US3180119A - Combination lock structure - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 10, 1963 IIIII l NV EN TOR. 40019 El 6040 4425 BY wh /1 April 27, 1965 A. E. GOLDFARB COMBINATION LOCK STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 10, 5

j'ridi INVENTOR. 4001 PA 5. 601

dhddlh United States PatentOffice 3,180,119 CGB/EINATIGN LGCK STRUCTURE Adolph E. Goldfarh, 7427 Varna St, North Hollywood, Calif.

Filed den. 10, 1%3, Ser. No. 250,657 Claims. (Cl. Yd-63) The present invention relates to a combination lock structure, and more particularly to such a lock structure wherein the combination may be readily changed by the owner.

The combination lock is, of course, not new per se, but the prior art devices in general are complicated, expensive and bulky. Also, they are not altogether effective in performing their function. Further, for the most part, once the combination has been disclosed, the lock would have to be replaced or a costly and expensive job of reworking would have to be done in order to change the combination for the lock.

There, therefore, exists a need for a simple and economical, yet effective, combination lock which may be changed at the will of the owner and without expensive and costly additional work.

Accordingly, the prime object of the present invention is to provide an irnproved combination lock structure. A more particular object is the provision. of a combination lock wherein the combination may be readily changed at the will of the owner. A further object is to provide such a structure disguised as a book.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such an improved combination lock structure which is simple and economical to construct, yet which is effective and highly dependable in operation. Another object is the provision of such a structure which is also quite compact.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious from the following description and i the associated drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a bank having the external appearance of a book and including a combination lock structure having various features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the book shown in FIGURE 1, the cover and front pages of the book being open somewhat to expose the door and combination lock;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the bank, showing the door partially open;

FIGURE 4 is a side sectional view taken generally along line 4 -4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a portion of the door frame, the slidable' door plate, and various other parts of the combination lock mechanism;

FIGURES 6 and 8 are sectional views taken generally along lines 66 and 8-8, respectively, of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7a is a sectional view taken generally along lines 7a-7a of FIGURE 4, illustrating the operation of the rotary members of the combination lock mechanism;

FIGURES 7b and 7c are similar to FIGURE 71:, showing the rotary members in diiferent rotational positions relative to one another incident to the operation of the combination lock mechanism. 7

The illustrated device is a bank construction 16 which includes an enclosure 12 having a door 14. The door is locked and unlocked by a combination lock means or mechanism 16. The combination lock mechanism 16 enables the owner to readily change the combination at will. Briefly, the illustrated construction of the mechanism 16 includes a pair of discs or rotary members 18 and 20 which are rotatably mounted within the enclosure. By manipulating the mechanism, the members 18 and 20 may be rotated to predetermined positions which permits a movable element 36 of the mechanism 16 to shift position and allow the door 14 to open. 7 p

The illustrated bank construction 10, which is shown in the drawings and described hereafter, is in the form of a book Si). It should be clearly understood, however, that various other forms which incorporate the novel combination lock structure of the invention are also fully within the scope of the invention. The book is merely illustrative and used for convenience of description. For example, the combination lock structure of the invention may readily take the form of various types of boxes, containers,

novelty items, and the like such as personalized safes,

jewelry boxes, or small travel cases.

It is further noted at this point that the spacial orientation of the book or the combination lock mechanism is of no particular significance to the invention. However, for convenience of description, they will be described as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, that is, in the normal upright book shelf orientation of a book. For example,.the door and combination lock mechanism could be in the top of the container rather than one of the sides as it is illustrated and described herein.

The book Bti'is shown best in FIGS. 1 through 3 of the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, it has the external appearance of an ordinary book or volume which serves to conceal the true function of the item as a safe or bank,

' As shown in FIG. 2, it is provided with a hinged front cover 32 and several actual book pages 33, mounted'on the remainder of the item which is the enclosure 12, which simulates the appearance of the pages and binder of a book.

The illustrated enclosure 12 is a generally rectangular box or container which is provided with the door 14 in its front face. The door 14 comprises substantially the entire front face and is disposed as one of the pages of the book. The door is concealed when the front cover 32 and the few front pages 33 are in closedposition (FIG. 1), but is readily accessible when the cover and pages are turned back (FIGS. 2 and 3).

The illustrated door 14 is hinged adjacent to its lower edge so that the upper end swings outwardly as seen in FIGURE 3. a

In the illustrated structure, a generally rectangular plate or element 36, seen best in FIGURE 5, is supported on the rear surface of the door 14 for a sidewise or transverse sliding movement. The plate 36 is provided with a plurality of projections 37 along its upper edge, which projections 37 are adapted to engage a transversely extending flange plate 38 secured inside enclosure 12 adjacent the upper end of the doorway to maintain the door 14 in the locked position as shown in solid lines in-FIGURE 4 and as shown in FIGURE 2. Flange 38 is provided along its lower edge with a plurality of apertures 40 matching the projections 37 but slightly larger. When the plate 36 is in its normal lock position upon the door 14, as shown in FIGURE 6, the projections 37 are out of alignment with the apertures 40, as shown in FIGURE 8, to maintain the door locked. When the plate 36 is moved transversely, the projections 37 coincide respectively with the Patented Apr. 27, IEES- the following description, the scope of the invention is.

not so limited, and various features of the invention may be enjoyed in an item having parts of the combination lock mechanism 16 mounted upon the enclosure 12 rather than upon the door 14. i

More particularly, the illustrated door 14 is a generally rectangular plate having its upper edge turned inwardly and designated 14a. The illustrated door 14 is hinged to the enclosure 12 as by means of brackets 14b secured to the inner surface of the door at its lower edge and adapted to receive suitable connection means (not shown) on the enclosure.

The door '14 is formed to provide a generally central cavity or recess 42 in the forward or outward surface. Centrally of the cavity 42 the door is provided with an elongated transversely'extending aperture 44 (FIG. 6). The opening provided by the aperture 44 is extended rearwardly of the door by a sleeve 46 fixed to the rear surface of the door 14 and extending into the interior the enclosure 12.

The aperture 44 and sleeve 46 receive, as may be seen best in FIGURE 6, for rotation and transverse movement, an elongated generally cylindrical shaft 48. The externally disposed end of the shaft 48 is provided with knob or turning means 50. Means 58 includes a circular disc 52, a central hub 54 afiixed. centrally of the outer surface of the disc 52 and four fins or spokes 56 which extend radially outwardly from the hub 54. When the shaft 48is received in the sleeve 46 with the rear of the disc 52 hearing against the adjacent face of the recessed wall of the door 14, the shaft 48 extends beyond the rearward end of the sleeve 46 into the interior cavity 34 of the enclosure;

The elongated, generally rectangular, transversely extending plate 36 has a generally centrally located circular hole 58. Afiixed to the rear of the plate 36 and disposed about the hole 58 is a rearwardly extending circular sleeve 60. As seen in the drawings, the rear end of the shaft 48 extends through the hole 58 and the sleeve 60.

Through plate 36 and located to one side of sleeve 60 is a transversely extending slot 62. Received in slot 62 is a block or pin 64 which is fixed to the rear surface of the door 14. Thus, plate 36is supported by virtue of shaft 48, pin 64 and a guideway 65, shown in FIGURE 4, which is secured to the inside of the door 14.

When the'plate 36 is moved transversely of the door 14, the shaft 48 moves with the plate 36 (passing transversely in the slot 44 of the door), while the slot62 of the plate 36 permits relative movement between the plate 36 and the pin 64 which is fixed to the door. This transverse movement of plate 36 serves to align the projections 37 on the plate 36 with the apertures 40 of the doorway, as described in detail above, to allow the door 14 to be opened. a

* The transverse movement of the plate 36 thus controls the opening of the door 14. The remainder of the lock mechanism 16 controls this transverse movement of the plate 36.

Briefly, the rotary members 18 and 20 of the illustrated construction each have .a peripheral aperture designated 18a and 2012, respectively. When these apertures lSa and 20a are in predetermined relation, that is, when they are aligned relative to the fixed pin 64, the plate 36 is thereby permitted to shift or move transversely to open the door.

More particularly, the illustrated shaft 48 is formed 'with a hexagonal rear end 66 and rotary member 18 which is a generally circular disc is provided with a mating hexagonally shaped aperture 68 so that the member 18 may be positioned upon the shaft end 66. By virtue of this construction, illustrated rotary member 18 may be selectively seated in any one of six rotationally different positions relative to the shaft 48, and in each position of the member 18 it is fixed relative to the shaft 48 so that the two rotate together.

To retain the rotary member 18 upon the shaft 48, the illustrated embodiment of the device is provided with means such as a fastener 70 having a threaded shaft 71 which is screwed or threaded into a mating threaded hole 72 in the rear end 66 of the shaft. The fastener 70 serves to securely hold the member 18 in place axially of the shaft 48 while the hexagonal end 66 and aperture 68 provide the rotational drive between the member 18 and shaft 48. The fastener 70 permits ready repositioning of the member 18 relative to the shaft 48 to change the combination of the lock, as will be explained in further detail below.

The illustrated second rotary member 20 is also a generally circular disc lying concentric with and about the shaft 48, although not mounted directly upon it. Illustrated rotary member 20 is mounted upon the plate 36, a circular center hole 74 in the rotary member 20 being dis posed about sleeve 68 of the plate 36. The second rotary member 20 is thus disposed inwardly of the first rotary member 18, and between it and the rear surface of the plate 36.

Atfixed to the rear of plate 36 and disposed around the rotary member 20 is a rearly extending circular wall 76;. The wall 76 extends substantially around the periphery of rotary member 20 as shown in FIGURE 5, there being one break in the wall 76 adjacent slot 62 to permit movement of the pin 64 relative to the plate 36 and the parts mounted on it.

As seen best in FIGURE 5, the illustrated rotary member 20, which is composed of generally resilient flexible material, is provided with three circumferentially spaced spring projections or teeth '78 which extend somewhat radially outwardly from the circumference of the member 20. These spring projections 78 engage the encircling wall '76, exerting spring tension against it. The projections 78 permit rotation of member 20 but tending to releasably and resiliently maintain it in any given rotary position. As seen in FIGURE 4, these projections are also formed to extend outof the plane of the member 20, and thus serve to position the member axially along the shaft 48 and spaced from the rear of plate 36.

The member 20 is free to rotate upon the sleeve 60 and the spring projections 78 serve as spring or biasing means to resiliently maintain the position of the member 20 until suflicient force is applied to the member 20 to move it to a new position.

Motion is transferred between thetwo rotary members 18 and 20 by virtue of the transmission means designated generally by 79. The transmission means 79 of the illustrated structure is provided by a pair of small pins mounted on ther'otary members 18 and 20 and designated 80 and 82 respectively. The pins 80 and 82 extend toward the other rotary member respectively and are generally equally spaced from the center of rotation of the rotary members so that their paths coincide. Thus, the rotation of one rotary member causes engagement of the pins 8t) and 82 and rotary motion is thereby-transmitted to the other rotary member. i i

To permit variation of the combination of the lock structure, the relative position of the pins with regard to the rotary member on which they are secured may be varied. Thus, 'in the illustrated structure, the pin 82 is providedwith an end having a" reduced diameter and the rotary member 20 is provided with a plurality of mating holes 81 disposed along the rotary path of the pin. By securing the pin 82 in one of the holes 81, as by a pressure fit, a particular relationship is established between the two rotary members 18 and 20; by moving the pin 82 to another hole 81, a different relationship is provided. Thus, the pin 82' is selectively positionable between various fixed positions disposed along a rotary path which coincides with the rotary path of the other pin 80.

Now considering the operation of the lock mechanisms 16, particular reference should be made to FIGURES 7a through 70 of the drawings. As shown in FIG. 7a, the shaft 48 is rotated in the clockwise direction, as seen in that figure, by external turning of the knob means 56, to rotate a member 18 and pin 80 until pin 80 engages pin 82 of the other rotary member 20. FIGURE 7b shows the parts after further rotation of shaft 48, member 18 and pin 80; member 29 has been moved by virtue of the engagement of the pins to a position where aperture 20a of member 20 is aligned with the slot or aperture 62 in plate 36. It is also thereby aligned with pin 64.

This positioning of member 20 and its aperture 26a is achieved by reference to markings 53 upon the disc portion 52 of the turning means 59. It is desired that member 20 remain in this position, with its aperture 20a in the proper alignment, while the shaft 48 is further rotated to position the other rotary member 18. The spring projections 73 of the member 20 serve to accomplish this purpose by holding member 20 in position as the shaft 48 and the member 18 are rotated in the opposite direction as indicated in FIG. 70. The desired amount of this counter-clockwise rotation is also determined by the combination of the lock as indicated by the markings 53 on the turning means 50. The shaft 48 should be rotated so as to position the aperture 18a of member 18 in alignment with the aperture 20a of member 20 and also with the slot 62 of the plate 36.

When the apertures 18a and 20a are so aligned, the plate 36 (carrying the shaft 48 and the members 18 and 20) can shift transversely, with the slot 62 and the apertures 26a and 18a receiving fixed pin 64. As described above, this transverse movements aligns the projections 37 with the apertures 40 and allows the door to open.

Thus, the illustrated structure provides a simple, compact and economical combination lock structure. The structure is also effective and dependable in operation. Combination for the lock can be readily and easily changed by the owner. Further, in the illustrated embodiment of the lock structure, the structure is provided with the external appearance of a book which serves to conceal its real function from view.

Various modifications and changes, some of which are noted specifically above, may be made in the described and illustrated device without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a lockable bank construction, the combination comprising:

a container having the external appearance of a book,

said container including simulated book pages and a simulated book binding, said binding including a swingable book cover, said container having an opening and flange means extending inwardly along one edge of said opening;

a door pivotally connected to said container to cover and uncover said opening, said door comprising one face of said container and being covered by said swingable book cover when it is closed onto said simulated pages, said door being provided with a recessed cavity and an elongated aperture means in the bottom of said cavity and substantially parallel to said flange means, said door including front and rear surfaces; and combination lock means mounted on said door, said combination lock means including a shaft rotatably and slidably mounted in said elongated aperture means, a knob mounted on one end of said shaft adjacent said front surface of said door and contained entirely within said cavity, a disc mounted on the other end of said shaft for rotation therewith, said disc including a notch, and a plate mounted on said shaft between said' disc and said rear face, said plate including an elongated slot, a

-projection on said door adjacent said recess, said plate and flange having slots and interengageable projection means to lock said door when said plate is slid to a first position and to release said door when said plate is slid to a second position wherein said slots and projection means are aligned, said shaft and plate being slideable only when said notch is aligned with said elongated slot and said projection.

' 2. A combination lock structure for affording ready changing of the combination, said structure comprising the combination of:

(a) a walled enclosure including a door which controls access to the interior of said enclosure, said door being provided with an elongated transversely extending aperture;

(b) a shaft rotatably mounted in said elongated aperture for rotary and lateral movements; and a pin extending into said enclosure when the door is closed;

(0) turning means located on said shaft externally of said enclosure for rotating said shaft;

(d) indicator means between said turning means and said enclosure for indicating the relative position of said shaft to said enclosure;

(e) a first rotary member coaxially disposed on said shaft in said enclosure for rotation with said shaft, said first rotary member being readily selectively positionable in a plurality of rotationally different positions relative to said shaft, each of said positions being fixed rotationally with regard to said shaft, said first rotary member including a first peripheral notch;

(f) a second rotary member mounted coaxially about said shaft for rotation relative thereto, said second rotary member including a second peripheral notch;

(3) transmission means between said rotary members for selectively transferring rotational movement therebetween,

(/1) said door including an element which is movable by lateral movement of said shaft to lock and unlock said door, the lateral movement of said shaft being permitted only when said rotary members are moved by said turning means to predetermined positions to bring said notches in alignment with said pin, said second rotary member being composed of a generally resilient, flexible material and being provided with spring projection means for exerting spring tension against said movable element to releasably and resiliently maintain said second rotary member in any given rotary position, whereby rotation of said first member will not irnpartrotation to said second member when said transmission means is not transferring rotational movement between said rotary members;

(i) said rotary members, transmission means, shaft,

turning means and indicator means being so arranged and disposed that movement of said turning means, as dictated by said indicator means in accord ance with the combination. of the lock for the particular position of said first member on said shaft, places said rotary members in said predetermined positions, whereby varying the position of said first rotary member on said shaft, affords accompanying variation in the combination for said lock.

3. A combination lock structure such as called for in claim 2, wherein said transmission means are selectively variable to vary the rotation of said second rotary memher by any given rotation of said first rotary member, whereby further variation of the combination for opening said lock may be accomplished.

7 8 4. A combination lock structure such as called for in References Cited by the Examiner claim 2, wherein said transmission means comprises a UNITED STATES PATENTS first pin mounted on said first rotary member and a second pin mounted on said second rotary member in the 201,375 3/78 Yflumans 70*3O3 path of travel of said first pin. 5 3101892 1/85 H111 7o315 5. A combination lock structure such as called for in 2, 98 11/ 37 Spiney 70315. claim 2, wherein said movable element includes wall 473,686 4/9'2 Williams 70208 X means encompassing said second rotary member and 975,549 11/10 Lowrie 70315 wherein said spring projection means extends radially 1,9 3 552 34 Horwitt 229-3 from said second'rotary member into engagement with 10 said wall means. V ALBERT H. KAMPE; Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A LOCKABLE BANK CONSTRUCTION, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING: A CONTAINER HAVING THE EXTERNAL APPEARANCE OF A BOOK, SAID CONTAINER INCLUDING SIMULATED BOOK PAGES AND A SIMULATED BOOK BINDING, SAID BINDING INCLUDING A SWINGABLE BOOK COVER, SAID CONTAINER HAVING AN OPENING AND FLANGE MEANS EXTENDING INWARDLY ALONG ONE EDEGE OF SAID OPENING; A DOOR PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID CONTAINER TO COVER AND UNCOVER SAID OPENING, SAID DOOR COMPRISING ONE FACE OF SAID CONTAINER AND BEING COVERED BY SAID SWINGABLE BOOK COVER WHEN IT IS CLOSED ONTO SAID SIMULATED PAGES, SAID DOOR BEING PROVIDED WITH A RECESSED CAVITY AND AN ELONGATED APERTURE MEANS IN THE BOTTOM OF SAID CAVITY AND SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID FLANGE MEANS, SAID DOOR INCLUDING FRONT AND REAR SURFACES; AND COMBINATION LOCK MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID DOOR, SAID COMBINATION LOCK MEANS INCLUDING A SHAFT ROTATABLY AND SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID ELONGATED APERTURE MEANS, A KNOB MOUNTED ON ONE END OF SHAFT ADJACENT SAID FRONT SURFACE OF SAID DOOR AND CONTAINED ENTIRELY WITHIN SAID CAVITY, A DISC MOUNTED ON THE OTHER END OF SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, SAID DISC INCLUDING A NOTCH, AND A PLATE

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