US2516550A - Key-locked fastening of attache cases and the like - Google Patents

Description

C. W. CHENEY July 25, 1950 KEY-LOCKED FASTENING OF ATTACK-IE CASES AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 14, 1947 1 Iv hHHWI I IH "I l 624mm Mil/14M Ham [y et/AW 9M Patented July 25, 195% KEY-LOCKED FASTENING OF A'r'rAo CASES AND THE LIKE ,.I Charles William Cheney, Hockley,Birmingh v I England Application February 14, 1947', Serial No. 72';7d5 I In GreatBritain February 12, 1946 k Section 1, Public Law 690, August8, 154i;

Patent expires February 12, 1966 3 Claims. (01170-67) This invention relates to key-locked fastenings of attache cases, boxes, bags and travel goods of the kind comprising a front plate, a back plate, a dished and flanged spring-loaded bolt slidable between the front and back plates and a pivoted key-operated bolt-locking plate, said bolt being adapted to be manually moved by a knob on the face of the front plate in order that a hasp may be engaged with or disengaged from the bolt through an opening in the front plate.

Fastenings of this kind are necessarily manu- :l'actured on a mass production basis in order to cope with the large demand, to ensure that they may be sold to case and travel goods manufacturers at keen and competitive prices, and more particularly, to make such goods available to. the purchasing public at reasonable cost. In general, these fastenings are mass produced on power and hand presses and assembled by unskilled labour,

and machine tool aspects that maximum productive efficiency be exercised in order to reduce the number of process steps to a minimum, thus saving raw material, machine time and labour to utmost advantage which will ultimately reflect upon the purchasing public by way of cheaper,

but equally efficient fastenings. It may be appreciated, therefore, that apparent small changes in arrangement or construction of such fastenings have an important bearing on the manufacparts of an annual output need to be blanked, raised, pierced, bent and assembled so that development resulting in. improvements in these fastenings mayeliminateone or more process turing aspect, especially where millions of small' operations and an inestimable saving in labour,

raw material and machine time be effected.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide improvements in fastenings of this kind with a View to simplifying the construction and thereby obtain advantages in manufacture and assembly. 7 a

In fastenings according to' the invention, the spring for the bolt is of a multi-lirnb arrangement and is held in the bolt by the flanges thereof and and it is most desirable from labour, raw material 2 5 According to another feature of the invention, the multi-limb spring terminates in a curved portionadapted to .co-operate. with a snap nose on the locking plate for efifecting a snap action when the locking platejis key-operated into locking and unlocking positions so that the spring performs the dual function of spring-loading both the bolt and the locking-plate. According to further constructional features, the pivot for the locking plate and stops for controlling its angular movement are formed integral with the back plate. H

p .In order that the invention may be clearly understood'and readily carried into effect, one em bodiment of the fastening will'now be described with reference to log wherein: I

Fig; 1 is a topsideplan view of the fastening with the front'platelremoved, the locking plate being shown in a position resisting retraction of the bolt. h

, Fig. 2 .is a topside plan view of the back plate, the bolt andspringunit and the locking plate .the annexed explanatory drawbeingremoved. A v

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of Fig. 2 taken on the brokenline Fig.4 and Fig. .5 show'respectively a plan and aside view of the locking plate.'

Fig. 6 is an underside, plan of the bolt and spring unit. f g

. Fig. 7 is a transverse "section of Fig. 6 taken on the broken line bb.

Fig. 8 is a topside planofithe front plate I Figure 9 is a-section taken along the line 0-0 of Figure l. d

In the draWing thei numeral l denotes a shallow sheet metal front plate-provided with a hasp receiving slot 2 andan opening lafor receiving a slidable bolt-operating knob 35, 311, as shown in Figure 9; dis a, sheetmetal back plate, adapted to lie in and to be securely attached to the front -plate and provided 'with integral penetrating prongs 40; for attachment ;o f- ;the fastening to a case vor thelike, a hasp vslot 5 and a recess 6 to accommodate a slidable sheet; metal bolt l, which is adapted to be retracted by the operating knob 3 against the action of a multi-limb spring 8, and to be locked in the shot position by means of a revolubl locking plate 51, mounted in the recess 6 of the back plate 4, under control of a key inserted through the key hole I!) in the operating knob 3, 3a. l

A pivot-sleeve 12 is pierced or punched from the back plate 4 and constitutes the axis for the revoluble locking plate 9, and two spaced 3 stop lugs 13, 13a, are raised from this back plate for use in controlling the angular movement of the locking plate 9 in its bolt-locked and retractible positions. The sheet metal locking plate 9 has a hole H3 which fits over the pivot-sleeve 12, two radially extending stop lugs 15, 150., a pair of key bit-engaging stumps l6 and a snap nose 11 formed integral with this locking plate. The bolt 1 is formed of sheet metal by pressing and has a peripheral flange l8 and a slot 19' through which the bit of a suitable key can engage the key stumps 16 on the locking plate 9 which lies in the recess and is interposed between the bolt 1 and this recess 6. The belt I hasfa key peg 1c which extends into the knob 3', 3a, as shown in Figure 9. A

On the bolt '1, rearwardly of its nose 1a, is an inwardly directed lug 1b which is raised integrally on this bolt from an edge of the opening or slot I9 and this lug lb serves the dual purpose of locating one limb 8a of the spring 8 andof forming an abutment for the snap nose H on the locking plate 9, thereby to block retraction of the bolt '1 whenlocked. This lug lb safely locates the spring 8 so that it can be placed in position in the bolt 1 by the fingers of the assembler and the bolt-spring unit I, 8, inverted and readily applied to the back plate A without risk of the s ring 8 becoming detached, thus facilitating handling and expediting assembly of the fasten-- ing. It will be seen that the multi-limb wire spring 8 embodies a straight forward limb 8b, an inwardly turnedright angular limb 80, an

inner limb 8a parallel to the forward limb 8b and an approximately semi-circular end 8d projecting into the path of the snap nose I! of the locking plate 9. The limbs 8b, 8c, are retained in the bolt 1 by the fi'anges 18 as also is the U- shaped bend 8e, and the limb 8a,- is held by the lug 1b so that this spring is held in the bolt 1 in four principal directions.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the locking plate 9 is" disposed with its snap nose l1 abutting against the lug lb which is integral with the bolt 1, thereby resisting retraction of the'bolt, the stop lug I5 on the lockingplate' lying againstthe lug 13 on the back plate 4, thereby controlling angular movement of the locking plate 9 in a clockwise direction. Turning of the locking plate 9 counter-clockwise, as seen in Fig. 1, by means of a key engaging the key stumps 15', moves the snap nose [1 out of alignment with the lug lb, the nose I! snapping past the curved part 8d of the spring when the other controlling lug 15a engages the lug I311. The bolt 1 can now be retracted against the action of the spring 8. Turning the plate 9 clockwise, as seen in Fig. 1, by means of a key, will snap the nose I! in a return movement past the curved hump 8d in the spring, again positioning the nose H in locking position behind the lug 1b. a

The slidable bolt operating knob comprises two members 3, 3a with the part 3a formed of a circular plate member, slightly dished, and having the keyhole it, with the peripheral edge of the 4 0 plate turned in and pressed into a circular opening formed in part 3. This plate has integral lugs 32) which extend through the opening in of plate 1- (see Figure 9) and the openings "id of the bolt 1, and are bent over against the back wall thereof, as shown in Figure 9, to lock the assembly 3, 30., l and 1 together.

What I claim is:

1. A key locked fastening device comprising a perforated front plate and a recessed back plate connected together, a pivot extending into said recess from said back plate, a peripherally flanged bolt slidable in the recess of the back plate, a locking plate seated in the recess formed by the flanges of said bolt and pivoted on said pivot, a lug extending into the recess of said bolt from the body thereof adjacent its forward end substantially midway between the sides of the bolt, a multi-limbed spring in the recess of said bolt supported under pressure between the portion of said flange at the forward end thereof and said lug, said bolt having an opening in the body thereof and said locking plate having projections forming key bit engaging studs projecting through said opening and into said perforation on" said front plate, a key peg on said bolt adjacent said studs on said locking plate, said locking plate having a nose engageable with said lug to prevent relative movement between said locking plate and bolt, thereby locking said bolt, said locking plate being rotatable on its pivot to swing said nose out of the path of said lug and into engagement with said spring whereby relative movement between said locking plate and said bolt is obtained against the pressure of said spring, said bolt being slidable by means of a bolt operating knob fastened thereto over said perforation in said front plate, said knob enclosing said key peg and key bit engaging studs.

2. A key locked fastening device according to claim 1, in which the bolt has a hasp engaging portion, and said portion, the bolt lug, the pivot for the locking plate and the key peg are arranged substantially along a medial line extending longitudinally of the bolt.

3. A key locked fastening device according to claim 1 in which said pivot extends into the opening in said bolt, said bolt being freely slidable with respect thereto in the lock.

CHARLES WILLIAM CHENEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flleof this patent:

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