Patent GB-1155071-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus including a combination lock
IPC: E05B37/00
Filed: 1966-06-14
Abstract: 1,155,071. Combination locks. PITNEY -BOWES Inc. 14 June, 1966 [18 June, 1965], No. 26491/66. Heading E2A. An apparatus includes a combination lock adapted to be unlocked upon entering of the correct combination and an actuating member 24 operative for actuating movement when said lock is unlocked and prevented from effecting actuating movement when said lock is locked, lock combination changing means 126, 128, 130 adapted to be driven for altering the combination; variable output mechanisms 120, 122, 124 connected to said lock combination changing means and operative to drive said means a variable amount according to a predetermined pattern and means operable for operating said variable output mechanism to change the combination independently of said actuating member. The invention is a development of the invention described in U.S.A. Specification 3034329, the apparatus in such specification being a metering machine for printing and metering value impressions such as postage or tax stamps. The machine includes a combination lock dial, the actuating member 24 and a register; when the dial is operated, according to the correct combination by alternate clockwise and counter clockwise turns, the lock is unlocked and releases the actuating member which is then operated by rotating it 120 in the counter clockwise direction. The rotation of the actuating member relocks the combination lock thereby preventing subsequent operation of the actuating member until the combination lock is again unlocked, the correct combination is altered according the predetermined pattern and the register is reset by a predetermined amount. The dial (not shown) is fixed at one end of a rotatable shaft 28, Fig. 5, the shaft extending through three tumblers 42, 44, 46; each of the tumblers includes a flier 40, an inner hub member 48 and an outer annular disc member 50, each of the fliers has a radial projection 38 engageable with a laterally extending rim portion 52 of the hub member 48 of that tumbler; the hub member 48 of each of tumblers 42 and 44 carries a lateral extension 54 which is engageable with the radial projection 38 of the flier 40 of the next tumbler and fixed to the shaft 28 is a drive wheel 32 which has a lateral extension 36 which engages the radial projection 38 of the flier 40 of the first tumbler 42; thus each of the lateral extensions has lost motion relative to the flier 40 with which it is engageable and the flier of each of the tumblers has lost motion relative to the rim portion 52 of the respective tumbler, the lost motion between the dial and tumbler 42, between the tumblers 42 and 44 and being between the tumblers 44 and 46 being in each case substantially one full revolution. Each of the tumblers is mounted upon a sleeve 56 through which the shaft 28 extends, the sleeve being prevented from rotation by means of a dog (not shown), the tumblers are spaced from each other by sleeves 60 and the fliers are spaced from the sleeves and hub members 48 by washers so that the fliers have no tendency to drive the hub members frictionally. Each of the tumblers has a notch which provides a gate 62 (Fig. 2) in the outer periphery of its disc member 50 and to unlock the lock, the gates must be aligned so that a fence 64 can be moved into the gates. To unlock the lock the dial must first be rotated three complete revolutions in the clockwise direction to take up all the lost motion between the dial and all of the tumblers, the dial is then rotated further to the first number of the combination to align the gate 62 of the tumbler 46 with the fence 64; the dial is then rotated two full revolutions in the counter clockwise direction plus the amount necessary to bring the dial to the second number of the combination which aligns the gate 62 of the second tumbler 44 with the fence 64; the dial is further rotated one full revolution in the clockwise direction plus the amount necessary to bring the dial to the third number of the correct combination so that the gate 62 of the tumbler 42 is aligned with the fence 64; the dial is then rotated counter clockwise less than a full revolution to cause the fence 64 to enter the gates and to retract a bolt 70 to the left. The fence 64 is carried by a fence lever 66 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 68 carried by the bolt 70 and urged in a counter clockwise direction by a spring 71. The bolt 70 has a slot 74 through which the shaft 28 passes and slot 76 through which passes a shaft 78 which carries the actuating member 24; when the gates 62 are all in alignment with the fence, movement of the fence into the gate is prevented only by a nose 80 of the fence lever 66, this nose engaging the outer periphery of drive wheel 32. The drive wheel 32 has a notch in its periphery which provides a cam surface 81 and a projection 82; the final counter clockwise rotation of the dial first allows the nose 80 to enter the notch along the cam surface 81 thus allowing the fence to enter the gates 62 and the counter clockwise rotation then causes the projection 82 to engage the nose 80 so that the bolt 70 is thus slid to the left to its retracted position. If the gate slots are not aligned, the nose 80 cannot enter the notch in the drive wheel. The shaft 78 connected to the actuating member 24 has a cam disc 86 pinned to it, this cam disc having three spaced cams 88, 90, 92 and three stop pins 98, 100, 102 and when the bolt 70 is in its locking position one of the stop pins is in engagement with a pin 96 carried by the bolt to prevent counter clockwise rotation of the cam disc and hence of the shaft 78 and actuating member 24; clockwise rotation of the shaft 78, cam disc and actuating member 24 is prevented by a conventional anti-reverse device (not shown). When the bolt 70 is in its unlocking position the actuating member can be rotated counter clockwise through 120 and this causes one of the cams to engage a tail 94 of the fence lever 66 to pivot the lever clockwise to move fence 64 out of the gates 62; when this has been done the cam moves against the pin 62 carried by the bolt 70 and moves the bolt back to its locking position, the completion of the rotation bringing one of the stop pins 98, 100, 102 up against the pin 96. Bolt 70 is restrained against dislodgement from its retracted and locking positions by a detent (not shown) pivoted about pin 96 into engagement with one side or other of the shaft 78 under the yieldable force of a spring. The 120 movement of the actuating member 24 in the construction described in the U.S. Specification also changes the combination through the variable output mechanism and the means 126, 128 and 130 Fig. 5; each of the means 126, 128, 130 is a differential unit, each of which is connected to a respective tumbler and each is driven by a respective one of the variable output mechanisms 120, 122, 124; thus for example the hub member and disc member of the tumbler 42 are driven relative to each other by the differential unit 126 which is driven by the variable output mechanism 120. The differential units are identical with each other and each comprises two gears 132, 134 Fig. 5, the gear 132 being fixed by rivets to the disc member 50 and the gear 134 being fixed by rivets 156 to the hub member 48, of the respective tumbler; two idler gears 133, 135 connect the gears 132, 134 to a differential gear sub assembly 136 which comprises two exterior gears 138, 140 each of which fixedly carries an interior sun gear 142 and 144 respectively, a shell 146 rotatably mounts the gears 138, 142 at one side and the gears 140, 144 at the other side and each part of the shell also mounts two intermeshed planetary gears 148, 150, the gear 148 also meshing with sun gear 142 and the gear 150 also meshing with sun gear 144; the shell 146 also has an integral radially extending exterior gear 152. The gear 152 meshes with the idler gear 135 and hence controls the rotation of the hub member of the associated tumbler and the gear 138 meshes with the idler gear 133 and thus controls the rotation of the disc member of the associated tumbler. The gear 140 is driven from the respective variable output mechanism via a gear 166. The number of teeth of the gears 152, 138 and the arrangement of all the gears is such that if the gear 140 is held stationary the associated tumbler is freely rotatable and its hub member and disc member are prevented from relative rotation; hence if the gears 140 of all of the differential units are held stationary, the correct combination can be entered into the lock by rotating the dial as described above and the lock can be unlocked; rotation of each gear 140 will cause relative rotation between the hub member and disc member of the associated tumbler this rotation being controlled by the variable output mechanism. The variable output mechanisms are identical with each other except that the arrangements of the gear teeth differ. Each variable output mechanism Fig. 4 has a full tooth gear 166, a mutilated gear 168 and a locking wheel 170, spacers being disposed between the gears and wheel. The mutilated gear and the locking wheel are fixed to a shaft 178 and the full tooth gear is rotatable about the shaft 178; the full tooth gear 166 meshes with the gear 140 of the associated differential unit. Each variable output mechanism further includes a pinion 188 all of which are rotatable about a common shaft 190. Each pinion 188 has twelve teeth, four of the teeth which are equally spaced, extending the full width of the pinion and the others being shorter; the twelve teeth mesh with both the full tooth gear 166 and the mutilated gear 168 and the four teeth engage with the locking wheel 170 so that the pinion 188 is locked in any one of four rotational positions before and after each group of successive teeth of the associated mutilated gear move past the pinion 188; the teeth of the mutilated gear are arranged in a predetermined rand