US1148309A - Lever-lock. - Google Patents

Description

.|. E. GILLMOR.

LEVER LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2a. 1915.

Pmnted my 27, 1915. f

2 SHEETS-SHEET Ii INVENTOR J. E. GILLMOR.

' LEVER LOCK.

APPylcATloN FILED APR.V23. 1915.

Patented July 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mur

WITN ESSES INVENTOR i ATTORNILY vw' CQLUMBIA PLA'NOURAPH Co..wASH1NuTON. D, C.

L? lili JOHN E. eILLivIon, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LEVER-LOCK.

Application led April 23, 1915.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. GILLMOR, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Lever-Lock, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a class of devices for insuring against accident, more particularly in their application to the control of the switches and signals of railroads.

Although its primary object is the automatic control against the error of an operator, of the switches, signals, or semaphores of railroads, my invention has fcr its further object the automatic locking of other kindred devices to guard them against improper operation, that is to say to eliminate from them the human element and also to insure as far as possible that the parts are returned to normal position. Its further object is to insure that when the devices which my invention comprehends are locked in normal position they shall remain locked and shall be incapable of being unlocked eX- cept under conditions when unlocking is desired.

Specically expressed, myinvention comprehends alock, operated by a removable key and adapted to coperate with a latching device in turn ada ted to coperate with' levers the function o which, for instance, is to occasion the operation of a switch or other device to be operated.

The invention further comprehends details of construction of va'general characterV hereinafter described and typified-in thedrawings which illustrate its application to` Nota switch stand of suitable character. withstanding that I have especially illustrated this particular application because it makes my invention more easily under-- stood, it should be stated that the invention, broadly expressed, comprehends what may be termed a master lever-lock mechanism operating in connection with a master lever mechanism, the master lever being the element the accurate locking of which against the error of an operator is primarily desired and accomplished by means of the lever-lock mechanisnnand which in practice maybe applied to the operation of one switch or of several switches, or of one cross-over, or of several cross-overs, or of a combination of single switches and single crossovers,or of multiple switches and multiple cr0ss-overs,-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1915.

Serial No. 23,330.

all of which applications will be understood by those skilled in the art.

In all of the foregoing applications a manually operated removable key to the lever-lock mechanism is an element which cannot be dispensed with, but which can only be operated under desired conditions, and cannot be removed until the parts are in their normal and desired position.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention as applied to one form of a low New Century switch stand, but not only because in practice I have found such application to give satisfactory and reliable results. It is to be understood, however, that the various instrumentalities in which my invention inheres may be otherwise and variously arranged and organized, and that my invention is not limited to any precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities.

In the drawings r-Figure l represents in perspective the new and useful lever-lock and switch lever mechanism which embody my invention and are shown' applied to one form of-a switch stand. Fig. 2 represents in central, vertical, sectional elevation taken on the dotted lines 2 2 of Fig. 9, the lever lock and the switch lever mechanism in the positions which the parts occupy when the switch lever has been locked and the key removed,-the auxiliary locking bar which properly should appear in the apertures 24, within which it is entered,being` for clearness of illustration, omitted. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 except that it is taken on the line -2-3 'of Fig. 9,with the key shown inserted, the bolt unlocked, the latch released andthe switch lever assumed' to be thrown over. In a consideration of all the figures it is to be understood that when the switch is unlocked the key cannot be removed. l Fig. 4 represents in side elevation a detail of the cover plate of the lock casing removed from the casing, the View particularly illustrating the depending lugs which constitute both the key bit stop and the checks to prevent the raising of the lock cylinder within the casing. Fig. 5 represents a sectional plan through the lock casing on the dotted line -m of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 represents in top plan the cover plate of the lock casing with the lid lifted,-the view showing the circular opening and slot for the introduction of the key. Fig. 7 represents a fragmentary perspective view in the direction of the arrow A directed toward the casing in Fig. 5, of the upper portion of the casing, of its cover plate, of the upper portion of the lock cylinder and of the key. 5 Fig. 8 represents in top plan view, sectional on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2, the switch lever of the switch stand represented in Fig. 1, Showing also the auxiliary locking bar, the lock casing being removed. Fig. 9 repre- 10 sents in side elevation the devices represented in Fig. 8 and in the position they occupy in said Fig. 8, that is to say locked. Fig. 10 represents a fragmentary view in side elevation of the master or switch lever reversed or thrown from the position which itis shown as occupying in Figs. 1, 8 and 9,*the auxiliary locking bar being in the position of engagement with both of the apertures in the housing. Fig. 11 represents a fragmentary View showing in section a portion of the housing of the lever latch with the auxiliary locking bar in its locking position.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 ,-1 designates the lock casing, being a hollow cylinder having a central opening 2 through its bottom, in the present instance square to prevent the rotation of the nose 3 of the bolt body 4. The casing has a cover plate 5 fixed upon it which is provided with depending lugs 6--6 and 7, of which 6 6, as best Y shown in Fig. 5, are near the periphery of the interior of the cover and 7 nearer to its center, because it is the stop lug for the bit of the key hereafter described. The function of all three of the lugs is to prevent any vertical movement of' the lock cylinder 40 8 which is rotatable within the lock casing 1. 9 is a central circular opening in the cover plate to admit the entrance of the barrel of the key, and 10 is a slot radiating from said opening to admit the bit of the key, it being noticed that the slot 10 and stop lug 7 are so located with respect to each other that when the key is inserted and turned to move the bolt 3 to unlocking position, the key cannot be removed from the lock until it is again turned to return the bolt to locking position. The openingis preferably slightly tapered inwardly. 11vis a lid hinged on the cover plate to close the key opening. The lock cylinder 8 is ro` vidediwith internal threads 12 adapted to receive the external threads 13 of the cylindric body 4 of the bolt. Obviously, as the bolt body cannot rotate because its square nose 3 passes through the squared opening 2 in the bottom of the lock casing, a rotation of the lock cylinder 8 will through its threads occasion, according to its direction, either the elevation or the depression of the bolt body, which in Fig. 2 is represented as depressed and in Fig. 3 as elevated.

When the bolt is down it locks and when it is up it sets free the lever latch 14 hereinafter described. The head of the lock cylinder 8 is provided with an upwardly extending post 15 which is suitably located 70 with respect to the circular key opening 9 in the cover plate 5, and to receive the hollow barrel 1G of the key, Figs. 1, 3, and 7, the bit of which is designated 17 and the bow 18. Surrounding the post and in the '.75 head of the lock cylinder is formed a continuous circular groove 19 into which the end of the hollow barrel of the key enters when the key is inserted, as best shown in Fig. 3. 20 designates what I term a bit- 30 notch formed in the head of the lock cylinder 8, radiating from the groove 19 and serving to receive the bit 17 of the key, and

in the rotary movement of the key when inserted occasions the rotation of the lock cylinder to the extent of the movement of the key in the direction of the internal arrow in Fig. 5, and from the upper or right hand side of the stop lug 7, as shown in said Fig. 5, past the depending lugs 6-6 and 90 around to the lower or left hand side of said lstop lug,-so that a complete turn of the key vin one direction effects a complete rotation of the lock cylinder and the complete upward movement of the bolt, and a complete turn in the other direction elfects the complete rotation of said lock cylinder and the complete downward movement of the bolt. The lock casing is conveniently erected upon a framing or standard 21 which is a part of or attached to a base plate 22, and which carries or is formed with a looped housing 23 within which is mounted the lever latch 14, preferably by being pivoted on the pivot 25. The housing is formed with slots or apertures 24, into one of which and through both of which, according to the throw of the switch lever, the outer end of the auxiliary locking bar is adapted to pass. The numeral 14 is placed upon and designates the body of the lever latch as an entirety, and the latch is preferably of the form best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. It is a balanced treadle latch, so to speak, the balance weight of which is desig- 115 nated 26 and the treadle 27. The fnlcrum or pivot 25 of the latch is between the balance weight and the treadle, and the conformation of the latch is such that its body portion 14 extends between the fulcrum and 120 the treadle. The latch is formed with a shoulder 28 and an upwardly extending portion which is in the nature of a rocking arm, upon which I have placed the numeral 29, and which as to its upper portion extends 125 forwardly toward the balanced weight so as to form the stop or nose 30 of the latch. The vertical distance between the shoulder 28 and the nose 30 is su'licient to permit of the entrance and passage between them of 13 lio the auxiliary locking bar 31 hereinafter referred to. rFhe rear face 32 of the rocking arm of the balance weight is square and more or less right angular with respect to the treadle portion of the lever latch, as will be understood from the drawings.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1, S, 9, l() and 11,-33 designates the switch stand casing within which is journaled a switch shaft 341-, assumed to be the member the rotary movement of which my device is intended to effectuate. Keyed to this shaft 311 which typifies merely an actuated member, is what l have described as an actuating or master lever 35, the throw of which from the right hand side of Fig. 1 to the left hand side of said figure, is the movement which it is desired to control and regulate by my locking mechanisms already described. lf locking mechanisms of any character were absent it would be obvious that this lever could be thrown from side to side to effect the rotation of the shaft first in one and then in the other direction. My invention is designed to prevent this throw except under the control of a person authorized to eifect it at the proper time. To the end of connecting this lever with the lever latch mechanism so as to control its locking and to permit of its throw, l connect with the end of the lever nearest its hub the auxiliary locking bar 31 already referred to, by attaching the inner or hub end of said lever to a pivot 36 preferably extending laterally from the slidable or adjusting head 37 on the master lever. Although it is not essential, the adjusting head is most conveniently made adjustable with reference to the master lever by means of adjusting bolts 38 and the bolt block 39, Fig. 8.

rli`he operation of my invention will now be easily understood.

Assume the bolt of the lock to be in its lower position or that represented in Fig.

2 with its bolt nose down, and the key withdrawn after locking the bolt,-'in this position the lever latch will be locked by the bolt nose, and the master lever locked beneath the nose on the lever latch, so that it will be impossible to throw the switch from its normal locked position shown in Figs. l, 2, 8 and 9. ln order to release the switch lever, it will then be necessary to introduce the key into the lock casing and rotate it so as to rotate the lock cylinder and thereby elevate the bolt body and its nose so as to set free the lever latch and permit it to be tilted backward by pressure on the treadle into the position shown in Fig. 3, in which the nose is thrown back out of the path of the master lever which is thus released or set free to be thrown from the right hand as in Figs. 1, 8 and 9, over to the left hand position not fully depicted but indicated in Fig. 10. In this last mentioned or left hand position of the master lever it is obvious that the auxiliary locking bar will have been caused to move from the position which it is shown as occupying in Figs. 8 and 9 in which its free or unpivoted extremity is entered into only one of the apertures in the housing, into the position indicated in Figs. 3, 10 and 11, in which as will be apparent its free extremity will have been caused to pass through both the apertures in the housing, as particularly shown in Figs. 3 and 11, and in front of the lever latch with the result that the lever latch will be locked in the position represented in Fig. 3. In this position it will be seen that the bolt 3 cannot be lowered by the turning of the key since it will strike the top of the latch 14 and as the bolt 3 cannot be lowered the key cannot be removed from the lock. Before the key can be removed therefore it is necessary to return the master lever and so the switch to normal position. By swinging over the master lever the auxiliary locking bar is removed from the front of the latch 4 which can then be moved back to its position in Fig. 2 with its nose 30 locking the lever 35 and the operator by turning the key returns the bolt 3 to its locking position at which time the bit 17 of the key is in line with the slot 10 and can be removed. In a word, therefore, after the master or switch lever has been locked in normal position and the key removed from the lock, the lever cannot be unlocked and thrown into abnormal position except by the further insertion and operation of the key, and when the switch has been moved out of normal position it is necessary for it to be returned to normal position and locked before the key can be removed. This thus serves as a check upon the operator because to take the key with him insures that the parts are in normal position. The keys are therefore, necessary elements of the control and operation of the device as an entirety and if marked with any designation of ownership or control and then improperly left in the lock, serve to identify the operator.

Having thus described my invention what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. ln a device of the character stated, a locking bolt, mechanism for actuating the same, means adapted for removable engagement with the mechanism for operating it, a latch adapted in normal position to be engaged by the bolt and adapted when moved to prevent movement of the bolt to locking position, and an auxiliary member adapted to engage the latch in its released position to lock the same against movement.

2. In a device of the character stated, a locking bolt, mechanism for actuating the leverin suitable connection With a switch,

a latch adapted to normally hold the lever against movement in normal position, a bolt for Vnormally holding the latch in locking positiomfmechanism for actuating said bolt to move it to locking or unlocking position` operating means adapted for removable engagement withsaid mechanism for actuating the same, and means for preventing disengagement of said operating means from the mechanism until said lever is in normal position.`

4:. In a device of the character stated, a lever in suitable connection with a movable element, a latch adapted to normally hold the lever against movement and adapted to be moved to release the same a lockinO bolt adapted to normally engage one face of the I latch to hold it in locking position, means for moving the bolt to locking and unlocking position, said latch when released being positioned to present a different face thereof in the path of said bolt to prevent movement of the bolt, and means, in suitable counection with the lever to be moved, to lock the latch in released position and to unlock the latch when the lever is returned to noi'- mal position.

5. In a device of the character stated, a locking member, mechanism for actuating the same, means adapted for removable engagement with the mechanism for operating it, a latch adapted in normal position to be engaged by the locking member and adapted when moved to prevent the return of the locking member to locking position, and au auxiliary member adapted to engage the latch in its released position to lock the same against movement.

JOHN E. GILLMOR.

Vitnesses:

C. D. MCVAY, K. M. BnoPHY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained lfor ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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