US408974A - Henry hoffman - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H.A H0EIMAN. Jr.' v DOOR LATCH HANDLE.

Paw@A ted Aug. 13

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY HOFFMAN, JR., OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE NORVALK LOCK COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

DOOR-LATCH HANDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming party of Letters Patent N o. 408,974, dated August 13, 1889.

Application led March 15, 1889. Serial No. 303,381. (No model.)

.To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY HOFFMAN, Jr., of South Norwalk, in the county of Fai riield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvenient iu Door-Latch Handles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of 1o the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, 1n-

Figure l, a front View of the handle complete; Fig. 2, a side view of the same; Fig. 3

a vertical central section.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of door-latch handles in which a thumb-piece is provided to operate the latch, the thumb-piece being pivoted so as to be per mitted an up-and-down movement by the thumb of the hand which grasps the handle, the object of theinvention bein gaconvenient handle, which at the same time may be highly ornamental; and the invention consists in 2 5 the con struction as hereinafter described, and

particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the handle-plate, which is attached to the door by screws or otherwise.

B represents the handle proper, which is also made 'fast to or a part of the plate A; C, the thumb-piece, which is hung directly to the upper end of the handle, as at a, and so as to swing up and down, as indicated in broken lines.

3 5 The handle is recessed upon the front side at the upper end, and the thumb-piece appears to spring directly from the upper end of the handle, continuing the curve of the handle over, outward, and downward, termi- 40 nating in a convenient shape e, upon which the thumb may be placed. The recess d of the handle permits the thumb-piece to lie close in von the general outline of the handle, and yet afford space for the depression of the thumb-piece. In the front the thumb-piece, springing, as it does, directly from the upper end of the handle, appears as an ornamental tip for that end of the handle, so that the thumb-piece forms a part of the handle itself,

so far as the appearance of the handle is con- 5o cerned, and aords a convenience in grasping the handle much greater than when the thumb-piece passes through a mortise in the handle, as in the more general construction. Again, by hinging the thumb-piece directly in the upper end of the handle and outside the plate, instead of upon the inside of the plate, as in the more general construction, the handle is well adapted for mortise-latches, in which but a short tail-piece-such as shown- 6o is desirably employed; but if the pivot were upon the inside of the plate, as in the usual construction, there would not be space between the plate and the case ofthe latch for l the placing of the handle thereon, unless the door were of very great thickness; hence this construction of handle is adapted to the thinner class of doors. The thumb-piece curving outward and downward below the pivot, the movement of the end of the thumb-piece in 7o operating the latch is produced under a simple pressure inward, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 3, and gives so great length to the thumb-piece thata strong leverage is attained,

as well as a convenience in applying the thumb.

In some cases the handle may be applied directly to the door without the face-plate that is to say, the faceplate illustrated may be omitted, in which case the bolts or screws 8o by which the handle is secured will pass directly into or through the door instead of into the plate. Under this construction the handle may be made of the highest ornamental character, as will appear by the illustration. 8 5

I claiml. The herein-described improvement in door-latch handles, consisting of a face-plate and a handle attached thereto, combined with a thumbpiece hinged directly in the upper end 9o of the handle and forming in appearance a continuation of the handle, the tail of the thumb-piece extending through the plate, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the latch-plate A, the handle B, attached to theplate, and the thumb-piece C, hinged directly to the upper end of the handle and outside the plate, the

handle recessed below the thumb-piece, and the thumb-piece projecting from the upper end of the handle and curved downward iu front of the said recess, substantially as described.

The latch-handle B, adapted for attachment to the door, combined with the thumbpiece C, hinged directly to the upper end 0f the handle and so that the pivot of the thumb-piece will be outside the surface of lo the door, the tail of the thumb-piece extending rearward from the handle, substantially as described.

HENRY HOFFMAN, JR.

lllitliesses:

FRED C. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELSEY.

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