US197684A - Improvement in keys - Google Patents

Description

W. H. TAYLGR. Key.

No. 197,684. Patented Nov. 27, 1877.

N.FETEHS, PHOTO-LITHUGRAFHER, WASHINGON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

WARREN H. TAYLOR, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE YALE LOCK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, -OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN KEYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 197,684, dated November 27, 1877; application filed February 23, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN H. TAYLOR, of Stamford, in the county of Faireld and State of Connecticut, have invented certain Improvements inKeys, of which the followingis a specification that will enable persons skilled iu the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My improvements relate to keys in which a iat steel or sheet-metal shank and bow are employed; and their object is to secure the strength, lightness, convenience in use, and economy in manufacture of such a shank and bow, united securely with a round stem, or that part of an ordinary round key which gives it support and serves as its journal in the bearing of the lock-case. 'Flat keys made wholly of sheet metal involve the use in the look of a hub or roll-back7 to support them during their revolution, and it is often difficult to enter the dat key into this hub when the lock is on the door, because the hub is out of sight, and the key must pass through a greater or less thickness of wood to reach the lock. The hub is also occasionally turned and its slot moved from its vertical position by accident, so that the key cannot enter until it is replaced. Hence, it has heretofore been attempted to combine the advantages of around and iiat key, as appears by the patent granted to Emory Parker, May 4, 1869, in which a flat sheet-metal bow, shank, and bit made of one piece are united with a peculiar slotted stem cut nearly in two, which leaves it weak. Owing to this plan of construction, soldering or brazing must largely be depended upon for securing the two parts together, which injures the appearance of the key, renders it difficult to finish, and more liable lto be defaced by corrosion. My purpose is to obviate thesev objections by an improved construction that will enable the parts to be more securely fitted and united, with less dependence upon soldering or brazing, and with a greater facility for inishing.

To this end my invention consists in an improved key, the shank and bow of which are made of one piece of sheet metal, and rigidly united to a separate cylindrical or other shaped stem, that carries the bit or wing.

improved key complete. Fig. 2 is a view of the sheet-metal shank and bow detached. Figs. 3 and 3fL are views of the cylindrical stem and bit. Figs. 4 and 4 are views of a slotted ferrule which may be employed to unite the shank and stem. Fig. 5 is aview of a modication of the form of the shank. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are views, in cross-section, of stems and bits of dierent modes of manufacture, but alike in outline.

I prefer to make the bit and stern of a single piece of metal. This may be done by eutting suitable blanks from rolled or drawn stock ofthe form shown in cross-section by Fig. 6, or by stamping out sheet-metal blanks and doubling or folding them, as shown in cross-section by Figs. 7 and 8, and punching or trimming these blanks to give the bit the desired shape and leave it shorter than the stem.

It will be seen that the combined stem and bit shown by Fig. 6 is solid, that the one shown byFig. 7 is formed of a single piece of sheetmetal folded in the middle, and that the one shown by Fig. Sis formed of a single piece of sheet metal folded at one side. In one end of the stem, in order to connect it with the sheet-metal shank, I form a slot, c. I stamp out the shank and bow from sheet metal of a thickness at least equal to the width of the slot in the stem, and at the same time form on its end a tenon, b, of a width equal to the diameter of the stem, to fit in the slot. I place a ferrule, c, open at one end and partially closed and slotted at the other, on the stem, so that the slot in the ferrule and that in the stem shall coincide, thus forming a complete mortise, into which the tenon is inserted and secured, its shoulders resting against the bottom of the slot in the ferrule. If desired, there may be an aperture running partially or entirely through the stem to receive the projection of the tenon illustratedin the modification of the shank shown in Fig. 5. The ferrule not only securelyunite's the shank and stein, but also forms a shoulder, x, that serves as a stop or gage to the key when inserted in the lock. The obj ect of having'it partially closed at the slotted end is to give a better finish, and to preventits slipping out of place, the end of the stem holding it on one side, while the shoulders of the tenon on the shank entering its slot hold it on theother; but7 althoughl prefer to have stem, formed of one 4piece of sheet metal7 and. provided with a tenon for uniting it with the stem7 substantially as described.

y 2. The combination of a tenoned sheet-metal key shank and bow with a Acylindrical slotted key-stem carrying a bit or wing, substantially as described.

3. A key'having a bow and shank composed of a single piece of sheet metal without bit or stem, and rigidly secured to'a stem oi' other metal.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as Iny own I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WARREN H. TAYLOR.

` Witnesses:

E. D. OGDEN, Jr., WALTER FULLER.

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