US1100391A - Padlock. - Google Patents

Description

J. T. MURPHY.

PADLOGK.

APPLICATION FILED Ammo, 1914.

1, 1 00,391 Patented June 16,1914.

COLUMBIA PLANou'RApn co.,wAsH|Nu-roN, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES J. MURPHY, OF TERBYVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 EAGLE LOCK 00., 0F TERRYVILLE, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

IPADLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 191 1.

Application. filed April 20, 1914. Serial No. 833,260.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMns J. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Terryville, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Padlocks; and ll do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the characters of reference marked thereon, to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this application, and represent in- Figure 1 a View in front elevation of a padlock constructed in accordance with my invention, showing its shackle in its closed position and its pivotal, duplex guard-lever in its guarding position. Fig. 2 a corresponding view with the cover of the case removed. Fig, 3 a similar View with the shackle in its open position. Fig. a a detached view of the duplex guard-lever. Fig. 5 a detached view of one of the tumblers of the outer or left bank of tumblers. Fig. 6 a corresponding View of one of the tumblers of the inner or right bank of tumblers.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class of padlocks in which the shackle is locked in its closed position by means of spring-actuated tumblers protected by a guard-lever, the object being to produce a simple, strong and reliable padlock having a high degree of security against being surreptitiously opened by hammering or jarring the lock case in such a manner as to gradually disengage the tumblers from the nose of the shackle.

With these ends in view, my invention consists in a padlock having certain details of construction as will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown I employ two stacks of spring-actuated pivotal tumblers 2 and 8 arranged, as it were, to face each other and substantially located upon the opposite sides of a line longitudinally intersecting the center of the nose 1 of a shackle 5 the heel 6 of which swings upon a rivet or stud 7 in the pad lock case 8. To enable these two stacks of tumblers to be crowded into the said case 8 with freedom for swinging movement therein, the tumblers 2 constituting the left hand or outer stack are, as herein shown, made considerably shorter than the tumblers 3 constituting the right hand or inner stack. The hooked outer ends 9 of the tumblers 2 coact with a locking-notch 10 in the outer edge of the nose 4 of the shackle, while the hooked outer ends 11 of the tumblers 3 co-act with a locking-notch 12 in the inner edge of the nose of the shackle at a point considerably within the lockingnotch 10 aforesaid, the said hooked ends of the tumblers facing each other. The tumblers of both stacks of tumblers are rounded at their hooked upper ends so as to be cammed back by the cam-like terminal 13 of the shackle-nose 4: when the same is crowded against them in swinging the shackle into its closed position against the tension of the shackle-spring 14: which may be of any suitable construction and arrangement. The tumblers of the respective stacks of tumblers are hung upon rivets or studs 15 and 16 and constantly urged into their closed and locking positions by means of springs 17 of which, as shown, there is one for each pair of tumblers, a pair of tumblers being, as the term is used, complementary tumblers of the two stacks lying in the same plane therein. For the reception of the springs 17 each of the tumblers 2 is formed with a notch 18 and each of the tumblers 3 with a notch 19.

For positively locking the tumblers of the respective stacks in their locked positions, I employ a duplex guard-lever 20 transversely arranged with respect to the axes of the tumblers and pivotally mounted about midway of its length upon a rivet or stud 21 which rises, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3., between the two stacks of tumblers. At its outer end the said guard-lever 20 is furnished with a stump 22 which in the normal or guarding position of the lever, stands closely adjacent to an outwardly projecting locking-lug 23 formed upon the outer edge of one or more of the tumblers 2 of the outer stack, while the inner end of the said guard-lever 20 is formed with a corresponding stump 24; arranged in position to coact with a locking-lug 25 formed upon theouter edge of one or more of the tumblers 3 of the inner stack at a point just above a clearance notch 26 formed in the said tumblers of the inner stack for the reception of the stump 24 when all of the tumblers are swung upon their respective studs 15 and 16 by the application of a suitable key to the post 27. At its inner end the said guarddever 20 is provided with a pin 28 for engagement by one arm of the guard-lever spring 29 the other arm of which is engaged with the inside of thelockcase S, the said spring being coiled midway of its length for being mounted upon the rivet or stud 30. A plate 31 mounted upon the studs 16 and 30 is employed for holding the spring 29 in place.

The right hand end of the guard-lever 20 is shaped to form a locking-edge 32 which when the shackle 5 is in its closed and locked position, stands adjacent to the inner edge of a locking-arm 33 formed upon the heel of the shackle as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the guard-lever 20 assists the tumblers of the respective stacks of tumblers 2 and 3 in locking the shackle 5. The said arm 33 also operates when the shackle is being swung from its open to its closed position, to turn the lever 20 on its stud 21 whereby the stumps 22 and 24 of the said lever are swung in opposite directions into their clearance positions in which they permit the stacks of tumblers 2 and 3 to be forced apart by the successive engagement of the cam-like terminal 13 of the shackle with the camlike or rounded hooked upper ends 9 and 10 of the tumblers.

When the shackle is in its closed and locked position the undercut upper ends 9 and 11 of its tumblers are entered into the notches 10 and 12 in the opposite edges of the nose of the shackle. At thisgtime the stumps 22 and 24 of the transversely arranged guard-lever 20 stand guard over the respective stacks of tumblers and prevent them from being jarred away from each other sufficiently to have their undercut upper ends 9 and 11 disengaged from the locking- notches 10 and 12. The surreptitious unlocking of the padlock will be effectually frustrated by the engagement of the projections 23 and 25 of one or more tumblers of each stack of tumblers with the respective stumps 22 and 24 of the guardlever which in effect acts as a cross-tie for both stacks of tumblers, whereby the said lever 20 will be gripped and firmly held against being turned on its pivot 21. The padlock can now only be opened by the lnsertion of its proper key, the first oflice of which will be to swing the lever 20 for the movement of its ends in opposite directions and so that the tumblers of the two stacks of tumblers will be released by the carriage of the stump 22 above the projection 23 of one or more of the tumblers 2 and by the registration of. the stump 24 with the clearance slot 26 of one or more of the tumblers 3 as shown in Fig. 3, thus releasing the tumblers to the action of the key which will then swing them apart so as to disengage their hooke upper ends 9 and 11 from the notches 10 and 12 in the nose of the shackle which will then be thrown into its open position by its spring 14-. hen the key is removed from the padlock, the spring 29 of the guard-lever 20 turns the same on its pivot 21 and brings the edge 32 of the lever into engagement with the cam-like end of the arm 33 of the shackle. Now when the shackle is swung against the tension of its spring 14 into its closed position, its first effect will be to swing the lever 20 into its clearance position in which it is shown in Fig. 3, thus preparing for the separation of the tumblers for the entrance of the nose of the shackle between them and into the lock-case.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the two stacks of levers engaging as they do with the opposite edges of the nose of the shackle, are interposed between the stumps 22 and 24 of a transversely arranged guard-lever 20 which prevents the tumblers from being sul'liciently jarred apart to release the shackle, and that the only effect of attempting to jar the tumblers apart will be to engage them with the slumps in such a way as to bind the lever 20 in its guarding position from which it cannot be dislodged except by means of the proper key of the lock. In further explanation of the guarding function of the guard-lever 20, it may be said that the blows chiefly re lied upon for surreptitiously opening padlocks of the type to which my invention helongs are blows upon the lower edge of the case exerting their effect substantially in line with the longitudinal. axis of the tumblers which under such blows are caused to rebound and gradually release their hold upon the nose of the shackle. These blows are largely neutralized in their eitect upon the guard-lever by arranging the same sub stantially at a right angle to the direction in which the blows must exert their force upon the tumblers in order to accomplish their intended surreptitious purpose. In the padlock chosen for illustration, the effect of such blows will be to jar the tumblers 3 of the inner stack outward so as to engage their projections 25 with the stump 2 1 at the right hand end of the guard-lever 20, whereby the same will be blocked and prevented from swinging on its pivot 21. Continned hammering upon the lower end of the lock may now ar the tumblers 2 of the outer stack in an outward direction only to bring their projections 23 into engagement with the stump 22 at the left hand end of the guard-lever which will then be held firmly at both ends and effectually prevent the tumblers from being disengaged from the shackle. A high degree of protection would however be secured by having but one stack of tumblers coact with the transversely arranged guard-lever and such a construction I claim as falling within the purview of my invention which consists in av transversely arranged guard-lever pivoted between two stacks of tumblers arranged to coact with the nose of the shackle on opposite sides thereof.

I claim 1. In a padlock, the combination with the case thereof, of a shackle, two pivotal tumblers respectively arranged to engage with the opposite edges of the nose of the shackle, and a guard-lever adapted to co-act with the outer edges of the respective tumblers and prevent them from being jarred into their unlocked positions.

2. In a padlock, the combination with the case thereof, of a shackle, two tumblers respectively engaging with the opposite edges of the nose of the shackle, and a transversely arranged guard-lever pivoted between the respective tumblers and preventing their outward movement away from each other into their unlocked positions.

3. In a padlock, the combination with the case thereof, of a shackle, two tumblers respectively engaging with opposite edges of the nose of the shackle, and a guard-lever pivoted between the tumblers and provided with stumps engaging with the outer edges of the tumblers for preventing them from being jarred into their unlocked positions.

4. In a padlock, the combination With the case thereof, of a shackle, pivotal tumblers engaging with the opposite edges of the nose of the shackle, and a guard-lever pivoted between the tumblers and adapted to embrace the outer edges thereof and preventing them from being jarred into their unlocked positions and co-acting with the heel of the shackle, the ends of the said guard-lever moving in opposite directions under the influence of the key of the lock and of the shackle.

5. In a padlock, the combination with the case thereof, of a shackle, pivotal tumblers adapted to engage with the opposite edges of the nose of the shackle, one of the tumblers being furnished with a locking-projection and the other with a clearance notch, and a transversely arranged guard-lever pivoted between the tumblers and provided at its respective ends with stumps, whereby the tumblers are virtually embraced and prevented from being jarred into their un locked positions, the stump of one end of the guard lever passing above the locking projection thereof, and the stump of the other end of the guard lever registering with a clearance slot in the other tumbler as the ends of the lever are swung in opposite directions under the influence of the key of the lock.

6. In a padlock, the combination with the case thereof, of a shackle, two pivotal tumblers respectively arranged to engage with the opposite edges of the nose of the shackle, and a guard-lever transversely arranged with respect to the said tumblers, pivoted between them and coacting with one of them to prevent its outward movement and disengagement from the shackle.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, JAMES J. MURPHY. Witnesses:

OTIS B. HOUGH, G. W. PLUMB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

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