US3383886A - Key-controlled combination lock - Google Patents

Description

May 21, 1968 HERMANN 3,383,886

KEY-CONTROLLED COMBINATION LOCK Filed April 21, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ROBERT HERM/J/VN BY Hi-F y 1968 R. HERMANN 3,383,886

8 I KEY-CONTROLLED COMBINATION LOCK Filed April 21, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet z N VE N TOR. ROBE)? 7' HE EMA/V N MTV/j 8 United States Patent 3,383,886 KEY-CONTROLLED COMBINATION LOCK Robert Hermann, Stronghurst, Ill. 61480 Filed Apr. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 632,713 2 Claims. (Cl. 70-284) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination lock having an operating key which is turned after the combination is dialed thereby opening a gate in the lock mechanism which allows a further turning of the dial to actuate the bolt of the lock. The operating key fits into a core which is changeable without dismantling the lock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention In the prior art combination locks having key lock cylinders on them only locked the dial so that it could not be rotated and did not form an integral part of the mechanism of the combination lock. This resulted in having the key serve no function in connection with the mechanism of the combination portion of the lock, which it does in this invention. Furthermore, without the removable feature of the key-controlled portion of the lock, the lock could not be partially dismantled for the easy changing of the core of the key section of the lock.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The key-controlled combination lock has a removable core making it possible to change the key to 'be used in connection with the look without having to dismantle the lock in its entirety.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a key-controlled combination lock which has a removable core in the key section of the lock, thus making it possible to change the operating key without having to dismantle the lock.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlled combination lock with a key mechanism that functions to open a gate after the combination is dialed so that the bolt of the combination mechanism may be actuated by a further turning of the dial.

It is a further object of this invention to provide meshing gears between the key portion of the lock and the combination portion of the lock so that the lock may be easily dismantled, if necessary.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlled combination lock in which the key may not be removed from the lock until the bolt of the combination portion of the lock has been put in the locked position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlled combination lock whereby two persons may be required in order to open the lock, one in knowing the combination, and the other possessing the operating key.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key-controlled combination lock having a control key making it impossible for the lock to be dismantled with- 3,383,886 Patented May 21, 1968 out the control key, thus preventing unauthorized persons from changing the keying of the key portion of the lock.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following drawings, descriptions and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is an oblique view of the lock showing the dial partially numbered.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the cylinder showing the inner gears connecting the cylinder and the slide cam.

FIGURE 3 is an oblique view of the core removed from the cylinder of the key portion of the lock.

FIGURE 4 is a view of the back of the cylinder showing the inner gears in mesh with each other.

FIGURE 5 is a view of the back of the combination portion of the lock with the cover removed.

FIGURE 6 is a half-sectional view of the combination portion of the lock taken on line AA of FIGURE 5 and a half-section of the key portion of the lock that corresponds thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The key-controlled combination lock is comprised of a dial 1 having as a knob thereon a crush-proof ring 2 and a spacer 3 which separates the crush-proof ring 2 from a cylinder 4 of a key lock mechanism. The cylinder 4 has located therein a core 5. A plug 6 is located in the core 5. A key is inserted in the slot 8 in the plug 6, The key may be either a master key, an operating key or a control key. If it is a control key 7A, the turning of the control key 7A a short distance serves to retract the control lever 9 into the core 5, and the core 5 can thus be slipped out of the opening 10 in the cylinder 4 as shown in FIGURE 3.

When the proper operating key 7 is placed in the slot 8 as shown in FIGURE 6, the operating key 7 turns because the pins 12 are lined up with the operating shearline 13. There is also a control key shear line 13A. The pins 12 are under tension of springs 12A. The rods 14, which are connected to the circular piece 15 and the cam 16, cause the cam 16 and in turn the inner gear 17 to turn. The rods 14 protrude through holes (unshown) in the circular piece 15 and are fastened into the cam 16. The inner gear 17 is an integral part of the cam 16. The inner gear 18 meshes with the inner gear 17 and has as an integral part of it a lip 19 into which is fastened a shaft 20. A spindle 21 is press-fit into the dial 1 so as to rotate when the dial 1 is rotated. The lip 19 is rotatable in the spindle 21 so as to allow the shaft 20 to rotate independently of the spindle 21. The cylinder 4 screws into the dial 1. A back plate 21A is riveted onto the back of the plug 6.

The spindle 21 has screwed thereon a driver wheel 22, which has located therein a slide 23. The slide 23 has located thereon a stop pin 24 and slides in the slots 25 in the driver wheel 22. A driver pin 26 contacts the protrusion 27 of a fly 28. The fly 28 is held in position in back of the wheel 29 by a clip 30 and a washer 31. Each of the other two wheels 32 have flies 33 similarly held in position by washers 31. A tension washer 34 separates the innermost wheel 32 from the casing 35. The tension washer 34, the flies 23 and 33 and the washers 31 are held in place on a tube 36 by means of a spline 36A in the tube 36. The casing is held by screws 35A onto the partition 11, and the dial plate 37 is held onto the partition 11 by screws 37A. Further holes 373 in the dial plate allow more sturdy fastening of the dial plate 37 to the partition 11. A nut 47 holds the tube 36 in position. The cover 38 is held onto the back of the casing 35 by screws (unshown). A slide cam 39 is fastened onto the shaft 2t) by a screw 4%. A key 41 is connection with a keyway (unshown) in the spindle 21 holds the driver wheel 22 in place in relation to the spindle 21. A gate 42 in the driver wheel 22 and notches 43 in the Wheels 29 and 32 accommodate the fence lever 44 when the combination is properly dialed and the key 7 is turned opening the gate 42. Stops 45 on the cover 38 in connection with the stop pin 24 prevent the driver wheel 22 from turning when the lock is unlocked.

The key-controlled combination lock is disassembled from the position shown in FIGURE 6 by removing the core from the cylinder 4 by the use of a control key 7A. A set screw 46 is then unscrewed, and the cylinder 1 may then be unscrewed from the dial 1. As this is done, the spacer 3 and the crush-proof ring 2 may be removed from the dial 1. The gears 17 and 18 unmesh laterally. The cover 38 is then taken off the casing of the combination portion of the lock, and the screw 40 is unscrewed to allow the slide cam 39 to be removed from the shaft 20. The key 41 is then removed from the keyway (unshown) in the spindle 21, and the driver wheel 22 can then be unscrewed from the spindle 21. With the driver Wheel 22 off the spindle 21 the dial 1 and the spindle 21 may be removed from the partition 11. This leaves then only the combination portion of the lock so held in place by the nut 47 on the tube 36. It is not necessary to so disassemble the lock except for replacement of parts.

With the lock fully assembled, turning the dial 1 to three proper numbers will line up the notches 43. By then turning the operating key 7, the gear 17 will turn the gear 18, the shaft 26 and the slide cam 39. The slide cam 39 strikes the irregular opening 23A in the slide 23,

which thus moves the slide 23 into the position shown in FIGURE 5. This opens the gate 42. The fence lever 44 is then forced into the gate 42 and the notches 43 by the spring 48. By further turning the dial 1, the driver Wheel 22 turns, and the gate 42 in the driver Wheel 22 opens the lock by pulling the bolt 49 inward into the casing 35.

The operating key 7 may be changed by inserting the control key 7A as shown in FIGURE 3 and removing the core 5. Thus new cores 5 may interchangeably be put into the cylinder 4, each core 5 having a different operating key 7. This type of change does not require a locksmith, but can be handled by any unskilled personnel who have access to the various cores 5. Of course, each operating key 7 must go with a particular core 5. The way a locksmith would change the operating keys 7 to be used in a given core 5 is by removing the stops 50 in the top of the cores and reloading each core 5 with different pins 12. The pins 12 are in three sections to accommodate a control key 7A with the control shear line 13A, a master key (unshown) and an operating key 7.

I claim:

1. A key-controlled combination lock comprised of a key mechanism and a combination mechanism, the key mechanism and the combination mechanism connected by meshing gears, the key mechanism being operable after the proper combination is dialed on the combination mechanism to allow the opening of the lock by the further turning of the combination mechanism, the key mechanism having a cylinder which receives a core, the core being removable from the cylinder by means of a control key, one of the gears being on the cylinder, the combination mechanism having a driver wheel containing a slide and a slide cam, the slide cam connected to the second gear so that turning an operating key in the core turns the slide cam, the slide cam positioned so as to open a gate in the driver wheel when the operating key is turned, a fence lever positioned so as to move into the gate when the proper combination is dialed and the operating key is turned, a bolt that is moved by the fence lever when the dial is turned further after the proper combination is dialed and the operating key is turned.

2. The key-controlled combination lock of claim 1, the cylinder being part of the dialing knob of the combination mechanism and being protected by a crush-proof ring, the cylinder being removable from the dialing knob of the combination mechanism.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1952 Berry et al. -284 5/1966 Rigo et al 235101

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