US2243708A - Lock mechanism - Google Patents

Description

May 27, .1941. R. F. JOYCE LOCK MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1939 iliLl IIL W ZI ||.-1||| II III T... H

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R. F. JOYCE LOCK MECHANISM May 27, 1941.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1939 Q- 1MB May 27, 1941. R. F. JOYCE 2,243,708

LOCK MECHANISM Filed March 15, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 wywg y 27, 1941- R. F. JOYCE 7 2,243,708

LOCK MEC'HANISM Filed March 15, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 May 27, 1941'. R. F. JOYCE 2,243,708

LOCK MECHANISM Filed March 15, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 W 1 15 vf uawf 5; .l M/mw Patented May 27, 1941 2343.708 Loon MECHANISM Richard F. Joyce, Haverhill, Mass.

Application March '15, 1939, Serial No. 261,891

(Cl. iii-264) 6 Claims.

My invention relates to lock mechanisms for doors and more especially to lock mechanisms for the doors of automobiles of the type shown and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 242,972 filed November 29, 1938.

It is an object of this invention to. provide an improved and efficient lock mechanism for automobile doors and particularly to provide lock mechanisms'of this class which can be manually operated from the outside of the vehicle to open the door by means of a key so that handles or other dangerous projections upon the outside of the doors may, if desired, be dispensed with.

A further object of this invention is toprovide a lock mechanism for two or more doors of an automobile which can be operated at will by the driver of the vehicle to unlock either door to the exclusion of the others, preferably through the medium of a single control disposed within reach of the driver.

In the best form of my. invention each door, when unlocked, either from -the inside or from the outside, is automatically opened.

To these ends I have provided a lock mechanism "having the features of construction and operation set forth in the following description, the several novel features of the invention being separately pointed out and defined in the claims at the close thereof.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of part of an automobile as viewed from the inside of the latter.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional View on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 but with the door occupying an open position.

Figure 3 is a section on lined-3 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is anelevation of the slide bar, hereinafter described, and parts carried thereby.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are details of a lock-operating device hereinafter described for operating the lock mechanism .of the rear. door shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 9 is a section on line 953 of Fig. 2.

Figure 10 is a section on line Iil-lii of Fig. 9.

Figure 11 is an elevation of a portion of the rear edge of the front door shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the rotary bolt, hereinafter referred to, in its open position.

Figure 12 is a rear edge view of a portion of the front door partly in section on line IE-I2 of Fig. 2 but with the rotary bolt, hereinafter referred to, in its closed or looking position.

Figure 13 is a diagrammatic development of the slot provided in the rotary bolt hereinafter described.

Figure 14 is a section on line I4I4 of Fig. 11.

Figure 15 is an elevation of a portion of the inner side of the post I i forming part of the frame of the automobile shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 16 is an elevation, viewed toward the rear of the car, of that portion of the post I I which is shown in Fig. 15.

Figure 17 is a section on line Ii-il of Fig. 15 but also including a portion of the front door'IIi of Figs. 1 and 2. r

In Fig. 1 of the drawings which is a partial vertical longitudinal sectional View through the body of an automobile showing the right-hand side thereof, 6 is the floor of the vehicle, 1, 8 and s are three posts of the body frame, IE5 is the right-hand front door, I 2 the right-hand rear door, and 5 the instrument board which usually a transverse molded sheet metal panel.

A front seat is indicated by broken lines and a rear seat at t.

One of the hinges of front door It is shown at I, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and one of the hinges for rear door I2 is indicated by dotted lines. at 2, Fig. 1.

Secured in position upon thelrear edge of the door It by means of screws I2 is a metalfixture is, Figs. 1, 2, 11, 12 and 14, that is formed with ,a parti-cylindric'al pocket It within which is ari ranged a rotatable parti-cylindrical bolt-member I5 constructed with a-spindle or-stem I6, Fig. 1a, which extends inwardly through an aperture provided throughthe inner wall of the bracket fixture I3, through thevertical side-bar I'I forming 1 part of the frame of the door if), and through a second bracket fixture I8 fastened by screws tothe inner side of bar I'l. Fixed in position upon theinner end of spindle I6 is-aradial arm I9, Figs. 2, 4, 5 and 14, carrying astud 20 occupying a position within a slot 22 provided in a. slide-bar 26, the latter acting at times to swing arm I9 upwardly thereby to rock spindle I6 and bolt member I5 in a direction tounlock the latter. That is to say, when arm I9 is swung upwardly by slide-bar 26 the rotary bolt member I5 is adjusted from the position shown in Fig. 12 to the position shown in- Fig. 11.

At other times the arm Iii is swung downwardly to shift bolt member I5 from the position shown in Fig. 11 to the position shown in Fig. 12 by means of a coiled spring 25 surrounding the upper end portion of the slide-bar 25, one end of said spring bearing against an abutment 2! adjacent to the upper end of slide-bar 26 and its opposite end bearing against a yoke 28' slidably mounted upon the bar 26 so that it is. movable longitudinally thereof. The arms of this yoke 28 are formed near their lower ends with apertures which are occupied by the stud of arm H! as will be clear from Figs. 4 and 5.

Surrounding the lower portion of the slide-bar is a relatively stronger spring 29 whose upper end bears against an abutment 3|] carried by slide-bar 23 and whose lower end rests against the top of a bar-guiding abutment bracket 3 i. As shown in Fig. 2 this abutment bracket is fastened to the inner side of the side-bar I! of the front door Ill and is made with an aperture 32, Figs. 4 and 5, within which the slide-bar 25 is slidably fitted. Below the aperture 32 the slide-bar 26 is made with a slot 33 loosely occupied by one arm of a bell-crank 34 pivoted at on bracket 3| as shown in Fig. 2.

The other arm of bell-crank 34 has pivo-tally connected to it at 42 one end of a toggle member 35 whose opposite end is pivotally connected at 36 to one end of a second toggle member 31. The opposite end of toggle member 31 is pivotally connected at 43 to a push-rod 38 which extends through a supporting bearing 39 and an aperture formed through the side-bar Ila of the front door to the exterior of the latter where it is provided with a head which engages the rear face of the forward post I of the vehicle frame when the front door ID is closed. Between head 40 and bearing 39 is arranged a coiled spring 4| which acts through head 40, push-bar 38 and toggle 35-31 to swing the bell-crank 34 toward the left, Fig. 2, assisted by the spring 29 on slide-bar 26.

As shown in Fig. 1 the push-rod 3B is shoved inwardly by the front post I when the front door I0 is swung into its closed position and when thus actuated said push-rod acts through the toggle 35-3'| and bell-crank 34 to pull slide-bar 26 downwardly. This downward movement of slide-bar 26 is effected automatically through the means described as the door is nearing its fully closed position and it results in the compression of springs 25 and 29.

While the front door l0 occupies an open position the rotary bolt member l5, Figs. 11, 12 and 14 is locked, ashereinafter described, in its open positionshown in Fig. 11 but as the door I0 reaches its fully closed position the rotary bolt member I5 is automatically unlocked. Thus the downward movement of slide-bar 28 which is effected before the door reaches its fully closed position results in compression of the spring 25 becausethe arm I9 is maintained locked in its uppermost position until the door reaches its fullyclosed position as will be explained later.

During the downward movement of slide-bar 26 which occurs as the door approaches its fully closed position the stud 20 is transferred from the lower end to th upper end of the slot 22, Fig. 5, while spring 25 is being compressed and then as soon as the door reaches its fully closed positionand bolt member I5 is automatically unlocked the spring 25 acts through yoke 28 to swing arm l9 downwardly thereby shifting the rotary bolt member l5 from its open position shown in Fig. 11 to its closed position shown in Fig. 12 which, as explained presently, locks th door l0, in its fully closed position.

While the door is in an open position, for example, as shown in Fig. 2, the toggle members 35 and 31 are in alignment; that is, the pivot 36 is on a dead-center between pivots 42 and 43, the knuckle joint provided at the pivot 35 preventing the latter from descending below its dead-center position. Therefore, it will be clear that when the door is closed and push-bar 38 is shoved inwardly by the front post of the frame the toegle 35--3| acts as a rigid bar to swing the bellcrank 34 on its pivot 35' in a direction to compress the two springs 25 and 29. It will also be clear that when the door is closed and locked slide-bar 26 is held at the limit of its downward movement by the toggle 35-31, spring 29 is under compression and bolt member l5 occupies its door-locking position shown in Fig. 12. It therefore follows that if, while the door is locked in its closed position, the intermediate pivot 36 of the toggle is moved upwardly the spring 29 will then be free to shift slide-bar 26 upwardly and said slide-bar will act through the stud 20 to swing the arm |9 from its lowermost position into its uppermost position as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. This turns the bolt member I5 from the position shown in Fig. 12 into the position shown in Fig. 11 thereby unlocking the door.

When the door is thus unlocked the spring 4|, Figs. 1 and 2, assisted by two spring-pressed plungers 44, Fig. 16, swing the door outwardly into an open position.

As shown in Figs. 11 and 14 the rotary bolt member I5 is cup-shaped and at one side thereof is made with a gateway or passageway 45 through which a stud 46, Figs. 12, 15, 16 and 1'7, is free to pass into and out of said cup-shaped rotary bolt member when the latter occupies the position shown in Fig. 11 and the door is swung from an open position to its closed position.

The stud 46 is cylindrical and is a rigid part of a bracket fixture 41 fastened by screws to the front or forward side of the intermediate post 8 of the body frame, said stud 46 being positioned on the post 8 so that when the door I is swung into its closed position the stud II will pass through the gateway 45 into the interior of the cup-shaped rotary bolt member l5 as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 11.

The parti-cylindrical side wall of the rotary bolt member I5 is made with a circumferential keyhole slot 48 and a diagrammatic development of this slot is shown in Fig. 13. I

When the bolt member I5 is turned from the position shown in Fig. 12 into the position shown in Fig. 11 to unlock the door and the latter is swung outwardly by spring pressed plungers 44, Fig. 16 assisted by spring 4|, Fig. 2, a springpressed tumbler 49 is projected into the enlarged end 50, Fig. 13, of the slot 48 thereby automatically locking the bolt member in its open position shown in Fig. 11 and said bolt member remains thus locked in its open position by the tumbler until the door. In is again closed.

When the door I0 is next moved into its fully closed position the stud 46 re-enters the bolt member and a laterally projecting pin 5| on stud 46 passes into the enlarged end of slot 48 and retracts the tumbler 49 whereupon the spring 25, Figs. 4 and 5, rotatively adjusts bolt member |5 from the position shown in Fig, 11 into the position shown in Fig. 12. This rotary adjustment of the bolt member, while th slot 43 is occupied by pin 5|, is made possible by the fact that the latter is not greater in diameter than the width of the narrow portion of the slot 48. On the other hand the tumbler 49 is of a diameter to fit only the enlarged end portion 53 of slot 48 so that when it is in position within said enlarged end it serves to lock the bolt member against turning in ither direction;

The exposed outer side of bracket fixture i3, which is mounted on door i0, is made with a wedge-shaped boss 52 which is adapted to mesh with and occupy a wedge-shaped socket 53 provided upon the outer face of the bracket fixture 41' that is mounted on the post 8 of the body frame.- As will be clear the boss 52 moves into and out of socket 53 as the door H] is opened and closed.

The bracket fixture 41, Figs. 15, 16 and 17 is formed with two chambers 54 and 55, one above and the other below the socket 53 and in each of these chambers is slidably mounted one of the plungers 44 which is yieldingly urged outwardly by a coiled spring 56. When the door occupies an open position these plungers 44 are held in projected positions by their springs as shown in Fig. 16, but when the door II] is closed abutment surfaces 51 on the bracket fixture 13 of door 10, Figs. 11 and 14, engage the outer end of the plungers 44 and force the latter inwardly compressing springs 55. It will therefore be clear that when bolt member i is turned from the position shown in Fig. 12 to the position shown in Fig. 11 to unlock the door, the spring-pressed plungers 44, assisted by the spring 4|, Figs. 1 and 2, will throw the door into an open position. That is, spring 4|, assisted by the springpressed plungers 44, moves the door into an open position.

Mounted upon the front door In, above the lock mechanism described above, is a supplemental key-operated lock mechanism 58, Fig. 11, which is of ordinary construction with the exception that its barrel 59 is made with a spindle extension 60 rotatively supported near its inner end by a bearing plate 6| fastened by screws to the side of vertical rail I! of the door frame.

Fixed in position upon the inner end of spindle 50 is an arm 62, Figs. 2 and 11, which is connected by a link 53, Fig. 2, with an upwardly extending arm of a bell-crank 64. This bellcrank is fulcrumed at 65 upon a bracket secured to the inner side of the side-bar Ila of the door frame and its other arm carries a laterally extending pin or stud 66 occupying a closed slot 61 formed in a link 68 whose lower end is pivotally fastened at 59 to an upwardly projecting lug provided on the toggle member 35 closely adjacent to the pivot 36.

When the front door H3 is closed and looked as in Fig. 1 it may be unlocked by a person outside of the vehicle by inserting a special key ll! into the barrel 59 of the supplemental lock mechanism 58 and then turning the same and spindle 60 in a right-hand direction, Fig. 11, to the extent of about ninety degrees. The accompanying movement of arm 62 acts through link 63 to swing the bell-crank lever 64, Fig. 2, in a direction to cause its stud or pin 66, acting through the link 68, to raise the pivot 36 of the toggle so as to break the latter. This permits the spring 29 to expand and act through the slide-bar 25 to swing the arm l9 upwardly into the position shown in Fig. 2, thereby shifting the bolt member from the position shown in Fig. 12 into the position shown in Fig. 11. It has already been pointed out that when the front door is unlocked by rotation of bolt member IS the spring-pressed plungers 44, Fig. 16, and spring 4!, Fig. 2, cooperate to throw the door into an open position.

When the door is thus unlocked and opened the tumbler 49, Fig. 11, is projected by its spring into the relatively large end of slot 48 and thereby locks the bolt member in its open position. Also, the opening movement of the door permits the spring 4] to straighten the toggle 35-3'|, Fig. 2, when rotative pressure on key 10, Fig. 11, is relieved and the key is reversely turned and withdrawn from the supplemental lock.

To close and lock the door it is only necessary to apply finger-pressure tothe outer side thereof sufficient to cause the pin 5| on stud 46 to ejecttumbler 49 from slot 48 of the rotary bolt member, whereupon the endwise pressure imposed upon toggle 35-3! through the engagement-of head 40 with the frame post 1, acts through the bell-crank 3d and slide bar 26 to rotate the bolt member I5 from the position shown in Fig. 11 into the position shown in Fig. 12, thereby locking the front door to the stud 46 on the intermediate post 8.

From the description so far given it will be observed that a lock-operating handle permanently disposed upon the outside of the door may be dispensed with and that it is not necessary to slam the door in order to close and lock the same.

Herein I have shown mechanism through which the above described front door-locking device may be operated by a person within the vehicle and as herein illustrated this mechanism is accessible for operation by the driver of the vehicle;

The mechanism just referred to is illustrated in Figs, 2, 9 and 10 and comprises a flexible shaft or cable H, one end of which occupies an aperture provided in the upper arm of bell-crank 64 and is provided with an abutment collar '12 to cooperate with said arm. From the bell-crank 64 the flexible member ll extends through a flexible sheath 13 to a control mechanism 14 mounted upon the instrument board or dash 5 of the vehicle. One end of this sheath 13 is fastened by brazing, soldering or otherwise within an aperture provided in a small plate 16 fastened to the inner side of the side-bar Ila, of the front door frame while the opposite end of said sheath is likewise fixed in position within an aperture provided through a horizontal shelf 11, Figs. 9 and 10 forming part of a fixture 18 that is fastened by screws 19 to the instrument board 5. The fixture 18 is made with a pair of spacedapart lugs which extend rearwardly through an aperture 8| formed through the instrument board 5. These lugs support a round guide-bar 82 which is fixed at one end to one of the lugs and on this guide-bar 82 is mounted the hub 83 of a shipper member which can be slid axially and also rotatively to a limited extent on said bar 82.

Hub 83 of the shipper member is made with a forwardly extending arm 84 provided at opposite sides thereof with slots 85 which are parallel with the axis of guide-bar 82. The flexible member H of sheath 13 extends downwardly beyond the shelf 71 alongside of the arm 84 of the shipper member and loosely through an aperture provided in a lower horizontal shelf or projection 85 extending forwardly from the fixture 18. Between the two shelves H and 86 the flexible member H is provided with a collar 81 whose top side is just below the level of the bottom side of the arm 84 of the shipper member.

An arm 88 projecting rearwardly from hub 83 serves as a handle by means of which the shipper member can be moved axially and rotatively on its guide-bar 82. This arm 88 occupies a slot 89 formed in a cover element 99 that is fastened to the rear face of instrument board 5 by the screws I9 and the intermediate portion of this slot 89 is parallel with the axis of guide-bar 82 while its opposite ends are formed with perpendicular branches 9|, 92, 93 and 94. Thus when the arm 89 is shifted into position at the righthand end of slot 89, Fig. 2, it may be swung either upwardly or downwardly and the same is true when said arm occupies a position at the opposite end of slot 89. So long as the arm 88 occupies an intermediate position it cannot be swung pivotally in either direction. One of the open slots 85 is disposed opposite the flexible member II so that when the shipper member is shifted to the limit of its movement toward the right, Fig. 2, the opposite sides of this slot occupy positions above the collar 81 and it will, therefore, be clear that if the shipper member handle 88 is swung upwardly while it occupies this position at one end of the slot the arm 84 will act through the collar 81 to move the flexible member 'II within its sheath I3 in a direction to cause its collar I2, Fig. 2, to swing bell-crank 64 in a direction to break the toggle 35-31 and unlock the door. A coiled spring 95, mounted upon the flexible member II between the upper arm of bell-crank 64 and the plate I6, restores the bell-crank 64 and flexible member II to their normal positions again when upward pressure on the handle 88 is removed. As the flexible member H is restored to its normal position by spring 95 its collar 81 returns the shipper member to its intermediate position again where its handle 88 is free to be shifted sidewise within the slot 89.

The lock mechanism of the front door I9, with the exception of the key-operated supplemental lock 58, is duplicated within the rear door I2 as well as within the two doors, not shown, upon the opposite side of the vehicle, the latter being of that type which is built with four doors-two front doors and two rear doors.

Only one door need be provided with the supplemental key-operated lock 58 for the reason that when that door is opened the controlling shipper member of the mechanism I4 is then accessible to the person entering the car.

The bell-crank 64 of the lock mechanism of the rear door I2, Figs. 1, 2, 9 and 10, is connected with the control mechanism i by a flexible member Ila arranged within a flexible sheath 13a and at the control mechanism a collar 8111 on said flexible member is disposed above the level of the slotted arm 84, as shown in Fig. 9. Thus when the control member 88 of said mechanism is slid over toward the right, Fig. 2, and then swung downwardly into branch slot 92, its arm 84 engages collar 81a and acts through the flexible member Ila to unlock the rear door I2.

When the control member 88 is slid into position at the left-hand end of slot 89 and swung upwardly into branch slot 93 it acts through a collar 911), Fig. 10, to pull upon a flexible member lIb which unlocks the left front door (not shown). Or, if the control member 38 is swung downwardly into branch slot 94 while it occupies this position at the left-hand end of slot 89, its arm 94 acts through a collar Bic to pull upon a flexible member He which unlocks the left rear door (not shown). The flexible members I 41) and Ho are housed, respectively, within flexible sheaths 13b and 730, each having its opposite ends anchored, respectively, to one of the doors, not shown, upon the left-hand side of the Vehicle and to the control mechanism as in the case of the sheaths I3 and 13a.

From the two front doors the flexible sheaths l3 and 132) extend loosely through holes formed through the two front posts 1 of the body frame, one of these holes being shown at 98 in Figs. 2 and 9. It will therefore be clear that when either front door is opened and closed its sheath 13,. or 13b, slides back and forth through its hole 96.

The two rear posts 9 of the body frame are likewise formed with holes through which the flexible sheaths 13a and 13b extend, one of these holes being indicated at 91 in Fig. 1.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the front door I9 comprises a wooden frame including the side bars I! and Na, a bottom crossbar IIb, an outer wall 98 of sheet metal and an inner wall 99 of sheet metal. This construction provides a chamber between said parts within which most of the lock mechanism is disposed, and the other doors of the vehicle are of approximately the same construction.

The inner sheet metal wall 99 of the rear door I2 is formed with an aperture I09, Fig. '7, within which is arranged a bracket IIlI that is fastened to the inner wall 99 by means of bolts I92. The exposed portion of bracket IIlI is made with a semi-cylindrical portion I03 whose curved wall is formed with a slot I04, Fig. 6, that is occupied by a lever I95. This lever is formed with a longitudinal slot I99 that is loosely occupied by a fulcrum pin I01 whose opposite ends are fastened to the bracket. .The bracket IIlI is also formed with a pair of parallel arcuate wings or flanges I99 which occupy the chamber existing between the inner and outer walls 98 and 99 of the door. Each'flange I98 is formed near its periphery with an angular slot II'I having an inner portion I99 that is approximately concentric with the fulcrum pin I91 and an outer portion III] that is approximately radially disposed with respect to said fulcrum pin. These slots II'I are occupied by laterally projecting studs III carried by the lever I05. A spring II2 mounted upon the outer end of the lever I95 bears at one end against an enlargement or shoulder provided at the outer end of said lever and at its opposite end against a washer I I3 which is held by said spring against the semi-cylindrical portion I93 of bracket IOI. The end of the lever I95 that is disposed between the inner and outer walls 98 and 99 of the door is provided with a laterally projecting stud II4 which loosely occupies a slot I I5 provided at the upper end of a connecting rod H6. As shown in Fig. 1, the lower end of connecting rod H6 is pivotally connected with the stud 55 that is carried by the bell-crank 94 of the lock mechanism of the rear door I2. When an occupant of the rear seat desires to open the rear door I2 the lever I05 is first swung upwardly a short distance to bring the studs HI opposite the radial portions I I9 of the slots I ll, then the lever is shoved endwise to remove the studs III from the slots I H which unlocks said lever after which the latter is swung downwardly until its motion is arrested by the lower end of slot I94. This swinging movement of lever I05 carries the studs III around the outside of the arcuate wings I98 and also acts through the connecting rod I I5 and link 68, Fig. 1, to break the toggle 35-37 of the rear door, thereby unlocking the latter. To return the lever I05 to its normal position again it is swung upwardly to the limit of its movement in that direction and as soon as the studs I II come opposite the outer radial portions of the slots III the spring H2 moves the lever I05 endwise in a direction to reinsert the studs l l l within the slots Ill after which a slight downward movement of the handle end of the lever returns the studs Hl to their normal positions at the inner ends of the slots I IT.

This supplemental unlocking device is placed in an elevated position upon the rear door l2, normally out of reach of small children, and in addition its complicated mode of operation renders its operation by children diflicult if not impossible.

What I claim is:

1. In a lock mechanism for a plurality of doors hingedly mounted on a support; a separate lock mechanism for positively securing each door in its closed position, each of said lock mechanisms including a bolt member movably mounted on one of said elements, a device on the other of said elements with which said bolt member interlocks to secure the door in its closed position when said bolt member is moved in one direction, a spring by which said bolt member is automatically moved in said direction to lock the door when the latter is closed, a spring by which said bolt member is moved in the opposite direction to unlock said door and means normally re-= straining said last-mentioned spring against operating said bolt member to unlock the door, said restraining means being operated by the closing movement of the door to stress said spring; a manually operable control member adjustably mounted upon said support, and means through which said control member when adjusted and actuated is operable to selectively adjust the spring-restraining means of either door to release the unlocking spring thereof thereby to cause the latter to move the bolt member of said door in a direction to unlock the latter.

2. In a lock mechanism for a door, a bolt member movably mounted on said door; a spring for shifting said bolt member in one direction to unlock the door; means normally restraining said spring against operating said bolt member; mechanism for operating said restraining means to free said spring so that it will move said bolt member to unlock the door, said mechanism including a bracket fastened to said door and carrying a pivot pintle; a lever formed with a longitudinal slot that is occupied by said pintle and provided With a laterally extending lug normally occupying an angular slot formed in said bracket; a link connecting said lever with said spring-restraining means, and a spring normally urging said lever endwise in a direction to hold said stud within said slot, said lever being movable angularly and also endwise on said pintle to remove said stud from said slot and thereafter angularly on said pintle so as to act through said link to adjust said restraining means thereby to free saidspring.

3. In a lock mechanism for a door hingedly mounted on the frame of a vehicle, the combination of a bolt member rotatably mounted on said door; a device on said frame with which said bolt member interlocks to secure the door in its closed position when said bolt member is rotatively adjusted in one direction; a spring by which said bolt member is automatically adjusted in said direction to lock the door when the latter is closed; a spring by which said bolt member 7 is rotatively adjusted in the opposite direction to unlock said door; means normally restraining said last mentioned spring against rotatively adjusting said bolt member to unlock the door, said restraining means being operated by the closing movement of the door to stress said lastmentioned spring; a manually operable control member adjustably mounted on said frame and accessible to an occupant of the vehicle, and means through which said control member, when operated, adjusts said spring-restraining means to release said last-mentioned unlocking spring thereby to cause the latter to rotatively adjust said bolt member in a direction to unlock the door.

4. In a lock mechanism for a door hingedly mounted on the frame of a vehicle, the combination of a bolt member movably mounted on said door and a device on said frame with which said bolt member interlocks to secure the door in its closed position when said bolt member is moved in one direction; a spring by which said bolt member is automatically moved in said direction to lock the door when the latter is closed; a spring by which said, 'bolt member is moved in the opposite direction to unlock said door; means normally restraining said last-mentioned spring against moving said bolt member to unlock the door, said restraining means being operated by the closing movement of the door to stress said last-mentioned spring; a manually operable control member that is accessible to an occupant of the vehicle; means through which said control member, when operated, adjusts said spring restraining means to release saidlast-mentioned unlocking spring thereby to cause the latter to move said bolt member in a direction to unlock the door, said means including a flexible cable whereof one end is co-operatively associated with said spring restraining means and the opposite end is co-operatively associated with said control member.

5. In a lock mechanism for a door hingedly mounted on the frame of a vehicle, the combination of claim 4 wherein there is also provided a spring for yieldingly urging said fiem'ble cable endwise toward said spring restraining means.

6. In a lock mechanism for a door hingedly mounted on the frame of a vehicle, the combination of a bolt member movably mounted on said door and a device on said frame with which said bolt member interlocks to secure the door in its closed position when said bolt member is moved in one direction; a spring by which said bolt member is automatically moved in said direction to lock the door when the latter is closed; a spring by which said bolt member is moved in the opposite direction to unlock said door; means normally restraining said last-mentioned spring against moving said bolt member to unlock the door, said restraining means being operated,

by the closing movement of the door to stress said last-mentioned spring; a key-operated device movably mounted on said door, and means through which said key-operated device acts to adjust said spring-restraining means to release said last-mentioned unlocking spring when said last-mentioned device is operated by a key, said key-operated device being accessible from the exterior of the vehicle.

RICHARD F. J OYCE'.

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