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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE
ELIAS COWAN, OF MASON, TEXAS.
GATE.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,512, dated December 16, 1884.
Application filed February 2,1883. (Model.)Io all whom it na concern:
Be it known that I, ELIAS COWAN, a citi-
zen of the United States, residing at 3Mason,
in the county of MIason and State of Texas,
5 have invented a new and useful Gate, of which
the following is a specification.
My invention relates to improvements in
gates in which slats work bn horizontal pieces
that lie parallel with the surface of the road
io and with each other; and the object of myin-
vention is, first, to provide a gate that the
rider or driver can open or shut without dis-
mounting; second, one that cannot be left ac-
cidentally open, so as to admit stock to pass
15 through an inclosure; and, third, onethatthe
vehicle or horseman passes over, and one that
the wind does not affect. I obtain these ob-
jects by the mechanism illustrated in the ac-
companying drawing, which is a perspective
20 view of the entire machine.
Similar letters referto similarparts through-
out the whole view.
A cutting is made in the road of sufficient
size to obstruct the same. In this cutting two
25 heavy logs are laid parallel with the road, to
which the sills A A are firmly spiked. Stout
boards or slats 13 B are hinged at one edge to
these sills at such distances apart that when
turned down upon their sides they will form
30 a bridge for the cutting. In one end of each
board, near its upper edge, an iron pin is in-
serted, and by means of these pins all the boards
are connected to a beam, C, so that they may
be all turned up or down upon their hinges
35 at once by an endwise movement of said beam.
The operating mechanism is supported upon
three posts, K H K', firmlyset in the ground
on the same side of the road with the beam C,
the center post, II, which should be higher
40 than the others, being placed opposite the
middle of the gate. A rope, F, having two
branches, one connected to each end of beam
C, is passed over a grooved pulley, G, fixed
near the top of post H, and is fastened to the
45 larger end of a tapered lever, D, which car-
ries at its opposite and smaller end a treadle,
E, and is pivoted a little above the ground to
the front of post H. Rope F is made of such
length that the weight of lever D, when per-
50 mitted to act, holds the boards B in an erectposition; but when the treadle E is depressed
by the wheel of a passing vehicle rope F is
relaxed and the boards fall flat upon the sills,
allowing the vehicle to pass over.
To operate the gate when it is approached 55
from the other side, a second lever, D', is pro-
vided, which turns upon the same bolt as le-
ver D, and is tapered in the opposite direc-
tion. Two T-shaped levers, J J', are pivoted
near the top of posts K K', upon the front of 6
said posts, the downwardly-extending arms
of which levers are connected by a rope, I.
The smaller ends of levers D D', which carry
the treadles, are connected by rods or ropes
L to the outer horizontal arms of the T-shaped 65
levers, and their heavy ends are similarly
connected to the inner arms of the same.
With this construction, when the treadle E'
is depressed, raising the large end of lever D',
the large end of D will also be raised, the rope 70
F will be relaxed, and the boards B will be
permitted to fall.
The gate may be made of any convenient
size. The cutting need not in any case be
more than two feet deep, if it has a length of 75
eight feet and a width of six, which will usually
be sufficient. The sills A A should be four
inches by four inches by six feet. The slats
B, of which six will be necessary,should be two
inches by twelve inches by eight feet. Beam 8c
C should be three inches by three inches by
six feet, and levers D D' must each be thirty-
two feet in length. The posts must be fifteen
feet apart, K K' being six feet high, and H ten.
Stuff three inches by six inches will be suffi- 85
ciently strong. Levers D D' should be piv-
oted to H about one foot above the ground,
and the treadles should be at least two feet
wide.
I am aware that cattle-guards have been .90
made by setting slats on edge, and that gates
hinged to turn down upon the surface of the
roadway are also old. Therefore I do not
broadly claim either of these constructions;
but 95
What I do claim, and desire to secure by
Letters Patent of the United States, is as fol-
lows:
1. A gate composed of a series of transverse
slats hinged at their lower edges to supports o00o
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Cowan, Elias. Gate., patent, December 16, 1884; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth170876/m1/2/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.