An Improvement in Locks..
Year: 1891

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by HUGO STEINKE, of Gneisenau Street, Berlin,
Manufacturer.]
An Improvement in Locks..
I, HUGH DONALD FITZPATRICK, of 70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Registered
Patent Agent, 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 improvement in locks which are usually made
without springs i.e., to such locks as have the tumblers or plates cut out to a form
suitable for receiving and being worked by the key.
With the new arrangement not only are the tumblers retained in their locking
position, but they are always brought back into the locked position, should any one,
who may happen to pull out the key carelessly, leave the lock open.
On the annexed drawings my invention is shown as adapted to a padlock.
Fig. 1 shows the lock open and with its cover plate removed.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line y-y Fig. 1, the tumblers or plates being seen
from the front when the lock is open.
Fig. 3 shows the lock Fig. 1 with its parts in the locked position.
Fig. 4 is a section similar of Fig. 2, but on the line - Fig. 3, the tumblers or .
plates being seen from the front, when the lock is locked.
My invention consists in fitting a strip of band-steel a into the case of the lock A.
The width of this strip is equal to the combined breadth of all the locking tumblers
or plates b, 1, 12, 63
lying one beside the other, and it is put into the
case of the lock A in such a way as to keep, when not worked, the tumblers in
their locking position and to hold them so fast that they cannot move, should the
locks be changed from one place to another or be otherwise removed from their
position.
-
The holder has the following effect viz.:-In opening the lock, the key B presses
the locking tumblers b, b, b³, b³,
or, if the tumblers are on the
ordinary lever latch or "Chubb" principle, first the tumbler caught by the top
bit of the key, then the second tumbler and so on-against the holder a of the
plates. The holder a is being gradually pressed outwards the more the key is
turned round, until, at last, all the locking plates are in their open position Fig. 1,
when the lock can be opened by withdrawing the locking bow C and entering the
hook of the bow into the locking plates; which are suitably cut at e, e', ell,
for its reception. The locking plates are now retained in their
open position by the hook and the holder a remains pressed into the position, as
shown at Fig. 1.
elli
The lock is relocked either by turning back the key B or on padlocks, as in this
case, by pushing in the hook c, when the holder a, in springing or returning to its
original and normal position (Figs. 3 and 4), will bring all the locking plates back
into their locking position, by pressing them against the wall A of the case and
keeping them there.
The holder a may, of course, be used to advantage on any locks, having locking
levers or tumblers without springs, such as box-locks, padlocks etc., to which the
holder should be fastened in such a way, that it is in its normal position when the
locking plates are being locked, while it should be in its pressed position, when
the lock is opened, so as to replace the locking plates into their locking position in
any case whenever the key is turned round and pulled out, or (as on the drawings)
when the bow C is pushed into the lock.

page_text: With this arrangement the tumblers always return to their locked position, even
if the lock be carelessly kept open by the key not being turned round.
The holder may be made of any shape or material, provided that it is made in
accordance with this invention, namely, that the holder should always be in its
pressed position when the lock is opened and in its normal position when, the lock is
locked.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
In springless locks the addition of a holder a substantially as and for the
advantages hereinbefore set forth.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70, Wellington Street, Glasgow.