Cell door operating system

A vertical door assembly mountable for linear manual movement in a door frame having opposed vertical walls spaced apart a distance less than twice the width of said door assembly, a vertical column centrally spaced relative to the vertical walls, an entry passageway extending from one side of said vertical column to a selected one of said vertical walls, and fixed restraining wall means extending from the other side of said central vertical column to said other vertical wall, comprising, in combination:

• a vertical door having inner and outer faces;
• means mounting said vertical door for horizontal movement in said door frame by minimal manual force between a closed position spanning the space between said central vertical column and said selected vertical wall and an open position spanning the space between said central vertical column and said other vertical wall;
• an elongated locking bar mounted on the outer face of said central vertical column for limited vertical movement;
• cam means disposed above the top of said vertical door and movable independent of said door for vertically shifting said locking bar between a lower locking position and an upper unlocked position;
• means adjacent the bottom of said door and on the inner face thereof defining a pair of horizontally spaced locking notches respectively receiving the bottom end of said locking bar in said open and closed positions of said door, whereby the same door design may be employed to close an entry passage on either side of said central vertical column and is lockable in both its open and closed positions;
• resilient means adjacent each said vertical wall respectively energized only by the final movements of said door into said open and closed positions, whereby the upward movement of said locking bar to disengage from one of said locking notches permits said resilient means to move said door a short distance from said open and closed positions;
• said cam means for shifting said locking bar vertically further comprises:
• a cam roller mounted on the upper end of said locking bar for rotation about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the path of vertical movement of said locking bar;
• a cam plate slidably mounted adjacent said upper end of said locking bar for horizontal movement independent of the movement of said door;
• said cam plate defining a slot engagable with said cam roller and configured to raise and lower said locking bar by horizontal sliding movements of said cam plate between a lock open and a lock closed position;
• and
• means including a motor driven rotary cam operatively connected to said cam plate to shift said cam plate to raise and lower said locking bar when said door is in either its said locked closed or locked open positions.