US72408A - Isaac w - Google Patents

Description

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tro ALL wnoMvIr MAY ooNcnnNif Be it known that I, ISAAC W. LAMmf Salem, in the county of Washtenaw, and State of Michigan, (post oiiice, Northville, Michigan,) have invented a new and useful Combination Lock; and I' hereby declare that the following is such a. clear andekact description thereof Vas willfenable others skilled in the -artto make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apartof this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of the lock, seen 'from the back side, with the back of the case removed, the parts being in the position they severally occupywhen they are unlocked Figure 2 shows the same locked Figure 3 is a cross-section of the loek'showing the manner of attaching the same to a door.

Figure 4 is a plan of the wheels, showing by dotted lines thevrelativeposition of the key-Slots in each, when the notches c are together. I

' Figure 5 shows the relative position of the outer notches, c, when the key-slotsaIe together.

Figure 6 shows the method of numbering the dial. Figure 7 shows a plan of the key-ring. Similar letters of reference indicate-corresponding parts in the several drawings. y A A Aare the frame or case in which the working parts are contained.- B is a bolt, having, in this case, its rear or inner end made forked, to'pass on both sides o'f wheels C. The rear end of bolt B is only half as thick as the front en d, there being a shoulder at t.' Bis a' dog', pivoted at p to the main bolt, and having a projection, b, on its rear end. A spring, a, tends to keep the rear; end of the dog B in against the wheels C. C represents a series of wheels, six in number, in the present case. Each wheel Chas a notch, c, on its outer edge, also a hole, m, through its centre, a key-slot, c', on the side of the hole m,-and ten small holes, o o'o,

through its face. when the notches are together the keyslots are not, and m'ce versa. together, and-the projection 6 of dog B in such notches.

When the parts are in the position shown in g. 1, the bolt B can be thrown out or in by turning the knob G. But if either of the wheels has its notch in a different position from the notches of the other wheels, then The relative position of the notch c and the key-slot c is different in every wheel, so that Fig. 1 shows the notches e of all the wheels ythe dog B will be thrown hack,`as shown in-g. 2, when the shoulder A', on the lock-case, will keep the bolts forward or locked, as seen in iig. 2. D is the spindle, to one end of which (see iig. a. knob or handle, G,

v is attached. A key-ring, a, is held by a nut, N, on to the Lear end ofthe spindle, such spindle being turned down smaller, to receive it. The key-ring and spindle are of same size or diameter-,both being designed to pass through the holes m in the wheels C. The spindle DP also carries a pin-wheel, E, such pin-wheel being designed to slide upon the spindle, iii-'required The slot d2 in the spindle, and the pin e', limit the movement. of the pin-Wheel onthe spindle, and also cause such wh'eel to turn Witht'he spindle. Two pins, e e, are riveted into the pin-wheelE, the size of such pins being such that they will pass easily through the holes o o of the wheels C. The positionof the key-ring a and the pin-wheel'E upon the spindle is shown in fig. 3, they being such that the extremities of the pins'e e are on aline with the inner end of the key-ring n. There is a slot in the back, H, of the lock-case, in which the key n ts, and by which the key-ring is prevented from turning. As the key-ring and pin-wheel are both attached to the spindle, it follows that both move out 'and in together, and as the pins e e enter the holes o o of any wheel, thekey-ring is pushed hack out of such wheel, and it is free to turn. with the Spindle andpin-wheel.

I design to make the wheels C of sheet steel, about one thirty-second part of an inch thick, and harden them, and in the better class of locks I design to have ten wheels to a lock, although `there are hut six in the present ease. Every additional wheel multiplies the number of possible combinations by ten, if used onlltr one side out, and ten wheels give ten thousand million combinations. Each of the wheels is numbered accordingto the relative position of its key-slot c and notch c. The wheel that has its notch c and key-slot c on the same side, is numbered 1. The wheel whose key-slot is three-twentieths (2%) of a circle to the'l right of its notch c, is numbered 2, andso on, the key-slot of each consecutive number being threeetwentieths of a circle to the right. Eachwheelniay he numbered on both sides, as it can he used either side. In such case, I place on one side of each wheel the simple figure that indicates its number, and .on the other side I place the same figure,

with a dot over it. It is only necessary, however, to number the wheels on one side, and then have one set of numbers on the dial, with a dot over each gnre, to represent the wheels when one side out. Then have another sot of plain or simple ignres on the dial, to represent the wheels when the other side out. The different changes in the combination are made by placing the wheels in the lock in different order, and as the wheels can be arranged in any order, I can set the wheels in as many different ways as there can be permutationsin six figures. Thon, as each wheel can go in either side out, that number of permutations must be multiplied by the sixth power of two, to indicate all the possible ways in which the wheels may be arranged. The permutations on ten gures amount to over three millions, and the tenth power of two is ten hundred and twenty-four. So that there are over three thousand million ways in which ten wheels can be put in the lock. The chance of guessing the numbers on one of my locks with ten wheels (each wheel being used both sides out,) is found by raising twenty (20) to the tenth power, which'is ten trillions two hundred and forty billions, (10,240,000,000,000,) and the chance of guessing would be as one to thatnumber. New, when the key-ring is in all the wheels, the notch cof one wheel is three-twentieths (35) of a circle from that in the wheel bearing the next consecutive number. It follows, therefore, that I must turn one wheel three-twentieths (5,30) of a circle, to bring its notch even with the notch of the wheel bearing the next number't I therefore 4divide the dial K into twenty spaces, and number it in the following ordcignamely, beginning at the top with No; 1, I place No. 2 three spaces 'from No. 1, and No. 3 I place three spaces from No. 2, and No. 4l three spaces from No. 3, and so on, up to tennumbers. Then, if the wheels are'turned over, it is evident that the consecutive numbers will be on the other side of iig. 1, each number being three spaces from the number preceding.4 I therefore number the dialin both directions, beginning with No. 1, as shown in fig. 5. Now, as there are ten holes in each wheel, and as the wheels dilfer from one another in the position of the key-slots threctwentieths of a circle, it follows that when a wheel with an even number is placed next to a wheel of an odd number, then the spaces between the holes o o o ofthe one wheel will cover the holes o'o o&.c., of the other, when the key-ring is in the wheels. The object of this arrangement is, that when theV knob G is pushed in, the pins c c can pass through but a single wheel at a time. That Asaves care in unlocking, but is not necessary. The knob G is fastened to the spindle by a light screw, g, which is split at its scrcwend, so that if broken olf it can be readily removed from the spindle.

A spring, F, keeps the pin-wheel E in the positionshown in iig. 8, yet permits such pin-wheel to slide on the spindle when any great pressure is brought upon the spindle, at any time when the pins e e are ont of the wheels C.` M represents a part of a door to which the lock is attached, as shown in iig. The spindle has a shoulder', ol, formed on its outer end, which lits in a recess bored in the safe-door, as shown in tig. 3. A collar, d', is also screwed on, or otherwise securely fastened to the spindle, within the door. 'Ihe shoulder al and collar d prevent the spindle from being driven in or drawn out by a person on the outside of the safe. l

The manner of unlocking my lock is as follows: First, the handle or knob` G is turned around and drawn out until it will not come out any further. As it is turned, the key-slots ofthe wheels, ,one by one, come under the key n', and such key enters the slots, and the pins e e draw out of cach wheel as the key-ring enters the same. New, suppose thatl the wheels are in the lock in the order 1, 2, 3,14, 5, 6, they being the side out that would correspond with the dotted numbers. .After the knob is drawn out as far as it can come, the key-ring will be through every wheel. You turn the knob until the index 1' is over ligure 1 of the dial; then push in on theknob, and the pins e e will enter wheel No. l; turn on, and the wheel No. 1 turns also. When the index is over figure 2, the notches c of the first and second wheels will be together. Push in again, and the pins c e enter thewheel No. 2, and -the key-ring passes out of the same. New turn to figure 3 on the dial, and the first two wheels are with the third. Push in the knob and ta'ke hold of wheel No. 3. Turn to figure i on the dial, andl push in and take wheel No. 4. Turn on to ligure 5, and take wheel No. 5. Turn on to 4figure 6, and take wheel No. 6. If yon have followed the directions, you will now have the notches c ot all the wheels together, and the pins e c will be in all tlle wheels. Now turn the knob around to the left, until the projection l) of the bolt B springs into the notches c of the wheels, when the door is unlocked.

To lock the same, you turn the knob around to the right, until the bolt B is thrown forward. Continue to turn, and the dog B is forced out into the position shown in fig. 2. Turn on7 and draw out on the knob, and the key-ring will enter the wheels one by one, and the combination is secure.

When'my locks are used on safes, the bolt B may be used only as a secondary bolt, to slide ont behind the main bolt or bolts of the safe. The pin-wheel E, on an ordinary door-lock, could be rigidly secured to the spindle D, and then, as it would be within the case of the lock, the shoulder d, or the collar d,.w0uld not be needed. Neither would the spring F be of any use, because the lock would be stronger than a wooden door, and would not therefore need protection. i I I i Having thus described my invention, Iwould say that the details may be modified in many ways, to adapt the locks for different uses, and I design to make such modifications as experience shall dictate.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

`1. The combination of the spindle I), the pin or pins e e, and key n', with the wheels C, when constructed and operatedsubstantially upon the principle described.

2. I claim producing the various combinations, by placing the wheels C in the lock in diilerent order substantially as speciiied.

3. I claim the combination 'of the spring F with the pin-wheel E, as and for the purpose herein explained.

4, I claim splitting the screw g at g', for the purpose specified.

ISAAC W. LAMB.

Witnesses.:-

H. B. Terr, EMMA Snvnmncn.

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