US2896439A - Combination lock - Google Patents

Description

July 28, 1959 E. w. HOLMBERG COMBINATION LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 1, 1957 FIG.I

FIG. 2

INVENTOR. fafeneM//a/e' funkt P.

ATTORNEY July 28, 1959 E. w. HOLMBERG COMBINATION LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April l, 1957 NVENTOR. fdene h/.h/weg n. Y EWE ATToRLvEY United Seres Paflf i0,

` C'ONIBNATION LOCK I `Eugene W. Holmberg, Dania, Fla. Application April 1,1957, Serial No. 649,693

` s claims. (cl. 11i- 156) 'This invention relates to -a combinationlock.

VThe invention has for an object to provide a novel position by a latch 30 in engagement with a notch 32 formed in the bolt, as better shown in Fig. 5. A spring 34 coiledlabout areduced diameter portion of the bolt 16 and interposed between a shouldered portion `of the bolt and the frame member 22 tends to urge the bolt in-aretracting or openingdire'ption when thelatch 3:0A is withdrawn whereby to-perrnit opening of the door.

and improved combination lock of the type having a i latched locking lbolt and which is characterized by novel structure having provision for automatically unlatching the bolt 'when the correct combination is employed in a simple and elticient manner.

t With this general object in view andsuch others as may `hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the combination lock and in the various structures, arrangements` and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly deiined'in the claimsv at the end of this specification. r i 1 t `In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment othe invention: t t 4Fig lis a front elevation of a` receptacle having a door embodying the present combination lock;

Fig.l 2 is a plan view partly in 'cross section as seen from the line 2-2 of Fig. l; l t

Fig. 3 is an end View as seen from the line-3-3 of Fig. 2; `Fig. 4 is a cross sectional end View taken on the line 4`-4of Fig. 2; and t t Fig. 5 is a rear view cross section of the locking mechanismras` seen from `the line 5-5 of Fig.V 2. t t :11n general the present invention contemplates acombination lock of the type provided with a bolt adapted to be" engagedwith la keeper and latched into a locked position and which is automatically unlatched upon operating the combination. The operatingmechanism of the combination lock includes `a plurality of notched cams arranged to be individually rotated a Selected number of increments by push *buttonv operating mechanisms and which `when independently advanced in accordance with theycombination will arrange the notches in alignment whereupon the unlatching mechanism is actuated to release the bolt which is then automatically retracted to its unlocked position. Provision is also made in the preferred embodiment of the invention for lighting a signal lamp upon retraction of the bolt to apprise the operator that the door is unlocked and may be swung open. Upon again Vclosing the door provision is made for mov- "The latch is mounted 'to slide inta guide member 36 secured to an intermediate upstanding `frame member 23,Vand as shown in Fig.` 3, is connected by a pin and slot connection 38 to an arm 40 fast on a shaft 42 rockingly mounted in extensions 44 from the end `frame members. The shaft 42 is"al`so provided with a plurality of cam levers 46, herein shown as four cam levers, also fast on the shaft 42, each lever being provided with a Vroller 48 arranged to cooperate with a cam S0 mounted to4 rotate on a stationary shaft 52 supported in the end frames 22 andf25. An arm 54 also fast on the shaft42 is connected by a spring 56 to the base plate 20 and tends to urge the rollers 48 against their cams 50 and to rock the arm 40 ina direction to urge the latch 30 outwardly or into a retracted position when permitted to do so by the cams 50.`

. `As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each earn 50 is arranged to' hold its.A cam lever `46 in 'an outwardly rocked position to` positively maintain the latch 30 in its extended `posi- `tion in engagement with the bolt notch 32 when the door locked. Each cam is provided with a notch 58 andis operatively connected to an individually operated combination unit, indicated generally at 60, which is arranged tcr'ro'tate4 its cam in'successive increments until all the notches 58 arealigned with" theirrespective rollers 48, the final cam notch moved into alignment with its roller permitting `all of the rollers to simultaneously drop into their respective notches to effect lretraction of the latch 30, land consequently to permit retraction of the bolt 16 bythespring34. '1 p Each combination unit 60 includes a cupshaped hollow ratchet casing `62 having a hub portion 64 at its cert` ter and provided with ratchetfteeth 664 along the periph- Leral edge of the casing as shown. The ratchet casingis mounted to rotate on thestationary shaftz52 and a spiral spring 68 having one end connected to` the hub 64 and its other end connected to afpin70 extended from an` adjacent upstanding frame member is arranged to urge the casing in a counterclockwise direction, Viewing Fig. 3, to present'a radial extension 72 of the casing into engagement with a stop pin 74 carried by the frame extensions '44. The connection between `the casing 632 and the cam IS0 may comprise `a laterally extended pin 76 carried by the cam'50 and extended into aselected one of a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 78 formed inthe ing the `bolt into its locked position and `for simultaneously resetting the cams `to their initial positions and again'latching the bolt in its locked position.

`Referring now to the drawings, `10 represents a door pivoted on hinges 12 secured to the frame or open end of a container or receptacle 15 which is to be locked. The combination lock'indicated generally at 14 includes abolt 16 `slidably supported at one end in an upturned portion 18 of` a `base plate 20` and at its otherv end in a bearing extension forming a part of an upstanding frame member22 secured to the base, plate 2`0. The base plate 20 is spaced from vand parallel to the rear face of the door 10 by intervening spacers 24 and may be secured thereto-by screws 26 as shown.

"The bolt 16 is show minits locked position: in Fig. 2

epd Wall of the casinggthe spacing between the openings being equal to the distance between the ratchet teeth. `A spiral coil spring 80 interposed between the cam 50 and an adjacent framememberresiliently urges the cam pin 76 into an opening 78 of the casing so that when the ratchet casing `62 is rotated, `the cam will rotate with it. y The cam notch 58, may bel in radial'alignment with the selected opening, and the circumferential distance from the roller to the vnotch determines the number of increments of v movement required to align the notch with the roller. AIt

A t released to extend the pin' into in engagement with a keeper 28 and heldin its locked f will be `apparent that with the ratchet easing disposed `in its stop position, the c am` 50 may be moved longitudinally oftheshaft 52l to separate the pin 76Vfrom its casing open# ing, and the cam maythen be rotated manually and again y a 'dilerent selected openingto change the combination. "Y As herein shown, each ratchet casing -62 is arranged to be manually rotated in successive increments by a pawl 82- carried by one 841'of a bell crank pivotally mounted on the stationary yshaft 52. The arm 84 is corri" nected by a link 86 to a ilanged button 88 mounted to slide in a bearing member 90 formed in the door 10. A spring 92 connected to the second arm 94 of the bell crank is arranged to 4urge the button in its outwardly extended position with the ange thereof against the inner face of the base plate 20 in which position the pafwlrSZ` is in its retracted position. When a button is pressed, the pawl in engagement with a tooth of the ratchet elects rotation of the ratchet casing one increment` in a clockwise direction, the casing being retained in its moved position by a holding pawl 96 secured to and extended from an adjacent frame member. n Y v y In operation each button 88 may be individually operated to rotate its ratchet casing 62 a selected number of increments in accordance lwith the combination until all of the cam notches 58 are in` alignment rwith the rollers 48 V-whereupon the rollers will simultaneously drop into their respective notches by virtue of the spring 56, thus Y rocking the arm 40 outwardly to effect retraction of the latch 30 from the notch 32 in the bolt 16 whereupon the bolt 16 is free to be withdrawn from its keeper 28 by the coil spring 34. Upon retraction of the bolt 16 the innerend thereof is arranged to engage and close a switch '98 forming part of a circuit 100 connected to a lamp 102 mounted on the door so that the lamp 'will light upon retraction of the bolt to apprise the operator that the door may be swung open. y

As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the operating pawls 82 and the holding palwls 96 may and preferably will comprise resilient leaf springs, and provision is made for pressing the pawls laterally out of engagement with their ratchet teeth to free the casings and permit them to be rotated in a reverse direction by the spiral springs 68 back to their initial position in engagement with their stop pins 74. A plurality of pawl engaging or resetting members 104 are mounted on a shaft 106 slidably carried by the end frame members 22, 25, one end of the shaft 106 being connected by a pin and slot connection 107 to an arm 108 pivotally mounted intermediate its ends at 110 in the frame member 25. The otherv end of the arm 108 is connected to a rod r112 mounted to slide in suitable guides in the base plate 20. The rod 112 is connected byfapin andrslot connection 114-to anarm 116 fast on the horizontal end of an L-shaped :handle 118 mounted in a bearing 120 secured yto the 4inner faceV of the door 10 between the, door and the base plate v20,-the pin 115 of the pin and slot connection extending through the base plate and operating in a slot therein. The handle 1,18 is extended through the door to be accessiblefrom the outer face of the door. Thus, in operation. by manually rocking the handle 118 the slide shaft 106 may be moved to depress the leaf spring pawls 82, 96 out of engagement with the teeth 66 to free the ratchet casing 62.` Resetting of the bolt 1-6 into its locked and latched position is also effected by movement of the slide rod 112, the inner end of the rod having an upstanding member `122 arranged to engage a laterally extended member 124'of the bolt 16 as shown. y

From the above description it -will be seen that the present combination lock is capable of being automatically unlatched upon operation of the combination; that no characteristic click of the conventional combination lock is heard during working of the combinationuntil stationary,V shaft having a plurality of cams mounted for rotation thereon, each cam having a notch therein, a second shaft having a plurality of arms fast thereon, each arm carrying a roller, said arms cooperating with said cams, a plurality of ratchet casings mounted on said first shaft and operatively connected to their respective cams, said ratchet casings beingV spring urged in one direction of rotation, stop means for said ratchet casings, manually and individually operated means including push button operated resilient pawls for independently rotating each of said ratchet' casings and cams in the opposite direction throughta selected and diiferent number of increments of rot-ation to present the c am notches in alignment with their respective rollers, resilient holding pawls for retaining the casings in their moved position, a spring urged arm fast on said second shaft and operatively connected to said latch means for eiecting rocking of said second shaft when all of the notches are aligned with their respective rollers whereby to elect unlatching of said bolt, and spring means for automatically retracting said bolt from engagement with its keeper when the bolt is unlatched.

2. A combination lock comprising, in combination, a slide bolt mounted for eng-agement with a keeper, latch means for retaining the bolt in its locked position, a stationary shaft having a plurality of cams mounted for rotation thereon, each cam having a notch therein, a second shaft having a plurality of arms fast thereon, each arm carrying a roller, said arms cooperating with said cams, a plurality of ratchet casings mounted on said rst shaft, each casing having a plurality of ratchet teeth and operatively connected to their respective cams, said l ratchet casings being spring urged in one directionof r0- tation, stop means for said ratchet casings, manually and individually operated means including push button operated resilient pawls for independently rotating each'of said ratchet casings and cams in the opposite direction through a selected and diierent number of increments of rotation to present the cam notches in alignment with their respective rollers, resilient holding pawls'for retaining the casings in their moved position, a spring urged arm fast on said second shaft and operatively connected to said latch means for electing rocking of said second shaft when all of the notches are aligned with their re'- spective rollers whereby to elfect unlatching ofsaid bolt, spring means for automatically retracting said bolt from engagement with its keeper when the bolt is unlatched, and manually operated linkage including a laterally movable bar having spaced arms thereon engageable with said resilient pawls for moving said resilient push-button operated pawls and said resilient holding pawls laterally out of the path of the ratchet teeth to permit spring return of said ratchet casings to their initial positions against their respective stops, and connections between said releasing means and said bolt including a projection from said manually operated linkage engageable with a projection on said bolt for returning the bolt to its locked position.

3. A combination lock as defined in claim 1 wherein the connections between each 'cam and ratchet comprise a laterally extended pin from the cam engaged with one of a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings in said ratchet casing, the spacing between said openings being equal to the ratchet teeth spacing, said cam being spring pressed toward said ratchet casing and capable of being moved axially to retract the pin to permit rotation of the cam and reinsertion of the pin into a differentopening wheneby to vary the number of increments of rotation required to effect alignment with said notches.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 144,670 Gross Nov. 18, 1873 (Other references on following-page) 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Lawrence Dec. 24, 1889 Bois Mar. 13, 1894 Root July 23, 1895 Helm Aug. 6, 1895 Tuch June 16, 1914 6 Clendenny Oct. 10, 1916 Hill Jan. 15, 1924 Trepanier Mar. 20, 1928 Sanowskis Feb. 10, 1942 Moler Jan. 12, 1954 Quintero June 1, 1954

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