US177611A - Improvement in latches and locks - Google Patents

Description

H. L. ARNOLD. LATCHES AND LOCK-S. o. 177, 11, Patented May 23, "may Beit known that I, HORACE L. ARNOLD, of Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and Latches, of which the following is a spe'cifica- V bineddoor-lock and knob=latch, to latch-opertionof bolts employed incombinationwith "the combi'nationof alever-tumbler, a spindlenormally-straight flat spring, which is deon latch-lever andtumbler, these latter being so arranged with relation to each other as to "enable them to properly receive and to be actuated by said spring, andto admit of the, spring being readily, reversed side for side, when set or weakened from long use inione position.

thestop which limits the movement of it. and the latch-lever.

UNITED STATES PATENT HORAGE Lpnn vo tnor QRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT m LATVCHES IAND ,LQCKS.

' Specification forming" part of Letters Patent No. I 77,611, dated May 23, 1876 application filed 1 July 10, 1875.

Toall whom it may-concern:

State of Michigan,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks 1 and tion: l

My said improvements relate .to a comating mechanism, and to a peculiar construcgated' lever-tumblers.

That portion of my invention which relates to a combined lock and knob-latch consists in hub,' having aV-shape'd notch, a latch-lever, provided with a stop for limiting its movement, and also with a V-shaped lug, springseats-on both, latch-lever and tumbler, and a flected by abutting endwise against its seats By my novel combination the spring affords a soi'tresistance to the key at the tumbler, a

light onthe strike, and which admits of the withdrawal of the latch by rocking the knobpenditure of practically the same degree of force at the knob, and at the same time the That portion of my invention which relates thecombination of a latch-lever having arms movement, and a V-shapcd lug on one of its dle-hub provided with a V-shaped notch for Thatportion of my invention which relates theinitial point of contact of the key with said bolt, when the bolt is to be moved forward, is separated "from the initial point of contact with the key when'the bolt is to be moved in-w ward by aspace equal, or substantially equal,

to the distance which the bolttravels in being thrown forward or draw-n inward, whereby the bit of the key occupies nearlyv the same position at the initial movement of the bolt in either direction, and also whereby at the mo,- ment of said initial movements of the bolt the bit of the key will hold the lever-tumbler in practically the same position, whether thebolt is to be thrown outward or withdrawn, in order that the width of the gating in the tumbler may be reduced to a minimum, and be but a trifle wider than the thickness of the bolt'stump which passes through saidgating, thereby adding practically to the security of the lock.

To more particularly describe my improvements I will refer to the accompanying drawin gs, representing locks embodying the several features of my invention.

. Figures 1 and 2 represent one of my looks with one side of the case detached, showing the latch and lock bolts in the positions incident to their use. portion of the lock with the tumbler detached. Fig. at represents the same as in Fig. 3, with the tumbler in working position.

The latch mechanism consists of the latchbolt A pivoted reversibly or otherwise (in a manner well-known) to the lower end of the three-armed lever B at a. Thelever B is pivoted 011 astud at b projecting from the side of the lock-case, and has aspringarm at c. Said lever has also a camarm at d,with which the spindlehub engages. Three armed latchoperating levers have heretofore been. used. The novel feature of my invention in this connection is the two-faced cam-lug at e on a bellcrank l'ever, which is provided with a stop for limiting its movement to the precise degree requisite for retiring the latch into the case, in combination with a spindle-hub, as at O,

which is provided with a V-shaped cam-face,

so located with reference tothe two-faced FFIGE.

Fig. 3 represents the lower cam-lug e on lever B'that when the spindlehub is rocked one or the other of the sides of the /-shaped cam-face will engage with a corresponding face of the cam-lug, and thereby cause the lever B to vibrate and withdraw the latch-bolt. It will be seenthat the initial points of contact of the cam-faces on the spindle-hub with the faces of the lug are closely adjacent to each other, and that as the hub is rocked in either direction the points of contact approach the lower point of the cam-lug,

and, therefore, although the two initial points of contact vary slightly in their positions with relation to the fulcrum of the lever,this variation gradually lessens in degree up to the time the. latch-bolt is fully'drawn inward. The stop for the latch-lever, in this instance, is afforded by the interior surface of the upper portion of the rim of the lock-case, as at d. This arrangement of the parts secures a prompt, easy movement of the latch, with a slight movement of the spindle, and by the expenditure of very nearly the same force, regardless of the direction in which the knob-spindle is turned; and at the same time, by reason of the stop which limits the movement of the latch-lever, the V- shaped notch and the V-shaped lug are always maintained in proper relations to each other,

erating against the stud or lug farthest from the lever-fulcrum than when operating againstthe lug nearest thereto. With my improved latch I am unable to observe either that more force is requisite for withdrawing the bolt by rocking the hub to the right than to the left hand, or that there is any difference in the extent of rocking movement in opposite directions requisite for withdrawing the latch. A knob-latch so constructed maybe made at low cost, and, by reason of the slight movements requisite on part of hub and spindle, it has great durability. Moreover, by this construction of the cam lug and huh, I am enabled'to use a lever with a shorter arm than it is practicable to use when two widely-separated cam lugs or studs are employed, and to that extent the latch-case may be reduced in dimensions.

It will be obvious that the valve of the twofaced lug, and the spindle-hub with the V- shaped cam-face, will be substantially the same whether they are employed with a threearmed lever, constructed as shown, or with a simple bell-crank lever. All knob-latches of this general class require a spring for holding nection with this portion of my improvement.

The public demand a latch which shall, in trade-language, be heavy on the hand and light on the strike, or, in other words, one in which the leverage shall be so distributed that the spring shall influence the knob strongly, and the catch only enough to insure its projection after retraction. Therefore, it becomes practically an important point to make the distance from the center of the threearmed lever to the point of attachment to the latch-bolt exceed the distance from said center to the point at which the spindle-hub engages with the lever, as much as is possible, in a medium-sized case.- This requirement is fully met by my arrangement, since I can reduce the length of the hub-arm as much as is desirable. Commercially, this feature is of great importance, as a spring which is satis:

factory to the hand must act with a greatlydiminished force on the latch bolt or catch; otherwise, when the door is swung shut the violence of the blow required to force the catch into the lock-case speedily destroys the strike, or loosens it on the door-post, or breaks the lock-case.

I am aware that in a certain so-called latchlock heretofore constructed the retiring of the latch-bolt into the case is efiected by employing a spindle-hub of peculiar construction, and a lever pivoted at one end to the case and arranged to engage by a hook-connection with the bolt, so that when used as a lock-bolt a disconnection of bolt andlever may be effected by' means of a key. In this latch-lock the spindle-hub is provided with three camsfor I engaging with cam-surfaces on one edge of the lever, and is capable of complete rotation at all times, requiring, therefore, close atten-. tion at the knob to effect clearance of the bolt from its catch; and for this reason alatch so constructed, with or without the'addition allocking features heretofore employed therewith, is not suited for general use. In this instance I show the plain flat spring at D which is arranged to control not only the latch-bolt, but also the lever-tumbler E, common to locks of this class.

Broadly considered, it is not new to combine with a tumbler and a latch-bolt lever a single spring arranged to control both; but so far as 1 am aware, in all. such cases, the tumblers and latch-levers have been so arranged, with reference to each other and to the remaining essential parts of the lock, that said springs are required to be bent or specially formed in order that they might perform this double service.

It is well known that the springs of a lock or latch are usually the parts of the mechanism which first become inoperative, and that when such springs break it is usually at the points where they have been bent so as to cause them to assume arbitrarily acertain form. It is also well known that such springs necessarily involve considerable bulk of metal, and are hardened or adjusted by hammering.

In my improved combined knob latch and look I have so arranged the several parts of the lock thata flat'spring may be combined with thelatch-lever and tumbler, and control both byexercising its abutting force at each ofits ends.

I attain economy in construction, 'as it involves only the cutting from a strip of spring metal a piece slightly longer than the straightline distance between suitable spring-seats on latch-lever and tumbler. I attain durability in having a spring with no fixed bends, in having it freely held in its seats, and in causing it to act from its ends, in the. same manner, whether the latch-lever or the tumbler-lever be vibrated. I attain a soft easy resistance to the movement of latch and tumbler, because the spring, exercising its force endwise, may be made very light, and yet be sufficiently powerful for the service required. I also attain in my lock, and with this spring, a capacity not attainable in any lock employing a specially-formed spring-heretofore known to me. i

It is obvious if a spring be specially formed or bent "so as to occupy a certain position and to perform a certain service, that if such spring at any time naturally assumes the form it has when in service, it cannot be reversed in position. On the contrary with the flat spring as employed by me, if, through long use, it naturally assumes the curved form incident to its position in service, and thereby becomes inoperative, it is only necessary, in order to renew its efficiency, to take it out, re-

verse it end for end, side for side, and cause What was before its convex side to become its concave side. I

It will be seen that the arrangement of ,the latch-lever and tumbler with relation to the latch-hub and other portions of the lock is such that the flat spring may readily perform the double service. In practice, I prefer to slightly clip the corners of the spring at each end in order to secure a good general bearing of the ends of the springs with their seats.

That portion of. my improvement which relates solely to looks is applicable to those in which the boltis provided with a stump and combined with a gated lever-tumbler. In all prior locks of this class with which I am familiar, the tumbler occupies at the time of the initial forward movement of the bolt a different position with relation to the key-bit than that occupied at the time of its initial backward movement. It is well known that at both of these initial movements of the bolt the gating in the tumbler should be in line with the stump on the bolt in order to permit the entrance of the stump; and it will be seen that if the tumbler be not held by the key in the same position at the time of [both initial movements of the bolt, the gating must be as much wider than is necessary for the passage of the stump as the variation in the two positions occupied by the tumbler at the time of said two initial movements of the bolt. It is also well known that in proportion as the gating is Wider than the thickness of the stump, the easier the lock may be violated. One object of this portion of myinvention is to attain the reduction of the width of the gating in the levertumbler to a minimum-that is to say, to have V the gating no wider than is necessary to permit the clear passage of the stump. This I accomplish by a novel construction of the bolt at the key-notch, which is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The well known symmetri-' cal key-notch or talon, which may be generally described as a square-sided notch apwith which the key engages to throw the bolt forward is shown at g, and the backward point of contact at h, and it will be seen that they are as far from each other in the longitudinal line of the bolt as the distance traversed by the bolt in being locked or unlocked. In order to secure to the bolt a full forward movement, the front side of the notch is extended downward and toward the rear of the lock-case, so that the bit of the key maintains its control over the bolt while moving over this inclined surface. The notch is widened below on each side, as is usual, to afford full clearance of the key after the bolt has been fully moved in either direction.

In Fig. the tumbler E is shown in its proper position, and it will be seen from the dotted and solid lines in this figure that whether the bolt is to be moved out or in that side of the notch which is to be engaged by the key Will always be one-half the thickness of the key-bit from the pointt' on the belly of the tumbler. Therefore, the key being in contact with the tumbler at the same point at the time of both initial movements of the bolt, the gating is in position to allow the entrance of thestump 7c.

Another point gained by me with the talon or key-notch described is the savingof one-- half the labor heretofore required for fitting the key.

It is obvious that since the tumbler is longitudinally stationary, and the key-hole is also stationary, that unless the key-bit stands in one certain position when the stump enters the gating, two points on the belly of the tumbler must be fitted so that when the keybit is in contact with either point the gating shall be in the line of the travel of the stump.

In practice, with wing-keys the tumblers have, as .I believe, always hitherto been necessarily fitted at the two points referred to.

4 ileum-1 bring the'bit of the key to the same point, as

at 'i, on the tumbler, at the commencement of either the inward or outward throw of the bolt, and by making this common point i fall} in a radius subtending the belly of the tumbler and tangential to the circletraversed by the key-bit, I secure the liftand dwell requi- .site for the entrance of the stump into the narrow gating, and thus save one-half the labor heretofore essentialin fitting keys-andi tumblers.

Having thus described myinven-tion. I claimas new, to be secured bythese Letters Pat- I means of the stop which limits itsrocking movement, substantially as'describe'd.

cut-

1. In a combined knob latch and lock, a le-E yer-tumbler, a spindle-hubhav-ing a V -shapedi notch, and a latch-lever, provided with astopj for limiting its movement, and witha V-shaped' lug, in combination with spring-seats on latch lever and tumbler, and a normally straight flat spring, which is deflected byabutting endwise against its seat-s on latch-lever and tumbler, and is capable of being reversed side for side, substantially as described,whereby; the tuniblerofiers a soft resistance to the key, the hub and latch lever are maintainedin} proper relations with each other, thelatch is made heavy on the hand and light on the strike, and is withdrawn by the movement of the knob in either direction with nearly an equal'degree of force on theknob,-and also "whereby'the spring may be'reversed in position aft-erit'is setor weakened, as set forth.

2. The combination of a latch-lever having unequal arms, provided with-aiV-shaped 'lug on one of itsarms, and with a stop which limits its movement, with a latch, a spring actingon the leverfor throwing the -latch,

and a spindle-hub provided with a \I-shaped.

notch for engaging with the "l-shaped'lug on the latch-lever, and maintained 'in proper working position, with relationlto said lug, by

'- 3. The combinatiomwith a..'gated lever' tumbler, ofa 'bolt provided witha stump, and a key-notch which has a widthequalto the distance traversed by the bolt, substantially as described, whereby at the initial outward or inward movement of the bolt, the tumbler will occupy the sameposition-with relation to the line traveled by'the "bolt-stump, as set .forth.

HORACE L. ARNOLD.

Witnesses: v

WQH. V N Inn-WEN, Jr.,

H. VAN-AALDEREN.

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