Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Dec., 1886.
Specification Accepted, 14th Jan., 1887:
We, JOHN MASE GRAU, Machinist, CHARLIE BEYMER Blacksmith, and FRITZ
HEDLUND, Machinist, all of Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, 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:-
Our invention relates to certain improvements in Permutation Locks that may be
applied to trunks, office Desks etc., the object being to provide a compact, simple, and
efficient combination-lock that is devoid of springs. Our invention consists in the
combination of a metal casing, and a back plate made in two sections, the former
serving as a bearing for the end of the bolt spindle, and the latter as a bearing for the
pin, carrying a number of tumblers, and provided with a slot, whereby the position of
the tumblers may be determined from the back of the lock, all of which will be more
fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claim.
In the drawings Fig. 1, is an elevation of our lock attached to a portion of a trunk
or a desk, the rear cover plates being removed.
Fig. 2 is a section through the same on vertical line b
front view of a portion of a trunk having the lock attached.
line a a of Fig. 1.
'
Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a
Fig. 4 is a section on
Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 are detail views of the combination-disc that is located next to the
front plate of the lock-casing, a tumbler that is attached to said disc, a combined com-
bination-disc and tumbler-that is located between the tumbler and an outer
disc, and the outer combination disc and tumbler respectively; and Fig. 9 represents
a section of the outer or back-plate, which carries a portion of the combination.
In describing our preferred construction we wish to call the different devices making
up the combination that is carried by the knob spindle the "lower" combination and
the devices that are carried by a pin located in a portion of the back plate the "upper"
combination;
and the reason we wish to do this is because the back plate of the lock
will be upward when it is removed from the trunk and placed in a position for
removing the back plate. The letter L represents the lock-casing which incloses the
different parts of the mechanism and which should be affixed securely to the body of
the trunk or desk T by means of screws or other suitable devices.

page_text: The back plate is made in two sections a main section L¹, in which the end f' of
the bolt spindle has a bearing, and a smaller section 5, which is removable indepen-
dently of the main section, and which carries the upper portion of the combination.
The letter P represents a portion of a trunk-lid which carries the hasp plate H.
This plate may be provided with one or more hasps 14, for engaging a corresponding
number of lugs H¹, formed on the bolt F. The bolt F has two or more longitudinal
slots, g, formed in its body, for engaging a corresponding number of guiding lugs D,
which project from the inner side of the casing L. Said lugs are preferably cast
integral with said casing.
On the lower edge of the bolt F a series of teeth or a rack, 8, is formed, so as to
engage with the pinion A, that is carried by the bolt spindle f. The bolt is also formed
with a projection or lug, h, at one end, for engaging the slots in the tumblers. A stop
piece, E, projects from the inner side of the casing L, at one end of the bolt F, for the
purpose of limiting the longitudinal movement of the latter when thrown out of
engagement with the hasps 14. The bolt spindle projects out through the body of
the trunk or desk, as the case may be, and the handle, is located on its outer end for
the purpose of rotating it and controlling the movement of the bolt.
In proceeding to describe the combination mechanism, it will be observed that the
knob spindle n does not extend through the lock to the back plate, but that it projects
through the front plate of the casing only sufficiently far to accommodate the lower
combination discs 3 and 4. Said knob-spindle is formed with a shoulder n³, about at
the middle of its length, which bears against the back-plate of the casing L, and forms
a safeguard against the spindle being driven inward. Upon the spindle a knob 9, is
mounted, and carried by this knob, or secured to the knob-spindle in any approved
way is a plate, 7, that is provided with a pointer or a mark, 81. Just inside the disc 7
and secured to the body of the trunk is a plate, 6, having on its face a series of figures
or letters. The lower combination disc, 4, is rigidly secured on the knob-spindle as
near as possible to the front plate of the casing and the lower tumbler 3 is also mounted
on said spindle so that it may turn freely. Said combination-disc 4 and the tumbler-
discs 1 and 2 each have a number of perforations i, arranged in a circle at some distance
from the spindle. The lower tumbler 3, is adjustably secured to the disc 4 by means
of a screw d which passes through a perforation i, in the tumbler. In order to change
the combination at any time, said screw can be loosened and the tumbler 3 can be
moved around on the spindle until the aperture in it registers with another one of the
series of apertures in the disc 4 as may be desired; or the combination can be changed
in another way, as will be explained further on. Screwed into the removable or
small section of the back plate 5 is a pin n', which carries the tumblers 1 and 2. These
are held at a little distance apart by means of a washer, 24, also carried by said pin,
and they are adapted to rotate freely on the pin.
In Fig. 1. the small section 5 of the back-plate is removed together with the upper
combination.
The head of the screw d which secures the disc 3 to the disc 4, projects a sufficient
distance to engage with the head of a screw, d¹, and that is located in one of the series
of apertures in the tumbler 2; and the screws d2 and d³ which are located to project
from opposite sides of the respective tumblers 1 and 2, are adapted to engage with each
other when tumbler 2 is rotated. Thus it will be seen that the devices comprising
the upper and lower combinations are connected together, and, besides, the upper
combination can be removed with the small section 5 of the back-plate, for the
purpose of changing the combination or for examination without disturbing any other
part of the lock.
The respective tumblers 1, 2, 3, are each provided with a slot-such as h¹, 2, and 3-
into which the lug / of the bolt F is carried by rotating the pinion A. It is obvious,
however, that unless the combination be complete the lug on the bolt F cannot enter
the slots in the tumblers.
In order that the position of the tumblers may be determined, from the outside of
the lock before the lid of the trunk has been closed down a slot 7, is made in one edge
of the removable back-plate section 5. The letter n³ represents a washer located on

page_text: the inner end of the knob spindle n, for the purpose of securing in place the tumbler 3.
The letter c represents a washer located on the pin n' for the purpose of securing
the tumblers 1 and 2 on said pin.
Another way of changing the combination of this lock is to change the position of
the screws located in the tumblers 1 and 2. In this way a large number of changes
may be made, and the number will only be limited to the number of apertures in the
tumblers.
To prevent too much side play of the bolt F on the guiding lugs D, another guiding-
lug g', is located on the inner side of the main back plate L', so that one side of the
bolt can slide against it.
The numbers of the combination necessary to open the lock, can be obtained by
turning the knob 9 to the right, until the slot ³ in the tumbler 1 registers with the
slot in the back-plate 5, when the number on the dial 6 should be noticed, then
turning it to the left until the slot 2 in tumbler 2, registers with the first mentioned,
and so on, no matter if more than three tumblers are used in the lock. The way in
which the tumblers are rotated should be particulary noticed and it will be observed
that on turning the knob towards the right,- -or in either direction for that matter-
the screw d comes in contact with the screw d¹, and the screw d' engages screw d³.
Having now particulary 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 combination lock, a metal casing having a back plate made in two sections,
L' and 5, the former serving as a bearing for the end of the bolt spindle and the
fatter as a bearing for the pin carrying a number of tumblers and provided with a
slot h, whereby the position of the tumblers may be determined from the back of the
lock, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described set forth and fully
illustrated in the drawings annexed.