US2791455A

US2791455A - Locking mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2791455A
Application number: US420944A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward M Greer; Jacques H Mercier
Original assignee: G M E CORP
Current assignee: G M E Corp
Priority date: 1954-04-05
Filing date: 1954-04-05
Publication date: 1957-05-07
Anticipated expiration: 1974-05-07

Description

y'7, 1957 E. M. GREER ETAL 2,791,455

LOCKING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 1954 a Sheds-Sheet 1 ATTO R N EYS E. M. GREER ETAL Y 2,791,455

LOCKING MECHANISM Filed A ril 5, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Edward M Greer JWaQSIYMQfiCJG/f dlilwfm ATTORNEYS y 7, 7 E. M. GREER ET AL 2,791,455

LOCKING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 1954 a Shets-Sheet a 2 2 51 E E If v 22) i Q 9 "iwENToR Ward M Greer ATTORNEYS 9 B aesjiMerciefi United States Patent fice Patented May 7,- 1957 2,791,455 LOCKING MECHANISM Edward M. Greer, Great Neck, and Jacques H. Mercier, New York, N. Y., assignors to G. M. E. Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York 'Application. April 5, 1954, Serial No. 420,944

' 3 Claims. (Cl. 292-247 This" invention relates to the art of locking mechanism and more particularly to latches useful for marine application such as on hatch covers.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention it is noted that where a hatch cover or panel on a hatchway is retained in position by a conventional locking de- Vice of the type which includes a pivoted bolt mounted on the deck of the ship, which is moved into engagement with a yoke mounted on the hatch cover and carries a nut that must be'tig-htene-d to lock the hatch cover, as each nut must be individually rotated as by a wrench and the bolt must be pivoted into or out of engagement with the yoke to lock and unlock the hatch cover, the L n fabric'atedandw may be installed at relatively low cost,

and which, without the need for loosening of nuts and with but a single simple manipulation in one direction that may readily be'performed with a minimum of efiort, will dependably effect locking of a movable element to a fixed element and. with a corresponding single manipulation in the opposite direction will effect unlocking of suchmovable element.

' According to the invention from its broader aspects, a fixed and movable element mount complementary locking members including a hook and a pivotally mounted member carrying a resilient ring, preferably of spring steel, designed to be moved into and out of engagement with said hook. Meansare provided to rotate said pivotally mounted member between locked and unlocked position, and means are also provided reacting against said ring to move the latter away from said hook when the pivotally mounted member is moved from locked to unlocked position and to move the ring to a position beneath said hook when the pivotally mounted member is moved from unlocked to locked position.

In'the accompanying drawings in which are. shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. '1 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in cross section of a hatch cover and associated latching mechanism in locked position,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of the latching mechanism in unlocked position,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a detail side elevational view on an enlarged scale showing the latching mechanism in unlocked position,

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of another embodimentef the latching mechanism in locked position, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in cross section of a hatch cover and associated latching mechanism of the embodiment of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, in the embodiment shown in Fig. l, the hatchway 11 of the ship is closed by means of a hatch cover 14 which has a skirt 15 there around depending from its top wall 16. Desinably, a resilient sealing strip ltt is secured to the lower edge of the skirt 15 so that when the hatch cover is in the closed position shown, the strip 18 will be compressed against the top surface of coaming 19 about the hatchway to provide a water tight seal.

in order to lock the hatch cover 14 in closed position with respect to the hatchway, a plurality of locking devices 21 are provided. As such locking devices are identical, only one will be described in detail.

As shown in Fig. 1, the locking device comprises a bracket 22 having a cross piece 23 affixed to the undersuriace of the hatch cover as by welding. Depending from cross piece 23 is a pair of spaced

parallel arms

24 and 25 between which a locking member 26 is positioned, pivotally mounted by means of a bolt 27 which extends through aligned openings in the lower ends of said arms and in said locking member near its lower end 28.

The locking member has a rearwardly extending arm 31 with a plate 32 at its upper end which, when member 26 is in locked position (Fig. 1), will rest against the undersurface of the top wall 16 of the hatch cover beneath an opening 32 therein. The plate 32 desirably has a resilient sealing member 33 positioned in a groove 34 therein which will prevent leakagethrough opening 32 into the hatchway when the cover 14 is locked. The plate 32 desirably has an opening 35 through which extends -a cable 36 having a collar 37 atfixed to its lower end and a loop or handle 38 at its upper end. To prevent leakage through opening 35, a seal 39, illustrativelya ball of resilient material, is desirably affixed to cable 36 and is normally retained over said opening by the weight of the cable and'the collar 37. Desirably a bar 41 is affixed to the cable36 beneath handle 38 to retain the latter in accessible position above the cover 16 when the latch is in unlocked position. The cable 36 and the opening 32 serve to permit emergency manual locking and unlocking of the hatch cover in the manner hereinafter to be described.

The locking. member 26 near its front edge 42 has an opening 43 in which is pivotally mounted the upper run 44 of a ring member 45 desirably oval shaped and of resilient material such as spring steel.

The portion of the lower run 46 of ring 45 opposed to the pivotally mounted portion of the upper run is designed to be moved into and out of locking engagement with a laterally extending hook 47 which is secured to an upright member illustratively a plate 48 mounted on the coaming 19. As shown in Fig. 1, the hook 47 has a concave seat 50 in its lower surface to be engaged by the lower run 46 of the ring so that it will remain in locked position The upper run 44 of ring 45 has a pair of

fingers

51 and 52 afllxed thereto, which straddle the

arms

24 and 25 as shown in Fig. 3, the finger 52 being longer than the finger 51. The

fingers

51 and 52 coact respectively with

pins

53 and 54 extending laterally outward from

arms

24 and 25, the pin 54 being cylindrical and at a lower level than the pin 53 which has a cut away top portion as at 55 so that it is substantially semi-circular in cross section.

The locking device is desirably normally actuated by a hydraulic unit 61 comprising a cylinder 62 having a finger 63 at one end pivotally connected as at 64 to a bracket 65 aflixed to the undersurface of cover 14 and i 3 depending therefrom. The piston rod 66 of hydraulic unit'61 desirably has a yoke 67 affixed to its free end as at 68, the legs of which straddle a finger 69 at the lower end of the locking member 26 and are pivotally connected thereto as by means of a pin 71.

To actuate the piston rod, for locking and unlocking of the hatch cover, a source of fiuidunder pressure may be connected in conventional manner to either the

ports

72 or 73 of the hydraulic unit on each side respectively of its piston 74.

With the hatch cover in locked position, as shown in Fig. l, to unlock the hatch cover, it is merely necessary to actuate the hydraulic unit 61 by forcing fluid under pressure through port 73. As a result, the piston rod 66 will be moved inwardly rotating the locking member 26 in a clockwise direction about its pivot 27 from the position shown in Fig. 1. As the locking member rotates and the axis of the upper run 44 of ring member 45 moves to the right toward the axis of pivot 27, the ring member will be stretched slightly and as the upper run 44 moves past pivot 27, the tension on the ring 45 will be relieved.

Assuming that the upper run 44 of the ring member 45 rotates freely in opening 43, with further rotation of the locking member, the ring member will move downwardly, the lower run 46 thereof initially remaining directly below the seat 50 in hook 47.

As the upper run 44 of the ring moves from the position shown in Fig. 1, the shorter finger 51 carried by the upper run 44 will move past the cut away portion 55 of pin 53 clearing such pin. At this time the longer finger 52 carried by the upper run 44 of the ring 45 will abut against the pin 54 as shown in Fig. 4, and with further rotation of the locking member 26, this will cause the upper run 44 of ring 45 to pivot in opening 43 so that the lower run 46 of the ring will be moved outwardly away from the hook 47, such pivotal movement of the ring causing the finger 51 to assume the position shown in Fig. 2, i. e. to the rear of pin 53.

When the piston rod 66 has reached the limit of its stroke and the locking member 26 is in the position shown in Fig. 4, the finger 52 reacting against pin 54 will retain the lower run 46 of the ring in position clear of the hook 47.

At this time the hatch cover is fully unlocked and may be removed in conventional manner.

To lock the hatch cover once it is positioned over the hatchway, it is merely necessary to force fluid under pressure through port 72 of the hydraulic cylinder. As a result, the piston rod 66 will be moved outwardly rotating the locking member 26 in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 2.

Initially the finger 52 will be moved away from pin 54 and as the upper run 44 rotates freely in opening 43, as previously set forth, by reason of the movement of the upper run in a counterclockwise direction and the rotation of such upper run in opening 43, the finger 51 will pass over the cut away portion 55 of pin 53.

With continued rotation of the locking member 26 the lower run 46 will move under the seat 50 in hook 47 and when the axis of the upper run 44 passes the axis of the pivot 27, the

runs

44 and 46 of the ring 45 will be pulled apart slightly so that the run '46 will be retained under tension in the seat 50. By reason of the resultant tension of the ring 45 and the displacement of the axis of the pivot 27 to the right of the axis of the upper run 44, as shown in Fig. 1, the locking member 26 will be urged in a counterclockwise direction, the movement being restrained by the abutment of the plate 32 at the upper end of the locking member against the undersurface of the hatch cover. The displacement-of the axes of pivot 27 and run 44 of the ring 45 will thus retain the ring 45 in locked position. a

In the event that the upper run 44 should not rotate freely in opening 43 due to rust, for example, or 'ifthe the latter with a mallet.

ship should be at a list, the finger 51 and pin 53 ensure that the lower run 46 of the ring will be'moved under the seat 50 in hook 47 for efiective locking action.

Thus, referring to Fig. 2, if the run 44 does not rotate freely in opening 43, as the locking member 26 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the finger 51 will abut against pin 53 and cam therepas t causing rotation of the upper run 44 of ring 45 in a counterclockwise direction to move the lower run 46 beneath the seat 50 in hook 47, for effective locking of the ring 45 in the manner prevoiusly described.

In the event that the hydraulic system should fail, the locking device has provisions for manual opening and closing thereof. Thus, with the locking device in the closed position shown in Fig. 1 it may readily be opened by inserting a bar through the opening 32 in the hatch cover and either pressing down on such bar or striking This will cause the locking member to pivot in a clockwise direction to open the locking device in the manner previously described.

In the event that the locking device is in open position with the locking member in the position shown in Fig. 2, the device may be closed by pulling on the handle end 38 of cable 36. As a result, the collar 37 will abut against the undersurface of plate 32 pivoting the locking member in a counterclockwise direction to lock the device, also in the manner previously described.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the hatchway 81 is closed by means of a hatch cover 82 which has a skirt 83 therearound depending from its top wall 84. Desirably a resilient sealing strip 85 is secured to the lower edge of the skirt 83 so that when the hatch cover is in closed position with the lower edge of skirt 83 resting on the coaming 86 of the hatchway 81, the strip 85 will press against the top surface of said coaming to provide a watertight seal.

To retain the hatch cover 82 in locked or closed position with respect to the hatchway, a plurality of locking devices 87 are provided, only one of which is shown.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the locking device comprises a bracket 87 atfixed as by welding to the skirt 83 and extending outwardly therefrom.

Pivotally mounted on the free end 88 of bracket 87 is locking member 89 preferably in the form of a yoke having a cross piece 91 and a pair of parallel arms 92 and '93 extending therefrom and straddling the end 88 of bracket 87. Desirably a bolt 94 extends through aligned openings in end 88 and

arms

92, 93 pivotally to mount the locking member 89.

Extending through transversely aligned openings 95 in

arms

92, 93 is the upper run 96 of a ring member 97 desirably oval shaped and of resilient material such as spring steel.

The lower run 98 of ring 97 is designed to be moved into and out of locking engagement with a laterally extending hook 99 aflixed at one end as by welding to the coaming 86 and extending laterally outward therefrom.

As shown in Fig. 6, the hook 99 has a concave seat 101 in its lower surface so that the ring will remain in locked position.

Afi'ixed at one end' to the rear of arm 93, for example, oflocking member 89 near its upper end and extending laterally outward therefrom between the ring '97 and skirt 83 is a rod 102, the free end of which extends beyond the ring as is-clearly shown in Fig.. 5. A bar 103 is affixed at one end to the front of arm' 93 and also extends laterally outward therefrom in front of ring 97 and beyond the latter. Mounted on the free end of bar 103 is a coil spring 104 which reacts against the ring 97 and which is in compressed but slightly extended condition when the lower run 98 of the ring is beneath hook 99.

Although the locking member 89 may be pivoted in any suitable manner to locked or unlocked position, in

106 or the like may be positioned to pivot the locking member.

When the device of Figs. 5 and 6 is in the locked position shown, the upper and lower runs of ring 97 will be stretched apart slightly so that the lower run 98 will be securely retained beneath the seat 101 in hook 99. As the axis of the upper run 96 of ring 97 will be slightly to the left of the axis 94 of the locking member 89, the tensed ring 97 will tend to rotate the locking member in a counterclockwise direction. However, as the surface 107 of the cross piece 91 of the locking member 89 will abut against the undersurface 108 of bracket 87, movement of the locking member will be restrained and it will remain in locked position under the tension of ring 97.

To open the hatch cover, a crowbar 106, for example, may be inserted into recess 105 in the cross piece 91 of the locking member and lifted to rotate the locking member in a clockwise direction.

Assuming that the upper run 96 of ring 97 rotates freely in openings 95 in the arms of the locking member 89, as the axis of run 96 moves toward the axis of pivot 94, the ring will be stretched slightly. With further rotation of the locking member 89, the tension of ring 97 would be relieved and its lower run would be moved to a position below that shown in solid lines in Fig. 6, clear of the hook 99 and will remain beneath the latter. However, when the locking member has been moved so that the rod 102 abuts against the ring 97, further movement of the locking member to the position shown at 109 and 110 would cause the rod 102 to swing the ring outwardly clear of the hook.

The crowbar 106 is then removed from recess 105 and by reason of the weight of the rear portion 111 of the locking member, which serves as a counter-balance, the ring would remain in position clear of the hook and the hatch cover can then be removed in conventional manner.

To lock the hatch cover after it is positioned on the coaming in the position shown in Fig. 6, the locking member 89 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in dot and dash lines. Assuming that upper run 96 rotates freely in openings 95, when the pressure of rod 102 against the ring 97 is relieved, the ring will move toward a vertical position with the lower run 98 beneath the hook 99.

With continued rotation of the locking member, as the axis of the upper run 96 passes the axis of pivot 94, the

runs

96 and 98 of ring 97 will be pulled apart slightly so that the run 98 will be maintained under tension in the seat 101. By reason of the resultant tension of ring 97 and the displacement of the axis of the upper run 96 to the left of the axis of the pivot 94, the locking member 89 will be urged in a counterclockwise direction, the movement being restrained by the abutment of the surface 107 of cross piece 91 against the undersurface 108 of bracket 87. The displacement of the axes of pivot 94 and run 96 will thus retain the ring 97 in locked position.

In the event that the upper run 96 would not rotate freely in opening 95 or if the ship should be at a list, the lower run 98 might not move beneath the hook 99 which would prevent locking of the ring. This difiiculty, however, is avoided by the coil spring 104, which, as the locking member is rotated, will react more and more strongly against the ring 97 to pivot the latter in openings 95 so that the lower run 98 will be moved beneath hook 99 regardless of the list of the ship or of initial freezing of the upper run in openings 95. The ring 97 will thereupon be securely locked in position, as previously described, by further movement of the locking member.

It is of course to be understood that the coil spring is merely illustrative and any resilient means, such as a leaf spring could be used to react against the ring 97.

Furthermore, if desired, the locking member can be hydraulically operated and could be positioned on the interior of the hatch cover.

With the equipment above described, by reason of the fact that only a simple movement of the locking member is required to lock or unlock the hatch cover, the operation may be performed rapidly and with a minimum of effort and dependable 'locking and unlocking of the cover is assured without need for manual movement of the ring toward and away from the hook, regardless of rusting of the ring in its pivotal mount or of listing of the ship.

It is of course to be understood that the locking device has many other applications other than for hatch covers, i. e., it could be used for bulkhead doors or for nonmarine applications and the examples herein described are merely illustrative.

As many changes could be made in the above equipment, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Equipment for latching a movable element to a fixed element comprising a hook member affixed to one of said elements, a bracket having a cross piece affixed to the other of said elements, said bracket having a pair of spaced arms extending therefrom, a locking member pivotally mounted on said bracket, and movable between locked and unlocked position, a ring member of resilient material having two opposed runs, said locking member having an opening through which one of the runs of the ring member extends, pivotally mounting said ring member and the other of said runs being movable into and out of locking engagement with said hook member, said ring member being extendable along a line from its pivotally mounted run to its opposed run, whereby when said hook member is engaged by said opposed run said ring member will be extended and the tension exerted thereby will restrain movement of said pivotally mounted member, a pair of fingers aifixed at one end to the run of the ring extending through the locking member and extending toward the other run, said fingers straddling said arms, one of said fingers being shorter than the other, and a pair of pins affixed at one end to said arms respectively and extending outwardly therefrom, said pins being associated respectively with said fingers, the longer finger being adapted to abut against its associated pin to pivot the hook engaging run of the ring away from said hook when the locking member is moved from locked to unlocked position and the shorter run being adapted to abut against its associated pin to pivot the hook engaging run toward said hook when the locking member is moved from unlocked to locked position.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the pin associated with the shorter finger has a cut away portion and said shorter finger is designed normally to clear said pin when the run of the ring extending through the opening in the locking member rotates freely in said opening.

3. Equipment for latching a movable element to a fixed element comprising a hook member afiixed to said fixed element, a bracket affixed to the movable element, a locking member pivotally mounted on said bracket and movable between locked and unlocked position, a ring member of resilient material having two opposed runs, one of said runs being pivotally mounted on said locking member and the other of said runs being movable into and out of locking engagement with said hook member, said ring member being extendable along a line from its pivotally mounted run to its opposed run, whereby when said hook member is engaged by said opposed run, said ring member will be extended and the tension exerted thereby willrestrain movement of said pivotally mounted locking member, said' locking member having a plate at its'free end adapted to press against said movable element when the locking member is in locked position, said movable element having an open ing therethrough providing access to said plate and means connected to said plate extending through said opening to pivot the locking member from unlocked to locked position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES. PATENTS Harvey a May 2, 1922 Garrigus Jan. 6, 1925 Perry Aug. 4, 1931 Baade May 30, 1950 Paul Feb. 12, 1952