Coal-chute.

Application filed January 25,1917. Serial No. 144,387.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, William V. Heinz, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Salle, in the county of La Salle, State 6 of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coal-Chutes, of which the following is a specification.

Sly invention relates to chutes used for conducting coal and the like through a win10 dow into storage space and particularly to a chute having a door preferably glazed, and adapted to close the end of the chute and a hopper movably mounted in the chute and automatically moved by the door.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a chute mounted in the wall of the building having a metal door or closure provided with a transparent section of glass, mica or the like for the admitting of light 20 to the interior of the building to which the chute is applied.

A further object is to provide a hopper slidably mounted in the mouth of the chute and connected by suitable means to the door 25 so that when the door is opened the hopper will be drawn out and form an extension to the chute.

A still further object is to provide a protecting plate to prevent the glazed section 30 of the door from being broken by material delivered through the chute.

A further object is to associate with such protecting plate for the glazed section means whereby the plate may be allowed to drop 35 into the lower portion of the hopper when the door is in closed position, thereby offering no hindrance to the passage of light through the glass to the interior of the cellar or basement and whereby the plate is 40 automatically moved into protecting relation to the glass when the chute is in use.

I am aware that coal chutes having a hopper mounled therein and having metal doors or closures are known. The disadvantages 46 of sttch known' constructions are that the opening or closing of the door and the movement of the hopper arc independent and that stir-h mentis is required to hold the door in opened position,' also to hold the hopper 50 in outward position/'‘These objections are overcome iii the chid c of my invention.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to more fully understand my invention attention is directed to the drawings wherein: 56 Figlire 1’is a vertical section llimugh a wall of a building showing the construction of the coal chute embodying my invention the same being shown with the door in Closed position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view the parts being 60 shown with the door in opened position.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation shelving the door in raised position. ^! . Fig. 4 is a front view showing the door in closed position. / ⁶⁵

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the hopper in outward position .showing the _s stops if or maintaining the hopper in outward position.

Fig. 6 is a view similar toFig; 1'showing¹1 a modification in the means of unlocking the. 70 door from inside the building. \ i' ’

Fig. 7 is the same as Fig. 6 with dobr in '· opened position. . ’ indicates a wall of a building having an opening 11 containing a chute 12 prefer- 75 ably with a downwardly sloping bottom portion 13. A frame 14 surrounds thb opening 11 at the outer end of the chute 12 and to it is hinged a door frame 15 by pintles 16 and 17. In the door 15 is a glass Or other trans- 80 parent member 18. Mounted within and ly- ^;ing along the inclined bottom 13 of the chute 12 is a hopper tt> adapted to be inclosed wholly within the chute when the door ’is in closed position and to extend outwardly 85 therefrom when the door is in opened position. This hopper comprises a bottpm member 20 and side walls 21 and is open at the top. For moving the hopper 19 I employ link arms 22 pivoted at 23 to the hopper and 80 at 24 to the door/ On the free edges and on । opposite sides of the door are perforated lugs 25 to which is pivoted a protecting plate 26 adapted to assume a substantially horizontal position in the bottom of the hop- #5 per when the door is Closed aS best seen in Fig. 1 and to overlie the glass 18 in the door 15 when the’door is iji opeiied position as best seen in Fig. 2. To hid in the holding of the plate* 26 in front of the* glass 18' T 100 attach a chain or other flexible means 27 to the protecting plath 26 fartehihg thC inher/^!end of tile chain to the upper portion ctf tfih' chute 12 at 28. c

I prefer to bold the door iii opened posi- 105 tion bv providing sUithbllf stops * against/, , . which the rear end of’tliehbpjibr'hbtite and' ’ thus!.- retained in’ outwartl bbsftipn afifl conseqhc..ily holds the door open b^‘ virtue of (he link'connections therebetween. 110

1,286.618

These stops serve also as guiding means to prevent sidewise play of the hopper as it is moved back and forth by the operation of the door. They also serve as means for δ guiding the hopper in its rearward travel as it is moved from opened position.

Frame 14 has a flange 29, the opening formed thereby being greater in vertical dimension that the vertical height of the 10 hopper 19 and in length only slightly more than the width of the hopper. Secured to the rearward edges of the side walls 21 of the hopper are angle bar stops 30 which terminate short of the bottom of the hopper 15 as best seen in Fig. 5. When the door is raised and the hopper 19 withdraivn to its outer position these stops 30 will abut the inner faces of the flange 29, thus preventing any furthei· outward movement of the hop20 per 19. At the outer end of the chute and positioned so as to clear the side walls of the hopper are stops 31 as shown in Fig. 5, the height of these stops being such as to contact the stops 30 when the hopper is 25 pulled to its outward position. It will be seen by this arrangement that as the hopper is pulled outwardly it will ride up over the stops 31 because of the contact therewith of the stops 30 and after clearing the tops 30 thereof fall down in front of them and thus prevent any further rearward movement of the hopper. Also the stops 30 abut the flange 29 op the door frame 14 and thus prevent any outward travel of . the hopper or 35 any tendency to fall outwardly. The links 22 connecting the door and the hopper are so positioned that the door will be held in opened position as long as the rear edge of the hopper is in contact with the stops 31 40 and the stops 30 abut the flange 29.

For locking the door 15 when it is closed I provide a nook latch 32 on the lower portion thereof which engages a catch 33 incorporated in the lower portion of the frame 46 14 as indicated in Fig. 1. When in closed position the parts are disposed as in Fig. 1 with the latch 32 engaging the catch 33 and the latch .82. can not be disengaged except from the inside of the building. When the 50 latch 32 is disengaged the door may be raised thus drawing out the hopper 19. ‘ The raising movement of the door is . continued until the hopper travels over the stops 31 and the stops 30' engage the flange 29 on 55 the inside and the stops 31 on the outside, thus holding the hopper in outward position and the door in opened jposition. As the dopr 15 is raised to an open position plate / 26 will move from the position shown in 50 Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 and overlie the glass 18 in the door 15. If, for any reason, the plate 26 does not move freely the.chain 27 will draw it inwardly thus insuring protection to the glass 18.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and a novel means of unlatching the door from the inside of the building is disclosed. In Figs. 6 and 7 the latch 34 has an enlarged end 34 provided with an eye. Connecting the eye with the plate 26 is a flexible eonpec- 70 tion 35 the purpose of which will be explained later. At the lower end of the plate 26 secured thereto is an offset member 36. Fastened to this member 36 is a flexible member 37 passing through a ring or other 75 device 38 fastened to the upper portion of the chute 12. At the end of tlie member 37 there is provided a ring or otheiu-ineans larger than the opening in the member 38. This ring is designated by 39. The 80 function of the member 37 of Figs. 6 and 7 is the same as that of the member 27 in Figs. 1 and 2, that is to draw the protector plate against the glass in the door when the door is in opened position. The modification 85 shown affords a means for unlatching the door from inside the building without haying to enter the basement where the chute is in position. While the member 37 is shown as terminating beyond the member 38, never- 00 theless, this may be lengthened in any desired manner so as to be operated from' a distance. As the hinges 16 of the door are so arranged that the pivotal members thereof are outwardly of the point of engagement 05 between the latch 34 and the! catch 33, it will be seen that when the latch is disengaged the door will be swung outwardly a short distance; hence, when it is desired to Open the door it is necessary to pull member 37 100 raising the plate 26 which disengages the latch 34 because of the connection 35 therebetween. . .

When i| is desired to close the door 15 and move the hopper 19 the door 15 js 105 pushed against the wall 10. This causes ‘ the hoppfer 19 to be raised so that the lower ends of/the stops 30 will clear the top of the stops 31, the hopper 19 when raised by J the dopr being pushed against the Avail 10 no will be slightly inclined so that when the door 15. is lowered or as the door moves toward its closed position the hopper will clear/ the stops 31 and be pushed back into the Ahute and when the door is fully closed 115 the/latch 32 will engage the catch '33 thus securing the doer in closed position.

I do not limit myself to the exact details described but intend to caver such modifications and equivalent thereof its inay prop- 120 erly come within the scope of my invention. A or is my invention to be limited to a structure containing all of the devices described since obviously all of them are not interdependent although so related as to be used 125 and operated together. For example while I prefer to employ the protecting plate for the glazed section of the door it is obvious that with a heavy’ glass such plate is not essential and may be omitted. Also I may ISO.

1,386,618 ®“‘^plo>; ^a chain 27 that extends through a ston attached to the chute as 28 which chain ΪI Ju Properly movable theFethrough Aibo-therAmy be a flexible connection feίΛα,ΪΓί· J^aJ^{eh :J2:UKl th}® P'^latb mo K K^cll bk^ayb®^d?^seWF^r®^{d fiO}m H*® Jlii i . *^leb the chain 27 ft Milled through -thip stop the plate will be ffi 10 xi‘^fficivF^{y fengaj}^ thehodk latch from 10 the catch. This results ih the door 15 swinging outwardly as the hinged Scots ί««Ή?.^ΓΤr Α» »“ »i «men between the hook and the latch thtis permitu »£55^“·** ’- *ί Ι«Λ