Untitled record

Application filed April 2, 1897. Serial ΙΓο. 630,448. To model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ernest A. Langford, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, county of Nevada, State of Cali5 fornia,have invented an Improvement in Automatic Door-Plate Indicators; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to a device which I io term an “automatic door-plate indicator.” It is especially designed for attachment to doors of rooms or other places to indicate whether the same are occupied or unoccupied, and is designed to be moved to thus in15 dicate the condition of the room by the movement of the door-knob and an intermediate mechanism between the lock and the indicator.

It consists in certain details of construc2o tion which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which—

Figure 1 is an outside view of a door, showing the indicator and the keeper on the cas25 ing. Fig. 2 is a view from opposite side.

Fig. 3 is a view of interior of lock-casing. Fig. 4 is a perspective of indicator and connected parts. Fig. 0 is a vertical section of door and lock. Fig. 6 is a section through 30 the indicator. Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are detail views of parts of the mechanism.

My indicator in the present construction is shown in the form of a cylinder or segment A, the ends of which are journaled upon a 35 plate B. This plate is cut away, as’ shown at C, so that the side of the cylinder or segment turning within the cut-away portion may show either of two words, “Occupied” or “Unoccupied,” or words of similar import.

The end of one of the-journals projecting beyond the box may be flattened at right angles, as shown at D, and E is a spring-pressed pin or stop movable radially and at right angles with the journal, so that when the seg45 ment or cylinder is turned to expose one of the lettered sides the pin will rest against the flattened portion and prevent further rotation. When it is turned to expose the other side, the pin will be caused to recede by the passage of the angle beneath it and will again be returned by the spring, so as to press against the other flattened side, thus serving to hold the segment in either position with a light pressure. The segment has at the opposite end two lugs or projections a, which 55 are adapted to be engaged by an arm or pin F, which is actuated by attachments within the lock, so as to turn the segment to either one or the other of the positions previously described. This arm is fixed upon a shaft 60 G, and this shaft has a projecting arm G', which engages a groove or channel h in the slidable bar H. This bar H is actuated by a pressure-plate or end I, which projects through the edge of the lock-casing J, so that 65 its end will press against the strike-plate or keeper when the door is closed from the inside, and will thus force it and the slide H backward. When this action takes place, the slide H, acting through the arm G', which 70 engages it, will turn the shaft G and with it the projecting pin or lever F, so as to turn the segment to the position showing the side which indicates that the room is occupied, and as soon as the slide H has been thus 75 pushed back a notch n is engaged by a latch N' on a spring-pressed plate N, which holds it until released.

The knob upon the inside of the door has its spindle fitted to turn independently with 80 relation to the knob which is outside the door, either one of the spindles being bored out, so that the other may turn within it.

The outer spindle K has fixed upon it the cam L, which is adapted to engage the lugs 85 upon the part M, which connects with the latch, whereby the door is held when closed, and this outer knob may be turned and the door opened without affecting the indicator, and the door may also be closed from the 90 outside without altering its position, because when the slide II has been forced back as described it is latched by engagement with the spring-catch N, which falls into the notch n in the bar H and retains it in its retracted 95 position until the inner knob is turned to open the door, when the spring-latch N will be disengaged and the bar II allowed to move forward as soon as the plate I is disengaged from the strike-plate, thus acting to again 100 turn the indicator-plate to position to show that the room is unoccupied. This mechanism may be actuated in various ways. In the present case I have shown the following con3

590,418 struction: The spindle of the outer knob is turnable, as previously described, independently of that of the inner knob and has the usual cams or lugs by which the latching-bolt 5 O may be withdrawn. In the present case I have shown one well-known form for actuating this device, and it will be manifest that any of the forms in common use may be employed, the latch being retracted by turning i o the knob and being again forced out when the knob is released by the action of a.spring O'.

The locking-bolt is not shown in the present drawings. The sliding bar II is in the present case shown as lying just above the latch15 bolt 0.

The sliding bar H is made hollow for a part of its length, and the stem Of the pressure latch or plate I extends into the end of the bar II, as shown.

Within the bar II is fulcrumed a lever P, the end adjacent to the pin I' forming a stop against which the end of the pin abuts when the lever Pis in its normal position, in which position it is held by a spring Q. The oppo25 site end of the lever P is upturned and projects through a slot or channel in the bar H and has an arm P' bent at right angles with the upturned portion.

R is a plate hinged as shown at S, having 30 a hole made through it through which the spindle K of the outside knob projects. The outside knob and its spindle turn independently of the inside knob and its spindle and only act upon the latch 0 to open or close the 35 door, while the spindle of the inside knob will when turned retract the latch 0 to open the door and will also actuate the indicator mechanism. Thus when the outside knob is pulled or turned it will move the latch 0 and 40 allow the door to open. The lug or cam T will also act upon the plate R, and thus lift the angular projection P' of the lever P, and will turn this lever about its pivot-point and depress the opposite end against the tension 45 of the spring Q until the stem I' is allowed to slide past this lug or projection without acting upon the slide II. This allows the pressure-plate I to move out When clear of the strike-plate and to be pressed in again when 50 the door is closed without moving the slide H.

When the outside knob is released, the spring Q presses the lever P up and brings the lug P³ into the path of the stem I, and when the door is closed from the inside the plate I 55 will be forced back by contact with the strikeplate, and its stem I', engaging the lug P³, will force the slide II back until the notch n engages the lug N' on the plate N, and this holds the slide in its retracted position. The action 60 of the notch h upon the arm G' and the arm F turns the indicator to show that the room is then occupied.

The lug N' on the plate N is normally held in engagement with the notch n of the bar II, 65 when the latter is withdrawn by the action of a small spring n², situated beneath or behind the spring-plate FT.

The turning of the inner-knob spindle K' acts upon a cam Τ', which is movable so as to depress the plate N and thus disengage the 70 lug N' from the notch n of the bar H, thus allowing the latter to again move forward and turn the indicator to the position of “Unoccupied.” The closing of the door from the outside again acts through the plate R and lever 75 P to disengage the latter from the stem I' and thus allow it and the plate I to be pressed back when the door is closed without moving the slide II or changing the position of the indicator. While this pressure-plate I is in con- 80 tact with the face of the strike-plate, which occurs whenever the door is closed, it will be manifest that it will be pushed back, and when the inner end I' engages with the stop P³ it will also push the bar H back until it is 85 latched, as previously described, by the catch N' of the spring-plate N engaging the notch n of the bar II. When in this position, the lever F will have been turned by the pressure of the bar H upon the lever-arm G', and through its 90 action upon the lugs a of the indicator A' it will turn the latter so as to expose the word “Occupied,” and as long as the bar H remains latched in this position this word will be shown. 95

If the door be opened from the outside by turning the outside knob, which, as before described, moves independently of the inside one, the action of the spring V upon the pressure-plate I will force the latter out as soon as 1 co it is clear of the strike-plate, but this operation will not disengage the bar H from the spring-plate N, and in the same manner the closing of the door will simply slide the shank I' of the plate I back into the bar II without 105 further action. The turning of the inner knob, however, will turn the shaft K', and thus acting through the cam T' will depress the spring-plate N and disengage the lug N' from the notch n of the bar II, which will allow no the bar H to slide forward. When the door is then pulled open, the bar H slides forward, actuated, as before stated, by the spring U.

The sliding forward of the bar II when the door is opened acts through the arm G' and 115 lever-arm F, as previously described, to turn the indicator A into the position to show the word “Unoccupied,” and when the door is closed from the outside the indicator remains in that position. 120