Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/681

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Popular Science Monthly

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��Solidly locked when not needed, the outside doors of the stable are held shut by triggers connected with a shaft which runs the length of the building and is operated by a single lever. The device can be arranged to operate automatically in case of fire. In this case a weight lifts the lever — the weight being re- leased when any of the fusible metal sections of a cable are burnt out in any part of the stable

��Diagram of door release system. The tim- ber at the top of the doorway is a shaft connect- ed with the gate at the rear, which

���A Stable Door Which Opens When a Fire Breaks Out

When the door, which is hung on gravity hinges, is unlatched, it falls open. When released, the gate drops and the animal is prevented from backing into the stable. As the door is opened still farther the manger collapses and falls to the floor, the opening of the door hav- ing released the rods which support it. This all occurs in an instant. The animal is forced

to move out into the open air

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