Improvements in Locks.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 17th Mar., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Locks.
I, CHARLES DEAN, of Walsall Road Willenhall in the County of Stafford
Lock Manufacturer, 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 has for its object; firstly, to construct locks which shall have
greater security than ordinary tumbler locks and be made more economically than
lever locks; secondly, to provide simpler means than heretofore by which a barrel
and curtain used with a cabinet lock or padlock are stopped in the position in
which the key can be readily withdrawn from the lock and inserted therein;
and, thirdly to improve the means of mounting such a barrel within the case.
The object first above stated is effected, in the simplest manner according to this
invention, by the use of a single tumbler, and a stud or guard projecting inwards
from one of the plates of the case in position so that, when the bolt is locked, if a
key is used of which the nose for operating the tumbler has a greater projection
than in the proper key the tumbler will be pressed against the guard and the key
thus prevented from being turned to unlock the bolt. According to a more
complex, but preferable, method of effecting the object, two tumblers are used one
at the back and one at the front of the bolt, and studs or guards are provided in
position, respectively, to prevent the tumblers being raised, when the bolt is locked,
beyond the position to which they would be raised by the proper key. The
tumblers are, preferably, made of flat metal as in the case of levers, but have of
course each a projection from the face thereof which engages with a notch or
notches in the edge of the bolt. When two tumblers are used, one at each face
of the bolt, the guard for the tumbler at the outer face of the bolt (that is to say,
the face thereof which is towards the cap-plate) may be carried by the bolt, and
such may be the case also if one tumbler only is used and is in position at the
outer face of the bolt. The tumblers are, preferably, shaped so that nosings of
different projection on the key are required to raise them. Considerable additional
security, compared with an ordinary tumbler lock, is obtained by employing two
tumblers, one at the front and the other at the back of the bolt, even though no
studs or guards are used to prevent them being raised unduly.
The object second above stated is effected, according to this invention, by
dispensing entirely with the spring and notch with which its free end engages
usually employed to fix the position of a barrel and curtain to admit of the key
being readily withdrawn from the case and inserted therein; and in lien thereof
fixing a stud or guard within the case, and forming the barrel with a lug which by
coming against the guard forms a stop to the turning of the barrel.
The object thirdly above described is effected, according to this invention, by
forming a recess in the back plate of the case, and carrying the inner end of the
barrel in such recess. The recess is closed in at the back to protect it from the
weather, and if a greater depth of recess is required than the ordinary thickness
of the plate admits of the portion of the plate where the recess is to be formed
may be thickened up. The inner end of the barrel is thus securely carried at the
back of the case.
Having thus stated the nature of my said invention, I will now proceed to
describe a practical method of carrying out the same, and in doing so will refer to
the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention as applied, by way of
example, to a padlock.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a padlock having the can-plate removed to shew

page_text: the interior mechanism. The front tumbler, hereinafter described, is omitted in
this view, and the bolt is shewn by broken lines only, for convenience of illustration;
and the barrel is shewn in transverse section.
Figure 2 is a corresponding view to Figure 1, except that the hinder tumbler
hereinafter described is omitted, the bolt is shewn by full lines except where it
passes behind other parts, and the barrel and curtain are shewn in elevation.
Figure 3 is a section of the padlock taken on line x of Figure 1, with the
spoon end of the shackle omitted; and
Figure 4 is a section of the padlock taken on line y y of Figure 2.
The lock is shewn by the illustrations to be locked.
A tumbler A is pivoted upon a fixed pin a, in position between the back of the
bolt B aud the back plate C of the case; and a tumbler D is pivoted upon the
same pin a in position at the outer or front face of the bolt B. Each tumbler is
formed as a flat plate. The tumbler A has a projection which engages, when it
is down, with one or other of a pair of notches m n formed in the top edge of the
bolt B, as in the case of an ordinary tumbler lock; and the tumbler D has a
corresponding backward projection for the same purpose. If the bolt were set
forwards by a spring, as in self-latching locks, the forward notch m in the bolt
would, of course, be dispensed with. A short stud or guard e projects from the
back plate C of the case, and prevents the lever A, when the bolt is locked, from
being raised higher than it would be by the proper key; and a stud or guard f
projects from the outer face of the bolt B, and correspondingly prevents, when
the bolt is locked, the tumbler D from being raised higher than it would be raised
by the proper key. Either the back tumbler A or the front tumbler D may be
used without the other, in combination with a stud or guard which, when the bolt
is locked, prevents it being raised higher than it can be by the proper key; and the
invention includes also the employment of the two tumblers in the same lock
whether used in combination with studs or guards to prevent them, when the bolt
is locked, being raised beyond the position to which they are raised by the proper
key, or not. The stamp k projecting from the outer face of the tumbler D is
merely a distance-piece between such tumbler and the inner face of the outer plate E
of.the case.
g and are, respectively, a barrel and curtain fitted to the lock. In the barrel
is formed a lug i, and a short stud or guard j projects from the back plate of the
lock case in position so that when the lock is locked, and the barrel and curtain
are consequently in their axial position in relation to the key-hole to allow of the
key being readily withdrawn from or inserted into the lock, the lug i comes against
the stud j, a stop thus being formed to the movement of the key in the direction it
is turned to lock the bolt. As the key does not turn a complete revolution, but is
stopped against the stud; when the bolt is unlocked, it cannot of course, in such
case, be withdrawn from the lock, and can be withdrawn only when the lock is
locked.
The inner end of the barrel g is carried within a recess formed as a bearing
therefor in the back plate C. This recess is closed in at the back, as shewn, so as
to exclude the weather, and for the purpose of obtaining any required depth of
recess the middle portion of the plate C may be thickened up at the back, such as
by a thickening piece / forming a vertical band down the back of the plate. The
portion of the barrel which is within the recess in the plate C may be formed solid
as shewn, or may be formed hollow in continuation of the other portion of the
barrel.
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 1
claim is :-
-
1. A lock fitted with two tumblers, one at the back and one at the front of the
bolt, and provided with suitable projections for engagement with the bolt, substan-
..

page_text: 2. A lock fitted with a tumbler having a suitable projection for engagement
with the bolt in combination with a stop which, when the bolt is locked, prevents
the tumbler from being raised higher than it can be by the proper key, substantially
as described.
3. A lock fitted with a tumbler at the face of the bolt which is towards the cap-
plate, in combination with a stop carried by the bolt which, when the bolt is locked,
prevents the tumbler from being raised higher than it can be by the proper key,
substantially as described.
4. A lock fitted with tumblers for engagement with the bolt, and provided with
suitable stops to prevent the same, when the bolt is locked, from being raised higher
than they can be by the proper key, substantially as described and shewn by
Figures 1, and 3 of the drawings herewith.
5. In a padlock or cabinet lock, the combination with a barrel and curtain of a
lug on the barrel and a stud or guard fixed in position to act as a stop to the axial
movement of the barrel and curtain when the same have been turned, in locking
the lock, into the position which allows of the key being readily removed therefrom,
substantially as described.
6. In a padlock or cabinet lock, the inner end of a barrel used with such lock
carried within a recess formed in the back-plate of the case and closed in at the
back to protect it from the weather, substantially as described.
Dated this 13th day of February 1894
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicant.