Improvements in Combination Locks.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Aug., 188S-Accepted, 20th July, 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Combination Locks.
We EUGENE CHARLES SMITH Mechanic and CHARLES FREDERICK FROTHINGHAM
Broker, both residing in the Stewart Building in the City County and State of New
York U.S.A. 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 an improved combination lock for the doors of freight cars
and other purposes, which lock has the advantage that it can be locked by any one
of a series of keys which are arranged to be used with the lock but that it can only be
opened by the same key by which the locking has been accomplished.
The invention consists of a combination lock for the doors of freight cars and other
purposes in which a slide hasp or bolt is locked or released by an oscillating locking
bar or tumbler, a projection of which is engaged by a series of primary spring-
actuated and recessed cams that are contrally pivotted to a fixed spindle. An
auxiliary recessed and spring-actuated cam of larger size is pivotted to the same
spindle, said auxiliary cam and the series of cams engaging the second locking bar
which swings on the spindle of the main locking bar and is acted upon like the same
by a spiral spring placed on said spindle. The primary and auxiliary cams aro
operated by the wards of a key which is inserted into an axially turning and
longitudinally-slotted-key-cylinder said wards throwing first the auxiliary cam so as
to release the second locking bar, then the primary cams which latter throw the
tumbler and produce the locking of the slide hasp or bolt. The primary cams hold
the tumbler and thereby the slide hasp or bolt rigidly in locked position until released
by the action of the key on the primary and auxiliary cams which are returned into
their former position whereby the slide-hasp or bolt is unlocked and the lock adapted
to be removed.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a freight car
with our improved combination lock applied to the door of the same.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the lock, being drawn to a
larger scale.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the same on line y. y Figure 2, shewing the
parts of the lock in unlocked position.
Figures 4 and 5 are also horizontal sections shewing the parts of the lock respec-
tively in the act of throwing the locking tumbler and in locked position and
Figure 6 is a side view of one of the keys which is used with the lock.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
Referring to the drawings. A represents the casing of our improved combination-
lock for the doors of freight cars and other purposes. The casing A is provided
with a slide hasp or bolt B one leg of which is provided at the end with a collar b
which abuts against a fixed guide sleeve of the casing A so as to prevent the entire
withdrawing of the slide-hasp or bolt B from the casing A. The other shorter leg
of the slide-hasp B has a recess b' at its inner side which is adapted to be engaged by
a locking bar or tumbler C, that is pivotted to a fixed spindle which is secured to
suitable supporting plates at the interior of the lock casing A. The slide hasp B
can be drawn out of the casing A when not engaged by the tumbler C the hasp
swinging then on the longer end while the shorter end swings clear of the casing and
can thereby be applied to the staples of the door and jamb of a freight car or other
door with which the lock is to be used. The operating parts of the lock are supported
by the plates C, which are connected by fixed posts or stays and secured into the
casing in such manner that the onerative parts of the lock can be readily removed

page_text: for repairs and reinserted into the casing A. The tumbler C is provided with a pro-
jection d which is engaged by the recess d' of a series of primary locking cams E, E¹
which are centrally pivotted to a fixed spindle C of the supporting plates C³ so that
said cams turn loosely on the spindle C³. Each cam E is provided with a pair of
notches e which are engaged by retaining springs e as many retaining springs being
arranged as there are cams E. The retaining springs serve for the purpose of holding
the cams E steadily in position before and after they are acted upon by the wards of
the actuating key. A recess e* and an additional pair of recesses e are arranged on
the cams E and adapted to be engaged respectively by the wards of the actuating
key and by a second locking har or tumbler D which is pivotted to the spindle (like
the tumbler C and acted upon like the same by the end of a spiral spring D that is
located on the spindle intermediately between the armis of the locking bar D, as
shewn clearly in Figure 2. To the spindle of the primary cams E is also applied an
auxiliary cam E of somewhat larger size than the cams E, which is provided with a
pair of notches 3 for a retaining spring e¹ a recess which is engaged by the corre-
sponding ward on the key and a pair of recesses e³ which are engaged by the second
locking bar or tumbler D. A key cylinder F is arranged in proximity to the
cains E E and provided with a longitudinal recess for the insertion of a flat key F¹
one form of which is shewn in Figure 6 said key being provided with one or more
wards a, a for engaging a corresponding number of primary cams E and with a
ward al at the end for engaging the auxiliary cam E. The koy-cylinder F is sup-
ported loosely in bearings of the plates (so as to be readily turned on its axis in
inserting the key F through a slot of the bottom plate into the longitudinal
recess of the key-cylinder F. By turning the key cylinder in the direction of the
arrow shewn in Figure 3 the ward a of the key engages first the recesses of the
auxiliary can E and turns the same on its axis, so as to cause the locking bar D to
be lifted out of the recesses and of the auxiliary and primary cams E¹ E. The
locking bar D is thereby caused to ride on the intermediate portion of the auxiliary
cam E located between the recesses e, e as shown in Figure 4. By turning the
key cylinder F still more the wards a of the key F¹ engage one of the recesses e of
the primary cams E and turn the same so that the tumbler C is raised clear of the
recesses of the cams E and caused to ride on the circumference of the same it being
at the same time thrown into the recess of the slide hasp so as to lock the same as
shown in Figure 5. It is obvious that as many cams E are turned as there are
wards a in the key.
The turning motion of the auxiliary canı E¹ and primary cams E is produced
respectively by the wards a' and a of the key F¹ the ward a moving the auxiliary
cam E¹ so that the latter lifts the locking bar D out of the recesses of the primary
cams E and permits thereby the wards a to engage the recesses of the cams E and to
turn the latter so as to throw the tumbler C into position for locking the slide hasp.
The locking bar D then reengages the aligned recesses and 2 of the cams E' E.
For opening the lock the reverse operation takes place. The key is inserted into the
key cylinder F and the auxiliary cam E¹ and then the primary cams E turned on
their spindle respectively by the wards a' a of the key the cam E' producing the
release of the locking bar D from the recesses of the cams E while the cams E permit
the release of the tumbler C from the slide hasp by the action of its spring and the
relocking of the cams E¹ E by the locking bar D all the parts being returned to their
normal positions as shewn in Figure 3.
By the use of the auxiliary cam E and the locking bar D the picking of the lock
by means of a bent wire or skeleton key is prevented as the so-called "feeling" for
the cams and setting of the same, so that the lock could be opened, is rendered im-
possible by the auxiliary cam and locking bar which act as additional safe guards for
the lock and prevent tampering with the same. Any number of keys provided with
one end ward a' and differently located wards a may be used for closing the lock
when applying the same to the door of the freight car so that no time is lost in
picking out the proper key, while the lock can only be opened by the key used in

page_text: locking which is sent along with the car and by no other key so that no confusion of
keys can tak place while a very convenient and reliable lock for railway freight cars
and similar purposes is obtained thereby.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
1. The combination of a slide hasp or bolt, a series of recessed and centrally pivoted
primary cams, a recessed auxiliary cam on the same spindle, a tumbler operated by
said primary cains, an oscillated and spring actuated locking bar operated by the
auxiliary cam, a longitudinally-slotted key-cylinder, and a key having projecting
wards adapted to engage the auxiliary and primary cams, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination of a series of recessed and centrally pivoted primary cams, a
recessed auxiliary cam pivotted to the spindle of the primary cams, a spring actuated
tumbler operated by the primary cams, a spring actuated locking bar applied to the
same spindle as the tumbler, and operated by the auxiliary cam, a longitudinally-
recessed-key-cylinder, and a key having projecting wards adapted to engage the
recesses of the auxiliary and primary cams, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination of a series of recessed and centrally-pivotted primary cams, a
centrally pivotted auxiliary cam having recesses, an oscillating and spring-actuated
tumbler operated by the primary cams, and an oscillating and spring-actuated locking
bar applied to the spindle of the tumbler the said locking bar being adapted to engage
the recesses of all the cams while the tumbler is adapted to engage only the recesses
of the primary cam, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination of a series of recessed and centrally pivotted cams, a recessed
auxiliary cam on the spindle of the primary cams, a spring-actuated tumbler
engaged by the recesses of the primary cams, and a spring-actuated locking bar
engaging the recesses of the primary and auxiliary cams, substantially as set
forth.
5. The combination of a slide-hasp or bolt, a series of recessed and centrally
pivotted cams, a spring-actuated locking tumbler operated by said cams, a longi-
tudinally-recessed key-cylinder, and a key having wards for turning the cams and
throwing the tumbler into engagement with the hasp or bolt, substantially as set
forth.
Dated this 7th dex of August 1888