US2082449A - Locking means for multiple closures - Google Patents

Description

June 1, 1937. L. HANSEN 2,082,449

LOCKING MEANS FOR MULTIPLE CLOSURES Filed June 21, 1934 2 Shecgts-Sheet 1 June 1, 1937. L. L. HANSEN 2,082,449

LOCKING MEANS FOR MULTIPLE CLOSURES Filed June 21, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Juan/Who'll LLHANSEN,

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Patented June 1, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to a locking means for multiple closures, and particularly automobile doors, and has for its object to provide simple and inexpensive mechanism adapted to co-act with,

5 and, in efiect, to constitute a part of the existing locks upon the doors of certain types of automobiles, to the end that the locking or unlocking of the key-controlled master door will automatically bring about a corresponding looking or unlocking of the other doors of the automobile.

In many of the existing types of automobiles, it is necessary for the owner to separately lock or unlock each individual door. This is troublesome and time-consuming, and it is highly desirable to provide an arrangement of parts by means of which the manipulation of a single key will auto matically effect the desired results with respect to all of the doors.

In some devices recently proposed for the accomplishment of the results stated, complete lock assemblies have been devised to be substituted for the conventional locks of the automobile doors. Not only is that procedure expensive, but some of the proposed structures rely upon electro-magnets to bodily move certain of the parts in effecting the locking function. Further, the structures proposed lacked some of the most advantageous features of the latest types of automobile door locks. For example, the locks used upon automobile doors, up until very recently, were so constructed that a thief, by applying a piece of pipe or other instrument to the door handle, could force the lock and open the door. To meet that situation the latest types of automobile locks are so constructed that the key in the act of locking the door merely shifts an operating member of the bolt out of operative relation with respect to the bolt, so that, even if the handle is entirely twisted of! by a thief, the door still remains locked.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel type of mechanism adapted to co-act with the new form of lock described, and totake advantage of the aforesaid characteristics of said lock to the end that the electromagnets employed, instead of having to perform the actual work of shifting certain elements of lock mechanism, have merely to perform the function of rendering certain of said lock elements inoperative with respect to the bolts of the locks.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a signal which will indicate that all of the doors are not locked, when such is the case. Further objects and advantages of the invention will be the doors removed to disclose the locking mechanism therein.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating one form of wiring which may be used.

Figure 3 isa detailed view illustrating the mechanism associated with the lock of the front or main door.

Figure 4 is a like view illustrating the mechanism associated with one of the other or auxiliary doors.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view u'ponline 5-5 of Figure 4, and v Figure 6 is a detail view of the signal light housing hereinafter described.

It should be understood that the lock illustrated in the accompanying drawings constitutes no part of the invention. The lock represented is the look very largely used upon the 1934 model automobiles, and especially those manufactured by the General Motors Company, such as the Chevrolet and the like.

These locks comprise a base plate 5 upon which the main bolt 6 is slidably mounted. This bolt-is normally held in its projected position by a spring I. The tail of this spring bears against a lug 8 upon a rocking lever 9. The upper end of lever 9 is pivotally connected at ill to a pawl I i, the free end of which is adapted to engage in a notch i2 I of the bolt. The shank of the handle is indicated at i3 and in the normal operation of opening the door, turning of the handle thrusts the pawl ii towards the left, and the engagement of said pawl in the notch i2 acts to retract the bolt. When the door is to be locked, or in other words, when the handle is to be disconnected from the bolt so that manipulation of the handle will no longer retract the bolt, a key which acts through shank l3 rocks an arm H about the axis constituted by shank i3 to lift the outer end of said arm. This movement lifts the pawl ii above the shoulder which constitutes the rear end of the notch 62, and thereafter manipulation of the handle while thrusting the pawl H rearwardiy will no longer retract the bolt.

The parts so far described are the conventional parts of existing locks. In carrying out my invention I attach to arm ii an angle plate I 5 that is insulated from H at It. An extension of said angle plate moves between contact strips l1 and I8. These strips are insulated from each other at 19. The contact plate IS in all positions makes contact with the contact strip 20. Thus it will be seen that when the lever arm I4 is elevated, block l5 will establish connection between strips l1 and 20, while when the arm i4 is in its lowermost position, block [5 will establish contact between strips l8 and 20.

The structure just described is that which is associated, in the case of an automobile, with the right hand front door, or the door that is ordinarily key-controlled; the remaining doors of the automobile have the same type of lock mechanism in so far as the bolts, pawls and operating handles are concerned, and the same reference characters have been applied.

In the application of the present invention, I apply to each of the remaining doors a pair of electromagnets 2| and 22. See Figures 4 and 5. An armature 23 is disposed to be attracted by these magnets and is in the form of a bell crank lever that is pivoted at 24 and insulated from the base plate 5 of the look as indicated at 25. This lever carries shoe 26 which, when the lower magnet is energized, is thrust laterally or towards the base plate 5 so that it overlies or projects into the notch l2 of the corresponding bolt. The result is that if the door handle be manipulated at this time, and its pawl I I be thrust rearwardly in the usual way, the free end of said pawl merely rides up over the shoe and does not engage the shoulder of the notch. This action takes place with respect to all of the doors, the magnets of which are connected, and are energized as described, and thus it will be clear that the completion of a circuit at the right-hand-front door, which will hereinafter be referred to as the master door, serves to look all of the remaining doors by rendering their operating handles inoperative with respect to the bolts of said doors. The vertical arm 21 of the armature moves between conarm 21 and serving to frictionally hold it in any adjusted position. If desired, a teat 21b may be provided upon-the strip 21a to'increase the definiteness of the action of this friction element in a manner common in friction devices of this nature.

Referring now to the diagrammatic Figure 2, B indicates a battery or other source of electric current, the negative side of which is grounded at G. From the positive side a conductor 30 leads to the contact strip l3. A branch conductor 3| leads to one side of an electric light bulb 32 constituting the signal which serves to indicate when all of the doors have not been properly locked. The other side of the light bulb is connected by conductor 33 to contact strip 29. This contact strip is also connected by a conductor 34 through the lowermost magnet 22 of one of the doors and thence through a conduc- 75 connected through conductors 28a to one side of the uppermost magnets 2|, the other sides of said magnets being grounded as indicated at 33. If now the operator, through the use of a key at the master-door, shifts plate l5 to contact strip I1, the circuit will be completed as follows:

From ground 40, contact strip I1 through plate 20, conductor 4|, arm 21, of the armature, contact strip 29, conductor 34, magnet 22, conductor 35, conductor 36 and battery B, and back to ground G. This results in energizing lowermost magnet 22 to move arm 21 of the armature to the left for the purpose hereinbefore described,

and this in turn moves arm 21 to contact with strip 28, breaking the circuit just described. When the operator turns the key to unlock the door, plate l5 contacts strip l8. The circuit is then as follows:

From ground G, through battery B, conductor 30, strip l8, plate i5, strip 20, con-ductor 4|, arm

21, and strip 28, conductor 28a, uppermost magnet 2|, and ground 39, thus energizing the uppermost magnets and moving the parts to. the position illustrated in Figure 2. The result of this is to not only move the shoes 26 out of the path of the pawls but to break the circuit by the movement of arm 21..away from strip 28. It is true that in this movement of the arm 21 contact is again made with strip 29, but this strip is now included in a circuit which is open because plate I5 has been moved away from strip l1. In the present types of automobile doors, a door stop is employed which comprises a rod 42 that is hinged at 43 concentrically with the hinge of the door. This rod carries a head 44 which acts against a spring 45 and against a cross member 46 of a yoke 41. I may use this structure as a means for'carrying the electrical conducting wires through the door stop. This may be accomplished by making the rod 42 hollow. However, I recognize the fact that switches of many kinds have been employed for accomplishing this result, and it is to be understood that I contemplate the employment of any of these known devices in lieu of the arrangement described.

In the conventional type of lock to which this invention is applied means are provided for actuating the main bolt 6 from the inside of the vehicle, these means comprising slotted links 43 connected at one end to the bolt 8 and at the other end to a crank arm 49 that may be actuated by handle 50 from the inside of the door. Further, the present type of lock comprises a rod 5| operable from inside the car and by which arm' l4 may beelevated in the same way that it can be elevated from the outside of the car by the key, and thus the occupant of the car may simultaneously look all the doors from the inside in the manner described.

One of the features inherent in the described structure is that if the lock of the master door is set to locked position when the door is open and then the door is closed with its operating handle at normal position, the doors will be automatically unlocked, but if the handle is held down when the door is closed, the doors will remain locked without the use of a key. One of the reasons for arranging these locks in Such manner that if the door is slammed the door will be automatically unlocked, is to prevent the car owner from accidentally locking himself out of his car. It will be seen that my attachment admirably adapts itself to looks of this character since it follows the action of the master lock, whatever it maybe.

aoaasss The purpose of the electric bulb 82 is to indicate to the owner whether all of the doors are properly locked. If all of the doors function as intended, the light does not light, but if the plate it has been set to locked position and if any of the door locking mechanisms fail to function, then the light'will light to indicate that at least one of the doors has not been properly locked.-

The circuit to accomplish this is completed as follows:

From ground G through battery B, conductors 30 and 3|, to one side of the bulb 82, thence through conductor 33, strip 29, arm 27,, conductor 5|, strip 20, plate i5 and strip H back to ground 40. It is apparent that by the use of a conventional two filament bulb the same result could be accomplished with respect to the other position or the arm 21, thus rendering it possible to cause the lampito indicate any failure of the three remaining door-lock mechanisms to follow the lead of the master mechanism, and thus indicate a failure of any of these other mechanisms to move to unlocked positions as well as a failure to move to locked position.

5 The light is preferably located in the side panel of the master door, and may be covered by an ornamental escutcheon plate and red transparent glass or celluloid to give a signal in the nature of a danger signal upon the failure of any of the 0 looks to function.

Having described my invention, what I claim is: 1. In an assembly of the character described, the combination with a lock comprising a bolt having a notch, of a handle-operated pawl for 35 engaging said notch to retract the bolt, a magnet and a member actuated by said magnet and adapted to be projected thereby between the pawl I and the notch of the bolt as and for the purposes 40 set forth, said member being so shaped that when up over said member instead of engaging in the notch of the bolt.

2. The combination with a lock comprising 'a projected as described, the end 01 the pawl rides bolt having a notch and a handle-actuated pawl adapted to engage said notch, an electro-magnet, an L shaped armature for said magnet, one leg of which projects over the core of the magnet, and a shoe carried by the other .leg of the armature and adapted to be thrust laterally under the action of the magnet between the notch of the bolt and the pawl.

3. A device of the character described comprising a lock having a bolt and an actuating pawl for the same adapted to engage in the notch 01' said bolt, 9, shoe adapted to be thrust between the bolt and pawl for the purposes stated, a pair of electro-magnets one of which actuates said armature in one direction and the other of which actuates said armature in the other direction and circuits as described controlled by the movement of said armature in one direction or the other.

4. The combination with a lock comprising a slidable bolt having a notch in its edge, a handle, a pivoted pawl movable back and forth along the edge of said bolt by the movement of said handle, and having its free end engageable with said notch to retract the bolt, a magnet and a part actuated by said magnet, and projected laterally by said magnet over the edge of said bolt, and of such shape that when so projected, the said part is caused to lie in the path of movement of the free end of the pawl to move the latter out of notch engaging position.

5. In an assembly of the character described, the combination with a lock comprising a bolt having a notch, of a handle-operated pawl, the end of which engages said notch to actuate the bolt; a shoe adapted to be moved into position to overlie the bolt over which the free end of the pawl rides and by which the free end of the pawl is elevated to free it of the notch of the bolt when said shoe is projected into position to overlie the bolt, and a, power element engaging said shoe and operative to move the shoe laterally with respect to the bolt.

LORRIN L. HANSEN.

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