US2650491A - Self-relocking combination lock - Google Patents

Description

R. STREETER SELF-RELOCKING COMBINATION Loox 2sheets-s'heet 1 sept. 1, 1953 2,650,491'

Filed April 412, 1951 y. W0 @af weg R. STREETER SELF-RELOCKING COMBINATION LOCK sept. 1, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed `April 12. 1951 Patented Sept. 1, 1953 UNITED `STATES PATENT OFFICE. y

SELF-RELOCKING COMBINATION LOCK Ray Streeter, Sturgeon, Mo.

Application April 12, 1951, Serial No. 220,620

(Cl. 'Z0-148) 6 Claims. l

My invention is a combination lock in which the releasing of the locked latch frees at least one of the tumblers and thereby causes it to move to va locked position under the influence of gravity.

Combination locks on compartments such as safes and postal boxes to `cite but two examples are well known. Most of these combination locks require that the `dial be turned after the compartment door `is relatched in order to relock the lock.` Failure `to rotate the dial a revolution or two leaves the compartment in a relatively vulnerable position with respect to being opened bylan unauthorized person. Unless the tumblers are `completely disturbed, such a lock may be opened by merely returning the dial to the last number in the combination series and releasing the'latch.

Normally a person who is locking such a compartment would rotate the dial suiciently to insure the positive locking of the door. People are prone to error, however, which results in the failure of people to lock such compartments properly at times even when they intend to relock the door properly. Sometimes these doors are improperly locked intentionally. An example of failure by design to relock such compartments results from the rush of present day life. Some persons who have postoffice lock boxes collect their mail at a time of day when they are rushed as at noon, for example. Because time is short and probably also because people are inclined toward laziness, some people do not really lock these postoflice lock boxes. After the combination has been worked once, the lock is never properly relocked. After the mail has been removed from the box the door is closed and the dial rotated a few numbers away from the last number in the combination series which gives the door the appearance of being locked as far as casual observation is concerned. When the door is so closed and latched, however, all of the tumblers are aligned to the unlock position except one. If this one tumbler is properly aligned, the latch may be moved to release the door and permit it to swing open. Such false locking of the door does not afford the mail proper protection There are instances of such false locking of safes and other combination locked compartments of a similar nature. In order to protect a person having such a postoiiice lock box against his own laziness, it is desirable to have a box that automatically relocks itself when the door is returned to a latched position.

In view of the preceding discussion, therefore,

2 itis the principal object of my invention to provide a self-relooking combination lock that has its operating movement initiated by the unlatching of a lcompartment door `and completed by the force of gravity.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a self-relooking combination lock that is reliable in operation. y

It is a further object of Jmy invention to provide Aa self-relooking combination lock that is of extremely simple construction.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a self-relooking combination lock that is durable vin use and inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, Aarrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully `set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a compartment exterior equipped with my combination lock,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a fragment of a compartment and my lock mechanism taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a rear sectional fragmentary view of.

the door and lock mechanism taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,.

Fig. 4 is atop fragmentary view of the door and free tumbler taken Von the line 4 4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary rear view of the free tumbler and middle tumbler and illustrating a portion of the movement of the dial knob made to cause alignment of the middle tumbler. vThe bosses on the middle and free tumblers are vshown as they would be on the dialing of the rst num-l ber of the combination. This view is taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a view similar to that in 5 and takenon the line 5-.-5 of Fig. 2 but showing the middle tumbler adjusted to the unlocked position. The bosses shown are those of the middle and free tumblers,

Fig. '7 is a rear fragmentary view of the tumblers showing them all aligned to the unlock position and taken on the line l-T of Fig.. 2,

Fig. 8 is a rear view of the compartment door and my lock mechanism with the latch released prior toropening the door of the compartment. A portion of the latch is broken away to more fully illustrate its construction,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary top view of the compartment door and the free tumbler showing the 3 release of the boss from its retaining spring and taken on the line 3--9 of Fig. 8,

Fig. is a. fragmentary rear View of my lock mechanism illustrating how the free tumbler rotates to a locked position when the latch is released, and

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the tumbler mechnism taken on the line II-II of Fig. '1.

Referring to the drawings, I have used the numeral I5 to designate the hinged door of a compartment I5 which is shown as having the door secured to a mounting frame I1. The frame is secured to the compartment in any suitable manner as by the screws I8 or the like. While I have shown the frame I1 as being separate from the compartment wall, these parts could be made integrally and for purposes of this discussion may be so regarded. The face of the door carries an ordinary dial face designated I9 which is marked off by a series of reference marks or, as shown in Fig. 1, numerals. An operating knob designated is rigidly secured to a shaft designated 2| that is rotatably journaled in the spool or sleeve 22. A pointer 23 is rigidly secured to the shaft 2| and is of the usual type to provide a guide in conjunction with the reference numerals to permit the rotation of the shaft 2| according to a predetermined plan to actuate the lock. As is most clearly shown in Fig. 11, the spool or sleeve designated 22 is fixed in relation to the door I5 and the shaft 2| extends through a center bore in the spool and is freely rotatable therein. There is a shoulder 24 on the sleeve to separate the free tumbler 25 from the door I5. A second shoulder 2B holds the washer 21 from contacting the free tumbler 25. The hole in the free tumbler through which the spool 22 extends is of suiicient diameter to permit the free tumbler to rotate freely about the shaft. The washer 21 is held against rotary movement as a result of rotating shaft 2| by any suitable means such as having the washer and spool fit tightly or by keying the washer to the spool. As shown the washer is provided with key boss 28 that ts key way 29. Some means of providing rotation resisting friction for the middle tumbler designated 30 is provided and here shown as the spring Washer 3|. A washer designated 32 which is similar to washer 21 is adjacent tumbler 30 on its rear side. This washer 32 must be positively held against rotational movement in order for the lock to operate consistently. A most positive form of securing this Washer that still permits the easy removal of the parts for repair and the like is to key the washer to the spool in the same manner as Washer 21 by means of a key boss 28 that extends into the key way 29 milled in the spool 22. A second spring washer designated 33 provides rotation resisting friction to the directly driven tumbler numbered 34. The direct drive between tumbler 34 and the shaft 2| is provided by the key 35 which has a hole 35 in it that isflattened on at least one side to match a similarly flattened portion on the shaft 2i. As shown in the drawings, the hole 36 is attened on two sides as is the end of shaft 2|, but it is necessary for the operability of the tumbler 34 that the key 5 be held in non-rotational relation to the shaft 2 I. The key 35 has a boss finger 31 which is bent near its end to enter and engage one of the holes 38 in tumbler 34. Some suitable means such as cap screw 39 screwed into threaded well 48 in shaft 2| is used to hold the key 35 engaged on the flattened end of shaft 2 I and simultaneously holds the boss iinger 31 in the selected one of holes 4 38. The holes 38 are spaced from each other a distance equal to the distance between reference marks on the dial I9 unless it is intended to make at least some of the possible combinations of the lock include fractions of distances between reference marks. The combination of numbers to which the dial is turned to arrange the tumblers so that the latch may be actuated is determined in part by the one of the holes 38 in which boss finger 31 is inserted.

The free tumbler has bosses thereon designated 4I and 42, the former being on the side of tumbler 25 that is adjacent door I5 and the latter being on the opposite side of the tumbler. This tumbler has a notch 43 formed in it which has one shoulder designated 44 that curves more gradually than the shoulder on the other side of the notch. The purpose of this difference in the shoulders of notch 43 will be more apparent from the discussion under the heading of operation. One side of tumbler 25 is lighter in weight than the other which may be readily accomplished by merely cutting away a portion of the tumbler to leave the opening 45. The boss 4I is preferably smooth and rounded as may be seen clearly from Figs. 4 and 9 so that it will more readily engage the tensioning device for the free tumbler such as the at spring 46 that has a pair of spaced apart raised bumps or boss like formations designated 41 and 41. The tumbler 30 has a pair of bosses on it also and these are designated 48 on the front of the tumbler and 49 on the back of it. As shown here for purposes of illustration they are angularly spaced from each other on the tumbler but such spacing is optional within limits as will appear more clearly from the discussion under the heading operation. The tumbler 30 is also provided With a notch 50 that is similar in nature to notch 43 on tumbler 25 except that it is not necessary to have the sloping shoulder of notch 43 as on the free tumbler. The tumbler 34 has only one boss designated 5I on it which is on the front side of the tumbler in a properly assembled unit. This last Atumbler also has a *iotch therein designated 52 which is substantially identical to the notch 50 in tumbler 30. The bosses 42, 48, 49 and 5I are all of such a length that bosses of opposed tumbler faces will engage each other but will not strike the adjacent tumbler.

Below the tumbler assembly is the S-shaped latch lever 53 and is rigidly mounted on the operating handle 54 by means of the screw 55 or any other suitable means. The operating handle is rotatably mounted in the door I5. A boss 56 projects outwardly from the top of S-shaped lever 53 to a distance slightly greater than the distance from the inside face of door I5 to the innermost plane of tumbler 34. The lower end of the S-shaped lever engages an elongated milled out portion or wide groove designated 51 in the sliding latch bolt 58. The bolt has a slanted end designated 59 at its latching end to permit the closing of door I5 without actuating handle 54. The frame I1 is provided with a Well 68 into which the end of the latch bolt 58 extends to latch the door I5. When an all metal compartment is used, the bolt may merely extend behind the rear of the edge of the compartment adjacent the bolt end. The pierced ears 6I and 6I slidably support the bolt on the door I5. A resilient element such as the coil spring 52 yieldingly holds the bolt in the position shown in Fig. 3 by exerting a force on the shoulder 63 of bolt 58 and the pierced ear 6I. I have illustrated mylock` on a postomce lock. box: and have timore-V fore shown` the box. as having the transparent panel 6.4 mounted in the door i5. by any` suitable. means as by the four identical aligning; angle members 65. The glassis; actually held in plow by thev tabs 66 which all; may be substantially alike.4 A hinge side securing boss 6l ofi the usual form` is rigidly secured to door t5 by boss block-` 68 and extends into boss well 65 when the doorA is closed.` Boss El serves the purpose o preventing anyone from. opening the compartment' by removing the hinge pins from the. hinges. A stop block 'l0` is: rigidly secured to the door l5 to` prevent lateral movement of` the door.. The stop 1| limits the movement of. S-shaped lever- 53 and also bolt 58 against the efforts of spring 62. I turn now to a description of the operation of my device..

With the door closed and` latch bolt. 58 enges-'- ingA the well 60 as shown in Fig. 1 any arrangement of the tumblers which will prevent the necessary movement ofv the S-shaped lever 5.3` to actuate the bolt 58 locks the door. To unlock the door, the combination must. be worked by rotating knob according to a predetermined pattern. As here shown, the knob is ro.- tated in a clockwise direction which must rotate tumbler 34 that is keyed directly to shaft 2|. The bossA 5| will in time engage boss 49 of tumbler 30 and Cause that tumblerto be carried along in a clockwise direction of movement. In a. similarmanner, boss 48 will engage boss 42 and cause the tumbler to be carried along also in a clockwise direction. of movement. With the parts constructed and arranged as shown in the accompanying drawings, the boss 4| will engage the spring 46 and depress it sufiiciently to permit boss 4| to pass bump 4l and be lodged between bosses 4l and 41' as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. The. free tumbler is thus aligned when the point-` er 23 is stopped on the numeral 1 on dial I9. with the lock parts constructed and arranged as shown. The knob 20 is then rotated in a counterclockwise direction carrying the tumbler 34 with it. The other tumblers are, unaffected l by the rst substantially 360 of rotation in a. counterclockwise direction because the boss 5| must go entirely around before striking the boss 49 on the opposite side from that which it en-` gaged during clockwise rotation. As shown in Fig. 5 the pointer has been rotated through the arc shown by the broken line arrow without disturbing tumbler 30. Continued counterclockwise rotation of tumbler 34 by rotating knob 20 will cause the boss. 5| to engage boss 49 to carry tum.-v bler to the position shown in Fig. 6. Although the light side of tumbler 25 is eccen trically positioned, the tumbler 25 remains in its unlock position because of the coaction of boss 4| and spring 46. The fact that notches 43 and do not align exactly is important as will be explained hereinafter. The proper alignment of tumbler 28 results from the positioning oi' the pointer 23 on the numeral 5 on dial I9. I'his correct adjustment of tumbler 30 occurs only after one complete revolution of the tumbler 34 has been made to bring the bosses 5| and 49` into contact for counterclockwise rotation. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the pointer is turned from 1 to 5 on the dial face in Fig. 3 and then through an additional 360 to 5 again. Obviously it is not necessary to have the bosses 48 and 49 angularly spaced 180 in order to permit correct operation of the lock. The only limits placed on the arrangement of these bosses is that they should avoid beine` so. spaced. as to cause boss. 4&1

to re-engage boss 42 and cause tumbler 25`- to.` be moved and thereby displace boss 4|f from springw.

adjust the lockras shown to alien` tumbler 3.4 it` is-` necessary to, turn the pointer- 'to the no meral 10 on the dialface which causes notch` 52 to. align with notch 50;. Two, of the tumblers.. i. e. 30 and 34, are now arranged to permitboss; 56. of S-shaped lever 53 to move to the dtenir-2st` portions of the` notches of those. tumblers. The tumblerV 25 is slightly out of adjustment. how-.r ever,v for` a reason which will now be explained. As operating handle 54. is turned to move the, S`- shaped leverv 53 to take the position shown by the. broken lines in Figi 7, the boss 56 strikes sloping` shoulder 44 of the notch 43 in tumbler 25. The only resistance to further movement of Seshapedlever is the engagement of boss 4| with spring 45. The resistance oiiered by the spring engaging the boss` is so slight. that no dilculty is had; in moving tumbler 25 by the furthermov.. ment of. handle. 54 to unlatch the door. t51 as Shown in Fig. 8. In so moving the S-shaped lever 5.3, however, it is necessary to move tumbler 25 suiiiciently to cause boss 4| to be disch-- gaged from spring 46 as shown by Fig. 9. As soon as. the. door is open and handle 54 4iure-t leased, spring 62 causes bolt 5|!A to return tol a, latehing position and the Sfshaped lever is also returned to the position shownby Fig. 3. When boss 5G is moved out of the notches of the tuniblers, there is no longer any force resisting the natural tendency of the light side of tumbler 25 as represented by the opening 45 to move to the top center position as shown in Fig. 10. With the tumbler 25 in this position, the boss 5.6 Gan.- not, enter the notches of the tumblers and the whole combination must be reworked in order to unlock the latch.`

The door l5 may be closed, however. by merely slamming it. The s1anted and` 5a of bolt 5s will engage the frame and cause the bolt to move enough to permit the door l5 to` be closed. Spring 52 is compressed when the door is so,` closed, but the Ss-shaped lever` is undisturbed. This closing of the door |5 when the tumbler 25 is in a lock position is the reason for the wide groove 51. This, slamming of the door causes a jar or vibration of the tumbler assembly merely because it is mounted on the door. Thisiar may serve the purpose of assuring correct movement of the tumbler 25 should it have any tendency to stick. Thus the tumbler 25 will be certain to operate as intended within the ability of a mechanism to be infallible.

Twelve different combinations may be had with the construction shown here by placing the boss 3l of key 35 in various ones of the holes designated 38. Because the end of shaft 2| is not round, the shaft and pointer will have to be moved with respect to tumbler 34 in order to change the one of holes 38 into which the boss inger 31 of key 35 is inserted. A change in location of one o f the bosses 42l 48. 49 or 5| will offer a new series of twelve combinat,ions.` A nearly unlimited number of different combinations is possible, therefore.

Some changes may be made in the construeticn and arrangement of my self-.relooking comr bination lock Without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivae 7 lents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

1 Iclaim:

l. In a combination lock; a, bolt, at least one circular'tumbler rotatably supported on .a horizontal axis; said tumbler having a heavy point that Vnormally seeks a bottom center position under the influence of gravity; said tumbler having a notch therein, a boss on said tumbler, a spring iixedly supported near said tumbler and engaging said boss of said tumbler to hold said tumbler with its heavy point in a position substantially removed from a bottom center position, and a means associated with said bolt that must enter the notch in said tumbler when said bolt isA retracted; said means associated with said bolt capable of entering the notch of said tumbler only when said spring engages said boss; said means associated with said bolt as it enters the notch in said tumbler moving said tumbler to disengage said boss from said spring; whereby when said bolt is moved to locked position said means associated with said bolt is removed from the notch in said tumbler and the heavy point on said tumbler `seeks a bottom center position thus shifting said tumbler.

2. In combination with a compartment having a door thereon, a bolt movably mounted on said door and capable of securing said door in a closed condition, a lever for moving said bolt to release said door, at least one disc tumbler rotatably mounted near said lever on said door; a notch in said tumbler, a boss on said lever; the unnotched periphery of said tumbler lying closely adjacent the boss on said lever to prevent bolt moving action of said lever, a boss xed on said tumbler, a spring xed to said door; said boss on said tumbler engaging said spring to yieldingly hold said tumbler with its notch partially aligned with the boss on said lever; said tumbler being freely rotatable when said boss on said tumbler is free from said spring, and a means for rotating said tumbler to cause said boss on said tumbler to engage said spring; said tumbler being Weighted to cause it to move so that an unnotched portion of its periphery is Opposite said boss on said lever whenever said boss on said tumbler is free from said spring; said boss on said lever, when said lever is moved to actuate said bolt to release said door, forcibly enteringv said notch and moving said tumbler to free said boss on said tumbler from said spring.

3. In a hinged compartment door and a combination lock therefor, a bolt movably mounted on said door for securing the door in a closed position, a lever for moving said bolt to release said door from a closed secured condition, a boss on said lever, a notched circular tumbler freely journaled to said door about a horizontal axis and having its unnotched periphery lying closely adjacent said boss on said lever; said tumbler having one side heavier than the other which heavy side under gravitational force seeks a position below the axis about which said tumbler is journaled when said tumbler is unrestrained; a yielding means for holding said tumbler with Ia portion of its notch adjacent the boss on said lever and with the heavy side of said tumbler displaced from the position sought by said heavy side under gravitational force, and a means for moving said tumbler into engagement with said yielding means; said boss on said lever striking the side of said notch and rotatably moving said tumbler out ofengagement with said yielding means wheneversaid lever is moved to move said bolt to release said'door; whereby when the doorV of said compartment is resecured said lever is moved toa position carrying said boss of said lever away from said tumbler placing said tumbler in an unrestrained condition.

4. In a hinged compartment door and a combination lock therefor, a bolt movably mounted on said door for securing the door in a closed position, a lever for moving said bolt to release said door from a closed secured condition, a boss on said lever, a spool having a central longitudinal bore rigidly secured to the in- Aside of said door and extending horizontally therefrom a rst notched circular tumbler freely rotatable on said spool; a second notched circular tumbler rotatably mounted on said spool, a means for frictionally holding said sec'- ond tumbler in any given position; said second tumbler having a plurality of regularly angularly spaced holes therein, a shaft rotatably mounted in the bore of said spool and extending from both ends thereof, a member detachably keyed to the end of said shaft and having a portion thereof extending into one of the holes in said second tumbler, a pointer fixed to the other end of said shaft, a circular reference scale fixed in relation to said pointer, means for operatively associating said tumblers at times to cause rotation of said second tumbler to produce rotation of said rst tumbler; said lever capable of being actuated to move said bolt and release said door only when said tumblers are positioned so that said boss on said lever can enter the notches in said tumblers; said rst tumbler being eccentrically weighted to cause it to assume a position in which an unnotched portion of its periphery is adjacent said boss on said lever when said iirst tumbler is unrestrained, a yielding means fixed in relation to said rst tumbler, and a boss on .said first tumbler constructed and arranged to engage said yielding means when said first tumbler is positioned with its notch partially aligned with said boss on said lever and to frictionally hold said first tumbler so positioned; said boss on said lever when said lever is actuated to move said bolt and release the door of a compartment striking and moving said rlrst tumbler suiiiciently to disengage said b-oss on said tumbler from said resilient means to place said tumbler in an unrestrained condition relative to said resilient means.

5. In combination with a door of a compartment, a movable bolt for securing the door of said compartment in a closed position, at least one tumbler movably mounted on said door, said tumbler is normally under the infiuence of gravity, interfering with the moving of said bolt to release the door of said compartment; a means for moving said tumbler to relieve said bolt from' the interference of said tumbler when said tumbler is in its normal position, a yielding.

means for releasably holding said tumbler in its noninterfering position, and a means -associated with said bolt for engaging said tumbler; said means associated with said bolt engaging and moving said tumbler when said bolt is moved to unsecure said compartment door to release said tumbler from said yielding means.

6. In a lock for a bolt moving lever, a frame supporting said lever in a movable condition, at least one tumbler movably mounted on said frame and adjacent a portion of said lever; said tumbler, normally under the influence of gravity interfering with the movement of said lever, a means for moving said tumbler to relieve said 10 lever from the interference of said tumbler when said tumbler is in its normal position, a References Citd in the file 0f this Patent yielding means for releasably holding said UNITED STATES PATENTS tumbler in its noninterfering position; said lever RAY STREETER.

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