Untitled record

Application filed April 10, 1883. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Richard H. Briggs and Jas. H. Dougherty, of Whistler, in the county of Mobile and State of Alabama, have 5 invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Fasteners; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it io pertains to make and use it, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in car-door fasteners; and it consists in the com15 bination of a latch-frame and locking device, a slotted latch having a projection on its lower edge, and the frame to which the latch is pivoted, the frame being provided with a stop, so as to prevent the latch from being moved, all 20 of which will be more fully described hereinafter.

The object of our invention is to provide a latch which can be made to fasten the car-door when altogether closed, or to hold the door 25 when but little opened for the purpose of ventilation.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of our invention, showing the door in one position. Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing it in another po30 sition. Fig. 3 is an edge vie w of the latch frame or keeper and its locking-latch.

A represents the frame of the car, and B the sliding car-door. Attached to the side of the door is a suitable frame, C, of any suita35 ble shape, size, or construction, and which has the pivotal bolt D, for the latch E to move upon, passed through its rear end. Upon the lower front edge of this frame is formed the stop F, which engages with the projection G 40. upon the latch for the purpose of holding the latch in the position into which it is adjusted. This latch has a slot, H, made through its rear end,where the pivotal bolt passes through it, and has the projection formed upon its lower 45 edge for the purpose of preventing- the latch from being moved after the latch has been adjusted in position to either hold the door tightly closed or partially open for the sake of ventilation. The front end of this latch passes 50 through the latch-frame I, in the upper portion of which is pivoted the locking device J. This locking device can be raised upward out of the way for the purpose of allowing the end of the latch to pass through the latch-frame, aud then when dropped down upon the latch 55 prevents it from being- raised. The lock which is to be used in securing the door in position will be passed through this locking device and the perforated ear L, formed upon the outer side of the latch-frame. When it is desired 60 to leave the door of the car sufficiently open to allow' ventilation for the contents of the car, but not sufficiently to allow any one to enter it, the slotted latch is moved forward upon the pivotal bolt until the projection upon the 65 lower edge of the latch catches over the front end of the projection formed upon the inner end of the frame C. The front end of the latch will then pass through the latch-frame, and the locking device will be dropped down 70 over its top, and the door will thus be locked in this position, allowing free ventilation for the contents of the car. When, however, it is desired to lock the door perfectly tight, the latch is pushed back upon the pivotal bolt D 75 until the projection F upon the latch catches behind the projection upon the front end of the frame. This shortens the latch to such an extent that when its front end is forced through the latch-frame the car-door is locked tightly 80 in place. The car-door cannot then be opened, because the stop upon the frame C strikes against the projection upon the low⁷er edge of the slotted latch and prevents any movement of the door. 85