US851644A - Seal-lock. - Google Patents

Description

PATBNTED APR. 30,4190?.

lA.B0AL. SEAL LOCK. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

765565 @www daf @an/ PATENTED APR. so, 19o?.-

A. BOAL.

SEAL LOCK.

APPL-MATIGN FILED AUG. 27, 1906.

z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

AYRES BOAL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEAL-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'ratented April 30, 1907.

Application 'Sled August 27,1906. Serial No. 332,183.

Be it known that I, Avans BOAL, a citizen of the VUnited States, residing at Chicago, county oitl Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Im )rovements in Seal-Locks, of which the following is a speciiication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to seal-locks adapted for use in connection with freight-car doors, express messengers trunks and other articles to which it is desirable to apply a seal that Will prevent them from being opened unless the seal is destroyed.

The objects of my invention are to provide a seal-lock having improved devices for engaging a sealing strip and holding the same against withdrawal and which can be adjusted to draw the strip within the lock casing to any desired extent; to provide a construction of lock-casing that will permit the sealing strip, after the same has been cut and released from the staple or other device with which it has been connected, to be passed entirely through the lock-casing to provide an improved sealing strip, and to generally improve the construction and operation of devices of this character.

Broadly stated, my invention consists in securing within a suitable casing a toothed wheel capable of rotation in one direction only, such casing being provided with openings in its edge to permit a sealing strip to be passed entirely through the casing, such openings being so located with reference to the toothed wheel rotatably mounted therein as to direct the sealing strip, when first inserted into the casing, against one of the teeth of the wheel and cause the wheel to turn, and such sealing strip being provided with holes from end to end so spaced apart and of such size as to be engaged by the teeth of the wheel as the'pushing of the strip into the casing is continued.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a railway-car showing my improvements applied in connection With the door of the car. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through my improved lock, the section being taken at line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-section taken at line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an edge view of my improved sealing strip, showing in dotted lines the position to which said strip is to be brought to adapt its ends to be forced into thelock-casing. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the sealing strip. Fig. 6 is a vertical section illustrating a modified form of lock in which but one wheel is employed. Fig. 7 is a crosssection at line 7 7 ot' Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a view partly in section, and partly in side elevation, illustrating a modification in the means employed for locking the toothed wheel against backward rotationthe section being taken at line S 8 oi Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a cross section taken at line 9 9 of Fig. S.

Referring to the several iiigures of the drawings, in which corresponding parts are indicated by the same :reference characters, 10 11 indicate the two parts of a metal casing in which is contained the locking mechanism, the said two parts being held together, in the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, by rivets 12 and 13.

14 15 indicate two toothed wheels or gears journaled respectivelyY on the rivets 12 and 13, and having their teeth or cogs meshing with each other. [n one tace of the wheel 14 is formed an annular recess, the edge of which has cut in it a series of ratchet teeth 16, with which a pawl 17, located in said annular recess and pivoted to the casing, is adapted to engage. 1S Ais a small spring also located in said annular recess and secured at one end to the casing and bearing at its tree end against the pawl so as to keep said pawl in constant engagement with the ratchet teeth 16. As will be readily understood, the engagement of the pawl with the ratchet teeth will prevent the wheel 14 'from rotating in one direction but will Apermit its rotation in the other direction.

19 2() indicate two openings in the edge wall of the casing, such openings boing in the form of slots to conform to the general shape in cross-section ot' the ribbon-like metal sealing strip hereinafter described. The o iening 19, which is the one through which the sealing strip is inserted into the casing, is preferably somewhat flaring, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, to render the insertion of the strip to be e'll'ected more readily. As shown, the metal oill the casing members 1() and 11 is thickened somewhat at the points where these openings 19 and 2() are formed in order to permit such slots to be of the requisite width, and on the inner `faces of the casing members opposite the thickened portions re- 'ferred to are 'formed guiding grooves 21 for receiving the edges of. the sealing strip, such grooves 21 connecting the openings 19 and 20, and with such openings forming a continuous IOO IlO

guide for the said sealing strip in its passage through the casing. The two openings 19 and 2O are opposite one another, and l pre fer to so locate them, but it would not be a departure from my invention to locate one of them nearer to the axis of the wheel 14., but in that event the guiding slots 21 would have to be curved sufliciently to properly connect the openings 19 and 20. Under all circumstances it is essential to the carrying out of my invention that the openings be so arranged that the sealing strip shall engage the teeth of the wheel as hereinafter described.

22 indicates my improved sealing strip adapted to be used in connection with the locking mechanism described. As stated, this strip 22 is made of metal,-preferably cut from a thin sheet of tin and is of a width to pass through the openings in the casing. lt is perforated at regular intervals with holes 23 of a size and shape to permit the teeth of the wheel 14 to pass through them.

The operation of the parts that form the lock so far described is as followsz-The casing is to be permanently attached in place by a chain connected to the eye 24, as shown in Fig. 1, or otherwise, the sealing strip 22 is then to be passed through a staple or eye with which it is desired that it be connected, and the two ends of the strip brought together as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4 and both ol' such ends forced into the slot 19. The continued forcing in of these ends brings them into contact with one of the teeth on the wheel 14 and the pressure on such tooth causes the said wheel 14 to rotate with the result that several of the succeeding teeth are caused to enter some of the holes in the two thicknesses of the sealing strip, and, as the wheel 14 is positively locked against reversely rotating, it will be impossible to withdraw the strip and consequently the strip cannot be detached from the staple or eye through which it has been passed without breaking the seal-that is, cutting the strip. /Vhen so cut, the two parts of the strip can be disengaged from the locking mechanism and the casing by pushing them forward so that their ends will project through the opening 21, and then by grasping such projecting ends the destroyed strip can be quickly pulled out.

While there is but little liability of the strip being manipulated so as to permit it being disengaged from the teeth of the wheel 14, yet as an additional precaution against an attempt to disengage them being successful, I provide the second toothed wheel 15, which, meshing with the wheel 14 at all times and bearing against the strip between the holes therein will tend to crowd such strip toward the said Wheel 14. It is evident of course that this second wheel `15 can only turn in one direction, as it is always in mesh with the toothed wheel 14. Another advantage incident to the use of my improved lock and sealing strip is that while the strip may be considerably longer than is necessary it can be pushed as far as desired into the casing, or even so as to project through the casing, so as to have the casing held closely to the staple or eye that the strip is passed through, and no matter to what extent the strip is inserted into the casing provided always that it is inserted far enough-to permit one of the teeth of the wheel 14 to enter one of the holes in the strip-it will be firmly locked therein.

1n Figs. 6 and 7 is illustrated a modification wherein the toothed wheel 15 is entirely omitted and the casing 10 11 is correspondingly shortened. inasmuch as in every other respect the parts are identical with those shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the same reference numerals are employed as in connection with the par-ts of Figs. 2 and 3. In connection with this modified form,` the sealing strip 22 -is used exactly as in the former construction and held in the same way by the toothed wheel 14.

In Figs. 8 and 9, l have illustrated still an other modification, the casing being a twopart casing substantially the same as shown in Fig. 6, and which parts are therefore indicated by the same reference characters with the addition of the letter a, one of said members having formed with it an eye 24a correspending to the eye 24 in the other figures. The two parts of the casing are held together by a central bolt 12a. The casing has formed'in its opposite edges openings 19d and 20a, which correspond to the openings 19 and 20 in the other figures, and guiding slots 21a,

corresponding to the guiding slots 21 of the other figures, that connect these two openings 19d and 20a. 25 indicates a disk rigidly secured by bolts 26 to the inner face of one of the members of the casing, such member, in the construction shown, being that one indicated by 11a. The edge of this disk 25 has formed on it a series of inclined teeth. 14a indicates a ring having teeth on its periphery, such ring fitting over the disk 25. The edge of the large central opening in this ring is provided with teeth adapted to engage with the teeth of the fixed disk 25. The central opening in this toothed ring 14a is large enough to permit the ring to be moved freely in one direction on the toothed edge of such ring, but any attempt to turn such ring in the reverse direction will result in the engagement of the teeth on its inner edge with the teeth on the fixed disk 25. This ring 14a corresponds in function to the toothed wheel 14 of the other constructions described, and it is turned by the insertion of the sealing strip 22 just as is the toothed wheel 14 in the other constructions., In either case, whether ITO ISO

using the toothed Wheel construction or the toothed ring construction, it Will be apparent that the sealing strip cannot be vWithdrawn from the casing through the opening in Which it Was inserted, but must be pushed through the opposite opening and then pulledD out.

'What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a seal-lock, the combination with a casing, of a Wheel rotatively mounted therein and provided on its periphery with a fixed tooth, means for preventing the rotation oi the Wheel in one direction, said casing having an opening through its opposite edge Walls, and an apertured strip adapted to be inserted through one of said openings to cause the Wheel when rotated to have its said tooth projected through the apertured strip, said strip being also adapted to be Withdrawn from the casing through the opposite casing opening, substantially as described.

2. In a seal-lock, the combination with a casing, of a Wheel rotatably mounted therein and provided on its periphery with a fixed tooth, means 'for preventing the rotation oi' the Wheel in one direction, said casing having an opening through its opposite edge walls, and an apertured strip adapted to be inserted through one of said openings to cause the Wheel when rotated to have its saidtooth projected through the apertured strip, said strip being also adapted to be Withdrawn from the casing through the opposite casing opening, said casing also having a guide to direct said strip through the casing, substantially as described.

3. In a seal-lock, the combination with a casing, of a Wheel rotatably mounted therein and having a series of peripheral teeth, means for preventing rotation of the Wheel in one direction, said casing having an opening through its opposite edge Walls, and an apertured strip adapted to be inserted through one of said openings to abut against one of the teeth and turn the Wheel so as to cause another of said teeth to enter one of the apertures of the strip, and to be Withdrawn 'from the casing through the opposite casing opening.

4. In a seal-lock, the combination with a casing, of a toothed Wheel rotatably mounted therein, means vfor preventing rotation of the wheel in one direction7 a second rotatable Wheel mounted in the casing and meshing with the Vfirst-named wheel, said casing having openings in its opposite edge Walls, and an apertured strip adapted to be inserted into the casing through one of said openings to pass between said toothed Wheels and be thereby locked against withdrawal and thereafter be Withdrawn from the casing through the opposite one of said openings, substantially as specified.

5. ln a seal-lockI the combination with a casing, of a toothed wheel rotatably mounted therein, means for preventing rotation or' the wheel in one direction, a second rotatable Wheel mountedv in the casing and meshing with the first-named wheel, said casing having openings inits opposite edge walls, and an apertured strap adapted to he inserted into the casing through one of said openings to pass between said toothed Wheels and be thereby locked against withdrawal and thereafter be Withdrawn 'from the casing through thc opposite one of said openings, said casing also having a guide to direct said strip between said toothed Wheels, substantially asyspeciiiied.

6. .ln a seal-lock, the combination With a casing, of a toothed Wheel rotatably mounted therein, an annular recess in one Vface of said Wheel the edge of which recess has a series of' teeth, a spring-actuated dog in said recess adapted to engage said teeth, an apertured strip adapted to be engaged by the teeth ol said Wheel, said casing being provided with openings in its opposite edge walls to permit said strip to be passed entirely through the casing, substantially as speciiied.

AYRES BOAL.

W'itnesses z ALBERT H. ADAMS, VILLIAM H. DE BUsK.

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