US376121A - Chaeles a - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

0. A. TUCKER.

ELECTRIC LOCK.

' No. 878,121. Patented Jan. 10, 1888.

her, Wuhingtun. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

CHARLES A. TUCKER, OF ISLIP, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE TUCKER ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,121, dated January. 10, 1888.

\ Application filed February 4, 1887. Serial No. 226,538. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the town of Islip, county of Suffolk, and State of New Yorlghave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks Adapted to be Operated by Electricity; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification. i

The object of this invention is a lock especially adapted to secure doors in position when open or closed, and operated insuch manner that the catch maybereleased by electricity, so that when the door has been arranged in the desired position, either open or c1osed,the holding device can be operated from a distance, by means of which a door may be.

disposed to open or close automatically when free, and by the use of my invention may be released to operate according to such disposi tion.

In the drawings I illustrate my invention as applied to a door which is disposed on an incline to close its opening automatically when free to act, and my lock is applied to it to hold it in position open,so that when t-helock is operated the door will be released and run down the incline to close its opening.

Another feature of my invention is the adjustment of the parts so that when the electric circuit is closed and the lock operated such operation breaks the circuit again automatically, whereby the battery is only used during the moment of operating the lock, thus effectingan important saving in battery.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation showing the door closed and my lock in place. Fig. 2 is a front view of the lock with the inclosing-case removed. Fig.3 is an end view of the lock with a portion in section. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the contact-pin n and circuit-closing portion on the lever Z.

Similar lettersof referenceindicate like parts in all the drawings.

A is a door suspended by suitable hangers on the incline a.

B represents the wall of the room.

b is the case for inclosing thelock, having a suitable slot, b, through which a pin or handle, 0, projects, and may be moved up or down.

The lock consists of a support, C, upon which the operating parts are to be mounted. This may be of suitable metal to form a path for the electric current, if desired. The magnets e ar'emounted on this support, and the armaturefis attached to an arm,f, which is pivotally secured to the plate C. To the lower end of this arm f a tension-spring, g, is attached, which is arranged to draw the ar1nature f away from the magnets, the strength of the spring 9 being regulated by means of the set-screw h, so that it will have power enough only to draw the armature away from the magnets when free to act without presenting any unnecessary resistance to the attracting power of the magnets when excited.

To the end of the armaturef a pin or detent, 2', is secured, which projects and enters the case 7'. v

j is a case or slideway attached to the base 0, and is open at the bottom to permit the weight It to move easily-up and down within .it, and it is also slotted in its front to allow the pin 0 to move up and down in the slot. The weight k, which is designed to move freely up and down in the casej, is made of material of suitable weight; and has the projecting pin or handle 0 secured to it.

It has a notch or re- I cess out into its side near the top, into which recess and supports the weight suspended in position.

Beneath the weight a releasing lever or trigger, l, is pivotally secured on a pin, on, its long arm projecting under the weight k. The scope of motion of this lever Z is limited above by the stop it and below by the stop 0. It is held up in position against the stop it by thetension-spring p, which is adjusted to support it in that position. The short arm of the leverZ ICO has an inclined face corresponding to the in-- clination on the corresponding face of the engaging-plate r on the bolt d. The bolt d is suitably housed in hearings to guide it in its 5 movements. It passes through an arm, g,

which supports it at one end, and through a sleeve, 8, which supports it near the other end.

The bolt (Z is provided with a fixed plate, r,

secured to it, and a strong spiral spring, t, is

[O placed over the bolt, one end of which spring abuts against the plate 1', and the other end abuts against the reduced part of the sleeve 8,

as clearly shown in Fig. 8. \Vhen free to act,

the operation of the springt is to throw the 1 bolt forward from the base 0, so that it will project beyond the case I), as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. To receive the impact of the plate 1', an elastic buffer, r, is placed on v the bolt, which interposcs between the inner 2o face of the arm (1 and the plate 1- as the same is thrown back by the force of the spring I? when it is released.

The bottom of the weight It may have a portion cut away in order that its impact maybe 2 exerted as near as possible to the end of the long arm of the lever Z, and so its greatest power obtained.

The case b is suitably secured to the plate 0 in any convenient manner, and it incloses the whole of the lock, except the handle 0 and the bolt 01, and thereby prevents any manipulation of the lock, except to lock the door in the position desired, and when that has been done the lock cannot again be operated except electrically, so that there is no risk of any one tampering with the lock to disarrange it after it has been once set. This is a great advantage in many cases, especially when the lock is used on doors required to be kept in the desired position for important reasons, as for ventilating warehouses, 85c.

Vhen the plate 0, upon which the operating parts of the lock are mounted, is of nonconducting material, or when for any other .5 reason I do not desire to use the plate 0 as a part of the electrical circuit, 1 make the electrical path to the binding-posts D D as follows: One of the magnet-wires, a, is carried from the magnet to the insulated stop a, and

30 there the wire terminates, a portion being turned under the stop, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, which underturned part makes contact with the lever Z, the lever Z being most conveniently made of metal, through which the electrical current may pass. To retard oxidation, Iattach a little platinum plate, 0, to the top of the lever at the meeting-point. The screw or pivot m, which supports the lever Z, being also of metal, a wire, a", is carried from itto the binding-postD. The other magnet is electrically connected to the bindingpost D by the wire a. It will be seen that the portion of the electrical circuit within the lock will then be from the binding post D,

through the wire a, to the pivot m,- from that, through the long arm of the lever and plate 0, to the stop a and wire a, to the magnets, and

from the magnets, by the wire a", to the hind ing-post D, and this path will be broken when ever the lever Z and post a are not in contact.

When the plate Ois of suitable material to itself form an electrical path, the wire a may be carried to the insulated post it, as shown in the drawings, and the wire a maybe omitted, the path in such instance being from the binding-post D, through the plate G, to the pivot m, and thence, through the lever Z, to the post a. In such case, of course, the binding-post D must be insulated from the plate 0.

In applying my lock to doors, the electrical circuit may be formed in the usual manner by suitable wires, to it, carried from the bindingposts D D to the opposite poles of a battery, F; and, if desired, a thermostat, as E, or other suitable device, may beinterposed in the circuit to close the same automatically. So, also, if desired, an independent circuit-elosingpath may be provided, as by the wires 21." a", and a suitable switch or strap key, as w, by means of which the circuit may be closed and the lock operated independently of the path through the thermostat E.

On the doorA suitablelocking-recesses, yy, are provided to receive the bolt when desired; or the door and bolt may be so adjusted that the bolt will protrude against the edge of the door when open to hold the same in position open and against the opposite edge of the door when closed to hold the same in position closed.

The operation is as follows: The weight k being supported on the detent i, and the bolt d projected out of the front of case by the action of the spring 1, the door A is rolled back until its opening is unclosed. Then the bolt d is pushed inward. \Vhen the incline on the face of the plate 0 strikes the incline on the short arm of the lever Z, it pushes the lever up against the action of the spring 1) until the plate 1- has passed under it, when the spring 1) draws up the long arm of the lever Z again, and thereby pushes the short arm downward against the plate 1' and holds the bolt in position engaged with the door and the door open. \Vhen, now,the circuit is closed through the thermostat E, or through the wires a u and switch to, the magnets 0 become excited, attracting the armature f. This releases the weight 7a, which drops upon the long arm of the lever Z, forcing it down upon the pin 0 and throwing its other end out of engagement with the plate r. As soon as the plate 1' is released,the springt is freed to act and throws the bolt zZ out of engagement with the door, which, being released, moves down its incline and closes the opening. As the long arm of the lever Z is forced away from the post a, the circuit is broken there, so that the battery is then no longer in operation.

It will be seen that a lock so constructed can be very simply and cheaply made, and that magnets ot' comparatively small power may be employed to operate a very powerful look, as a small weight dropping upon the long arm of IIO the lever Z will be sufficient to operate it and release the engagingpart, even though the bolt-springt be one of considerable power; and so, also, the lock being completely inclosed, there is always a certainty that the door cannot be operated after the lock has been set,

except electrically.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The lock described, consisting of a bolt, 0?, spring 15, to operate the same, check-plate r, trigger Z, and weight K, iD COlllbillfitiOll with suitable armature and magnet adapted to operate the same, substantially as'described.

2. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity, a spring-bolt, (1, plate 1', and lever Z, in combination with a weight adapted to be discharged upon thelever Z, substantially as described.

3. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity, a device, as the lever Z, adapted to engage with the bolt, and a part, as thepost n, presenting a broken electrical-path, in combination with a suitable device, as the strip 0, adapted to be operated by the lever Z to complete the broken path, substantially as described and shown.

4. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity,a bolt disposed to withdraw its engaging end when free to act, a suitable catch to engage with some portion of the bolt to retain its engaging end projected, and a device, as the weight is, adapted to be discharged upon said catch by electricity to upset the same and release the bolt, substantially as described and shown.

5. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity and provided with a weight. to be discharged upon a releasing device to release the bolt, the case b and support 0, inclosing the working parts, in combination with thevhandle c and bolt d, adapted to be operated from withouttheinclosing-case to set the lock, substantially as described and shown.

6. A look adapted to be operated by electricity, provided with a case, as b, and support 0, inclosing the operating parts and preventing access thereto, in combination with a suitable device adapted to set the look from without the case, substantially as described and shown.

" CHARLES A. TUCKER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM TEAHAN, ARTHUR O. MACLAY.

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