US1779150A - Combination ignition-lock switch and theft-alarm switch - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 21, 1930. G. A. THORMEYER 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH Filed Aug. 8. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 21, 1930. G. A. THORMEYER 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH Filed Aug. 8, 192 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 21, 1930.

G. A. THORMEYER COMBINATION IGNITION LOCKSWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 8, 1927 1930- e. A. THORMEYER 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH Filed Aug. 8, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 21, 1930. G. A. THORMEYER 1 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 8, 1927' LAD Patented Oct. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES 5T @F'FI CE COMBINATION IGNITION-LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT-ALARM SWITCH Application filed August 8, 1927. Serial No. 211,345.

This invention is intended primarily as a safety lock for automobiles, and, as shown and described, provides locking means for the ignition system and also provides means for sounding an alarm by the continuous blowing of the automobile horn in the event that an unauthorized person attempts to tamper with the combination. Simultaneously with the sounding of the alarm, the hood will be locked, so that no opportunity will be afforded for cutting the horn wires and stopping the alarm, which can only be stopped by manual readjustment after the hood has been unlocked by a proper setting of the combination. In this way, any attempt to tamper with the combination dials will immediately sound a continuing alarm and direct attention to the unlawful effort to discover the true combination, so that the thief will have no opportunity to experiment with the dials in an effort, by repeated trial, to discover the proper combination.

The invention, in the form shown, comprises a set of three dials, each of which must be set to its proper position to establish the ignition circuit, and also to establish a circuit which will unlock the hood. If any one of the three dials is maladjusted by a thief or any other unauthorized person, such inalad ustment will have the immediate effect of tripping off a circuit which controls the horn circuit, so that thereafter it will be impossible, save by lifting the hood, to open the horn circuit, and since the unlocking of the hood can only be ehected by the establishment of the proper dial combination, a thief will have no opportunity, once the alarm is sounded, to proceed systematically in an effort to establish the true combination.

The invention in its mechanical aspects is re igned in such a way that it may be readily ed to and incorporated into the dial board of the car in such a way as to prevent ipering with the wire leads which control sounding of the alarm and the locking he hood, so that the invention as a whole is i which fully meets the requirements of a "ety lock of the character indicated. 1 the drawings:

.s igure 1 is a horizontal section looking upwardly taken adjacent the lower wall of the case containing the combination lock unit, the plane of this section being on line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 2 is vertical section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective showing the spider plate which appears centrally in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the release cam;

Fig. 6 is an elevation showing the controls which are mounted at the front of the com 5 bination lock unit;

s a plan view of the contact arm;

a which is side elevation of the conarm shows its relation to the associated one of which appears in section;

'. 9 is a perspective view of the contact i 10 is a similar view of the stop arm; Fig. 11 is a plan view of the position arm being shown 111 center post, the latter is plan view of the under side of board; is a vertical section through the no operating unit therefor;

' is a plan view of the upper side ct panel board;

section therethrough taken on 5 of Fig. 14; and .13 a detail in section taken on line 16-16 of Fi t 1 .tion is contained within a h, as shown, comprises a front l a front inner panel 21, an inner partition 22 and a rear panel 23 in conjunction h side walls 2d-24, a top wall 25 and a similar bottom wall, not shown, giv- 'to the container as a whole a substantially formation. In use, the l be inserted into the dial panel h the front outer panel exposed, as in F 5, although the mounting of the working parts can be otherwise arranged, if desired.

ing for a centrally disposed control shaft 26 and three radially disposed combination shafts 27, 28 and 29, which are provided on their front ends with adjusting knobs 30, 31

and 32, respectively. The control shaft 26 is likewise provided with. a control lever 33 terminating ina pointer 34. The combination shafts are also arovided with pointers arranged dial markings 41, the difierent positions of which being inscribed with the words Release, Dial set, ()n, Hood,or other words ofiappropriatesignification. "Eachof the combination shafts is provided with a contact arin 42, shown in perspective in Fig. 9,which contact arm terminates in a collar 43 rigidly secured to the shaft, which collarfis provided with a pair of upstanding ears as having perforations e5 for the passage'of circuit wires, presently to be described. The contactarm is further provided with an inner bore 46 and an outer bore 4C7, which carry contact studs l8 and 4C9, respectively, with the former of which is associated a spring 48 by which this stud is pressed into proper electrical contact.

As shown in Fig. 8, the studs project from each side of the contact arm, and each stud at its. outer end is threaded to receive a nut 50, which arrangement constitutes a binding p'ostfor the attachment of the circuit wires. Each of the contact arms is shouldered onits inner side at the point 51 to provide space Y .for the mounting of a stop lug 52, each stop lug co-acting with a stop post 53 located in proximate relation to the combination shaft upon which the associated stop lug is mounted so as to limit the rotation of the shaft.

The upper ends of the contact studs carry laterally projecting arms 54: to which the circuit wires are directly attached, said wires being led through the bores 45 in the ears ii. The contact arm is preferably made of bakelite or similar insulating material, and the studs 48 and iSof brass or other con ducting material, sothat the circuits will lead through the inner and outer contact studs which are arranged in each case to coact with arcuately extending inner and'outer series of recesses 55 and 56, respectively,

which are formed in the cross partition 22 which is of insulating material,

7' The arrangement isv one which permits each of the combination shafts to be turned to' different positions such as to bring the ejecting inner ends of the contact studs register with the inner and outer recesses, as shown in Fig. 14, and after the studs are thus brought into register with seselected recesses, the shaft may be pressedinwardly to cause the studs to enter the registering recesses, which is the adjustment indicated in Figs. 1 and 8.

The lower end of each of the combination shafts, as shown in Figs. land 3, is provided with an enlarged drum shaped head 57 which upstanding arm GO-and an inwardly eKtending lug 61 through whichtlie shaft extends to permit its vertical reciprocation. The guide block 59 is also vprovided on its inner side with an upstanding lug 62 through which is enter-eda latch pin 63 carrying a coil spring 64, the outer end of which is secured to the latch pin and the inner end of which bears'against the face of the lug 62, which.

arrangement tends to exert an outward thrust upon the latch'pin. f r

When the combination shaft is pulled outwardly, the drum shaped head 57 will stand in register with the outer end of the latch pin, which will be held under spring tension, but as soon vasthe combination shaft is thrust inwardly, so that the head clears the end of the pin, the latter will snap outwardly, as in F ig. 3, and latch the shaft against retraction. This arrangement is common to all of, the three shafts in the series. r V

The inner end of. each of the latch pins (see Figs. 2 and 3) is provided with a slotted head 65 ;which engages a pin66 entered througn a slot 67' in one of the arms of a star wheel 68carried by the centrally disposed controlshaft 26 the arrangement being such that when the shaft is turned in a counterclockwise direction, as in Fig. 2, it.

will simultaneously retract all three of the latch pins and permit the three shafts to spring outwardly, each under the thrust of a coil spring 69, which encircles the shaft and has its outer end entered thereinto and its inner 'end hooked onto a post was 7 spring thus serving both to rotationally restore the shafts to the position marked Dial set .in Fig.6, and also to longitudinally restore the shaft to the outer position occupied when released by the latch pins.

The star wheel is loosely mounted upon the control shaft 26, so that the latter may be turned through predetermined arcof movement without imparting rotation to the star wheel, but after such movement has been exhausted, a release finger 71, (see Fig.

5) which is rigid. with the shaft, is brought into contact with an upstanding lug 72 on one of the arms of the star wheel, so that a continued "rotation of the shaft will carry around the star wheel thereby drawing back the latch pins and releasing the combination shafts.

, The control shaft 26 also carries a contact arm 7 3 provided with a spring pressed contact studfe terminating at its upper end in ELblIlCllIlg-VPOSt 7 5" whichacontactpostis which thus tends to center the parts in the 1 locked.

intended position. As shown in Fig. 1, all of the ingoing wires 90 and 114: from the battery and the outgoing wires 78, 80 and 100, all lead through a tube 121 in the rear wall of the housing at a point well beneath the hood or the car where it will be protected against tam iering" so long as the hood remains In use, it will be observed that any particular combination can be established by positioningthe three contact pins 114, each within a selected onset the ten socket holes composing each series. Thus a grea" number of different combinations may be established. In View 01" the fact that the three contact :pins are essential elements in the est-a lishing of a complete circuit, it will, of course, be necessary to correctly position all of the dials before of the gaps in the circuit are closed. The closing of this circuit by a cor.-

rect setting of the dials will so condition the.

apparatus that the control lever 33 may be 'etlectively employed either to unlock the hood, which is accomplished by turning the pointer 34 to the word Hood, or to close the ignition circuit, which is accomplished by turning the pointer to the word On.

ln the second or these two adjustments, the control arm 73 carrying the contact pin '24 will be so set as to bring the pin 7 into register with the contact 76 which closes the hood lock circuit, and by energizing the solenoid 79, causes-a retraction of the latch 83 V which permits the hood to be lifted. The first ad ustment of the pointer 34 completes the c rcuit leading to the i nition coil which permits the starting or the engine.

When the pointer 34 is positioned upon the space marked Dial set, the parts will be properly positioned to permit the contact arms L0 be moved to any position required to establish the true combination, the various parts being indicated by the numerals on the dial panel. A ter one of thecombination shafts been turned to a selected position, it will be thrust backwardly which causes the contact studs 48 and 49 to enter the aligned socket holes, and if'suchholes constitute one factor in the selected'combination, the setting of the-shaft will close one "ofthe gaps in the ignition and hood lock circuit leave the horncircuit unaffected. The ad usted combination shaft will be held back by the engagement of the latch pin 63 with the enlar edhead 57 or the shaft, and similar adjustments can then bemade or the other combination shafts.v lVhen all are properly adjusted, the engine can be started or the combination shafts willresult in a closing of one or the branches or the horn ircuits, any one or which is effective to draw back the pin 1020f the'solenoid 101. This trips the switch mechanism which operates the horn circuit and continuously closes the horn circuit until the emergency horn circuit is manually opened, which can only be done by a lifting of the hood. Since a correctsettim oi the combination is required tounl ock tnehoodflt is evident that thehorn will continue to sound until attention is di rooted to the spot. In short, after a single maladjustment, the dithculty cannot be corrected, save by a discovery of the truecombination with the alarm sounding during the entire interval. l I 7 Although the device has been described as operable to unlock the hood in order to secure access to the horn, which is a con- I venient method of preventing tampering with the horn, nevertheless, it is obvious that if the horn were housed otherwise than within the hood, or if some other type of signal or alarm mechanism were employed, the hood locking feature might be suitably utilized to'prevent access being obtained to the. horn or other alarm device howsoever located, the

object and purpose being to prevent a discontinuance of the alarm by the cutting of wires or the disabling ot the alarmap paratus wheresoever located, so that in the claims it'will' be understood that any suitable enclosure for the alarm mechanism which is capable of being locked or otherwise sateguarded is intended'to be lncluded.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the

combina ion of an adjustable member move able'to a plurality of positions of adjustment,

a member adjacent said adjustable member and provided with a row of socket holes constit'uting an alarm'series and a row of socket holes coiistitutin a lockin series and located a n b :3

in register with the several positions or ad- JUStIIlBIliT of the ad ustable member, contact points positioned on said adjustable member to register'witht-he respective rows of socket holes, the adjustable member being mounted to permit depression to cause the respective contact points to enter selected pairsof said socket holes in the companion series of holes, a contact point in each save'one of the socketholes of the alarm series and positioned to mg 1 ister with a. contact point on the adjustable member, and a contact point in one of the socket holes of the lock series, being thehole adjacent the blank socket hole of the alarm series. .7 c r V 2. ln a device otthe class described, the combinat on of an ad ustable member movizs able to a plurality of positions of adjustment, a member adjacentsaid adjustable member and provided with arow of socket holes constituting the alarm series and a row of socket holes constituting the lock ng series and located in re ister with the several positions of adjustment oi" the adjustable member, contact points positioned on said adjustable member to register with the respective rows of socket holes, the adjustable member being mounted to permit depression to cause the respective contact points to enter selected pairs of said socket holes in the companion series of holes, removable contact points I no in each save one of the socket holes of the alarm series and positioned to register with a contact point on lhe adjustable member, and a removable contact point in one of the socket holes of the locking series, being the hole adjacent the blank socket hole of the alarm series.

3. In a device of the class described, a rotatable combination arm provided with two contact studs, a member adjacent said arm and provided with an alarm series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each to receive a contact stud of the combination arm and further provided with a locking series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each to receive the other contact stud on the combination arm, a series or contact points located one within each save one of the socket holes of the alarm series, and a single contact point located within that one or" the locking series of socket holes which lies adjacent the unoccupied socket hole of the alarm series,

the combination arm being depressible to bring the contact studs into engagement with the contact points in the socket holes.

4, In a device of the class described, a rotatable combination arm provided with two contact studs, a member adjacent said arm and provided with an alarm series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each to receive one contact stud or the combination arm and further provided with a locking series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each to receive the other contact stud on the combination arm, series of removable alarm contact points located one within each save one of the socket holes of the alarm series, and a single removable contact point located within that one of the locking series of socket holes which lies adjacent the unoccupied socket hole of the alarm series, the combination arm being devressible to bring the contact studs into engagement with the contact points in the socket holes.

5. In a device of the class described, a plurality of rotatable combination arms each provided with two contact studs, a member adjacent said arms and provided with a plurality of alarm series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each to receive one contact stud of a combination arm and further provided with a plurality of locking series of arcuate arranged socket holes adapt ed each to receive the other contact stud on a combination arm, a series of contact points located one within each save one of the socket holes of the alarm series, a single contact p int located within that one of the locking series of socket holes which lies adjacent the unoccupied socket hole of the alarm series, the combination arms being depressible to bring the contact studs into engagement with the contact points in the socket holes, and an adjustable controlling a m provided with a contact adapted to co-act in closing circuits with the contact studs of the combination arms and also to be thrown to a nonoperative position.

6. In a device of the class described, a plurality of adjustable combination arms each provided with two contact studs, afixed member associated with said arms and provided with a plurality of alarm series of recesses and a plurality of locking series of recesses, said series being disposed to permit depression of the contact studs'into selected recesses in the companion series, a contact point in each save one of the recesses of each alarm series, a single contact point in each locking series and disposed in that recess which aligns with the unoccupied recess of the associated alarm series, a rotatable shaft for each combination arm, said shafts being also longitudinally adjustable to cause the contact studs to enter the recesses, latch mechanism for each of the shafts for holding the same in depressed position, means for simultaneously withdrawing each of the latches, a rotatable control shalt upon which said latch withdrawing means is mounted, acontact arm carried by said control shaft and provided with a circuit closing contact stud, and a pair of contacts positioned to be engaged by the contact stud on the controlling contact arm in two of its positions of adjustment.

7. In a device of the class described, a plurality of adjustable combination arms each provided with two contact studs, a fixed member associated with said arms and provided with a plurality of alarm series of recesses and a plurality of locking series of recesses, said series being disposed to permit depression of the contact studs into selected recesses in the companion series, contact point in each save one of the recesses of each alarm series, a single contact point in each locking series and disposed in that recess which aligns with the unoccupied recess of the as sociated alarm series, a rotatable shaft for each combination arm, said shafts being also longitudinally adjustable to cause the contact studs to enter the recesses and spring pressed in the opposite direction, latch mechanism for each of the shafts for holding the same in depressed position, means for simultaneously withdrawing each of the latches a rotatable control shaft upon which said latch withdrawing means is mounted, a contact armcarried by said control shaft and provided with a circuit closing contact stud, and a pair of contacts positioned to be engaged by the contact stud on the control-- ling contact arm in two of its-positions of adjustment. 7 r

8. In a device of the class described, a m plurality of adjustable combination arms each provided with two'contact studs, a fixed member associated with said arms and provided with a plurality of alarm series of recesses and a plurality of locking series of 5 recesses, said series being disposed to permit depression of the contact studs into se- 7 lected recesses in the companion series, a contact point in each save one of the recesses of each alarm device, a single contact point in each locking series and disposed in that recess which aligns with the unoccupied recess of the associated alarm series, a rotat able shaft for each combination arm, said shafts being also longitudinally adjustable to cause the contact studs to enter :the recesses and spring pressed in the opposite direction, independently depressible latch mechanism 'forueach of the shafts for independently holding the same in depressed position, me'ans for simultaneously withdrawing each ofthe latches, a rotatable control shaft upon which said latch withdrawing means is'mounted, a contact arm carried by 7 said control shaft and provided with a circuit closing contact stud, and a pair of contacts positioned to be engaged by the contact stud on the controlling contact arm in two of its positions of adjustment.

- GEORGE A; THORMEYER.

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