IMPROVED INDICATING APPARATUS FOR LOCKS
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I DAVID NATANOVITCH SACKER, of N° 34 Great Saint Helens, in the City of
London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
INDICATING APPARATUS FOR LOCKS" which Invention has been communicated to:
me from abroad by Stanislas Edward Weisblat of St Petersburg in the Empire of
Russia Engineer to be as follows:-
The present Invention relates to the construction of locks, such as pad-locks,
mortice locks, and. the like, at the opening and closing of which a controlling
apparatus is brought into operation. This controlling apparatus consists in wheels
placed inside the lock and marked on their rim with figures letters monograms or
the like in an irregular order-These letters or the like are visible through holes
cut in the external wall of the lock, and may be painted, engraved, embossed, or
otherwise produced.
The wheels with the said letters, or characters marked on them, by their driving
mechanism, rotate irregularly round their axles—This irregular rotation is derived
from an uneven number of teeth on ratchet or spur wheels-The consequence of
this irregular rotation is that the appearance of a desired combination of two letters
can be reached only after an almost numberless unclosing and shutting of the lock
as will be hereinafter more clearly shewn.
By applying three, Wheels, and consequently a combination of three letters, the
difficulty of causing the return to the control holes of the three desired characters
may be increased, but two wheels with the irregular succession of their characters are
quite sufficient to give an effective control over the opening and closing of the door.
The invention further consists in placing at the external part of the lock a slip
bolt, so arranged that by a spring it is brought into such a position that though
covering the key hole, it does not at the same time cover the holes through which
the control characters or letters are visible, but when being removed from the key
hole, in order to put the key in, the slip-bolt covers the control holes. The control
holes are thus invisible unless the lock is shut and the key removed from the
key hole.

page_text: The object of the invention is to afford control for freight cars and baggage
waggons. Very often it happens that such waggons are on their way for several
days before arriving at the Station where they are to be opened, and then if the
waggons are supplied with this lock and the Men at the Station are informed of the
combination of the control letters, any attempt to open the waggon during the way
will be apparent by a simple inspection of the lock.
These locks may be advantageously used by the Customs authorities for instance
as the application of sealing wax, lead seals, and such like means of control are
rendered unnecessary by their use.
Though this invention is especially designed for Railway and customs use it will
be understood that these locks may be applied in all cases where there is a
possibility of unlawful attempts to open locks and for checking such attempts.
· Dated this Third day of May 1884.
. I, DAVID NATANOVITCH SACKER, of No 34 Great Saint Helens, in the City of
London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVED
INDICATING APPARATUS FOR LOCKS" which invention has been communicated to
me from abroad by Stanislas Edward Weisblat of St Petersburg in the Empire of
Russia Engineer and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The present invention relates to the construction of locks such as pad locks,
mortise locks and the like at the opening and closing of which a controlling or
indicating apparatus is brought into operation. This controlling or indicating
apparatus consists in wheels placed inside the lock and marked on their rim with
figures letters monograms or the like in an irregular order. These letters or the
like are visible through holes cut in the external wall of the lock and may be
painted, engraved, embossed, or otherwise produced.
The wheels with the said letters or characters marked on them, by their driving
mechanism, rotate irregularly round their axles. This irregular rotation is derived
from an uneven number of teeth on ratchet or spur wheels. The consequence of
this irregular rotation is that the appearance of a desired combination of two letters
can be reached only after an almost numberless unclosing and shutting of the lock
as will be hereinafter shown more clearly.
By applying three wheels and consequently a combination of three letters, the
difficulty of causing the return to the control holes of the three desired characters
may be increased, but two wheels with the irregular succession of their characters,
are quite sufficient to give an effective control over the opening and closing of
the door.
The invention further provides for placing at the external part of the lock a slip
bolt so arranged that by a spring it is brought into such a position that though
covering the key hole it does not at the same time cover the holes through which
the control characters or letters are visible, but when being removed from the

page_text: keyhole, in order to put the key in, the slip bolt covers the control holes. The
control holes are thus invisible unless the lock is shut and the key removed from
the key hole.
The object of the invention is to afford control for locks more particularly such
as are used for freight cars and luggage waggons. Very often it happens that such
waggons are on their way for several days before arriving at the Station where
they are to be opened, and then if the waggons are supplied with this lock and the
men at the Station are informed of the combination of the control letters any
tampering with the lock for the purpose of opening the waggon during the journey
will be apparent by simple inspection of the lock.
These locks may be advantageously used by for instance the Customs authorities
as the application of sealing wax, lead seals, and such like means of control aro
rendered unnecessary by their use.
Though this invention is specially designed for Railway and Customs use; it will
be understood that these locks may be applied in all cases where there is a
possibility of unathorized attempts to open locks, and for detecting such attempts.
In order that my invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed to
describe the same more in detail and shall refer to the drawings hereunto annexed
forming part of this my Specification and to the letters and figures marked thereon
and shall show in what way the controlling apparatus may be conveniently
applied to different kinds of locks, such as pad locks, mortise locks, rim locks, &c,
and connected with the moving and other parts of such locks.
In figures 1 to 8 is shown a padlock embodying this invention
A is the shell.
or casing (Fig. 1) at the upper part of which and at one side, is fixed a two armed
stirrip piece a, a', In the arm a is cut an internal thread in which works the '
threaded part b of the spindle B, B¹, Fig. 2 In the arin a¹ there is an aperture
through which the other end of the spindle freely passes: The right hand side of
the spindle serves for the key, and the left end for fastening or closing the lock.
For brevity's sake I shall term the right hand side of the spindle the "key end,"
the left hand side the "locking end." On the central part of this spindle works
the ring C Fig. 1 (the elevation whereof is shown at Fig. 3a) its right hand side
bears against the screw thread b the left liand side abutting against a pin so that
it can not slip upon the spindle.
On a pin & passing through this ring and shewn in the small view Fig. 3* are
mounted two pawls e, e¹, (see Fig. 1) both pressed downwards by the ends of a
spring t coiled round said pin so that they engage with the toothed wheels F, F,
(Figs. 1 and 4). The horizontal movement of the ring with the pawls is determined
by the movement of the spindle: On each toothed wheel is fixed a rim g, g¹; say
of white metal. (Figs 1 and 5). on which, as an illustration, letters are shown
marked not in alphabetical sequence, see Fig. 4. Both rotate centrally on their
axle K, Figs. 1 and 5: The steel pawls h, h¹, Fig. 1 serve to inaintain the toothed
letter wheels in position and to prevent their turning backward. The elasticity of
these pawls however allows the pawls e, el, to move the wheels forward. The
elbow Figs. 1 and 6 by means of a slot moves up and down on pin k, (Figs. 1
and 6) and a wire spring coiled on pin f, Fig. 1, tends to maintain it in its'
elevated position.
The bolt u Fig. 1 moves along a slot in the rear wall of the casing and the pin z
passing through said slot connects it with the shield H on the outside of the lock;
see Fig. 8. On the inner left hand side of the lock (Fig. 1) is fixed the spring w
pressing against the left hand end of the bolt whose right hand end passes through,
the casing. The movements of the bolt are determined by the Shield. The
slide m Figs. 1 and 7, mounted on the outside of the lock works up and down in a
slot in the casing; it has a pin n, Fig. 1. and the spring o shown in Fig. 1 and in-
the small Fig. 3b always tends to press it upwards Spring o is coiled round pin p.
Into the recess c on this slide (Fig. 7) takes the end of the bolt u and prevents
the upward movement of the slide. In the casing of the lock and behind the slide
there is an aperture G Fig. 7 just opposite the ket end of the spindle. The

page_text: aperture G serves for the reception of the key. It is beneath the slide and
therefore not visible and indicated by a dotted circle in Fig. 7. In the left hand.
⚫ corner inside the lock there is a small piece q of say sponge saturated with a.
lubricant, oil for instance, so as to prevent rusting of the letters. The key D is
shown in Fig. 2a in elevation and below it is the plan of the pipe of the key.
Within the pipe it has three slots forming an irregular triangle corresponding with
the pins y on the key end of the spindle see Fig. 3.
To open the lock it is seized with the left hand so that the thumb is at the top.
and the fingers below. Now take the key with the right hand and place its lower
end against the upper part of the slide the top of which some what projects as may
be seen in the drawing. It will be found that the slide can not be moved by
means of the key as the end of the bolt is in engagement therewith and locks.
the same.
If however the movable shield at the back is moved slightly from right to left
(most readily effected with the second finger of the left hand) whilst at the same
time pressing the slide downwards by the key, the slide will move downwards
until the key enters the hole G, and takes upon the key end of the spindle. The
key, is now turned a little (whether to the right or left is immaterial) until the
three grooves in the pipe of the key engage with the corresponding pins y. When
this is done the key is turned towards the left until the ring C bears against the.
arm a, Fig. 2, and then it can be turned no further. The thread on the spindle.
causes the same to travel; its locking end is thus moved out of the eye r in the.
stirrup piece E. The spring 6 now forces the elbow i, and with it the stirrup
piece E resting thereon upwards as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the lock is unlocked or
opened.
As the steep sides of the teeth of the toothed wheels as well as the pawls
engaging therewith are set in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 1, the pawl e,
has, whilst the bolt has travelled from left to right, passed over one tooth of its
wheel (compare Figs. 1 and 2) without altering the position of said wheel, the other
pawl e however has moved its wheel one tooth. It has been seen that during the
unlocking the spindle has passed outward through the casing so that the key end
projects. Fig 2. In this position the spindle remains till the lock is fastened or
locked again. It is also known that in inserting the key the slide m has moved
downwards and therefore covers the letters up until the lock is once more closed.
If therefore the controlling mark is to be inspected, the lock must first be closed.
To this end the stirrup piece E is first completely pushed into the lock so that
the elbow i moves out of the way of the locking end of the spindle, as it would
otherwise obstruct the motion of the latter, the key is now turned to the right
which can be done until the spindle touches the pin 8 and the further movement of
the spindle being impeded, shows that the lock is secured. During this operation
the parts within the lock move in the same manner as in the previous operation
but in the contrary direction and the other wheel advances one tooth.
i
The sight hole in the lock casing however is still covered by the slide; only
when the key is withdrawn does the slide return to its first position and the letters
can be seen. These are however by no means the same as the first, and their change
makes it evident that the lock has been open.
In Figs. 9. 10 and 11 a rim lock is shown to which this invention is applied.
On the Plate A Fig. 9 two toothed wheels a, a¹, Figs. 9 and 10 are mounted in
a horizontal line so that their teeth gear into one another. These wheels rotate on
the pins b, b1, Figs. 9 and 10, fixed on that plate and are actuated by a pawl c.
The bolt B is placed between the wheel a (see Fig. 10) and the top of the lock, and
works on the pin 1 On the "head" of this bolt the pawl c is placed, being
mounted on the pin d the spring e also fixed on the bolt pressing the pawl into the
teeth of the wheel. The bolt, pawl, and spring, therefore move together. The bolt
also has a slot f receiving the pin g.
A three cornered pin h, Figs 9 and 11 whose front end accommodates the key is
at the back so mounted on the lock-plate that it is free to rotate. To this end

page_text: which passes through the lockplate, a plate i, Figs 9 and 10, is attached with a
squared end.
The plate i, closely, bears against the rear-side of the lock plate on,
one side and on the other carries a pin g Fig. 10, engaging with a slot in the bolt,
The movable pawl Fig 10, prevents a rearward movement of the wheels. The
spring p depresses this pawl. Fig. is a washer between the wheel a and the
lock-plate so that this wheel may be in one plane with the wheel a¹.
To open this lock the key is placed on the projecting three cornered pin h.
(Figs 9 and 11) and is turned to the left. With this pin the plate i together with
ping move in the slot of the bolt and these assume the position shown by the
dotted lines in Fig 10; during this operation the hook m Fig. 9 moves upward and
out of the staple n Fig. 11, the lock being then opened. When the bolt moves, the
pawl c Fig 10 participates in the movement and pushes the wheel a', one tooth
forward which also actuates the other wheel so that in this form also two different
letters are shown each time.
In this case also the number of teeth in the two wheels differs, there may be,
say 34 and 35. The change in this position of the bolt covers and uncovers the
sight holes for the inspection of the letters. Here also the lock must be fastened
or closed before the letters can be inspected and registered in a way bill for
instance, so that security is afforded against forgetfulness. The locking or closing"
does not affect the position of the wheels but slides the bolt back.
The sight holes in this form of lock are preferably glazed.
Another form of lock to which my invention may be applied is based on the
same principle but is of somewhat modified construction and is shown in
Figs. 12 to 15.
In this form similar toothed letter wheels and corresponding pawls are used, but
here the spindle E Fig. 12 effects the principal operations. Its movement is
horizontal and rotary and imparted to it by the screw thread ƒ Fig. 12, working in
a fixed nut band a worm g Fig. 13, which gears with a toothed part h of the
spindle. The projecting three cornered pin receives the key. The left end of the
spindle works in a hole of the lug Fig. 12 The ring k surrounds the round part
of the spindle close to the toothed part of the same and with the bolt t forms
a movable piece, see Fig. 12.-To the front part of this ring the pawl d is attached,
so as to be free to move, and it is depressed by the spring r. The endless screw is
supported with one end in the back plate of the lock and in front is supported by
a fixed piece m as shown in Figa: 12 and 13.
The pawl c prevents backward movement of the wheels.
If the lock is to be unfastened the key is placed on the three cornered pin n
Figs. 12 and 13 and turned to the left. The worm or endless screw engaging the
toothed part of the spindle compels the latter to turn towards the right, and the
threaded part working in a nut will moreover cause a longitudinal movement of
the screw.
At the same time the ring k Fig. 12 moves horizontally and the pawl d.
moves the wheel a one tooth forward; the latter imparting a similar movement to
the other wheel.
It is obvious that during the unlocking, the bolt t connected with the ring k
likewise moves from right to left, and the rectilinear part thereof (8 Fig. 12) has
entered the groove in the key, see Fig. 15, and this prevents removal of the key
until the lock is securely closed again.
Another form of padlock is shown in Figs. 16 to 20.
In the top part of the lock A (Fig. 16-20) is fixed the bolt B, B', which is
brought into action by the key, the bolt moves on the guide pin b (Figs 19-20)
and is kept in proper position by the spring u; the part C, C₁, of the bolt prevents
removal of the key from the keyhole before the lock is fully shut or open, the bolt
carries the block or piece d to which the pawls e, e¹, are fixed.
These pawls operate the control wheels F, F, F, bearing on their face, figures.
characters or other devices.
The wheels rotate on their spindles and the number of wheels, and consequently
also the figures or other devices may be multiplied as desired.-

page_text: •
Fig. 19 represents the lock when locked; when the lock is being opened the key
entering between the lower projections of the bolt noves the latter, together with
the parts connected therewith to the right, at the same time the pawls e, e', will
move the corresponding control wheels the distance of one tooth.
The spring
pawls h, h, h, prevent retrograde movement of the wheels. The bolt may be
constructed in any other suitable way. To open the lock it is requisite to move
the top part of the front slide m (fig. 16-17) upwards and its lower part m¹
downwards, the keyhole being now uncovered the key may be inserted. The key
is now turned three times from right to left, by doing which the bolt is made to
⚫ assumo the position shown in Fig 20 and the lock is open, at the same time, as
herein before mentioned, the pawls e, e¹, will move their wheels the distance of one
tooth and therefore different figures, characters, or designs, will appear in the
control holes, but cannot be seen until the lock is closed or locked, the key removed:
from its hole H Fig. 17 and the slide m' (Figs. 16-17) raised.
Here too, therefore the control consists in the changing of the figures each timo
at the unlocking and relocking of the lock. These locks are very useful for
Magazines, Stores, warehouses and other kinds of depositories and make the
application of seals; lead seals, &c unnecessary.
Figs 21 to 24 represent a flat mortise or rim lock for use on railway trucks and
the like, and embodying, this invention.
In the upper part of the lock box or casing (Figs. 21-24) is placed the
bolt D, D (Figs. 21-22) which is brought into opération by the key:
The bolt slides on the pin C, and is further guided by the projection B of the
lock-box; it is held in proper position by the spring F. The part H of the
bolt prevents removal of the key from the keyhole unless the lock is fully
shut or open..
The pawl K sliding on the part L (figs. 21 & 22) and bearing alternately
against the teeth 1, 1, 1, or 1, 1, 1, makes three turns of the key in one direction
indispensable.
The guide X (Fig. 21) placed on the back of the bolt keeps the slide (Fig. 24) in
proper position; this slide when the, lock is open and the key taken out, descends
and protects the key-hole.
In locking or closing the lock one must push the slide to the top, and after the
first turn of the key it will take it's proper position and cannot be lowered unless
the lock is again fully open.
The pawls G, G, Figs 21 and 22, fixed on the bolt actuate the control
wheels M, M1, M2, (Fig. 23,) bearing on their face figures characters or other
devices.
The control wheels rotate on their spindles and their number, and consequently
also that of the characters &c, may be varied as desired.
Fig. 21, represents the lock when it is locked. When the lock is to be opened
the key enters between the lower projections b, b, b, of the bolt and moves the
latter, and the parts connected with it, to the left, and the pawls G, G, rotate the
wheels the distance of one tooth. The pawls N, N, N, (Fig 23) prevent return
motion of the wheels when the bolt moves backwards. In order to open the lock,
the outer slide T (Fig. 24) must be moved to the right with the finger or the key,
by doing which the key hole is uncovered and the key can be inserted; the latter
is now turned three times from right to left, the bolt then assuming the position
shown in Fig 22, and the lock is open, at the same time, as herein before stated,
the pawls G, G, will move the control wheels the distance of one tooth, and
consequently other figures will appear in the control holes, but these figures cannot
be seen before the lock is fully shut, because the inner part R of the slide
(Figs 21-22) covers the control holes until the outer part of the slide is put
into its proper position, as shown on the fig 24, after having fully shut the lock.
Moreover when the lock is open and the key removed from the key hole the
slide T moves over the keyhole as stated and protects it.
..

page_text: S, fig 24 indicates the sight hole for inspecting the figures &c. It is protected
from within by the slide R, Figs 21-22.
Although in the drawings and description I have referred to locks with two
and three letter wheels only, it will be obvious that the number of these wheels
may be increased to any desired extent; the modifications required in this case
will be obvious to those skilled in the matter and need therefore not be specified.
It is likewise apparent that the invention herein above set forth may be carried
into practice otherwise than shown and described without in any way departing
from the spirit thereof. I do not therefore limit myself to the precise details which
I have specified, but having now particularly described and ascertained the nature
of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare
that what I claim is constructing an indicating apparatus for locks, consisting of
wheels bearing letters or characters which wheels are each time the lock is unlocked
and locked again, actuated in such a manner that they will present different com-
binations of letters, figures, or other devices which are visible only when the key
is withdrawn and reference to which affords a certain indication of whether the
lock has been tampered with since the letters or characters were last observed,
together with the arrangements and means of adapting the same to locks of various
kinds substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth and described.
Dated the Fourth day of December 1884.