US1698790A - Lock - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 15, 1929. 1,698,790

E. GRAHAM LOCK Filed Aug. 26, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 15, 1929.

E, GRAHAM LOCK Filed Aug. 26, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet Illrrl Patented Jan. 15, 1929..

UNITED STATES EDINBURGH GRAHAM, OF AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA.

LO CK.

Application filed August 2'6, 1927. Serial No. 215,580.

The invention relates to a locking mechanism.

The present locking mechanism while capable of use generally is primarily designed for association with the closures of toilet rooms, cabinets or the like, and a particular object is to provide such a construction as may be used for the mono-slot toilet room of my United States Letters Patent Number 1,656,350 issued January 17, 1928, and also may supplant the present slot-locks as for toilets without requiring radical changes in the structure of the toilet rooms, cabinets or the like; to provide a slot lock particularly for toilets which is attachable in such manner particularly to a hinged door as to render it impossible to have the door opened to gain unlawful access, as for instance, one party entering while another is leaving, or the holding of the door open by one party for another; to provide a means whereby the lock can not ce tampered with or incorrectly operated during the presence of a coin within the device, to avoid the possibility of a patron locking himself either within or without the toilet room, cabinet or the like through confusion; to provide a structure which will remit the coin in case the lock fails to operate; to provide a structure wherein the lock may be adjusted to prevent reception of a coin in case the lock or toilet becomes incapacitated, and to provide -i generally improved and comparatively inexpensive form of lock mechanism utilizing novel coin-controlled means.

The present invention in pait is a continuation of my aforesaid United States Letters Patent Number 1,656,350 for mono-slot toilet room.

Various additional objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the description following taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating an operative embodiment.

In said drawings- Figure 1 is a view of the improved locking mechanism in perspective, a section of the casing being shown as displaced to disclose details, and the coin tray being shown as partly opened;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the locking mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

.Fig 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View similar to Fig. 5 but showing the latch in the position assumed after the lock bar is raised by a coin;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line Y 7 7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view showing the latch, locking bar, and coin guard; l

Fig. 9 is a detail view through the device taken on the same plane as Figs. 5 and 6 but showing the block through which the coin is deposited as reversed to prevent reception of coins;

Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view showing the lock bar, the latch therefor, a coin and a fragment of the coin moving lever; and

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 showing the parts in position releasing a coin so that it may drop into the coin tray.

Referring specifically to the drawings whereinlike reference characters designate like or similar parts, 12 designates a suitable casing adapted to contain the parts constituting the locking mechanism. At 13 a'locking bar is shown. In practice, one of the parts 12 or 13 `is movable relatively to the other. For instance, though not necessarily, the bar 13 may be stationary and the casing 12 may be movable relatively to the bar. The latter is true in this case and in my aforesaid Patent 1,656,350. On the contrary, in some forms of toilet rooms, cabinets or the like, the casing 12 may be stationarily attached to the room or cabinet and the bar 13 may be movable with the door or closure therefor. In connection with such toilet room or the like, the door, for example, is normally unlocked and the patron enters, inserts a coin and releases tlie locking bar or casing, as the case may be, and moves the same by direct engagement of the hand therewith or otherwise to cause locking and closing of the door. Obviously any suitable means may be used t0 secure casing 12 in place, as for instance attaching straps 12a (as in Fig. l) of any desired number and size and which may be bolted to the support.

Referring specifically to the casing 12, it is preferably made of sheet metal and may be of any desired shape. In order to permit access to the mechanism within the casing, for cleaning, inspection, repair and the like, the Same may have one or more removable parts such as the hood at 14 in Fig. 1, to concealthe operating parts against access or tampering.

SAR

Such hood 14 is U-shaped and forms the top wall and side walls of said casing. The top wall is designated 15, and the side walls are 16. The ends of walls 16 are slidably disposed in grooves 16a of adjacent walls of the casing. Such hood or section 14 is normally secured against removal by means of appropriate locking mechanism such as a pad-lock at 17 in Figs. 1 and 2.

rlhe aforesaid locking bar 13 is horizontally disposed and passes freely but snugly through an opening in the rear end wall of the casing 12. At 19, the said bar 13 is provided with ratchet teeth. Such ratchet teeth 19 are below a cam surface at 19, also provided on said bar 13. Y

In order to hold the casing and bar 13 interlocked so that there can be no relative movement of the parts controlled thereby, a suitable vertically movable pawl or latch is provided at 2O which is normally in engagement with the ratchet teeth 19, such pawl being urged into such engagement by reason of a spring 21 shown as of elongated form. Said spring preferably fits a concave seat 22 in the `upper end of said latch 20. Suitably fastened to the casing 12 and interiorly against a side wall 23EL thereof is a block or mounting body V23. Said block or body 23 has a vertical slot 24 in which is disposed a lateral extension or enlargement 25 of the latch 20. Said enlargement serves to partly retain the latch in operative position and the latch is further maintained in operative position and guided in its movement by means of straps 26 and 27 firmly fastened to the block or body 23. Spring 21 is fastened at one end as at 28 to the block 23.

The latch or pawl 2f) is adapted to be actuated or controlled through the deposit of a coin into the mechanism, followed by manual operation of certain parts. To this end a vertically movable slide'or body 29 dove-tailed in cross-section is positioned in a dovetailed slot or groove 29a formed in the plate 23a and the block 23. Such block 23 has a passageway or chute 30 covered at the outer side by plate 29 arranged in communication with a slot 31 in the wall 15, and a slot 31lnb in a guard 31", to enable a coin or check such as 32 to be deposited. Guard 31b has a barrier or solid portion 29d and is pivoted to the slid-e 29 by a horizontal pin at 31C and is held normally against movement between wall 15 and top of body 23. Said guard however is reversible on its pivot when hood 14 is removed and slide 29 is raised. The lower extremity of the passageway 30 servesV and leads to a. cutaway portion or void 33 at the lower edge of the block 23. Since slide 29 is removable, slot 31a may be readily exposed for cleaning. Integral with or attached to the pawl or latch 2O is a lifting or controlling finger 34. As shown, finger 34 is secured to the latch by a pin as at 35, and the finger engages the opposite face of block 23-to that engaged by the latch, and the saine is accommodated for sliding movement in a slot 35 which communicates with the slot 24. ln the locked position of the latch, the finger 34 extends into the cut-away 'portion 33 so as to intercept arrest the deposit of a coin as shown in Fig. 5.

Vend in a lateral lug 41 extending under the lever 38. Said spring 42 is fastened as at- 43 to a lateral lug 44 extending inwardly from a side wall of the casing 12. The other end of said spring 42 engages an upstanding arm 45 on said lever 38. The upper end of said arm 45 is also engaged by the said spring 21 as Vshown in Fig. 2. lnaddition, at a suitable point midway of the ends of the main or horizontal portion of spring 21, the same is flattened as at 46 toenable the spring 21 to distort or be contracted as to length into the posit-ion shown by the dot-dash lines in F ig. 2 when the latch or pawl 20 is raised.

A suitable means is -employed whereby the lever 38 may be rocked on its fulcrum 37 for coaction with the coin 32 to unlock the mechanism and to this end, the casing 12 may have a vertical extension as at 47, in which a transverse shaft 48 is journaled in bearings 49 and adapted to be operated from the exterior of the extension through the manipulation of a crank 50 fastened to said shaft. Said shaft 48 within the extension has a crank 51 to which a lifter or link 52 is pivoted. The said link has a recess53 into which the lug 41 of the spring 21 extends when a coin is directly under finger 34; the latter thus being elevated and spring 21 moved to the dotted line posiv tion of Fig. 2 where lug 41 is spaced from link 52 and thus free from manipulation until the coin is released and another deposited. As a result, turning of crank 50 rocks shaft 48 so that the crank 51 thereof will lift link 52 to cause the lower end wall at slot 53 to engage lug 41, lift the latter, and due to its contact with lever 38 tilt the lever so that its free end will be lowered as shown in Fig. 10 to enable the coin 32 to tra-vel under the lifting finger 34, as shown in Fig. 10. Said finger 34 has a lug 54 at its lower forward end, to arrest the movement of the coin in the proper position below the finger.

The extent of movement or throw of the lever 38 may be regulated according to the size of the coin which may operate the machine, through the adjustment of upper and lower bolts and 56. Said bolts are of usual construction and are accommodated in diverging slots 57. Through the adjustment of the bolts 55 and 56 in the slots 57, such bolts may be arranged closer together or farther apart to attain the end stated. lt will be realized that in the normal position of lever 38, it abuts the bolt 56 while in the raised position of the lever 38 it abuts the bolt 55.

Tn order that the relative movement between the bar 13 and casing 12 may occur without undue friction, the bar 13 rests on a roller 58 which is journaled on a pin 59, suitably supported on the block 23.

A coin tray or till is provided at 60, preferably being pivoted at 61 to casing 12 and normally held closed through the medium of an appropriate key-controlled or other lock as at 62. Said tray is disposed directly in line with and below the passageway 30 and cut-away portion 33.

Presuming operation of the parts thus far described, the patron deposits the appropriate coin in the slot 31 and the saine travels down the passageway 30 until it abuts the linger 34 and its movement is accordingly arrested, it being in the position shown in Fig. 5. Thereupon crank 50 is turned to lift link 52 through the rocking of shaft 48, whereby the lower wall of slot 53 engages lug 41 and the latter causes the lever 38 to be elevated at the adjacent end and lowered at the opposite end, the latter being shown specifically in Fig. 10. Such free end of lever 38 is lowered merely to the extent limited by the bolt 55 which is necessary to enable the coin to travel under the linger 34 and be arrested from further movement by the lug At this stage, the patron releases the crank or handle 50 whereupon the springs 21 and 42, which have been t-ensioned by the rocking of the lever 38. spend their energy, through the medium of the arm 45, and lower the adjacent end of lever 38, restoring said lever to normal horizontal position. During such restoration of lever 38 to its normal horizontal position, the upward movement of the free end of lever 38 through its engagement with the coin 32, causes that coin, as a connector, to elevate or lift the finger 34 and accordingly elevate or lift the latch 2O out of engagement with the ratchet teeth 19, as well shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 10. At this stage, it will be realized that the casing 12 and bar 13 are unlocked from each other` so that the movable part 12 or 13 as the case may be, may move freely relatively to the other part, which is stationary. As the latch 20 is raised, it

distorts the spring 21 into the shape shown by the dot-dash lines in Fig. 2 whereby the lug 41 of spring 21 is moved out of the path of movement of the lifter or link Thus at no time while a coin is in the machine and has not been released into the coin tray 60,

can improper operation of the crank 50, cause or interfere with proper operation of the machine and for instance such as might be caused by a. confused person operating the crank 50 successively before the coin is released.

When the movable part 12 or 13 as the case may be approaches the limit of opening movement, the lower edge of latch or pawl 20 will engage the cam 13 which will further elevate the latch 20, to provide sullicient space for the coin to be completely released, as detailed in Fig. 11, so that it may fall into the tray 60. After the movable part has remained open to the extent desired, the same may. be moved to closed position freely since idling of the latch or pawl 26 will occur relatively to the teeth 19 as they are of ratchet form and such teeth will automatically retain the parts in locked position after they are restored thereto and from which posit-ion the parts can not be moved until a succeeding operation initiated through the deposit of another coin.

In case the machine should fail to operate, the deposited coin will be returned to the customer or patron. To this end, a guard is provided, as at 63, which has a normally inclined plate 64 arranged in the path ofv deposit of the coin below the cut-away portion 33, and adapted for engagement by the coin in the event the machine does not operate through sticking or failure of latch 20, its lifter 34 and associate parts to return to normal or lowered position, so as to deflect and guide the same into a passageway 65 provided between plate 23a and adjacent side wall of hood 14 and thence into a tray 65 carried in any suitable manner by the casing 12. Said guard 63 operates in an opening 66 provided in one side wall of the casing and the guard has lugs 67 pivoted at 68 to the said side wall of the casing. To one of the lugs 67, at 69, a lifter or link 70 is pivoted. Said link 7 O has a lug 71 thereon adapted to normally rest on the strap 27 to thus hold the guard 63 in normal position, that is, to cause ejection of a coin into the tray 65 if the machine fails to operate as through sticking of the latch 20, lifter 24 and associate parts as aforesaid. Said lifter 7 6 has a slot or recess 71 through which the bar 13 passes. The slot 71 is of such size as never to interfere with the teeth 19 but to be engaged at the upper end wall of the slot by the cam surface 13 immediately prior to the moment of complete release of the coin 32, whereby the wall 64 is moved into vertical position as suggested by the dot-dash lines in Fig. 4, so that it will not intercept the deposit of the coin 32 into the tray 60, the coin thereby having a free path of movement into the tray. Said lift-er 70 has a slot or recess 72 to afford clearance adjacent the strip 27 to enable the lifter 70 to operate.

In cas-es where it may be desired to close slot 30 to save customers the inconvenience of depositing a coin when the machine is not in order, the slide or body 29 may be raised when the hood 111 is removed, and the guard 31h reversed by swinging on its pivot 31c to dispose the solid portion 31d instead of slot 31a in line with slot 80, after which the slide 29 is lowered to enable the guard 81h to rest on block 23, and the hood 111 is replaced.

Means are provided whereby the owner or holder of the key may manipulate the lock without the deposit of a coin. Such means may consist of a lever 73 pivoted at 74 to the bloclr 23. Said lever has a free end disposed intermediate lugs 75 extending laterally Vfrom the latch 2G. At the other end lever 73 is pivoted at 7 6 to a link 77 which passes upwardly through a slot 7 8 in the upper wall of extension 17 of the casing. A stud 79 rises from said upper wall and has a lever 8O pivoted thereto, as at 81, and the link 77 pivoted thereto as at S2. Normally the levers 73, 77 and 8O are in the full line position and locked by a padlock Se, as in Fig. 2, so that they do not control or offer interference to free actuation of the latch 20. Through operation of the lever 80, the said parts 7 3, 7 7 and 8O may be moved'to the dotted line position of F ig. 2 which results in elevating the latch 2O so that the casing 12 and bar 18 may have relative movement. rl`he lever 80 may be moved to the said dotted line position to permit free actuation by the owner, by removing the padlock 84 from aligned openings 83 in the lever 80 and stud 7 9.

- Various changes may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim: y

1. A coin controlled mechanism having a coin passageway, a latching means normally extending into the passageway to serve as a stop for a deposited coin when initially deposited, a coin-moving member having a portion merging into a wall ofthe passageway, said member being movable to permit the coin to enter between the same and said latching means and again be stopped thereby, whereby upon return of said member to normal position, said latching means will be operated.

2. A coin controlled mechanism having a coin passageway, a latching means normally extending into the passageway to serve as a stop for a coin, when initially deposited a coin-moving member, said member being movable to permit the coin to enter between the same and said latching means and again be stopped thereby, whereby upon return of said member to normal position, said latch will be operated and means to impart a further movement to said latching means to permit release of the coin.

3. A coin controlled mechanism having a passage to receive a coin, a locking bar provided with teeth and with a cam, said latching means being normally engaged with said teeth, and having' a part extending into said passageway to serve as a stop for the coin, a coin moving lever, said lever being movable in one direction relatively to the latching means to permit a coin to enter therebetween, said lever being movable in the opposite direction as that said coin will cause the latching means to disengage said teeth and said latching means being subsequently engageable with said cam to further move the latching means so that the coin may be released.

4f. A coin controlled mechanism comprising latching means, a coin moving member, said member being movable to permit a coin to enter between the same and said lat-ching means and to thereafter move the coin so as to operate the latching means, and means adjustable to vary the movement of said coin moving member relative to different sized coms.

5. A coin controlled mechanism comprising latching means, a coin moving member, said member being movable to permit a coin to enter between the same and said latching means and to thereafter move the coin so as to operate the latching means, and means adjustable to vary the movement of said coin moving member relative to different sized coins and comprising two elements between which said member moves and diverging slots in which said elements are adjustably disposed.

6. A coin controlled mechanism comp-rising latching means, means to urge the same to locking position, a coin moving means, the latter having a movement relatively to the latching means for entry of a coin therebetween so that subsequent operation of the coin moving means will actuate the latch, spring vmeans urging said latch to locking position, said spring means being engageable with said coin lifting means, operating means engageable with said spring means to impart the saidmovement to the coin lifting means, said spring means being displaceable through the retraction of the latching means to move said spring means out of operative relation with respect to said operating means.

7. A coin controlled mechanism comprising a latching device, a coin moving member associated therewith having a movement relatively thereto to permit a coin to enter therebetween, said member being movable thereafter to cause the interposed coin to retract said latch, means urging movement of the latch to locked position, said means engaging said member, a lifting means engageable with the last mentioned means to impart the said movement to the coin liftingl member, and said' last mentioned means being movable out of the path of said ope-rating means through the retraction of the latching device.

8. A coin controlled mechanism comprising a latching device, a lever coacting with said device, said lever being movable relatively to the device to permit a coin to enter therebetween, Said lever being subsequently movable to cause said coin toretract the latching device, a spring urging movement of the latching device to locking position, said spring extending under said lever, operating means engaging said spring whereby it may cause the latter to impart the said movement to said lever, said spring through the retraction of the latching device being movable out of the path of movement of said operating means.

9. A coin controlled mechanism comprising a mounting body having a coin slot, a latching device movably carried by said body, a lever pivoted to said body and movable away from the latching device to permit a coin to enter therebetween through said coin slot, a spring to urge movement of the lever to cause said coin to retract the latch, a spring weaker than the first mentioned spring urging movement of the latch to locking position, said weaker spring having a lug extending under Said lever, operating means including the lifter having a slot into which said lug normally extends so that lifting of the lifter will impart the said movement of the coin lifting lever, said weaker spring being displaceable to disengage said slot through the retraction of said latching device.

1-0. A coin controlled mechanism comprising a mounting body having a coin slot, a latch slidable mounted in said body, said latch having a lifting finger, said lifting inger and another portion of the latch being disposed on opposite sides of the body, a coin lifting lever pivoted to said body, said lever having a movement relatively to the body to permit a coin to enter between the same and said linger through said passage, an arm on said lever, a spring engaging said arm to urge the lever to normal position whereby said coin will retract said latch, a spring secured to said body and engaging said latch to urge the latter to retracted position, the latter spring engaging said arm and having a lug extending under said lever, and an operating means having a lifting member provided with a slot in which said lug is normally disposed so that the operating means through the medium of the latter may impart the said movement to the coin lifting lever, said second` mentioned spring being movable out of the zone of said slot through the retraction of said latch.

ll. A coin controlled mechanism comprising a latching means, coin controlled means to retract said latching means, a guard to return coins of the size required for operation in case of failure of operation of the mechanism, and means to displace said guard following retraction of the latching means whereby coins may be released and retained within the mechanism.

EDINBURGH GRAHAM.

Images