US3371512A - Locks - Google Patents

Description

March 5, 1968 Filed May 7, 1965 w. c. HUTTON ET AL LOCKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WILLIAM C. HUT 7' ON DAV/ES ALLPORT GEORGE A. WOOD, JR.

BY Jmd, 7/am, 7M, 7 24 m2 ATTORNEY$ March 5, 1968 w, CVHUTTQN ET AL 3,371,512

LOCKS Filed May 7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F INVENTOR W/LL/AM C. HUT TON DAV/E5 ALLPORT GEORGE A. WOOQJR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,371,512 Patented Mar. 5, 1968 3,371,512 LOCKS William C. Hutton and Davies Allport, Denton, Tex., and George A. Wood, Jr., Lincoln, Mass., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Rockwell Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 7, 1965, Ser. No. 453,989 3 Claims. (Cl. 70-353) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lock assembly which is locked and unlock-ed by purely linear movement of a key.

This invention relates to locking devices and more particularly to such devices in which the locking and unlocking action is effected by relative linear motion of the lock assembly and a key.

While the invention is of general application, an environment in which it is expected to have particular utility is in connection with the locking or unlocking of a door of a container such as a coin box of the type used with coin operated devices such as parking meters or vending machines.

Such devices are particularly subject to vandalism and thus require locks which are exceptionally rugged and virtually pick proof.

It is, accordingly, a principal purpose and object of the present invention to provide novel locks satisfying these requirements.

In attaining these and other objects the present invention provides improved locks including a casing having locking members movable between locked and unlocked positions. The locking members are normally held in locked position by a plurality of rotary abutment members spring biased to a position in which they block movement of the locking members to unlocked position. The abutment members have peripheral formations engageable by a key having corresponding formations. The cooperating formations on the abutment members or blocking members and the key are operable when the key is moved into the lock housing with purely lineal movement to move each of the abutment members into a nonblocking position to thereby permit movement of the locking members to their unlocked position.

The combination of the lock can be readily changed by changing or relocating the cooperating formations on the key and the abutment members.

It is thus a further object of the present invention to provide improved locks which are positively unlocked by insertion of a key into the lock and positively locked by removal of the key whereby it is impossible to remove the key from the lock without moving the lock to locked position.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide improved locks, the condition of which may be determined by visual inspection, that is, in the absence of a key it can be determined that the lock is in locked position.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide novel locks which are virtually pick proof since the key includes a number of operating formations, the positions of which must be properly established in relation to each other and in relation to the end of the key to move the lock to the unlocked position. It is practically impossible to duplicate the action of this key.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide improved locks which cannot be unlocked by the unauthorized removal, for example, by drilling of one or more of the relatively accessible parts as is the case with conventional locks.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide improved locks which are relatively inexpensive since the critical parts are relatively large and need not be manufactured to the close tolerances required in conventional locks.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation, partially in section, of a lock constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the lock of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken along-line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view of one of therotary locking or abutment members utilized in the lock;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse section of the lock taken along line 55 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the key to be utilized with the lock of FIGURES 1-4; and

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of the key.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings the lock assembly of the present invention is shown in a typical installation in which it is incorporated in a door for a coin box, a portion of which is indicated at 20. The lock assembly per se indicated generally at 22 comprises a main housing member 24 and a cover plate 26 secured to the main housing member by a plurality of screws 28.

In the form of the invention shown, the main housing member includes a pair of integral external arms 30 and 32 provided with hinge pins 34 and 36, respectively, which are engageable with mating formations on the interior of the coin box 20 to mount the entire lock mechanism for swinging movement on the coin box.

The lock assembly is shown in FIGURE 1 in its normal locked position with the key withdrawn. In this position the entire mechanism is held against swinging movement about the pivot pins 34 and 36 by a pair of identical opposed L-sha- ped locking members 38 and 40, mounted on pivot posts 42 and 44, respectively, integral with the main housing member 24. In the normal locked position shown, the longer arms of the locking members 38 and 40 project outwardly through slots 46 and 48 formed between the main housing member 24 and the cover member 26 into grooves or slots 50 and 52, respectively, in the wall of the coin box 20. As explained in detail below the mechanism is unlocked by simultaneously pivoting the locking members 38 and 40 to a position where the longer arms are received within the housing member 24 and are free of the slot or grooves 50 and 52.

The locking members 38 and 40 are each held in their locked position by a pair of rotary essentially circular blocking members 54 having a series of peripheral teeth 55 interrupted by a slot 57. The peripheral portions of the blocking members normally engage pins 56 and 58 carried by the locking members 38 and 40. One of each pair of the locking members is rotatively supported on a pin 60 (one shown) formed integrally with the main housing member 24, the second member of each pair being rotatively supported on a pin.62 formed integrally with the. cover 26. As best shown in FIGURE 5 the blocking members 54 are loosely received in circular recesses in the housing member 24 and the cover member 26. The

main body portions of the blocking members are spaced from each other and from the walls of the recesses by hubs 70, the aggregate axial length of the hubs being slightly less than the aggregate depth of the recesses in which the blocking members are received. The hubs also space the main body portions of the blocking members apart sufiiciently so that portions of the blocking members 38 and 40 may be freely received between them.

The blocking members 54 are urged toward limit positions by fiat coil springs 72, one end of each of the springs being inserted through an opening 74 in the body of the blocking member and the opposite end being received in a recess 76 formed either in the wall of the housing 24 or the cover 26. The rotary limit position of each of the blocks is limited by contact of the end one of a series of projections 78 formed integrally with each of the members 54. These projections are adapted to contact lugs 80 formed integrally with the housing member 54 or the cover member 26 :as the case may be.

The members 54, which are molded of plastic, are preferably originally manufactured with a row of the projections 78 extending substantially entirely around their circumference and ending at points closely adjacent the slot 57. One, or any desired number, of the projections 78 may be readily removed thus changing the limit position of the members 54 to which they are moved by their associated springs 72. It is in this manner that the combination of the lock is originally established and later changed as desired. In all cases, however, the limit position of each of the members is such as to dispose the slot 57 out of registry with the adjacent pins 56 and 58 carried by the respective locking members 38 and 40, these pins resting against the peripheral teeth 55 or being received in the spaces between the teeth when the lock is in locked position as shown in FIGURE 1. Accordingly, to unlock the mechanism it is necessary that each of the blocking members be rotated to simultaneously dispose each of the slots 57 in position to receive the pins 56 and 58 and then to positively displace the locking members 38 and 40 about their respective pivots 42 and 44 to move the longer arms of the locking members out of the grooves 50 and 52. This is accomplished by the unique key illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7 and indicated generally at 86.

The .key is of elongated form and is provided with four fixed gear racks 88, 90, 92 and 94, extending away from the handle portion 96. The gear racks are so disposed that when the key is inserted into the opening 98 formed in the casing 24 and the cover 26 each of the racks engages the toothed periphery of one of the blocking members 54. The gear racks 88-94 are separated by mutually perpendicular plates 100 and 102, plate 100 being somewhat wider than plate 102 and the latter being disposed asymmetrically with respect to the axis of the key. This position of the plates 102 and 100 and the corresponding configuration of the opening 98 permit insertion of the key into the lock in only one orientation. The racks can be of different effective lengths so that as the key is inserted into the lock the rotary locking members 54 can be rotated different angular distances from their initial limit positions.

The action of the lock assembly will now be more fully described assuming that it is originally in its locked condition as shown in FIGURE 1. With the lock in this position the key is first oriented properly and then inserted with pure linear motion into the lock mechanism. In the continued linear motion of the key the longest rack will engage and begin to rotate one of the blocking members 54 and the other racks will successively engage and rotate the remaining blocking members. The initial limit positions of the blocking members and the effective lengths of the gear racks 8894 are so selected that when the leading edge of the plate 100 engages the projecting ends of the shorter .arms of the locking members 38 and 40 all of the slots 57 in the blocking members are simultaneously disposed in position to receive the pins 56 or 58 on the ends of the longer arms of the locking members. Continued motion of the key with its leading edge in engagement with the locking members positively pivots the locking members inwardly, the pins 56 and 58 moving smoothly into the slots 57, this action being permitted by the inclination of the slots 57. When the key reaches its limit position the locking members 38 and 40 are entirely free of the slots 50 and 52 and the door in which the locking mechanism is incorporated may then be swung about the pivot pins 34 and 36.

After the door has been reclosed, the mechanism is restored to its locked position simply by withdrawing the key. This action rotates the blocking members 54 in the opposite direction and the slots 57 smoothly but positively cam the pins 56 and 58 outwardly until the locking members occupy their original position after which continued rotation of the blocking members disposes the solid or toothed peripheral surfaces opposite the pins 56 and 58 to firmly hold the locking members in locked position.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range or equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A lock assembly comprising a casing, a pair of locking members pivotally mounted in said casing and adapted to swing between locking and non-locking positions, a pair of blocking wheels having a series of projecting teeth arranged uniformly around at least a portion of their circumference, peripheral portions of said wheels being normally interposed in the path of a portion of each of said locking members to hold said locking members in locking position, said wheels having at least one peripheral notch adapted to receive said portion of said locking members and thereby permit said locking members to move to non-locking position when said wheels are rotated to align said notch with said locking members, cooperating abutment means on said wheels and said casing to limit rotation of said wheels in one direction to thereby establish a blocking position of each of said wheels, said abutment means including a series of circumferentially spaced projections on said wheels whereby the removal of one or more of the projections at the end of said series establishes a new blocking position of a Wheel to thereby change the combination of said lock assembly, means normally rotating said Wheels to said blocking position to hold said locking members in blocking position, and a key having surface formations engageable with said teeth on said wheels and operable when said key is moved with linear motion into said casing to rotate each of said wheels to simultaneously align the notches therein in locking member receiving position, said key also having .a surface engageable with said locking members to simultaneously move said locking members to said non-locking positions.

2. A lock assembly comprising a casing, a pair of locking members pivotally mounted in said casing and adatped to swing between locking and non-locking positions, first and second pairs of coaxial blocking Wheels each wheel having a series of projecting teeth arranged uniformly around at least a portion of its circumference, peripheral portions of said first pair of wheels being normally interposed in the path of a portion of one of said locking members to hold said one locking member in locking position, peripheral portions of said second pair of wheels being normally interposed in the path of a portion of the other locking member to hold said other locking member in locking position, said wheels having at least one notch adapted to receive said portion of the associated said locking member and thereby permit said locking members to move to non-locking position when said wheels are rotated to align said notch with said locking members, cooperating :abutment means on said wheels and said casing to limit rotation of said wheels in one direction to thereby establish a blocking position of each of said wheels, means normally rotating said blocking wheels to said blocking position to hold said locking members in blocking position, the notch in one wheel of each pair being circumferentially olfset from the notch in the other wheel when said wheels are in blocking position, and a key having surface formations engageable with said teeth on said blocking wheels and operable when said key is moved with linear motion into said casing to rotate each of said blocking wheels to simultaneously align the notches therein in locking member receiving position, said key also having a surface engageable with said locking members to simultaneously move said locking members to said non-locking positions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,743,331 1/1930 Ellison 70387 X 86,420 2/1869 Lamb 70307 X 592,939 11/ 1897 Salva 70307 X 618,752 1/ 1899 Van Cauwenberghe. 1,700,376 l/ 1929 Pinel 70-306 X 1,804,955 5/1931 Schlumpf 70 -401 X MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

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