US1547452A - Actuating mechanism for opening vault doors - Google Patents

Description

July 28, 1925.

R. sHEETz ACIIUATING MECHANISM FOR OPENING VAULT DOORS Filed April jmmr Fak/Zijn?.

@Mi MMM g5 Patented July 28, 1925.

Unirse sra'llsv isaiasi i ROBERT L. SHEEIZ, OIE' SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

, ACTUAIING IlIECHLNISB- F012- @PENNG-VAULT'DOORS.

Application filed April 23, 1924. Serial No. 798,418.

T0 all ila/110m may concern.'

Ee it known that I, Bonner L. SHEETZ, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Sioux City, in the county oflloodbury and State of lowa, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Actuating Mechanism for Opening Vault loors, of which the following` is a specification.

My invention relates to vault doors, particularly of the type employing the pressure-bar system for forcing the door into place in the door casing, and has for its oblject to provide means of simple, novel and inexpensive construction, whereby the pressure-bar actuatingmechanism may be operated fromwithin the vault.

l 1t is my purpose to provide means whereby a banker or bank employee, i. Yho has become locked within a vault by a bank robber', may extricate himself from the vault.

further object of my inventii'in is to provide suoh means in the form of an 'attachment which may be readily secured to the inside of a vault door and connected with the pressure-bar actuating-mechanism with.` the fewest changes in the latter structure.

Another object is to provide such an attachment which may be adapted to various makes of vault doors wherein the arrange" nient of the pressure-bar actuating-mechanism with Vrelation to the combination lock may be different.

ore specifically, it is my purpose to provii` e an attachment which may be used either where the con'ibination lock registers with the pressure-bar hand-wheel shaft, and thus prevents such shaft being` extended through the vault door, or where it doesnot, the pa rts being' such that those used in the latter case may be used also in the former with the addition of several other parts.

Wvith these and other objects in view, myV

invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my 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: c

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a vault door, together with its casing, illustrating the presture-bar system.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the same with my invention attached, taken on the line 2-.2 of Figl.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the attachment as used where the combination lock of the vault door covers the end of the pressure-bar hand-wheel shaft.

Before proceeding to describe in detail my invention, I will attempt to set forth the problem which it is intended to remedy.

In most banks the door to the safety deposit vault is of such size and weight that it would be impossible to swing` it closed into the casing without the aid of mechanical devices of some kind. The doors are made to fit very closely within their oasings in order that the possibility of introducing eX plosive materials or tools may be minimized; lt has therefore been found necessary to provide mechanical means for forcing the door closed, and this means I have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings herewith.

The vault door, 10., is hinged at 11 to the swinging yoke, 12, which in turn is hinged at 13 to the casing, 14, or to the wall of the buildingwherein the vault is built. On the door are suitably mounted in bearings the shaft, 15, on the ends of which are cams which coact with the bearing` members, 16, and which, when rotated therein, will force the door, 10, inwardly into vthe casing. In order to rotate the shafts,15, the vertical shaft, 16a, y is provided which drives the shafts, 15, through the medium of the gears, 17. 1n order to drive the shaft, 16, the hand# wheel shaft, 18, is provided, suitably journaled in the casing, 19, iixed'to the vault door, and having thereon the worm, 20, in mesh with the worm-wheel, 21, onthe shaft, 16. The shaft, 18, ordinarily extendsto'a point where it is about flush with the outerA surface of the vault door, 10, but does not extend into the door.

Y From the foregoing,l description it will be Y seen that a bank robber may force a person to enter the vault, and by actuatingv the pressure-bar system effectivelylock ythe door in place so that it is impossible for the person within to effect anescape.

Duringrecent years daylight .robberies have become much more frequentthan in former times. This may be due to the fact that it is easier to escape undetected after having gotten away from the bank itself in the daytime, when the streets are swarming with people, than it is at night. 1t is, however, a fact that such robberies have become much more frequent than f ormerly.` In order to complete such a robbery,'it is necessary that the employees of the bank be taken CTI care ofin some way so. they will not give the alarm when t-he robbers flee. "The average criminal hesitates to iniiict any unnecessary injury upon those with whom he comes into contact, and the most convenient and e'Hective method ot eliminating trouble from the employees is to lock them up within the vault.

Vihere the pressure-barv system is not in use it is possible for the prisoners to escape by removing the combination lock, which is screwed to the back of the vault door by means of screws which are removable -from.

within, and then rotating the combination disks toV position where the locking bolt may be withdrawn, and the locking bars retractedin order to unlock the door. Howev r, itt. the pressure-bar system is installed onthe door, it will prevent the door being' pened. j

.l have been engaged for some time as a salesman ot protective devices for vault doo-rs, and from my experience have found that on the average sil-r people have been locked up at a time within a vault where suoli a robbery hasV occurred. The average vault does not contain much over two thousand cubic feet of air, and it is known that the average person consumes about three hundred cubic 'feet ot air perhour. rllhus it will be seen from this that in such a vault the oxygenV would be about exhausted at the end ot an hour where. six people havebeen imprisoned therein.

The arrangements ot the various parts ot the vault doors ditter in various makes. In some cases the shaft, 1S, Ais remove-d considerably from the combination lock, 22, and in other cases it is directly opposite the combination lock on the other. side of the door.

Itis my purpose to provide a simple attachment which may be used in either case andwhich may be` connected to the shaft, 1S, in order that the shaft, 18, may be rotated from the inside ot the door. My invention includes a shank, n3, on the `end ot which is a socket, 2li, having a square opening therein ot sui'iicient size that it willA receive the ordinary shaft, 1S, which is squaredtor the purpose. In order to accomplish this, the casing, 19, is loosened 'and moved outwardly away from the vault door, the slot, 19, allowing such movement. The shank, 3, is rotatably mounted in a bracket, 25, and secured therein by means oi' a collar, 26. rEhe socket, 2d, forms a shoulder, which together' with the collar, 26, secures the shank, 23, against longitudinal movement relative'to the bracket, 25. ln many cases the collar, 2G, may be dispensed with.

@n the end ot the shank, 23, is a handwheel, 27. In the ordinary installation an opening, 28, is cut in the door, 10, so as to registerwith the shaft, `18. The socket, 24,

`bracket itor supporting is then inserted through the opening, 28, and attached to the end ot the shaft, 18, by means of a hollow headed set screw, 29, or taper and'28b, are cut in the door from opposite sides, as shown, which overlap. Thevdepression, 28a receives the gear, 30, and the depression, 2Sb receives the gear, 31. lt will be seen that the gears are thus held against longitudinal movement. At the same "time, the door is not cut entirely through at one spot, and protection against hre is thus increased. 1

It will be seen that in this case, as in the other case, the attaching is `done entirely on the inside `without disturbing the mechanism on the outside ot the door. The same parts are used in each case with the addition ot the spur gears where the combination lock, 22, has to be evaded.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement ot the parts of my invention without departing trom the real spirit and purposeot my invention, and it is my intentionto cover by my claims, any modied forms of structure or use ot mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

' I claim as my invention: i

1.l In a device of the class described, inY

combination with a vault door having a horizontal pressure-bar actuating-shaft with its end terminating at the outside surtt-ace of the door, a shank, a socket onthe shank adapted to be extended through a suitable opening in the door and to receive, the end or' the pressure-bar actuating-shaft, and a the shank on the interior of the vault door.

2. In combination with `a vvault door hav ing a pressure bar actuating sha'tt with its end terminating at the outer surface lot the` door, a permanentattachn'ient for actuadiH ing the said shaft comprising a bracket, a

shank journaled therein, va socket on the shank having'- a` shoulder engaging Vsaid bracket, a collar on the shankengaging the other side ot said bracket soV as to maintain the shank in tired longitudinal position relaf tive to the bracket, a handle on; the shank., the socket being Aextended,through an opening in the door and receiving the end ot the pressure bar actuating shaft.

Signed at Sioux City, in the. county ot` Woodbury and Stateot Iowa, this 2nd day of April, 1924.

I ROBERT L. SHEETZ.

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