Cistern neck-ring and cover.

Application filed February 7,1912. Serial No. 676,093.

To all whom it may concern :

Be it known that I, Harry W. Farris, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and 5 State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Cistern Neck-Ring and Cover, of which the following is a specification, refers ence being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of refer10 ence marked thereon.

This invention relates to cisterns or other structures having openings in their upper portions, or man-holes requiring removable covers, the invention having reference more 15 particularly to the neck rings of the manholes and to the cover plates that cooperate with the neck rings to close the openings.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved closure for structures of the 23 above-mentioned character, more especially to provide an improved closure for cisterns that shall be so constructed as to prevent children from removing the covers and accidentally falling into the cisterns; a further 25 object of the invention being to provide an improved cistern cover that shall be adapted to enable workmen or others to quickly and reliably secure the cover in its proper position without there being a probability 30 of the cover being placed in position and unsecured; a still further object being to provide a cistern closure that shall be so constructed that the cistern may be readily uncovered by workmen without the use of 35 tools, which closure shall be free from devices that may be liable to become corroded so as to prevent free operation thereof.

With the above-mentioned and minor objects in view, the invention consists in an 40 improved neck ring and an improved cover plate, and also improved means for securing the cover plate detachably to the neck ring; and more specifically the invention comprises certain novel parts and combinations 45 and arrangements of parts as hereinafter particularly described and pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section, partially broken away, of a 50 cistern provided with the improved closure;

Fig. 2, a top plan of the complete closure; Fig. 3, a top plan of the improved neck ring; Fig. 4, a vertical section of the complete closure on the plane of the line A A 55 in Fig. 1; Fig. 5, an inverted plan of the neck ring and the cover plate connected together; Fig. 6, an inverted plan of the cover plate, and Fig. 7, a fragmentary elevation of the inner side of the neck ring and securing devices thereon. . qq

Similar reference characters in the dif. ferent figures of this drawings indicate corresponding elements or features of construction herein referred to.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates 65 the bottom, 2 the side wall and 3 the arched top of a cistern provided with a neck 4 as is customary.

The improved neck ring comprises a flat annular plate 5 from the inner edge of 70. which extends a lining-ferrule or flange 6 adapted to extend downward against the inner side of the neck 4 while the plate 5 rests upon the top of the neck, the neck ring being composed preferably of cast iron, and 75 the inner side of one portion thereof is provided with two inwardly projecting lockingbars 7 and 8 spaced apart a short distance so that an opening 9 is left between them, the locking-bars being of suitable length, 80 and the opposite portion of the ring has two similar locking-bars 10 and 11 projecting from the inner side thereof and likewise spaced apart so that an opening 12 is left between them, the tops of the locking-bars 85 preferably being in one and the same plane with the top of the plate 5. The under sides of the locking-bars 7 and 8 have oppositely inclined faces 13 and 14 respectively, the locking-bars 10 and 11 have inclined 90 under sides 15 and 16 respectively, so that the locking-bars are wedge-shaped and are arranged with the thinner ends adjacent one . another, and the thicker ends of the locking-bars 7 and 8 preferably have down- 95 wardly projecting stops 17 and 18 thereon, the thicker ends of the locking-bars 10 and 11 having similar downwardly projecting stops 19 and 20 thereon. The top of the plate 5 has two guide arrows or pointers 100 21 and 22 thereon that are arranged in the plane of the two openings 9 and 12 which are between the locking-bars, each arrow being near the edge of the plate and pointing toward the middle Of the adjacent opening, 105 each arrow therefore pointing toward the opposite arrow and are designed to indicate the position of the opening between the two locking-bars respectively.

The improved cover plate comprises a HO

1,152,618 concavo-convex disk 23 composed preferably of cast iron, the concave side having a flat bearing-face 24 at its edge portion that is adapted to rest upon and fit closely to the 5 inner upper portion of the plate 5 of the neck ring, said bearing-face -having two guide projections 25 and 26 thereon arranged at opposite sides and preferably are formed as segments of flanges adapted to 10 freely enter the opening in the neck ring for guiding the cover when placing the latter in position on the ring. The under side of the cover is provided at two other opposite portions thereof with two lugs 27 and 28 that 15 extend downwardly from the under side of the disk 23 and outwardly opposite to the bearing face 24, the lugs being of suitable length so that they can pass into the opening in the neck ring and into the openings 20 9 and 12 respectively, being adapted to engage the inclined under sides of the lockingbars to draw the cover down tightly and secure it upon the neck ring. The convex side of the disk 23 comprising the cover has two 25 arrows or pointers 29 and 30 on opposite edge portions thereof and they are arranged directly opposite the lugs 27 and 28 respectively that are on the opposite side of the plate, being designed to indicate the posi30 tions of the lugs when placing the cover upon the neck ring and for indicating the position to which the cover is to be moved so that it may be removed from the neck ring. The under side of the middle portion 35 of the disk 23 has a boss 31 formed thereon, and a staple 32 is secured in said middle portion as a means whereby a ring and a staple 33 is connected to the cover for lifting and manipulating the cover, the ring 40 resting upon the top of the cover when not in use.

In practical use, the bearing face 24 of the cover rests upon the plate 5 of the neck ring and the lugs 27 and 28 are in engage45 ment either with the inclined sides 13 and 16 of the two opposite locking-bars respectively, or with the inclined sides 14 and 15, and in some cases may be nearer the stops on the locking-bars, and referring to Fig. 2, 50 it will be seen that when the cover is in normal position the arrows thereon are moved away from the arrows on the neck ring, so that if it is desired to remove the cover it will be understood that the cover must be 55 turned on the neck ring in the direction required to bring the arrows on the cover to the arrows on the neck ring, in which position of the cover the latter is unlocked and may be lifted freely from the neck ring. When again placing the cover upon the neck 60 ring it is only necessary to lower it with the arrows thereon directly opposite the arrows on the neck ring until the cover is seated and then turn it in one direction or in the opposite direction, so that after placing the cover 65 in position with reference to the guiding marks, whether the cover is turned in one or the opposite direction, the cover must certainly become locked, thus safeguarding the lives of children who might be disposed to 70 playfully uncover the cistern.