Pneumatic tube double-door side opening carrier construction

Abstract

A pneumatic tube carrier has a payload compartment formed by a pair of side column members and spaced end plates. The carrier is formed with at least one side opening for access to the compartment which is closed by a pair of doors, with each door of the pair closing one-half of the access opening. The doors are mounted on the column members on opposite sides of the compartment by cams for swinging movement between open and closed positions. Spring-biased control rods extend longitudinally through bores formed in the side column members. The rod ends extend through the carrier end plates and engage rocker arms pivotally mounted within end cap cavities which are formed on the ends of the carrier. Pins formed on the control rods extend through slots formed in the cams for rotating the cams and their associated doors when the control rods are moved linearly within the bores. A selected rocker arm is adapted to be pivoted by an external plunger at a pneumatic tube terminal, and when actuated moves one of the control rods linearly into engagement with the other rocker arm at the opposite end of the carrier, which in turn moves the other control rod linearly in the opposite direction. The linear movements of the control rods and associated pins in the cam slots, pivot the doors to open position. Spring means return the doors to closed position after retraction of the external plunger.