Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a lid device for a granary
and in particular to a lid opening and closing device for a
granary.
In general, granaries are cylindrical structures with
a frusto-conical roof, which includes a cylindrical peak and
a circular cap on the open top end of the peak portion. Ladders
are provided on the side and roof of each granary, so that a
person can climb to the top of the granary to open and close
the lid. Obviously, such granaries are inherently dangerous,
since falls from the granary ladders often result in injuries.
Canadian Patent No. 935,618, which issued to E. W.
Dancey on October 23, 1973, discloses a device for opening and
closing a granary lid including a rope extending upwardly
through a tube mounted on the interior of the granary wall
and roof, a pulley at the top end of the rope;and a linkage
mechanism interconnecting the pulley and the lid. The linkage
mechanism includes a spring for closing the lid. The lid is
opened by pulling on the rope and is kept open by hooking
a ring at the bottom end of the rope over a peg on the granary
wall. In order to close the lid, the ring is removed from the
peg to release the rope and the spring acts on the remainder
of the linkage mechanism to effect closing.
The device disclosed by the Dancey patent is somewhat
complicated, including a complex linkage mechanism. Thus,
there exists need for a simple lid opening and closing device
for a granary. The object of the present invention is to
provide such a device, which enables opening and closing of
a granary lid by moving a handle on the exterior of the
granary wall.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a lid
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opening and closing device for a granary of the type which
includes a side wall and a roof, the roof having an opening in
the top thereof normally closed by a lid pivotally mounted on
the roof on one side of the opening for movement between open
and closed positions, the device comprising a linkage adpated
to be pivotally connected at one end to said lid and to extend
from said lid to an outer edge of said roof; a lever for pivotal
connection at its ends to the side wall of the granary and to
the other end of said linkage; rod means adapted to be pivotally
connected to said lever intermediate the ends thereof, said
rod means during use extending downwardly towards the bottom of
the side wall of the granary; and handle means pivotally
connectable at one end to said side wall of the granary near
the bottom thereof, the bottom of said rod means being pivotally
connectable to said handle means intermediate the ends thereof,
whereby rotation of the handle means in one direction causes
said ro~ means to move downwardly, pivoting said lever downardly
and moving said linkage outwardly to open the lid, and rotation
of the handle in the opposite direction closes the lid.
The invention will now be described in greater detail
with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate
a preferred embodiment of the invetnion, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a granary
with a lid opening device in accordance with the present
invention mounted thereon;
Figure 2 is a perspective view from above of the top
portion of the device of Figure l;
Fiaure 3 is a perspective view from one side and above
of a central portion of the device of Figure l; and
Figure 4 is a partly sectioned plan view of the bottom
end of the device of Figure 1.
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~ ith reference to Figure 1, the device of the
present invention is mounted on a conventional granary, which
includes a cylindrical side wall 1 and a frusto-conical roof 2.
The roof 2 has a hollow cylindrical peak portion 3, the open
top end of which is closed by a circular lid 4.
The device of the present invention includes a
rectangular plate 5 mounted on the top centre of the lid 4 by
bolts and nuts or screws (not shown) extending through holes 6
in each end of the plate 5. A post 7 (Fig. 2) is welded to
the centre of the plate 5 and extends upwardly therefrom. One
end 8 of a linkage 9 in the form of a length of angle iron is
pivotally connected to the top end of the post 7 by a bolt 10.
The linkage extends downwardly and outwardly beyond one side
edge of roof 2.
The outer end 11 of the linkage is pivotally connected
to the outer top end 12 of a lever 13 by a bolt 14 (Fig. 3).
Inner end 15 of the lever 13 is pivotally connected to the top
end of the wall 1 of the granary. The inner end 15 of the lever
extends into a clevis formed by a pair of arms 16 and 17 extend-
ing outwardly from a rectangular plate 18, which is mounted onthe upper end of the side wall 1 of the granary. The end 15 of
the lever is pivotally mounted between the arms 16 and 17 by
a bolt 19 extending through the arms 16 and 17, and the lever 13.
The top end of a slightly flexible rod generally
indicated at 20 (Figs. 1 and 4) is pivotally connected to the
lever 13 intermediate the ends 12 and 15 thereof. The top end
of the rod 20 extends through a hole 21 in the lever 13 slightly
outside the centre of the lever. The rod 20 includes a
pair of right angle bends near its upper end, so that the
end of the rod is stepped with a shoulder pivotally retained
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by the lever 13. The rod 20 extends downwardly generally par-
allel to the side wall 1 of the granary through an L-shaped
bracket 21 mounted on the side wall 1 approximabely at the
middle thereof.
The rod 20 is illustrated as being multi-sectioned, but
may be a single length of rod tailor made for a particular
granary. With more than one section it is easy to adjust the
length of the rod to the height of the granary. Upper and
lower sections 22 and 23, respectively are interconnected by
conventional cable clamps 24. The upper section22 of the rod
20 is longer than the lower section 23 to facilitate assembly
of the device from the ground, i.e. to make it easier to reach
the joint between the upper and lower sections. Of course, it
will often be necessary to cut the rod sections for short
granaries and/or to overlap the upper and lower sections to a
greater or lesser extent depending on the height of the granary.
The bottom end of the rod 20 is pivotally connected
to a handle 25 in the same manner as the top end thereof is
connected to the lever 13. The bottom end of the lower section
23 of the rod 20 includes right angle bends 26 and 27, and
extends through a hole in the handle 25. The connection between
the bottom end of the rod 20 and the handle 25 is made at the
centre or just inside the centre of the handle. The handle 25
is pivotally connected to the wall 1 of the granary near the
bottom end thereof by a clevis generally indicated at 28. The
clevis 28 includes a base plate 29 bolted to the wall 1 of the
granary, and a pair of arms 30 interconnected by a bolt 31 on
which the inner end of the handle 25 is mounted for rotation
about the longitudinal axis of the bolt.
When mounting the handle 25 on the wall 1 of the
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granary, the bottom end of the lower section 23 of the rod 20
is connected to the handle and the top end of the lower section
23 is loosely connected to the bottom end of the upper section
22 so that the lower section can slide longitudinally relative
to the upper section 22. With the handle 25 generally in the
position shown in Fig. 1, i.e. inclined upwardly and outwardly,
the cable clamps 24 are tightened. Thus, when the handle 25
is snapped against the wall 1 of the granary, the rod 20 is
forced upwardly as far as it will go and placed under tension.
Consequently, the lid 4 is jammed shut.
In operation, with the lid 4 closed, the handle 25 is
moved from against the wall 1 of the granary through the position
shown in solid lines in Fig. 1 to the position shown in phantom
outline in the same figure. The rod 20 moves downwardly a
corresponding distance to rotate the lever 13 around the bolt 14
to the position shown in phantom outline in Fig. 1., with a
resulting outward movement of the linkage 9 to open the lid 4.
Reverse movement of the handle 25 results in upward movement of
the rod 20, upward and inward movement of the lever 13, inward
movement of the linkage 9 and closing of the lid 4.
_ There has thus been described a relatively uncompli-
cated device for opening and closing the lid of a granary.
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