Stage-pocket.

I Application filed Aug*. 20, 1901.) (No Model.)

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHOTO-LITHO-. WASHINGTON, 0. C.

United States Patent Office.

JOHN I. C. KING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STAGE-POCKET.

SPECIFICATION forming· part of Letters Patent No. 690,155, dated December 31, 1901.

Application filed August 20,1901. Serial No. 72,664. (No model?

To all whom ii may concern:

Be it known that I, John I. C. King, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York 5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in StagePockets, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a io stage-pocket for theaters wherein the circuits for various lamps or light effects can be quickly and readily changed, while at the same time the contacts will be protected and the movement of people upon the stage will not 15 be interfered with.

The invention comprises contacts supported beneath the stage-floor, a movable plug or complemental contacts for the first-mentioned contacts and for. connection with the 20 line leading to a lamp, and a movable cover adapted to close an opening leading to the first-mentioned contacts and provided with means for carrying said plug into connection with the first-mentioned contacts and main25 taining it in such position, and whereby when , the plug is to be removed said cover will open and after the removal of the plug will close to protect said opening.

The invention further consists in the novel 30 details of improvement, that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, wherein— 35 Figure 1 is a plan view of a stage-pocket embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section thereof on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section through the plug, showing it in position between the permanent contacts.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates a plate or support which is adapted to be placed over an opening in the floor of a stage of a 45 theater or in any other desired location, and the plate 1 is provided with an opening l^aand with a cover-2 for said opening, which is preferably hinged near one edge, as on a pivot or rod 2^a, so as to swing upwardly, as in dot50 ted lines in Fig. 2, a suitable ledge 2^b being provided for the cover to rest upon, so that it will be about flush with the top of plate 1, and the latter will preferably be placed flush with the stage-floor. 3 4 are contacts of any suitable construction, preferably supported 55 by plate 1, as upon interposed insulation 5, and 6 7 are conductors leading from a source of current-supply to the contacts 3 4, respectively. The contacts 3 4 depend from plate 1 in position to receive a plug or contacts be- 60 tween them, Fig. 3 showing the plug in position between the contacts 3 4, the latter being shown inverted from their position in Fig. 2. The cover 2 is provided with a support’for the plug, so as to swing the latter into engage- 65 ment with and away from the contacts 3 4, and for this purpose I have provided the cover with a pair of depending arms 8, connected by a cross-bar 9, from which bar an arm 10 extends, which arm is provided with an ex- 70 tension 10^a to receive a socket in the plug. As shown in full lines in Fig. 2, when the cover 2 is closed the extension 10^a passes between the contacts 3 4 and lies about horizontally, and the extension is shown in dotted 75 lines in Figs. 1 and 2 when the cover is raised, being thus in position in line with the opening l^a and extending vertically thereunder.

The plug for making electrical connection 80 between the contacts 3 4 and the lead-out wires or cable 11 ll^a consists of a body 12, preferably of insulating material, upon the exterior of which contacts 13 14 are secured and respectively adapted to engage contacts 85 3 4. The contacts 1314 are respectively connected with the wires 11 ll^a, as by terminals ll^b, screwed to the contacts 13 14, and the outer end or stem of the body 12 is provided with a transverseopeningl2^a, through which 90 the wires 11 ll^a pass in opposite directions or cross, whereby as the cable is drawn upon the wires will be firmly clamped to and will draw upon the body 12, and yet can be readily disconnected therefrom. 95 is a sleeve surrounding the connection of the wires 11 ll^a with the plug, and the sleeve 15 is preferably connected to said plug by means of screw-threads 16. The sleeve 15 protects the connection between the wires 100 11 ll^a.and the plug, and serves as a brace for the wires when the plug is being withdrawn from its support 10^a.

The inner end of body 12 is provided with

690,155 a socket 12^b, in which clamping-jaws or the like 17 are located, and they are preferably made of spring metal to clamp the extension 10^a. The arrangement I have shown is such 5 that the clamping-jaws 17 are to be forced upon the extension 10^a to firmly hold the plug upon the latter.

When connection is to be made, the cover 2 is raised, thereby bringing the extension io 10^a in line with the opening l^a, and the plug is pushed upon the extension 10^a in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The cover is then closed, and as it swings on its pivot 2^a it carries the plug between the con15 tacts 3 4, causing electrical connection to be made between said contacts and the contacts 13 14, and the wires or cable 11 will extend through an opening 2^d provided to receive it, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. When the plug 20 is to be removed and inserted in another pocket, it is merely necessary to pull upwardly on the cable 11, whereupon the latter will cause the cover 2 to lift, and thereupon the plug will be swung away from the contacts 25 3 4, and will be brought into line w-ith the opening l^a, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. The plug can then be readily withdrawn from extension 10^a, and thereupon the cover 2 will fall back over the opening l^a. 30 From the foregoing it will be observed that the normal tendency of the cover 2 is to remain closed to protect people on the stage from the opening l^a in plate 1 and also that when connection is made between the con35 tacts 3, 4, 13, and 14 they are concealed and protected.

I do not limit my invention to the details of construction shown and described, as they may be varied without departing from the 40 spirit thereof.