US2748590A

US2748590A - Adjustable key plug retainer

Info

Publication number: US2748590A
Application number: US266949A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul P Kubik; Raymond W Schmid
Original assignee: Yale and Towne Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: Yale and Towne Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1952-01-17
Filing date: 1952-01-17
Publication date: 1956-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 1973-06-05

Description

June 5, 1956 P. KUBIK ET AL ADJUSTABLE KEY PLUG RETAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 17, 1952 ATTORNEY mi M A N E mkw W J 1M f r Y B June 5, 1956 P. P. KUBIK ET AL 2,748,590

ADJUSTABLE KEY PLUG RETAINER Filed Jan. 17, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent ADJUSTABLE KEY PLUG RETAINER Paul P. Kubik, Bronx, N. Y., and Raymond W. Schmid, Stamford, (102111., assignors to The Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application January 17, 1952, Serial No. 266,949

3 Claims. (Cl. 70-367) This invention relates to that class of locks in which a rotating key plug is retained in a lock cylinder by means at the inner end of the key plug. It is desirable in locks of this class that the retaining means permit no end play of the key plug in the cylinder while retaining the key plug for free rotation in the cylinder- The key plug inv such locks is retained by means that can be adjusted for the purpose of establishing the small and exacting endwise clearance that is necessary between the key plug and the cylinder, and it is to this type of retainer that our invention relates.

As one feature of our invention, we utilize a threaded retainer coacting with threads on the end of the'key plug, and a clip for holding in an adjusted position the threaded retainer. This clip maybe readily moved, to permit adjustment of the threaded retainer relatively to the plug, and in its preferred form the clip has arms that hold it upon the retainer and that yield to allow the clip to be moved to and from a position in which it prevents rotation of the retainer. This construction is reliable and is particularly economical to manufacture and assemble.

As another feature of the invention, we arrange the. arms of the clip to embrace opposite parts of the periphery of a nut, that being the preferred form of our retainer, a part of the clip then being held in position to coact with, the key plug and with-detent surfaces on the nut to hold. the nut in all its positions of adjustment. Preferably this part of the clip is arranged to engage in a slot that is formed in the key plug when the keyway thereof is broached. Otherwise the connecting bar slot may be utilized and thereby no special formation of the key plug is required for the particular purpose.

We have thus outlined rather broadly the more important features of our invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that our contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of our invention that will be described hereinafter and. which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception on which our disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of. our invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims. be regarded as including such equivalent constructions as, do not depart from the spirit and scope of our invention, in order to prevent the appropriation of our invention by those skilled in the art.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view showing in exploded relation the parts of one embodiment of our invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view showing one form of knob shell that is adapted to be used with our invention.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section showing the parts assembled in the knob.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view showing in exploded relation the parts of a second embodiment of our invention.

Fig. 6 is an end view of the same with the parts assembled.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same.

We have indicated by the numeral 10 the cylinder of a lock of the class. to which our invention relates, and the numeral 11 indicates the key plug that rotates in the cylinder. The locking of the key plug is controlled through suitable tumblers 12, as is customary in looks of this class, and a diametrical slot 13 in the inner end of the key plug 11 receives the end of a connecting bar 14, thereby afiiording means through which the key plug rotates mechanism controlled by the lock. At its outer end, the key plug 11 is integrally formed with the usual flange 15, and it is with this flange that the retaining means at the inner end of the key plug 11 coacts to establish the endwise clearance of the key plug relatively to the cylinder 16.

In our invention, the key plug 11 is adjustably retained,

in the cylinder 10 through an extremely novel construction that, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, includes a nut 16 mounted on a threaded portion 17 of the key plug that projects from the inner end of the cylinder 10.. Because the nut 16 overlies the inner end of the cylinder 10, it does, of course, retain the key plug 11 in the cylinder and serves, when rotated relatively to the threaded portion 17, to adjust the end play of the key plug in the cylinder. In order to prevent the nut 16 from changing its adjustment once it has been properly set, we utilize a spring clip 18 that has at its ends a pair of convergent yielding arms H. The clip 18 is so proportioned that when it is inserted in the diametrical slot 13 of the key plug, its arms 19 may be sprung over opposite parts of the periphery of the nut 16, the ends of the arms then. being disposed at a reduced part of the nut that is formed, for example, by a groove 20 in the periphery of the nut, whereby the arms 19 will by their convergent yielding nature hold the clip 18 upon the nut.

When the clip 18 is thus assembled with the nut 16 it. will be apparent that the clip cannot rotate relatively tothe key plug 11 because of the position of the clip in the slot 13. In order also to prevent rotation of the nut 16, the nut is formed with radially extending detent portions- 21 that preferably extend in a series around the entire circumference of the nut. The arms 19 of the clip 18 may be applied to the nut 16 between any of the detent portions 21, and because these detent portions are relatively numerous, it. will be seen that the rotated positions inwhich the nut 16 may be held by the clip- 18 are quite close together so that very close adjustment of the key plug may be obtained.

It will be understood that the slot 13 extends far enough into the threaded portion 17 of the key plug to permit the clip 18- to be assembled properly with the nut 16. When the clip 18 is considerably thinner than the connecting bar 14, as is the case in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, it is preferable to make that part of the slot 13 in which the clip is engaged somewhat narrower than the outer part of the slot, as shownv at 13a, thereby reducing. the rotary movement of the nut 16- that would be permitted by looseness of the clip 18. in the slot. We also prefer to form the central portion of the clip 18 with a curvature in the plane of the slot, as shown at 22, this curvature maintaining the clip 18 properly oriented in the narrow portion 13a of the slot during the operation of applying the clip to the nut, and thereby simplifying the adjustment and assembly of the part.

We have shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 a knob construction with which our invention may be used. In this construction, the outer end of the lock cylinder 10 is integrally formed with a wide circular flange 23 that forms the face of the knob. The knob is assembled by inserting the lock into the front of a shell 24, the flange 23 then being secured in the end of the shell by detents 25 that form with the shell a bayonet joint. This use of our novel adjustable lock is merely illustrative, however, and is not intended to limit in any way the field of utility of our invention. 9

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show another embodiment of our invention in which a nut 26 is mounted upon the threaded portion 17 of the key plug 11 so as to hold the plug adjustably in the cylinder 10, as in the first form of our invention that we have described. In this embodiment, however, the nut 26 has a circumferential series of radially extending detent portions 27 adjacent one face of the nut, and the periphery of the nut at one side of this series of detent portions has a regular form that is preferably cylindrical, as shown at 28. In order to prevent rotation of the nut 26 in various adjusted positions of the nut relatively to the threaded portion 17 of the key plug, we utilize a clip that is indicated generally by the numeral 29, and that may conveniently be made from fiat spring metal. The clip 29 has curved yielding arms 30 that are so formed in opposed relation as to hold the clip upon the nut 26 when slipped over the cylindrical surface 28.

Formed also upon the clip 29 is an arm 31 that is disposed between adjacent detent portions 27 when the clip is assembled upon the nut 26. In the form shown, the arm 31 has an aperture 32 that admits one of the detent portions 27 so that parts of the arm 31 are actually located between three adjacent detent portions 27, but it is also within the scope of our invention to so form the arm 31 that it will have no aperture and will be disposed between only two of the detent portions 27.

Beyond the aperture 32, the end portion of the arm 31 is bent inwardly at an angle so that it enters the slot 13 or other suitable opening in the key plug 11, thereby serving through coaction with the detent 27 with which the clip is engaged to hold the nut 26 positively against any change of its adjustment relatively to the key plug 11. Because there are a relatively large number of the detent portions 27 around the circumference of the nut 26 and the nut may be turned so as to bring any one of these detent portions in position to be held by the clip 29, the clip is capable of holding the nut 26 in very close adjustment, and the desired adjustment of the key plug 11 in the cylinder will be maintained within very fine limits. It is believed that the advantages of our novel adjustable key plug will now be apparent, and that its operation will be clear from the foregoing description.

We now claim:

1. In a lock of the class described, a cylinder, a key plug rotatable in said cylinder, a threaded portion on said key plug, a nut on said threaded portion having a circular outer periphery, said nut retaining said key plug in said cylinder and adjusting the endwise clearance of the key plug relatively to the cylinder when rotated on said threaded portion, an opening in the threaded portion of said key plug, a clip having parts extending in opposed directions on the circular periphery of said nut to hold the clip on the nut, the circular periphery of the nut having grooves extending longitudinally thereon, an arm on said clip positioned in at least one of said grooves and extending into the opening in the threaded portion of the key plug whereby to lock the nut to the key plug for rotation therewith, said clip yielding for removal of said arm from the groove in which it is positioned, and said longitudinally extending grooves formed in closely spaced relation to one another around the circular periphery of the nut to enable the clip to lock the nut when the nut is adjusted through small angles relatively to the key plug.

2. In a lock of the class described, a cylinder, a key plug rotatable in said cylinder, a threaded portion on said key plug, a nut on said threaded portion retaining said key plug in said cylinder and adjusting the endwise clearance of the key plug relatively to the cylinder when rotated on said threaded portion, a longitudinal slot in said key plug, a clip, a pair of arms on said clip extending in opposed directions on the periphery of the nut to hold the clip on the nut, the periphery of the nut having grooves extending through one face of the nut, a part on said clip entering at least one of the grooves and extending from said at least one groove into the slot in the key plug at said face of the nut whereby to lock the nut to the key plug for rotation therewith, the said pair of arms on said clip yielding for movement of said part of the clip relatively to the nut for adjustment of the nut relatively to the key plug, and said longitudinally extending grooves formed in closely spaced relation to one another around the periphery of the nut to enable the clip to lock the nut when the nut is adjusted through small angles relatively to the key plug.

3. In a lock of the class described, a cylinder, a key plug rotatable in said cylinder, a threaded portion on said key plug, a nut on said threaded portion having a circular outer periphery, said nut retaining said key plug in said cylinder and adjusting the endwise clearance of the key plug relatively to the cylinder when rotated on said threaded portion, a longitudinal slot in said key plug, a clip, pair of arms on said clip extending in opposed directions on the periphery of the nut to hold the clip on the nut, the circular periphery of the nut having grooves extending through one face of the nut, a part on said clip entering at least one of the grooves and extending from said at least one groove at said one face of the nut into the slot in the key plug whereby to lock the nut to the key plug for rotation therewith, the said pair of arms on said clip yielding for movement of said part of the clip away from said at least one groove in the nut, and said longitudinally extending grooves formed in closely spaced relation to one another around the circular periphery of the nut to enable the clip to lock the nut when the nut is adjusted through small angles relatively to the key plug.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 743,544 Myers Nov. 10, 1903 874,544 Schmidt Dec. 24, 1907 1,001,369 Diehl Aug. 22, 1911 1,112,246 Adler Sept. 29, 1914 1,176,718 Phillips Mar. 21, 1916 1,705,270 Segal Mar. 12, 1929 1,725,544 Segal Aug. 20, 1929 2,580,882 Blohm Jan. 1, 1952 2,609,679 Bremer et al. Sept. 5, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 170,985 Canada July 25, 1916 581,213 Great Britain Oct. 4, 1946 915,061 France July 8, 1946