Untitled record

Application filed June 28, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern :

Be it known that I, Alonzo C. Arnold, of Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain Im5 provements in Door Hangers and Rails, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hangers and rails for barn-doors and the like; and the invention consists in combining with a flat-faced roller io a loose flange for keeping the same on therail; and it further consists in so constructing and attaching the rail as to provide a groove for the flange, and leave an open space between the rail and the building, to prevent it from 15 becoming clogged with snow and ice or other obstructions, all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

Figure 1 is a face elevation of a section of the rail with the hanger thereon. Fig. 2 is a 20 transverse vertical section, and Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing a slight modification of the roller and flange; and Fig. 4 is a top-plan view of the rail.

In the drawings, A represents the strap or 25 body of the hanger, made of cast-iron, with a wronght-iron pintle or journal, a, made in the usual manner.

B represents the roller which supports the weight of the door or gate, as the case may be. 30 This roller B has a flat face, so as to run on a flat-topped wooden rail, R, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; and the web, or that portion which answers to the spokes of an ordinary wheel, is located nearer one edge than the other, so as 35 to leave the hub e considerably longer on one side than on the other, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, this longer arm of the hub being somewhat conical on its exterior, as shown in Fig. 2. I then construct a separate flange-wheel, 0, which 40 consists simply of an annular flange connected by arms to a hub, c, which is made to project inward and fit over the conical hub of the roller B, there being a hole at the center of the wheel C of proper size to fit the journal a, so 45 that the said wheel 0 has a bearing both on the journal a and on the hub of the roller B. This long bearing serves to hold the flange C upright and steady, while at the same time it is free to turn independently of the roller, as 50 there is no weight whatever upon it.

It is obvious that instead of having the hub c of the flange-wheel project over or bear upon the hub e of the roller, they may be reversed, as shown in Fig. 3, where the hub c of the flange-wheel 0 is shown as bearing its whole 55 length on the journal a, and then having the roller journaled on this elongated hub of the flange-wheel. The only difference is that in the latter case the weight of the door being transmitted through roller B to the hub of 60 wheel 0, the latter will not be quite so free to turn loosely as in the other case, although in either case it will be sufficiently free to prevent it from jamming and bruising or wearing the edge of the wooden rail, as do. those roll- 65 ers which have their flanges cast solid with the wheel. These parts can be cast sufficiently smooth as to require no fitting, or but little, and thus their cost is small.

The rail R consists simply of a rectangular 70 strip of plank or wood of suitable size, its form in cross-section being shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This rail is set out from the building by the interposition of small blocks d, set at intervals, as shown in Fig. 4, the thickness of the 7 5 blocks d being sufficient to leave a suitable space between the inner face of the rail and the building, to constitute a groove for the flange C.to run in, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. By placing these blocks d at intervals, as 80 shown in Fig. 4, an open space is left nearly the whole length between the rail and the building, through which the rain and melted snow will readily run, and through which also loose snow will work, thus preventing the groove 85 from being obstructed with snow or ice. A wooden rail of this kind can be made of the required length without joints, and being free from liability to obstructions, as described, it is found to work very smoothly. 90

By making the flange so that it and the roller can turn independently of each other they will work with less friction and with much less wear on therail, the whole forming a very complete apparatus for the purpose designed. 95

I am aware that a sheave for a pulley-block has been made with its two flanges separate from the body or central part, and that also in my Patent No. 210,485 there is shown a doubleflanged sheave for use with an iron rail, in too which the side plate that holds the frictionrolls in the hub is shown so modified as to ex244,418 tend out far enough to form one of the flanges, but neither of which is capable of being used in the connection or manner that my present roller is designed to be. I am further aware 5 that cars have been made with their doors running on iron rails suspended by brackets, and also that an iron rail or bar has been bolted to the side of a car with intervening blocks to form a spacefor theendof thehanger10 strap to slide in; and therefore I do not claim such devices; but,