USRE2151E - Improvement in locks - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2,929, dated December 17, 1861; Reissue No. 2.15 l. dated January 23, 1866.

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PHrLo S. FELTER, of Gincinnatus, in the county of Cortland and State of N ew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement. in Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is an external front view of a lock with my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a section of the same taken in the line :v a', Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a section of the same taken through the line a: w, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the drawings.

One object of my invention is to obtain a simple and effectual mechanism by which the key-hole may be guarded so as to prevent the admission of akey when the lock is in a locked state,` and thereby preclude the possibility of picking .thelock or obtaiping an impression to it a key.

Another object of my invention is to combine a mechanism with thekey-hole cover of a lock so that it may be locked and unlocked by means of figures, letters, or other symbols.

The iirst part of my invention consists in the employment 0r use of a spring in connection with movable circular slotted disks and movable dials', a key, and guard, all arranged substantially as hereinafter described. y The second part of my invention consists in combining with a key-hole cover of a lock (constructed as hereinafter described) a dial or series of dial-plates whereby the lock maybe operated by means of figures, letters, or other indicia.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, IWill describethe same.

A represents the case of a lock.

B is the bolt, which may be operated by a key in the ordinary Way.

C C. are the key-holes of the lock.

D represents a guard, whichis formed of a metal bar suspended on a rod or arbor, E, which passes through it near its upper end. The bar or guard D is allowed to swing freely on the rod or arbor E, and the lower end of the guard D, when the latteris in use, passes in line with the keyhole C C', so as to ei'ectually prevent the insertion of a key through the front key-hole, C', as seen in Fig. 3. The bar or guard D has a dovetailed recess, a, made in it, and in this recess an inversely corresponding projection, b, on a spring, F, fits. This spring F is iormed of a flat strip of steel secured within the lower part of the case A, as shown at o. This spring F, by means of its projection b, itting in the recess a of the bar or guard D, holds the latter in line with the key-hole C', as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2. The upper end of the spring F is provided with four projections, d, two at each side, as shown in Fig. 2, and these projections, when the bar or guard D covers the keyhole, are in front of circular disks G, which are each provided with a notch, e. The disks G are placed loosely on rods or arbors E E E E", the arbor E being the one on which the bar or guard D is suspended. The disks G are connected to the arbors E E E E" by means of pins 6*, which are at the ends of arms f on the arbors. The inner ends of the arbors have screw-threads cut on them, and nuts g are placed thereon, said nuts being at the back side of a central plate, h, in the lock, through which the arbors pass. The outer ends of the arbors project through the front plate ot' the locks, and have circular disks or dial-plates 'L' placed loosely on them, said dials being on the outer front side of the case A and being secured to the arbors by means of pins j, which are at the inner ends of knobs 7c, said knobs being fastened onv the arbors by means of screws l, and the pins j fitting in the notches m in the dials i, as seen in Fig. 3. The dials i are lettered all around near their edges, and the outer case of the lock-plate is numbered, the numbers extending about half-way around the dials t', as shown in Fig. l.

H is an auxiliary key, which passes into the back case, A, at such a point as to bear against the spring F. This key is allowed to slide longitudinally in the lock-case, and it is provided with a bit, n, as shown in Fig. 3. The upper end of the bar or guard D is notched as shown at o, and is curved toward the key H, as seen in Fig. 2.

Operation: When the lock is in a locked state, the bar or guard D is over the key-hole O', and is retained in that position by the spring F, as previously referred to. In order, therefore, to release the bar or guard D it is necessary to force back the spring F until its projection b is out from the recess a in the bar or guard D, and to effect this the disks G mu-st be so turned that their notches c will be in line with the projections d 'of the spring F, in or-A der that the projections d may pass through the notches c, and thus admit of the spring F being forced back. The spring is forced back under the action of the auxiliary key H, and

when forced back thekey is turned and its time to time by simply shifting the pins c* of.

the arms j, in different holes at in the disks, the nuts gbeing unscrewed to admit of the drawing out ofthe arbors. (See Fig. 3.) The dials i may also be shifted for the same purpose by drawing out the pin j irom the notches m in the dial i, as shown in Fig. 3.

I am aware that slides have been arranged within locks to pass over the key-holes of the same in order to prevent thelocks bein gpicked, and I therefore donot claim, broadly', such device.

I am also aware that lettered or figured" dials have been used in connection with numbers on the outer plate of the lock-case; but I am not aware of any inst-,ance in which tigured or numbered dials and figured or numbered plates have beenused in combination with a common lock whereby a lock is rendered convertible from a combination or burglarproof lock to a common lock, and vice versa.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is ,f

1. The bar or guard D, provided with the recess a, in connection with the notched disks Gr, spring F, provided with the projections b d d, and the key H, arranged substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. In combination with the subjectmatter of the above, the employment of numbered or lettered dials, by means of which the lock may be used as a burglarproof or common lock, as desired, substantially as set forth.

PHIL() S. FELTER.

Witnesses:

S. W. SMITH, ISRAEL GEE.

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