IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINATION Locks
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting En-
gineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINATION Locks."
-A communication from abroad by Archibald Burnett Vande-
mark, of Southington, Connecticut, United States of America,
Manufacturer.
Scaled the 18th January 1870, and dated the 11th November 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 11th November 1869, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMBINATION LOCкs," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been

page_text: communicated to me from abroad by Archibald Burnett Vandemark,
of Southington, Connecticut, United States of America, Manufacturer.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
forming a part of this Specification:-
This Invention relates to a lock which is constructed with two sets of
tumblers, either of which can be thrown in or out of gear with the
spindle simply by imparting to the said spindle a motion in the direction
of its length, so that by the action of the spindle the several tumblers
can be successively brought in the required position to allow the bolt to
fall back to its unlocking position. The connection between the spindle
and the tumblers is effected by spiral spring tappets secured to the
tumblers and by cam dogs placed loosely on the spindle and connected
therewith merely by friction in such a manner that by pressing the
spindle in one direction and imparting to it a revolving motion one of
the cam dogs is caused to turn with the spindle and to move its set of
tumblers, and by pulling the spindle in the opposite direction and
imparting to it a revolving motion the other cam dog is caused to turn
with the spindle and to move its set of tumblers. The position of the
tumblers is determined either by an index hand moving over a dial on
the face of the lock, or it may be determined simply by the pawls which
engage with teeth cut in the peripheries of the tumblers, and which as
the tumblers are revolved drop from one tooth into the other, thereby
producing a clicking noise, by which the number of teeth passed under
them can be counted and the position of the tumblers determined. In
order to obtain a starting point on the tumblers the spaces between two
succeeding teeth in each set of tumblers are filled so that the pawls in
passing these teeth make no noise, and by counting from this point
the number of teeth passed by the pawls the position of the tumblers
can be readily determined. The bolt is thrown back by a bit which is
brought in gear with the spindle by a cam dog and spiral spring tappet
similar to those used for throwing the tumblers in and out of gear with
the spindle.
The said Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in
11

page_text: appears when the top plate of the case is taken off; Figure 2 is a similar
view of the same, the upper set of tumblers having been removed;
Figuro 3 is a similar view of the same, all the parts having been
removed with the exception of the lower set of tumblers.
Figure 4 is a face view of the lock; Figure 5 is a transverse section of
the same.
: The remaining Figures represent details which will be herein-after
referred to. Similar letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the
Drawing.
.
In the said Drawing A designates the case of the lock, the front and
back plates of which form the bearings for the spindle. B, C, is the lock
bolt, which in the example shown in the Drawing is thrown by a bit
actuated by the spindle, but which might be so arranged that it could
be thrown by a separate key after the tumblers have been set by the
action of the spindle. On this spindle are placed four cam dogs a, a', a³, a³,
which serve to throw the said spindle in and out of gear with the
tumblers 6, 6, 63, and with the bit 6' by which the lock bolt is thrown.
The tumblers are simply disks cut from thin sheet steel, and their
periphery is notched (as best seen in Figures 7 and 9), so that when
the tang c of the bolt is brought in contact therewith the touch cannot
distinguish the tang notch d which allows the bolt to retract. The
notches in the peripheries of the tumblers engage with pawls e, e', which
serve to keep the said tumblers from turning in the wrong direction,
and which when the tumblers are turned in the right direction produce
a clicking noise, which serves to distinguish the position of the tumblers.
To effect this purpose the notches between two succeeding teeth of the
tumblers are filled up, so that in turning the said tumblers the pawls on
reaching the filled up notches will produce no noise, and thereby a
starting point is obtained from which the number of clicks can be
counted, and thereby the tumblers can be brought in the required position
for unlocking. The tumblers are provided on their inner edges with
spiral spring tappets f, against which the cams a, a, a, act, and the cam
dogs a, a', are situated below these spring tappets, so that the spindle
must be drawn out in order to enable them to engage with their tumblers,
while the cam dog a is situated above its spring tappet, and the spindle
must be pushed in to enable this dog to engage with its tumbler. These
dogs are placed loosely on the spindle, and they are compelled to revolve
therewith simply by the friction of rings g or of the head of the spindlo

page_text: acting against them, if the spindle is pulled or pushed in the required
direction, the rings g being connected with the spindle by a feather key
or an equivalent device. The bit 6 is also provided with a spiral spring
bearing similar to those of the tumbers, and its cam dog as is connected
to the spindle by a feather key, and so situated that when the spindle is
drawn out the said cam dog will engage with the bit and cause it to
turn at the proper moment to throw the bolt. All the spiral spring
bearings are so constructed that they engage with their cam dogs only
in one direction. The tumblers are separated from each other by movable
partition plates m. To the outer end of the spindle is secured an index i,
which travels over a dial j marked on the front plate of the lock case.
If the lower set of tumblers b, b', is set to the Figure 19 on the dial, and
the upper set 63 to the Figure 1, the lower set of tumblers is brought
in their unlocking position by pulling the spindle out and turning from
right to left until the index points to 19, and the upper set of tumblers
by pushing the spindle in and turning from left to right until the index
points to the Figure 1, and the bolt is thrown by pulling the spindle out
and turning it from left to right. The construction of the spring tappets
will be best understood by referring to Figures 7, 8, and 9. They consist
of a segmental tongue &, the end of which projects above or below the
opposite shoulder 7. In the tumbler & (Figure 7), for instance, it projects
above the said shoulder, and if the cam dog on the spindle is turned
from left to right it catches against the end of the tappet or tongue k,
and carries the tumbler along, but if it (the cam dog) is turned from
right to left the tongue / is depressed to a level with the shoulder
and the dog passes over the same without imparting motion to the
tumbler. In a lock where the index is not used the tumblers are set by
the number of clicks between the starting point and the notch, which
engages the tumbler pawl when the tang notch is in the unlocking
position. It is obvious that this Invention is applicable to locks of
various descriptions, such as door locks, drawer locks, trunk locks, and
so forth; the arrangement of the tumblers, the bit, and the spindle, with
its end motion remaining the same for all kinds of locks.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. The spindle B carrying a series of cam dogs, and
end motion, whereby the said dogs are thrown. in o
having an
out of gear

page_text: with the different sets of tumblers and with the bit, substantially as
described.
Second. The arrangement on the tumblers of spiral spring tappets
constructed as described in combination with the cam dogs and with the
spindle B, substantially as set forth.
Third. The arrangement of a starting point on the tumblers, whereby
the said tumblers can be set by the number of clicks produced by
the pawls passing over their notched peripheries, substantially as set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
HARRY WRAIGHT,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.