US3028941A - Coin-controlled locking mechanisms - Google Patents

Description

April 10, 1962 MGDONNELL COIN-CONTROLLED LOCKING MECHANISMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 5, 1960 m m m m R A. MDozuzeZZ jiionzeys.

April 10, 1962 R. R. MCDONNELL COIN-CONTROLLED LOCKING MECHANISMS Filed Jan. 5, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVENTOR.

BY K R McDozzneZZ liiornqys 3,028,941 CDIN-CGNTRGLLED LDCKHNG MECHANISMd Ralph R. McDonnell, 17 Arlington Lane, Fox Lake, Ill. Filed Jan. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 651 2 Claims. (Cl. 194-78) My invention relates to lock mechanisms for garments Wh1ch are stored temporarily in public places, such as restaurants, clockrooms, etc. More particularly, the invention deals with a mechanism for retaining the garment, and is an improvement of the mechanism covered in my co-pending application filed March 31, 1957 under Serial No. 647,524, now US. Patent No. 2,982,388. Such mechanism operates in conjunction with a rack or other support for the garment, employs a key, and requires a C0111 to render the mechanism operative. Thus, the garment-such as an ovcrcoatis mounted on a hanger suspended from the rack; and one end of a chain is attached to the rack, the chain being looped through the sleeve of the overcoat and applied to the locking mechanism after the coin is deposited into the same. The key, which is normally retained by the mechanism, is then released and partially ejected for removal by the patron. Now the overcoat cannot be removed from the looped chain. When the removal of the overcoat is desired by the patron, the operation of the key actuates the mechanism for the release of the chain, permitting the removal of the overcoat. When this is accomplished, the mechanism again secures a retentive hold on the key, and becomes automatically re-set for the next user.

While the mechanisrn'covered in the aforesaid patent application serves the purpose of the invention, it is quite involved and expensive to produce, and one object of the present improvement is to devise a mechanism which is quite simple and relatively cheap to produce.

A further object is to so design the improved mechanism that a coin will not be lost to the patron without the benefit of locking his garment.

A still further object of the improvement is to extend the operation of the key lock with a simple pressing movement effective to unlock the chain when the key is turned.

Another object is to incorporate the pressing action in the key lock for the release of its cylinder for rotation by the key, such rotation procuring the unlocking of the chain.

' A better understanding of the improvement may be had by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the left-hand end-portion of the rack, showing a garment locked to the same;

FIG. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-4; of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a section on the key-lock taken on the line 77 of FIG. 3 with the lock mechanism in a position to permit turning the key;

FIG. 8 is a similar view showing the lock mechanism set to prevent the key from being turned or removed, and

FIG. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of FIGS.

Referring specifically to the drawing, 10 denotes the rack between whose ends is mounted a bar 12 for hanging garments 13. Each of these is mountable on a conventional hangar 15; and the garment hangers are locked to the bar by the use of an eye 16 instead of the conventional hook.

Each garment hanger 15 is made with a lateral eye 18 in the center for attaching one end of the chain 19. The top of the rack is in the form of a cabinet 20, whose front is formed by a series of panels 23 grouped in a contacting succession and corresponding in number to the garment hangers 15. The panels may be numbered in a series, as shown in FIG. 1; and the free end of each chain 19 carries a fiat plunger 25 for use in relation to a slot as in the corresponding panel 23 in the same manner as in my aforesaid patent application. Again, each panel 23 carries a conventional cylinder lock 27 adapted to received a key 28. y

When a garment-receiving chain 19 is not in use, it hangs free as seen in the left-hand end of FIG. 1; and the key 23 of the corresponding panel Z3marked No. 1is retained in the cylinder lock as shown. However, when a chain has been looped to retain a garmentas shown in the center of FIG. l-the plunger 25 may be used to back a coin 30 inserted in the slot 25 of the corresponding panel 23, namely, No. 2. Each panel carries a. locking mechanism, and the mechanism of panel No. 2 then acts to lock the plunger from removal While releasing the key 23 as mentioned before, so that the key may be completely removed by the owner of the locked garment. The cylinder lock of panel No. 2 therefore appears minus the key in FIG. 1.

The locking mechanism of each panel 23 primarily involves a vertical plate 35 which extends rearwardiy from the panel along one side of the slot 26that is, the righthand side when looking from the front-the plate having a frontal side wing 35a which is welded to the panel 23 to secure the support of the plate. The latter receives upper and lower groups of horizontal strips to form runways for the coin 3t} and a slide 49. Thus, as seen in FIG. 4, the upper group of strips involves an outer one 42, a middle one 43 and an inner one 4-4. While the upper group of strips is even at the top, the strips 42 and 44 extend lower than the inner strip 43, so that a channel is formed in the under side of the strip group. This construction also applies to the lower group of strips 42a, 43a and 44a, but in reverse. However, the outer strip 42a is divided to form a wide vertical passage 47, as shown in FIG. 5. Each group of strips is welded to each other and to the plate 35. I

The space between the upper strip 4-2 and the lower one 42a is calculated to clear a passage for the coin 30 that is inserted through the slot 26; and it is seen in FIG. 5 that the strip 42a has a depression 4217 just back of the slot 26 in order to form an initial rest for the coin and prevent it from rolling out. i

The facing channels of the upper and lower strip groups form a passage 43b between the strips 43 and 43a for the slide 40. As seen in FIG. 3, the slide is drawn forwardly by a spring 49; and the slide is stamped from the side seen in FIG. 3 with a lip 50 projecting on the reverse side, as noted in FIG. 6, such lip being in the path of the coin 30. Thus, should the coin move rearwardly it will meet the lip 50, backing the slide.

As in the structure of the aforesaid patent application, the plunger 25 is designed to be inserted in front of the coin to push the same in rearward direction when the looped chain is to be locked. In that event, the progress of the coin brings it over the passage 47; and the coin therefore drops through the passage into the bottom of the cabinet. The advance of the plunger to the limit a defined by its shoulders a, when they meet the panel 23, places the plunger in a position to be locked against retraction, so that the looped chain becomes locked in this manner. Such locking action is accomplished by the advance of a bolt 55 through an opening 25:: in the plunger to seat in a pocket formed in the plate 35.

The bolt is the top extension of an arm 57 carried by the cylinder 27a of the key-lock 27. It was mentioned previously that the coin backed the slide during its travel rearwardly into the cabinet, the limit of this movement appearing in FIG. 6. The arm 57 is always under a pulling influence toward the plunger 25 by a spring 59, and the bolt 55 is blocked by the slide from entering the opening 25b in the plunger, as seen in FIG. 4, before the coin and plunger are inserted in the slot 26. The slide is ordinarily drawn by a spring 49 to meet the back of the panel 23. However, when the coin and plunger are inserted into the slot 26, the slide will be hacked to a point clearing the bolt 55. Now, the latter will be drawn by the spring 59 to .get in front of the slide and block its return in forward direction. Also, the opening 25b in the plunger will now be in line with the bolt so that the latter will continue to be drawn by the spring 59 without any additional manual effort to advance through the opening and seat in the pocket 3 511, as stated before. Both ends of the chain may now be considered as locked to the cabinet; and the garment is safe against unauthorized removal.

Before the insertion of the coin and plunger as stated, the position of the bolt 55 was as shown in H6. 4, that is slightly retracted by the obstructing slide. The key is now retained from withdrawal by the construction of the key-lock as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. It is seen that the cylinder 2711 contains the usual springbacked turnblers 27b controllable in the yielding direction by the key 28; and the back part of thecylinder contains a spring designed to resist the full insertion of the key; the spring being backed by a screw 62 driven into the cylinder. Also, .the housing 27 .of the key-lock has a longitudinal pocket 27c facing the cylinder 27a. Therefore, the condition that retains the key against withdrawal is the hold thereon by the tumblers as seen in PEG. 7, these being out of line in a rotary direction with the side pocket 270. However, when a patron, in order to lock his garment,

inserts the coin and plunger into the slot 26, the locking action of the bolt 55 imparts a short clockwise turn to the cylinder 27a as seen from the front. While the directive to the patron is to remove the key now that his garment is locked, he may by force of habit attempt to turn the key. To do this in a counter-clockwise direction while the key is fully inserted would withdraw the bolt 55 from its locking hold on the plunger, so that the latter would pull out of the slot 26 from the weight of the chain and cause the garment to become unlocked and the coin to be forfeited. The present mechanism automatically operates to preclude such an occurrence. Thus, when the cylinder 27a takes the short clockwise turn as stated above, it brings the tumblers into line with the longitudinal pocket 27c into which they slide, as shown in FIG. 8. This action frees the key from its mesh with the tumblers allowing the key to be partly ejected by the internal spring 69 to the position shown in FIG. 8. Now the key cannot be turned; and the tendency will therefore be for the patron to draw on it-particularly if he has noted its automatic partial ejectionand keep the key until he desires to return to the rack to take his garment.

When the patron returns to the rack he inserts the key into the key-lock 27 to the full extent indicated by full lines in FIG. 7, that is, by compressing the spring 69 in the back part of the lock cylinder. This causes the proper meshing of the key-teeth with the tumblers 27b to retract them to the diameter of the cylinder 2711. Now the key and cylinder may be turned to the left-that is, in a counterclockwise direction as seen from the front-with- :drawing the bolt 55 from the plunger 25', so that the nasal latter may be removed to open the chain 19. Also during this action the bolt clears the slide 40, so that the latter is quickly drawn forwardly by the spring 49 to keep the bolt in the retracted position, as seen in FIG. 4. The forward position of the slide both bars the bolt from plunger-locking movement and automatically re-sets the mechanism for the next coin-and-plunger entry when the same garment locking unit is again to be used. It will now be recalled that the bolt in the retracted position accomplished the retention of the key against withdrawal, so that it is so held until the same unit is again to be used for garment-locking purposes.

In respect to the mounting of the bolt arm 57 on the key-lock cylinder 27, E65. 7 and 9 show that the cylinder extends with a threaded stem 2711 which is flattened on opposite sides, as shown at 27.9. The arm 57 is perforated to fit the flattened portion of the stem, receiving a washer 69 on the frontal side and a nut 70 on the rear side to properly secure the arm on the cylinder.

It will now be apparent that the first condition to use the improved lockin facility is the insertion of the required coin, since it forms an extension for the plunger to reach and back the slide. it would of course be possible to do this by the insertion of a slug or metal blank in place of the coin where the unscrupulous use of the facility is desired, but such attempts may be discounted because the rack is designed for indoor use and placement there it may be easily seen or watched. A second consideration is the placement of the passage 47 at a point before the slide clears the bolt, so that the departure of the coin from the mechanism and the deposit of the coin into the cabinet 22 are assured before the chain. loop can be locked to the rack. Further, the pocket 35b is provided as a positive limit for the advance of the bolt 55, so that the rotation of the key-lock cylinder will always stop at the point Where the key is removable, rather than depend on some point in the advance of the bolt to accomplish that purpose. Further, the major parts entering into the garment-locking mechanism have been reduced to two--narnely, the bolt and the slide-by concentrating the plunger control in the key-lock. Finally, the mechanism is now quite simple and compact, and therefore of a nature to be produced inexpensively and present a neat appearance.

I claim:

1. A coin-controlled locking device comprising a frontal support formed with a slot into which a coin is insertible, a plunger formed with an opening and insertible into the slot to push the coin in rearward direction and stop at a given point, a key-lock carried by the support and having a rotatable cylinder into which a key is insertible from the front, a bolt carried by the cylinder and swingable toward the plunger by a partial turn of the cylinder, a slide normally barring the bolt from reaching the plunger and backed by the coin to clear the plunger when the latter has reached said point, the opening in the plunger then being in line with the bolt to receive the latter as a lock against the retraction of the plunger, the key-lock having means maintaining the key in fully-inserted position and locked from retraction before said partial turn, and such means operating automatically to partially eject the key and release the same for removal when the bolt has locked the plunger as stated.

2. A coin-controlled locking device comprising a frontal support formed with a slot into which a coin is insertible, a plunger formed with an opening and insertible into the slot to push the coin in rearward direction and stop at a given point, a key-lock carried by the support and .having a rotatable cylinder into which a key is insertible from the front, a bolt carried by the cylinder and swingable toward the plunger by a partial turn of the cylinder, a slide normally barring the bolt from reaching the plunger and backed by the coin to clear the plunger when the latter has reached said point, the opening in the plunger then being in line with the bolt to receive the latter as a lock 5 6 against the retraction of the plunger, the key-lock having References Cited in the file of this patent means maintaining the key in fully-inserted position and locked from retraction before said partial turn, and a com- UNITED STATES PATENTS pression spring in the back part of the cylinder and bear- 2,982,388 McDonnell May 2, 1961 ing forwardly on the key to partially eject the same for 6 removal when the bolt has locked the plunger as stated FOREIGN PATENTS and prevent the key from turning in either direction. 811,406 Ger-many Aug. 20, 1951

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