Monday, June 17, 2024

Monday Mystery, Richards patent


 From the cast-in patent date we find that US Patent: 241,882 is for sliding door hardware. The accompanying illustration (below) isn't much help in figuring out how it might be used. Interestingly, the patent also mentions that it was not known to be manufactured. The rear view offers no further info. According to Vintage Machinery Richards started making sliding door components in 1880, and in 1920 merged with the Wilcox company, also located in Aurora Illinois to fom Richards Wilcox..


 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hallo,es fehlt der Radsatz wo diese halter eingehakt werden.

Anonymous said...

Yes, and there didn’t seem to be a place to attach them.

Mister G said...

This comment from Dave did not show up...
Jun 17, 2024
Looks like a "Richard's Parlor Door Hanger" designed to be used to hang and plumb (or un-plumb, if the framers lacked skill) those massive, oak pocket doors used to divide larger homes in the 19th and 20th century. The hanger is made of two pieces and two hangers are used per door; the bottom "shoe" attaches to the top of the door and the hanger mates with it. Then by turning each angled screw you could adjust the height (off the floor) and the plumb of the door. There are no holes for a roller axle because the doors are heavy enough that the rollers can freewheel along that machined surface at the top of the hanger. Anyone who has ever fixed, installed, or replaced a pocket door will tell you that the less "attached" it is, the better.

There's a picture here of the Richards hangers, and one of a Richards-Wilcox version that shows how it rides the rollers but nothing that proves they were ever made or sold:

https://www.fixpocketdoors.com/page6.html

https://www.fixpocketdoors.com/images/img117154781.JPG

https://www.fixpocketdoors.com/images/opt-RW-hanger-3-4-left.jpg

Mister G said...

I see by some illustrations that the reason there is no axle or place to attach wheels is that there are two of them in tandem. Now it makes sense!