whereby upon an outward movement of the lever, the gate will open and the gate will close upon an inward movement of the lever.

4. In a gate or door operating mecha nism, a supporting element, a gate swingable thereon, a second supporting element disposed at a distance from the first named supporting element, an arm mounted for bodily swinging movement upon each of said elements and extending downward and toward the middle of the road, a pair of vehicle operated actuating levers pivotally supported at their remote ends, said levers when the gate is closed being disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and projecting into the roadway, the levers having operative connection with the gate, whereby as a lever is shifted outward the gate will open and whereby as a lever is shifted inward or toward the roadway, the gate will close,

each of said levers being supported upon one of said swinging arms 5. In a gate or door operating mechanism, a supporting element, a gate swingably mounted thereon, a second supporting element disposed a distance from the first named supporting element, an arm mounted for bodily swinging movement upon each of said posts and extending downward and toward the middle of the road, a pair of vehicle operated actuating levers having sliding hinged engagement with each other at their adjacent ends and pivotally supported at their remote ends, said levers when the gate is closed being disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and projecting into the roadway, said levers having operative connection with the gate whereby as a lever is shifted inward the gate will open and whereby as a lever is shifted outward or toward the roadway, the gate will close,

each of said levers being supported upon one of said swinging arms, lift levers supported for movement in a vertical plane on each side of the gate, and a link connecting the inner end of each lift lever with the upper end of the adjacent swinging arm.

6. In a gate or door operating mechanism, a supporting element, a gate, a second supporting element disposed a distance from the first named supporting element, an arm mounted for bodily swinging movement upon each of said elements and extending downward and toward the middle of the road, a pair of vehicle operated actuating levers pivotally supported at their remote ends, said levers when the gate is closed being disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and projecting into the roadway, the levers having operative connection with the gate whereby as the lever is shifted outward,

the gate will open and whereby as the lever is shifted inward, or toward the roadway,

the-gate will close, eachof said levers being supported upon one of said swinging arms, lift, levers supported for movement in a vertical plane on each side of the gate, a link connecting the inner end of each lift lever with the upper end of the adjacent swinging arm, and means attached to each lift lever whereby it may be latched in a position with its inner end raised.

'2'. In a gate or door opening mechanism, a supporting element, a gate carried thereby, a second supporting element spaced from the first supporting element and on the same side of the road thereas, an armextending diagonally with relation to each element and across the same, an angular yoke supporting,

each arm and suspended upon the respective element for swinging movement, two vehicle operated actuating levers each supported upon one of said arms and pivotally supported at their remote ends, said levers when the gate is closed being disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and at an acute angle to the margin ofthe roadway and projecting thereinto, means causing the upper ends of the arms to swing downward to thus urge the levers to a position partially obstructing the roadway, and a link operatively connecting a lever to the gate.

8. In a gate or door operating mechanism, a supporting element, a gate swingingly carried thereby, a second supporting element spaced from the first element and on the same side of the road thereas, an arm ex tending diagonally with relation to each element and across the same, an angular yoke supporting each arm and suspended upon the respective elements for swinging movement, two vehicle operated actuating levers each supported upon one of said arms and pivotally supported at their remote ends, said levers when the gate is closed being disposed at an obtuse angle to each other and at an acute angle to the margin of the roadway and projecting thereinto, means causing the upper ends of the arms to swing downward to thus urge the levers to a position partially obstructing the roadway, a link operatively connecting a lever to the gate and having limited movement with relation to the gate and operatively engaging the gate to cause the gate to open as the lever swings outward parallel to the road or close asthe lever swings inward into angular relation to the axis of the road, a third element mounted opposite the first named post and carrying a keeper, a latch on the gate engaging said keeper, and a flexible connection operatively connected to the latch and to said link to cause the retraction of the latch upon an initial movement of the link inward relative to the gate.

9! In a gate or door operating mechanism,

a supporting element, a gate mounted thereon, means for urging the gate to aclosed position including an arm extending diagonally downward across the supporting element and suspended therefrom for pivotal swinging movement, operative connections between said arm and the gate to cause it to swing outward as the gate is opened and inward as the gate is closed, vehicle operated means for shifting the gate to an open position a manually operable lever mounted adjacent the roadside and moving-in a vertical plane, a link connecting the lever to the upper end of said arm, a post supporting the lever and having a detent tooth, a latch swingingly mounted upon the lever and spaced from the post and adapted when the latch is swung toward the post to engage said detent tooth, and manually operable means for lowering the latch end of said lifting lever and simultaneously swinging the latch toward the post and detent. 1 a

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

JOHN TENBROOK.

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