Improvements in Permutation Locks.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Sept., 1889-Accepted, 21st Dec., 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad.by BYRON J. Doups, of Kent, Ohio, United States of
America, Physician.]
Improvements in Permutation Locks.
1, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to permutation-locks, and consists of the parts and
combination of parts as hereinafter described.
In carrying the said invention into practice a shell or case is provided which is to
be attached to a door or the like. This shell or case is provided with a suitable cap to
cover or enclose the different parts. Within this shell is located a rotating disc the
back of which is provided with a notched flange, the said flange being for the purpose
of receiving a spring provided with a V or similar shaped projection to enter the
notches and hold or stop the rotating disc at given points. The opposite side of the
disc is provided with tortuous grooves or passages.
To the shell or case is attached a pendulum lever or arm provided with a pin, the
said pin being adapted to enter the grooves in the face of the disc, and move the lever
back and forth by rotating the disc.
Within the shell or case is located a sliding bar or bolt, having a bevelled end
adapted to enter a socket located in or on a door-casing, this sliding bolt is provided
with a shoulder, for the purpose of engaging the free end of the pendulum-lever, and
throwing the bolt back when the pendulum-lever is moved backward by means of the
pin located in the grooves, the said bolt being held forward by a spring until the pin
reaches the periphery or outer point or groove on the disc, when the said sliding bolt
is thrown backward and disengaged from its socket. The disc is provided with a stop,
for the purpose hereinafter described.
The disc is, moreover, provided with an aperture for receiving a knob-spindle, the
said knob being for the purpose of operating the disc. In use when it is desired to
unlock, the disc is turned to a point where the stop strikes the pin on the pendulum-
lever, and the combination set to a given number of movements of the disc to
the right or left, until the sliding bolt is thrown back by means of the pendulum-
lever.
The stop may be located at different points on the disc for the purpose of changing
the combination, and, for the purpose of providing a large number of combinations,
different discs having different tortuous grooves may be provided.
For the purpose of holding the pendulum-lever against the sliding bolt with sufficient
force to prevent the said pendulum-lever from becoming accidentally displaced, a spring
is provided, which is located with the case and is attached thereto.
The spring which rests or hears on the notched disc is so adjusted that it will
press with some force, and, when the projection on said spring is raised out of a
notch, it will come back when a notch comes in line with said projection, thereby
producing stops.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Permutation Locks.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE. of the firm' of Haseltine, Lake and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
My invention relates to locks, and particularly to that class known as permutation-
locks.
The object of my present invention is to produce a lock for doors which
shall be composed of a small number of separate parts, and hence not liable to
get out of order.
.
Another object is to so construct the lock that its bolt may be withdrawn by a
predetermined combination of turns of a cam-disc.
A further object is to provide a lock with a disc having cam projections thereon to
produce a series of paths or passages for a pin which actuates the bolt.
A further object is to produce a lock which shall be simple in construction and
operation and cheap to manufacture.
A further object is to so construct the device that the operator may be guided in
operating the lock by a series of predetermined signals or stoppings of the key or
manual perceptions.
With these objects in view my invention consists in the novel construction and
peculiar combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter set forth.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a face view of my improved lock with one plate of the containing-face
movement.
Figure 2 is a face view of the same, showing the position of the bolt.
Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line a, a of figure 2.
Figure 4 is a view of a modification of the bolt mechanism.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are views of modifications.
A indicates a casing having front and rear plates a a¹, and connecting portions a²,
this casing being adapted to be secured to a door B, by means of bolts or screws a³
or otherwise, as desired. The rear plate a¹ of case A. is projected rearwardly to
produce a recess, for the accommodation of some of the working parts of the device.
Projecting inwardly from the inner face of the plate a¹, and within the recess is a
circular flange c, which acts as a bearing for one end of a hub C, of a cam dise, D,
the opposite extremity of said hub being supported by means of a projection c. made
integral with the outer face of the disc, and seated in a perforation in the centre of
the front plate a, of the casing, as shown in Figure 3. The hub is furnished at its
centre with a perforation, preferably having a square interior for the reception of a
similarly-shaped key D adapted to be extended through the door to which the lock
is applied and through an escutcheon E fixed to the door, a knob D³, being provided
upon the free end of the key D', by which to operate it. The key is retained to its
seat within the hub by means of a pin e passing through a transverse perforation in
the key preferably within the escutcheon E. A bolt F is placed in the recess b of
the casing and furnished with a central opening F, for the accommodation of the
flange c this bolt being adapted to be operated through the medium of mechanism,
hereinafter described, and to enter a suitable keeper G.
The hub C is furnished on a portion of its periphery with notches d for the
reception of the V-shape tooth of a spring-arm H, secured to the casing, for a
purpose presently explain l. If preferred in lieu of the last described arrangement
the hub may be provided on its periphery with a series of pointed projections to engage
a V-shaped notch in the spring-arm H as shown in Figure 5.
The dise D is provided on one face, near its periphery, with a flange or wall L
which when the parts are in the positions shown in figure 1, is furnished near the top

page_text: of the disc with an inwardly-projecting V shaped cam J, and immediately adjacent
to this cam projection a recess f, is made in the flange 1. Located at a point on the
face of the disc inwardly from the side wall of the recess f' is a cam K, so shaped as
to produce a passage g, hetween it and one end wall of the recess, at one end, and a
passage g' between the opposite end wall of the recess and projection J and the upper
end of said cam K. This cam is also provided at its upper end with an inwardly-
projecting portion K'. Secured to or made integral with the face of the disc a
short distance from the hub C is a series of three downwardly-projecting V-shaped
cams h, h, h, preferably connected together at their upper ends, the top edges of
said projections thus producing an are of a circle concentric with the hub C. A
cam projecting from the face of the disc, extends from the top of cam first
in an upwardly direction, then outwardly and upwardly and for a short distance
parallel with the inner face of the block K leaving a passage ƒ'¹ between it and said
block.
A cam i projecting from the disc D midway between the wall I and cam h,
starts at a point somewhat beyond said projection and extends in a curved direction
parallel with the wall I to a point below the end of the cam h, where it is extended
upwardly parallel with a portion of the wall of said cam h, as shown in Figures 1
and 2. A short distance below this cam i is another cam ; located midway between
the wall I and cam ¹, and has one end extended upwardly parallel with one face of
the cam h. Located between the cam and wall is another cam k, having one end
extended upwardly between this cam 2 and the lower end of the block K. Projecting
from the wall 1, between the cams j, k, is a tooth or can, which preferably points in
a direction toward the upwardly-extending portion of the cam j.
Projecting from the upper portion or half of the face of the disc D is a series of
seginental flanges m, m³, m², commencing at a point on the disc diametrically opposite
to the recess. The flanges m, m' extend in a curved direction to a point on a line
parallel with one face of the cam J, while the flange m² extends to a point slightly
below the cam K' of the block K. The flanges m, m' are connected at one end m³
the corresponding end of the flange m² being made to connect with a portion of the
periphery of the hub C, thus producing a passage between the flange m² and the hub,
and it will be seen that the hub C also forms one wall of a passage, having the tops
of the cams h, h, 2 for its opposite wall.
By arranging the flanges, blocks, and cams on the face of the disc D as above
described it will be seen that a series of circuitous or tortuous passages are produced
which are utilized in the operation of the lock in the manner which will presently
appear.
Pivoted to the casing A above, and preferably to one side of the centre, is a pen-
dulum lever N which projects over a portion of the face of the disc, and is provided
with an inwardly-projecting pin o, rigidly fixed to it at a point advisably below its
centre, said pin being adapted to enter and pass through the passages on the face of
the disc when the latter is rotated. A spring O, is fixed to a lug or projection n,
secured to the casing A and, being extended across said casing, is adapted to bear at
or near its free end upon the lever N near its lower extremity and prevent said lever
from accidently moving the position to which it is moved by the disc D through the
medium of the pin o. Another spring 01, is secured at one end to the casing and
bears at its free extremity upon a projection o² on the bolt F, as shown in Figure 2.
and thus maintains the bolt within the keeper. The opposite end of the bolt is fur-
nished with a projection 03, against which the lower end of the lever is adapted .to
abut and slide the bolt back out of the keeper G.
In lieu of the pendulum lever N the arrangement of holt shown in Figure 4 may
be adopted. With this arrangement the pin o will be rigidly secured to the bolt E
near its rear end, or to the rear end of a U-shaped plate F¹ adjacent to the bolt.
When the pin o is attached to the plate F¹, said plate will be made wider than the
bolt F and furnished at the free extremities of its arms F2, F3 with inwardly-
projecting shoulders p p', adapted to engage laterally-protruding lugs p²pon the
bolt F, and thus cause said bolt to be moved rearwardly against the action of the

page_text: spring o when the disc Dis operated. If the pin o be attached directly to the bolt,
the plate F and spring O will be dispensed with.
As
The preferred form of my device, being constructed and arranged as shown in
figures 1, 2 and 3, is operated as follows. Assuming the position of the pin o
shown in Figure 1 to be the starting-point and the end of the bolt, within the keeper,
as shown in figure 2, the key D¹ will be turned in the direction indicated by the arrow
until the V-shaped projection of the spring H has passed four notches d of the hub (,
and thus produce four engagements perceptible to the hand of the operator.
there are eight notches on the periphery of the hub it will be seen that the movement
just described will cause the disc D to make a half revolution and the pin o to travel
in the tortuous path to a point diametrically opposite the starting-point and in the
passage. The key will then be turned one notch in the reverse direction, and the
pin caused to strike the end of the cam k, and thus he deflected into the passage,
between the cams & and flange I. By now turning the key one notch in the first
direction the pin will be caused to strike the bevelled end of the block K, and thus
be guided into the recess of the flange I. During the above-described operation the
lower end of the lever N will make contact with the projection 03 on the bolt F, and
when the pin enters the recess the withdrawing of the bolt will be completed, and
the lever N and bolt will assume the positions shown by dotted lines in Figure 2.
It will be seen that during the operation of the device, as above explained, the disc D
makes a half-revolution and the portion of the disc having the recess f is carried to
the opposite side of the casing to that shown in Figure 1.
The combination of each lock is determined by the arrangement of cams and
passages on the disc, and each lock is arranged to be operated by a single com-
bination of turns and stops, the combination for operating the particular lock shown
in Figures 1, 2 and 3 being as above described.
When it is desired to cause the bolt to be thrown, it is simply necessary to turn the
disc sufficiently to cause the pin to ride off the block K. When it is desired to
again withdraw the bolt, the disc is turned (to the left with the disc shown in
Figures 1, 2 and 3) until the pin finds its way to the starting point, when the
disc cannot be turned farther. The combination of turns above described is then
made to withdraw the bolt.
In the modified form of my invention shown in Figure 5 a cam Q, is made to
project from the face of the disc D and serve as one wall of a circuitous passage.
Within the space marked by the cam Q are cams Q, Q³, which when the disc is in
the position shown in Figure 5, are at one side of the hub C and removed a short
distance from each other, and a third cam Q1, is located above the hub C, near the
upper portion of the flange Q. A flange or wall Q, projecting from the plate D,
extends upwardly from the cam Qin a line parallel with the cam Q, and produces a
passage Q. Another flange or wall Q, projecting from the face of the disc, extends
downwardly from the cam Q to a point between the cams Q³ and Q, thus producing
a passage between it and the flange Q³. A flange Q, extends from the cam Q
parallel with the hub to the other side thereof and produces one wall of the starting-
passage Q. The pendulum-arm N, carrying the pin o to enter the passages just
mentioned, will also be provided for this form of device. The end of the passage Q
is preferably closed, so that the disc cannot be turned in the wrong direction
when the operation of withdrawing the bolt is commenced. When the bolt is in
the keeper, the cams and passages on the face of the disc will be in the reverse
positions to that shown in Figure 5, and the pin o will be at the starting point Q¹.
By turning the disc in the direction of the arrow until the spring arm has passed
four points or notches of the hub C the pin o will move in the passage, and,
striking the cam-surface of the cam Q2, will be deflected into the path Q. The key
is then turned in the reverse direction two notches, when the pin strikes the cam Q*
and is deflected into the path Q. The key is now turned in the first direction two
notches, carrying the pin o into the portion g' of the path Q. During this opera-
tion the bolt will be withdrawn by the lever N in the same manner as previously
described.

page_text: In the modification shown in Figure the parts are arranged substantially the
same as in Figure 5, with the exception of the arrangement of the passage at the
starting-point.
.
As seen in Figure 6, the passage Q¹ is made continuous, and a cam T, placed at the
starting-point q. With this arrangement a dial plate having figures thereon will be
secured to the key D', and in such case the spring H and notches on the periphery of
the hub may be dispensed with.
In Figure 7 is shown another arrangement of cams passages &c. With this
arrangement a portion of the periphery of the hub C may be made octagonal,
and the spring H in such case will be a simple flat spring-bar adapted to bear upon
the flat faces of the octagon.
Projecting from the face of the disc D is a series of concentric segmental flanges R
RR, producing passages or ways R³ R R. The outer extremity of the flange R
is made to project outwardly to produce a cam R°. At the opposite end of the
flange Radetent S, is pivoted and adapted to rest upon the flange R' and
normally close the passage R4, being held to its place by means of a spring S¹,
secured at one end to the flange R2 and bearing at its free end upon the top of said
detent. A detent S2, is pivoted at the end of the flange R' opposite to the detent S,
and adapted to rest upon the flange R and close the passage R³, this detent
also being normally held to its place by means of a spring S³, secured to the
flange R Projecting from the face of the disc, and extending outwardly from
the hub C, is a hook-shaped flange S, and a detent S³, pivoted to one end of the
flange R bears upon the flange St, as shown in Figure 7, a spring, S6, being
secured to the flange R and adapted to bear upon the detent S and retain it to
its position. The pin o and lever N, above alluded to, will also be used with this
form of the device, and a spring U, is secured at one end to the casing and bears at
its opposite end upon the lever N, to maintain the pin in its passage or way when the
device is operated.
When it is desired to withdraw the bolt, the parts are inade to assume the reverse
position to that shown in Figure 7, the pin o being at the starting-point in the hook-
shaped flange S. The key is now turned until the spring-arm H has passed four
faces of the octagon on the hub C, this movement causing the pin o to move along
the flange R until it has passed the detent S2, which will be raised by the pin. The
disc is there turned in the reverse direction two stops, which will cause the pin to
strike the detent S2 at the opposite side, and be caused thereby be deflected and
made to ride upon the flange R until it passes the detent. S, which it raises in its
passage. Having passed this detent, the disc is turned two stops in the first direction;
and the pin, striking the opposite face of the detent, is caused to be deflected and
travel upon the flange R2 and ride upon the cam R. When the pin o reaches this
point, the lever N has withdrawn the bolt in the manner before described.
In lieu of the notched periphery of the hub (and the spring-arm H within the
casing A. a toothed wheel may be secured to the key D₁ on the outside of the door,
and a spring-arm also fixed to the door to engage it, a small box or cover being pro-
vided to protect said parts.
It will be seen that the teeth, notches, or flat faces on the hub C are simply different
forms of the same thing, and may be modified in any desired manner, a spring-arm of
suitable construction being used with the form adopted, so that when the disc Dis
turned in either direction said spring arm H will engage the notches, teeth, or flat
faces and produce a stop of the disc. The spring-arm should engage the hub
with sufficient firmness to make these stops of the disc perceptible to the hand of the
operator through the medium of a key, and yet allow the disc to be turned in either
direction when inore force is applied by the operator. These stoppings of the disc
are intended to notify the operator when the disc has been turned a sufficient distance
in either direction to operate the lock in the manner above described.
It is obvious that projections may be placed directly upon one face of the
dise D to produce notches, teeth, flat faces, or stops, and the spring-arm H secured

page_text: to the lock-casing in any preferred manner; or notches may be made upon the key,
if desired.
By providing a lock with such a signalling device it may be operated by a pre-
determined combination of stops of the disc manually perceptible to the operator the
disc being first turned a certain number of stops in one direction, then a certain
number in the reverse direction, and so on until the bolt is withdrawn. Such an
arrangement is highly advantageous as the lock can be operated in the dark, no dial
plate being necessary, and in the presence of other persons, as the engagement of the
spring-arm with the notches of the hub C or disc D are practically inaudible and
simply felt by the hand of the operator, thus preventing other persons from learning
the combination by hearing the engagement of the spring-arm.
It is evident that slight changes might be made in the constructive details of my
invention without departing from the spirit thereof; hence I do not wish to limit
myself to the exact form of construction of parts as herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In a lock, the combination, with a disc having cams and stops, of a movable
device provided with a pin adapted to be engaged by the cams, and a spring adapted
by its engagement with the stops to yieldingly hold the disc for the purpose of
indicating the position of the pin on the face of the disc.
Second. In a lock, the combination, with a disc having a series of cams thereon,
of a pendulum-lever engaged by the cams on the disc, and a bolt engaged and operated
by said lever.
Third. In the lock, the combination, with a disc having a series of cams and passages
on one face, of a pendulum-lever engaged by the said cams, a sliding bolt operated by
said lever, and a spring exerting pressure on the bolt in one direction, substantially
as set forth.
Fourth. In a lock, the combination, with a disc having a series of cams and passages
on one face and a series of stops; of a pendulum-lever having a laterally-projecting
pin adapted to traverse said passages and engage said cams, and a spring-arm
located in position to engage the stops on the disc, substantially as set forth.
Fifth. In a lock, the combination with a casing and a disc having a series of cams
and passages on one face thereof, of a movable device having a pin adapted to traverse
the passages and engage the cams a spring bearing upon the device, and mechanism
for operating the disc, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. In a lock, the combination of a disc having notches and a spring to yieldingly
hold the disc for the purpose of guiding the operator, substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
Daad this 22nd day of Santamber 18SO
ad this 22nd
And day of September 1850
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.