US3450244A

US3450244A - Coin operated lock mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3450244A
Application number: US689609A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph Austin Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-12-11
Filing date: 1967-12-11
Publication date: 1969-06-17
Anticipated expiration: 1986-06-17

Description

June 17, 1969 J, A SMWH 3,450,244

COIN OPERATED LOCK MECHANISM Filed Dec. 11, 1967 Sheet of 3 INVENTOR. JOSEPH AusT/N SMITH Fig.4 BY

W ATTORNEYS.

June 17, 1969 J. A. SMITH COIN OPERATED LOCK MECHANISM Sheet Filed Dec. 11, 1967 INVENTORL unmnumlinmm JOSEPH AUSTIN SMITH "74 ZAWM June 17, 1969 J. A. SMITH 3,450,244

com OPERATED LOCK MECHANISM Sheet .3 of 3 Filed Dec. 11, 1967 INVENTOR. JOSEPH Ausm/ SMITH BY awa -M 2m ATTOENEYS.

3,450,244 COIN OPERATED LOCK MECHANISM Joseph Austin Smith, 1 Nob Hill, Loudonville, Ohio 44842 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 570,267,

Aug. 4, 1966. This application Dec. 11, 1967, Ser.

Int. Cl. G07f 17/12 US. Cl. 194-59 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure shows a coin and key operated lock mechanism wherein the lock mechanism may be mounted on the inside of a locker door and the coin enters through a coin chute into coin retention means in the lock bolt. The key may be turned to extend the lock bolt into a lock post to lock the locker. Upon unlocking, the coin is released and is transferred into the lock post as the lock bolt is retracted. A coin receptor is slidable inside the lock bolt as a part of the coin retention means. Latch means operates between the coin receptor and the lock bolt to securely lock together these parts during extension of the lock bolt and then the latch is unlatched at the completion of this extension movement so that a lost motion means may operate to first retract the receptor to release the coin and thereafter the lost motion means retracts the lock bolt. A flap covers the coin exit end of the lock bolt to prevent access to the coin and coin retention means.

Cross references This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 570,267 filed Aug. 4, 1966, now Patent No. 3,397,765 entitled Coin Operated Lock.

Background of the invention Coin operated locks have previously been used, especially in transportation terminals, wherein lockers may be locked by inserting a coin or coins of the proper denomination and then turning a key with the coins permitting this turning to lock the lock and locker. The key may then be withdrawn to lock a persons luggage or the like within this locker. When the person returns, he uses the key to unlock the locker to retrieve his luggage and the key is again captive in the lock. The coins provide a means to actuate the lock and thus a fee is collected for the temporary use of the lockers. Such coin operated lock may be of the type of my prior Patent No. 3,249,197.

Other coin operated locks have been provided for dispensing machines to unlock a door or the like to permit access to an article being dispensed for a fee.

Still other coin operated locks are known wherein a coin of the proper denomination is required before a key may be used to actuate the lock. This may be in a check ing locker wherein the lock permits free service by return of the coin after the locker is unlocked. The coin, therefore, serves as a deposit to assure safe return of the key. The present invention permits a coin operated lock to be used for all three of the above-mentioned purposes and the first and third uses above may be provided in a single lock mechanism wherein the lock may be converted in only a few seconds from a free service lock to one requiring payment of a fee. Free service locks requiring temporary use of a coin, which is later returned to the operator is found in my prior Patent No. 3,23 3,713.

In many of the prior coin operated locks, it is possible to use a coin to lock the lock and obtain the key and also to obtain return of the coin thus enabling wrongdoers to steal the key. In other prior art locks it has been possible to manipulate the locks without the use of a coin and United States Patent thus obtain free service where a fee normally should have been collected by the use of a coin. In still other prior art locks a cumbersome and complicated mechanism has been required to collect use of the coin or coins and to attempt to minimize the stealing of keys or wrongful return of the coin in a fee paid lock. In other prior art locks it has been very difiicult to change the denomination of the coin or coins necessary to operate the lock and in many cases it has been necessary to send the locks back to the factory or to disassemble a considerable part of the lock mechanism in order to change the denomination of coins.

Summary of the invention In a coin operated lock mechanism having a housing, a lock bolt movable in said housing between first and second positions, one of said positions being a locked position of said lock bolt cooperating with a first member and the other being an unlocked position, actuator means to move said lock bolt, coin retention means to retain a coin in an operative position in said housing, first latch means interacting between said housing and said lock bolt to prevent movement of said lock bolt from said first to said second position in the absence of .a coin in said operative position, and having means sensing the presence of a coin in said operative position to invalidate said latch means to permit movement of said lock bolt from the first to the second position, wherein the improvement comprises, in combination, a receptor as part of the coin retention means and movable relative to the lock bolt, means connecting the actuator means to move said receptor, lost motion means between the actuator means and the lock bolt, second latch means interconnecting said receptor and the lock bolt during the majority of movement of the lock bolt from the first to the second position, and means to release said second latch means upon substantial completion of movement of the lock bolt to the second position to permit said lost motion means to act to effect initial movement of said receptor without initial return movement of the lock bolt.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the door and lock post removed for clarity;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of FIGURE 1 and showing part of the door and lock post;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the lock mechanism of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURES 5 through 8 are partial views of the lock bolt showing the sequence of operation; and

FIGURE 9 is a rear view of the lock bolt.

The figures of the drawing illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited by the hereinafter described preferred embodiment but only by the claims appended hereto.

The lock mechanism 15 is described as a coin operated lock and it will be understood that wherein the word coin is used it embraces the use of a token or check as well as an actual coin having monetary significance and issued by some government.

The FIGURES 1-9 of the drawings generally illustrate the construction and operation of the lock mechanism 15. This mechanism is mounted in a housing or case 16. The lock mechanism 15 is operable by a coin 17 and also in this preferred embodiment is operative by a key 18. The lock mechanism 15 is thus coin and key operated and may be mounted on the inside surface 20 of a locker door 3 21. The locker door is hinged by a hinge, not shown, at the left side of FIGURE 2, to a door frame 23. The lock mechanism also has a movable lock bolt movable into locking cooperation with an aperture 26 in a lock post 27, a part of the door frame 23 of the entire locker.

The lock bolt 25 is shown as being slidable in the housing 16 and is movable between first and second positions. The first position is that shown in FIGURE 1 and the second position is that shown in FIGURE 7 with this lock bolt 25 completely extended through the aperture 26 into the lock post 27. One of these two positions may be a locked position of the lock mechanism 15 and in this preferred embodiment the second position is the locked position with the outer end of the lock bolt 25 close to the lock post wall 28. In this lock mechanism 15 a coin 17 is required in an operative position 17a as shown in FIG- URE 5, in order to actuate the lock mechanism. In this case a coin in the operative position is required in order to move the lock bolt 25 into the lock post 27. However those skilled in the art will readily understand how a coin may be used in the operative position to unlock the lock, for example, in dispensing machines and the like.

Actuator means 29 is movable to actuate the lock bolt 25. Briefly this actuator means includes the key 18, a key cylinder 30 and an actuator lever 31 with an actuator pin 32.

The lock bolt 25 includes a rear plate 35 and a front plate 36 spaced apart to receive the coin 17. An overcenter spring 37 engages the housing 16 and the lower end of actuator lever 31 to urged the lever into each of the first and second positions from an intermediate position. An S-shaped overcenter spring 38 urges the lock bolt toward each of the first and second positions from an intermediate position.

A coin chute 40 is mounted for movement in the housing 16 and includes front and

rear plates

41 and 42 spaced apart to receive a coin therebetween. This coin chute 40 is pivoted at 43 to be arcuately movable relative to the housing 16. A coin entry 45 is provided in the front edge 46 of the door 21 to provide access to the coin chute 40. A coin 17 upon being inserted through the entry 45 rides down a slope of a spacer 47 between the front and

rear plates

41 and 42 and passes a magnet 48 to catch ferrous slugs. Such a coin 17 will drop into an operative position 17a in the lock bolt 25, see FIGURE 5.

First latch means 50 is provided between the lock bolt 25 and the housing 16. The first latch means 50 includes an abutment 51 on the top edge of the front plate 36 of the lock bolt 25 and also includes a latch lever 52 pivoted on the coin chute 40. The first latch means 50 prevents movement of the lock bolt 25 from the first position of FIGURE 1 completely to the second position thereof in the absence of a coin in the operative position 17a. The latch lever 52 has first and second sides 53 and 54. A spring 55 urges the latch lever 52 second side 54 into engagement with an abutment 56 on the coin chute 40. Thus the abutment 56 is a part of the first latch means 50 by preventing counter-clockwise movement of the latch lever 52 as the lock bolt 25 is attempted to be extended from the first toward the second position.

A coin receptor 57 is a fiat plate longitudinally slidable inside the lock bolt 25 and retained between the front and

rear plates

36 and 35 thereof. A lock pin 58 may be inserted in any one of a plurality of lock pin holes of the lock bolt 25. This permits ready conversion in the field to change the lock for many different combinations of coins or a token. The receptor 57 has an upper surface 59 which slopes downwardly toward the outboard end of the lock bolt 25. Coin retention means are provided between the sloping surface 59 and the lock pin 58 to receive a coin of the proper denomination therebetween and establish the top-most arc of such coin in the operative position. Where two or more coins are used of the same or different sizes, the top-most arc of the upper coin is that which is established in the operative position 17a.

The plurality of lock pin holes are provided in order to change the denomination of the coin or the coins required to actuate the lock. One or two coins of various denominations may be made to provide many different combinations for denominations between 5 cents and 75 cents. Also a token, for example, of a diameter between that of a nickel and a quarter may be sold for any amount of money so that the lock mechanism 15 will be able to be set for actuation by any amount of money. As shown in FIGURE 5, the coin 17 is caught and held in the operative position 17a by being trapped between the sloping surface 59 and a surface on the lock bolt 25, namely the lock pin 58 at a point just below the maximum diameter of the coin. This is the coin retention means and permits coins or slugs of smaller diameter to pass through without being able to actuate the lock.

A lifter or cam follower 61 is provided as a lower extension of the spacer 47 in the coin chute 40. This cam follower 61 has a lower surface 62 and a front sloping surface 63. The actuator means 29 is connected to actuate the lock bolt 25. To this end the actuator pin 32 on the actuator lever 31 is engaged in a slot 66 in the rear plate 35 of lock bolt 25. This slot 66 is generally V-shaped and has a first slot portion 67 which is generally vertical and a second slot portion 68. The fact that the second slot portion 68 has length in a longitudinal direction of the lock bolt 25, provides a lost motion means in the movement of the lock bolt 25 relative to movement of the actuator means 29. The key 18 fits in the key cylinder 30 and the inner end of cylinder 30 fits into a socket 73 in the actuator lever 31 to turn this lever 31 by turning the key 18. The key cylinder 30 is shown removed in FIG- URE 1 for clarity in order to show the socket 73.

The actuator means 29 also actuates the coin receptor 57. The actuator lever pin 32 not only engages slot 66 in the lock bolt 25 but also engages a slot 78 in the coin receptor 57. This slot 78 is generally vertical and is aligned with the first slot portion 67 in the first position of the lock bolt 25, as shown in FIGURE 1.

A meter 80 is mounted in the upper corner of the housing 16 and this may have a register 81 viewable through an aperture in the front of the door 21 to register the number of coin operated actuations of the lock bolt 25. This meter 80 may be actuated by an oscillatable actuator lever 82 in turn actuated by cockable means 83 on the coin chute 40. This cockable means 83 is actuated generally as the coin chute 40 falls upon each coin actuated movement of lock bolt 25.

An owners lock cylinder may be journalled in a barrel 71 fixed in the housing 16. This cylinder may be actuated by an owners key 72. Turning the key 72 and lock cylinder 70 will turn an owners cam 74 which is partly shown in FIGURE 1 and more completely shown and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 570,267, now Patent No. 3,397,765. The owners cam 74 has a portion to engage a cam follower fixed on the coin chute 40. In one position of the owners cam 74, the cam follower 75 Will be actuated to lift the coin chute 40 to the position shown in FIGURE 7. In this position free service operation of the lock mechanism 15 may be had because the latch means 50 is invalidated by the lifting of the coin chute 40. This free service position of the owners cam 74 may be used in recreation terminals for example, wherein free service is desired for checking lockers at certain times.

Second latch means 86 is provided to interconnect the receptor 57 and the lock bolt 25. This second latch means 86 is best shown in FIGURE 9 and includes a movable link 87 and a latch pin 88. The movable link 87 is on one of the lock bolt and the receptor 57 and in this preferred embodiment it is shown as a latch link 87 pivoted on the lock bolt 25. The latch pin 88 is carried on the other of the lock bolt and receptor 57 and in this preferred embodiment the latch pin 88 is mounted on the receptor 57. The pivoted latch link 87 is pivoted at 89 to the lock bolt and has a latch surface 90 for cooperation with the latch pin 88. A cam follower 91 is provided on the forward end of this pivoted latch link 87. The second latch means 86 is mounted on the rear face of the lock bolt 25, namely on the rear plate 35. A cut-out 92 is provided in the pivoted latch link 87 in order to clear the mounting stud 93 for the S-shaped spring 38. Means is provided to mutually urge the link 87 and latch pin 88 into engagement, and in this case the urging is provided by the mounting so that the pivoted latch link 87 falls by gravity to engage the latch pin 88. A cam pin 94 is mounted on the housing 16 in order to cooperate with the cam follower 91 at the time of substantial completion of movement of the lock bolt 25 from the first position of FIG- URE 1 to the second position of FIGURE 7. This second latch means 86 accordingly latches together the lock bolt 25 and receptor 57 throughout the forward movement from the first position to the second position and at that time of reaching the second position the second latch means 86 is unlatched. Accordingly, upon return movement of the lock bolt toward the first position of FIG- URE 1, the lost motion means provided by the second slot portion 68 and pin 32 may come into play to directly move the receptor 57 by the actuator means 29, but not to move the lock bolt 25 until the lost motion means had been taken up.

The lock bolt 25 is guided for longitudinally sliding movement in the housing 16 and slides through an aperture 97 in the housing 16. A flap 98 is pivoted on the inside of the housing 16 on a pivot pin 99. This flap 98 extends through a slot 100 near the outer end of the lock bolt 25 in the front plate 36 thereof. The flap 98 is bent at right angles so that the forward edge thereof lies closely adjacent the rear plate of the lock bolt 25. A coil spring 101 surrounds the pivot pin 99 and acts between the housing 16 and flap 98 to urge the fiap 98 into the slot 100, as shown in FIGURE 4. As the lock bolt 25 is extended from the housing 16, toward the second position, an edge 102 of the slot 100 engages the flap 98 and moves this flap 98 out of the slot 100. A hook 103 is fixed on the outer end of the lock bolt 25 and covers the flap 98 when this flap 98 is inside the slot 100 and this prevents wrongdoers from attempting to pry back the flap 98 through the exit end 104 of the lock bolt 25 and hence prevents access to the coin and to the coin retention means 58-59.

The lock bolt has a coin entry from the coin chute at the top edge thereof which leads to the coin retention means 58-59. The lock bolt 25 also has the coin exit 104 partly in the vertical outer end of the lock bolt 25 and partly in the outer lower edge of the lock bolt 25. FIG- URE 8 shows a coin 17 falling out of this coin exit 104.

Operation FIGURES 1 through 9 illustrate the operation of the lock mechanism 15 in its use as a coin and key operated lock. The coin 17 may be inserted through the coin entry to fall through the coin chute 40 and into the lock bolt 25. A coin of smaller diameter than the proper denomination will pass completely through the coin retention means 5859 and will not permit the lock 15 to be actuated. A coin of the proper denomination will be caught between the coin retention means 5859 so that it is in the operative position 17a. The key 18 is captive in the lock cylinder 30 when the lock bolt 25 is in the first position, shown in FIGURES 2 and 5. Accordingly, the key 18 may be used as a handle to pull open the locker door 21. A person may then insert his luggage or parcels in the locker and then insert the coin which falls to the operative position 17a. Next the door 21 may be closed and then the lock mechanism may be locked. The actuator means 29 may be moved through a path such that the actuator lever 31 is rotated clockwise 90 degrees from that shown in FIGURE 1. The socket 73 will accordingly rotate 90 degrees clockwise to a horizontal position, shown in FIGURE 7. The actuator pin 32 engages both the slot 78 in the receptor 57 and the first slot portion 67 on the lock bolt 25. Accordingly, both the lock bolt 25 and receptor 57 move together substantially the same distance. The coin 17 moves with the lock bolt 25 because it is held by the coin retention means 5859. Accordingly, it engages the front sloping surface 63 of the cam follower 61 and then rides on the lower surface 62 of this cam follower 61, with this sequence illustrated in FIGURES 5, 6, and 7. This causes the coin chute 40 to pivot upwardly, FIGURE 7, so that the latch means 50 is rendered inoperative or is invalidated.

During the first portion of the extension of the lock bolt from the position of FIGURE 5 toward FIGURE 6, the flap 98 is cammed out of the slot 100 by riding on the edge 102 of this slot. This may best be seen in FIGURE 4. It is cammed out against the urging of spring 101 and thereafter rides on the surface of the front plate 36. From FIGURE 4 it will be noted that the flap 98 may not be pushed out of the way by a vandal for example using a knife through the coin exit 104 of the lock bolt 25. The reason is that the hook 103 prevents such pryback of the flap 98. Accordingly access to the coin retention means 5859 is prevented so that there is less chance for vandals to damage the lock or attempt to steal the key and recover their coin. The flap 98 also, by covering the end of the lock bolt 25, will retain the coin or coins inside the lock bolt even if somehow a wrongdoer is able to have these coins released from the coin retention means 5859. This flap therefor prevents stealing of the coins by retaining the coins within the lock bolt 25.

During substantially the entire extensile movement of the lock bolt 25 from the position of FIGURE 5 to the position of FIGURE 7, the second latch means 86 remains latched. This latching means is best ShOWn in FIG- URE 9 which shows the rear of the lock bolt 25. The movable link 87 is pivoted on the lock bolt 25 and hence the latch surface engages the latch pin 88 to securely latch together the lock bolt 25 and receptor 57. It is only at the final movement of the lock bolt 25 as it reaches the second position of FIGURE 7, that the cam pin 94 on the housing 16 acts on the cam follower 91 to unlatch this second latch means 86. This permits the lost motion means 32, 68 to be operative during the return movement of the lock bolt 25. During the extensile movement however, the lock bolt is securely latched to the receptor 57. This means that wrongdoers are not able to wiggle the key or jostle the locker door or use prying tools to attempt to release the coin prematurely from the coin retention means 5859. This makes a much more secure lock and one which is of less invitation to vandals and hence the locks and lockers are less apt to be damaged which is not only expensive to the owners of the lockers but is also a nuisance to the public who can not use the lockers which are temporarily out of order. If the coin 17 is not the proper denomination, and is too large in diameter and has somehow been forced through the coin entry 45, then this will attempt to lift the coin chute 40 so far that it will engage the inside surface 107 of the housing 16 and thus will not permit complete movement of the lock bolt 25 from the first to the second position. However, where the coin 17 is of the proper denomination, the actuator lever 31 may be continued to be turned through its 90 degree arcuate movement to the position of FIG- URE 7, whereat the actuator pin 32 will have moved both the lock bolt 25 and coin receptor 57 substantially the same distance so that lock bolt 25 is in its extended second position. The spring 38 gives a snap action to the lock bolt 25 after it passes an intermediate point of travel to rapidly extend this lock bolt and to prevent pry-back of the lock bolt. The coin 17 is preferably retained between the sloping surface 59 and the lock pin 58. The actuator pin 32 will be at the bottom of the slot 78 and first slot portion 67. The outboard end of the lock bolt 25 will have extended into close proximity to the lock post wall 28. The lock mechanism 15 will now be locked, the socket 73 will be horizontal and the key may now be removed because it is no longer captive in the lock cylinder 30.

After the user has returned, he may again insert the key 18 and turn the key counter-clockwise 90 degrees to the position of FIGURE 1. In so doing the very first movement does not nove the lock bolt 25 to the left but instead moves only the receptor 57. This is because the S-shaped over-center spring 38 holds lock bolt 25 in the outward position while receptor 57 is returned. FIGURE 8 shows the lock bolt 25 in the fully extended position and shows receptor 57 in its position of being partially retracted relative to housing 16, and in fact completely retracted relative to the lock bolt 25. This is permitted because the second slot portion 68 is a lost motion means. As the actuator lever 31 is turned counter-clockwise from the position of FIGURE 7 to the position of FIGURE 8, the actuator pin 32 does not move the lock bolt 25 until pin 32 reaches the left end of the second slot portion 68. In the meantime, actuator pin 32 does engage the left side of slot 78 because it is closely received therein. Accordingly, it moves receptor 57 to the left and this separates the sloping surface 59 sufiiciently from lock pin 58 so that the coin 17 drops to the outer end of the lock bolt 25. From here it may drop into the lock post 27 to a coin collection receptacle 108. When actuator pin 32 engages the left end of second slot portion 68, as viewed in FIGURE 8, then lock bolt 25 will be withdrawn toward the first position of FIGURE 1. During the final portion of this return movement, the outer end of the actuator level 31 engages a cam follower 77 on the lock bolt 25 to complete the retraction. Also during the final portion of thi return movement, the receptor 57 slows down in its leftward movement relative to the leftward movement of lock bolt 25 so that receptor 57 returns to a position relative to lock bolt 25, as shown in FIGURE 1, whereat the proper denomination coin 17 would again engage the coin retention means 58-59.

If no coin or no coin of the proper denomination has been put into the lock mechanism 15, the lock bolt 25 may not be completely extended, and because the key 18 is captive in the key cylinder 30 until it gets to the horizontal position, the key 18 may not be withdrawn and hence a person is not able to lock his belongings in the locker 21. The first latch means 50 is the reason why the lock bolt 25 may not be completely extended in the absence of a coin 17. As the lock bolt 25 is attempted to be extended, the abutment 51 on the lock bolt 25 will engage the first side 53 of the latch lever 52. The second side 54 of the latch lever 52 will engage the abutment 56 to prevent the extension of the lock bolt 25. As stated above, however, with a coin of the proper denomination in place in the coin retension means 58 -59, the cam follower 61 senses the presence of the coin and rides up on the coin 17 to cam the coin chute 40 upwardly to invalidate the first latch means 50.

The register 80 is actuated by the downward pivotal movement of the coin chute 40, in the sequence of FIG- URE 7 to FIGURE 8, by actuation of the lever 82 for positive actuation of this meter 80. Also it will be noted that the meter 80 actually registers only the number of coin operated actuations of the lock bolt 25 and does not record the free service actuations of the lock bolt 25. The reason is that during free service, the owners cam 74 keeps the cam follower 75 and coin chute 40 urged upwardly to invalidate the first latch means 50 and hence there is no downward pivotal movement of the coin chute 40 to actuate the meter 80. Accordingly, the meter 80 is able to give an accurate count of coin actuated operations so that a supervisor may tell the proper amount of money which should have been collected by the coin actuations of that particular lock mechanism 15 in that particular locker 21. This provides a means of checking the amount of money which the coin removal attendant is supposed to turn in and hence avoids the temptation for dishonesty on the part of this attendant.

The key 18 is captive in the key cylinder 30 for all positions except the position corresponding to a hori zontal socket 73. Thi means that the key 18 cannot be removed except when the lock mechanism 15 has been properly actuated to the extended position of the lock bolt 25. This prevents stealing the key 18 and obtaining return of the coin 17.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a coin operated lock having,

a housing,

a lock bolt movable in said housing between first and second positions,

one of said positions being a locked position of said lock bolt cooperating with a first member and the other being an unlocked position,

actuator means to move said lock bolt,

coin retention means to retain a coin in an operative position in said housing,

first latch means interacting between said housing and said lock bolt to prevent movement of said lock bolt from said first to said second position in the absence of a coin in said operative position,

and having means sensing the presence of a coin in said operative position to invalidate said latch means to permit movement of said lock bolt from the first to the second position,

wherein the improvement comprises, in combination,

a receptor as part of the coin retention means and movable relative to the lock bolt,

means connecting the actuator means to move said receptor,

lost motion means between the actuator means and the lock bolt,

second latch means interconnecting said receptor and the lock bolt during the majority of movement of the lock bolt from the first to the second position,

and means to release said second latch means upon substantial completion of movement of the lock bolt to the second position to permit said lost motion means to act to effect initial return movement of said receptor without initial return movement of the lock bolt.

2. A lock as set forth in claim 1 wherein the said second latch means includes a movable link carried on one of said receptor and lock bolt.

3. A lock mechanism as set forth in claim 2 including a latch pin cooperating with said link and mounted on the other of said receptor and lock bolt.

4. A lock as set forth in claim 3 including,

means mutually urging said latch pin and said movable link into cooperation with each other.

5. A lock as set forth in claim 4, including,

a cam in the housing,

and a cam follower acting against said urging means and cooperating with said cam to mutually separate said latch pin and movable link substantially at completion of movement of the lock bolt from the first to the second position.

6. A lock as set forth in claim 3, including,

a cam follower on said movable link,

and a cam on the housing actuating said cam follower substantially at the completion of movement of the lock bolt from the first to the second position.

7. A lock mechanism as set forth in claim 1 including a latch link in said second latch means pivoted on the lock bolt.

8. A lock mechanism as set forth in claim 7 including a latch pin fixed on said receptor for cooperating with said latch link.

9. A lock as set forth in claim 1 including a cam pin on the housing,

and a cam follower on said latch link to be actuated substantially at the completion of movement of the lock bolt from the first to the second position.

10. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 including flap means on one of the housing and the lock bolt and cooperating therebetween to prevent access to the coin retention means.

11. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 including flap means mounted on the housing to prevent access to a coin in the operative position.

12. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the coin retention means includes a part of the lock bolt,

and flap means on the lock bolt to prevent access to a coin in the operative position.

13. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 including surfaces inside the lock bolt and on said receptor as part of the coin retention means,

the coin retention means retaining a coin in the operative position inside the lock bolt,

a coin exit in one end of the lock bolt,

and flap means covering said coin exit end of the lock bolt to prevent access to a coin in the operative position.

14. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 including,

a coin entry and a coin exit in the lock bolt with the coin retention means being surfaces inside the lock bolt to retain a coin therein in the operative position,

said coin exit being in the outer vertical end and an outer lower edge of the lock bolt in the portion thereof cooperating with the first member,

a slot in the front face of the lock bolt near said outer vertical end,

a flap mounted on said lock housing,

spring means acting between said flap and the housing urging said flap into said slot in the lock bolt when the lock bolt is in the first position to retain any coins inside the lock bolt and preventing them from eXiting from said coin exit of the lock bolt,

and a surface of said slot acting on said flap to move same out of said slot upon movement of the lock bolt from the first toward the second position.

15. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 including, means guiding the lock bolt for horizontal sliding movements in the housing,

a coin entry and a coin exit in the lock bolt with the coin retention means being a surface on said receptor and a surface inside the lock bolt to retain a coin therein in the operative position,

said coin entry being in the upper edge of the lock bolt,

an outer vertical end and an outer lower edge on the lock bolt in the portion thereof cooperating with the first member,

said coin exit being in said outer vertical end and outer lower edge of the lock bolt,

an aperture in the housing slidably receiving the lock bolt,

vertically disposed front and rear faces on the lock bolt, a slot in the front face of the lock bolt near said outer vertical end,

a flap pivotally mounted on the lock housing adjacent the aperture therein,

spring means acting between said flap and the housing urging said fiap into said slot in the lock bolt when the lock bolt i in the first position to retain any coins inside the lock bolt and preventing them from exiting from said coin exit of the lock bolt.

a surface of said slot acting on said flap to move same out of said slot upon movement of the lock bolt from the first toward the second position,

a hook on the lock bolt adjacent said slot therein,

and said hook covering said flap upon the lock bolt being in the first position thereof to prevent manipulating said flap from said coin exit end of the lock bolt.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1968 Roberts. 8/1968 Smith.