Patent GB-761445-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to locking and timing apparatus for bag locking
IPC: E05B43/00
Filed: 1954-04-01
Abstract: 761,445. Bolt fastenings. OLDHAM, F., and OLDHAM, A. March 21, 1955 [April 1, 1954], No. 9547/54. Class 44. [Also in Group XIX] A locking and timing apparatus for bag locking comprises a metal container 6 provided with a removable and lockable lid 6a and having an extension on one side provided with a plurality of parallel recesses 8 separated by walls 9, each recess being adapted to receive the folded edges of a bag, the apparatus being adapted to lock the bag in the recess by passing a bolt 12 through holes 10 in the adjacent walls and also through aligned holes in the folded edges of the bag, the bolt being adapted to be moved by hand to lock the bags in place one after the other and being automatically held after each locking movement to prevent withdrawal, the operation of moving the bolt to each locking position also recording the relative time of locking on a strip of paper 28 inside the container which is driven by clockwork mechanism 31 and is only accessible by breaking a seal of a lid lock 15 by a master key. The bolt is slidably mounted in a tube 41 which is open at both ends and cut away at the side so that teeth in the side of the bolt can be engaged by a toothed wheel 20 so that the bolt can be moved by rotation of the wheel. A drum 21 is connected to the wheel 20 and this drum contains a spiral spring 22, one end of which is anchored to the drum and the other end of which is secured in a fixed position 23 externally of the drum. A ratchet disc 24 is also fixed to the wheel 20 so that it is coaxial with it and a spring-urged arm 37 is provided which is pivoted at one end and which has a tooth 39 which can engage one of the ratchet teeth 25 on the disc 24 so that the wheel 20, disc 24 and the spring drum can only normally rotate in the direction in which the bolt is successively engaged with the bags. The wheel 20 is moved by a knob 19 on the outside of the container 6 which is connected through a slot 18 in the container 6 with a spring-urged peg 17 inside the container 6. Both the knob 19 and the spring-urged peg are mounted on a pivoted quadrant 16 which guides their movement along the slot 18. The end of the peg 17 can engage a plurality of holes 19a in the wheel 20 in succession, there being the same number of holes 19a as there are recesses 8. The number of ratchet teeth 25 is the same as the number of holes 19a and thus the knob 19 can move the wheel 20 one hole at a time so that the bolt 12 can lock the bags in the successive recesses 8. The movement of the wheel 20 winds up the spring 22 so that when the tooth 39 is moved away from the ratchet disc the bolt returns automatically to its initial position. The wheel 20, disc 24, the drum 21 and the arm 37 are mounted on a plate 13 which is supported in the container 6 and the plate 13 also carries a pin 26 on which is mounted the paper strip 28 in a coil. The end of the paper strip is passed through a guide 29 and over a milled drum 30 driven by the clockwork mechanism 31 which is mounted on the underside of the plate 13. A wheel 30a holds the paper in contact with the drum 30. Near one end of the guide 29 is a hole 32 through which a punch 33 on a rod 34 can be passed to penetrate the paper strip. The rod 34 is mounted in a guide 35 for sliding movement and it is connected by a pin 36, which passes through a slot 36a in the plate 13, to a slot in the arm 37. Thus, as the arm is moved by the rotation of the ratchet disc 24, for each movement of the knob 19, the rod 34 is caused to move in the guide 35 through the hole 32 to cause the punch to penetrate the paper When the bolt is in its fully withdrawn position operation of the clockwork mechanism is prevented by a spring catch 42 which is pivoted on the tube 41 which carries bolt 12 'and the catch is held into engagement with the clockwork mechanism by the side of the bolt. When the bolt is moved forward to engage a bag in the first recess 8, the catch 42 moves behind the end of the bolt and so releases the clockwork mechanism and also prevents the return of the bolt. Thus, if the clockwork mechanism had been set to a definite time before starting, the time at which the first bag was inserted in the recess can be ascertained and since the clockwork mechanism continues to run after it has been started, the times at which subsequent bags were placed in the recesses can be ascertained from divisions on the paper strip and the perforations made by the punch.