US2480481A - Lock - Google Patents

Description

E. O. J. KELLY Loox Aug. 30, 1949.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 6, 1946 NJ ll Q 'Xi/75 MZ'IILU IL-1501* my W5 E. O. J. KELLY Aug. 3o, 1949.

LOCK

3 Sheets- Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 6'; 194e Patented Aug'.

UNITED sTATEs rATENT OFFICE i LOCK Edgar Otto Julius Kelly, London, England, assignor to Newton, Lansdowne &VCompany Limited, London, England Application August 6, 1946, Serial No. 688,630 In Great Britain August 20, 1945 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a lock device of the kind which incorporates a sliding bolt element adapted to be held in a locked position and releasable by a key. In particular the invention relates to a lock device which can be employed upon bicycles to lock the same against unauthorised use by the bolt element being locked in a position in which it is in the path of the spokes of one of the wheels of the bicycle (usually the rear wheel) so that the wheel cannot rotate.v

The invention has for its object to provide a lock device which-is efficient in operation and cannot readily be tampered with or removed.

A lock device in accordance with the invention comprises a casing which carries the sliding bolt member which forms the actual locking member and the release of which from a position in which the bolt is projected beyond one end of its casing into the locking position is controlled by a key which itself actuates lock mechanism contained within the casing, the sliding bolt member being resiliently biassed into the open or retracted position and requiring to be set manually in the projected or locked position, from which it is only releasable by the insertion of a key, which latter is held retained upon the casing while the bolt is in the retracted and unlocked position.

The casing is formed in two parts telescoped one upon the other to form a completely enclosed casing which can only be opened when the bolt is unlocked and this only when the key is actuated to shift a finger member within the casing which normally holds the bolt against endwise movement and at the same time engages a plunger member which passes through the telescoped casing parts to secure the latter together and which cannot be moved endwise to permit separation of the casing parts unless the said finger is actuated by the key to remove same from locking engagement with the bolt and plunger members.

Thus the lock device comprises a hollow casing which is conveniently of box-like or rectangular shape and is formed in two parts having a telescopic fit with each other to form a completely enclosed casing and one of which casing parts carries a sliding bolt member, which forms the actual locking member and the release of which from a position in which the bolt is projected beyond one end of its casing part into the locking position is controlled by a key which itself actuates lock mechanism contained within the casing.

The said bolt member is conveniently in the form of a flat elongated bar which is slidable through slots in the opposite ends of the casing part in whichl it is `contained and is located close- 2 ly adjacent to the inner end of the shallowVcas-Y- ing part, when the latter is assembled upon the deeper casing part, and the portion of the latter which enters into the shallow casing part is also provided with slots in its end walls whichare in register with corresponding slots in the outside end walls of the shallow casing part to provide for the sliding movement therethrough of a plunger member which must be removed endwise through these slots to permit the two casing parts to be separated but which removal cannot be ef-V feoted when the locking bolt is in the locked position,'the projection of the bolt into the locked position automatically locking this plunger against removal. Y Y

The invention also consists in a lock device having the further features hereinafter described and indicated.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of one embodiment of the invention, showing the bolt, in. the projected or locked position.

Figure 2 is a section on any of the lines A--A in Figures 1, 5, 6, 8 and 9,

Figure 3 is a sectional plan on the line B-B of Figure 2, with the bolt shown in the released condition. Y

' Figure 4 is a sectional plan view on the line C-C of Figure 2, with the bolt inthe released position as in Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a sectional plan on the linev B-B of Figure 2 but showing the key in the position in which the bolt is ready to be unlocked.

Figure 6 is a sectional plan on the line C C of Figure 2 showing the bolt in the locked position corresponding to the position of the parts as in Figure 5, Y

Figure 7 is a sectional plan on the line C-C of Figure 2 showing the two cover plates in the locked position of the bolt but with the bolt, spring and pivoted plate removed,

VFigure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 but showing also the pivoted plate in the position it occupies in the locked condition of the bolt,

Figure 9 is a' plan view looking on the top end of the deeper casing part, with the shallow casing part removed, and

Figure 10 is an end elevation of Figure 1.

In carrying the invention into eiect in one con venient manner a lock is provided, suitable for use as a bicycle lock, comprising a hollow casing which is .conveniently of` box-like or rectangular shape and is formed ,in two parts consisting of a deeper andvmajor part l which ts in a telescopic manner at the open end thereof into the open faces of the guide anges which are joined to the said lower edge surfaces by vertical shallow steps I2b which are located in line with the inside longitudinal surface of the upstanding ange I8 on the said inwardly recessed part of one end of the top plate, whereby this surface of said flange I8 and the aforesaid steps I2b form a guide for the inner longitudinal edge 3b of the key, the outer longitudinal edge 3c of which is guided in its passage into the casing by the adjacent longitudinal wall I Ib of the casing.

The body part of the key, along its inner longitudinal edge 3b, is formed with angular recesses 2l which are of varying depth and size and correspond with the tip portionsof the angled or pointed ends 5a of the aforesaid tumblers 5, which latter are of varying lengths as shown. The inner end of the key is formed with an inclined edge portion 22 and the arrangement is such that when the key is passed into the slot 3a in the deeper casing part this inclined edge 22 by engagement with the leading inclined faces of the tumblers forces the tumblers, one after the other, inwards within their guide channels 1 against the action of their coil springs 6 so that the key is permitted to pass into the casing until its inner end is brought up against the said upstanding transverse ange or abutment 20 on the top plate 9. When this occurs the key will be so positioned within its guide slot (constituted by the flange I8 and steps I2b on one side and by the inside of the wall IIb of the deeper casing part on the other side) that the angular recesses 2l along its inner edge will be immediately opposite the pointed tips 5a of the tumbler members with which these recesses correspond and in this position the inner ends of the tumblers will, as shown in Figure 5, all be in a straight line which coincides with the dividing line I4 between the guide channels on the bottom plate and those on the top plate. The lock mechanism, therefore, is now ready to be unlocked in that further inward movement of the key, by the inner end thereof pressing against the abutment 20 on the top plate 9, will shift the latter bodily towards the end wall II of the casing remote from the key entry slot and this against the action of the spring I1, this spring serving normally to bias the top plate into a position in which the guide channel portions 1a thereon are in line with the guide channel portions 1 on the bottom plate 8.

All the lock mechanism just described is confined within the portion of the deeper casing part I immediately adjacent the base or closed end I0 thereof and is covered by a pair of coplanar plates 23 and 24 (Figures 2, 4,76, 7 and 8) hereinafter referred to as cover plates, which iit within the casing to lie alongside one another and each of which extends longitudinally over the said guide channels so as to cover the latter and the lock elements accommodated therein.

One said cover plate 23 is formed to extend over the channel portions 1a on the said top plate 9 and this cover plate, on its inner edge, is formed with a wider central portion 23a of an extent sufficient to extend across and cover the dividing line I4 between the two guide channel portions 1 and 1a.

The other cover plate 24 has a corresponding central recess 24a in its inner longitudinal edge into which recess the said wider central portion 23a of the other cover plate 23 extends and along its outer longitudinal edge ,near the end thereof remote from the key entry slot 3a, the cover 6 plate 24 is also formed with a recess 25 through which the said upstanding and longitudinal ange I9 on the top plate 9 passes while at its opposite end this longitudinal outer edge of the cover plate 24 is formed with an upstanding longitudinal flange 26.

The cover plate 23 has a pair of upstanding posts 21 and 28, the former of which serves to receive the central coiled portion of a spring 29 adapted to co-operate with the sliding bolt 2 and referred to hereinafter as the bolt spring and the other of which posts 28 serves to form a pivot for yet another plate member 39 which is mounted upon the top of the said cover plates 23 and 24 and will be referred to hereinafter as the pivoted plate, this pivoted plate 30 being pivotally mounted at one corner upon the said post 28.

The recess 24a in the inner longitudinal edge of the cover plate 24 is longer than the central wider portion 23a of the other cover plate 23 and in the locked condition of the parts of the lock mechanism, as shown in Figure 6, the former said cover plate 24 is so disposed that a gap 24D- exists between that end of the recessed inner edged this cover plate which lies nearest to the key entry slot and the corresponding end of the wider portion of the former cover plate 23.

The pivoted plate 30 along its longitudinal edge adjacent the pivoted corner thereof is formed with an upstanding longitudinal flange or finger 3l (hereinafter referred to as a iinger) and along its opposite longitudinal edge and opposite the said pivoted corner the pivoted plate is formed with a recess 32 in which the said upstanding longitudinal flange 26 on the outer longitudinal edge of the cover plate 213 engages.

The arrangement is such that when the inner end of the key 3 is pressed against the abutment flange 28 on the top plate 9 (and at which time the tumbler members 5 will be so positioned as to permit the top -plate to be shifted) the longitudinal sliding movement of the top plate thereby produced -will be accompanied by a corresponding movement of the cover plate 24 due to the engagement therewith of the upstanding flange I9 on the end of the transverse limb 9d of the top plate 9 and such movement of this last mentioned cover plate 24 will in turn be accompanied by 'an angular movement of the pivoted plate 30 due to the engagement of the upstanding ange 26 on the cover plate 24 with the recess 32 in the pivoted plate, which is thereby `constrained to move about its pivot 28.

The pivotal movement of the pivoted plate 30 is relied upon to bring the finger 3i thereon into the path of the movement of the bolt 2 and the plunger 4, for which reason the latter are each formed with recesses 2a and 4a respectively along their longitudinal edges into which the finger 3l can enter when the pivoted -plate is so moved and which finger 3I is of sufcient depth to extend upwardly through the recess 2a in the longitudinal edge of the bolt and also through the recess 4a in the longitudinal edge of the plunger. The recess 2a in the bolt 2 may =be longer than the recess 4a in the plunger 4 and the finger 3| may be given a step formation, as indicated at 3Ia, to correspond, the longer step being lat the bottom.

The bolt spring 29 has an end portion 29a which extends between a pair -of upstanding pins 33 and 34 loosely fitted into longitudinally spaced holes in the surface of the bolt 2 and adapted to provide a bearing for this end 29a of the spring such that the latter tends to bias the bolt into the

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