US2059757A - Protection system - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 3, 1936. A. 1.. SPRECKER PROTECTION SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 21, 1935 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Nov. 3, 1936. A. SPRECKER PROTECTION SYSTEM Filed Dec. 21, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 QM mm INVENTOR J m Zm ATTORNEY Nov. 3,1936. SPRECKER 2,059,757

PROTECTION SYSTEM Filed Dec. 21, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEY NOV. 3, 1936. SPRECKER 2,059,757

PROTECTION SYSTEM Filed Dec. 21, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 MMA ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PROTECTION SYSTEM Application December 21, 1 933, SerialNo. 703,363-

12 Claims.

This invention relates to electric protection systems suitable for use in stores, commercial establishments, warehouses and the like.

The general object of the invention is to provide a novel protection system which prevents petty thieving.

The objects of the present invention will be more clearly understood after an explanation has been made of the problems which it solves.

Large commercial organizations, like chain store systems, for example, very frequently make deliveries of fresh stock from the warehouses or vegetable centers during the night. This practice is followed in order to take advantage of the light traffic conditions on the highways which usually prevail at night and in order to have perishable stock fresh each morning and also in order to avoid inconveniencing customers which is usually the case when deliveries are made dur ing the hours the stores are open for business. It is usual for the manager of each individual store to personally lock the store securely before leaving at night and he and perhaps a trusted assistant are the only persons provided with keys to the front door. Since the drivers of the delivering trucks are not ordinarily provided with keys to the store premises, it has been customary for the drivers to deposit the fresh stock of goods on the sidewalk in front of the store or, where the door is set back from the plate glass front, as is usually the case, the goods are deposited in the space between the door and sidewalk.

This practice of course is not very satisfactory as often the district in the immediate neighborhood of the store is mostly commercial and deserted at night except for occasional pedestrians and predatory night prowlers ready to pilfer anything in the nature of food or worth stealing. The policeman assigned to the neighborhood of the store obviously cannot always keep the store in view with the result that stock is frequently stolen. This is especially true when business conditions are poor and there are large numbers of half-starved unemployed persons looking for food. Bad weather conditions also bring large losses of stock and prowling animals cause further losses.

On the other hand, if the drivers of the trucks are provided with keys to the store premises, permitting them to place the goods inside the store, the situation is little better because the drivers of the trucks can easily pilfer for their own use small articles of stock in the store such as occasional cans of canned goods, not enough tobe missed immediately, and are often careless about relocking the store after the goods have been placed therein. Such carelessness of the drivers is very serious since a night prowler or thief can get in the store and steal articles of selves, and at the same time gives some protection against losses due to failure of the drivers to'relock the front door.

The above objects are obtained by providing a demountable cage or grillework back of or in the neighborhood of the front door which will permit drivers having keys to the front door to deposit the goods back of the door and inside the cage or grillework. The cage or grillework is arranged tobe removed and stored in a convenient place on the premises or adapted to be folded and positioned so as notto interfere with the conduct of business in the store while it is open for business. The cage or grillework is preferably provided with a protective alarm circuit which, in connection with a siren, gong, or other suitable alarm: device, sounds a warning when anyone attempts to tamper with the cage or grillework in order to get into the interior of the store outside the cage and steal articles of stock, store equipment, or money. The protective circuitmay, if desired, form part of a burglar alarm system and may be controlled by a recording lock. adapted to make records of the time the store is closed and locked for the night or opened for business in the morning the persons-locking. or unlocking the door, and the time at which they locked. or unlocked the door. The lock also is adapted to control the turning on and off of the protective circuit which control is of a selective nature responsive only to certain keys such as the one in the possession of the manager or his assistant and cannot be affected by the keys assigned todrivers.

Summarizing, the foregoing: A demountable cage or grillework is provided which is set up by the manager or his assistant prior to locking the front door for the night. The latter operation puts the protective circuit and alarm in condition to sound an alarm when the cage or grillework is disturbedand, while the door can be unlocked by keys other than the one in the possession of the manager and/or his assistant, the keys assigned to other employees merely lock and unlock the door without disturbing the protective circuit and alarm.

Another object is to provide: alarm means for giving a warning. when an attempt is made to tamper withthe cage or grillework.

A specific object is to provide alarm means which sounds momentarily each time the front door is locked to indicate that the alarm and source of electric current are in working order.

Another specific object is to provide an arrangement of two alarm devices of relatively different noise making values arranged so that only the less noisy alarm sounds momentarily when the door is locked from the outside while the noisier alarm sounds when tampering with the cage or protective circuit is attempted.

A further specific object is to provide means to permit the door to be locked from the inside without sounding an alarm.

Still another specific object is to provide means to ensure that the front door will be closed tight before being locked from the inside. Various other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be specifically mentioned in the following description and claims or will be obvious from a study of the description, claims, and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the front portion of the interior of a store and illustrates the appearance of the protective cage when unfolded ready for use.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the end of the protective cage when folded, and is on a larger scale than Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a large scale vertical section taken approximately on the line 33 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar vertical section taken approximately on the line 4--4 in Fig. 1. a

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the lower half of the main lock, the cutting plane of the section being parallel to the back of the door.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on the line 66 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram. I

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the lock for the battery and relay compartment.

Fig. 1 is a view of a typical store front as viewed from the interior of the store. Two large plate glass windows I0 are arranged in each side of the centrally located doors H which may be surmounted by a small transom window l2. Suspended from the ceiling l3, as by means of pipes I4 and flanged stanchion fittings I5, is a false ceiling l6 which forms the roof of the protective cage. The space between the ceiling I3 and the false ceiling It may be used for the storage of stock or may be left open to permit light and air to enter through window l2.

Pivotally mounted on the edges of the false ceiling l6 as by hinges H, are three wall sections or grilles |8, I9, 20, which, with the false ceiling l6 and the floor 2|, form a cage. The hinges I! of grilles l8, I9, are secured to strips 22, 23, 24 of different widths which are fastened to the edges of the false ceiling. This construction makes it possible to swing the three grilles l8, I9, 20 up beneath the false ceiling in overlapping relation, the right-hand grille 20 being next to the false ceiling, the grille l8 immediately beneath while grille I9 is beneath grille l8 as shown in Fig. 2. Any suitable means, as hooks-andeyes, bolts or spring catches of conventional form may be used to hold the grilles in the overlapping position of Fig. 2.

The grilles may be constructed in any desired manner of wood or metal but it is desirable that the bars or rods be spaced close enough to prevent passage between said bars or rods'of small articles of stock which may be stacked in close proximity to the cage or may form displays. Concealed in the bars and/ or frame of each grille is a wire or wires which may form part of a burglar alarm system of the closed circuit type, the wires being so laid as to be easily broken or out if the grilles are tampered with as by an attempt to saw them through or take them apart.

When the grilles i8, 29 have been placed in the position of Fig. 1 they may be secured by suitable means such as sliding bolts 25 (see Fig. 3) mounted in carriers 28 fastened to the lower front corners of the grilles I8, 20 and seating in sockets 2? flush with the floor 2!.

Secured to the side of each bolt 25 inside of the carriers 23 is a cam lug adapted, when the bolt is pushed down into its socket, to engage a cam lug of insulating material secured to one of a pair of concealed contacts 29 in such fashion as to close said contacts. The bolt must actually enter the socket 2? far enough to be fully effective as a securing means before the contacts 29 are closed.

Mounted in the grilles I8, 20 near the rear lower corners is a box 30 of insulating material (Fig. 4) in which are mounted a pair of spaced wiper contacts 3|. Mounted on strips of insulating material 32 secured to the lower corners of grille I!) are contacts 33 adapted to wipe upon and spread slightly the coacting pair of contacts 3| when the grille I 9 is abutting the edges of grilles I8, 20 as shown in detail in Fig. 4. The alarm wires 34 (Fig. 7) concealed in the grilles l8, I9, 20 and contacts 29, 3|, 33 are in a single series circuit as shown in Fig. 7 so that an attempt to fold up the cage or tamper with it in any way will break the alarm circuit. In order to seat contacts 3|, 33 properly, the hinges ll of grille l9 are so arranged as to permit said grille to be swung rearwardly a slight amount when grilles i8, 20 are lowered, thus allowing the lower rear corners of grilles I8, 20 to assume positions forwardly of contacts 33 as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 4. When the contacts 33 have been firmly seated by swinging grille l9 forwardly, and the edges of grille l9 closely abut the edges of grilles l8, 2|], suitable bolts 35 like the bolts 25 and secured to the lower edge of grille I9 may be seated in sockets in the floor 2| to prevent the grille l9 from being moved. The bolts 35 may or may not be provided with contacts like 29 as esired but it is preferred that such contacts be so provided as an additional safeguard.

The lock system of the store may comprise a main lock 35 mounted on the inside of the righthand door N (Fig. 1) and several subsidiary looks, or locking devices such as bolts, chains, bars, and the like. The main lock 36 may be of the recording type illustrated in Letters Patent No. 1,611,579 granted to L. C. Bush. Since the lock described in said patent is now well known in the art, it will not be described in detail herein. The bolt 31 (Figs. 5 and 6) may be retracted from locked position (Fig. 5) or moved to such position by any one of several keys as described in the above patent, the insertion of a key causing a barrel 38 to slide a distance dependent on the length of the key inserted so as to bring into the plane of a lever 39 the shoulder or step 43 corresponding to the key operating the barrel. When the key is turned the barrel 38 rotates thus rocking lever 39 counterclockwise a distance dependent upon the diameter of the active shoulder 40. The lever 39 is normally held in the position of Figs. 5 and 6 by means of a spring 4| (Fig. 5) with the left edge of the lower arm of the lever resting squarely against the flat 42 cut in the barrel 38 and, as in the above patent operates a type wheel adapted to print a record of which key was used to lock or unlock the door. In the patent four keys are provided designated A, B, C, and D, respectively, of which the A key is commonly the shortest and the D key the long est. Thus, the D key will cause lever 39 to rock the greatest extent while key A will cause the lever to rock only a slight amount. This differential movement of lever 39 in response to different keys is utilized to selectively control the circuits of the present invention in a manner about to be described.

In the present case only the movement of the bolt 31 to locked or unlocked position and the difierential movement of the lever 39 are of interest hence few other details of the lock will be given and for a more detailed description of the lock reference may be had to the patent mentioned above.

When the bolt 31 is retractedfi a shoulder 43 therein engages a cam block 44 of insulating material secured to the central member 45 of contacts 45, 46, 41 insulatably mounted on the framework of the lock and causes contact 45 to break contact with contact 46 and make contact with contact 41. The contacts 45, 46, 41 are so designed that a circuit through contacts 45, 46, is not broken until a circuit is completed through contacts 45, 41 and vice versa.

Insulatably mounted upon the yoke or support for the usual interlock magnet 46 described in the above patent, are three contacts 49, 56, 5| none of which make contact when the bolt 31 is in either locked position or unlocked position. The upper contact 49 extends to the left (Fig. 5) and is bent downwardly at an angle to form a cam surface which is in the path of movement of an insulated pin 52 secured to a toe fastened to lever 39. The length of the contact 46 is such that said contact will be cammed downwardly to close a circuit through contacts 49, 56, and 56, 5i in succession only when the arm 39 moves the maximum extent produced by the D key. It is clear that each time the lock is operated, whether to lock or unlock the door, the contacts 49, 56 and 56, 5| will be closed in the order named and these operations will take place during the first quarter revolution of the key. The contacts 49, 56, 5| will remain in contact for the next half revolution of the key and will break contact in reverse order during the last quarter revolution of the key.

The contact 45 will move to break the circuit through contacts 45, 46 and close the circuit through contacts 45, 41 about the beginning of the second half revolution of the key to retract the bolt or throw it to locked position. It is apparent that contacts 49, 56, 5| will always be operated before contacts 45, 46, 41 and will all be in contact before the status of contacts 45, 46, 41 is changed.

There is provided a noisy alarm device such as a siren 53 and a milder alarm such as a bell or buzzer 53a a day control relay 54, a night control relay 55 and an alarm relay 56 connected to contacts 45,46, 41, 49,56, 5|, the wires 34, and the local battery 51 as shown in Fig. 7. Day relay 54 has contacts 5411 which are opened and contacts 54b which are closed whenever the winding of said relay is energized. Night relay 55 has contacts 550. and 55?) which are opened and closed, respectively, when relay 55 is energized. The alarm relay 56 is in series with contacts 54a, 55a across line wires 58, 59 leading to battery 51. The alarms 53 and 53a and contacts 56a of the alarm relay 56 are in series parallel relation across line wires 58, 59. The coil of relay 55, contacts 54a, 55b, wires 34, and contacts 29, 3|, 33 are in series across line wires 56, 59. The winding of relay 54 is in series with contacts 45, 46, 49, 56, 5|, across line wires 58, 59. A wire 66 connects one of the contacts 54b to contact 41 while a wire 6| connects the coil of relay 55 to contact 56.

Fig. 7 shows the circuits in the condition they appear after the installation has been completed and is about to be connected to the battery. Contacts 45, 46, 41 are in the condition they appear when the door is unlocked and bolt 31 fully retracted. As soon as the connection to the battery is made siren 53 and bell 53a will commence to sound, since the alarm relay 56 is in series with closed contacts 540., 55a across line wires 53, 59, and will be energized to close contacts 56a. This prolonged sounding of the alarm devices may be taken as an indication that the circuit is properly connected and in readiness for use. In order to stop the sounding of the alarm devices andput the circuits in day operating condition, the longest D key is inserted and operated to lock the door. This operation causes contacts 49, 56 and 5|, to close circuits in succession during the first quarter revolution of the D key followed by opening of contacts 45, 41 and closure of contacts 45, 46. Assuming the cage has been folded up beneath the false ceiling 56 so that contacts 29, 3|, 33 are open, the following operations will take place.

Contacts 45, 46 will close before contacts 45, 41 open hence there will be a brief period during the turning of the D key when contacts 45, 46, 41, 49, 56, 5| are all electrically connected establishing circuits as follows: battery 51, wire 58, contacts 45, 46, 49, 56, 5|, relay 54, and wire 59, to battery 51. Relay 54 will be energized opening contacts 54a and interrupting the circuit to the alarm relay 56. Closure of contacts 542) establishes a momentary holding circuit for relay 54 through wire 66 and contacts 41, 45 but this circuit will be broken shortly after contact 45 touches contact 46.

Coincident with the energization of relay 54 by closure of contacts 45, 46, 49, 56, 5|, relay 55 will be energized or at least will receive a momentary impulse of current over a circuit extending from battery 51, line wire 58, contacts 45, 46, 49, 56 wire 6|, relay 55, contacts 54a, and line wire 59 to battery 51. Contacts 54a open simultaneously with the energization of relay 55, however, so that the latter is active only momentarily.

Relay 54 is held energized only until the contacts 49, 56, 5| open during the last quarter revolution of the D key whereupon said relay is deenergizcd and the contacts 54a will again close to cause the alarms to sound. If now the door is unlocked by means of the D key the same cycle of operations will be repeated but in this case contacts 45, 41 will touch before any of the circuits through contacts 45, 46, 49, 56, 5| are broken with the result that the holding circuit for relay 54 is permanently established through wire 59, winding of relay 54, contacts 545, wire 66, contacts 41, 45 and wire 56. Relay 55 will remain deenergized as before by the opening of contacts 54a. Since contacts 54a are now permanently held open by relay 54, the alarm devices will no longer sound although the door is unlocked. The circuits are now in the day operating condition and, while in this condition, the front door can be opened or closed by customers without sounding the alarm devices,

are in working order.

It should be observed, however, that any attempt to lock the door from the inside by means of the inside key or from the outside by one of the A, B, or C keys will start the alarm devices sounding since such keys do not affect contacts 49, 50, 5|, but would cause contacts 41, 45 to open thus deenergizing relay 54 and causing the alarm relay 56 to be energized.

The D key will be assigned to the manager of the store while the A, B, and C keys may be given to one or more of the drivers of the warehouse trucks whose duties are to deliver fresh stocks of merchandise, such as canned goods and fresh vegetables, the deliveries being made at night when the store is locked. The various locks and bolts on the rear door, basement door, windows, and so on, will be provided with interlock contacts like 62 (Fig. 7) which are all opened when the corresponding locks or bolts have been properly operated to prevent entry into the store. The contacts 52 are all in parallel in a series circuit extending from battery 51, over line wire 59, contacts 52 in parallel, interlock magnet 48 of the lock 35, interlock contacts 63 of lock 36 (Fig, 5), and line wire 58, to battery 51. Contacts 63 operate as in the manner described in the above patent to energize magnet 48 and prevent locking the door when any of the contacts 62 remain closed due to failure to move to locked position one of the locking devices operating such contacts.

When the store is about to be closed for the night the manager of the store will visit the various doors and windows and lock them securely. After that has been been done he will unfold the cage by first releasing the grille |9 permitting it to assume a vertical position and then lower the grilles I8, 20 in the order named, bolting them securely in place by means of bolts 25. The grille I9 is swung slightly rearwardly, as the grilles |8, 20 are lowered and bolted, in order to permit the contacts 3|, 33 to come into alignment. The final operations consist in swinging grille I9 forwardly to the position of Fig. 1 until contacts 3|, 33 become fully seated and bolting said grille to the floor by means of the bolts 35.

The cage is now unfolded and everything is presumably in readiness to lock the front door. It is evident that all clerks must leave the store before the cage has been unfolded and the manager should swing the grille I9 forwardly to the position of Fig. 1 while he is standing in the cage.

The manager, after giving the cage a final inspection to assure himself that the cage has been properly unfolded and bolted in place, will leave by the front door and lock it by means of his D key. When the latter is turned to lock the door, contacts 45, 46, 49, 59, 5| are all closed before contacts 41, 45 open. The opening of contacts 45, 41 causes relay 54 to become deenergized and the closing of contacts 54a establishes the following circuits Battery 51, line wire 58, contacts 45, 46, 49, 50, wire 6|, relay 55, contacts 54a, and line wire 59 to battery 51. The closure of contacts 5411 while relay 55 is still deenergized results in the alarm relay 56 receiving an impluse of current which causes the bell 53a to give a tap or two before energization of relay 55 causes contacts 55a to open and interrupt the circuit to the bell 53a. The siren will not be affected since it takes more time to reach a speed sufficient to be noisy. This momentary sounding of the bell shows that both the battery and bell Contacts 5512 close and establish a holding circuit for relay 55 as follows: Battery 51, wire 58, contacts 29', wires 34, and contacts 3|, 33; contacts 552), relay 55, contacts 54a, and wire 59, to battery 51.

If the manager should fail to securely bolt the cage or seat contacts 3|, 33 properly, or if some one has been tampering with the cage during the day, the circuit through wires 34 will be broken or one or more of contacts 29 or 3|, 33 will be open. This will cause the alarm devices to sound continuously when contacts 45, 41 and 49, 59, 5| open during the locking operation as the holding circuit for relay 55 is maintained through contacts 29, wires 34, and contacts 23, 3!, 33. If the cage has been properly set up, however, the holding circuit will maintain the relay 55 in energized condition when contacts 45, 41 and 49, 55, 5| open.

Obviously, if the alarm devices sound after locking of the door, the manager must unlock the door and correct his error by more firmly seating the proper bolt or contacts 3|, 33. Unlocking the door will, of course, reenergize relay 54 and stop the prolonged sounding of the alarm devices. When the error has been corrected, the door is again locked and the same events in deenergizing relay 54 and energizing relay 55 will take place as described, but this time relay 55 will remain energized and the protective system will become fully effective. The manager may now leave the premises.

A driver making a delivery of fresh stock during the night may insert his key and unlock the door. Since his key has no control over contacts 49, 59, 5| (being too short to slide barrel 38 a distance suflicient to place the barrel in position to rock arm 39 far enough to operate said contacts), the contacts 45, 41 will close and contacts 45, 46 open but this has no efiect as contacts 541) and 49, 50 are all open. Thus, he can deposit the fresh stock inside the cage and relock the door without sounding the alarm devices. A

If the driver should be of a dishonest turn of mind and attempt to pilfer stock in the store as by unbolting the cage or sawing the bars of the grilles |8, H3, 20, or by moving them sufllciently to break the circuit through wires 34, relay 55 will be deenergized closing contacts 55a and causing the alarm devices to sound. Once contacts 55b have opened the alarm devices can be stopped only by means of the managers key which is the only one adapted to operate contacts 49, 59, 5|. The only things that can be done under such circumstances is for the driver to send for the manager or run away. In either case the prolonged ringing of the gong is likely to attract the attention of a nearby policeman or the neighbors who can send for the manager if the driver has run away.

The sounding of the alarm devices can easily be stopped by unlocking the door with the managers key which operation will control the relays 54, 55 as described before herein to stop the alarm devices.

Reviewing the description up to the present point, the door can be locked and unlocked by all the keys but only the managers key can render the protective circuit ineffective to sound an alarm if disturbed. The keys assigned to the drivers merely lock and unlock the door without affecting the alarm circuits and protective wiring. Each time the door is locked by the managers key at least one of the alarm devices may be momentarily active to indicate that the battery and alarm device is in Working order.

Each time the door is locked or unlocked, a record is made of the key used and the time and whether the door was locked or unlocked.

Goods delivered to the store can be placed inside secure from loss by petty thieving, prowling animals, and bad weather and at the same time petty pilfering of the stock in the store is prevented.

It is customary to inventory stock and perform certain other routine duties, like dressing windows, outside of business hours, say in the evening after the store has been closed to customers. During such working periods of the manager and his assistants the door must be kept locked to prevent potential customers, beggars, robbers, or sneak thieves from entering the store. Also when the store closing hour is reached, the door must be locked while attending to last-minute customers and while the store is being made ready for closing. Since the inside door key has no control over the contacts 49, 56, 5|, the act of locking the door from the inside, as has already been stated, would cause the alarm devices to sound continuously. This would be very annoying and if a regular occurrence, would tend to lessen the value of the alarm devices as, to quote the proverb, familiarity breeds contempt.

Accordingly, means are provided to permit the door to be locked from the inside without sounding the alarm devices and means are also provided to warn those inside the door that the door has not been shut tight before it is locked.

The compartment containing the battery 51 and the relays 54, 55, 56 is fitted with a door 64 (Fig. 8) equipped with a lock which only the managers D key can unlock. The other keys, while they would fit in the key hole of the lock 65 would not operate the lock, this being accomplished by some simple means as an extra tumbler in look 65 which tumbler is properly operated by the D key only. The long shank of the D key, when inserted in the key hole in the barrel of the lock 65, engages an insulating button on one of three contact members 66, 61, 6B in such fashion as to fully close all three contacts only when the key is in far enough to turn the barrel. Contacts 66, 61 shunt the contacts 45, 47 and permit the door to be locked with the inside key without deenergizing day relay 54. Contacts 61, 68 are in series with a lamp 69 and door contacts 16 between line wires 58, 59. Contacts it are concealed in the front door and are opened only when both halves of the door are tightly shut.

The contacts 66, 67, 63 are mounted on a projecting part of the framework M of the lock 65 while the bolt 12 may, as is sometimes the case, have a certain amount of lost motion with respect to the usual bolt actuator 63 secured to the key barrel, in order to permit the key to be turned slightly without withdrawing the folt but enough to hold the key in the key hole. The lamp 10 is preferably mounted near the front door behind a suitable colored bulls-eye lens.

Preferably the barrel and pin tumblers of lock 65 are so arranged that the key can only be withdrawn when the bolt is in locking position thus preventing the manager from withdrawing his key and locking the front door without first removing the shunt on contacts 65, M by relocking the door of the battery compartment.

When it is necessary to work in the store after business hours, the manager will go to the compartment containing the battery and relays and insert his D key, giving it a slight turn to prevent its withdrawal. This causes contacts 66, 61,

68 to close shunting contacts 45, '41 and establishing the circuit through lamp 69 (provided one or both front doors are open or ajar). The manager leaves his key in the barrel of lock 65 and goes to the front doors to lock them from the inside. If the lamp 69 is illuminated he will have to close the front doors tight thus extinguishing the lamp and then lock the doors by means of the insidedcor key. Since contacts 4i are now shunted by contacts 66, til the relay 54 will not become deenergized and the alarm devices will be silent.

The invention may be modified in a number of respects without departure from the principles herein described. As one instance, stores often have the front 'door on one side of a single plate glass window. In such a case one of the grilles i8, i9, .29 can be eliminated and one or both side walls'of the store serve instead. Also, where the ceiling is low, the grilles can be hinged directly to the ceiling. While it is preferred to use barred or open grilles due to better ventilation and the better view of the interior of the store permitted a policeman or watchman on his rounds, there is no reason why solid or glass wall sections or similar constructions can not be used.

Another modification can be conveniently used where the store may be open for business from an early hour to a late hour making it necessary for different persons to open the store for business and to close the store for the night, particularly when there are two shifts of employes and the manager may not be on hand to open the store and/or close it. This modification consists in extending the central contact member 49 far enough to the left (Fig. 5) to be affected by several of the longest keys, let us say the D, C, or B keys, while the A key merely unlocks the door. Thus, the manager could lock or unlock the door and disable the protective circuit at any time as could one or two of his assistants to whom the C and B keys have been assigned, while a driver having only an A keycould unlock the door but his key, as before, would not be effective to disable the protective circuit.

Various other modifications will be apparent to those who may become familiar with the invention. For these reasons it is desired to limit the invention onlyby the broadest interpretation of the following claims permitted by the prior art.

I claim:

1. In combination with a store front of conventional form and having a door, removable means adapted to be mounted adjacent the door.

to form a restricted space in which to store merchandise, locking devices for securing the removable means in place adjacent the door, contact devices associated with said locking devices, protective wires in said removable means adapted to form a protective circuit with said contact devices which circuit is sensitive to tampering with the removable means or looking devices, an alarm device, means connected to said circuit for sensing the condition of said circuit and starting operation of the alarm device, and key controlled means mounted on the door for disabling the alarm device.

2. In combination with a door, removable means mounted in close proximity to the door and adapted to permit limited access to premises of keys adapted to selectively operate the lock,

and means in said lock and controlled only by a predetermined key for rendering the alarm and protective circuit ineffective.

3. In combination with a door having a lock adapted to be selectively controlled by difierent keys, a demountable cage enclosing a space adjacent said door to which space access may be had through the door, an alarm device, a protective circuit carried by the cage and adapted to call the alarm into operation when the cage is tampered with or demounted, and means controlled by certain of the keys of the lock for rendering said circuit inefiective.

4. In combination with a store front of conventional type including a main door; means for forming an'enclosure proximate to said door to which enclosure entry may be had only through said door, said enclosure providing a restricted space for temporarily storing merchandise; an alarm, a protective circuit concealed in the first named means and adapted to set off the alarm when tampering with said means is attempted, a lock for said door, several selective keys controlling said lock, and means controlled only by a predetermined key for rendering the circuit effective and inefiective at will.

5. In combination with a room having a. door giving entrance therein, removable means adapted to be set up to form an enclosure within the room proximate to the door to which enclosure access may be had only through the door, a protective circuit carried by said means and including means for interrupting said circuit when the removable means has been improperly set up, an alarm device set ofi by the interruption of said circuit when an attempt is made to remove or tamper with said removable means, a lock on said door, means controlled by the lock key for rendering the protective circuit effective when the door is locked, means controlled by said circuit and lock when the door is locked to cause a prolonged sounding of the alarm when the removable means has not been properly set up, and means controlled by the lock for causing the alarm to sound only momentarily when the removable means has been properly set up.

6. In combination with a device to be protected, a protective circuit associated therewith, a pair of alarm devices of different kinds, a switch adapted to render said circuit effective, and means controlled by said switch for causing a brief sounding of one alarm when the protective circuit is in working order and a prolonged sounding of the other alarm when the circuit is not in working order.

7. In combination with the door of a conventional store front, a demountable enclosure adjacent said door to which enclosure access may be had through said door; means to secure the enclosure in place, contact means actuated by the securing means, a protective circuit concealed in the enclosure, an alarm controlled jointly by said circuit and contact means and operative when an attempt is made to tamper with the enclosure, a lock for said door, and means controlled by said lock for placing the alarm and its controlling contact means and circuit in operative condition.

8. In combination with a door, a lock for said door, inside and outside keys for said lock, an alarm means for sounding the alarm when the door is locked with the inside key, a separate lock operated only by the outside key, and means controlled by the separate lock for preventing the alarm from sounding when the door is locked with the inside key.

9. In combination with a door, a lock for said door, inside and outside keys for said lock, an alarm means for sounding the alarm when the door is locked with the inside key, a separate lock operated only by the outside key, and means controlled by the separate lock for preventing the alarm from sounding when the door is locked with the inside key, and means actuated by the door for preventing the last-named means from taking effect unless the door is shut tight before it is locked from the inside.

10. In a protective system for stores and the like, the combination with the front door, an enclosure set up adjacent said door to enable limited access to the inside of the store through said door, a protective circuit for said enclosure responsive to tampering with the enclosure as by an attempt to remove it, an alarm controllable by said circuit, and a recording lock for said door, said lock being operable by a plurality of different keys and having means controlled only by a predetermined key for connecting the alarm to the protective circuit, said means being unafiected by the remaining keys whereby the door may be unlocked to prevent access to said enclosure without disconnecting the alarm from the protective circuit, said lock also having means selectively set by the keys to identify the persons having access to the.

enclosure.

11. A protective system for enclosed premises to which access may be had through a door, the combination with said door, movable means spaced from said door within said premises to restrict access to a limited part of the premises,"

a protective circuit for the movable means and responsive to any disturbance of the movable means, an alarm, and a recording lock for said door, said lock having means controlled by one of a plurality of keys for placing the alarm and circuit in co-operative relation whereby the alarm will sound in response to a disturbance of the movable means, said key means being unaffected by the other keys, said lock having means controlled by said keys to set a recording element selectively to indicate who had access to the movable means during a period when the door is locked and the protective circuit operative to control the alarm whereby a record may be made of the persons who had an opportunity to tamper with the movable means.

12. A system of protection for enclosed premises to which access may be had through a door, the combination of movable means to permit only limited access to the premises through the door, an alarm, a protective circuit for the movable means and responsive to tampering with said means, a lock for said door and adapted to be controlled by a plurality of keys, and means responsive to a predetermined key of the lock for placing the alarm under control of said circuit, said last-named means being unafiected by other keys of the lock whereby holders of said other keys of the lock may unlock the door and have limited access to the premises without af- ALFRED L. SPRECKER.

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