USRE1362E - Improvement in locks and latches - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. MILLER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNEE OF W. S. KIRKHAM, OF BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT lN LOCKS AND LATCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,254, dated March 15, 1859; Reissue No. 1,362, dated December 9, 1862.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, CHARLESAMTLLEE, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have, by deed of' assignmentduly recorded in the United States Patent Ofce, become the sole owner of Letters Patent for Improvements in Locks and Latches, granted to the late W. S. KIRK- HAM, on the 15th day of March, A. D. 1859 5 and believing the said Letters Patent to be inoperative and invalid by reason of defective specification, I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters ot" reference marked thereon.

The invention of the aforesaid WV. S. KIRK- I-IAM relates to an improvement in that class of door-locks and keepers for the same which can be applied to a left or right hand door, and which have received the name of Janus faced locks,77 the said invention consisting ot' a keeper having two inclined planes in combination with the latch of a Janus-faced 1ock,7 when the said latch is pivoted to the lock and arranged to vibrate substantially inl the manner described hereinafter, so that whether the keeper be secured to the right or left hand of a door-casing, one or other of the said inclined planes shall serve,on the closing of the door, to direct the latch into or behind the keeper, substantially in the manner explained hereinafter. v

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use the said invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure .1 is a front view of a J anus-faced lock 7 and keeper, illustrating an example ofthe invention ofthe said W. S. KIRKHAM, a portion of the case of the lock being removed so as to exhibit the interior; Fig. 2, an end view of the lock and keeper, and Fig. 3 a sectional plan of the same on the line 1 2, Fig. 1.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A represents the case of the lock, which case may be of the rectangular form shown in the drawings, or of any other form which the manufacturer may deem most approprii ate, both sides of the case being made precisely alike, so that whichever side be secured to the door the case Will present a neat and iinished exterior. B is a slide arranged within the case A, and this slide is operated by one or the other of the arms a a ofthe hub b, through which passes the usual square spindle carrying the ordinary knobs. The latch is connected, by means of apin, c, to the outer end ot the slide B, the said latch consisting of an elbow-shaped arm, c, hung to the case ofthe lock by means of a pin, j', as much of the upper end, d, of the arm as projects beyond the edge of the case being of the angular form represented in Fig. 1,and the inclined edge of this projecting portion of the arm or latch being slightly rounded or beveled, as seen in Fig. 3. A spring, g, bearing against the slide B, tends to keep the angular portion cl of the arm out of the case and in the position shown in Fig. l. l) is the keeper', which receives the angular' projecting portion d of the arm or latch, this keeper being in thepresentinstance of the usual form, with the addition of two in clined planes, which are formed .by a flange or rib, E, on the outside, and at that edge ot the keeper which adjoins the case of the lock when the door is closed.

In the present instance the two inclined planes, which are inclined in contrary directions, meet at the point lathe latter bein gthe most prominent part of the rib or flange E, and from this point the flange is inclined to the ends or nearly to the ends of the keeper, as seen in Fig. 2.

On closing the door the inclined edge of the portion d of the latch will come in contact with and be forced against one of the inclined pla-nesof the keeper. The latch consequently recedes and disappears within the lock until the pointed end passes the edge of the keeper, when the spring g will at once cause the angular portion d of the arm or latch to take its proper place vbehind the keeper.

Owing to the employment of two inclined planes on the keeper, thelatter may be secured, either end uppermost, to the door-jamb, and is consequent-1y applicable either to a right or left handed door-casing.

The lockitself can also be used in the same manner as other Janusfaced locks, on either a left or right handed door, as the reversing of the lock in no way aifects the action of the latch.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to claim, broadly, as the invention of the said W. S. KIRKHAM, a keeper with two inclined planes or combination with the latch of a Janus-faced lock, no r do I desire to limit the claim to the precise form and arrangement of the parts described, as it will be eviA dent that the two inclined planes may bearranged on the keeper, and the vibratinglatch hun g to the lock in a manner differing from that illustrated and described; but

I claim as the invention of the said V. S. Kleiman/L CHARLES A. MILLER.

Witnesses: I*

J. P. AUCKER, R. T. KNIGHT.

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