US3059070A

US3059070A - Electrically controlled locking mechanism and embossed card key therefor

Info

Publication number: US3059070A
Application number: US48209A
Authority: US
Inventors: Raymond P Noregaard
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-08-08
Filing date: 1960-08-08
Publication date: 1962-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 1979-10-16

Description

Oct. 16, 1962 R. P. NOREGAARD ELECTRICALLY CONTROLLED LOCKING MECHANISM AND EMBOSSED CARD KEY THEREFOR Filed Aug. 8, 1960 INSULATION D A r MW 01 N 7 R D N m m M w a a United States Patent 3,059,070 ELECTRICALLY CONTROLLED LOCKING MECH- ANISM AND EMBOSSED CARD KEY THEREFOR Raymond P. Noregaard, 3240 NE. 75th Ave., Portland, Oreg. Filed Aug. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 48,209 2 Claims. (Cl. 20046) This invention relates to improvements in the type of key-actuated, electrically-controlled locking mechanism shown and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 40,923, filed July 5, 1960, and wherein the key is in the form of an embossed card in possession of members in good standing of, for example, a club, fraternal organization, industrial plants and the like where only such members in good standing as evidenced by a valid card are admissible.

A valid card in effecting operation of the locking mechanism actuates one or more plungers to permit movement of switch-closing means, and an invalid card will actuate at least one other plunger to render the switch-closing means inoperable.

Another specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved locking arrangement of the character described which utilizes a single electrical switch in circuit with the locking mechanism and wherein the plungers may be set relative to the switch-closing means and a locking plate in accordance with a coded arrangement prescribed by the producers of the cards or in accordance with an arrangement requested by a user of the mechanism.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide an improved lock arrangement of this character in which an electrical circuit is closed only upon use of the proper entrance card to effect opening of the lock.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the invention with a fragment of the cover plate broken away for convenience of illustration.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional side elevational view taken approximately along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the right-hand end of FIGURE 2.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are top plan and side elevational views respectively of an embossed card key.

FIGURE 6 is a Wiring diagram, and FIGURE 7 is a detail plan view of a housing.

With continuing reference to the drawing wherein like reference characters designate like parts, and particularly to FIGURES l to 6 thereof, reference numeral 1 indicates generally a card receptacle comprising a base member 2 made of dielectric material, flanged as at 3 along both of its sides, rounded at its front top edge as at 4, and reduced in thickness as at 6 at its rearward end.

A housing 8 is supported upon the flanges 3 of the base member and within the housing is slidably mounted a switch-actuating member 9 also made of dielectric material and provided with a downwardly flanged rearward end indicated at 10. A cover plate 12 is provided for the housing 8 and is secured to the base member 2 by means of bolts 14 extending through the cover plate and into the base member. A top locking plate 18 and a bottom locking plate 19 are secured together and to the underside of the cover plate 12 by means of the bolts 14. The reduced rearward end 6 of the base member 2 is provided with a switch indicated generally at 3,059,070 Patented Oct. 16, 1962 ice 20, comprising a spring contact finger 21 and a fixed contact 22 both secured at their bottom end to said portion 6.

As shown in FIGURE 6, the fixed contact 22 is connected by wire 25 with one side of a battery 26 whose opposite side is connected by wire 27 to one side of a solenoid 28 of an electric latching mechanism indicated generally at L. The other side of the solenoid is connected by wire 30 with the spring contact finger 21 and from the foregoing it will be obvious that moving the switch-actuating member 9 to the left as viewed in FIG- URE 2 will close the circuit through the switch to the locking mechanism for actuating the same.

As best illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 the top locking plate 18 is provided with certain oblong openings 35 in open communication with circular openings 36 in the bottom locking plate 19 and this plate 19 has oblong openings 42 in communication with circular openings 43 in the top locking plate 18. The circular openings in both plates are aligned with openings 50 in the switchactuating member 9. Locking pins 51, having heads 52, extend downwardly through the openings 50 in the member 9 and through elongated openings 60 in the bottom wall 62 of the housing 8. Although only four locking pins are shown in a characteristic arrangement, it will be readily understood that a greater or lesser number of pins may be used if desired.

The oblong openings and circular openings in both

plates

18 and 19 are arranged in transverse rows identified as A, B and C and in longitudinal rows numbered 1, 2 and 3. By means of this coded arrangement a user of the apparatus desiring to have valid membership cards embossed to lift the pins in accordance with his own selected arrangement can instruct the producer of the cards by an order written in code. For example, coded instructions to produce a card 65 as shown in FIGURE 4 and embossed as at 66, 67 and 68, the coded order would read: A-3, B-1, and C-2.

A membership card so embossed would be a valid one and therefore when inserted into the receptacle between the housing 8 and the top surface of the base member 2, the embossments on the card will lift the pins in the corresponding locations as shown in FIGURE 1 to position the heads of the pins within the oblong openings 35 in the top plate 19 so that when the fully inserted card abuts the flanged rearward end 10 of the switch-actuating member 9, it will move this member to the left and hence the spring contact 21 into contact with the fixed contact 22 and thereby close the circuit therethrough.

The oblong openings 35 in the top plate and the elongated openings 60 in the bottom wall of the housing 8 will permit of such movement. If an attempt is made to use an out-dated or invalid card, wherein a now non-conforming embossment 71 is located as shown in broken lines, it will elevate the pin 51 in the corresponding position to lift the head of that pin into the circular opening 43 in the top plate and thus prevent any movement of the switch-actuating member 9. The same applies to invalid cards wherein other embossments might be located to register with pins occupying positions at B-3 and C-1.

Although I have shown the

openings

35, 42 and 60 as oblong, it will be readily understood that they could all be circular openings of unlike diameters to permit of the movement of the pins and the heads as above pointed out.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A switch device comprising a receptacle having a card-receiving pocket, said pocket defined by a switchclosing means slidable relative to a base member in spaced relation thereto, a locking plate disposed above said switch-closing means and having circular openings and oblong openings therein arranged in a characteristic pattern, a plurality of locking pins slidably extending through said switch-closing vmeans and terminating in heads disposed within said openings and said heads being of diameters substantially equal to the diameters of said circular openings in the locking plate, the bottom ends of said pins terminating within said pocket, a switch carried by the receptacle, a card having embossments thereon adapted when the card is inserted into the receptacle to actuate certain of said pins to position their respective heads within certain of said oblong openings to thereby permit movement of said switch-closing means relative to the base member to a switch-closing position.

2. A switch device comprising a receptacle having a card-receiving pocket, said pocket defined by a switchclosing means slidable relative to a base member in spaced relation thereto, a locking plate disposed above said switch-closing means and having circular openings and oblong openings therein arranged in a characteristic pattern, a plurality of locking pins slidably extending through said switch-closing means and provided with heads of diameters substantially equal to the diameters of said circular openings in the locking plate, a switch carried by the receptacle, a card having embossments thereon matching the characteristic pattern of said circular and oblong openings to thus identify the card as a valid one and adapted when the card is inserted into the receptacle to actuate certain of said pins to position their relative heads within certain of said oblong openings to thereby permit movement of said lock member relative to the base member to a switch-closing position, and whereby a card having at least one non-pattern-matching embossment thereon and thereby identified as an invalid card will position the head of a pin aligned with said embossment into one of said circular openings in said top locking plate to thereby prevent movement of said locking member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,566,017 Cooley Aug. 28, 1951 2,892,907 Richmond et a1 June 30, 1959 2,931,953 Barney Apr. 5, 1960