GB421550A - Improvements in and relating to locks and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

421,550. Locks. DUDSON, T., 42, High Street, Abertridwr, near Cardiff. June 21, 1933, No. 17655. [Class 44] [See also Group XXXI] A locking device, particularly for a motor car steering- wheel, consists of a barrel 1 having bores 3 to house screwed spindles 12 which carry at their lower ends locking elements in the form of mutilated discs 14 which are rotated so as to lie flush with the surface of the barrel by depressing nuts 10 against springs 13 by means of a key. To allow the combination of the lock to be changed, each spindle carries a pinion which engages with a corresponding aperture in the disc 14, the latter being retained on the spindle by a nut 19. Graduations are provided on the disc and one of the teeth of the pinion may be omitted to form a pointer. To allow access to the discs for adjustment, the barrel is provided with a detachable cap 8. Opposite pairs of discs are arranged at different levels so as to be clear of one another. In one form, Figs. 1 and 7, the key shank 21 is provided with graduations 25 adjacent to slots 23, and threaded bores extending into the slots house adjustable screwed plugs 24 which when the key is inserted into a bore 7 in the barrel engage with projections 11 to depress the nuts 10 and thus free the barrel. The bore 7 may be of any cross-section to ensure the correct orientation of the key. In another form, the key, Fig. 8, has graduated tubes 28 slidably mounted in bores in the body part 27 and held in adjusted position by screws 30 engaging with holes 29, the tubes being adapted to engage directly with the tops of the nuts and over the screwed spindles. As applied to a motor car steering- wheel, the barrel 1 is mounted in the top of the column and the discs 14 engage with recesses in the outer fixed member, the wheel being free when the key is in the lock ; the key is retained in the lock by a suitable catch. The barrel may be completely removable from the column or it may be provided with a projection 32 which co-operates with a slot in the column to allow the barrel limited movement and to hold it raised by engagement with a recess.