Patent GB-190217256-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Permutation Locks.
Inventor: BEEBE WILLIAM
Filed: 1902-08-05
Granted: 1902-11-06
Abstract: 17,256. Beebe, W. Aug. 5. Locks, permutation, particularly applicable to the doors of safes and strong-rooms. A block 25, Fig. 4, fixed in a cavity in the front wall of the door. is provided with passages 26, countersunk at the outer ends, to receive spring-pressed finger keys 28, designated with the letters of the alphabet &c. A plate 30, secured at the back of the block, has an aperture to receive a plate 31, Fig. 2, pro- vided with nipples projecting into the passages 26. A sliding lock plate 34 is arranged between two plates 32, 33 provided at the back of the plate 30, and these plates 32, 33, 34 are slotted to receive reversible tumblers, each of which comprises two projecting fingers 38, a downwardly-projecting ward 39, and a smaller upwardly-projecting ward 40. The fingers 38 project through the nipples in the plate 31 and through a retaining-plate into passages formed m a removable closure block 44 set in the door plate 45. Follower blocks in the passages are pressed against the fingers by springs. The upper ward 40 of each tumbler is situated out of the centre of the tumbler. The tumblers corresponding to any desired combination are reversed so that, normally, the wards 40 of these tumblers engage slots in the plate 34 and retain it it in the raised position. In Figs. 2 and 4, the upner and lower tumblers form part of the com- bination, and are shown in the reversed position. The combination may consist of any number of characters not exceeding the number of fingers on a person's bands. If all the keys 28 corresponding to the combination are pressed inwardly, the wards on the corresponding tumblers are moved clear of the slots in the plate 34, and the plate falls. Should any key not in the combination be pressed inwards, the ward of the corresponding tumbler is moved into the slot in the plate 34, and retains the same. A slide 50, operated through a rack and pinion by a handle on the outside of the door, is guided in slots in the plate 32, and extends across a groove in the plate 34. Spring-pressed dogs 56, Fig. 10, located in the plate 34, engage notches in the slide 50 to secure it in the locking position. Between the plates 33, 45 are arranged two wheels 59, 60, Figs. 9 and 23, which are cut away so that they may overlap, the overlapping por- tions being provided with registering-slots to receive a pin 61 projecting from the slide 50. Slots 62 in the wheels receive pins secured to the heads 64 of the bolts 66 guided in the main body of the door. When the plate 34 falls, owing to the operation of the proper keys, the dogs 56 are carried out of engagement with the slide 50, which can now be moved by means of the handle outside the door. The motion of the slide is transmitted to the wheels, and by them to the locking-bolts 66, to withdraw the same. During the movement of the slide, a projection thereon engages a projection on the plate 34, and raises it to the normal position for engagement by the wards of the tumblers forming the combination. The block 45 is retained in position by a disc 68, mounted to rotate in a plate 69. By rotating the disc, an aperture therein can be brought into register with the block, which can then be removed to alter the combina- tion. The disc is provided with a small bolt to enter either of two keepers in the plate 69 to retain the discs in position. An inner plate 73, Fig. 9, secured to the plates 45, 69, is provided with an aperture closed by a door 75. A staple 76 on the door is engaged by a bolt 77 on the slide 50, to lock the door when the slide is moved to the locking position. A disc 78, mounted so as to turn in the door, is provided with a number of keyhole slots 80 engaging headed pins on the plate 69. By rotating the disc after the door is closed, the pins enter the narrow portions of the slots. A latch 82 on the door engages the disc to retain it in the correct position for closing the door, this latch being released by coming against a striker 83<a> upon closing the door. A spring-controlled pin 83, located in a passage in the plate 45, engages one of two countersunk openings 87 in the disc, and abuts against the slide 50 to prevent the same from being operated when the locking-bolts are in the unlocked position. When the slide is moved to the locking position, a hole therein registers with the pin 83, and permits it to be pressed inwards to release the disc. The disc can now be turned, and the pin 83 engages the other hole in the disc when at the end of the travel. By this arrangement, it is impossible to obtain access to the block 44 for the purpose of altering the com- bination without first shooting the bolts, to do which a knowledge of the proper combination is required. When applied to double doors, as shown in Fig. 23, ouly one lock proper is required. The bolts 66, 66<a> at the meeting edges of the doors abut against each other, slots in the wheels being so arranged that the bolts 66<a> are shot outwards when the other bolts 66<b> are withdrawn. The bolts 66<b> cannot be withdrawn until the bolts 66 are withdrawn by the operation of the lock. In a modification, two sets of keys and tumblers are provided enabling two combinations to be em- ployed. The two sets of tumblers vary in the length of the upper wards, which are so arranged that, upon operating one set, the plate 34 is partially dropped, and, upon operating the other set, the plate completes its fall.