Improvements in Permutation Locks,
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 18th Mar., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Permutation Locks,
We, RICHARD BENJAMIN HENRY LEIGHTON, Roll Turner, of 7002, Hegerman
Street, Tacony, Philadelphia, in the County of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsyl-
vania, and JOIN LEIGHTON, Jr, Steel Manufacturer, of 612, Long Street, Chatta-
nooga, State of Tennessee, both in the United States of America, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of permutation locks.
This Specification is the disclosure of two forms of the invention which is
applicable for locking any two movable parts together, while the claims define
the actual scope of the invention.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention; as applied to a padlock.
Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 3;
Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2; and
Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a transverse section of a hand-bag or satchel provided with our
improved permutation lock.
Figure 6 is a front elevation of the same.
The lock has a circular head 5, provided with an opening 6 in one side, in
which is fitted the headed end 7 of the bow 7, so that the bow may swing in the
opening. The head 5 has rigidly secured thereto a pin 8, which projects inward
centrally, and carries loosely a sleeve 9. The sleeve 9 projects beyond the pin 8
and carries a bolt 10 which has slidable movement in the sleeve 9, said movement
being limited by a set screw 11 removably seated in the sleeve 9. The bolt 10
has a cavity 10 into which the screw 11 projects, said cavity forming a finger 10b
at the inner end of the bolt, which finger is adapted to engage the screw 11 to
limit the outward movement of the holt. Secured rigidly to the bolt 10 and
situated in the cavity 10" is a spring having a hump 10 and an upturned lip 10.
The hump 10 is formed adjacent to the fixed end of the spring and the upturned
end 10d is located at the free end of the spring. Normally the outward movement
of the bolt is limited by the upturned end 10 of the spring, but by pressing down
the spring at the hump 10° the end 10d is moved into the cavity to a point out
of line with the screw 11, so that the bolt 10 may move out until the finger 10b
engages the screw 11 and thus stops the bolt. The outer end of the bolt is
loosely connected with a locking head 12. The head 12 has a recess or notch 13
formed therein, such recess running to the inner edge of the sides of the head
and being adapted to receive a notched block or enlargement 14 which is rigidly
attached to, or forms a part of the free end of the bow 7. By these means the
bow may be held in locked position, and upon the outward movement of the

page_text: head 12 with the bolt 10 the bow may be released. This construction prevents
the lock from being fraudulently opened, which might otherwise be done, by
pressing together the arms of the bow.
The sleeve 9 has a longitudinally extending slot 15 formed therein, which slot
receives the wards 16 of the bolt 10, which wards may be of any desired number.
The sleeve 9 is held adjustably on the pin 8 by means of a spring arm. 17,
which extends diametrically through the sleeve 9 and has its lower end fastened
rigidly to the sleeve, as shown in Figure 2. Such lower end of the spring arm 17
is bent downwardly to form a Jug 17, the purpose of which will be hereinafter
explained. The upper end of the spring arm 17 is free and is provided with a
spur 18 adapted to be engaged by the finger nail, or by any other means, by which
to swing the arm. For the purpose of permitting the arm to swing, the opening
in the sleeve adjacent to the free end of the arm 17 is elongated longitudinally
with the sleeve, as shown in Figure 2. The free end of the arm 17 is adapted
to enter any one of the several notches 19 formed in the inner face of the inwardly
overhanging flange 20 of the rigid head 5. It will thus be seen that the sleeve 9
may be turned freely on the pin 8 when the arm 17 is moved to the right, and
that when the arm is permitted to return to its normal position it engages one
of the notches 19 and thereby holds the sleeve 9 in fixed relation to the head 5.
The sleeve 9 carries rings 21, the ring at the left bearing against the end 17" of
the spring arm 17, which end serves to limit the movement of said ring 21 to
the left, and the ring at the right is held on the sleeve 9 by upsetting the end
of said sleeve. The rings 21 are respectively arranged to embrace the wards 16
and to be freely revoluble. Each ring 21 has a flange 22, each of which is
provided with a recess 23 through which the wards 16 may pass in the acts of
locking and unlocking the lock. When the wards 16 are in alignment with the
recesses 23, the bolt 10 may be moved in either direction; but when said recesses
are out of alignment with the wards the bolt cannot be moved. The ring 21 at
the right, is provided with a recess 24 capable of registering with the screw 11, so
that the screw may be reached with a screw. driver and placed or displaced, as
desired. The rings 21 are encircled by exterior rings 25, each of which is pro-
vided on its inner surface with a series of closely adjacent grooves 26. These
grooves 26 are adapted to receive feathers 27 arranged one on each ring 21. By
these means the rings 25 may be respectively adjusted on the rings 21, so that
the members of the rings may occupy any desired position relative to each other.
Each groove 26 is represented by a certain letter or other character on the corre-
sponding ring 25. The rings 21 are turned to position for removing the bolt, by
means of the rings 25, for which purpose the latter rings are provided with metal
belts 28.
The combination of the lock is changed by means of the adjustment of the
sleeve 9 and by means of the adjustment of the feathers 27 in the grooves 26.
The arm 17 may be reached to adjust the sleeve 9 when the head 12 is moved to
the right with the bolt 10. The rings 25 may also be moved to the right, and
thus permit the spur 18 to be reached. The rings 25 are adjusted on the rings 21
to change the combination, by pushing down on the spring of the bolt 10 at the
hump 10 thereof, so that the end 10 of the spring is moved out of engagement
with the screw 11, thus permitting the bolt 10 to be drawn outward until the
finger 10 engages with the screw 11. When this has been done, the head 12
will have been moved sufficiently to the right to permit the rings 25 to move to
the right and thus entirely disengage the feathers 27 of the rings 21, whereupon
the feathers 27 may be engaged with any one of the grooves 26 in the rings 25,
and thus the combination may be changed. When the combination has been
changed, the parts are returned to operative position by pushing back the bolt 10,
until the upturned end 10 of the spring slips past the screw 11 and engages said
screw to perform the operations explained above. Assuming that the parts are in
the position shown in Figure 2, the lock is opened by moving the rings 25 to the
predetermined combination of letters, which letters are produced on the heads 5

page_text: and 12 and on the rings 25. This moves the rings 21 so as to place the recesses 23
in registry with the wards 16. When this is done the bolt 10 may be drawn out
and the block 14 will thus be disengaged from the walls of the recess 13 in the
head 12, so as to free the bow 7. The bow may now be turned in the opening 6
of the head 5. When the head 12 is moved out, the upturned end 10 of the
spring of the bolt 10 will engage with the screw 11 and prevent the head from
moving outward excessively. This permits the rings 25 to move to the right, but
not to an extent sufficient to disengage the feathers 27 from the grooves 26 in
which they are placed. Consequently the unlocking of the bow 7 does not result
in a disturbance of the combination or adjustment of the parts, and the lock is
thus held in immediate readiness to be closed. When the bolt 10 is drawn out,
the rings 21 are kept from turning by the engagement of the wards 16 in the
recesses 23 of the flanges 22 of said rings 21. To lock the parts, the rings 25,
being held always in the proper place, need not be readjusted. The bow 7 is
returned to engage the block 14 with the walls of the recess 13, whereupon the
bolt 10 with its head 12 is pushed inward. The rings 25 are then given a slight
turn, so as to throw the recesses 23 out of alignment with the wards '16.
The lock may be provided with any desired number of rings 21 and 25, and
with any desired number of wards 16 on the bolt 10, hence we do not limit
ourselves to the number of wards and rings herein shown.
arm 30.
The lock shown in Figures 5 and 6 is constructed exactly as described with
reference to Figures 1 to 4, except that the bow 7 of the padlock is omitted, and
the head 12 (corresponding to the head 12 in Figures 1 to 4) is provided with an
The head 5 is made fast to the bar 32 of the bag 34, and the arm 30
is adapted to lock into a recess 31 in the opposing bar 33 of the bag. When the
head 12 is in the locked position (as shown) the bag is held closed, and when
the head, 12ª is moved out into the open or unlocked position, the head 12 may
be turned about its axis so as to swing the arm 30 upward and out of the path
of the bar 33, thus permitting the bag 34 to be opened.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
-
1. In a permutation lock, the combination of a head, a pin carried centrally
thereby, a sleeve turning on the head, and a spring arm having one end fixed to
the sleeve and having its opposite end free and capable of engaging with the head
to hold the sleeve stationary with the head, the spring arm extending diametrically
through the sleeve substantially as specified.
2. In a permutation lock, the combination of a head, a pin attached thereto, a
sleeve turning loosely on the pin, and a spring arm having one end attached to
the sleeve, the arm extending diametrically through the sleeve and having its
free end capable of engaging with the head to hold the sleeve in fixed relation
to the head, the free end of the arm having a stud by-which to swing the arm
substantially as specified.
3. In a permutation lock, the combination of a head, a pin attached to the head,
a sleeve mounted to turn on the pin, a spring arm having one end attached to
the sleeve, the spring arm extending diametrically through the sleeve and having
its free end capable of engagement with the head, the fixed end of the sleeve
having an outwardly turned portion forming a stop, and a ring mounted to turn
on the sleeve and limited by the stop substantially as specified.
4. In a permutation lock, the combination of a sleeve, a screw carried thereby and
projecting thereinto, a bolt slidable in the sleeve and provided with a concavity
or recess, and a spring fitting in the concavity or recess in the bolt and secured
to the bolt, the spring having an upturned end normally limiting the outward
movement of the bolt substantially as specified.
5. In a permutation lock, the combination of a sleeve, a member carried by the
sleeve and projecting thereinto, a bolt slidable in the sleeve, and a spring held

page_text: by the bolt and normally engaging said member to limit the normal outward
movement of the bolt substantially as specified.
6. In a permutation lock, the combination of a sleeve, a member carried thereby
and projecting thereinto, a bolt slidable in the sleeve and having a recess forming a
lip at the inner end of the bolt, and a spring located in the recess and having
its outer end secured to the bolt, the spring having a hump adjacent to its outer
end and having its free or inner end upturned to normally engage the said lip
substantially as specified.
7. A permutation lock with two relatively movable parts as described, the one
having a part overhanging or enclosing the other and a spring arm such as 17
for locking the parts together substantially as and for the purpose specified.
8. A permutation lock with the head having the flange 20 with notches 19 and
the spring arm 17 passing diametrically through the tube and engaging said
notches, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
9. A permutation lock having two relatively sliding members, the one having
a concavity to receive a spring and the other carrying a screw to engage the
spring, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
10. A permutation lock, having the head abutting against another portion of
the lock, the head having a notch in one edge and the bow with one end fitted
in the notch and held thereby and against the said portion of the lock, sub-
stantially as specified.
11. A permutation lock constructed, combined and arranged to operate sub-
stantially as herein described and illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this 18th October 1898.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents.