US3008320A - Lock mechanism for luggage and the like - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 14, 1961 c. w. B. CHENEY 3,008,320

Loox MGGHANISM FOR LUGGAGE AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 22. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @VWM SRGEVF N0V 14, 196.1 c. w. B. CHENEY 3,008,320

LOCK MECHANISM FOR LUGGAGE AND THE LIKE `fri- Huur ,MV 211 I.

f5 17.6. f7.9 Ei gfwfS/y United States Patent A" LOCK v MECHANISM` FOR LUGGAGE AND THE ALIKE Charles William Blake' Cheney, deceased, late of'Olton, England, by Francis Martin Tomkinson, Birmingham, Howard William Cheney, Shipton-on-Stour, and Gordon Merrick Sherwood, Birmingham, England, executors, assignors to C. W. Cheney & Son Limited, Birmingham, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed Sept. 22, 1959, Ser. No. 841,566

' 7 Claims. (Cl. 70-74) The Ipresent invention relates to a key operated locking mechanism which is applicable to fastenings for a wide variety of articles, such as boxes, travel bags, money or cash boxes, portable typewriter cases, and so on, in which the fastening is provided with a hook, lug or the like to be engaged with and disengaged from-a rotary locking member of the locking mechanism.

This invention also relates to a spring-loaded hasp fastening -for articles above referred to of the kind comprisingan attachment plate, a manually Aoperable lever member pivoted thereto and a hasp link pivoted to said lever member, the pivoted end of the lever member having a tongue which engages a blade spring secured to the attachment plate whereby said member is permitted to have a snap action'into two predetermined positions consisting respectively ofthe release position and the fastening position of the' hasp link in relation to a catch plate.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive key operated locking mechanism which can be manufactured and vassembled by mass production methods and canbe Iassembled to a fastening as above indicated. A v

A further object of the present invention is toincorpor-ate with the above fastening a very simpleand inexpensive key operated lockingmechanism for locking the lever member to the attachment plate.- 1 n According to the present invention, there is provided a self-contained key operated locking mechanism comprising a front plate andback plate secured togetherk with the key operated rotary locking member rotatably arinner side with a circular seating for the rotary locking member, and the other plate itself havingresilient means adapted to snap engage the locking member at least in its locking position, so as to hold the locking member against accidental displacement. v

According to a rtorm of construction of self-contained locking mechanism according to the invention, the backplate made as a sheet met-al pressing is formed with integral eyelets which are received in holes in the front 3,008,320 Patented Nov. 14, 1961 lCC The rotaryv movement of the locking ring into the key operated unlocking position is limited by. a-stop which is raised from the backplate and'lies in theplane of `the locking catch sovas 'to-forman abutment torone. end -thereof.. When the key operated locking ringis turned into the locking position, the locking catch engages the said hook or the like, and the detent snap engages the ring as above described so as to prevent accidental movement thereof.

According to an `applicationoftheinvention, the selfcontained locking device is housed in the rear ofu the levermember, said device comprising -a key operated locking rnembermounted lfor lrotary movement between front Aand backrplates, one ofsaid plates itself having resilient means adapted to engage said locking. member in'its respective locking yand unlocking positions, so esto hold saidmember against .accidental displacement.

Preferably, thelback" plate isgfqrmed Iwith, a .circular seating for the locking'menrber,' and the front-'platen constructed withsa t spring tongue liavinfga deteritffor snap engaging with the lockingmembergat selected posi;

ranged between them, one platebeing provided, on its plate and riveted over, thereby fastening 4the vfront and is rotatably received, and also along one edge with a gap l for reception of the hook lug or the like on the fastenlng.

The locking member consists of -a pressed sheet metal ring the bore of which is formed with keywards and the outer perimeter with a projecting locking catch to engage said hook or the like. The front plate, made of springy metal has resilient tongues which exert light pressure on the locking ring, in a direction which is perpendicular Ato the axis ofthe ring. One of said tongues has a detent which is adapted to snap engage behind an abutment ad joining the locking catch when the locking ring is turned into the Alocking position. The backplate is also formed on each side of the .gap or groove with inwardly turned over ears which lie over the rim of the locking ring and serve to assist in retaining said ring in its seating between the front and backplate.

For a better understanding of the inventioma' seltcontainedkey operated locking mechanismandits ap;- plication to a spring-loaded haspfas-tening. is illustrated, by way of example, on the accompanying 3drawing, wherein:` j u FIGUREfl is a perspective view ofa hasp fastening in the position of release, incorporating the locking mech# amsm. f

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional-elevation o f'FIG- URE'l taken on the dotted line II-QII. 'f' 1 n FIGURE 3 is `a rearyiew, partly insection', ofva part of the vlever a-nd illustrating the locking mechanism in the unlocked position. v 1 fr i FIGURE 4 is aA view similar co-FIGURE 3 showing the locking mechanism in vthelocked position;l

FIGURE 5 is a detail of the locking member incorporated in the locking mechanism. 'f f' FIGURE 6 is a sectional elevation of' theself-'contained locking mechanism.

FIGURE 7 is a detail of a spring incorporated in the locking mechanism. v

FIGURE 8 is a rear elevation of a part of the lever incorporating a' modification of vthe locking mechanism.

FIGURE 9'is a section of PIG. 6 taken' on the dotted line IX-IX. v

As will be observed in the drawing, -the togglefastening comprises an attachment'plate9v which'is intended -to be riveted at 10 to the body part of a'box'or thejlike 11', and a catch plate 12 on a further attachment plate i13 adapted to be riveted at 14 to the lid'part 15of` the box or the like. The attachment plate Y9 has a manually 'operable lever 16 formed with opposite side4 anges'l? which are pivoted to outwardly turned pivots 18 on the attachment plate 9. A hasp link 19, also formed with opposite side anges 20, is pivoted at 21 to the lever 16, the free end of the hasp link 19 having a hooked end 19a for engagement with and disengagement from the catch plate 12. The inner end 22 of the lever member 16 is bent into a tongue which engages a blade spring 23 secured to the front face of the attachment plate 9. These components are mass produced as sheet metal pressings.

In operation the fastening is capable of having a snap action into two predetermined positions, namely, the release position illustrated in FIGURES l and 2 and the connected position between the hooked end 19a and the catch plate 12, consequent upon the downward pivotal movement of the lever 16, as indicated by the arrow (FIG. 2).

The attachment plate 9 is provided with an upwardly turned hook 214 which can be engaged with and dsenv- Ygaged from a self-contained key operated locking mecha- ,interposedv between them, the back' plate 27 having a circular seating 29, to accommodate the locking member 2 8i Ywhereasthe front vplate 26 vitself provides resilient means -30toY snapengage the locking member 28 when .operated by a key 311 into alternate rpositions of locking and unlocking." Inthis way the locking -member 28 is heldfagainst accidental displacement.

As `will be"Y more particularly Vseen from FIGURES 6 and? :the front and lback plates 26, 27 are constructed asfsheet metal pressings and the back plate 27 is formed withintegraleyelets 32 which are received in correspondingl'holes in the front plate 26 and rivettedover 'thereby fastening the plates together and retaining the locking memb `1*'28 between them. `The back plate vis provided withfahke sideranges 33, and alongtheV lower 'edge with aeei'r'ai gap 34, ifi which the s601124 ein be received iiijthejfasening pennen ef; the fastening."

"Thelocking member 28 consists of a pressed'metal ring the bore of which is formed with key wards 35 and the outer'perimeter with a projecting locking catch 36 tofengage the hook 24. The front plate 26 is'made of spring'yfmetal and has resilient tonguesl capable of exerting' lightipressu're on the locking member' 28. One of; the tongues 3G has a detent 38 which is. adapted to V'Sapfengage'behind an abutment 39 adjoining the locking'catch" 36, when the locking member 28 is rotated in t0 the locking position. The back plate 27 may be .Y formedon eaohi'sidefof the gap '34.with inwardly turned over .ears to lie over kt'herim ofthe locking ring thereby to'as'sist in retaining it in its seating 29. l A'Ifhei'otary movement of the locking member V28 is limited1 byastop 4l) whichy ispierced from thez back 'plate' 27 and lies `thefpatli of the locking member 28 so as to formjan abutment therefor. `The self-contained locking mechanism 25 is assembled bet-Ween "the flanges .17 of: the; lever 16, and the lower'end ofthe lever Ylfis bent VVat 41 lriver a hook 42 of the back plate 27, Whereas the pivot pin 21 is utilised for'holding the upper part of Athe back plate 27 to the lever by pressing against the back plate (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4). Alternatively (FIG. 8)

thejbaclcplate 27 with its circular seating 29 is providedwith side Bauges 43 which tit within the anges 17 -andfurther assist in combination with theA pivot pin l21 Ain holding the locking mechanism in position. The lever lof'the modification ofFIG. 8 has a centrally recessed .lient-infer portion 41.

lj fltwi,ll.bel appreciated that when the key 31 is operated to Vturnfthe locking member 28 into the locking position,

'the 'lockingfcatch' 36 will engage behind the hook 24.

Simultaneously the detent 38 will snap engage the locking `'28. and 'prevent accidental 'movement thereof. In

v a sheetfmetal back plate having a central circular seating therein, the front plate and the back plate being secured together, and a rotary key-operated locking ring interposed between said front plate and said back plate and supported in said seating, the said resilient meansl on said front plate exerting light pressureon the adjoining surface of said rotary locking ring and arranged to retain said locking ring at least in the locking position thereof so as to prevent its accidental movement.

2. A vself-contained key-operated locking mechanism according to claim 11, characterised in that the resilient pressing means includes spaced tongues which exert the light pressure on the lockingring.

3. A .self-contained key-operated iocking mechanism according to claim 1,'characterised in'that: the resilient pressing means includes spaced tongues which exert pressure on the adjoining surface of the locking ring and that the tongues lie in a common plane and at least one of the tongues is provided with a detent adapted to snap engage the rotarylocking ring.

4. A self-contained `May-operated locking mechanism according to claim 1, characterised in that the locking ring is provided withke'y. wards'and stop means for limiting the angular movement ofthe ring.' .a

. l5. A self-contained key-operated? lockingfrnechanism according to'claim l, characterisedin'that a stop pierced on theback'plate lies in the path= of the locking ring and cooperates with an abutment thereon .for limiting the ,t References Cited in theV Vfileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS n 116,581 Fisiei et ai. nity 4, 1871 1,003,332 'Ca1dwe11.; 1 sept. 12, 1911 2,648,966 P61ak" v r Aug. 1s, 1953 2,672,040 Kemenak i Mai. 16. 1954 i *FOREIGN PATENTS l 716,417 'Germany' Jan. 19, 1942 Great Britain nel--- Jan. 14, 1959

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