US2633010A

US2633010A - Latch for concealed wall safes

Info

Publication number: US2633010A
Application number: US131196A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph P Stein
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1949-12-05
Filing date: 1949-12-05
Publication date: 1953-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 1970-03-31

Description

5 Sheets-snee?. l

q I l I l l IL J. P. STEIN LATCH FOR CONCEALED WALL SAFES I L Lq' 4% March 31., 1953 Filed Deo. 5, 1949 y INVENTOR Jos/ob Skim mfw/W7 ATTONEY March 31, 1953 J. P. STEIN LATCH FOR CONCEALED WALL SAFES Filed Dec. 5, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR m MM ATTORNEY J. P. STEIN LATCH F'OR CONCEALED WALL. SAFES March 31, 1953 l5 sheets-sheet 4 Filed Deo. 5, 1949 Eq a l INVI-ENTOR. Jmga/Mmv Iliff! llllllllllllll 4 rnlllllldllll'fflllllllllnlllllllllnllllivifluunlnv ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, Vr1953 TUN IT EAD S TAT ES PAT ENT 0 FFICE LATCH FOR 'CONCEALED WALLSAFES' Joseph P. Stein, Los Angeles, Calif. Application December, 5, 1949, Serial No. 131,196

'2 Claims. (Cl. 70-282) The invention relates to safes, and more particularly `to asafe `designed to be concealed in the wall ofa building where it may be .covered by the wall paper or otherwise camoulaged-so as not to give the appearance of a safe.

The `primary object of the invention is to pro vide a safe which may be built into the wall of a room, either cfa residence or of an ofce .building, and which may be so concealed that its .presence inthe room will 4not be suspected except by authorized persons.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a wall safe of .substantial construction so that it can not `be readily opened by unauthorized persons even` when its 4presence and location are known. Y

A further'object of the invention is to provide a wall safe including a body portion of knockdown construction to facilitate large scale production and ready shipping.

A further object is to provide a wall safe in which a door opens outwardly and is prevented from inward movement by a suitable ledge or abutment formed within the walls of the safe surrounding the door opening.

A- further object of the invention is to provide a safe havinga remotely controlled door latching device coupled with means for automatically swinging the safe door to open position as soon as the door latch is released.

Y A further object of the invention is to provide an improved spring-pressed or spring loaded door opening device in connection with each of the hinges of the safe door, which spring-pressed device incooperation with the remotely controlled latch releasing device will cause the door to swing outwardly to open position at the will of the operator, who may be at a position Vremote from the safe itself.

A further object of the invention is to provide a remotely controlled solenoid-actuated latc'hing means for the safe door whereby the owner of the safe by merely pressing a suitable push buttom switch at any suitable location may release the door latch, thus permitting the door to instantaneously and automatically swing outwardly by suitable spring-actuated mechanism.

y Azfurther object is to provide an instantaneous releasemechanism'for the door latch controlled by a spring-'pressed plungertype switch.

`4Other distinctive 'features of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of Ithe accompanying drawings vand the following detailed .description, in which a yspeciiic.embodiment of the inventionis set forth by-way of .illustration rather than by way of limitation.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic showing-of a. `portion of a room equipped with my improved wallsafe and showing the wiring, which controls the actuation of the safe door, extending to a position remote from the safe;

Fig. .2 is ahorizontal sectional view showing the safe installed in a Wall;

Fig. 3 is a section on .line `3---3 of Fig. 2 the safe;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the safe showing the door partly open;

Fig. 6 is an exploded View of the safe showing the casing and body portions thereof separated prior to assembly;

Fig. 'I is a vertical sectional view of the safe;

Fig. 8 is a detailhorizontal section throughpart of the wall vand a portion of the door showing one of the spring-pressed hinges with which the door is equipped, the door being shown open;

Fig. 9 is a similar view with the door shut;

Fig. l0 is a side elevation of a push button type quick break switch adapted for instantaneous control of the circuit in which is located `the solenoid which controls the door latch;l

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the door latch and actuating mechanism therefor;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the -safe showing the door latch in latched position in the safe door, portions of the latch and operating mechanism therefor being shown in elevation;

Fig. 13 is a section ron line and Fig. 1-4 is a section on line I4--I4 of Fig. l2. fr

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A de4 notes generally the wall of a room, which may be either the wall of a residence oroi a business office, which is to .be equipped with the concealed `wall safe constituting the `present invention. .Such `a safe is vindicated diagrammatically at B -andis adaptedvto be built into thev wall with the door portion thereof flush with the through la-la of Fig. 12;`

outer surface of the wall. The door of the safe may be painted over or paper may be placed over the door, or the door of the safe may be camouiaged as a picture, or other means may be employed so that the door of the safe will be inconspicuous. The safe door is arranged to swing outwardly only and is normally latched in closed position. The door latch is remotely controlled as by means of a solenoid S concealed within the wall portion of the safe. The solenoid is normally inoperative and the door catch is held in projected position by a suitable spring, but when the solenoid is actuated momentarily the door is adapted to be swung outwardly by concealed lspring-pressed means. The solenoid S is included in a circuit C extending through the wall and including a wall outlet D into which may be inserted an instantaneous type springpressed quick break switch E of any suitable construction which, when the push button of the switch E is pressed, causes current to flow momentarily through the solenoid S, thereby energizing the same and retracting the door latch, allowing the door to swing outwardly by spring action. If the door of the safe has been papered over itis obvious that the paper must either be cut away prior to opening the door or the door actuating spring should be suciently strong to cause the door to tear away the paper in opening. The wall outlet D is preferably hidden in a closet or is otherwise concealed so as not to be readily observed or apparent to anyone other than the owner of the safe. 'I'he outlet D may be of the so-called twist lock type disclosed in Patent No. 1,771,729, and is adapted to coact with a plug which may be detachably carried by the switch member E, or the switch member E may be remotely connected to the plug through suitable wires so that the switch may be carried from place to place by the owner. A detachable plug may also be included in the circuit at the end of the solenoid S remote from the latch 28.

' The completed safe B as supplied to a customer and installed in the building wall comprises side walls I0, II, a rear wall I2, a top wall I3, a bottom wall I4 and an outwardly swinging door portion I5 suitably hinged to one of the side walls. The top, bottom and side walls are all suitably recessed at their front portions to provide a ledge or abutment I6 surrounding the door opening, thereby preventing the door from being forced inwardly. The Walls and door of the safe are preferably metal lined, as indicated at Il, and the body portion I8 (Fig. 6) including the top, bottom and rear walls is of knockdown construction and is adapted to be inserted in a metal casing I 9 into which the body is suitably iitted prior to installation. The safe door` I is preferably metal encased throughout.

The body portion I8 is of knock-down construction and may be formed of a plurality of dished'sections composed of metal or other suitable material adapted to be interiitted one with another and secured together by means of suitable bolts or the like 2|. This construction permits the parts of the safe to be rapidly produced by mass production methods and inexpensively shipped in knock-down form to a place of assembly where the parts may be easily fitted together to form the complete safe prior to installation in a wall of the residence or office of an individual user. The safe may be divided into any desired number of vcompartments by means of partitions22. vflacl'i of v the walls of 75 the safe is in the form of a dished or hollow frame into which suitable insulating material 23, such as asbestos. rock wool, glass fiber, or the like may be tted to render the safe substantially reproof.

The safe door I5 is provided with concealed hinges 25 which may be of the general type disclosed in Patent No. 2,040,279, or other suitable hinges may be employed. In accordance with my invention the hinges 25 are provided with spring-pressed plunger means 26 secured to one swinging portion of the hinge and concealed in the door I5. The function of the spring-pressed plunger mechanism is to cause the door to instantaneously swing to open position as soon as the door latch mechanism is released. The spring should be of suicient strength to instantaneously open the door on the release of the door catch.

In the side wall Il opposite the side wall I0 in which the hinges 25 are mounted, I provide suitable actuating and control means 21 for the spring-pressed catch or latch 28, which catch is normally retained in an outwardly projected position, in which it is adapted to engage a suitable recessed portion in the edge ofthe door remote from the hinges 25 and to hold the door in closed position until the latch is released.

As shown in Fig. 12 the latch 28 is normally projected outwardly by means of a spring 29 which engages a shoulder 30 on an actuating rod `3I connected to latch 28 through a bell crank 32. The latch control mechanism also includes a solenoid coil 33 which when energized by the closing of a suitable circuit moves the latch actuating rod 3| against the force of the spring 29, thus releasing the door latch. Whenk the latch is released the spring-pressed plunger mechanism associated with the door hinges swings the door open so that access may be had to the interior. The solenoid is only energized for an instant and as soon as the energizing circuit is broken the spring 29 again projects the door catch so that when the door is closed it will be automatically retained in latched position.

The invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration but it will be obvious that numerous modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. For use with a concealed wall safe having an outwardly opening front door which when closed is flush with the wall surface and is provided with concealed spring means tending to urge the door outwardly when unlatched, said safe also having wall portions extending inwardly from the door opening; a retractable springpressed latch for said door adapted to engage a recessed edge portion of said door to retain the same in closed position, said latch having unitary housed actuating means adopted to be mounted in the Wall portion of the safe and adapted to extend transversely to the plane of the door opening, comprising a tubular housing adapted to fit in said wall portion and adapted to extend longitudinally therethrough, a solenoid mounted within said housing and having an elongated armature core slidable lengthwise therein, and means, including a bell crank, connecting said armature core with said latch, a spring within said housing constantly urging the core in a direction to project the latch so as to retain the door in latched position, and

electricalineans,including an accessible externalswitch, for energizing said solenoid to momentarily retract the latch against the force of said spring, thereby permitting the door to open, after which the latch is again projected by the latch spring to move the latch into position to again retain the door when the same is closed.

2. Latch actuating mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein the electrical connection for the solenoid includes a detachable plug included in the circuit at the end of the solenoid remote 10 from the latch.

JOSEPH P. STEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 15- iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Huetter Dec. 5, 1882 Baum June 18, 1889 Corry Aug. 19, 1890 Rider et al Aug. 25, 1896 Green et a1. Apr. 3, 1906 Carpenter May 4, 1915 Glass Aug. 21, 1928 Carlson July 4, 1933 Wolters Dec. 5, 1933 Macagno Feb. 14, 1939 McNeely Aug. 15, 1939 Queen June 27, 1950